Simulating the primordial era? That's way too extreme.

Chapter 382 Me and the Protagonist

[Final rating for this round: Perfect!]

it is good!

Upon hearing the word "perfect," Zhao Si clapped her hands in delight:

"What about the prize? What is the prize?"

Based on the experience of the previous three chapters, a perfect rating will definitely reward an "Origin-level" prize.

Although Zhao Si no longer had any need for powerful items, receiving a new prize was still something to be happy about.

This round's prize is: "Lin Liu's insights into values ​​and beliefs!"

【"Lin Liu's Worldview" (System Origin Level): Lin Liu, the protagonist of Chapter 4, the guardian of the dream world, the great man who changed the world, the eternal sun between life and death... In his final days, he used his own experiences and observations as research material, supplemented by materialistic knowledge from outside the region, to arrive at a set of worldviews.

This set of values ​​and knowledge, while not possessing any supernatural powers or magical arts, nor being a tangible treasure or artifact, touches upon the very foundation of the system and is therefore rated as "System Origin Level"!

[Claim or not?]

In that instant, Zhao Si was stunned...

He had considered powerful magical treasures such as innate treasures and chaotic treasures, as well as incredibly mysterious divine arts and techniques, and even many strange and wonderful prizes.

But that was the one thing he never thought about.

A set of... values?

Zhao Si was stunned for a long time, but what puzzled him even more was the rating of this reward:

At the system's core level?

What kind of rating is this? The Origin Level is already the highest level of rating, so how come there's a rating even higher than the Origin Level now?

Most importantly, this single piece of knowledge about values ​​is far more sophisticated than the previous "existence of Pangu"...

Zhao Si couldn't even imagine how taboo this knowledge was!

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Si did not immediately choose to claim it, but instead asked the system a question with suspicion:

"Why am I being rewarded with this? Couldn't it be a magic item or something else?"

He knew that the rewards given by this urinary system were never given out randomly. Since this reward had been given out earlier, it would definitely be used later!

In other words, everything is within the system's calculations, even what one experiences, chooses, and thinks is pre-arranged by the system.

Therefore, this discussion of values ​​and beliefs is clearly purposeful...

Players should know that the final prize in each round of the simulation actually originates from the simulated world, so the prize for this round will naturally only be available in the Dream World.

The system's response remained calm:

As for why it's this one... because this is exactly what players need.

really!

Zhao Si, who had guessed from the start that the prize would be useful, had a hint of helplessness on her face: everything had been planned out, and she had never had any freedom...

But... Zhao Si had no intention of defying fate.

This is both because there is no way to resist and because there is no need to resist. At least so far, this mysterious and powerful system has not shown any intention to harm itself, but has instead truly treated itself as a service recipient.

And that's enough...

"good!"

Realizing he was facing a crucial decision, Zhao Si took a deep breath and nodded, saying:

"Then I'll take it."

[Ding! You have received the system's original-level reward, "Lin Liu's Worldview and Cognition"!]

The moment the notification sound rang, Zhao Si suddenly felt sleepy, and then inexplicably fell into a deep sleep...

[Ding! Player Zhao Si has completed all the required chapters and meets the permission requirements...]

[Chapter 5, loading...]

……

You drift off to sleep... and gradually, a figure materializes in your dream...

"You've come."

A simple-looking young fisherman, wearing a straw hat and raincoat, carrying a fishing rod, smiled at you with a gentle yet sentimental expression. His smile was so approachable that it made you, who was feeling a little drowsy, lower your initial wariness...

【"Who are you?"】

You asked him out of curiosity.

He suddenly slapped his forehead and laughed, "Sorry, I forgot to change it..."

As he spoke, he changed his appearance.

He had become an old man with white hair, sitting in a wheelchair, his head tilted to one side... The only thing that remained unchanged was his gentle smile.

He seemed to possess an inexplicable power; just looking at him could bring light and hope, like a warm and inviting sun...

"Lin Liu?!"

Upon seeing this image, you couldn't help but exclaim, after all, you had just finished reading his chapter, and his features naturally felt familiar!

But he shook his head: "I am not Lin Liu, I am merely a wisp of his divine consciousness... Lin Liu has already died in the dream world."

His reminder jolted you awake: you had just clicked to claim the reward, so the "Lin Liu" before you must be the vessel for that "worldview and beliefs from Lin Liu"!

So you asked curiously, "What values ​​are you going to teach me?"

Lin Liu smiled.

"What I'm trying to say is that I think I now understand what that so-called game system is all about."

"What is it?" The mere mention of the system makes you eager to know, because it's so mysterious—so mysterious that you've always been curious about its origins and nature.

He laughed and said, "That's you!"

