The appearance of the new skill put Pei Guang in an extremely happy mood, but after looking around, he found there wasn't any proper place to test it out, which frustrated him.
However, a new idea suddenly came to him: there was a place where he could experience the skill properly: the Memory World of the Garden of Recollection.
It was the perfect time to go ask whether that dungeon had finished its maintenance.
If it was ready, then no matter what, he had to go in and enjoy himself.
Back on the Astral Express, Pei Guang approached the Messenger stationed onboard.
Pei Guang: "Hey! Quick question…"
Before he could finish, the Messenger had already spoken.
"Hello~ Mmm~ The Memory World is still under maintenance, so we're unable to provide you with the Swarm Disaster experience, but…"
The Messenger looked at Pei Guang with excitement and said, "But we do have a new experience dungeon, would you be interested? In this dungeon, you'll be role-playing a character. The world is still maintained personally by Lord Fuli, and even has support from some… other entities."
Pei Guang: "Hmm? A new dungeon? Why didn't you let me know?"
Messenger: "Because we know that if you want to come, even if we don't tell you, you'll show up. And if you don't want to come, even if we told you, you wouldn't bother. Am I wrong?"
Pei Guang: "Fair enough. So, what's the theme this time?"
Seeing Pei Guang's interest, the Messenger began the explanation.
Unlike before, where players entered the Memory World with their own attributes, this time the sponsor didn't have enough power, so Pei Guang would be entering in a designated unit form.
Of course, that so-called "designated unit" was just a shell; Pei Guang's thoughts and actions wouldn't be affected. Some illogical abilities might be restricted, though.
This time's experience was straightforward: the "Emperor War" that followed the Swarm Disaster.
Pei Guang would simulate and experience events during that period.
His actions would be recorded as part of a memory archive and might even influence how history is rewritten. After all, current analytical models of Pei Guang were beyond even the Genius Society's capacity for deterministic calculation.
The future of the entire universe had become increasingly uncertain, and now, someone was looking to add even more static and chaos into that uncertain picture.
As for the Aeon of Remembrance, Fuli, each time Pei Guang entered a memory world created by Them, They were able to extract pieces of memory and settings from outside this universe.
These fragments not only made Them stronger, but also gave Them better tools to face whatever the future might hold.
Pei Guang's arrival had already introduced unpredictable variables into this world.
Ideally, everything would work out for the best—but what if it didn't? As the Aeon of Remembrance, Fuli needed to prepare for the "what ifs."
Of course, the Messenger didn't know any of this, and Pei Guang was even more in the dark.
All he knew was: there's a new scenario to play, and not only could he reclaim the Light Cone he used to synthesize Cat Cake last time, he'd also get new rewards.
Plus, this dungeon was great for passing time. Lately, everyone had been doing their own thing, so diving into a scenario like this felt like a perfect way to spend time.
Like before, this simulation could be exited at any time, and re-entering would resume from where he left off.
Pei Guang was pleased with this setup.
"No problem~ Looks like I'm going to have a blast again~"
Pei Guang was more than happy with this Memory World simulation, even if the first time had gone so long that it caused him to experience digital-sheep-tail side effects.
Under the Messenger's guidance, Pei Guang entered the special Memory World once again.
The first thing he did was check for the exit button—it was still there, and that alone made him feel confident again.
As a player, he strongly condemned any game that lacked an exit function, especially one with such immersive, full-body experiences.
Inside the world, with busy streets and bustling crowds, Pei Guang quickly opened his system menu. Inside the mailbox was the familiar Memory World welcome bundle.
[Memory World Starter Pack]
Pei Guang didn't rush to open the bundle. Instead, he first checked his current status.
Unlike irresponsible netizens, entering the Memory World always came with a background briefing from Fuli.
"Hm? It's still set after the Universal Swarm Disaster?"
Pei Guang skimmed the story background. Sure enough, it was still during the post Swarm-Disaster era, when the IPC was rapidly expanding.
Pei Guang: "Good grief… Last time in the Simulated Universe it was a swarm disaster, now it's a swarm disaster again. That time it was fighting the Company, now I'm still fighting the Company?"
In Pei Guang's view, showing up at this point in time meant going head-to-head with the out-of-control expansion of the Company. But whatever, last time wasn't serious, so this time he'd just enjoy himself.
Pei Guang opened the Memory World Starter Pack: still the familiar three-piece beginner set.
[Pet Ball: When used, can capture a target and turn it into a pet based on the difference in strength between you and the target. The weaker the enemy's will, the higher the success rate. Once captured, the player can choose to release the pet. After release, the player will lose all control over the pet. Note: Do not use this item on humans, as such behavior is highly inhumane.]
[Crafting Table: A Crafting Table that can be made from wood. You can craft items using a recipe list.]
[Perfect Pet: Pets acquired have a chance of obtaining various traits. Traits can be inherited through breeding.]
To Pei Guang, this so-called "realistic experience" of the simulation felt like a standard limited-function beta test.
Many long-term live service games did this: releasing special events for players to test and gather feedback, and then later building full features and mechanics based on the data.
Staring at these three items and skills, Pei Guang stayed silent.
Even though this was a special limited-time feature, just looking at them, he felt like this time around the playability might be off the charts.
He examined the three tools and skills.
Pet Balls came in tiers, the most basic could be made from wood and stone, though their effectiveness was unknown.
The highest tier required Aeon energy to craft, and while no specific effects were listed, with his years of gaming experience, Pei Guang could guess what they'd do.
Looking at the Crafting Table, its crafting recipes were simple and direct.
There were workstations for pets, infinite resource farms for stone, wood, iron, and other basic materials. Going further up, there were furnaces, production lines, and blueprints all leading toward a fully-fledged interstellar civilization.
Not a dream at all.
As for the passive effect from Perfect Pet… every pet came with traits. Some increased work efficiency; others were negative traits that reduced it.
As a high-efficiency player, Pei Guang's brain instantly lit up with dozens of potential strategies. They might not be the most humane, but in his words, they were "efficient."
This time, Pei Guang was ready to completely let go.
As a player, in a simulation with zero danger and total freedom, even he couldn't suppress the darker part of his heart.
What? Save the world? Sorry, this time, Pei Guang just wanted to play to his heart's content.
Truth be told, having gained new skills several times in a row had already started to give Pei Guang some dangerous ideas. But as a player who achieved a perfect first-playthrough ending, his willpower had remained unshaken.
Even without using any shortcuts, continuing down the path to finish the game wasn't hard for someone like him.
As a player, if you want to do something, you can do it.
Whether by normal or unconventional means, players always find some way to reach their goals.
Just like how the actions of Aeons show duality in the eyes of living beings, a player may uphold superhuman resolve to stay on-track during their main story, but when it comes to completely optional and meaningless side events, their true instincts get unleashed.
In a fully simulated world, players will indulge themselves completely. Being able to distinguish between reality and fiction is foundational player knowledge.
In the real world, there are people who can't tell the difference and end up doing things that cause real harm. But that kind of extreme comes from the person, not the act: those people would go to extremes even without games.
As for Pei Guang,a somewhat normal person, he could clearly tell the difference between reality and illusion.
And since this world was fake, it was time to completely drop the shackles and fully indulge himself.
At that moment, Pei Guang's own internal restraints were totally released.