PTYS Chapter 196

At night, Xiao Muyu didn’t sleep well. Her dreams were chaotic, making her restless, and she was worried about Shen Qingqiu, waking up suddenly in the middle of the night.

Shen Qingqiu’s fever worsened as the night progressed. When Xiao Muyu woke up, she felt as if she was holding a fireball. She touched Shen Qingqiu’s forehead, fully awake now, and turned on the small night light to get out of bed.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t sleep well either. When Xiao Muyu got up, she woke up too, groggily asking, “Why are you getting up?”

Xiao Muyu bent down and whispered, “Your fever is very high. Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?”

Shen Qingqiu licked her lips, indeed feeling a bit thirsty, and softly responded. Xiao Muyu, feeling very distressed, touched her face before going to the living room to pour a glass of warm water. After some thought, she found some fever-reducing medicine by the night light. “Here, take some fever medicine first. Your fever is too high.” Xiao Muyu felt a bit stifled. Shen Qingqiu’s condition wasn’t just due to illness, and in a world they suspected to be virtual, she wasn’t sure if the fever medicine would even work. But she couldn’t do nothing.

Shen Qingqiu sat up, holding the cup and sipping slowly. Seeing Xiao Muyu frowning with worry, she smiled at her, “Don’t frown. I’m not really that uncomfortable, just a bit hot.”

Xiao Muyu didn’t say anything, just looked at her. After she finished drinking the water, Xiao Muyu gently said, “Go back to sleep. I’ll stay with you.”

Shen Qingqiu remembered how Xiao Muyu had watched over her without much rest in the previous scenario. She hugged Xiao Muyu and, with a forceful move, pressed her back onto the bed.

Xiao Muyu was startled but let Shen Qingqiu hold her down, saying seriously, “You scared me.”

Shen Qingqiu found her serious look adorable and laughed, then apologized, “It’s my fault. But since I’m going to sleep, you need to sleep too.”

Under the dim light, Xiao Muyu noticed Shen Qingqiu sweating because of the fever. She could feel the sweat when Shen Qingqiu pressed against her.

Her nose twitched slightly, and she whispered, “I’ll sleep, but you need to wipe off the sweat.”

Shen Qingqiu stiffened, sniffed herself, “Do I smell like sweat?”

Xiao Muyu didn’t respond, so Shen Qingqiu got up, “I’ll go take a shower.”

Xiao Muyu pulled her back, her eyes wandering, “Even if you do, it’s not unpleasant. I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable. You’re still feverish, so don’t shower yet. Lie down, I’ll be right back.”

Being sick was uncomfortable enough, and the sweat made it worse. Xiao Muyu brought a bowl of warm water and wiped Shen Qingqiu’s forehead and body, then fetched clean clothes for her. “Change into these and sleep.”

After wiping her body, Shen Qingqiu felt much better. She watched Xiao Muyu take the water to the bathroom, changed into clean pajamas, and lay obediently in bed, smiling.

When Xiao Muyu returned and lay down, she gently patted Shen Qingqiu, “Sleep.”

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but hug her, pressing her chin on Xiao Muyu’s shoulder, and murmured, “Why are you so considerate?”

Xiao Muyu glanced at her, covering her sparkling eyes with her hand, “Because you’re mine, I don’t mind being a caretaker.”

Shen Qingqiu chuckled softly, stopped bothering Xiao Muyu, and soon fell asleep.

Xiao Muyu gently stroked her hair, staring at the ceiling. She had forgotten much of her dream, but some scenes were still vivid.

She wasn’t afraid of the forces behind Skynet targeting her, nor of how dangerous the scenarios might be. What she feared more and more was losing Shen Qingqiu in this conspiracy.

Just thinking about the possibility made Xiao Muyu’s heart ache sharply.

She realized she couldn’t remain passive and had to think about how to handle this situation.

Especially the memories she had lost, which she felt were important. As these chaotic thoughts swirled, dawn gradually broke.

The next day, Shen Qingqiu woke up late.

Chen Kaijie called early to say he would bring them breakfast, but considering Shen Qingqiu was sick, Xiao Muyu declined and prepared lily and lotus seed soup in the morning.

Seeing the soup was ready and it was getting late, Xiao Muyu went to wake Shen Qingqiu. She touched her forehead, relieved that the fever had subsided.

