Chapter 20

The spacious classroom, nearly a hundred square meters, was adjusted to a comfortable temperature and humidity.

Around the classroom were dozens of lightweight chairs, and in the center, a holographic model of the words "Hai Shi Wen Yu" was rotating on the projection platform.

Speaking of which, this company was the livelihood and benefactor of the broadcasters. But for the newly awakened and still unsettled artificial humans, the company’s name felt like a bloodless knife, enough to remove the little bit of relaxation they had.

Therefore, the atmosphere in the classroom was extremely oppressive, which was not surprising.

As the scheduled training time arrived, Luo Xi walked into the already filled room, calmly stood next to the projection platform, and coldly looked around. "What’s this? Are we holding a memorial service for me?"

This new batch of broadcasters included some familiar faces to Xi Yu, along with several other survivors from different dungeons.

Unfortunately, despite the many people, the laughter was almost negligible.

"You don’t have to be so tense. Have you never thought that all knowledge can be downloaded through a brain chip? Why do we still need face-to-face training? And it’s even being led by fellow broadcasters?" Luo Xi asked one question after another, casually placing a stack of "Work Manuals" aside.

Wu Zhi cautiously raised his hand: "For... recruitment?"

"It’s not that complicated. We are all public assets. I just hope the seniors can say a few more words to help you relax, so... I am really here to be a life coach," Luo Xi said with a mischievous smile, then raised his hand and lightly wiped away the projection of the company name, revealing a long string of numbers. "Do you see this?"

Wu Zhi quickly raised his hand and answered: "1.68736 billion!"

"..." Luo Xi paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Very impressive, you can count."

Wu Zhi awkwardly scratched his head.

Luo Xi continued: "This is the number of members who have watched the company’s live stream up until yesterday. In other words, one in every ten people in the world could see your stupidity, fragility, hysteria, collapse of self-esteem, and pitiful begging for mercy! Do you think they will buy into these embarrassing acts?"

The entire room of artificial humans fell silent, probably recalling their awkward experiences in the quality check dungeon.

Luo Xi casually leaned back, sitting on the projection platform, leisurely crossing his long legs. "No, unless they’re mentally ill. So, the mental state you’re all showing now has no effect on changing the status quo. Why not abandon the useless things and try to find a path you can walk on? Whether it’s extraordinary intelligence, a strong body and mental strength, or this—"

He deliberately looked at Xi Yu: "A perfect appearance specially created to please natural humans—these are all weapons to gain attention."

Xi Yu was not affected and calmly replied: "Why do we need to seek attention? I think everyone’s problem is that they can’t accept this reality. I don’t understand—if natural humans like games, why don’t they play themselves instead of watching us play? And even though they watch, they still want to eliminate us. It’s truly absurd."

"Your answer is right in your question. Now, tell me, why did ancient Rome have gladiator arenas, and why have reality shows from decades ago still been popular?" Luo Xi didn’t get as angry as he did in the dungeon but instead patiently answered this question, summarizing frankly: "Because primal impulses are human nature. Whether it’s a liking for blood and violence, high-intelligence showdowns, emotional entanglements, or voyeurism... artificial human games, at the cost of ‘being human,’ can bear the market in all aspects. Not to mention... many foreign conglomerates’ most obsessive activity is placing huge bets in expert-level arenas as entertainment."

Xi Yu thought for a moment, finally nodded, and returned to his quiet state.Luo Xi continued, "As for the issue of accepting reality that you're concerned about..."

He returned to his usual coldness and sarcasm: "If you don’t even have this ability, then even if you were given the rights of natural humans, you would still be a worthless, eliminated being. Remember, we don't have parents, relatives, or even often have friends. In this world of the Cloud Platform, being cared for and loved is simply an impossible fantasy, so there's no need to suffer for loneliness and despair! Calm your fragile hearts, you little cells just crawled out of test tubes."

The things this man said were becoming more and more unpleasant, but they were also increasingly real.

Every new broadcaster was listening seriously, and the room was silent as a tomb.

Outside, the sunlight was just right, and the real temperature on the skin gradually allowed Xi Yu to accept the fact that the dungeon was all like a fleeting dream. The restlessness of the pain somehow started to gradually fade away.

