"Listen to me, I won't harm you."
Tian An was already in the elevator. She had been "coerced and bribed" by Herta into getting on.
"Do you recognize this place?" Herta asked as Tian An looked left and right inside the elevator.
"No," Tian An denied flatly.
"Seriously? It's your memory, and you don't know where this is?" Herta felt this lady might genuinely be a bit dense.
"I really don't know. I don't know what's wrong, I just keep forgetting things. It feels like my memories have been tampered with," Tian An was innocent too! She truly didn't know where this place was.
"Could the Simulated Universe have malfunctioned? Impossible, absolutely impossible," Herta's voice cut out for a moment, then resumed.
"Let me see what's going on with this world of yours." Then the communication cut off again.
"Arrived." The elevator stopped steadily on the second floor. At Herta's request, she had to check floor by floor. Herta had even promised her a big reward afterward.
...
Who was it just now saying they weren't interested?
Checking floor by floor like this, anyone would think she was actually playing the Simulated Universe.
The second floor was basically unchanged from the first, still a wide-open space dominated by a white color scheme. There was nothing by the entrance, as expected.
She habitually looked out the window, only to find the city's buildings stretched endlessly, beyond the horizon.
Then, turning around, she saw that familiar glass door again...
Tian An was baffled. What needed to be protected by so many layers of glass doors? And they were glass doors – building them was practically the same as not building them.
The logic of this building's construction felt like something out of a dream.
Just as she was about to smash it like before, the glass door opened on its own, accompanied by a creaking sound.
This door sure knows how to read the room.
Tian An cautiously walked in, glancing left and right. Turning the corner to the right, she saw a long corridor. Countless doors lined the left and right sides of the corridor.
These weren't glass doors this time, but rather the kind with windows, similar to hospital ward doors.
The thick smell of disinfectant hung in the air.
Could this be a hospital?
Tian An was about to continue forward when she suddenly bumped into an invisible wall. Her lovely face pressed firmly against the barrier.
"Hiss... Ow," Tian An quickly took two steps back, rubbing her nose.
Although her body had Terra-level constitution, the person inside did not.
Why is there an invisible wall? Is the area ahead meant for later exploration?
Dissatisfied, she kicked the wall and tried calling Herta again, hoping to get these annoying obstacles removed.
Unfortunately, no voice responded.
While she was still愣神 (lèng shén - spacing out/dazed), a distinctly shaped octagonal camera suddenly emerged from... the invisible wall?
Click... Click
The camera flashed several times right at Tian An's dazed face, making her head buzz slightly.
"Facial information registered. Backup saved to backend. Welcome to the Experimental Zone."
A voice from an unknown source announced, and the camera retracted. The invisible wall gradually disappeared.
Tian An approached the first door and peered carefully inside, discovering what looked like an MRI room.
I remember those things cost a fortune to restart if they're stopped, right?
Tian An opened the door. The doors here didn't seem to be locked; they opened easily.
On the desk in the doctor's office area outside the MRI room, there were several sheets of paper. A computer screen displayed some interface. She hurried over and picked up the papers to examine them.
Patient MRI Examination Report?
It started as a fairly normal MRI image and conclusion, but when she saw the picture on the scan, she almost burst out laughing.
How did your brain fly out like that?
The image showed a frontal view of a brain scan where the face was stretched out incredibly far, like "super gluten" (or super taffy), giving the distinct impression of chewed bubblegum deliberately stretched thin and then poked with several holes.
Yet, the overall shape of the head remained normal.
"According to MRI image analysis, the patient's brain region has deviated from its original position by... 30 centimeters," Tian An tried to suppress her laughter but couldn't quite manage.
30 centimeters... Is this patient some kind of 'super gluten' person?
Or maybe they awakened superpowers?
"Later, in conversation with the patient, we learned that the patient sneezed during the MRI procedure, therefore... we surgically removed... her nose?"
What does that have to do with her nose? What kind of nonsense is this?
Tian An flipped through more papers. Without exception, all the contents described completely illogical medical conditions and treatment strategies.
Among them were cases of kidney removal due to a cold, appendectomy for hemorrhoids, and gallstones misdiagnosed as... prostatitis?
Is this a normal medical facility? Why are there only such bizarre diagnoses?
Turning her attention, Tian An arrived at the second room. Inside, she saw not much else, but a... Originium Slug?
Why was there an Originium Slug here? Could Theresia's memories have been merged in as well?
No sooner said than done, the Originium Slug saw someone approach and charged straight at Tian An's chest with lightning speed...
...then fell to the ground, motionless.
Hey, why did you die?
Before Tian An could react, a loud crash came from the room inside. The door was violently slammed against the wall.
She turned her head to see an Originium Slug taller than her...
..
Alright, time to check the third room.
Ignoring the violent crashing sounds behind her, Tian An very carefully opened the third door this time. She felt that exploring room by room like this would take forever.
Just like a kid exploring a new map, how long will this take?
Shut up.
Mmph...
The third room contained rows of hospital beds covered with white sheets. From the outside, nothing seemed particularly abnormal.
Tian An walked further in and saw a black backpack placed in the corner by the last bed.
Although snooping through others' belongings is impolite, this is a virtual world!
Tian An gently unzipped the backpack. What greeted her eyes was a pile of figurines of some unknown characters.
Looks like a fellow collector.
Except... why are all these figurines of the same person?
"What are you doing?" Herta's voice sounded again. The moment she switched her view, Tian An was rummaging through some unknown bag.
"I found a backpack, so I was just..." Tian An held up one of the figurines in her hand and shook it slightly.
"So boring. Looking at even this kind of stuff," Herta expressed her disdain.
"However... what would figurines made in my image be like?"
"..."
They'd sell like crazy.
Because the power of the masses is immense.