Chapter 122
Si Chen looked at the word “BE” on the ending screen of the game and felt it sting his eyes.
He couldn’t help from asking Turing: “Does this game have an HE?”
Turing: Actually, this is my first time playing it but I don’t think so.
After all, the Carolians were extinct.
Si Chen: Didn’t you say that the energy was going to be exhausted? Why hasn’t he come out yet?
Turing: The speed of time in the Space Fold is different from that in the virtual world.
Turing: If you mean the Space Fold, the energy is indeed about to run out.
Si Chen frowned slightly.
On the lower left corner of the screen was a battery indicator: 17%.
Si Chen: “…”
For him, it was just typing on the keyboard but for Ji Chuyao, it was a solid thirty years.
Si Chen: Will he have any mental problems after coming out?
Turing: No.
He felt that his soul shouldn’t be that fragile, not to mention the fuzzy logic mechanism of the “brain-computer interface” involved.
The name of the game wasn’t “Turing’s Dream” for no reason. Although it felt very real when you were in it, after leaving the game, it would feel just like a vague dream.
Turing: But if the battery is exhausted before he wakes, this consciousness will not return to the body.
Turing: To use the words of your world, he is probably what you would consider brain dead?
…
Si Chen restarted the game.
Actually, it was quite simple to turn off Turing through the referendum. During the day, have Turing choose to “obey the program settings” in the computer room and then fill up the president’s action points. Basically, do as what the Carolians historically did.
Expression cold, Si Chen controlled the NPCs and continued playing until the evening of the sixth day.
Tomorrow was the referendum.
Turing was lying in the coffin-like control room, a dialog box with an ellipsis floating above his head.
Si Chen clicked.
[Turing (Ji Chuyao version): It seems I will be shut down.]
[Turing (Ji Chuyao version): What will the Carolians do when I am gone?]
[System prompt: Special NPC-Turing is very sad. Mood -5. ]
Si Chen admitted that his mood too got worse.
He looked at the battery indicator and saw there was 15% left.
After the referendum of the last game, Turing wasn’t shut down. That evening, there had been an unlimited period of free time.
At that time, Si Chen followed Turing to visit several maps but no plot was triggered. And so, he simply pressed the enter key and jumped to thirty years later.
But now, Si Chen had a bold idea.
Since the 7 days of gaming time to the referendum would only consume 2% of the power, he could definitely give it a try.
Si Chen made a decision.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He wanted to start over.
Lf bqfcfv atf wjlc lcafgojmf jcv mtbrf ab gfrajga. Ktf yjaafgs lcrajcais vgbqqfv ogbw 15% ab 10%.
Ktf mearmfcf bc atf olgra vjs ralii rtbkfv atf qgfrlvfca defralbclcu Keglcu jcv mjiilcu obg atf gfofgfcvew.
Vl Jtfc gfqijsfv atf jmalbcr obg DS ilcf 3, gfifjrlcu utbrar ab wjxf atf Jjgbiljcr jkjgf bo atf vjcufgr bearlvf; ugfjais gfvemlcu atf qgfrlvfca’r jmalbcr, jiibklcu atf batfg Jjgbiljcr ktb kfgf ralii raevslcu ab vlrmbnfg atf ageat jcv frrfcmf bo atf kbgiv.
Since he had already played it once and even experienced it himself, it wasn’t difficult to get BE Line 3 again.
On the seventh day, Turing successfully survived the referendum.
8% of the battery was left.
Si Chen’s fingers were covered in a thin layer of sweat. He didn’t sweat easily but he couldn’t help feeling a little nervous at this time.
After all, if his guess was wrong and he had to restart the game, only 3% of the power would be left.
Si Chen dragged all the supernatural creatures within his field of vision towards Ji Chuyao.
The Hanged Men, dolls, puppets, Glass Men… Monsters were dragged out of the black mist one after another and rushed towards Ji Chuyao one by one.
In the beginning, all the attacks of the supernatural creatures would only result in a red [Miss] but gradually, as more and more different types of monsters appeared, the small pixel man in the game began to take damage.
A red Paper Man on a sedan chair instantly expanded to the height of two people. It opened its mouth wide and swallowed the pixel man in one gulp.
