Chapter 302 University Town Civility Code (Twenty-two)
Compared with Mr. Bu who likes to wander around and visit people, although the Wang Jiji Group is well-known, the controller Wang Jiji himself is particularly mysterious and has never shown up.
Now 606 finally realized that the other party was neither mysterious nor a homebody—he was just simply busy.
"I work in the workshop 24 hours a day and have almost no idea what is happening in the university town," Wang Jiji explained.
She expertly removed her work gloves and draped them over her shoulders, then said bluntly, "Originally, I shouldn't be standing here, but something's wrong with Abu. He's put some of his memories and cognition into this instance, and you guys are forcing him to recall them again after completing it. Simply put, his heart is broken, and he's probably crying in a corner right now. So, I had to temporarily pull him over from the workshop to give you a simple welcome."
The four of them digested the information contained in Wang Jiji's words until the last sentence:
"Welcome to the company?"
"Yes." Wang Jiji nodded. "From now on, we are colleagues. You may need some time to adjust, and the university town can provide..."
"Feel sorry."
Tang Xinjue interrupted her.
"The rules of the game say that after passing the graduation exam, we can leave the game and return to the real world. Excuse me, are the rules still in effect?"
How can someone be transferred from a fixed-term prison sentence to life labor?
Wang Jiji was stunned and frowned. "Of course the rules apply. But... oh, I forgot to explain the meaning of this invitation."
She raised her hand and gently waved it in the air. The walls of the dormitory suddenly began to fade layer by layer until they were completely transparent. Then, a cold and strange city stretched out before their eyes.
It is difficult to describe what kind of picture this is. Every building and road is stacked up in this vast space at different heights. It obviously does not conform to their spatial cognition, but they can clearly "see" every line and feel the rules of their changes and intricacies.
Like... a giant, breathing organ.
This is the university town.
"Originally, this was just a void. You can imagine it as a blank spot, but this spot is located at the junction of underground and above ground, so we used this as a fulcrum to create the university town."
Listening to Wang Jiji's introduction, Guo Guo couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is [underground]?"
The black fog comes from underground, the ghosts come from underground, and the deadly miasma that is like a source of pollution also comes from underground - what kind of a place is underground?
Is this a cyber hell specifically designed to accommodate these college students?
Wang Jiji looked at her with a hint of surprise, then suddenly realized, "Oh, I forgot again. You're still on this backward timeline, so you can't understand."
She waved her hand again, and a transparent electronic clock appeared suspended in the air. With a snap of her fingers, the numbers representing the date began to jump forward frantically:
"From this timeline forward, um, about fifty years. Natural disasters, energy depletion, technological bottlenecks, wars..." The date paused for a moment before continuing forward. "People came up with all sorts of ways to preserve life. Eventually, they simply divided the world into two. In contrast to the surface world, there's the shady underground. Those who died at the age of peak spiritual magnetism, leaving their afterimages, plundered from various timelines, gather at the center of the Earth, awaiting the day when civilization develops sufficiently to bring them back to the human world."
"As you can see, they failed. [The underground] was out of control, and the remaining spirits were left unattended. They devoured each other below, eventually evolving into the life forms you see today."
"Later, that dilapidated timeline completely vanished, and the neglected [underground] emerged. We reopened its entrance and exit, and used the remaining energy within to create this university town. You should all be familiar with what happened next."
When speaking this information, Wang Jiji's tone was as simple and natural as drinking water, and he seemed to be completely unaware of the impact of the information.
But for the listeners, it is not so easy to digest.
606 was silent for a few seconds, then Guo Guo hesitated and opened his mouth, "If I heard correctly, your description just now included the end of the world, human experiments, the destruction of civilization, and time travel..."
Is this something that can be said so casually?
Wang Jiji said confidently, "Right, what else could it be? You don't have to find it incredible. This is just something that happens all the time and everywhere in the multiverse. From the essence of life, no matter how much time, space, and dimension separate us, as long as we see each other, then from that moment on, there is no difference between us."
After she finished speaking, she nodded in agreement, but after scanning the expressions of the four people in 606, she said: "You didn't understand."
606: "Thank you, I really didn't understand."
Wang Jiji: "...never mind, it's unimportant. Anyway, the knowledge and history of our timeline have already vanished. Perhaps in a few years, even this remaining spirit of mine will have no memories. You can just treat it as a made-up story. Anyway, back to the point, we don't want the university town to be annihilated, so we activated the [Filtering] system. That's why you're standing here."
Having said this, her face became serious and solemn:
"As long as you pass the screening process, you will gain the power of the university city, enter the 12 vacant founder seats , and become a member of the management. This is the first and final rule."
Therefore, Wang Jiji's appearance was not to help them overcome the last hurdle, but an invitation.
As long as 606 agrees, their survival test will come to an end here, and then they will leap from being prey to the top of the food chain.
"But what if we don't agree?"
This time it was Zhang You who spoke.
Wang Jiji didn't expect to be rejected for the second time. She scanned the faces of the four people one by one, but got the same answer from each person.
"Are you sure you want to leave here?" she warned in a deep voice. "Once you leave the game, you will lose all the abilities you've gained here. Your five senses, limbs, thinking, and reaction speed will all regress back to that of an ordinary person. All rewards and items will also disappear. Look at the power you possess now. Can you return to your previous ordinary life?"
Tang Xin Jue nodded. "Excuse me, do you mean an ordinary life where you can get up after 8 o'clock without life-threatening danger, you won't encounter more than ten murderers every day, you won't die if you fail a test, you can enjoy barbecue and hot pot as you please, you can contact your parents and relatives, and your range of activities is countless times larger than the dormitory? It does sound boring, but it's not completely unacceptable."
Wang Jiji: “…”
"I guess a peaceful life in the real world and being the administrator of a university town can't go hand in hand, right?"
The founder with pigtails didn't remain silent for long. She quickly spoke up: "That's right, you can't have your cake and eat it too. It seems you've made up your mind."
Guo Guo sighed lightly and scratched his head. "I believe you will find people willing to stay here, but sorry, that's not us. Besides, you've brought in so many college students, and there are only 10 management positions. Maybe there won't be enough to go around."
Wang Jiji chuckled and said, "You're wrong. There are 12 seats available, first come, first served."
Guo Guo was stunned: "Then you and Mr. Bu...?"
"We're still here because our mission isn't over yet. When order in the university town is completely restored, it's time for us to leave. To be precise, we were gone a long, long time ago. The only ones left here are two shadows, lingering on by exploiting a time loophole." Wang Jiji shrugged and put his gloves back on. "I don't have much time to spare. You have one last chance to change your minds—do you really choose to leave?"
Tang Xin Jue asked another question in return:
"After we leave, will we be the first ones to return to the real world?"
