Chapter 18

【Physiological function check completed】

【Host body unload completed】

【Brainwave disconnection in progress】

...

The once ambiguous words now echoed clearly in Xi Yu's mind, except this time they were crystal clear.

Just moments ago, he was standing in the Qingming Hall enjoying victory. Now, upon opening his eyes, he found himself a captive bird in a cage.

Through the liquid soaking his body, Xi Yu vaguely recognized the transparent dome in front of him. His limbs were connected by a few crystal lines, yet no matter how he tried, he couldn't move, as though an invisible shackle was controlling him.

The tension in his emotions made his breathing more labored.

Outside the dome, shadows of figures moved. The people in white hurried back and forth in the sterile white room, the colors bright and blinding.

Xi Yu's heart raced, and he couldn't help but struggle.

The movement caught the attention of a cold-faced, curly-haired beauty who bent down to observe.

She looked at Xi Yu through the dome for a moment before turning her head and giving instructions to the man beside her.

The man nodded indifferently, took off his work ID, and swiped it in the slot beside the dome. In an instant, Xi Yu was plunged into a dark abyss!

He remembered that on the first day at the General's Mansion, Luo Xi had said: "In today's world, cognition and memory have long since become independent of each other."

It wasn't until now that Xi Yu truly understood the meaning of those words.

Because, even though he couldn't remember any of his past, his brain was being rapidly filled with vast amounts of information, like being force-fed!

If it could be compared, it was like a hard drive being filled with files!

Floating in the darkness, Xi Yu widened his eyes in disbelief: Who am I? Why did I enter that game? Where am I right now—he knew everything!

However, though rationally he understood, emotionally, he couldn’t accept it.

As he was lost in thought, a light-footed girl with short hair appeared out of nowhere. She was perfect to the point of seeming almost fake. She smiled and spoke: "Host 00777, Xi Yu, I am Virtual Administrator 003. I now request a mental condition verification, and hope for your cooperation."Xi Yu furrowed his brows as he looked at her, his disheveled silver-white short hair faintly glowing in the darkness.

Administrator 003 still kept her smile: "Host 00777, Xi Yu, please answer, otherwise, I will perform a brain reset on you."

Only then did Xi Yu wake up from his confusion: "Yes."

Administrator 003 spoke softly: "Please tell me today's date."

Xi Yu: "February 15, 2046."

"Correct answer." Administrator 003 moved a little closer: "Please explain your background to me in detail."

Xi Yu's brain had just been loaded with this information and was struggling to digest it. With great difficulty, he spoke: "I am an artificial human, genetically created by the Capital BioTech Research Institute. My bodily functions are no different from those of natural humans, but I am a social utility product, not entitled to any natural human rights. I am the property of the National Artificial Human Management Department and authorized for use by Cyber's subsidiary, a large live-streaming company, within the specified time."

"Very good." Administrator 003's smile grew even brighter: "Please briefly state your occupation."

Xi Yu: "...Artificial human live-streamer for the Sea City Entertainment Company, serving for life in the Cloud Platform Network Park, responsible for live-streaming and showcasing various holographic game experiences to natural human audiences through holographic game equipment."

Administrator 003 paused for a moment, nodded, and then blinked before continuing: "Please repeat the five main rules of the live-streamer profession."

The process, which felt as mechanical as stamping an animal, naturally made Xi Yu feel a sense of resistance. But he knew that resistance was incorrect thinking for an artificial human; it would lead to a judgment of abnormal mental fluctuations and result in eternal damnation.

Endure, endure! There must be something more important to do beyond this!

Xi Yu slowly closed his eyes, then after a while, slowly opened them again, his inner self as calm as a deep pool.

He mechanically repeated the cruel facts that had just been loaded into his brain, each word a heavy hammer crushing his heart.

【1. The live-streamer is national property. Government departments have the right to approve the company's applications for modifications to the body and brain of artificial humans.】

【2. The live-streamer may never leave the Cloud Platform Park for life and has no rights to property, marriage, or reproduction. Any violation will result in an immediate brain reset.】

【3. The live-streamer's living standard is determined by their occupation level and audience rewards. Economic relationships between live-streamers are prohibited within the Cloud Platform Park.】

【4. The live-streamer must unconditionally obey the management of the Cloud Platform Security Department and must not harm or insult natural human experience players.】

【5. The live-streamer is not allowed to establish any degree of contact with any natural human.】

He recited them without missing a word, and Administrator 003 was very pleased after listening, even clapping happily.Xi Yu softly asked, "Is it done?"

Administrator 003 wore a gentle and harmless expression: "You've mentioned 'reset' so many times. Please explain to me the meaning of 'reset'."

Xi Yu's breath slightly faltered: "Every game has a certain elimination rate. The eliminated hosts and those who do not follow the profession manual will be reset by the security department. This means the host's body can be modified according to market demand, the host's brain can have knowledge chips implanted or deleted, and the host's memories... will be fully formatted!"

Administrator 003 nodded: "Please accurately describe the reset process and your relation to it."

Xi Yu remained silent for a long time before softly saying, "My reset count is one. The reason for the reset is... violation of the fourth rule of the host manual. In this reset, appearance modification—minor, cognitive modification—80% of the knowledge chips removed, memory clearance—100%."

Administrator 003 almost touched her nose to his: "So, what was the purpose of the dungeon you just completed?"

Xi Yu answered word by word: "The quality inspection dungeon just completed can only be participated in by new hosts and reset hosts. The elimination rate is 50%. Hosts who pass the quality inspection can undergo new employee training. Some hosts have virtual memories, which are part of the 2045 joint human brain memory research experiment conducted by the company and the Capital BioTech Institute. This has nothing to do with the host's personal experience or the dungeon's content. After passing the quality inspection, the memories are immediately cleared."

