Chapter 165: Pros and Cons
【Your mental connection has been detected, personal information is being synchronized...】
【Connection complete, character information is being read】
【Welcome back, lawful good Mo Tan, Innocent World is about to load, good evening to you】
...
Game Time PM 15:20
Tianzhushan Grand Arena, Mo Tan’s room
Mo Tan was in a very bad mood when he logged into the game again, the reason for which was self-evident.
Although he had gradually gotten used to the ‘blackout’ period he experienced every time he logged into the game, he still found it hard to find a reason to comfort himself.
Mo Tan was now willing to understand others who broke promises or contracts due to various unavoidable reasons, but he always held himself to a higher standard. Although such incidents were not uncommon now due to some well-known reasons, he still couldn't take things as they came.
Even if the other party said they didn't mind...
‘I guess you might have run into some sudden situation, so I went ahead. Just give me a shout when you’re back online~’
Mo Tan saw the message Cordova left for him and couldn't help but feel a little fortunate that he hadn't sent the other party a message before disconnecting. He then turned back from the door into the room, sat on a chair, and began to ponder with a worried expression.
He didn't reply to Cordova's message immediately. Not having thought of a reason was one aspect, but more importantly, Mo Tan was a bit worried if he would disconnect again in a short period.
Perhaps he was just a bit sensitive at the moment because of what happened before, but a bigger reason was that Mo Tan felt it was time for him to seriously consider this issue.
Regardless of which personality Mo Tan was in, he found Innocent World to be a very interesting game, and there was no doubt about that, so giving up was not an option.
Not occupying daytime hours, not burdening the body, a complete world view, highly intelligent NPCs, a game pod past its return period, hardware and software far exceeding the average standard of the era, more direct competition with SUN, a mysterious operating company, and a system that seemed to be able to 'diagnose' him directly—all these were motivations for Mo Tan to continue playing.
This was also one of the few things that could make him relatively enthusiastic in any of his personalities.
But if he wanted to play well, then one problem was unavoidable...
【You have been disconnected, please choose whether to reconnect】
Now, just thinking about this sentence gave Mo Tan a headache.
Although, in a sense, personality switching = disconnecting and changing characters could be seen as a benefit, it often led to a very poor reading... I mean, gaming experience.
The advantage of sharing knowledge, experience (without value), information, and even connections was enviable, but it also came with various drawbacks, and both of these would rapidly amplify as Mo Tan’s game time increased.
First, the advantages: as he delved deeper into the game, Mo Tan, whose characters were evenly distributed (?) across the Innocent Continent, would have at least three times more experience than ordinary people in terms of what he had seen and heard. He would also gradually establish multiple social circles, and these two points were already beginning to show. For example, he had very detailed information about Tian Zhu Mountain, the Sun Dynasty, the Misha County Plague, and the Whisper Sect. He had also made acquaintances as Mo Tan, such as the Jia Deka and Ya Ya duo, Lu Lu Zi, Cordova, Ji Xiaoge, Huo Yan Yang, and Lu Wei. As Black Vatican, he had met Yu Cheng, Shuang Ye, the Fire Claw Territory’s high-ranking officials, and the Great (Strength) Saintess. As Tan Mo, he had made deals with Jun Wu and Wei Yang, and he had capable subordinates like Cole and Ai. These were clearly good things.
Moreover, because Mo Tan’s three characters had different class systems, even though the experience accumulation for a single class under the same conditions was not much different from others, he excelled in comprehensiveness. This might not be a significant advantage now, but in terms of potential, it was exceptionally promising.
Given that everyone could, in principle, only create one character, if Mo Tan were a normal person who could freely control his multiple characters, then the two advantages mentioned above would undoubtedly be terrifying.
Even if he only had a limited twenty-four hours a day, it would probably not be too difficult for him to devise a perfect time allocation plan with his intelligence.
But a hypothesis is just a hypothesis. In fact, we all know that Mo Tan is not only not a normal person, but also an exceptionally unconventional abnormal person.