【what? 】

[The moment those words left your mouth, you looked completely bewildered...]

Seeing your blank expression, he continued slowly.

"Back in the primordial era, I asked Jin Bing about you. After all, he's the only one who has seen you in person, so he's obviously the most qualified to speak on the matter."

"I initially thought you were an unparalleled powerhouse from beyond the realm, but Jin Bing said you're just an ordinary mortal. The reason you can control the lives of us game protagonists is entirely due to that system."

"Therefore, when it comes to you, Kim Byung is always very worried about your safety..."

Hearing him say this, you couldn't help but be deeply moved by Jin Bing. Although Jin Bing in Chapter 4 was just a clone NPC, he was no different from the original in terms of emotions and cognition... This original protagonist, who cooperated with you the best, truly considered you his best friend...

But then "Lin Liu" started talking again.

"So, I initially thought the same thing, that you were just an unlucky guy chosen by a ruthless system."

"However, I gradually changed my mind later..."

[Lin Liu reminisced.]

["Because Xue Xuan mentioned it to me again, saying: 'The game system chooses you over others, so there must be something special about you!'"]

"Besides, it's so powerful and mysterious, yet it doesn't want anything from you, as if it only exists to let you play the game... More importantly, you have to play these game chapters to progress. If you don't make choices and use strategies, the story will get stuck indefinitely..."

"It's as if... only you can advance the plot, while the infinitely powerful being doesn't even have a small degree of autonomy..."

Upon hearing this, you were taken aback: It seems... that's really true?

Lin Liu added, "But this conjecture also has flaws. After all, what if it really just wanted to mess with you?"

"Therefore, I didn't draw a conclusion immediately."

"But as my story progresses, especially after you gave me the Periodic Table and related theories of matter, I've gradually come to believe it!"

Looking at your confused expression, he said seriously, "Based on the knowledge you gave me, the world you live in should be a purely material world without any idealistic forces. Therefore, the origin of your world is not something built on any level of consciousness, but truly pure matter. Matter is everything."

"Under this ironclad rule, there will be absolutely no non-material existence in your world, so you cannot cultivate immortality, interfere with matter with your consciousness, or have a game system or a simulated world!"

"But these things just happen to exist in your world..."

He said earnestly, "Therefore, your world is not actually a materialistic world, and that material knowledge could not possibly originate from your world!"

"In other words, your world is actually the same as our primordial world and dreams—a man-made, idealistic world..."

You're completely stunned!

【"impossible!"】

Your first reaction is to deny it!

"How could the materialistic world I've lived in for over twenty years be an idealistic world?!"

[You're very certain about this. For over twenty years, both your education and your personal experiences have told you that this is a materialistic world, and there can't be anything else...]

"Have you really lived for over twenty years?"

He countered with a question.

You replied matter-of-factly, "How could it be fake? My memory from over twenty years ago is crystal clear!"

[But "Lin Liu" said strangely, "When the dream world was created, the saints and Xue Xuan also felt that they were alive... But in reality, my story hadn't even started yet. The anchor point didn't exist, and they didn't exist either. The starting point of time and space was only at the moment of my birth..."]

You paused for a moment...

"If I'm not mistaken, your world is actually like ours, starting with a certain event. Before that event, time and everything else didn't exist. Only when the event happened did spacetime begin to exist."

"Your world may not have a history of billions of years, your life may not be more than twenty years... or even that you truly exist."

"Just like us in a text-based simulation game, we seem to be alive, but in reality, we're just segments of text, and everyone is just pretending to be alive..."

Lin Liu's theories almost completely shatter your worldview; you'll find it hard to accept these things, yet they sound incredibly reasonable...

"I don't believe it!"

You crouch on the ground, hands covering your head, your face blank... but though you say you don't believe it, you're inevitably slowly accepting these well-reasoned and logically sound theories about spacetime...

[In a materialistic world, idealistic things and concepts certainly don't exist; conversely, in an idealistic world, there can be no true materialism. Just as Lin Liu's painstaking efforts to "materialize" the world couldn't change the idealistic nature of the dream world, this is the underlying logic, and it absolutely cannot be wrong!]

It's all fake... The world is fake, people are fake, even you are fake...

At this moment, you suddenly felt a deep empathy for Jin Bing and Xue Xuan in their NPC state: So this is what it feels like to realize your own falsehood...

Looking at the wheelchair-bound man with his head tilted to one side, you seem to understand why the game system, with its scripted and predetermined events, created such a distinctive image for him.

[Because this image provides a bonus!]

The time-space theory of the wheelchair-bound man with the tilted head is always so shocking, yet we can't help but admit its correctness...

……

(End of this chapter)