In fits and starts, Lem reached the end of the clearing. He stopped, feeling lost. His sense of direction came from the village behind him.
He had wiped away his tears, but the dull feeling in his heart only grew worse.
What was he supposed to do?
It had been a week since he showed signs of infection, and his already frail body had begun to suffer from abnormal fatigue.
Now, he felt more feeble than ever.
No village. No parents. No health.
No hope.
He had a spear and a knife, but if he ran into a beast, it was a real question who would become the food.
Suddenly, a voice appeared in his head.
“The Goddess has taken pity, and bestowed the Life Simulation System upon you, poor mortal.”
Lem’s eyes widened.
A stream of information was transmitted intuitively to him.
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He understood the basic function of the simulator.
It anchored the present moment. Then, events would unfold in the world, as they would in the absence of the simulator.
When he died, the simulated events turned into an illusion, while the Karma that connected Lem to his simulated self allowed him to retrieve parts of the experience.
Each simulation required a period of recovery, and an amount of energy equivalent to his Karma. The recovery time was proportionate to the time elapsed in the simulation.
Life simulation system, Lem thought with incredulity.
He vaguely understood the magnitude of the words, and was overcome with despair.
The evil has already taken me! I have started to hallucinate a strange system!
It was impossible to think that the system was real. The gift was too outlandish to be believed.
He also did not believe that there was a Goddess watching him.
Where was this Goddess for the first fifteen years of his life?
After the information was transmitted to Lem, a translucent screen appeared in front of him.
[Name: Lem]
[Age: 15]
[Cultivation: None]
[Techniques: Nine Bull Fist (entry)]
[Energy: 0]
[Simulation: 101%]
[Detecting Karma is small enough to extract energy from the environment. Run Simulation?]
How bizarre and complex.
Lem stared soullessly at the screen.
As long as I am dying, I might as well play along with the hallucination.
Yes, he thought with intent.