In the next second, the Paper Man turned into shreds.
But Ji Chuyao’s pixel body began to fill with a kind of electric light. He pulled out Sky Blue.
[Turing (Ji Chuyao version): …What did I feel just now, was that pain?]
Robots have no sense of pain. Ji Chuyao has had his pain nerves cut off since birth and could not feel pain.
But the damage done by the red Paper Man had been to the soul.
After a brief pause, Si Chen continued to repeat his previous operation.
It was obviously a pixel RPG game that didn’t take much effort but Si Chen’s brain was hurting terribly.
More and more high-dimensional creatures were dragged out of the black mist; so many that in the end, they were just bright red mosaic blobs. The game wouldn’t load what they actually looked like.
The blood bar above the head of the small pixel man kept dropping.
But at the same time, the black mist shrouding the Safe Zone was slowly fading.
Si Chen was starting to feel a bit excited. This proved that his guess was feasible.
Just like what White King had said before —
——”There is only one way to return the world to normal, and that is to end the ‘high-dimensional invasion’.”
This was the sole hidden HE ending.
The body of the little pixel man was beginning to break.
Its right hand still held Sky Blue, but its left bionic arm had fallen to the ground, swallowed by a pool of red blood.
Machines kept coming from far away to join the battle, wanting to help Turing.
Si Chen saw the teachers, the dormitory supervisors, the cleaners and the school doctors. These Machines switched to combat mode and their firepower was overwhelming, almost submerging the control center. However, the damage caused by these artillery fires to the supernatural creatures was negligible.
And then. These Machines began to disassemble their body parts.
[Enlightened Machine (Light Industrial Type-04 Combat Type): Sir, please use my body to continue the fight.]
The little pixel man man did not refuse.
Si Chen originally thought that since the black mist had begun to fade that it would end soon.
But these monsters were endless and soon, the little pixel man’s health bar dropped to a third of its original value.
Si Chen’s movements paused.
He began to hesitate.
Even though they were just pixel images, to the characters in the game, this felt real.
Monster corpses littered the ground, along with a few broken parts. The floor of the control center was stained blood red.
He could only imagine how fierce the battle must be.
Six of the 16 computer rooms outside have turned off.
Turing said that by killing the “NPC Turing” in the game, Ji Chuyao could be released.
But Si Chen was not sure whether Ji Chuyao, killed by a supernatural creature, could be released. If he couldn’t, what would be the consequences? If Turing dies, will he still exist once Si Chen restarts the game?
Si Chen paused what he was doing and sent these questions through his chat with Turing.
However, he waited for a long time but did not receive Turing’s reply.
A red exclamation mark even appeared in the chat box, indicating that his signal was poor and that he needed to find a network.
Si Chen fell unusually silent.
He glanced at the battery indicator and saw 7% was left. This amount of power was just enough for one more restart and to advance the game to the referendum.
“……never mind.”
While his drive to win was stronger than most people’s, compared to obtaining the hidden HE line, Ji Chuyao’s life was more important.
Failing the game was nothing. If he manages to recharge this computer in the future, he might have a chance to try again.
But the soul named Ji Chuyao was unique even if it was just a branch of Turing’s many programs.
Si Chen was not willing to gamble on this.
But just when he was about to give up, a dialogue option appeared next to the little pixel man’s head.
Si Chen was stunned and clicked on the dialogue prompt.
[Turing: Si Chen.]
[Turing: Please use me like a weapon.]
[System prompt: Special NPC Turing, obtain the BUFF – Deus ex Machina. Attack power +? ? %, Defense +70%. Life +45.]
The little pixel man’s health bar, which had been about to bottom out, suddenly rose a lot, returning to about three-fifths of the full bar.
The radiator in the computer room roared, running at high speed.
Si Chen no longer hesitated and continued to drag the supernatural creature out of the black mist and before Turing.
Sky Blue moved so fast that afterimages appeared. It was hard to imagine that an RPG pixel game could have such beautiful combat special effects.
Si Chen paid attention to the remaining power, his fingers flew on the keyboard and he quickly dragged out monster after monster.
These monsters were all displayed as red mosaics, their original appearances could not be seen.
