In past cycles, Synlos had indeed submitted before.
The Destroyer of Worlds had even told him what the Abyss was and what he was doing there, but never had he revealed such secrets...
And how should one put it?
The Synlos before him now seed more... "spiritual" than the ultimate bosses he had encountered in the previous 177 cycles.
In other words, he had "co to life."
Moreover, he hadn't just co to life; he even retained fragnts of mories from the last cycle—very clear ones. He still rembered treating Xia Ya as the Child of the Abyss and believed it wholeheartedly.
And he had discovered this bizarre situation and even... questioned it?
Xia Ya could tell that the Destroyer of Worlds was upset. After realizing that the commands had nothing to do with Xia Ya, he was angry at himself for being remotely controlled like a puppet. The other party was neither the Mother of the Abyss nor the Child of the Abyss, yet he had obediently executed the commands for so long!
It was infuriating!
If the previous Synlos had been equally furious, he would have certainly told Xia Ya. Crawling at Xia Ya's feet like a dog wasn't sothing that only happened in the 177th cycle...
The only explanation for this is that before "coming to life," Synlos wouldn't resist the "commands."
In fact, to put it another way...
Before "coming to life," Synlos wasn't even aware he was executing commands.
Xia Ya was quite certain that the commands had been almost identical throughout the past 177 cycles—they had a main storyline, a clear frawork, perhaps sothing that could be called "A Guide to World Destruction Even Mia Can Understand."
The tiline and events matched what Xia Ya was familiar with, and when encountering one or two discrepancies, a little deduction based on surrounding events and character identities would lead to a simple conclusion: what he observed was an illusion.
This, in turn, solved many questions he hadn't figured out before, like why a certain NPC suddenly turned traitor, why an event erupted without warning, or why a place suddenly beca a dead zone... It turned out Synlos was behind it all, but since those in the know had died, the information never reached him.
In other words, this was unpacking data.
Xia Ya's gaze swept over the automaton and Yveline...
They were all deep in thought.
This revelation might be devastating for Yveline. Without the concept of "ga" in her mind, she was likely plunged into an infinite sense of insignificance and absurdity—if even the mighty Destroyer of Worlds was a puppet controlled by others, then what about a pawn like herself? Was she just a tiny, insignificant piece in soone else's ga, a speck of dust that could be wiped away at any mont?
As for Synlos...
Before the final battle arrived, no one could delve into the nest to uncover its secrets.
Even Xia Ya hadn't done so, as entering that place was too difficult. If he didn't kill Synlos, getting out would be even harder, so he couldn't be bothered to return empty-handed.
And the "Guide to World Destruction" didn't specify when he would gain a physical body and truly "manifest."
Xia Ya had a hypothesis: Synlos's manifestation might occur seventeen or eighteen years later, when the human vanguard was fully assembled and ready to strike.
This could be understood as: to maximize resource conservation, a massive entity like Synlos hadn't been "generated" yet. Only when players triggered specific storylines would such a character be generated in real-ti.
This was common in traditional RPG gas, but in "Illusory Realm," it sounded sowhat... well, how should one put it, out of character.
Xia Ya always believed that even without players, all creations in this world—NPCs, magical creatures, monsters—acted according to their own rules...
The seasons changed, day turned to night. Life propagated, and death followed.
But this understanding was suddenly challenged.
Now it seed there was another possibility:
mories weren't mories but artificially fabricated data.
Experiences weren't experiences but pre-written records.
All data only ran when extracted and observed, and when observation ceased, they remained in a suspended state.
The so-called players were rely pre-compiled code, like randomly generated paraters.
They weren't "outsiders."
Even...
Thinking deeper, more terrifying thoughts:
The existence nad "Xia Ya" was rely a pre-set "Chosen One" who had "cycled 177 tis, familiar with everything, and could continuously reincarnate."
And his mories of the past 177 cycles were all similar to the past perfect tense settings in the "Guide to World Destruction."
Is this possible?
Yes, of course.
Can a person perceive that they are a "brain in a vat" and not a real existence?
When data and consciousness are intertwined, can one distinguish between reality and virtuality?
Can an AI with autonomous consciousness "realize" that it is an AI and not a person?
Questions like these, not to ntion distant ones, but closer ones, Ridley Scott pondered with "Blade Runner," Masamune Shirow submitted with "Ghost in the Shell," the Wachowski sisters answered with "The Matrix," and countless netizens have debated for decades without a conclusion...
So, Xia Ya wouldn't think about it.
