"I'm finally 'out of prison'," Shen Yu exclaimed, leaning back in his chair and looking at the ending CG on the screen—Embrace the Void:
Golden light illuminated the entire sky, with magnificent clouds swirling at the top, reflecting the grand and spectacular golden Godhome below. (Image)
However, boundless void slowly seeped from the sky. At first, it was just tiny black specks, but it quickly spread into a surging tide of darkness.
The liquefied void immersed the clouds, cascading like a waterfall onto the temple, quickly covering the golden dome and devouring all light.
The Void God, ascended from the Little Knight, descended along a pitch-black bridge to stand before the Seeker.
The Seeker finally found her god, at the cost of her own life.
Shen Yu watched the credits slowly appear, feeling a sense of emptiness and regret.
Hollow Knight, despite its protagonist's adorable appearance, told a tragic yet glorious epic.
The god of light who released the mind plague—Radiance—was devoured by the Void God, ascended from the Little Knight. The predecessor returned, and the rampaging void was calmed by a delicate flower. But why did he still feel empty and regretful?
Radiance and the Void
Was it the farewell to Kui Ruo; Mila singing amidst the infection; Fandago (Ogrim), who loved the world but lost everything; the little girl in the soul Sanctum who could never return home; the great kingdom of Holy Nest, which could not be saved by countless sacrifices and was gradually declining…
Or perhaps, it was the Little Knight, who had no thoughts and departed hastily after completing his mission…
"I wonder what the Little Knight will look like when he grows up," Shen Yu sighed, returning to the main menu. The ethereal music once again entered his ears, only now with an added sadness.
Forget it, let's play a "relaxing and pleasant" game to unwind. Shen Yu thought, opening Lobotomy Corporation from his library.
Lobotomy Corporation is a simulation management game developed by a Korean company (Project Moon).
Players take on the role of a Manager, managing strange entities called Abnormality and extracting a substance called brain-emitting peptide, refining it into clean energy.
But if you think this is just a "relaxing" "simulation management" game, you're wrong.
This game is the spiritual successor to the Foundation: "We contain (failure), we control (nuclear explosion), we protect (restart)."
All Abnormality have their own codes and containment units, as well as some hellish settings and chain reactions.
Therefore, Lobotomy Corporation is also known as "White-Dried Company" or "High Blood Pressure Company." A small mistake in the later stages can lead to a series of chain reactions, causing time to rewind and that day to restart.
Coupled with a deep (and painful) story and the distinctive "three-choice" (choosing nothing) options.
It can be said to be the best choice for "fighting fire with fire."
Shen Yu yawned, leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, rubbing his throbbing temples, waiting for the liver-aching music to begin.
Suddenly, Shen Yu felt as if his heart was clutched by something, and his chaotic thoughts instantly froze, as if he had fallen into an ocean.
When he regained consciousness, he unexpectedly heard a gentle female voice.
"Manager."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yu immediately sprang up, looked around, and blurted out:
"What the hell is going on?!"
He was wearing a white lab coat over a black suit. In front of him, a large number of electronic screens were tightly packed together, displaying various dimly lit areas, while the surrounding walls had blue patterns.
The most bizarre thing was that everything he saw through his eyes was in a painted style, not the true form of objects.
Cognition Filter!
Shen Yu turned to look at the source of the voice, next to the desk.
A tall, beautiful lady stood there. She was wearing a black suit that outlined her pleasing curves. A red tie was tied around her neck, strikingly vibrant against her fair skin, and she wore a pristine white lab coat over it.
Her waist-length hair was a light blue, like a clear sky. Under the indoor lighting, her hair emitted a soft sheen. Some of her long hair was tied into a ponytail, pinned to the left side, revealing a delicate face with refined features and fair skin.
Her hands were clasped in front of her, and her posture was straight. Every movement she made was elegant and composed, exuding a rational demeanor and charm.
Wait, did I fall asleep? Shen Yu slapped himself, instantly feeling a burning pain on his face.
Damn it, he really transmigrated, and he was the Manager, the guy who was destined to die in the ending.
"Manager, what's wrong?"
"Cough, cough, just a little sleepy, trying to wake myself up," Shen Yu chuckled, gripping the armrests tightly with both hands.
"Manager, you need to rest now," the lady beside him reminded him.
