"Superpower User of restricted rank, code 1002 - 'Ji Minghuan', mentor visiting, prepare to accept interrogation as soon as possible."
The boy in the hospital gown's eyelids trembled slightly.
The indoor sounds echoed into his sleep, like in the winter when the icicles on the top of a stalactite cave suddenly melt, a "crack" splits, falling and shattering on the ground, shards mingling with ice dust flying around.
Ji Minghuan opened his eyes and stared motionlessly at the silvery-white ceiling.
The traces of the dream faded away. The speaker system was replaying the cold orders, which finally turned into a slight noise. Apart from the footsteps in the corridor, nothing could be heard; a deathly silence enveloped the confinement room once more.
"The mentor is here..."
Ji Minghuan murmured softly and slightly twitched his nose, indeed catching that familiar smell of disinfectant.
As he was about to get up, a violent tearing sensation suddenly surged from deep within his brain, like a nail being driven into his skull, forcibly opening a hole, shaking even his brain matter.
Immediately afterward, a low, hoarse prompt sounded in his ear again.
[You have currently entered "Complete Split Mode", you will simultaneously have the perspective of both the "main body" and all "game characters."]
[Tip: If unable to adapt to the complete split mode, you may enter the system panel interface of the game character and turn off the option switch.]
Ji Minghuan gently took a breath, calming his heartbeat, and lay quietly on the bed.
At this moment, two completely different scenes were unfolding in his eyes.
Gu Wenyu opened his eyes suddenly from the dim room of China Li Jing, like an android, staring blankly at the dark ceiling, the wall clock read 06:05 AM;
As for Ji Minghuan himself, he was calmly staring at the dome of the confinement room, his dark pupils reflecting the cold, lined lights, slightly dazzling but he didn't blink even once.
The dim ceiling and the silvery-white ceiling infinitely overlapped in his vision, like placing two mirrors facing each other, reflecting endless shadows, as if extending to the world's end.
Fortunately, the tearing pain from his skull did not affect Ji Minghuan much:
——He had preemptively adjusted the "pain perception" in the game settings to the lowest, the sensation was manageable, akin to someone flicking a finger on his forehead.
Ji Minghuan controlled Character One, "Gu Wenyu," to close his eyes and continue sleeping.
Subsequently, Character One's perspective turned into pitch-black darkness, and Ji Minghuan was no longer troubled by the muddled perspectives.
He temporarily withdrew his consciousness from Character One's body, getting up from the infirmary's bed in the confinement room.
Instinctively, he touched the collar around his neck.
The signal light's glow reflected on the side of his index finger. When he looked down, he saw the light was still blue, indicating that the collar remained in a "no superpower usage detected" state by the wearer.
Ji Minghuan sighed in relief, getting up straight from the bed.
Turning his head, he saw the iron doors leading into the room swing open one after another.
His mentor, still dressed in the usual white coat, the hem brushing past the metal threshold, walked in leisurely with hands tucked behind his back.
Ji Minghuan did not look at him, not lifting his head, asked: "I haven't seen that officer uncle for days, are you guys not letting him come anymore?"
"No, there's no point now." The mentor shook his head.
Ji Minghuan got off the bed, barefoot, walked to the table, and pulled up a chair to sit down.
"Ha... I actually thought it was nice when he'd come and punish me from time to time, gave me some exercise, so I wouldn't end up a dried corpse lying around."
He paused and shifted his gaze with a teasing tone: "Anyway, he didn't dare to do anything, just blustering with his throat to put on a show."
The mentor sipped his tea, looking up at Ji Minghuan: "We're planning to let you meet some other children."
"Other children?" Ji Minghuan was taken aback.
"Other children imprisoned here, you all should become good friends."
"Why?" Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow, unsure what the mentor was up to now, "Aren't you afraid we'll conspire to escape or something?"
Saying this, he added in his heart: Or... maybe those kids are your people too.
"There's nothing to worry about," the mentor smiled, "We know all about every child here." He paused, "Except you."
Ji Minghuan found it unsurprising: "I don't know much about myself either, let alone you guys."
He raised a hand to his chin and inclined his head casually: "Come to think of it, didn't you promise me yesterday, you'd tell me about the other two superhuman types?"
"Yes, today is for introducing you to these two factions," the mentor said, "Our people are beginning to suspect you might not be a superpower user but an Anecdote Envoy or an Exorcist."
He paused for a moment: "Unfortunately, neither superpower user genetics, the Celestial Driver prototype of an Exorcist, nor the Anecdote Atlas of an Anecdote Envoy have ever been detected in you... That's our most perplexing part."
"Exorcist, Anecdote Envoy?"
Ji Minghuan plucked these names from the mentor's words.
[Unlocked "Key Intelligence System" – The more intelligence you acquire about the "Superhuman World View," the higher the probability of generating more powerful, potential "game characters" with initial values.]
[Current "Superpower User" branch worldview development progress: 40%]
[Current "Exorcist" branch worldview development progress: 5%]
[Current "Anecdote Envoy" branch worldview development progress: 1%]
[Note: The increase in "development progress" will depend on the importance of acquired intelligence.]
So it seems, not creating a character right away was indeed correct, otherwise, I would have missed too much... After drawing words from the mentor's mouth, then constructing a game character, maybe I will spawn one or two especially rare "character files."
Ji Minghuan thought without showing any trace, eyes scanning the panel, then cautiously watched the mentor's reaction.
The other seemed unaware of anything unusual, instead, twisted the lid of his thermos, and asked:
"Which one do you want to hear about first?"
"Anecdote Envoy sounds more interesting," Ji Minghuan said without hesitation.
The mentor interlocked his fingers and began narrating with the tone of telling a children's storybook: "A long, long time ago, there was a whale in this world, inside its belly..."
Ji Minghuan frowned, interrupting, "Can you change your tone? Make it normal, you're telling a bedtime story to a three-year-old?"