An infinite journey starting from paradise

"Hey, are you okay?"

Lin Shangren hurried forward and helped Lin Yin, who was kneeling on the ground.

"What's wrong? Is your head hurting?"

"It's nothing... It might be a side effect of having my memory erased. Can I lean on your shoulder for a moment?"

Lin Shangren did not refuse Linyin's request, although it was a bit weird and strange for them to be so intimate with each other in front of the girl's mother's corpse.

"The aftereffects of amnesia?"

"Yeah. When we were playing the game in that white room, a lot of our memories were erased. After we escaped, we began to recover. Do you remember what happened three days ago?"

Lin Shangren shook his head. "So, what exactly is going on? What happened three days ago? Why did the school become like that? Why are we forced to play the game in the white room? What's going on with the people here?"

Facing Lin Shangren's series of questions, Lin Yin did not answer directly. She said to Lin Shangren: "Mr. Lin, you should have listened carefully to my story about my mother just now, right? Our situation now is the same as hers back then."

"Ah?" Lin Shangren was stunned. "Same as her back then? What does this mean?"

"Student Lin, the Liuqingguan Academy where we lived and studied together is actually right here. It's the successor to that illegal research institute. And those of us who entered this public welfare educational institution are actually guinea pigs who have been raised there since childhood."

Rinyin made these explosive remarks in an extremely calm tone.

"what?!"

Lin Shangren also cooperated and showed an expression of extreme astonishment.

"The Liuqingguan Academy is backed by a powerful criminal group, with many high-ranking figures supporting it. They collect unwanted orphans from all over the country, bring them here, raise them, and educate them. They select suitable children from among them as experimental subjects for various perverted experiments. Even if they die, their healthy organs can be sold.

Good-looking girls would be picked up by wealthy men as their personal playthings. Sometimes, they would even hold battle royale games in school, letting students kill each other, just to open gambling games and satisfy their perverted hobbies.

However, it is difficult for the children living in Liuqingguan Academy to discover this. Even though he just experienced a life-and-death struggle.

Having said that, Lin Yin stretched out her hand to Lin Shangren's neck, and she clasped the collar around Lin Shangren's neck with her fingers:

"Because of this. They use this collar to erase our memories."

Chapter 21: Prepare to attack the champagne factory, the advantage is mine!

"A collar?"

Lin Shangren reached out and touched the cold collar around his neck:

"Back in the white room, they also used this to confirm our physical condition, right? Since it can detect a person's physical condition, could they have added some kind of positioning device to the collar? If so, wouldn't that mean..."

Lin Yin withdrew her hand and said to Lin Shangren, "Your collar is broken. You must have forgotten that after escaping from that white room, I helped you and Hokari destroy the collar.

However, before I could take you away, He Huan's men came after us. I had no choice but to leave you behind temporarily."

"That's it."

Lin Shangren looked at Lin Yin. It seemed that she had recovered from her recent headache.

He continued to ask: "The mastermind behind Liuqingguan Academy can control the memories of us experimental subjects, so what about the people here?

Logically speaking, if even consciousness and memory can be controlled at will, the controlled people will not discover the truth, let alone gather together like they are now.

Could it be that you are immune to amnesia, and can rely on your acting skills to endure humiliation, find comrades, and then secretly integrate together?"

"No... We're not immune to amnesia. Until a few days ago, we were also living in a false sense of peace." Rin shook her head, "Until that incident happened. Aren't you curious about why the academy has become so dilapidated now?"

"Of course I'm curious. I've been waiting for your answer to this question. Since there are powerful forces behind the academy, and their goals are illegal experiments, organ trafficking, human trafficking, and pornography, why would they let the academy become what it is now? It's like a war."

Lin Shangren stared at Lin Yin. He had already extracted a lot of key information from Lin Yin's words, some of which were related to the real world outside: large-scale illegal organizations, human experiments, consciousness manipulation, and...

"Collar" - Since the Rokukeikan Academy in the virtual world puts collars on its students, then his body in reality might also be equipped with some kind of safety device.

Maybe it's the same collar.

Therefore, Lin Shangren needs to know how Lin Yin and his gang escaped from the control of the collar in the virtual world.

"So, what exactly happened a few days ago? Is there anything important I've forgotten?"