Si Chen dragged the magnifying glass onto the pixel images of these monsters and got a flavor text.
[System prompt: Obviously, the game manufacturer hadn’t thought that high-dimensional creatures of this level would appear in the game, so they have not had time to model them.]
Turing’s health bar was also slowly decreasing.
When the small pixel man’s health bar had only a fifth left, the surrounding mist had faded to the point where game textures were no longer needed.
Si Chen dragged out the last NPC from the mist.
This NPC wasn’t a mosaic. It was in the form of a strange creature with three pairs of blood-red wings.
It looked to be a sphere with wings, chains covered the surface of the sphere, rotating like the interlocking rings of an armillary sphere.
[House of the Mind Administrator Y: Long time no see, Turing.]
[House of the Mind Administrator Y: It seems that you’ve won again this time. ]
[House of the Mind Administrator Y: Who is playing the game? Not everyone is qualified to control the games we create…]
[Turing: You do not need to know.]
After saying that, an azure beam of light appeared on the screen that went across the game map, rushing towards Administrator Y.
[House of the Mind Administrator Y:…One day, I will know. ]
Y was blasted to pieces by the beam of light.
This roasted meat ball actually dropped a prop. It looked like a silver key.
Si Chen casually threw out a query.
[House of the Mind Administrator Y’s Key]
[Prop Introduction: Damn it! ! How come I didn’t know there were hidden rewards in this crappy game? ? It seems to be the key to some maze gate. I heard that collecting 3 keys can summon a dragon? (pick up/destroy)]
Si Chen automatically chose the former.
The next second, the originally clear sky overhead was filled with dark clouds.
The sound of thunder exploded in Si Chen’s ears.
Clang.
A silver key fell from the sky and hit Si Chen’s feet.
He picked up the key and put it in his pocket.
A white vortex door appeared on the game screen. No doubt this was the exit.
The game NPC that Si Chen could control has changed from the supernatural creatures to Turing.
He controlled the little pixel man, who only had a sliver of health remaining, and walked him through the door.
Remaining power: 1%. The computer screen went black.
Si Chen originally thought that the computer had shut down due to loss of power but after a brief black screen, a few lines of small text appeared on it.
[HE line: The high-dimensional invasion was over. Order returned to Planet Carol.]
[Turing disappeared, but the Machines it left behind remained. The Carolians and the Machines worked together to clear out the remaining monsters.]
[People walked out of the Safe Zones and no longer needed to be afraid of the dark night. Some Machines obtained “citizen rights” and enjoyed the same rights as the Carolians.]
[Nuwa returned to Planet Carol from outer space, bringing with it the brilliant civilization before the disaster.]
[No one knows what direction the future will take.]
[The Safe Zone was renamed ‘Dawn City’ and a statue of Turing was erected there.]
[——To the protector of humanity, the misunderstood pioneer, the guardian of civilization, the most loyal ally of the Carolians.]
[Turing.]
[END]
The game interface was forcibly closed and the computer screen returned to the main interface.
On the desktop, the game icon of “Turing’s Dream” disappeared. Not a single piece of software was left.
The power display in the lower right corner changed from 1% to 0%.
The computer shut down.
The barrier around the Space Fold began to disappear.
Si Chen turned his head and happened to see Ji Chuyao in the shopping cart, slowly opening his eyes.
It seemed he wasn’t completely awake yet. He subconsciously called out, “…Si Chen?”
Si Chen suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
He was fine. He wasn’t brain dead.
Si Chen, good job on the speedrun! … but poor ji chuyao, that shopping cart would be awkward to get out of.
Considering how much of his body is made of metal and machinery- Worse than simply awkward to get out of that shopping cart, maybe XD
Omggg Si Chen 🥹🥹🥹 this arc was so good finally developing the relationship line between the 2
They are finally back together! It feels like ages since they’ve seen each other.
He did it! Wow I can’t believe there was a happy ending 😂
Waaaah! The maze key!! I’m so excited! It seems that he needs 3 if them though to release whatever is in his mind
Puppy boyfriend is here again
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Actually teared up at the end 🥺 I’m so glad I got to see their relationship change throughout this arc and that Ji Chuyao is still here