One moment Zhang Chenyan was proud of his resolve, and the next, he was slapped.
Yes, a slap!
A hard, resounding slap!
And it wasn't just anywhere; it landed squarely on his right cheek. Even more shocking was his first reaction—not anger, but the realization that 0810 was left-handed.
"Are you awake now?" 0810's voice reached his ears.
Zhang Chenyan heard her clearly, but he didn't understand what she meant by asking if he was awake. Awake? How did that relate to what they had been talking about? Was insisting on being irreplaceable considered not being awake?
"Look at me," 0810 commanded again.
Zhang Chenyan opened his eyes, trying to focus on her, but the lights around him were too bright, making it hard to adjust. Something felt off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"You're back," 0810 said, her words even more cryptic.
Even though he wasn't sure what was happening, Zhang Chenyan replied, "No way I'm choosing a clone. I won't agree to it! No matter which one, I won't agree!"
However, perhaps because of the slap, his tone wasn't as strong as before.
0810 didn't respond to his declaration; she simply waited quietly for Zhang Chenyan to adjust to his surroundings.
It wasn't long before Zhang Chenyan realized where he was and what 0810 had meant—he was back! He was really back! He had returned to the room with green walls! He was sitting in the metal chair!
And standing in front of him was 0810.
"Your situation was dangerous," 0810 said, cutting straight to the point. "You almost got lost in there."
"Lost?" Zhang Chenyan echoed, not fully understanding, and then explained, "I was just experiencing a game project called 'Elysium.'"
"Being lost means your consciousness would have been trapped in the digital world forever, leaving only a shell in the physical world," 0810 clarified his first question, then pointed to herself. "The opposite of me—I only have a holographic projection in the physical world. To me, the digital world is the real one."
As she spoke, 0810's expression mirrored the sadness Zhang Chenyan had seen earlier, though he couldn't understand why she would feel that way.
"By the way, are you sure that the project called 'Elysium' really exists?" 0810 asked again.
Zhang Chenyan nodded confidently, though he was slightly puzzled. "That project is well-known. Don't tell me you haven't heard of it. Even if you haven't been to Z City, you must've heard of it. Some people even see it as their ticket to wealth."
0810 scrutinized Zhang Chenyan, seemingly trying to determine if he was joking.
"Even if you doubt me, ask Alex! Alex went in with me; surely you can't doubt him?" Zhang Chenyan said, thinking how right he had been to bring Alex along for the test.
After hearing this, 0810 immediately contacted Alex. Though Zhang Chenyan couldn't hear what Alex said, judging by 0810's reaction, Alex must have confirmed his story.
But for some reason, even though Alex confirmed the project's existence, 0810's expression darkened.
As soon as 0810 ended the call, Zhang Chenyan quickly asked, "So, did Alex also say there's a project called 'Elysium'?"
"Yes, he did," 0810 admitted readily.
"So, I wasn't lying," Zhang Chenyan said with a smile. "But I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. Isn't it a project everyone in the digital world knows about?"
0810 fell silent for a moment before speaking clearly. "The project everyone in the digital world knows is called 'Adventure Compilation.' The reason for this name is that the game collects all the existing horror and thriller plots from games, movies, anime, and novels. Every player who enters is randomly assigned a scenario. Only by enduring can they proceed to the next level. If they clear enough levels and last long enough, not only do they get free entry, but they also win substantial rewards."
Zhang Chenyan felt both familiar and unfamiliar with what 0810 described. It sounded exactly like "Elysium," yet 0810 called it "Adventure Compilation."
Compared to "Adventure Compilation," the name "Elysium" was more meaningful. "Adventure Compilation" was straightforward but lacked the grandeur of "Elysium."
"Could it be that the name was just changed?" Zhang Chenyan suggested with a laugh. "Maybe the old name was too plain, so they updated it to something more sophisticated? Or perhaps the game has multiple names—some official, some given by fans?"
0810 shook her head. "No."
She then projected a screen in front of Zhang Chenyan.
The page displayed reviews for the "Adventure Compilation" game. Scrolling through the comments, whether recent, favorable, or critical, none mentioned another name. Even when 0810 searched specifically, the only result was "Elysium Island," not "Elysium."
Zhang Chenyan was dumbfounded. Could he have really gotten the name wrong? That seemed unlikely, given how often he had repeated it.
In the end, Zhang Chenyan shook his head. "Whatever. It's just a name; it doesn't really matter."
To his surprise, 0810 responded, "It matters a lot!"
"What?" Zhang Chenyan was confused. "It's just a label."
"Do you remember what I just said?" 0810 asked patiently, repeating herself. "'Adventure Compilation' is named that way because it collects existing horror and thriller plots from various media. Every player who enters is assigned a random scenario. Only by enduring can they proceed to the next level. If they clear enough levels and last long enough, they earn rewards."