"Battle Royale." Linyin recounted what happened that day.

"That morning, everything was normal. But after the second period, the campus radio suddenly sounded, and a robotic voice called on the students to start killing each other..."

Welcome to the Killing Game

Lin Shangren suddenly remembered something in his mind.

[This is a game that determines who will become a dictator. What are the qualifications for becoming a dictator? Killing, torture, etc.]

A vague, mechanical synthesized sound.

[The end of the collar everyone wears has a 1-point mark.]

[Killing someone or causing them physical pain will earn them points.]

[The first person to gain 100 points will become the first dictator, who will gain the privilege of controlling the collar.]

[If you want to take control from a dictator, you must kill him, using any method you choose.]

[If your personal points do not reach two within an hour, you will be executed by the poison in the collar.]

Good luck, then.

"Blood stains...screams of killing...are these people crazy?"

Lin Shangren saw a boy who was blood-stained with anger rushing towards him, waving a blood-stained wooden stick. He swung the stick with such force that although he was still some distance away from Lin Shangren, the filth on the stick had already hit Lin Shangren.

"You don't have a collar around your neck, so why are you coming after me? I just came to this world and I'm already facing this. This damn system, could it be that it just threw me into this battle royale game and left me alone?"

In shock and confusion, Lin Shangren kicked the man who was rushing towards him to the ground.

"This is another world, and this is another game of random killing... Should I adapt to the local customs? Escape? Or kill?"

"Escape or kill?"

The memory ends here.

Rin's narration continues:

"A few of us: me, Aoi-sensei, and Maki-san. We were hiding in the astronomy club's activity room. Just when we were at a loss, you burst in and helped us remove the collar. You broke the protrusion at the back. Although we still couldn't remove the collar, its function was still disabled.

Without the collar's control, I recalled my childhood memories, remembering my mother bringing me to this island when I was very young, and here, in this secret cave.

I was planning to take you here for refuge, but you insisted on going to look for Hokari. So I had to go with the teacher to find other students who didn't want to kill each other, help them break their collars, and then escape here.

During this process, you, Aoi-sensei, and Maki-san were captured one after another. After the others and I settled down here, we planned to rescue you and the other students in the academy. But…"

"As a result, you were also caught by Hehuan. Then she threw us into that white room together and played a series of perverted games." Lin Shangren continued.

"Yeah." Linyin nodded.

Lin Shangren then asked, "That's too weird. If this is a murder game, then why weren't we killed immediately when we were caught? And why did He Huan design such a perverted series of games in the white room?"

"She didn't kill us because she's become a dictator and no longer needs to kill. As for the game..."

Lin Yin pointed at Lin Shangren: "It has something to do with you. She wants to corrupt you."

"Corrupt me?"

"Actually, when you found us in the Astronomy Department, my teacher and I were terrified that you would kill us. The number displayed on your collar was 80, meaning you had likely killed at most eighty people. You were also the one who discovered how to destroy the collar.

You are very strong, but you did not choose to become a dictator. Instead, you chose to save people. If you had not been so obsessed with saving Han Kariba, you might have become our savior.

That's why He Huan wanted to use that game to make you addicted and controlled by her. However, she underestimated the relationship between you and Hokari...

Besides, we were lucky. Coincidentally, you and Hokari-san broke her collar during your last game. She, remembering everything, helped us remove the collar, and we escaped. Your memory is slowly returning, right?"

"Yes."

"The system prompts are almost driving me crazy. False memories are constantly being injected, and my own memory is slowly recovering because of those seemingly false memories." Lin Shangren complained in his heart.

He could now confirm that Rokukeikan Academy existed in reality, and that the killing game had actually happened. He had just been caught up in it when he traveled to this world.

"Then, I fought my way out of this with my superb skills in slaughtering pigs and cattle? Improbable.

Based on my understanding of myself, I would never kill others casually... unless I couldn't help it.

The question now is, why did I enter the Paradise System? What exactly happened between me and He Huan? Why did she help me?

Lin Shangren rubbed his neck, and the pair of crimson eyes and the girl's expression of absolute trust in him appeared in his mind again.

"Hehuan..." Lin Shangren murmured the girl's name unconsciously.

