Elegy from Another World

I entered the room Norelljohn had prepared. It was less of an interrogation room and more like a cold, mechanical laboratory, with various instruments of unknown purpose gleaming coldly. A faint smell of machine oil and disinfectant filled the air.

Norrell was already waiting there, his scarlet electronic eyes lighting up as I entered, carrying an undisguised, almost childlike, straightforward expectation.

"Let's begin," I said calmly, unbuttoning my clothes. The fabric slipped down, exposing my skin to the cool air, the few small white flowers scattered on it standing out sharply under the light. I felt a touch of curiosity about him, and about this body that was already different from ordinary people—what could this so-called "torture" really mean to me?

"Let's have some fun." I even lay down on the metal surface in the center of the room, which resembled an operating table. "Perfect, the parts that are tortured can be used as research material for Mia Reilly."

Norrelljung let out a low, metallic laugh, seemingly pleased with my "cooperation." He manipulated the robotic arm, and various gleaming tools began to approach—cutting, piercing, squeezing, electrocuting…

However, just as I expected.

The signals of pain were still precisely captured by the eternally burning flame, and then... twisted and transformed. The sharp blade slicing through the skin did not bring the excruciating pain of tearing, but rather a scorching, warm current, like being scorched by the sun; the high-voltage current passed through the limbs, without numbness or spasms, but rather like soaking in warm spring water, arousing waves of tingling pleasure that made one tremble.

I closed my eyes, feeling the strange sensations my body was sending back, sensations that were the complete opposite of "pain." There were no screams, no struggles, not even a furrowed brow. Occasionally, I would let out a soft groan due to some overly intense "stimulation," but it was definitely not a painful moan.

Time ticked by. Norrelljohn had initially been enthusiastic, employing various methods in turn, but gradually, the frequency of his crimson electronic eyes flashing slowed down. He stopped, his mechanical head tilting slightly, seemingly in confusion.

"Tsk..." He scoffed in dissatisfaction. "This is utterly boring. You really are a monster."

I opened my eyes and looked at him. "Because what you really want isn't the inflicting pain itself, right?" I sat up. The cuts were already slowly healing under the effects of the persistent burning, the new skin tinged with a faint pink. "You just want to see others struggle in pain, cry out and beg for mercy in front of you, you want to experience that feeling of domination and control, you want to hear... the lamentations of the defeated. Isn't that right?"

Norrell's electronic eyes stared intently at me. After a moment of silence, he mumbled, "...Yes."

That desire for conquest and the submission of others, stemming from the demon king's very nature, is the "pleasure" he truly seeks. But he cannot obtain this satisfaction from me, a "monster" who cannot feel conventional pain.

Looking at this once-powerful demon king, who now seemed somewhat... "bored," a thought suddenly popped into my head. While gesturing for Mia Leili to come in and collect the few tissue samples that had been "tortured" and lost their vitality, I said to Noreljung:

"Since physical torture is meaningless to both of us, how about we try something different? You... do you know how to play video games?"

"A game?" Noreljung's electronic eyes flickered, revealing confusion. "What game?"

"A kind of...RPG game." I tried to explain it in a way he could understand. "You can think of it as a virtual world where you play a character, you could be a hero or a demon king. You can explore a vast world, fight various monsters, complete quests, increase your power, and even make the characters in it bow down to you. In short, in that world, you can 'do whatever you want' to a certain extent."

Noreljung seemed intrigued: "Do whatever you want? Sounds... interesting. What's an RPG?"

"Role-playing game," I explained. "Just give it a try, you might like it."

I immediately contacted Edseysis and Xiaobei through the symbiotic network and told them my idea. Utilizing the powerful computing power and database of the Drei, they quickly joined forces to build an extremely rudimentary pixel-style turn-based RPG game world with only a basic framework. The scenes were rough, the monsters were simple geometric blocks, and the dialogue only had a few options, but the core upgrade, combat, and exploration systems were barely put together.

I handed Norrelljohn a simple neural interface: "Use this to connect your consciousness."

Noreljohn took the connector with some skepticism and connected it to his core. At first, his magical puppet stood stiffly, but soon, its crimson electronic eyes lit up noticeably and even began to move slightly with the in-game view. His massive mechanical body remained motionless, but the subtle hum of a high-speed processor could be heard inside.

"Hmph, a mere slime dares to block my path?"

"Oh? The villagers in this village seem unfriendly. Slaughter them!"

"This sword has excellent stats; it's mine now!"

He began to unconsciously murmur in the game world. Although the graphics were pitifully crude, the underlying joy of playing a strong character, growing stronger, and conquering was clearly exactly what he wanted. He was completely absorbed, even temporarily forgetting my presence.

Looking at this demon king engrossed in pixelated games, I felt a little relieved. It seemed this method would work. Perhaps in the long journey ahead, these virtual worlds could become a safe outlet, allowing him to unleash his destructive and controlling desires as a demon king, without having to affect reality.

"How is it? Are you satisfied?" I asked after he had finished for a while.

Noreljung's mechanical head turned around, its scarlet electronic eyes flashing with a hint of lingering satisfaction: "...So-so. But it's much more interesting than looking at a block of wood like you."

"That's good." I smiled. "You can play this anytime you're bored."