This time, Zhang Chenyan finally understood. "You're saying that these scenarios aren't original—they're pre-existing stories. They've all appeared in other works, so we've either seen them or heard of them."
0810 nodded, then asked, "You kept mentioning 'clones' earlier. Tell me, in which work do these clones appear? It can be something current or something from the past."
Zhang Chenyan was at a loss for words. None of the scenarios he had experienced existed in any previous work.
Now, he was fully awake. He couldn't console himself by thinking the game had been upgraded to include personalized original stories. He had to face the reality: he had entered a pre-designed narrative.
What he saw was exactly what the entity behind the scenes wanted him to see.
0810 could see that Zhang Chenyan had finally grasped the situation.
"And Alex…" Zhang Chenyan began, but then hesitated.
"His memory, like yours, has been synchronized and altered," 0810 said with a slight frown. "And it happened even though he had participated in that project… under these circumstances, his memory was still altered."
0810's additional comment highlighted the severity of the situation.
Who or what could have such power? The thought alone was terrifying.
"To be precise, every scenario I experienced was original," Zhang Chenyan said, his voice trembling as he recalled his experiences and the many deaths he had faced.
"Every scenario?" 0810 was curious. "What exactly did you experience?"
Zhang Chenyan answered honestly, "The first one was with Chen Yijing. A lot of people were trying to kill us. By the time I arrived at the familiar inn, he had been fighting for a long time, his eyes bloodshot, his axe already blunted. I didn't want to kill anyone, but those people were too crazy, too hateful… so I fought back."
"You killed people there?" 0810 asked. She knew Zhang Chenyan well enough to understand his nature.
Zhang Chenyan nodded. "Yes, and I killed a lot."
Even now, thinking back on it sent chills down his spine.
Sensing Zhang Chenyan's distress, 0810 tried to downplay it. "It's just a game. Killing people in a game is normal. They're just characters, with no real meaning. You don't even see blood; they just disappear, or you get some points."
But Zhang Chenyan shook his head. "No, they were real people. The blood splattered, the axe meeting resistance against bone, the struggle to cut through… and the sensation of metal tearing through flesh, it was all so real… like I was actually killing."
Zhang Chenyan described it haltingly, unsure if his words were accurate enough, but they reflected his true feelings at the time.
"The blood was warm, and when it splattered on your face, it felt sticky. If it got in your eyes, it would affect your vision, though that didn't happen often because your eyes would reflexively blink…" Zhang Chenyan recalled and described, "When they rushed at you, you could feel their weight, their body heat… After killing them, they didn't disappear right away; they didn't die immediately. Death was a process, and you had to make sure they were truly dead, sometimes delivering a finishing blow…"
"Enough!" 0810 cut him off, seeing how badly Zhang Chenyan was affected.
She never expected this! All digital world games had to undergo rigorous review. With the development of the metaverse, people's horizons had expanded, but not everything was good. Choices had to be made to select the right ones and discard the unfit.
As 0810 had mentioned before, some games included "killing" as part of their excitement, but the "killing" was ultimately just numerical. A character had a health bar with a set value; every hit reduced that value until it reached zero, at which point the system declared the character dead. Meanwhile, the player received points as a reward.
In these games, the emphasis was on numerical significance, minimizing the portrayal of "death."
This allowed players to enjoy the thrill without excessive gore or violence.
But Zhang Chenyan's description clearly went beyond that scope. According to his account, this was not about numbers; it was real killing.
"Chen Yijing?" 0810 asked, "Did Chen Yijing make you do this?"
Zhang Chenyan shook his head, speaking frankly. "It was me! They pushed me, but it was my choice."
0810 remained silent, unsure of what to say or what she could say.
"To be exact, from beginning to end, it was all me," Zhang Chenyan's recollections grew more vivid. "There was no Chen Yijing. It was just me… another side of me."
0810 watched Zhang Chenyan intently, understanding that he was struggling internally. Perhaps she should offer words of encouragement, some motivational talk to ease his emotions, or maybe she should sternly explain right and wrong, firmly telling him what was good and bad. But because she was 0810, because he was Zhang Chenyan, and because they knew each other well, she said nothing in the end.
Instead, she gently placed her hand over Zhang Chenyan's. This was the physical world, and she was just a hologram, without a physical body. Zhang Chenyan couldn't feel her weight, let alone any warmth.
Yet, even so, 0810 did it anyway.
She quietly waited for Zhang Chenyan, silently "holding" his hand.
I don't want to distract you or become a burden.
I know you're fighting an internal battle, and I won't abandon you. I won't judge you; I won't preach about right and wrong. I just want you to know that I'm here, always by your side, quietly supporting you…