"What?" Rin asked.

"What I mean is, could He Huan be a spokesperson for the person behind Liuqingguan Academy? After all, it's unrealistic for one girl to kill a hundred people. Also, what should we do now? How do we get in touch with the outside world? How do we call for help? How do we escape from here?"

Lin Shangren changed the subject and raised a series of reasonable questions.

"This..." Lin Yin hesitated.

"Although this is an isolated island, didn't your mother and her followers escape many years ago? How did they do it?" he continued to ask.

"They occupied the research institute and then contacted the outside world. So..."

"You don't want these people here to attack the academy with sticks and stones, do you?"

"Isn't it possible?" Lin Yin stared into Lin Shangren's eyes, "After all, we have you here, a super killer weapon that can score 80 points. You, plus the others here, should be able to fight."

"should?"

"After all, we have nowhere else to go. The supplies here are limited, and we can't hold out for more than a few days. Rather than starve to death, we might as well fight to the death while we're still in good shape."

Besides, Hayashi, you also want to rescue Hokari, right?"

"That's right, but do you have a plan?"

"I know a secret passage leading to the academy. If we launch an attack tomorrow morning, we should be able to catch them off guard. We are well-prepared, while they are hastily prepared. I have the advantage."

Chapter 22: Short-lived Reality

"Tomorrow morning?"

When Rinyin proposed a surprise attack, Lin Shangren foresaw the next plot development in his mind: they would fail miserably. Rinyin and himself would be captured and subjected to various humiliations. They might even perform a perverted show like "Current Crime" in front of him.

Only in this way would Lin Shangren naturally develop a deep hatred for Hehuan. Then, Hehuan would most likely deliberately expose a flaw that would allow Lin Shangren to get close, so that Lin Shangren would kill her with hatred.

Kill the dictator and become the new dictator.

The rules of the previous killing game also hinted at this.

Although he had predicted the outcome, Lin Shangren still politely asked, "Isn't this too hasty?"

"We have no choice: to die here, to be killed as their playthings, or to fight to the death for a chance of survival. Lin, I... I don't want to be someone else's experimental subject anymore."

Suddenly, Lin Yin's expression became distorted again because of the pain. She leaned on Lin Shangren and hugged him tightly: "My head... feels like it's going to split! It hurts so much, it hurts so much..."

"Are you OK?!"

Lin Shangren gently stroked Lin Yin's back, trying to calm her down.

"Hey, System. Eagle Finger can directly affect her real body, right?"

[It can be understood this way. After all, the "soul" affects every aspect of intelligent life, from the body to the consciousness.]

"Then activate it. Change the effect from 'squirting pleasure' to... 'feeling of peace and happiness'."

Although the abilities the system gave Lin Shangren seemed rather unorthodox, they were actually rule-based abilities. As everyone knows, there is no weak rule-based or concept-based ability.

Eagle Finger can inflict any sensation or emotion set by the user, affecting their body through the nervous system. It can cause someone to faint from overwhelming pain or unbearable sensation, or it can cause someone to fall into a baby-like sleep from overwhelming happiness.

"As for the level, just set it to just enough to relieve her headache."

Soon, with Lin Shangren's gentle caress, Lin Yin's emotions gradually stabilized, but she had no intention of letting Lin Shangren go.

"Sorry... Can you let me hold you for a while longer?" Linyin asked softly, "It makes me feel better when I hold someone."

Unlike the calm and cold voice before, this time Lin Shangren felt the warmth that an ordinary person should have in her voice.

Lin Shangren gently stroked Lin Yin's back and asked, "What's wrong with your head? Is it the aftereffects of the collar?"

"I don't know...it could be the aftereffects of the experiment. Although I can't remember clearly, I am sure that the mastermind behind Rokukeikan Academy conducted many experiments on me. Many of them were very excessive...uh..."

Feeling the girl's grip on him grow tighter, Lin Shangren quickly used the Eagle Finger again to soothe her. "If it gives you a headache, don't force yourself to think about it. It was all a painful experience anyway. It would be better to forget it all."

Lin Yin didn't say anything, just buried her head in Lin Shangren's chest. Facing the "active embrace" of the icy beauty, Lin Shangren, as a "serious man", should have enjoyed this process.