First Player

Now he finally caught a glimpse of the iceberg, but it was so huge that it suffocated him.

 …Why exactly?

Why are there so many people imitating him under the Nine Netherworld?

 In the fourth room, there is a young man who is carefully cooking broth. Dozens of cans of broth were already placed in the room, but the young man was still cooking without any awareness. The coldness and repetitiveness of the procedures made people feel numb.

 The fifth room, a young man editing videos. The young man dragged various transition effects. He had edited thousands of identical game videos and was still working on them.

 The sixth room, a young man doing housework. The young man held a broom and repeatedly cleaned the small room. Even though it was very clean, he still would not stop his actions.

 The seventh room, a young man studying seriously.

 The eighth room, a young man practicing his speech.

The ninth room…

 The tenth room…

Su Ming'an felt as if he had been broken down into pieces. His hobbies, studies, work, habits... were all broken into pieces, scattered in various rooms, and repeated endlessly. Calculate until it becomes more and more like him.

 In the eleventh room, the young man is playing the piano.

Debussy's "Moonlight" flows past like water, and under the setting sun, his eyelashes hover with vermilion light. It reminds me of the first player who played in the human self-rescue meeting, and this is the same appearance.

Su Mingan stood nearby invisibly.

At this time, Black Magpie came in holding a piece of music score.

Chang Ge’s eyes widened, feeling that this scene seemed familiar.

"This is a piece of music I wrote, and I named it "To Su Ming'an." It was the song you played that inspired me. What do you think?" Hei Que asked with a smile.

The young man playing the piano stood up, his identical almond-shaped eyes slightly curved. He held the music score of Black Magpie and admired it for a moment: "It's very clever. Is the image of the moonlight and the sea?"

Black Magpie squinted his eyes and smiled: "Moonlight, waves, lighthouse, cats...this is what I thought of."

Su Mingan retreated, wanting to get out of here.

At this moment, a voice came to his ear: [We... found the tallest building... Su Mingan... we are coming up. 】

—Yamada Machichi and the others are here!

Su Mingan wanted to reply, but when he looked up, he saw the black magpie suddenly approaching, almost frightening Chang Ge out of his soul.

"...Su Ming'an." Black Magpie stared at Su Ming'an's hidden position: "I found you."

 …It should be Yamada Machichi’s communication wave that exposed Su Ming’an.

Su Mingan released his invisibility: "Can you explain it to me?"

Black Magpie smiled.

It was a vague expression, like the subtle pleasure and malice on a child's face after his prank was revealed.

 “Then take a look.” Black Magpie suddenly strangled the young man next to him. With a soft sound, the young man turned into a point of light and was absorbed by Black Magpie.

Black Magpie then went to the remaining ten rooms and absorbed them one by one.

“No. 3019, good at piano, represents the emotional side. The data has become perfect and can be recycled.”

“No. 3020 is good at making some self-defense items. It represents the vigilant side. The data has become perfect and can be recycled.”

  “No. 3021…”

　　　…”

“No. 3027, I am writing a diary. It represents the past and memory, which can be recycled.”

“No. 3028, playing horror games, represents the side of hobbies and interests, and is for recycling.”

“No. 3029, when reading philosophy books, represents the side of knowledge and is for recycling.”

 As the room gradually became quiet, the black magpie absorbed them one after another.

"Then...the layer you see has been completely recovered by me." Black Magpie stopped.

 …just this layer.

Su Mingan leaned over and looked down. Under the building, countless glass windows reflected the sunlight. Those floors he had never set foot on... didn't know how many such rooms there were. It's like a dense hive, and in each hive there is a person who is constantly calculating. In other words, a fragment of "Su Mingan".

 Thinking more broadly, it may not only be "Su Ming'an", but also "fragments" of many other people. As long as they continue to fine-tune the data, in the end, they will almost be consistent with me.

As long as you can create a Su Ming'an, you can do it whether it's pretending to be an old **** or doing something related to the original. The entire Jiuyou is like a huge research institute isolated from the world.

 Even...can create anyone.

 Ice-white buildings stand in layers, machines move in an orderly manner, and tangled iron pipes surround this quiet mechanical city.

 He suddenly felt cold.

Jiuyou...the hell-like existence in mythology. Although there were no Manzhushahua blooming everywhere, it still made him feel cold.

 …

Ming rushed into the laboratory underground in the Holy City and saw Su Luoluo tied to the experimental bed. 】

　　【The girl is lying on the bed. At the top of the display is a record about her:]

　　【Experimental Subject No. h-1029, the experiment failed. The experimental subject does not have the ability to produce large amounts of negative emotions. 】

[God created people like her, put her in a certain city, made her feel pain, made her suffer from depression due to the squeeze of the Internet, and then let people like her "produce" the emotions He wanted, Study the changes in her body. If her mission ends, brainwash her. 】

　　【This huge world is simply equivalent to the human experiment city of the gods. Many people were His guinea pigs. 】

 …

 Nine years ago, politicians used children such as Xiaoli as guinea pigs.

In this world, gods use humans like politicians as guinea pigs.

Jiuyou, Black Quee reached out to the level of old gods like Su Mingan, trying to make the gods his experimental subjects.

 Xiao Li—Politicians—God—Black Magpie.

 As the people progress from level to level, people who think they have controlled the fate of others are still puppets of fate in the hands of those at the higher level. -Truman.

 In Jiuyou, these people live in "hives" one after another, observed by black magpies. Some practice piano every day, and some live broadcast and play games every day. They each live according to their own rules of life. They don't know what's outside and can't go out. The big lock on the door was like the edge of the world, completely cutting them off from the outside world.

