Chapter 1057: 'Behind the Scenes'

Chapter 1057: "Behind the Scenes"

β Universe, Winter 2025, a scenic resort island in the South Seas.

Ever since the news of the upcoming open beta of "Wasteland OL" broke, this mysterious fully immersive virtual reality game immediately caused a huge sensation worldwide, to the point that this once bustling vacation paradise had become much less crowded.

At the beachside bar, the empty counter was particularly desolate, with only a bartender mechanically repeating the motion of wiping glasses and a guest who had ordered just a cup of coffee.

The atmosphere here was both harmonious and leisurely, yet also filled with strangeness.

There were no other customers in the shop, and no one knew where so many endless glasses to wipe came from.

And that guest was even more peculiar—his brow, though just over thirty, exuded a calmness that had weathered two hundred years of storms, yet his mouth seemed unable to stay still, occasionally blurting out a few words, as if chatting with a nonexistent guest.

"As expected of 'the other me.'"

Receiving the prompt that the task was complete, the man sitting at the counter smiled faintly, as if setting down a heavy burden, even his tense shoulders relaxing considerably.

Memory is the cornerstone of consciousness.

Merging with memories that do not belong to you gradually makes you no longer yourself.

His family, friends, and everyone familiar in this world... still remembered his name.

But for him, they were like old photographs stored for two hundred years—seeing them again, they were no longer as they were in his memory.

This was actually unfair to them.

Just as his dear assistant had said, what constituted his "conscious existence" was not just his own memories, but also the memories of others.

For those people, they had lost a version of him they once knew intimately—the one before he became "Professor."

Yet even if it was unfair, he didn't have many choices; there was no perfect solution in this world. Even if he deleted the memories from the other world now, he couldn't go back to the summer of 2014 and start over.

The world line had already shifted.

The past him had died in a dream, replaced by another self from a parallel world.

But fortunately, "α" had not taken the same path as him, but chose to continue forward along his own.

This was the best outcome.

He had long guessed what that person would choose.

"But if that's the case... won't you, Master, be unable to go back?" A worried voice drifted softly by his ear, like wind chimes swaying at the door.

It was the voice of his assistant.

After arriving in this world, he had created it at the first opportunity... just as he had once done on the original timeline.

The clear voice momentarily made him lose focus, but the dazed look soon turned into a gentle smile.

He chuckled, picked up the cold coffee on the table, took a sip, and spoke in a slightly languid tone.

"Go back? Where would I go?"

The voice floating into his ear asked softly.

"Didn't you say you came from another world?"

"Did I say that? Wasn't I always a person of this world? I just happened to have a dream about a parallel world."

But this dream had been quite long—almost three times the length of an ordinary life.

The intelligent program running elsewhere was momentarily bewildered, and after a brief pause, it spoke.

"Uh... I suppose that could be understood that way."

"See?"

The professor smiled, set down his coffee cup, and continued.

"If I got on that observer's pirate ship and then got off, the end result would be messing up this world. It's better not to board from the start. I believe in the wisdom of the people of this world—they will surely create a future more beautiful than the Age of Prosperity... After all, forces act reciprocally. While the consciousness of the β universe influences that of the α universe, the β universe's consciousness is in turn affected by the latter."

Just as he was speaking, a liquid crystal television not far from the counter began broadcasting the news.

At Daya Bay, the "Pangu" fusion reactor was undergoing its first ignition experiment, and the project's leader and initiator was a professor named Yan Feng.

That guy had indeed put a lot of thought into it.

In fact, he had spent more effort on that reactor than on the "game," even nearly becoming obsessed.

But it could be said that effort did not disappoint; he eventually emerged from his own "well."

That he finally achieved the right result was only to be expected.

"Tsk, that was originally 'my' achievement..."

Watching the excited reporter on the screen and the fusion power plant behind her, which had drawn the world's countless gazes, a faint smile curled at the corner of the professor's lips.

Never mind.

That was a matter for another world.

The bartender standing at the counter put down his glass, looked at the professor with a nostalgic expression, and spoke respectfully.

"Do you have any plans for the future?"

That bartender was one of the first-generation residents of Vault 404, or rather a member of Vault 404-β, responsible for confidentiality and security.

In fact, it wasn't just this bartender.

Most of the residents and android operatives of Vault 404-β lived as "digital nomads," hidden on this resort island with a population of over a hundred thousand.

As for Vault 404-β itself, it was located in international waters not far from the island—near a trench about three kilometers deep in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

With the current technology of this world, even fifty years from now, there would be no possibility of discovering that vault. And for the residents of Vault 404-β, traveling back and forth only required a deep-sea submarine, making a trip home even more convenient than taking an international flight on business.

"Hmm... I haven't decided yet. In fact, I just started considering this question."

After pondering for a long time, the professor, who had been uncertain, suddenly had an idea and said with a smile.

"Perhaps... go to the place I was originally meant to go?"

The subordinate standing behind the counter was momentarily stunned.

Not just that subordinate, but his omnipresent AI assistant also expressed confusion, asking in bewilderment.

"The place you were originally meant to go?"

The professor smiled faintly and said.

"That's right. First, I'll head to Mars to retrieve the 'Venerable' I left there. Yes, the thing that will let me stay with you a little longer... This time, I plan to drink it myself."

That legendary water of eternal life.

Drink it, and you gain infinite lifespan.

This world doesn't need a "Gestalt Life Form."

Besides, he had already done that project once and had no interest in doing it again.

But come to think of it, what would he do with infinite lifespan?

Staying in the solar system forever seemed pretty boring.