This training ended early in the afternoon.

Most broadcasters went off in small groups to eat, while a few others eagerly wanted to ask Luo Xi more questions.

Xi Yu thought for a moment, but was more interested in the electronic reading room in the living area. So, he quietly put away the "Work Manual" he had just received and left.

Luo Xi, annoyed at having to deal with the newcomers, saw this and discreetly dismissed the others. In just a few steps, he hurried down the hallway and caught up with him: "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Don't you want to know something? You have to understand, it will be hard to see me again after this training."

Xi Yu shook his head.

Luo Xi said, "Your curiosity was pretty strong in the dungeon."

"It's not that I'm not curious, it's just that the things I'm curious about have nothing to do with you, and you can't answer me," Xi Yu explained seriously, then paused for a moment, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "However, I can’t imagine how your scars came to be."

Most artificial humans were good-looking, and Luo Xi's terrifying scars were truly out of place among the broadcasters. But he didn’t expect this young broadcaster to speak so naturally about it, so he smiled for a moment and said, "I don’t remember. It was an accident in the laboratory before my reset."

Though Xi Yu’s entire being, from his hair to his fingertips, exuded an aura of spirit, he didn’t really care much about beauty. He looked at Luo Xi with a studying gaze, "You’re already very successful, making so much money for the company, so why not apply for plastic surgery?"

Luo Xi shrugged indifferently: "I could, but there's no need. Do I look that effeminate?"

"I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that these scars don't belong to you," Xi Yu shook his head. "And when a person can see their own face clearly, they can also easily see their heart."

Luo Xi was silent for a moment, then said, "Memory erasure technology is very advanced. You'd better not waste time on these illusory things every day."

Xi Yu didn’t argue, simply nodded. "Mm."

Luo Xi fell silent and walked forward.

Xi Yu asked, "Now that there's no one around, what exactly do you want to say by following me?"Luo Xi stopped, then took another step.

Xi Yu was patient, gently persuading him, "Go ahead, I won’t mind anything. Why are you acting so awkward after leaving the dungeon?"

Luo Xi stopped again, suddenly bent down and whispered in his ear, "I dreamt about you last night."

Xi Yu: "…………………………………"

"It’s not like that," Luo Xi’s expression darkened, struggling to control his volume. "I don’t know why I dreamt of you, but in the dream, you and I were in another dungeon, your hair was long, and your personality was cold, completely different from now."

Xi Yu grew more and more confused about what he was saying.

Luo Xi continued, "Actually, I didn’t pay much attention to the weird dream until today when I heard a colleague mention that you were quite a successful broadcaster. My curiosity got the better of me, so I used a little trick and checked some previous records."

Xi Yu, who had been nonchalant, was now visibly shocked. He immediately grabbed his arm and asked, "Do you have any records from before my reset?"

Luo Xi straightened up and shook his head, "Once you're reset, no matter how famous you were, all data related to artificial humans gets wiped clean. It’s the company's rule. But I found something in another veteran broadcaster’s dungeon records."

He slightly adjusted his posture, subtly revealing a small display screen in his palm.

Although the distance was far, Xi Yu had exceptional vision and could clearly see: On the screen was a photo of an unfamiliar male broadcaster. The male broadcaster seemed to be in a lively setting, with many other broadcasters in the same uniform passing by in the background. Notably... in a corner of the photo, easily overlooked, stood Xi Yu with long hair down to his waist and an arrogant expression!

Xi Yu widened his bright eyes, wanting to reach out to touch it, as though he was cautiously touching another world.

"Alright, the surveillance here is intense," Luo Xi immediately put away the electronic device. "I should’ve never met you, but my subconscious holds memories of you, meaning at least the previous version of me knew the previous version of you."

This statement sounded ridiculous, but to Xi Yu, it was incredibly precious. He silently gazed at his own reflection in Luo Xi’s eyes, then gently smiled. "Didn't you just say that memory erasure technology is very advanced and that we shouldn't dwell on illusory things?"

Luo Xi raised an eyebrow. "When there’s a clue, it’s no longer illusory."

