In the Lobotomy Corporation worldview, an unceasing river of spirit flows at the bottom of the world. The spirits and consciousness of all who live and die converge here, forming this river.
On the ruins of the old world, 26 companies, crowned as "World's Wing," established humanity's last "City." They relied on technology that surpassed magic—Singularity. Time manipulation, spatial tearing, and, as a byproduct of glimpsing the "river," an endless supply of clean energy…
Cogito, Lobotomy Corporation's Singularity, is an entity extracted from the subconscious, manifesting as a wondrous "materialization of the mind." Its purpose is not to extract energy from Abnormality, but to directly create Abnormality.
When injected into a human body, it gradually tears apart human will, truly exposing the inner self, and transforming it into a "well."
Then, using this as a channel, it dredges the primal river/ocean of consciousness, extracting emotions and concepts from the human subconscious. (See Lobotomy Corporation Setting Book)
Finally, the injector's physical body, spirit, and even existence itself, transform into the real shell of the extracted material, from which the entity known as Abnormality is born.
And the immense emotions generated during the process of tearing apart will and exposing the inner self are converted into extractable clean energy.
In "Hollow Knight," the dream world is a realm above reality, an eternal space between body and soul.
The Little Knight's Dream Nail is a divine artifact forged by the Moth Tribe, who master dream essence. It can not only read thoughts but also tear open the veil of reality, allowing the wielder to enter that eternal space above reality—the dream world.
Both the dream world and the primal river/ocean originate from spirit and consciousness, then form their own domains, transcending reality. They are like twins.
So, what wondrous sight would appear if the Dream Nail were to strike EGO, tearing open the Abnormality's real shell?
Shen Yu grew increasingly curious and randomly picked an Employee, asking him to come to the Manager's Office.
After issuing the command, Shen Yu squeezed the Little Knight's round hand, finding that it wasn't the strange sensation he imagined, but as soft as cotton.
Upon closer inspection, Shen Yu discovered a mysterious link between himself and the Little Knight, through which he could control the latter's actions.
Shen Yu also took the opportunity to check the charms equipped by the Little Knight:
Fragile Strength (increases Bone Nail attack power), Quick Slash (increases attack speed), Pride Mark(increases attack range), Bone Nail Master's Glory(accelerates "nail art" charging), Dream Wielder (accelerates "Dream Nail" charging).
Hmm, his favorite brute-force build.
During the waiting period, Shen Yu first tried to see if his current authority was sufficient to strip Angela of her monitoring and scheduling rights. The result, of course, was negative.
Well, then, he could only use primitive methods.
Shen Yu focused his attention on the link with the Little Knight and suddenly found his perspective shifting, becoming a third-person view centered on the Little Knight.
Thankfully, it wasn't the side-scrolling view from the game; that would be truly unimaginable. Would it be a dimensionality reduction strike beforehand?
Shen Yu controlled the Little Knight to jump off him and move around, waiting until he got used to controlling this perspective. The "Little Knight" looked up at the camera in the upper right corner.
Then, the Little Knight leaped onto the wall, while fishhook-like Mantis Claws emerged from his round limbs, firmly gripping the wall. He used the leverage to jump upwards.
Once near the camera, Shen Yu controlled the Little Knight to jump, landing directly beneath the camera.
Then, the Little Knight's Shade Cloak disintegrated into scattered tendrils of the Abyss, his mask covered by Void, from which pale eyes peered out. A mixture of soul and Void was expelled from his mouth, transforming into countless black and white howling spirits. —Spell: Abyss Shriek (Image)
The Little Knight then landed steadily, and Shen Yu, from the third-person perspective, clearly saw the devastation within the attack range.
The camera had long since melted, and the formerly clean and smooth wall had a large hole melted into it, filled with numerous uneven pits. The nearby blue patterns were dim and lifeless, as if their vitality had been drained.
Shen Yu looked at the scene before him, surprised.
It shouldn't be. Although the Little Knight's Shade Spells dealt more damage, they didn't have a melting effect before.
Furthermore, Lobotomy Corporation is a product extracted from someone's consciousness after injecting them with Cogito. In a sense, it's a giant Abnormality.
Even the Manager's Office, which even god-like ALEPH-level Abnormality couldn't breach, was dissolved so easily.
Could it be that the Little Knight, after ascending, accidentally transmigrated, glitched, and gained some attributes of a Void God?
Thinking of this, Shen Yu's heart suddenly filled with joy. Since the Void could corrode the company, didn't that mean he could pack up and run away?
Hiss, no. Shen Yu frowned.
From the ending CG, Lobotomy Corporation's Central Headquarters is located an unknown depth underground. Even if he dug through the company, he would never be able to climb out in his lifetime.
It seems he can only achieve the true ending and then, once the company reaches the surface, smash through the walls and escape.
Shen Yu glanced at the screen, feeling a headache coming on.
He was a compulsive Manager who aimed for all Employees to survive and achieve an S-rank evaluation. How many times would he have to restart?
… … … …
Terry was an ordinary Control Department Grade II Employee, currently dreaming of escaping the low-level Employees and enjoying a delicious, juicy steak in the cafeteria.
But just now, his dream was shattered by an electric current from his arm. He opened his sleepy eyes to look at his wristband, and the information on it instantly sent shivers down his spine.
A summons from the Manager!
If it had been when he first joined the company, he might have been happy. But now, there was only worry and fear.
That Manager was as cold and efficient as a machine, with energy collection as his primary goal.
