Weird Regulator

Time: 23:55 on December 8.

The moat that had been silent for a long time began to become restless, and the strong wind that hit at night caused it to surge into waves.

The two golden doors were open like one person's hands, welcoming the rustling river wind.

The long hair on the back of Ji Li's head was flying in the wind. He stared at the bright moon on the river and took out two cigarettes.

One for yourself and one for the people around you.

The crisp sound of a metal lighter being turned on sounded, and a faint flame lit the cigarette.

After Ji Li took a deep breath, he blew out a round smoke ring, which was quickly blown away.

Are you ready?

Fang Shenyan held the cigarette to his mouth but did not light it. He pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Always waiting.

At the junction between the river and the horizon in the distance, very light snowflakes slowly fell.

The world begins to become illusory, like being pulled into a mysterious dream.

The golden door of the seventh branch gradually began to lose its solidity, including the two people inside.

Ji Li slowly closed his eyes. When the wind blew the snowflakes and hit his face, it felt cold.

The two figures disappeared into the seventh branch.

At the same time, a woman with a slim figure and beautiful face came to the door holding an oil-paper umbrella.

She couldn't get out, but she closed her eyes. The wind blew up her skirt, as if she was also in the snow in her dream.

Waiting for your return.

…

The world changes from cold and false to cold and true.

The howling wind and the freezing snowflakes are gone forever.

A drop of water fell on Ji Li's face, and the bone-chilling coldness was the same as the snowflakes just now.

He raised his head subconsciously, and another drop of water fell into his eyes.

On the dark green ceiling, there is a shadow above the head, and water drops are falling from there.

His vision gradually began to change. Ji Li moved his stiff neck and scanned everything around him.

It only took two seconds to see everything here.

This is just a secret room space of less than ten square meters, with no doors or windows.

Dark green ceiling, floral-decorated hard floor tiles, and pure white walls.

In this simple and chaotic tone, there is only an old game console, and a chair.

Apart from that, only Ji Li is left.

After Ji Li walked around the room twice, he finally stood in front of the game console, which was as big as a refrigerator.

In the center of the machine is a thick, rustic black screen, not much larger than an average-sized monitor.

What's strange is that there is a row of buttons and a joystick on the bottom side of the screen.

Ji Li touched it lightly with his hand. The sensitivity of the joystick was pretty good, so there should be no problem in making contact.

Of course he didn't know what it was.

This type of game console, more accurately called arcade game console, has been eliminated in recent years.

But in the past few years, it was still popular all over the country, and basically all the teenagers of that generation had played it.

The game console in front of you is the only prop you rely on.

Your life and death, decisions, and actions must all be completed by it.

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in my ears.

Ji Li suddenly turned his head to look where he came from, and found that the female voice was standing next to the game console, looking at him dignifiedly.

Can't you follow?

He subconsciously asked such a question, but the female voice ignored it and didn't even look at him.

“The left joystick is the only way you can control the actions of the character in the game.

There are four buttons on the right side.

Divided into ‘yellow’, ‘blue’, ‘black’ and ‘white’

Yellow key: pick;

Blue key: View;

Black key: warehouse;

White key; use.

Usage examples:

If you are wandering around the scene and find an item that seems to be a clue, you can use the yellow key to pick it up and the blue key to view it.

All the acquired items will go into your personal warehouse. You can press the black key to open the warehouse and use the white key to use it.

When a big decision comes up, the characters, the ghosts, everything that's happening in the scene is suspended.

Four buttons correspond to four options. From left to right, you can press them yourself.

Note: There is only one judgment opportunity when selecting, and it cannot be changed if there is an accidental touch.

The female voice's eyes were lifeless, as if she were just a robot.

Ji Li stopped paying attention when she started introducing him. Instead, he followed her story and checked the game console.

Obviously this female voice is just a machine responsible for the rules of the game.

But the more he listened, the more he frowned. Everything was not what he imagined.

From a dream perspective, the game world should be extremely real.

According to his expectations, when actually executing the game, he should put himself into the scene.

But according to what the female voice just said, it's more like he is really a manipulator.

There are two game coins placed on the game console, one is for opening for the first time and the other is for resurrection.

The first investment is equivalent to opening the game.

You can no longer exit unless you die or pass the level.

The game will start in five minutes.

If you have any questions, please take the time to ask.

The female voice held her hands and turned stiffly like a statue, facing Ji Li for the first time.

Ji Li frowned and slowly sat down on the hard plastic stool, wiping the dust on the game console with a handkerchief.

After pondering for a moment, he asked his first question:

Where am I now?

Violation, no answer.

Are the stories in the game independent?

Violation, no answer.

How to make sure you have passed the level?

Violation, no answer.

Three questions were asked in a row. The first two were tests by Ji Li, but the third question was that he really asked sincerely.

Ji Li's memory has been lost too much. He has no chance of living a normal life, let alone playing games.

He thought that this question was not excessive, but he did not expect that the female voice would still rule it as a violation.

Of course, this also confirms a piece of information from the side:

Clearing the level does not seem to be as simple as it seems.

After thinking again and again, Ji Li asked a reasonable and legal question:

What should I do if my character's injuries affect the actual game operation when attacked by a ghost?

This time there were no more violations, but the reply given by the female voice was unexpected.

Nothing like that will happen.

Ji Li frowned again. He found that he had made this game too simple.

He once believed that the game mode was just a wrapper, and the core still performed the task.

But it seems that the game mode itself is a major piece of information.

So, what happens if my console gets damaged?

Ji Li squinted his eyes and asked a very critical question to him, and he knew that this question would definitely not violate the rules.

The female voice suddenly shook her arms, her expression became extremely strange, she stared straight at Ji Li and said word by word:

If the game console is destroyed, you will be sentenced...

However, when this sentence came to the most critical moment, the female voice sounded like a malfunctioning machine, and her whole body began to twitch.

Not only that, she began to speak indiscriminately, and her words were stacked one on top of the other. She actually spoke at the same time, making it impossible to understand what she was saying.

Ji Li looked at her in shock. It was obvious that he had asked an extremely critical question, which caused the system to go into chaos.

The start time is advanced, please start your game immediately.

The female voice spoke very quickly, saying so many words in one second.

five four three two one!

She started a five-second countdown in her mouth, but it took less than half a second to put together.

The sudden change left Ji Li unprepared. He realized something was wrong when the female voice was disordered.

He immediately grabbed the game coins on the table and put them into the machine, and a snowflake flashed across the screen.

At the same time, the countdown of the female voice reaches the last second.

In the limit time, Ji Li started his own game and could no longer quit.