He had the self-awareness and understanding to choose not to ponder questions that couldn't be answered individually, to not focus on such issues.
When Yveline asked him what he was running from, he didn't know at the ti.
But now he understood; this was the question he was avoiding.
Everyone lives to avoid death.
Eating to prevent starvation, wearing clothes to prevent freezing, seeking ntal support to avoid dying of boredom, following traffic rules to avoid getting hit by a car... everything done is an escape.
He would live like a normal person, avoiding as much as possible, bravely and justifiably avoiding.
To hell with the ultimate questions.
If he could control his own thoughts, he would lean towards believing he was a real person.
Thus, he leaned more towards his self-awareness as a human.
In other words, he firmly believed in his experiences from the past 177 beta tests; they were real, things he had personally gone through, not so nonsense mory setting.
Just like Sennia's oddity, the blurry flas in Mia's mory, and Yveline's unusual behavior on the night of the Festival of Disguise, he could sense and distinguish these from past and present comparisons, so his understanding of this world was also real.
His exploration trajectory wasn't static, but no matter the order in which he completed this massive "puzzle," the final answer was always the sa—except for Synlos's nest.
So, apart from Synlos's nest, this world had nothing to do with his actions.
It was composed of thousands of individuals, their organic behaviors shing like gears, slowly advancing the world's progress, regardless of whether anyone triggered it, regardless of whether anyone observed it.
He was who he was.
Players were players.
This world was this world.
Distinct and separate.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Synlos.
"You're truly pitiful."
The automaton paused for a mont, then weakly asked, "Why?"
Xia Ya smiled, avoiding the topic. After thinking for a while, he asked, "You haven't disobeyed that voice, have you?"
Synlos nodded.
"Then don't in the future either, absolutely don't. Do exactly as it demands, without deviation, as if it were my command. By the way, you don't have any deficiencies in your abilities, do you? Besides not truly 'manifesting,' you theoretically possess all the abilities you'd have after 'manifesting'?"
Synlos nodded vigorously. "My abilities haven't been affected at all. Wherever Arcane Energy is pervasive, I can control its concentration, and creatures that have fallen into magic will also be under my control, so completing the commands on this is no problem. But you... you seem to have been severely injured by the Valkyrie, to such an extent..."
Xia Ya coughed awkwardly twice.
"You still haven't grasped the true power of that sword..."
"My apologies for my ignorance."
"The truly formidable thing isn't Orinshiru's sword, but the voice echoing in the depths of your mind and the power it represents. We can call it 'It.' 'It' didn't erase a nest and our bodies... It erased ti, our past."
The automaton suddenly raised its head.
"No wonder I'm so familiar with the commands on this... You an, in the past, I've done it all before? But why... why don't I rember? Could it be that my past self also..."
"Quiet, Synlos." Xia Ya gestured. "You should realize that your past self also didn't have a body, just as the commands don't include 'acquiring a body.' You haven't even 'awakened.' Do you understand? The command 4 I ntioned earlier (Soul Leech Rampage), your past self didn't do that either."
"How... how could it be..."
The Destroyer of Worlds murmured, lowering his head. Even though Xia Ya couldn't see the automaton's eyes, he could guess his current state of despair.
Xia Ya had the awareness to actively give up thinking, but Synlos didn't.
"Hey, wake up!"
Xia Ya slapped the automaton's head hard.
Smack.
The Darkling Automaton didn't move an inch, but it triggered the defensive spell on it, a layer of impact suddenly rebounded, and Xia Ya was sent flying, crashing heavily against the wall, his HP plumting to a sliver.
"Xia Ya!"
"Master! Master!"
The sudden scene snapped both the Dark Elf and Synlos out of their thoughts.
"Damn divine control blood... I'm fine, I'm not dead yet." Xia Ya pulled out a bottle of holy water, gulped it down, wiped his mouth, and said to Synlos, "Rember those bugs you bewitched? Your current panicked state is just like them. See, this is the terrifying aspect of 'It.' Even without appearing, it can make you crumble in self-doubt."
Xia Ya's words were like a wake-up call, and Synlos stopped his wild thoughts, turning entirely into anger.
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Though he couldn't find an answer for now, his attention had been diverted!
That was anger!
He was really mad! But there was nothing he could do...
The automaton let out a few low growls of frustration before raising his head.
"Master, what should we do?"
"Wait, and hold onto hope, Synlos. 'It' is indeed sothing we can't stop or even observe. However, everything is still in ti."
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