Shen Qingqiu was still a bit groggy when woken up. Seeing her dazed look, Xiao Muyu couldn’t help but laugh, “How are you feeling? It’s already 9:30. Are you hungry? Do you want some soup? Are you still uncomfortable?”

Shen Qingqiu shook her head, “I feel much better after sleeping. It’s already 9:30? I’ll get up.”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t particularly like lotus seeds, always feeling they had an unavoidable bitterness. But Xiao Muyu had stewed the lilies and lotus seeds until they were soft, adding sugar to make them sweet and tasty, eliminating the bitterness.

Shen Qingqiu initially planned to force herself to drink a little but was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was. She couldn’t help but look up and say, “How do you make everything taste so good?”

She then sighed, “Muyu, if this is a virtual world, how perfect must the system be to achieve this effect? We get hungry, tired, and the taste of food differs depending on who makes it.

If this is indeed virtual, when we get out, will the food you make still taste this good?”

This question stumped Xiao Muyu. She paused, thinking. According to Chen Kaijie’s feedback, there was no difference between their experiences in this world and reality. Their thoughts, skills, and perceptions hadn’t changed.

But her so-called reality was also fabricated, which made Xiao Muyu feel a bit lost. Was she still herself?

Seeing Xiao Muyu deep in thought and frowning slightly, Shen Qingqiu put down her spoon, “What’s wrong?”

Looking at Shen Qingqiu, Xiao Muyu suddenly felt she was overthinking. Whether her past was fabricated or not, her feelings for Shen Qingqiu were real and uncontrollable.

In this context, thinking too deeply would inadvertently ascribe god-like powers to Skynet, making them seem like created characters without self-awareness, even doubting their actions’ authenticity and existence.

Xiao Muyu shared her thoughts, and Shen Qingqiu laughed, “Others might need to worry, but you don’t. The system that created you wouldn’t need to go to great lengths to get that thing from you.”

Xiao Muyu laughed too. She was indeed overthinking. But thinking about that thing, she couldn’t help but frown, “I still haven’t figured out what they want from me. Why does it feel more urgent now?

Also, if it’s targeting me, they wouldn’t create such a large system. People like Chen Kaijie must have their own reasons for being sent here.”

Shen Qingqiu also became serious and said, “I find it strange too. In my memory, I was on a mission when I encountered a bomb on the target’s car. During the explosion, my bike hit a bridge pillar, and then I ended up in this system.

“After I cleared a level, someone contacted me. It was a man, he sounded like he was in his forties or fifties. He told me he was the master of the Skynet world and wanted me to do something for him.”

Shen Qingqiu then detailed the past events to Xiao Muyu, “He indeed showed abilities beyond ordinary people. At that time, through the images he provided, I saw scenes of many people clearing levels and various scripts. Among them were the Chen Dong and Chen Xi I saw in the first level.

“You know, I’m not a good person. Being able to get something and clear the level early to avoid death is not a big deal, so I agreed.

“The person who called me was just a messenger. I haven’t seen that man since I took the task.”

To some extent, Shen Qingqiu had long known that the Skynet world was being manipulated. Its mystery and power were astonishing, but she hadn’t thought it might just be a program back then.

“He was vague when he talked about that thing. I even asked what I was supposed to get from you to complete the task.

“He said I didn’t need to know, I just needed to cooperate with them, gain your trust as much as possible, and then slowly plan.” Shen Qingqiu spread her hands as she spoke.

These words made Xiao Muyu’s heart tremble, and her expression changed a bit. Was it really like that? Then Shen Qingqiu’s task was already completed.

So what does ‘slowly plan’ mean?

Feeling uneasy, Xiao Muyu held back, not wanting to show too much and make Shen Qingqiu worry.

Shen Qingqiu had only briefly mentioned these things before. After listening, Xiao Muyu thought of something and couldn’t help but ask, “I’ve never asked you, what do you do?”

Shen Qingqiu hesitated, “Have you heard of the Special Action Team of the Cyber Security Department?” She wasn’t sure if there was such a thing in Xiao Muyu’s fabricated world.

