[Simulation ends.]
Lem was standing in his original place in the forest when he was suddenly filled with the experiences of the version of him that had gone through the simulation.
In a stream, thoughts and sensations rushed into his head.
What is going on?
Is this a hallucination?
He was filled with confusion.
Had he been trapped inside of a future version of himself for fifteen days?
Or had the simulation only lasted for a few moments?
It must have all been a hallucination, he thought. There is no simulation, and there is no future self.
It’s the evil power playing with my senses!
Lem did not believe it was real, but this did not stop him from cursing when he remembered that he only had two weeks to live.
If I’m going to hallucinate, it should at least be pleasant!
He noticed that the screen in front of him had a different display.
[Choose one of three rewards:
Option 1: peak cultivation from lifetime (Day 1 cultivation)
Option 2: comprehension from lifetime
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Option 3: one faintly spiritual berry]
He shook his head.
Playing along, Lem saw that he was forced to choose the third option. After all, for most of the simulation, his mind was too warped for his ‘comprehension’ to be anything useful, and his ‘cultivation’ only got worse during the course of the simulation.
Option 3, he thought with intent.
To his shock, he felt a cool object appear in the palm of his hand.
He quickly raised his arm, seeing a small, unassuming berry. The pleasant sensation on his skin was the only indicator that it had spiritual properties.
“I died in the simulation, but it was not your fault,” Lem mumbled.
As far as he could tell, there were no problems with the berry. His death had been due to his hunger and his weakness. In fact, it seemed that it staved off the hunger slightly, as he lasted several days without food.
But…is this a real berry?
After feeling the berry in his hand, Lem seriously questioned whether the simulator was actually a hallucination.
The events had only gotten stranger since he had heard the disembodied voice in his mind.
It felt like he had experienced fifteen days, and yet at the same time, it felt like only a few seconds had passed.
A screen had suddenly presented itself in front of him.
But this berry seemed so real…
For a moment, he was forced to consider the horrifying and wonderful possibility that it could all be real.
A deep feeling of comfort bloomed in his stomach, as he thought of the ability to be protected by the ‘system’.
The only possibility of survival came from simulating his life. In fact, not only could he survive, but he could even elevate his standing in the world.
The unease from being abandoned vanished in an instant.
He was unwilling to give up the idea, and he decided that whatever the truth was, he was going to treat it as real.
Having come to this decision, Lem reexamined the berry in his hands.
He was about to eat it, when he stopped himself.
If he ate it in the real world, it would be gone.
However, if he simulated eating it, he could do so over and over again and keep reaping the benefits forever.