Hearing the real HIM's words, Xu Yuan slightly raised the corners of his mouth and revealed a dismissive smile. He shrugged and said with a grin, "Trying to muddy the waters again?"
"Scaring me wasn't your real intention. That thing was over a long time ago."
At this point, Xu Yuan thoughtfully rubbed his chin and continued, "But if you insist on calling what I just did revenge, then I can accept that too."
"Let's just say it's revenge for you invading my privacy for such a long time."
As soon as he finished speaking, the real HIM suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
"Haha!"
Then he shook his head helplessly, though the smile remained on his face.
"I admit I did invade your privacy, but I was the only one who knew those private things. As for you, you directly broadcast my private matters to everyone."
At this point, the real HIM put on a blaming expression and continued, "Now I've completely lost my sense of mystery."
Hearing the real HIM's fake complaint, Xu Yuan laughed and teased, "Didn't know you cared about your image."
Hearing Xu Yuan's teasing, the real HIM did not argue. He suddenly cleared his throat and then looked at Xu Yuan.
"Looks like you really are better than me and don't care about your image. Since that's the case..."
At this point, the real HIM deliberately paused for suspense before turning to Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM.
"Let me read you a poem he wrote before."
The moment he heard this, Xu Yuan instantly panicked. Before he could stop him, he heard Tyrant HIM click his tongue speechlessly.
Although both Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM wanted to know what Xu Yuan's poem actually said, they both realized they had become part of the real HIM and Xu Yuan's play.
Seeing this, Tyrant HIM rolled his eyes and said helplessly, "Did a Necromancer Knight eat your consciences?! I'll give you another ten minutes, fifteen at most! If you're going to talk or fool around, hurry up!"
"The problem here is solved, but things on our side are still a complete mess!"
"And another thing! Play around all you want, but don't drag the two of us into your jokes!"
"The two of us aren't part of your..." At this point, Tyrant HIM suddenly got stuck.
Just then, Annoying Village HIM's voice drifted over from the side.
"...play."
As soon as Annoying Village HIM finished speaking, Tyrant HIM immediately continued, "Right!"
"The two of us aren't part of your play!"
Actually, Tyrant HIM was only teasing the real HIM and Xu Yuan. He wasn't really urging them.
Although the problems in his world had indeed not been resolved yet, solving them and reaching a good ending was something Tyrant HIM was destined to do.
Besides, Xu Yuan had already told him that the flow of time in his world and Annoying Village HIM's world was different from that of the Inner World.
One day in their worlds was equivalent to one year in the Inner World.
Because of this, neither Tyrant HIM nor Annoying Village HIM needed to worry about major changes happening in their worlds while they were away.
At this moment, after hearing Tyrant HIM's words, both the real HIM and Xu Yuan felt somewhat embarrassed.
The real HIM coughed twice to ease the awkward atmosphere. After lowering his eyes and thinking for a moment, he looked Xu Yuan up and down before asking, "Can I understand it as... the current you is the Inner World?"
Unlike the memories received by other living beings, the memories received by the real HIM included all the conversations among Notch, Rookie, Entity 303, and Xu Yuan.
Because of this, he knew that Xu Yuan had already obtained the highest authority in the entire world.
As for the Inner World, the real HIM still had some questions, which was why he asked.
Hearing the question, Xu Yuan nodded.
"You can understand it that way."
The real HIM nodded thoughtfully and asked, "What exactly... is the Inner World?"
Hearing this, Xu Yuan thought for a moment. After organizing his words, he said, "You've learned about the world I came from before, right? You should have come across the term AI."
Hearing this, the real HIM froze for a moment before looking at Xu Yuan in surprise.
"The Inner World is an AI?"
Seeing that the real HIM understood what AI was, Xu Yuan finally relaxed. It would be much easier to explain now.
He shook his head and denied the guess.
"Yes and no."
"AI is just a program. It has no life. But the Inner World is alive."
"You can think of it as a living AI."
"All of its actions follow its own operating logic, and everything it does is based on protecting this world."
"Normally, it doesn't interfere with the world's operation. But when the world faces a matter of life and death, it steps in."
"Back when Notch suddenly left and his spiritual power split apart, part of the reason came from Notch himself, while another part was the Inner World's doing."
Hearing this, the real HIM fell silent.
He frowned deeply, seemingly thinking about something. After a long while, he asked again, "So back then... was it deliberately arranging for me to meet you?"
Hearing this and seeing the disappointed expression on the real HIM's face, Xu Yuan immediately understood what he truly cared about.
So he shook his head and smiled.
"No."
"You were the one who led yourself to me."
"Back then, you proved yourself to the Inner World through your actions, so it opened its core, the Internet Region, to you."
"At that time, it still placed its hopes on you and hoped you could find a way to solve the world's crisis through the internet."
"Although it possesses great power, it still can't identify a so-called 'savior' simply through the internet."
"So it couldn't determine whether I met its expectations."
"But it trusted you."
"You met me among the crowd. We were people with the same compatibility, so you began paying close attention to me."
"From then on, I was added to its list of complex calculations."
At this point, Xu Yuan patted the real HIM on the shoulder and smiled gently.
"It chose me because it trusted you."
"So our meeting wasn't something it arranged."
"If we really want to trace it back to the source..."
Xu Yuan paused for a moment, as if thinking about something.
A moment later, he looked at the real HIM again and said gently yet firmly, "Fate."