Huh? What did you say? Immortal Sister, are you messing with me? No matter how you spin it, this plot development is too outrageous!
Although I felt that what I was facing was definitely more than just a simple dream, suddenly jumping to this level... This is even less reliable than dreaming, okay!
But the unknown glowing figure in front of me didn't give me any time to question it. She just continued on her own: "The World Arbitration Agency has made the most appropriate judgment regarding your identity and corresponding permissions. According to the last updated database... the highest authority individual has encountered an anomaly, pan-space links have been interfered with... recalibrating link points failed... I'm sorry, Emperor, the distance between us is too great, the Void connection is about to be cut off... we will... proceed to... #@#%... ￥￥#￥%..."
I saw the projection in front of me suddenly start to shake violently, just like a TV signal experiencing severe distortion. At the same time, the voice on the other side suddenly turned into a sound I couldn't understand, which gave me quite a scare: "Hey! What's wrong with you? Are you broken?"
No one answered me. I only felt a sharp pain in my head, and then the whole world plunged into darkness.
"Ah Jun? What's wrong with you?"
A sudden, anxious call in my ear brought me back to my senses. I shook my head and found myself standing at the school gate, with students around who were panicking and taking selfies with some burning phenomenon on site. Next to me, Qianqian was shaking my arm vigorously while anxiously calling my name.
Seeing me wake up, Qianqian finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Ah Jun, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly freeze there and not respond no matter how I called you?"
"Oh, nothing, just spaced out suddenly..."
"Spaced out? You space out that seriously?" Qianqian clearly didn't believe my explanation, but she didn't ask further and pulled me towards the campus, "Come on, if we don't hurry, we'll be late. I almost forget what that principal, who only appears during morning study, looks like..."
I obediently followed, but my mind was racing.
It was clear that while so much time had passed in the dream, in reality, only a moment had gone by—there was nothing strange about that. What mattered more to me was the content of the dream.
The world in the dream now had a name: the Xyrin Empire, and that mysterious girl had told me something. My exploration of that dream seemed to have taken a big step forward because of that, but in fact, I only had more questions. What did the dream that had been troubling me all along mean? What was this so-called Xyrin Empire? What was today's attack? Superpower? Supernatural phenomenon? Everything turned into a fog, making me incredibly confused.
By now, I could no longer simply consider that world a mere dream.
A day of school life passed in a daze. For who knows how many times, it felt as if I hadn't attended school at all.
"Ah Jun, what's wrong? You've seemed so absent-minded all day today?" On the way home, Qianqian asked worriedly.
"Nothing," I gave a bright smile, "You know how often I space out."
"Really just spacing out?" Qianqian looked skeptical, "Are you sure you're not thinking about some beauty?"
"...Next topic."
"Oh, so next topic, what's the name of that beauty?"
"Xu Qianqian, is that okay?"
"Hmph, at least you know your place!"
How strange, these words that should be playful banter between a couple, when coming from our mouths, carried none of the expected feeling... Could it be because we are too familiar with each other, and our relationship always stays this close to a kind of familial affection?
Today, my sister had to handle company matters and would be back late. After having dinner alone, I went back to my room to sort out what had happened today.
After thinking for a long time, the puzzlement remained. I decided to try to call upon that "dream" world again.
It seemed that the few successful connections had strengthened my link with that world. This time, I very smoothly felt that subtle sense of connection.
The first thing to do after establishing the connection was to immediately inquire about the Xyrin Empire.
"Xyrin Mother Star received external instruction set...permissions confirmed...entering remote command mode...uploading consolidated instruction set."
Strange, this time the voice told me something different...but thinking about it, it made sense. That world seemed to be awakening, and as it gradually awakened, it was normal for the information I received to change. However...
The specific content of this information was too abnormal!
Zenith Remote Space Strike System, got that, pass.
Xyrin Army Transmission System, what is this thing?
Paswell Ghost Energy Recharge System, what does that mean?
Xiling Directed Star Annihilation Cannon? Hey, this thing sounds completely overpowered, what's the deal with this?
Pandora Army Fortress...is this something a wholesome young person should be researching?
Pan-Space Spiritual Shock Matrix...isn't there anything here I can understand? All these things seem like something from a third-rate sci-fi movie with big-headed aliens!
But as more and more information flooded into my spirit world, I had no time to ridicule those bizarre terms that seriously challenged social harmony.
The massive flow of information no longer streamed into my spirit world like a calm river. Instead, it poured in like a dam breaking, making me feel like I was trapped in a quagmire, helplessly sinking into the mud of information, and like I was in a storm, battered by the winds and rain of data. Gradually, my brain completely gave up analyzing the incoming data and just blindly absorbed large amounts of information. At first, I could feel sharp pain in my head, but soon numbness took over my senses. I was teetering in the flood of information, with only one thought left in my mind: If this continues, I'll spend the rest of my life in Qingcheng Mountain Mental Hospital...
After who knows how long, the data transmission finally ended, and my spirit was already on the verge of breaking down.
What an exaggeration... I felt my mind was crammed full of various bizarre things. I fear I couldn't remember anything else for the rest of my life...
I was dazed for a while before I started sorting through my groggy mind to see what new things had entered my memory. But I quickly discovered that these incoming pieces of information didn't exist in my mind like normal memories. Instead, they were strictly categorized and stored in an orderly manner, seemingly accessible at any time, just like... files on a computer's hard drive!
Whatever, by now my nerves were well-honed; nothing could surprise me.
Calming down, I figured this memory method had its benefits: it's convenient, safe, and reliable, with no mix-ups or forgetfulness. But its downside was also apparent: you had to know in advance that a specific piece of data existed in this database to access it. Unlike normal memory, you couldn't recall something through association or an "aha" moment. In other words, aside from purposeful retrieval, you couldn't possibly know the content of these materials!
It seemed I needed a thorough search of these materials... or should I call it a full-system scan? Why did it feel like my brain was transformed into some subtle state?
Fortunately, only this portion of external information was stored in this manner, and my original memories remained unchanged. At least, I didn't have to worry about becoming a humanoid machine...
But, the sheer amount of data exceeded my expectations. After scanning less than a third of it, I lost interest in those incomprehensible terms. So, I focused directly on the last piece of data that came in.
"Comprehensive analysis of the above reasons confirms that the non-executable rate of the instruction set is 99.999999%..."
Me: "..."
Can someone tell me what was the point of everything I've been busy with just now? What use are these things crammed in my brain? Are they just a product recall list?
Could I seek compensation from that alien sister with this list?
Alright, it seemed I had no choice. The only connection to the Xyrin Empire was through the projection in my dreams. Except for that brief energy manifestation at the school gate, the Xyrin Empire had never appeared in reality...
Hm? Speaking of that energy attack, it seemed it was also in that non-executable instruction list just now?
...Okay, I surrender...