Xi Yu lowered his head. "Thank you for telling me all this, but for the current me, if I don’t stay obedient, I’ll face the risk of being reset again, so there’s nothing I can do."

"I didn’t ask you to do anything," Luo Xi shrugged. "I’m just giving you a wishful thought. Maybe one day you’ll find out what happened before, so you won’t lose hope in reality."

Xi Yu: "...I didn’t expect you to be so kind."

Luo Xi chuckled. "I’m the best person in the Cloud Platform. After some time, you’ll realize that there aren’t many kind and honest men like me left."

After saying this strange thing, he went off in the direction of the cafeteria.Xi Yu looked at Luo Xi’s tall and straight figure, as if seeing another presence through him.

Lost in thought for a moment, he couldn’t help but feel a bittersweet smile, mixed with a few more musings about his past.

The reading room for junior broadcasters wasn’t large, but it was empty during lunch, leaving Xi Yu to wander aimlessly.

With the changes in times, most books were now distributed in electronic form, and paper books had become collectibles in glass cabinets. Naturally, this place was no exception, filled with large ink screens and rental equipment.

Xi Yu bypassed the indifferent administrator and found a public touch-screen computer. After scanning his wristband, he was disappointed to learn that to rent a reader, he needed universal currency from the Cloud Platform. E-books were similarly expensive, not to mention directly downloading knowledge into the brain chip’s knowledge base. The cost was far beyond what he could afford at the moment... It seemed that knowledge in this game world was also an extremely valuable resource.

Feeling a bit frustrated from his lack of results, Xi Yu closed the internal book city and noticed a ranking query in the corner of the screen. He was curious.

The first page displayed his own data: popularity, currency balance, level, and experience were all zero, and the status was "unassessed."

Xi Yu checked Wu Zhi’s profile, and it was the same.

He stroked his chin, thinking for a moment, then moved to the expert leaderboard.

The Cloud Platform’s manager in the dormitory had been right—the expert leaderboard indeed consisted of fifty people, and as he checked, the fifty names were constantly changing: rising, falling, joining, disappearing...

With his excellent memory, Xi Yu tried to memorize everything he could see.

[Luo Xi, 10th. Xu Tu, 32nd. Also with them was the man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, Bai Qi, currently in 18th place.]

After a moment, Xi Yu couldn’t resist clicking on Luo Xi’s entry, but the internal network immediately displayed a message: You do not have official broadcaster privileges.

Xi Yu shook his head and was about to leave when he turned around and almost bumped into a young man.

The other person was also wearing a junior broadcaster uniform. He looked gentle, with a fair face, and when he smiled, his eyes curved, showing dimples. "Hello, are you a newcomer who arrived yesterday too?"

Xi Yu nodded.

The young man extended his hand. "I’m Zhao Zhusheng, just like you. Let’s look out for each other in the future."

Xi Yu calmly declined, "There’s probably nothing to look out for. It’s better not to network too much. The instructor was clear about that today."

Zhao Zhusheng blocked his way. "Don’t mind me, I just really admire experts in mental combat. I heard from Fang Hao and the others that your combat power in the dungeon is quite high."

Xi Yu was puzzled. "Mental combat?"Zhao Zhusheng: "Yeah, it's when you wear the holographic equipment and use brainwave transmission speed, neural response speed, and physical strength index to determine your combat abilities in the game. Due to the delay in brainwave analysis, in the past, only professional eSports players could—"

"Admiring me won't help, I have nothing to teach you." Xi Yu's gaze remained gentle. "I need to go eat, goodbye."

Zhao Zhusheng tried to stop him. "Hey! Don’t be so defensive!"

Xi Yu had a good temper, but he never went out of his way to please others, and he suspected that unnecessary politeness often had ulterior motives.

He stuck to his stance, just turning around to smile politely before quickly disappearing without a trace.

Zhao Zhusheng furrowed his brow in frustration, then turned to notice Luo Xi’s ranking in the center of the screen, causing him to nervously press his lips together.

Author's Note:

Luo Xi: The Cloud Platform's top warm-hearted guy, unattractive, kind-hearted, capable, and not talkative.