So a bunch of very bad drawbacks appeared...
Of course, to be precise, there was only one, and that was his frequent passive personality shifts during gameplay.
This situation was no different from the real world, but the problem was that Mo Tan in reality didn't fall into a pit when his personality switched, whereas in the game, he would disconnect.
The most troublesome part was the approximately four hours of ‘blackout’ time each day. Although it wasn't too long, not even a quarter of his total game time, Mo Tan had absolutely no memory during this period. This meant that even if some urgent situation arose, he couldn't log off and forcibly switch personalities.
Unfortunately, for Mo Tan currently, the situation described above was basically ‘unsolvable’. The most he could do was try his best to find out if he was still in the game during that ‘blackout’ period, and if so, what state he was in. Beyond that, there was really nothing he could do.
【It seems I’ll have to ask Yu Cheng in detail later about the ‘monster’ that was escorted to the Light Capital. If possible, I should verify it myself, as mere resemblance in appearance and a few coincidences in time don’t prove anything.】
Mo Tan thought to himself, unconsciously tapping the armrest, then temporarily put that problem aside to consider the next equally bad problem.
【So how do I solve the ‘normal’ disconnection problem?】
He rubbed his forehead, a bit distressed. Although he was lying quietly in his game pod in the real world, it didn't stop Mo Tan from feeling a headache...
Innocent World had been open for over half a month now, and most of the foreseeable problems had already appeared. Since there was no intention of quitting the game, he had to find a solution as soon as possible, otherwise, it would only get more troublesome.
Unavoidable ‘broken promises’ like today were secondary. Mo Tan felt that if this situation didn't improve, he would likely falter at many critical moments in the future.
Whether it was silently disappearing into a white light, or suddenly collapsing with a 'gah' sound during combat or under the gaze of certain NPCs, neither was a good thing.
Imagine, he's fighting a group in the Arena under the name of the Woof Woof team, and suddenly he collapses with a 'gah'.
Or he's saving lives somewhere, and suddenly he collapses with a 'gah'.
Or one of his personalities is in the middle of a crucial part of some unfortunate plan, and he suddenly collapses with a 'gah'.
Just a few very likely hypothetical scenarios are already very, very bad...
Moreover, the potential accidents are far more than these.
But Mo Tan couldn't think of any solutions for a while, which was natural, as if he could easily come up with a plan, he wouldn't be so worried now.
Finally, after rejecting many hypotheses, he began to ponder an idea he had shortly after starting the game.
“Can I really, in here, just like in reality…”
Mo Tan paced back and forth in the room anxiously, muttering in a low voice, “...buy myself a few minutes of buffer time?”
【Five-Minute Buffer Technique】
Active Skill (DID-based)
Prerequisites: Mental illness, perseverance
Cost/Restriction: Passive DID trigger
Usage: When a passive personality shift occurs in public, forcibly retain some characteristics of the previous personality for five minutes, preventing one’s speech, demeanor, and behavior from appearing extremely abrupt at any given moment, greatly reducing the likelihood of being taken to the authorities or a mental institution.
【Note: When your brakes fail, don't you let off the gas?】
“Heh, if there really was a skill like this in the game, it would probably look like this.” Mo Tan, after imagining it, laughed at himself, then rolled his eyes and sighed, “How could that be possible…”
Indeed, the ‘Five-Minute Buffer Technique’ we mentioned a long time ago is basically impossible to achieve in the game, because their natures are completely different.
One must understand that the premise for Mo Tan to gain five minutes of buffer time in reality was a ‘personality shift’, which can essentially be understood as reacting the moment a DID episode occurs, and then forcibly retaining some of the previous state through a hard-to-describe feeling akin to déjà vu.
It's like letting off the gas when the brakes fail; although this action won't make you stop immediately, at least it won't lead to a BOOOM or driving off into the horizon...
