Chapter 23 Memory Engraving

[Lamp]

Throughout the country, in all major city regions, the most important component,

The nation has invested substantial financial and technological resources into researching and producing lamps,

Particularly those installed in large hospitals, which undergo monthly maintenance by professionals to ensure high-quality performance, making it impossible for anomalies like the current flickering to occur.

Even the flickering of a single lamp is highly suspicious, let alone several lamps flickering on the current floor.

Luo Di happened to be sitting at the middle corner layer, needing to go up or down a certain distance to leave the staircase.

Just as he was about to dash downstairs,

Tap!

The sound of hard soles stepping on the smooth stairs suddenly rang out, piercingly clear in the quiet staircase.

Strangely,

Luo Di couldn't tell if the noise was coming from downstairs or upstairs; he could only guess from the volume that the other party was merely one floor away.

This meant that if Luo Di chose wrong "up or down", he would directly encounter the other party.

The other party was very likely the source of the flickering lights.

But,

After hearing the footsteps, Luo Di became less tense; his body, which had initially stood up, sat back down, as if he had guessed something.

A pair of size forty-three leather shoes treaded down the stairs, quickly arriving beside Luo Di.

The mysterious person spoke in Mandarin with a slight foreign accent, "How did you guess it was me?"

"This is the first hospital in Jupiter City, one of the city's central buildings, and I've just experienced an incident; the hospital's security should thus be further tightened.

If irregularities still occur under such circumstances, the entire city could be in danger.

Additionally, I've been running at night with Mr. Luo Fei for half a year, and although the shoes are different, I can still barely make out a similarity."

"Well done, no wonder you were able to come up with a solution in the high-pressure, out-of-control environment."

The newcomer was Luo Di's running friend, Frederick Lofei.

The lights in the corridor also became normal at this moment, no longer flickering.

"Because I got involved in your case, I spent the whole day cooperating with handling the 'aftermath', only coming at night to check on your condition.

It seems now that your body is indeed quite adaptive, recovering faster than expected."

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me, a small matter allowed me to owe a favor to the scientific research unit, which is quite a good deal. Besides, I was the one who offered to help you with the incident, but I didn't expect the mishap to occur so soon.

Regarding this incident, you must have many questions, right?"

Mr. Luo Fei also sat down, patiently ready to answer questions.

Luo Di had already sorted out relevant questions, waiting for this moment, "Indeed, I have many questions; how are 'Simulated Anomalies' created in practice?"

"Your question involves the core technology of the current scientific research unit; I cannot give a complete answer, but what I can tell you is that the source of the Simulated Anomaly is the Pseudo-Person itself.

Some are made directly from the bodies of killed Pseudo-Persons,

Some are discovered, captured, restrained, and contained Pseudo-Persons that reach some kind of cooperative relationship with us, willing to assist,

Others are purely products of scientific research."

"As for the last unexpected encounter we had, which Demon had [[Possession]] abilities related to the tongue, which category does it belong to?"

"The cooperative category; its real body is detained elsewhere, and a piece of tongue cut from him was sent to the Jupiter City Research Institute to create a 'Simulated Anomaly'.

This tongue belongs to one of the highest difficulty Simulated Anomalies in our local institute's project, which you indeed encountered.

This was a major oversight, and the 'employee' who caused the incident is still being pursued, and the responsible research institute is likely to undergo significant reorganization and personnel changes."

Luo Di didn't mind the 'troublemaking employee'; his thoughts were entirely on this real Demon anomaly and the Hell behind it.

"I got possessed, and my mind or consciousness went to Hell. Was that really Hell?"

Hearing this question, Luo Fei was quite surprised, "Oh? You actually opened your eyes and saw the scenery of Hell? Most people can't even bear the most basic pain and would faint almost immediately."

"It's a rare opportunity, how could I not open my eyes to see."

Luo Fei rubbed the stubble on his face, his pupils flickering with light, "Very few people can maintain a sound self-consciousness when they first enter Hell, let alone open their eyes in such an extreme environment.

But your question is not easy to answer.

I can only say, the [Hell] you went to physically exists on a spatial level.

But the essence of Hell is still related to the [Corner], and it should be considered a part of the Corner. Its nature is quite different from the Hell depicted in literary works, a completely different and very dangerous place."

"I roughly understand now."

"From your tone, you seem quite interested in Hell."

"Yes… I saw a symbol in Hell."

Luo Di took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, on which that special symbol was drawn,

consisting of a cross, a spiral, and a pentagram as the three basic units, while strange characters filled spaces between different spiral layers.

Overall, it looked quite complex,

which is why Luo Di immediately asked for paper and a pen from the nurse upon awakening; even with his excellent memory, any slight delay could have led to minor memory discrepancies.

Mr. Luo Fei was also baffled by the symbol on the paper, never having seen it before despite his knowledge,

"I've never seen it, considering humanity's exploration of the [Corner] is still in the early to mid stages.

However, you shouldn't record such symbols in this way,

Putting such a symbol on paper could possibly resonate at some point in time or space, causing you to be forcibly pulled into the Corner.

I'll take care of this for you; at your current level, entering the Corner would certainly be fatal."

Luo Fei immediately took out a lighter and set the paper ablaze.

Luo Di agreed with him and did not stop him, simply watching the burning paper.

But just as the symbol on the paper was about to be consumed by the flames, the flame's pattern suddenly completely overlapped with the symbol for a moment, branding itself directly into Luo Di's memory like a mark.

As the paper completely turned into black ash, Luo Di could easily recall every detail of the Hell Symbol by just thinking about it slightly.

"Just remembering it in my brain should be fine, right?"

For some reason,

Luo Di was very interested in this symbol, and although it might pose a potential danger, perhaps there was also an opportunity hidden within.

Luo Fei waved his hand, "If you can remember so many details like this, just go ahead and keep it in mind. Arrays, Marks, and such things, as long as you don't physically draw them out and fulfill the specific conditions, they won't activate."

"Okay, one last question: how much does a simulated anomaly differ from a real anomaly?"

"With the current technology of the Research Institute, we can achieve about 10~30% fidelity of simulation. Of course, real anomalies are very difficult to fully simulate, and it's not something that can be clearly explained just by comparing numbers.

In summary, during the next one year, just stay in school and complete the relevant coursework, focusing on your admissions.

Once you've passed the admissions, then you'll have the chance to truly deal with anomalies."

"Alright."

"If you have no other questions, I'll leave for now… Oh, by the way."

Mr. Luo Fei got up, casually placing his hand on Luo Di's shoulder, "Let me tell you some good news in advance: this unexpected experience of yours will be recorded in your personal file and the City Research General Administration has given you a very high evaluation.

As long as you successfully pass the admissions assessment next year, even without my help, you'll be able to join our company with a 'talented' status.

Because of competition issues I can't tell you the exact name of the company; we'll contact you after you pass the admissions assessment."

"Mhm."

"Looking forward to your admissions assessment next year."