Only then did Administrator 003 straighten her body, gently cupping his beautiful face with her hands: "So, congratulations on passing the quality inspection. Please perform well this time, and I wish you will be accepted by the audience soon. Host 00777, Xi Yu, your mental condition has been verified as qualified."

Xi Yu didn’t have a chance to say anything more to the AI, as the overwhelming darkness swept over his consciousness once again.

It felt like a drowning person, finally able to breathe again after a long time. After his senses returned, Xi Yu involuntarily sat up and gasped for air, feeling pain in his lungs.

He didn't know when... the glass canopy and the wires binding him had disappeared.

Xi Yu breathed deeply while looking down at himself: He was wearing a one-piece host uniform, with a metal tag on his chest displaying his name and number 00777. His clothes and hair were soaked in a suspicious liquid, which retained a slight sticky feeling, and the smell...

"It's nutrient fluid. Stop sniffing it, go queue up for cleaning." A white-coated beauty standing by his nutrient pod said coldly: "There are only thirty minutes left until dormitory lights out. Your group came out too late."

Xi Yu instinctively made eye contact with her for a moment, then started surveying the surroundings: In this vast, minimalist space, dozens of horizontal nutrient pods were stacked like bookshelves. Many young men and women, dressed in the same host uniform as him, were crawling out. They received wristbands and queued up to leave. However, there were also quite a few artificial humans who had not regained their senses and were treated like corpses, being placed on carts by the white-coated staff and pushed away through another passage.

...Were these the ones eliminated in the dungeon earlier? Is this how they are mercilessly reset?!

Xi Yu couldn't help but frown, thinking: This is too arbitrary. Even the winning side has those who just got lucky, and the losing side has those who were just unfortunate.

While still conflicted, an ordinary-looking young girl was pushed past his nutrient pod, it was Sun Xiuy, the girl he had seen earlier.

Xi Yu immediately nimbly climbed out, blocking her path and saying, "Hey, you can't treat her like this, she's very smart!"

A white-coated worker, frowning, snapped: "00777! What are you doing?!"

Hosts are absolutely not allowed to interfere with the work of the security department, this is the company's strict rule. Xi Yu couldn't help but regain his rationality and closed his mouth.Fortunately, at that moment, a familiar figure swiftly approached — it was Luo Xi, also covered in nutrient fluid.

Luo Xi flashed a mischievous smile at the white-coated worker: "My group performed quite well in the losing side, and I got a free victory spot. Let's just leave her here."

With that, he scanned the wristband on Sun Xiuy's forehead.

The white-coated worker shrugged: "Alright."

Xi Yu looked at Luo Xi in confusion and noticed that his black host uniform was more refined, with beautiful dark embroidery and edging, indicating that he must have a special status.

The white-coated worker lightly swiped the work card next to Sun Xiuy's cart, confirming her identity. The previously unconscious Sun Xiuy immediately opened her eyes, stumbled off the bed, and frantically shouted, "Don’t, don’t come near me!"

Her face was filled with fear, and her body was trembling, clearly still trapped in the emotions from the end of the game.

The white-coated worker called over a colleague: "Hey, take her to unlock her brain."

Sun Xiuy, disoriented, couldn’t say anything before being swiftly escorted away by the efficient security staff.

Xi Yu let out a sigh of relief and once again locked eyes with Luo Xi’s deep gaze.

He had never suspected that he would meet this man again after the game ended, but he could never have imagined it would be under such "earth-shattering" circumstances.

Luo Xi’s expression was nearly the same as in the holographic simulation during the game. He raised an eyebrow and said, "What's wrong? No need to say thanks."

Xi Yu had originally wanted to find an opportunity to talk to him about the Demon Blade game, to tell him how he had analyzed his identity step by step, and how he had used the scale of the animation to pinpoint the location of the lady's tomb... But unfortunately, all of that seemed insignificant at this moment. Besides, discussing game content on the cloud platform was a serious taboo.

In the slightly awkward moment, a reckless young boy rushed over — it was the mixed-expression Wu Zhi. He grabbed Xi Yu’s arm tightly: "Brother, the white team all survived! He Yingqi did too, I saw him!"

Xi Yu forced a smile.

The white-coated worker frowned and urged them: "There are only twenty minutes until lights out. How long are you planning to keep making noise? Get moving right now!"

No one knew what the status of a smart and strong host was like in the outside world, but at least here, in the Cloud Platform Network Park, they were so insignificant that they weren’t even worth as much as a dog.

Xi Yu calmly pulled Wu Zhi to the queue and whispered, "Stop chatting, go rest first."

Surviving on just nutrient fluid without food or water in the nutrient pods for days wasn’t easy. Wu Zhi, whose face should have been full of collagen, now looked a bit worn out. The boy silently nodded, his eyes no longer carefree like when they first met, muttering in frustration, "Turns out all our memories are fake... I don’t have parents. I’m an artificial orphan."

Xi Yu, who had been somewhat melancholic, couldn’t help but chuckle."Brother, don't forget about me in the future," Wu Zhi said anxiously as he received his wristband and was escorted by the security team down a hallway in the opposite direction of Xi Yu.

Xi Yu looked back, gazing at the boy's thin back. Both of their futures were full of uncertainty, but a strong, unsubstantiated, yet intensely burning goal arose from deep within: he had to survive, he had to start protecting his memories from now on!

After all, one simply couldn't stop seeing themselves as human, even if they were life created in a test tube...

Could those naturally born humans not understand this simple truth?

Or had they, by now, become so arrogant that they were blind to the truth?