Xiao Muyu was stunned for a moment and then nodded. The legendary Special Action Team under the jurisdiction of the Fifth District of country H, consisting of top experts in various fields, responsible for carrying out special tasks. No wonder Shen Qingqiu was so skilled.

Her world was actually completely consistent with Shen Qingqiu’s. Otherwise, it would be easy to expose flaws during team communication.

Their country was divided into five special action districts, with the Fifth and Third Districts being the most powerful.

They were directly managed by the highest government and assisted in handling some tricky matters, so ordinary people were far removed from them.

In that world, Xiao Muyu knew very little about it, but it was the only place she was somewhat curious about.

“The Fifth District focuses on military, the Third District on scientific research. The concepts of each district leader differ greatly, involving different fields, but the overall direction is still for societal development.

However, there are many entangled interests between districts, and they are not very harmonious. Each has its own thoughts and considerations, which is also why people like us exist.” Seeing Xiao Muyu’s curiosity, Shen Qingqiu briefly explained.

Actually, they didn’t discuss much about reality after entering the level because it was frightening to mention it here. Once inside, you gradually felt that it was the most distant illusion.

“It’s strange. Listening to this, the technology in that society should have developed to a new stage, but in my memory, everything in life is so ordinary.

I came here because someone hijacked the steering wheel on a bus, and the bus crashed into the tunnel wall. Don’t you think it’s weird? It’s a manually driven bus that even passengers couldn’t stop.” Xiao Muyu found it very incongruous and couldn’t help but speak.

“This can also be understood. If Skynet is a man-made designed program, how terrifying would the social technological revolution be to reach this point?

It’s no exaggeration to say that this Skynet has reached the existence of artificial intelligence in science fiction movies. Since they want to hide the truth, people’s intelligence cannot be enlightened. Accustomed to a world where even buses can be hijacked, how could you dare to think that this game might actually be just a game?

And if the era of holography has already been popularized and artificial intelligence has developed unprecedentedly, wouldn’t it be easy to feel the falsehood?” Shen Qingqiu was always very smart when analyzing with Xiao Muyu.

Xiao Muyu nodded, expressing her agreement.

Shen Qingqiu thought of a question that had always troubled her. Ever since she discovered her uncontrollable feelings for Xiao Muyu, Shen Qingqiu had been trying to figure out the real purpose of that mysterious and powerful person.

Through the words of the messenger and the experiences in the levels, she increasingly felt their attitude towards Xiao Muyu was very contradictory.

Obviously, they had a strong desire to obtain something, but they could only manipulate within the levels. Such a powerful person could easily use her release as a bargaining chip, but couldn’t negotiate directly with Xiao Muyu, which was inherently wrong.

“Actually, I’m starting to doubt that the person who said he was the master of Skynet might be lying.”

When Shen Qingqiu brought up this question, Xiao Muyu’s eyes widened and she muttered, “Let’s be bold and crazy in our thinking. If the person who designed and controls Skynet wants to get something from me, there are thousands of ways to do it. Why specifically trap me here, not let me recall my true memories, and use you to restrain me?

People often cannot compare to machines, but I always feel that in some ways, there is one aspect where humans are always superior to machines.

Humans create rules, break rules, and rebuild rules. Machines, even if they learn human fear, greed, and changeability, as long as they don’t have fully independent autonomous programs, they are bound by rules and must follow them, right?”

Xiao Muyu’s tone was low but quick, with suppressed excitement, her eyes fixed on Shen Qingqiu as if seeking confirmation. Shen Qingqiu’s pupils trembled and her heart raced, “Yes!”

She had thought the same. It wasn’t someone using Skynet to control Xiao Muyu but Skynet using humans to cover its own purpose. Or they were not master and servant, but partners, accomplices!

Thinking of Xiao Muyu’s exceptional programming ability and her far superior intelligence, Shen Qingqiu felt she could almost write a science fiction novel in her mind.

Author’s Note: I couldn’t help but laugh while writing the last sentence. I really want to shout to Xiao Shen, “Come on, take the pen and write it yourself! It would make my life easier!”

The best screenwriters in this story are actually Xiao Xiao and Xiao Shen.

Remember my words, you’ll understand later. Hahaha;

Nine Silence, Coffee-loving Sheep, Yi An, Liko, Blue Sky and White Clouds, 1;