376: Chapter 340 Kanako’s Backpack 376: Chapter 340 Kanako’s Backpack By the evening of October 26, the much-discussed marriage alliance had ended three days prior.
With the support of her husband’s family, Oohara Risa ascended to the position of the new Secretary-General of Anjiu City’s municipal governnt, assisting her father, the mayor, in the public governance work.
Initially, citizens resented this obvious display of nepotism, but as Oohara Risa proposed a series of policies collectively terd “The Great City”, dissent towards her quickly diminished.
“These are the most convincing strategies,” Xu Yang flipped through the news while communicating with Kanako, “building a sense of citizenship identity, granting equal public service rights to the residents of Aizu’s Underground City and those living on the surface; constructing large-scale affordable city public housing; implenting infrastructure rebuilding projects, and promoting work-for-relief programs…”
“All funded specially by Enomoto Bank,” said Kanako, “the people in the risk control departnt are very confident about the city’s future.”
“Oohara Risa persuaded the bank?” Xu Yang asked curiously.
“Risa is a well-educated and cultured young woman,” Kanako’s tone sounded quite cheerful, “She set up a plan that, by investing 3 billion in welfare relief funds a year, she could take control of Anjiu City, which has a yearly output of 12 trillion; if they aren’t willing to spend even this amount of money, they will have to face an insurgent army of 20,000 to 50,000 people, quelling them would cost 6 billion in funds, and then they’d get a city that’s been beaten even worse.”
“So Xisheng has already started treating Anjiu City as their own…”
“Yeah, after Mayor Oohara Nobuhiko dies, Risa will inherit the position, and then it will pass to her and Kamibayashi Kurou’s child, who will also be Xisheng’s offspring.
So, Xu Yang, you can get more by working with Xisheng than by resisting them, and more and more people will realize this.”
“More and more people will beco angry.”
“I think they’re all like the weathercock, this is an era where firepower density exceeds population density.
Besides, mom’s still spending a lot of money searching for and purchasing new Reality Manipulators, they’re about to be delivered to our house soon,” Kanako said lightly.
“New Reality Manipulators?”
“I can’t say,” Kanako chuckled softly, “Anyway, how have you been doing recently?”
“Busy with the production of Synthetic Humans and pioneering work,” answered Xu Yang.
“Life is just like a ga,” Kanako spoke with concern, “you need to adjust your status every day to get various buffs.
I’ve found that many people let their ga characters sleep obediently while they themselves pull all-nighters.”
“For , it’s a bit different,” Xu Yang said, “My decisions affect many people, so I must be extra careful.”
“Ah, suddenly we have a family eting and I have to listen to mom.
Got to go.
Oh, and I sent you a package, go pick it up!” Kanako ended the communication.
Xu Yang left Shijin Mansion aboard the Purple Wind, heading to the courier station.
It resembled an orange self-service machine; Xu Yang entered the password given by Kanako, and from inside it, out popped an old, sowhat worn-out backpack, quite heavy, with a handwritten purple greeting card from Kanako attached to the outside.
“Rember this bag!
Inside, I’ve put all the ga cartridges I’ve collected over the years, I’m giving them all to you.
Except for a few boxed ones that are pretty and have sentintal value, the rest are all here.
I’ve been too busy to play.”
Xu Yang felt a sharp pang in his heart; he hefted the bulky backpack onto his shoulder, even finding it heavy himself, returned to the cabin, and started to pick out the cartridges, making a record of each, marking down the ga na, type, and release date.
In the large gaming room on the 11th floor of Shijin Mansion, Xu Yang hung the backpack on a completely black background wall and placed his handwritten labels next to it for easy searching.
He then set up the closest gaming pod as a virtual machine to avoid electronic viruses.
At that ti, only Shallow Dream was playing gas.
She wore a virtual helt, its lights constantly flashing.
She sat in the chair, secured by straps for her hands and feet, with 22 black leather-covered tubes extending from behind the helt, connecting it to the ga wall behind her.
The entire wall, just as colorful, had 12 cooling fans rotating at high speed, with LED strips tied to each blade, dazzling like a peacock’s tail.
Rainbow Corporation in Xia District turned bulky and unwieldy gaming pods into this kind of open gaming wall, priced at 320,000 on the market, considered high-end gaming equipnt, providing an excellent virtual experience.
Sensing soone’s entrance, a red light flickered on one corner of the ga wall, and the tal wall’s fans slowed down, the lights shifting from colorful to a uniform pattern of red and green alternating breath lights, resulting in a continuous decrease in power.
The gaming helt lifted from Shallow Dream’s head, and all her straps released automatically.
Surprised to see Xu Yang, she hopped off the seat.
“Boss?” She saw the specially chosen gaming pod and the large backpack on the wall, “What’s that?”
“Old gas,” replied Xu Yang with a shrug, “but they can only be played in this particular pod, don’t try running them in any other pods.”
“That’s weird.”
In an instant, Shallow Dream disappeared from Xu Yang’s view.