 When they live to a designated frequency, the black magpie will interfere. For example, bring a stack of steaming muffins and coffee, or give a small sculpture of a lighthouse. Observe their reactions for a period of time.

Until the moment they have a handover, they realize that they are living in a "hive", where every move is monitored, there is no truth, and there is no freedom. Once the behavior exceeds a fixed frequency, it will be recycled.

 “What are you doing this for?” Su Mingan pulled out his sword.

“—I want to replace your fate, Su Mingan.” Black Que said.

 “Instead of me?”

"Yes..." Black Que's fingers pressed on the mask, and he smiled suddenly, his smile was dazed and sad: "Yes, you are...'the protagonist'. It's almost impossible for a little person like me to replace the protagonist. It’s just wishful thinking.”

Su Mingan still doesn’t understand. What does this have to do with the people in these hives? Why does the black magpie smile so sadly? No one controls the fate of Black Magpie.

 Until the black magpie took off the mask.

At that moment, Su Mingan and Chang Ge were stunned.

The face shown by Black Magpie is exactly the same as Su Mingan's. The eyebrows, nose bridge, and lips are all almost the same. Although he had heard about Black Magpie's appearance, it was only at this moment that Su Mingan was confirmed.

 The sound of the wind is dry, and the laughter of the black magpie blends into the sound of the wind. There was a subtle joy in his laughter, like the joy of a child watering an ant hole.

 …The black magpie who controls the "Fragments" turns out to be a part of the "Fragments".

“We are becoming more and more alike, Su Mingan.” Black Magpie spread his hands:

“I have been your face since I became conscious. At that time, I realized that I seemed to be the guardian of Jiuyou, but actually I should have a greater mission.”

"For example, I actually came from a plan thousands of years ago, and the purpose is to completely become you? I saw the 'shards' in the hive. I should be the most similar person. I want to adjust them, and then absorb them, so that They are integrated into me. We cannot let the hard work of our predecessors go to waste.”

"I don't have any other choice, do I? Even if I wear a mask forever, it can't change my appearance. I was born as a 'copy' and will never be able to get rid of your shadow. I can't even change my appearance." I have to deliberately lower my voice and speak so that I don’t look like you.”

Su Mingan frowned.

He finally understood why Black Magpie always had jealous and longing eyes even though it was the first time he met her.

There is no doubt that Black Magpie craves independence. But he had such an appearance when he was born in Jiuyou, and he had seen so many people in the hive. Such was his mission that from the beginning he lost his independence.

Even the name "Black Magpie" was given to himself after he emerged from the black mist. The look doesn't belong to him, the voice doesn't belong to him, and the body shape doesn't belong to him. His sociality is close to 0.

"The look in your eyes... seems to disgust me, and you seem to disapprove of what I am doing." Hei Que said.

"You want to take away my life and my uniqueness. I can't possibly agree." Su Mingan said.

 “Isn’t it good?” Black Magpie asked in surprise. The face that was exactly the same as Su Ming'an showed a similar expression: "If I become you, you can be freed from this cage - 'Player', when I am almost the same as you, I can be too. You can rest in the future .”

 “Look.” He moved his hand.

 A somewhat weak space vibration was thrown out by him.

 “Space vibration.”

 A small force of gravity fell on Su Mingan.

 “Gravity suppression.”

 Some poor-quality puppet silk scraped across his eyes.

 “Puppet silk.”

 With a flying kick, the wooden table fell into pieces.

 “To cut.”

 An attack with space ripples thrust out.

 “Condensation.”

Su Mingan looked at the excited black magpie and didn't know what to say. He himself does not appreciate his own life, but there is such a life, which has been designed to vassal his life since its birth.

…Why.

 It made him feel messy.

Suddenly, a steel rope flew out of his guard, dragging him a few steps toward Black Que, and the sword blade in his hand pierced Black Que's shoulder.

His pupils were widened, but Black Magpie was smiling, pulling tightly on the steel cable to fix the sword blade on his shoulder.

"...How can you agree with me." Black Magpie said in a tone that was both contemptuous and sharp:

“Such a thief who imitates you cannot change his own innate destiny. He gave up his independent life in order to follow a plan from thousands of years ago that he didn’t know was useful.”

 “Stab me with a sword, is that enough to vent your anger?”

Su Mingan was shocked.

Blood spattered on his face, and Black Magpie pulled on the steel cable, letting the blade spin on his shoulder. The wound expanded and tore, but it still stared at Su Ming'an.

 “…What do you need to do to identify with me, the ‘ontology’.”

 It turns out that this is why, like a child, he always longs for Su Ming'an's recognition, even if it is just one sentence.

 The tragedy is that...his entire life value is only based on Su Mingan.

He knew that many people had shaped him thousands of years ago, and he would only open his eyes in the Nine Netherworld. And his sense of responsibility belonging to 'Su Mingan' told him that he could not give up this mission and become an independent person.

 In fact, as long as you don’t have so much sense of responsibility, just be yourself. But it was "Su Ming'an's" sense of responsibility that bound him into "Su Ming'an", making it impossible for him to escape his fate.

 …It just happened to be "Su Ming'an".

 So it’s impossible since you open your eyes.

The steel cable dragged Su Mingan's wrist down, and the blade of the sword sliced ​​Black Magpie's shoulder diagonally, cutting a long mark, and the flesh rolled and spilled blood.

Black Magpie's face showed a kind of sad stubbornness, as if he didn't know what he was pursuing. It is a kind of confusion about fate.

 “…How can the old gods recognize me?” A trembling voice. It seemed as if he was going to row further, and the look in his eyes was about to shatter. His posture even seemed like an attack.

Seeing this, Su Mingan flew up and kicked him out cleanly.