To prevent Abnormality from escaping, he could personally execute all Staff with "execution bullets," trading low-level Employees for Abnormalitymanagement information.
In fact, each department had emergency exits for Employees to escape, but those exits had never been opened.
Terry had once seen a Staff crying, crawling with a broken leg, begging the Manager to open the exit, only to be chewed to pieces by the giant dog Abnormality from behind, and his [data deletion] dug out.
In the Manager's eyes, the company's Employees were merely cheap consumables; only Grade V Employees received a little attention.
But even for Grade V Employees, when it was time to be consumed, the Manager would not hesitate in the slightest.
A summons from the company Manager could be a mix of good and bad news. But this was Lobotomy Corporation, and their Manager was like a machine, so the probability of good news was less than one percent.
Many Employees received summons from the Manager, but most of the time, they disappeared, completely vanished.
But Terry knew he couldn't disobey. If he disobeyed the order, the easy outcome was an execution bullet, but even more terrifying was "dismissal."
The Grade V senior who was killed by the "train" yesterday once said:
He once saw a "dismissed" Employee in the Nameless Foetus's food. And in the Spider Nest's Abnormalitycontainment unit, faint, tragic cries for help could always be heard…
Terry glanced at the TETH-level EGO Lonelinessbeside his bed, becoming even more pessimistic about his fate.
E.G.O is prototype equipment transformed from the core extracted from Abnormality, used by Lobotomy Corporation Employees for working with and suppressing Abnormality.
EGO equipment possesses terrifying potential. It is said that if someone can fully unleash it, they could even defeat the beings that govern the City.
But Terry was not such a special person, so he had no right to refuse. He could only simply equip the EGO, open the Employee Dormitory's protective door with his wristband, and enter the company.
A few lights illuminated the facility. Various severed limbs were scattered on the ground, blood solidified into a dark red, emitting a sweet, metallic smell. The walls were covered in claw marks or dents from impacts, mixed with fine human tissue.
Cleaners silently carried out cleanup work, carefully picking up the scattered flesh and internal organs from the ground and sweeping them into a trolley. There was little expression on their faces; they seemed to be used to it.
A mountain of corpses had already piled up in the Central Headquarters' Rest Area. The cleaners, after emptying the trolley of minced meat, turned to go elsewhere.
Terry glanced at the mountain of corpses, recalling yesterday, his body trembling with fear, and quickened his pace.
Just yesterday, a Level Three alarm sounded at the company, and a large number of company Abnormality escaped. And the Manager, who was almost always correct, had completely chaotic orders.
According to surviving senior Employees, this was because the Manager's cognitive filter unexpectedly failed, causing him to directly see the Abnormality in the containment room, 0-03-89 [data deletion].
Even that Manager could be driven mad by Abnormality. How long could he himself live? Terrylowered his head, dragging his feet, and walked towards the corridor outside the Rest Area.
After Terry left, the mountain of corpses stood alone in the dim light. The leftmost corpse suddenly swayed, and then a bloody iron hook broke through its body…
When Terry arrived at the Manager's Office door, he found the beautiful Angela standing quietly outside, but at this moment, he had no time to admire her. He could only drag his heavy feet and give her the information.
She did not stop him, encouraged him a few times, and then opened the door.
Terry finally got to see the Manager, but he looked very ordinary, so ordinary that Terry couldn't find any features to describe him.
This made him feel strange, because Abnormality like the Old Woman, with whom he worked, also had this characteristic.
Shen Yu looked at the slightly trembling Employee in front of him, and a slight smile appeared on his face as he recalled Lobotomy Corporation's settings.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to 'deal with' you or send you on a mission. I called you here because I want to study the EGO you use."
"So," Shen Yu patted the other's shoulder and pointed to the Rest Area nearby.
"Just lend me your EGO for a bit, then go take a nap."
"Huh?" Terry blinked, "Just, just like that?"
"What, then?" Shen Yu smiled, "Do you want a promotion?"
"No, I absolutely did not think that." Terry waved his hands repeatedly, feeling immense fear at the word "promotion."
So he obediently followed the order, took off his EGO, and walked towards the Rest Area in his suit.
Hehe, one more day to live. Praise God, ah no, praise the Manager!
Terry secretly rejoiced, walking with light steps towards the Rest Area. But when he reached halfway, his peripheral vision caught a dark shadow on the left wall, but after searching carefully, he found nothing.
Sigh, so suspicious. How could there be Abnormalityin the Manager's Office? This is the truly safe place in the entire company.
Terry stretched, opened the Rest Area, and flopped onto the extremely comfortable bed.
Shen Yu watched the closed door, immediately used his authority to seal the Rest Area, and the Little Knight then descended from above, landing in front of the EGO.
"This company is really dark." Shen Yu glanced at the Rest Area, recalling the other party's foolishly happy expression earlier.
This made him, the Manager who stayed in the office with a beautiful woman by his side, feel a little embarrassed.
Shen Yu withdrew his gaze and had the Little Knightuse the Dream Nail on EGO Loneliness.
The Little Knight hunched over and took out an object similar in shape to a maraca. However, its front end was a core engraved with precise patterns, emitting a dreamy, ethereal pale purple glow.
The ethereal light converged in the core, and with a "ding," precise circular patterns burst forth, forming a brilliant, dreamy long nail that struck the EGO with a "clang."
As the Dream Nail collided with the EGO, countless circular patterns of various designs burst forth, illuminating the entire office.