"A simulation room? Simulating what?" Simon was very curious. He noticed an electronic display on the wall, with blue data streams scrolling across the pure white screen.
Skerry asked in surprise, "What, they didn't copy your backup memories over?"
"What backup?"
"Alright, it looks like you're still suffering from amnesia." Skerry looked pained, "When we have time, I'll have to take you to the archives. There are many things I don't need to teach you; you should explore them yourself."
As he spoke, he walked to the electronic screen, waved his hand, and the data stream was pushed into the background, revealing the operating interface.
"How about a classic mode?" Skerry grinned, "Want to have a competition?"
Simon didn't ask what classic mode was; he was somewhat tired of his own displayed ignorance.
"Alright, settings complete… Go!"
A white light appeared, and a large amount of data streams emerged in the simulation room. These symbols and numbers transformed and rose like a reverse Waterfall. Simon reached out to touch them, but the data passed through his palm and continued to move.
A female synthesized voice, very familiar, sounded, but Simon just couldn't recall when he had heard it.
"Classic mode activated. Location: Alpine Temple Castle Stronghold, Time: 1458 AD, Mission: Assassinate high-ranking Temple figures (0/10). Operation start."
The world before Simon's eyes expanded and contracted, then a large amount of color poured out from the dome, spreading out to form a completely new environment.
It was night, with biting frost wind. A magnificent ancient castle stood on a steep cliff, brightly lit. Simon was standing on a small path leading to the castle, from where he could clearly see two guards at the gate.
"This is the simulation room?" Simon murmured to himself.
He wondered where Skerry was, turning his head to look around, only seeing tall fir trees and protruding rocks. Further away was an impenetrable darkness, and the howling wind blew. Simon felt his body temperature dropping; no matter what, he should enter the ancient castle soon.
Simon crouched and moved forward, and after a few steps, he reached the edge of the cliff. He didn't plan to break in from the front but instead circled to a side wall.
The stone bricks here were smooth, covered with a layer of ice, making it impossible to climb. Fortunately, such buildings always had sewers.
Simon found a half-person-high opening sealed by an iron grate, swung his sword to cut the iron bars, and crawled inside.
It was relatively clean inside, not as foul-smelling as he had imagined. Simon moved forward with difficulty, while also pricking up his ears to listen carefully. Besides the dripping water, there were footsteps and faint conversations. He thought he should find a quiet place to exit. After many twists and turns, he didn't know how far he had walked when he suddenly felt his foot hit something hard.
Nothing could be seen in the darkness, and Simon wasn't carrying a torch, so he could only grope around, touching a pile of fragments on the ground.
Upon closer inspection, they were human bones, especially skulls, more than one.
Perhaps Simon brought a little warmth, and the phosphorus in these bones began to burn, with faint green flames flickering, illuminating the surroundings.
Only then did Simon realize that he had somehow exited the sewer and entered a spacious Underground space.
There were corpses everywhere, and many rusty torture instruments hung on the walls. Everything was shrouded in a ghastly green glow, appearing exceptionally terrifying.
Simon looked back at where he had come from, a hidden hole in the wall, perhaps where someone had once escaped into the sewer.
What kind of mood must that person have been in, leaving a hell piled with bones?
The phosphorescent fire gradually dimmed. Simon aimed for the direction of the door and walked step by step. The fragile bones under his feet cracked like dry branches. As he moved, phosphorescent fires continuously reignited, and on both sides of his path were these flickering will-o'-the-wisps, like an evil sacrificial ceremony.
Thrusting his sword through the door crack, Simon suddenly chopped, severing the bolt and lock. Then he pushed open the thick iron door, whose rusty hinges let out a piercing shriek, making one irritable.
He walked the rest of the way in silence, cutting down every soldier, priest, and bureaucrat he encountered. When he left through the main gate, the ancient castle, once filled with laughter and joy, was as silent as a late autumn forest.
"Mission objective: Assassinate high-ranking Temple figures (23/10)"
"Mission evaluation: Not all assassins can achieve such results, so this can only be considered a personal show."
The damp, cold Alpine wind hit his face, and a bright moon shone brilliantly in the sky. Simon's heart suddenly lightened, and he burst into laughter.
The scene gradually faded, returning to the simulation room's original state.
Skerry clapped his hands and walked over, "You killed them well, hey!"
Simon asked him, "You mean, those people were really like that?"
"Like what?"
"Destroying lives."
Skerry scratched his head, "That's not the difference between us and them!" He said seriously, "The Temple people wanted to create a world of complete order—and they have succeeded now. You've seen it; it's what they call Paradise, there are five of them in total. What we want is freedom, freedom not controlled by power."
"Does freedom truly exist?"
"I don't know. Many like-minded people have defected because they doubted the authenticity of freedom, but if you ask me, we are humanity's last hope."
"I think Paradise is very developed; people can do whatever they want."
Skerry looked at him deeply, "You forgot those people."
"Which people?"
"The people at the bottom!"
He walked to the display screen and brought up an image.
The environment changed, and Simon found himself in a narrow corridor.
As his perspective shifted, he moved along the corridor. Houses were tightly packed, and everywhere were half-dead people.
Broken windows, dusty dining tables, peeling furniture, messy clutter, a foul smell, overturned medicine cabinets…
Everything was lifeless, oppressive, as if an invisible hand was squeezing everything, stripping away all that was healthy, positive, and beautiful.
He rushed out of the corridor and into a wide shaft, then his perspective moved downward. Layer upon layer of tightly packed houses, initially maintaining order, but the deeper it went, the more chaotic and dilapidated it became, until it couldn't get any more terrifying.
Suddenly.
Everything came alive.
Colors appeared in this dull world—paint, neon lights, all sorts of colors. Sounds also began to emerge, though they were gunshots and screams. Vibrant crowds appeared, though they were robbing and gambling.
Heavy machinery was also distributed, one robotic arm after another, and flying vehicles moved rapidly on conveyor belts.
Large screens were directly affixed to the outer walls, blocking many residences, playing fast-forwarded videos, with deafening metal music blaring from the speakers.
Chaotic, dilapidated sky-bridges crisscrossed haphazardly, and strangely dressed, terrifying-looking crowds roamed everywhere, a scene comparable to putrid, poisonous blood coursing through tangled veins.
Everywhere was sensory stimulation—the living, the dead, the inanimate—all clamoring, as if filled with restless souls.
This Underground world seemed to become increasingly distorted, and this twisted vitality appeared incredibly, incredibly vivid.
Here.
Was the bottom.
Below Paradise.
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