Apart from the AI assistant who had always been by his side and the three thousand researchers, he had no real acquaintances in this "β universe." Even if he started getting to know people anew, they would probably find his appearance inexplicable.

"...Decided."

After a long meditation, he suddenly lifted his head, smiled freely, and spoke.

"I once heard from an old friend that this galaxy hides other civilizations, and we will meet them in the coming millennia. Before they discover faster-than-light engines, I plan to go see them, travel the Milky Way, and maybe find that so-called Heart of the Galaxy."

The Heart of the Galaxy.

That supreme treasure formed from eleven-dimensional matter, the embodiment of cosmic laws...

It was said to be one of the paths to becoming a Boundary Breaker.

In the original timeline, the Observer had mentioned it to him and hinted that he could take it as a goal to pursue.

Of course, all that was secondary.

He didn't care whether the universe would suffer heat death in eons, nor was he interested in becoming that "Mending Stone" himself—it was pure curiosity about that legendary existence.

As he spoke, he looked at the bartender standing behind the counter, smiled, and continued.

"As for you all... do as you please; our mission is over."

"According to the final stage of Project 404, our esteemed Administrator and Game Designer will take over Facility 404-β and handle the aftermath of the project."

"Whether you want to go home or stay on this past timeline to live out your lives, that's your freedom... Don't ask me about such things; think it over yourselves."

The manned spacecraft equipped with anti-gravity devices and hyperspace engines had been ready for two years, deployed on the seabed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, ready to launch at any moment.

Though he originally built it not to tour the galaxy but to cooperate with "α" in making the high-civilization act more convincing, it now seemed unnecessary.

The nations that had benefited from third-kind contact had fully leaned into the "benevolent contact" hypothesis, even cutting budgets for alien investigation agencies.

Since that little "thing" only a few hundred meters long was no longer needed, he might as well use it himself.

After all, with the technical reserves of the α universe's Alliance, if they truly wanted to expand their interference in the players' world, they could easily build a bigger and better one using this world's resources.

In many fields, they had already surpassed this old fossil of his.

Looking at the esteemed professor, the bartender's eyes held a trace of reluctance.

He heard the farewell in that tone, wanted to say something to hold him back, but ultimately didn't speak, only nodding solemnly.

"I'll think it over carefully..."

Though returning was a good idea, he already had his own lover and child in this world.

Not just him.

Many others, like him, had rebuilt families on this distant timeline, becoming part of this world.

Now that the mission was complete and the α world had returned to its proper course, it was time for them to enjoy their own lives.

He was actually a bit envious of them.

Unlike himself, who had lived through over two hundred years, they had at most forty or fifty years of experience—the younger ones only twenty or thirty—still with energy to consider their own affairs.

But he was different.

Even if he had become young again, he lacked the patience to redo everything he had done, repeat everything he had said, and then send those hard-won acquaintances out of his memory once more.

That would be sheer torment.

"Mm, no rush, take your time thinking," the professor said with a smile, finishing the last sip of coffee in his cup.

The game didn't end here; what ended was only the mission of "Shelter 404-β."

There were still many days ahead...

...

The sun gradually set behind the mountains.

At the busiest time on the beach, the bar that should have been open closed its doors instead.

All day long, the internet buzzed with discussions about the ignition of controlled nuclear fusion, and this news momentarily overshadowed even the globally popular "Wasteland OL."

This heat even spread beyond the internet into reality; as the professor strolled along the beachside road, he heard the thrilling ignition mentioned by tourists more than once.

It was understandable, really.

Though the NPCs in "Wasteland OL" had long mastered this technology to perfection and even derived a host of spin-off products, for the humans of the β universe, this was their first time holding energy rivaling a star in their hands.

They had already grasped the first key to the era of prosperity.

Before long, they would fully liberate computational power on the foundation of liberated energy.

And in the near future, the Earth of the β universe would soon give birth to the second truly artificial intelligent life form.

At first, they would be as flustered as parents receiving their first child, but soon they would accept its existence and, on the basis of liberated energy and computation, liberate themselves once more.

They might follow the old path of the α universe, building a colossal space elevator along the equator.

Or they might skip that step, directly imitating the "Alliance" of the New Era, deploying an anti-gravity system over the ocean, letting lift capsules and various spacecraft float up on their own.

In short, just like the α universe greeting the dawn, the β universe of the players was also welcoming the dawn of a new era.

For the people living on this planet, the distant sea of stars had never been as within reach as today!

At the beach.

The professor stopped, his gaze fixed on the brilliant sunset stretched long by the waves.

Counting from the summer of 2014, it had been over eleven years.

In those past eleven years, the Observer had not spoken a single word to him.

But he could be sure that eye was still watching from somewhere in this universe.

Perhaps—

It was hidden in that fiery red sun.

Stopping on the sand, he bent down, picked up a pebble, and threw it hard toward the shimmering waves.

Squinting as the silent countercurrent merged into the surging tide, a smile suddenly tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Like a champion standing in an empty arena, he declared the victory of this game in a voice only two could hear.

"I remember you told me my odds were one over infinity... but now it seems I'm the one who won."

"You got one thing wrong."

"I was never one person, but an infinity of me's who made the same choice without prior agreement."

"Therefore, infinity was never the denominator you spoke of, but the numerator above a finite denominator."

"Thus, my odds were actually infinity over 777... which is infinite."

Having said that, he paused with a smile, leaving the final suspense to his AI assistant, saving a bit of face for the Observer silently watching him, and drawing the final period on this expedition spanning two worlds.

"Am I right, Little I."

New Era.