Chapter 24 - Illusory Realm (1/2)

Translator: Atlas StudiosEditor: Atlas Studios

“So this is the Illusory Realm…”

Ash reached out and cupped the seawater in his hands. He smelled it and licked it. It actually tasted a little sweet.

He lowered his head and looked down. The sea surface was very blurry and he could not see his own face clearly at all.

Looking at his clothes, he realized that he was wearing a black coat that was the same as that in his illustration. It actually looked quite handsome.

“It’s exactly the same as what the textbooks described.”

Since there was no one else around, Sonia also opened her mouth to speak. “This must be the Sea of Knowledge, also called the Sea of Silver, the Sea of Initiation… Be they geniuses or mediocre people, legendary Six-winged Divine Masters or One-winged Sorcerers, their first stop after entering the Illusory Realm would definitely be this sea.”

“The only difference is this.” Sonia tapped the small boat and looked around. There was a mark of a book on the bow and a mark of a sword on the stern.

“According to the textbooks, sorcerers should be naked when they come here…”

“Naked?” Ash looked at Sonia’s black camisole dress.

Sonia’s face darkened, and she subconsciously covered her chest. “Our image in the Illusory Realm is a projection of our consciousness, Being naked means that we can’t have the aid of external objects, such as bringing something here from the real world… I heard people say that those who just entered the Illusory Realm would swim in the sea directly. There can’t possibly be a boat.”

“I understand!” Ash suddenly clapped his hands.

“What do you understand?”

“This boat is your true self. You are just a phantom!”

“What?” Sonia was stunned.

“Your consciousness has split into two parts. One part is your heavy soul, which has transformed into this small boat to facilitate your sailing; the other part is your animated consciousness, which has transformed into your current image.” Ash said confidently. “The soul is the boat, and the consciousness is the person. The boat carries the person to the other shore. That must be the case!”

It did sound somewhat reasonable, but…

“How can you prove it?” Sonia asked.

Ash said without hesitation, “If you don’t believe me, try jumping into the sea. If I’m right, you can’t leave this boat!”

Sonia leaped into the sea decisively. Thanks to that dream trial, even though she did not know how to swim, she wouldn’t just sink like an anchor.

Sonia quickly turned back to the boat and snorted coldly. “You’re wrong. I can leave the boat. This boat wasn’t transformed from my soul at all…”

Personally validating what the Observer had said was wrong felt like winning against him for once. Sonia had been a little smug about it, but she turned to find the Observer watching her.

Although his face was still shrouded by the darkness, Sonia could still sense his gaze perfectly. She looked down and saw that her clothes were soaked by the seawater, which clung to her body and outlined her beautiful curves.

“You—” Sonia was so angry that she raised her wooden sword. Ignoring the difference in strength between them, she directly summoned the Wave Sword Spirit and was about to slash at him with it. Ash quickly retreated and surrendered. “Wait, where did you get your wooden sword from?”

Eh?

Sonia looked at the wooden sword in her hand. She remembered that she did not have a weapon with her just now. However, seeing how infuriating the Observer was, she subconsciously wanted to beat him with the wooden sword…

“You see, when you wanted the wooden sword, it appeared. Obviously, this boat also appeared because you didn’t want to swim.” Ash spread out his hands. “I just wanted to test it just now. Doesn’t this prove that this boat is indeed formed by will?”

“Was peeking at me just now part of the test too? No, the wooden sword is the weapon I’m most familiar with. That’s why I could easily materialize it, just like how I could materialize clothes!”

“Don’t slander me. I wasn’t peeking. I was watching it openly!”

After such a small incident, the sense of unfamiliarity and fear they felt when they first entered the Illusory Realm was washed away.

And because there was someone to accompany them, it felt like having someone to die with regardless of what they encountered. This filled the two with a sense of security.

However, just as Sonia did not know the difference between this “Observer” and the “Observer”, Ash also did not know the difference between this “Sword Maiden” and the “Sword Maiden”.

…

…

An hour ago…

After finishing her meal and returning to the prison dormitory, Sword Maiden began to chat with Ash about a very adult-oriented topic.

“I have news for you in two parts. The good news is that you’ll be living in free housing provided by the country for the rest of your life.”

“There’s such a good thing?”

“The bad news is that you could be dragged off to be executed at any moment.”

Ash understood. “It’s impossible for me to get out of jail?”

Sword Maiden sat on the bed with her legs crossed and crossed her arms. She glanced sideways at Ash. “You should know that sorcerers are the strongest group in this world, right? As a mortal, it’s impossible for you to fight against sorcerers.”

“Even the Infirm Master who transformed his body into diamond could only turn into a diamond rat rolling around in this cesspool after his connection with the Illusory Realm was severed.

“Also, after today’s experience, you should have understood that as long as you are still wearing the chip on the back of your neck, no matter where you are, you will still be bound by endless shackles.”

At this point, Ash’s expression changed slightly. He had originally thought that the Miracle Chip was equivalent to an implanted computer, but he did not expect that the chip would turn him into a computer—while his administrator authority was remotely controlled.

Whether he could hit someone, what contents he could see, and what words he could say were all under the control of the administrator. The administrator could make him a rule-abiding and civilized man with etiquette one day, and make him eat sh*t the next.

Until the chip was removed, all of his plans were equivalent to a computer virus infection—the administrator could kill everything in seconds with by reinstalling the system. If the administrator felt that Ash was beyond repair, he could even recycle the junk and let Ash start his life over.

“Is there a way to remove the chip?” asked Ash through gritted teeth. “For example, gouging out the back of the neck directly…”

“If it could be removed so easily, this prison would not be so lively.”

Sword Maiden sneered. “Although it’s called a chip, it had already gradually integrated into your bone marrow while you were growing up. Every bone, every nerve, and every muscle of yours has been marked by the chip. If you want to remove the chip, you should be able to do so by jumping into molten steel at the steel mill.”