“This is the Virtual Realm…”

Asho reached out and grabbed a handful of seawater, smelling and tasting it. It was surprisingly sweet.

Looking down, the sea surface was very blurry, and he couldn’t see his own appearance.

Examining his clothing, he found himself wearing a deep black windbreaker, just like the character drawing, which looked quite handsome.

“It’s exactly like the description in the textbook.”

Since there was no one else around, Sonia also spoke freely, “This must be the Knowledge Sea, also known as the Silver Sea, the Initial Sea… Whether you are a genius or a mediocre person, a six-winged god or a one-winged Artificer, the first stop for them to enter the Virtual Realm must be this ocean.”

“The only difference is this.” Sonia knocked on the small boat, looked around, and found a book mark on the bow and a sword mark on the stern.

“The textbook says that Artificers should be naked when they first come here…”

“Naked?” Asho looked at Sonia’s black suspender skirt.

Sonia’s face was full of black lines, and she instinctively covered her chest, “Our image in the Virtual Realm is a projection of our consciousness. Naked means that we cannot have other external objects, such as bringing items from reality… I heard that when Artificers first enter the Virtual Realm, they should swim naked in the sea, there should be no boat.”

“I understand!” Asho suddenly clapped his hands.

“What do you understand?”

“This boat is your main body, you are just a soul phantom!”

“What?” Sonia was taken aback.

“Your consciousness is split into two parts. One part is the heavy soul, which turns into this small boat for your convenience; the other part is the agile mind, which becomes your current appearance.” Asho said confidently, “The soul is the boat, and the consciousness is the person. The boat carries the person to the other side. It must be like this!”

It sounded reasonable, but…

“How do you prove it?” Sonia asked.

Asho said without thinking, “If you don’t believe it, jump into the sea and try it. If I’m right, you won’t be able to leave this boat at all!”

Sonia did it without hesitation and jumped into the sea. Fortunately, in the dream trial, although Sonia had never learned to swim, she at least knew some water skills and wouldn’t sink like a stone.

Soon Sonia flipped back onto the boat and snorted, “You’re wrong. I can leave the boat. This boat is not my soul…”

Verifying that what the observer said was wrong was like winning a game. Sonia was still a little proud, but when she turned her head, she found the observer was looking at her.

Although his appearance was still obscured by the darkness, Sonia could completely sense his gaze. She looked down and found that her clothes had been soaked by the seawater, clinging to her body, outlining her graceful curves.

“You…” Sonia was so angry that she raised her wooden sword, regardless of the gap in strength between them, and summoned her Wave Sword Sorcery Spirit to strike him. Asho quickly retreated and surrendered, “Wait, where did you get that wooden sword?”

Huh?

Sonia looked at the wooden sword in her hand. She remembered that she didn’t have a weapon in her hand just now. But seeing the observer so infuriating, she instinctively wanted to beat him with the wooden sword…”You see, when you wanted a wooden sword, the wooden sword appeared. Obviously, this ship also appeared because you didn’t want to swim,” Asho spread his hands. “I just wanted to test it out, and this proves that this ship is indeed materialized by intention.”

“Was peeking at me also part of your test? No, the wooden sword is my most familiar weapon, so I can easily materialize it, just like I can materialize clothes!”

“Don’t slander me, I clearly looked at you in broad daylight!”

After this small episode, the unfamiliar and fearful feelings of arriving in the Virtual Realm were dispelled.

And because there was someone accompanying him, it was like having someone to cushion the blow no matter what happened, and both of them were filled with a sense of security.

But just like how Sonia didn’t know the difference between this ‘observer’ and that ‘observer’, Asho also didn’t know the difference between this ‘Sword Girl’ and that ‘Sword Girl’.

…

…

One hour ago.

After finishing dinner and returning to the prison dormitory, the Sword Girl talked to Asho about very adult topics.

“There are two pieces of news. The good news is that you will have free housing provided by the government for the rest of your life.”

“Is there such a good thing?”

“The bad news is that you could be taken away for execution at any time.”

Asho understood, “I can’t escape from prison?”

The Sword Girl sat on the bed with her legs crossed and her hands clasped, looking at Asho with a sideways glance. “You should know that Artificers are the most powerful group in this world, right? As a mortal, you cannot compete with Artificers.”

“Even the Painful and Weak Artificer who transformed his body into diamond, after being disconnected from the Virtual Realm, could only become a diamond rat rolling in the dung.”

“And the experience of today should make you understand that as long as you wear the neck chip, no matter where you are, you are still bound by endless shackles.”

At this point, Asho’s face also changed slightly. He originally thought that the Miracle Chip was like an implanted computer, but he didn’t expect that the chip turned him into a computer – and his administrator privileges were remotely controlled by someone else.

Whether he could hit someone, see what content, or say what words, were all under the control of the administrator. Today, the administrator could make him speak like a civilized youth who follows rules and regulations, and tomorrow the administrator could make him eat shit.

Before removing the chip, all of his plans were equivalent to a computer virus – the administrator could reinstall the system and kill everything. If the administrator thought that Asho couldn’t be fixed, he could even directly recycle him and let Asho start over.

“Is there a way to remove the chip?” Asho gritted his teeth and asked, “For example, directly cutting off the neck…”

“If it were that simple to remove, this prison wouldn’t be so lively.”