Turning around, he saw her picking out ga cartridges from the large backpack.
“Fortress, Night,” “Apex Legends,” “Mounts and Blades,” “Legends United,”…
Shallow Dream rummaged through the cartridges, “These are all gas from a long ti ago.”
“What gas do you guys play now?”
“102 likes shooting gas.
I’m different, I prefer those…
more aesthetic ones with a sense of atmosphere, to experience soone else’s life,” Shallow Dream said.
She walked to the gaming wall, extracted a black box from inside the wall, housing rectangular ga cartridges festooned with labels and catchphrases.
Xu Yang checked it out, and its na was “To Be Human Again.” Supported by players from all around the world, individual users could upload their mory footage for public download and experience, allowing every player to live an alternative condensed life of 2 to 10 hours.
“The box says the best experience is for those at least 16 years old,” Xu Yang said.
He saw that many players had uploaded their lives full of terror or explicit content.
The five most popular life experiences ca from a professional traveler, a top-paid actor, a zoo administrator, a stamp dealer, and the Chief Executive Officer of Iris Group, Joe Cardo, who had 150 girlfriends.
“There’s not much difference between 14 and 16,” Shallow Dream said, fearing the box would be put away, she quickly reached out to take it back.
“Why live soone else’s life?” Xu Yang handed the box back to her, “Isn’t your own life worth living?”
“Lady Farosa told that she t a thousand years ago,” Shallow Dream said as she released magic power and disappeared from Xu Yang’s sight, putting the box back in its place.
She was becoming more skilled at using ti-stop magic.
Xu Yang thought to himself.
Ti Stop, one of the most terrifying magic powers.
“t you?”
“Charli Valenta.
Lady Farosa said that was my na before,” Shallow Dream said, “One of the Chaos Witches, controlling ti-stop magic, Lady Farosa’s companion.
And I was reborn after her death.”
Xu Yang still rembered this Charli, in Lady Farosa’s description, Charli bore malice towards n.
When encountering n, she often stopped ti first, lashed out, and when ti resud, they would find themselves emasculated.
So of the most renowned knights from the Taixi Continent suffered at her hands and often ended up despondent and deflated afterwards.
“That Charli is completely a separate witch,” Xu Yang said, “And you are…
from a laboratory.”
“I don’t know, if I am the sa person as her, I should change back, beco exactly like her, and yet I’m sowhat afraid,” Shallow Dream said, looking utterly bewildered.
“Lady Farosa told that a witch with the sa magic power is essentially a reincarnation of the sa soul.
She taught how to pick up Charli’s mories, to recall the tis I spent with Lady Farosa at the Chaos Witch assembly.”
“Did you actually rember anything?”
“Yes, it’s true,” Shallow Dream’s voice carried a hint of trepidation, “I tried to retrieve the images of my past life, and then for a mont I felt vague and conversed involuntarily with Lady Farosa, chatting about the weather in Aquilia District, the temperature of bath water, and the capturing of slaves.”
“So that’s why you’re playing this life simulation ga?” Xu Yang frowned.
‘I’m trying, I want to know what a human’s life is really like, from birth to death, how to understand this entire process,” Shallow Dream looked down, “Lady Farosa must wish for the Chaos Witch Charli Valenta to be reborn in , since we share the sa soul, the sa magic power.”
“Stop all that,” Xu Yang shook his head, “You are Shallow Dream, born in Kyoto Infinite Z10 Research Institute in the year 135, found by in August, and you then joined the Nestor Corporation Witch Departnt.
I believe these real mories that actually exist are more truthful than the illusions of a thousand years ago.”
“Ha…” Shallow Dream chuckled wearily.
“Do you still rember what I told you the day you first arrived?” Xu Yang said, “I cautioned you.”
Shallow Dream paused.
“‘Don’t forget who you are.'” Shallow Dream’s eyes widened in surprise, “Did you already know sothing like this would happen?”
“I knew nothing,” Xu Yang said, “But I know how Farosa would treat you guys.”
“Why don’t her thods work on you?”
“I’m 28 years old.”
Shallow Dream walked toward the large backpack hanging on the wall.
“Whose is this?” Shallow Dream asked, “You seem to care a lot about it, yet there’s a sense of loss.”
“Yes, it belongs to soone I care a lot about,” Xu Yang looked at Kanako’s backpack, “She chose to let go of so things forever, believing it was better for her, that it wouldn’t hinder her growth.”
Shallow Dream kicked the ground.
“…I will repay you,” she said, a little shy, “When I grow up and beco the true master of ti, I will definitely repay you…
I really wish I was an adult now, what you said ans a lot to .”
Xu Yang was taken aback.
“What?” Shallow Dream asked, confused, “Did…
did I say sothing wrong?”
“No, no…
I just realized,” Xu Yang looked at Kanako’s backpack, “I know why she is becoming more and more of a stranger to .
It’s because she stays in that place, talking with her mother and her family every day, they had too much influence on her.
I should invite her to join us at Taro Tanaka’s dinner.”
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