"Due to the Cognition Filter failing yesterday, your mind has suffered severe contamination. After you rest, you will need to undergo a second psychological treatment."
Cognition Filter failure, mental contamination? Wait a minute, could it be…
Shen Yu hunched over, moved the soft chair forward, opened the central main screen, and glanced at the time: 2 AM.
But unlike the game, there was no indication of the day count here, so Shen Yu could only judge by the number of containment rooms.
Tsk, there's even a Central Headquarters. It seems to be after Day 21. Let's see exactly what day it is.
Shen Yu magnified the screen and began to count, but as he counted, his hands twitched, wanting to offer his "sincere" greetings to the previous Manager.
What met his eyes were the incomplete bald employees in the facility, coupled with the empty employee list on the right, and the top-tier Abnormality, which were:
The "Anglerfish" from the Information Department, which could cause immense mental damage to the Lobotomy Warm-Up Manager: [You are bald…].
The "Singers" from the Training Department: [Nameless Foetus], [Singing Machine].
The "Four Great Talents" from the Security Department: [Plague Doctor], [Parasitic Tree], [data deletion], [Yellow Springs Train].
The "Golden Duo" from the Central Headquarters: [Little Red Riding Hood Mercenary], [Big and Possibly Bad Wolf].
A bunch of game-breaking mechanisms and chain reactions, and there was also an old schemer disguised as a doctor, waiting for the right moment to summon 11 Abnormality of the highest danger level to descend and smash the company.
Are you messing with me? It's only Day 21, and you found all the hellish stuff. Your old dying words are really fierce!
"An… uh, Angela," Shen Yu's mouth twitched as he looked at the lady beside him, "Please step out for a moment. I need some quiet. Also, I'm taking back your monitoring and dispatching authority."
"Manager, I do not believe that is the correct course of action," Angela frowned. "I am just an AI. I have never had, nor will I ever have, plans to harm you."
"Angela," Shen Yu rested his elbows on the desk, clasped his hands, and propped up his chin, looking directly at her with bloodshot eyes:
"I need to be alone to soothe my shattered heart. I hope you can understand."
"Understood. If you wish to rest, the sleeping pills are in the drawer to your right," Angela nodded and walked out of the Manager's office.
Watching her figure gradually disappear into the darkness, Shen Yu let out a long sigh. Although the setup was extremely explosive, he was a transmigrator, so how could he not have that thing?
So Shen Yu chuckled and shouted into the air:
"System."
No response.
"System?"
No response.
"Sys~tem~~~"
No response.
…
"Damn it, I'm done for." Shen Yu slumped into a standard Ge You-style pose on the chair, staring at the flickering screen, giving up on thinking.
This heaven-defying setup would explode if he looked at it one more time.
Starting a second playthrough would also be useless. Although a second playthrough could save Abnormality codex, EGO, Core Suppression, and other restarts, in the game, Manager X/A's memory would be wiped clean.
It was fine when he was just a player. But now, his true self was the Manager in the game. Starting a second playthrough would mean his memory would be directly wiped, and then he would be dead.
Even if he painstakingly achieved an ending, sorry, there is no ending where a Manager can live normally.
The world-ending route could regain "freedom," but whether that freedom meant becoming an Abnormality or being swallowed by that white-haired entity was unknown.
Shen Yu pressed his forehead, pondering ways to survive. Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation in his heart, and his peripheral vision caught a black shadow flashing overhead.
When he looked up to search, an object suddenly fell in front of him.
A pale mask shaped like a beetle's head, a pale nail-shaped weapon on his back with exquisite patterns engraved on it. Beneath the shadow cloak was a body constructed of deep void, approximately the size of a child. (Image)
He looked like a cute ragdoll.
Shen Yu's mouth hung open, staring into the abyss-like nostrils (crossed out) pupils, a storm raging in his heart.
The Little Knight from Hollow Knight! Why was he here?
But the Little Knight didn't care about his shock. After looking around, he walked towards Shen Yu. Then he directly sat on the latter's lap.
At this moment, Shen Yu suddenly heard a sound. After recalling, he realized it was the save sound when sitting on a bench in Hollow Knight. The Little Knight also took out a charm from his cloak and began to adjust it.
So, he was a mobile bench? Shen Yu looked at the Little Knight in front of him and suddenly had a magical idea.
Radiance (God of Light) is light, and the Seed of Lightis also light!