The Sword Girl sneered, “Although it’s called a chip, the Miracle Chip has gradually merged into your bone marrow during your growth process. Every bone, every nerve, every muscle in your body now has the imprint of the chip. If you want to remove the chip, you might have to jump into the steel mill.”

“In other words, conventional methods cannot remove the chip.” Asho said, “What about the methods of Artificers?””Artificers have more means at their disposal,” Sword Girl said. “And the most likely one for you to acquire is the sword miracle ‘Cut Me.’”

“‘Cut Me’ is a defensive miracle for Swordsman, specifically used to purify abnormal states. Although it is only a silver miracle that can be used by a one-winged Artisan, it can directly purify most of the continuous damage caused by two-winged Artisans.”

“The miracle chip is for mortals and one-winged Artificers, and cannot immunize against the ‘Cut Me’ miracle with two-winged Might. As long as you use ‘Cut Me,’ you can instantly clear all miracle chips in your body, so you have a chance to escape.”

“How can I obtain the ‘Cut Me’ miracle?”

“To cast a miracle, you must first have an Artisan. And to obtain an Artisan, you have four ways.” Sword Girl raised four fingers:

“First, through learning and resonating with the Virtual Realm, the knowledge in the Virtual Realm can be transformed into an Artisan and appear in reality.”

“Second, go to the Virtual Realm to find wild Artisans.”

“Third, kill an Artificer and plunder their Artisan.”

“Fourth, trade Artisans.”

“First of all, you can’t take the first path.” Sword Girl glanced at Asho. “The miracle chip has already severed your link with the Virtual Realm, and no matter how much knowledge you absorb, you cannot resonate with the Virtual Realm.”

Asho looked at the information on the screen and saw ‘Resonance with the Virtual Realm is prohibited.’

“The third path, killing an Artificer with a mortal body, has also happened. Most of them occur when female or male pets plot to murder their master during intimacy…”

Sword Girl looked at Asho’s face and shook her head. “You can’t take this path either.”

“Don’t deny it so completely! Is there a little possibility? Can’t I rely on my face to eat?”

“As for the fourth path, you don’t even have the capital to trade with people.”

“Anyway,” Sword Girl was too lazy to argue with Asho. “The only way for you to obtain an Artisan is to go to the Virtual Realm to find wild Artisans.”

“So how do I go to the Virtual Realm?”

“The only way to go to the Virtual Realm is to trigger the truth gate inside the Artisan’s body and let your consciousness directly cross over to the Virtual Realm.”

Asho blinked.

“So you mean, I need an Artisan to go to the Virtual Realm?”

“Exactly.”

“And my purpose in going to the Virtual Realm is to find an Artisan?”

“That’s right.”

“Wait a minute…”

Asho stepped back, holding his forehead.

“Isn’t this the dilemma that just-graduated college students face when all job positions require three years of work experience? I can’t go to the Virtual Realm without an Artisan, but I have to go to the Virtual Realm to find an Artisan. Isn’t this a dead end?”

“Who told you that you have to use your own Artisan to go to the Virtual Realm?”

“Huh?”

Sword Girl pointed to herself. “Did you forget? I already have a fluctuating sword Artisan, so I have the qualifications to enter the Virtual Realm. Observer, you have formed a soul bond with me through the ‘Manual,’ and we can share experience, so it’s natural for me to take you to the Virtual Realm together.”

There’s this feature too? Asho instinctively opened the ‘Sorcerer’s Manual’ and wanted to look at his talent again, but found that a new function module had appeared in the game:”Virtual Realm Exploration”: Organize an agent team to explore the Virtual Realm.

However, when Asho clicked on “Virtual Realm Exploration”, selected ‘End Watcher’, ‘Dead Crazy Sword Girl’ to act together, and clicked “Ready”, nothing changed in reality – because ‘Dead Crazy Sword Girl’ was still in “Preparation”.

“I’ve confirmed my readiness, hurry up and do the same,” Asho urged.

“Well, I’ll go back and get ready then, you just wait.”

Asho was dumbfounded, “What else do you need to prepare?”

“A lot, a lot, you, a virgin like you, wouldn’t understand.”

“You TM have no evidence that I’m a virgin-“

Watching Sword Girl curl her lips and disappear into the air with a teasing smile, Asho had no choice but to lie in bed and wait. Perhaps it was because the regenerative treatment had consumed too much energy, or perhaps it was because the night without a phone to swipe was too boring, Asho soon closed his eyes in exhaustion.

When he woke up again, he saw Sword Girl sitting in the same boat with him, floating in an ocean filled with white mist.

……

…

On the small boat in the Sea of Knowledge, Asho suddenly thought of something and tried to call out the screen with a silent chant.

He both failed and succeeded: the failure was that although he summoned the screen, most of the functions were disabled, as the Virtual Realm did not support physical plug-ins; the success was that the “Sorcerer’s Manual” could still run.

He clicked on the “Sorcerer’s Manual” – “Virtual Realm Exploration”, and a map suddenly popped up on the screen, along with a message:

“You have entered Virtual Realm Exploration mode, please read the beginner’s tutorial…”

On the other side, Sonia noticed that Asho was silent and not talking, so she also focused her attention on the Virtual Realm, bending down to fiddle with the seawater with her hands, trying to propel the boat forward.

“Wait, Sword Girl, don’t be so hasty and reckless, let me do it.”