Mo Tan never understood similar scenes in many old TV dramas, where because a car's brakes were tampered with or malfunctioned, the owner would just keep speeding up and up, as if afraid of not dying fast enough. Even if many other problems arose simultaneously, they should at least explain it—not only did the brakes fail, but also the gears couldn't be downshifted, the handbrake was stuck, and even the accelerator was jammed and couldn't be pulled out, right?
In short, despite there being many ways to handle it, in many 'artistic works,' no matter if they are old drivers, new drivers, or even old female drivers, they never use them. They always drive to their deaths with full passion, following the rhythm of Need for Speed for 'plot development,' and in the end, they either find death, or find move , or find love, or death and move, move and love, death and the friend zone, etc....
However, if Mo Tan’s situation is likened to brake failure, then in the game, the situation is basically that as soon as the brakes fail, he immediately ascends, and after closing and opening his eyes, he is another him.
Because he disconnects at the moment of personality transition, there's no chance to get any buffer time...
【Hmm, is there really no sign at all in the moment before disconnecting?】
Mo Tan suddenly thought this and then began to ponder, chin in hand.
He hadn't come to any conclusion when Ji Xiaoge poked her head in and opened the door.
“Hmm?” Mo Tan, whose thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, was slightly startled. He looked at the Youyi Meishaonv carrying an iron bucket in front of him, and asked, utterly puzzled, “How did you get in?”
“I swiped my card to get in.” Ji Xiaoge waved a crystal card in her hand with a smile, playfully sticking out her tongue: “I said I wanted to come to the Arena to play with you guys, and Lu Wei Teacher gave me this. He said the entire Grand Arena was designed under his supervision back then. Although it can’t give me any advantages in combat or matching, I can easily get in and out of the living quarters with this.”
Mo Tan gave a dry laugh: “Even private spaces like this count?”
“Mm-hmm!” The girl flapped her wings twice, spreading her hands: “I can go into your, Ya Ya’s, and Jia Deka’s rooms freely, but they’re NPCs, so I definitely won’t mess around. You’re different, though~”
Mo Tan blinked twice, pointing at himself: “How am I different?”
Ji Xiaoge pulled out a large crystal comb from somewhere, and while combing her wings, she casually replied: “You’re a player just like me. Players don’t sleep here, and they can’t take off all their clothes, so it’s fine.”
Mo Tan: “…”
“Ah!” The girl quickly waved her hand at this point, scratching her head with an embarrassed laugh: “Sorry, sorry, if you mind, I’ll be careful in the future!”
“That’s not it.” Mo Tan’s mouth twitched: “I’m just a little curious how you knew players can’t take off all their… um, clothes in the game.”
Ji Xiaoge just shrugged her wings: “Because I tried it in the women’s bathhouse in the previous town, and I could only take off down to my underwear at most, and…”
“Stop!”
Mo Tan immediately interrupted her explanation loudly, shaking his head with a slight blush: “I understand, you really don’t have to be so detailed.”
“Oh.” The other party nodded obediently, pouting: “But it’s really a shame, I originally thought I could soak in a hot spring in the game…”
Mo Tan cleared his throat, then quickly changed the subject: “Um, by the way, what are you holding?”
“Oh! This.” Ji Xiaoge happily held the iron bucket up to Mo Tan, smiling: “This is a new dish I’ve researched. Open it and see!”
Mo Tan nodded, reaching out to take off the lid.
Then he saw a pile of...
“Hmm?” Mo Tan picked up a bit of the soft stuff inside, asking curiously, “Why do I feel like this looks a bit like a sponge?”
The girl shook her head vigorously: “No, this is the safety… um, what was it again, that Teacher prepared for this dish. The good stuff is at the bottom!”
Mo Tan shrugged, then pulled out a few more handfuls of ‘sponge’, and then saw a neatly arranged pile of dark red, fist-sized oval objects at the bottom of the bucket.
“What’s this?”
“Tea eggs!”
“They look like it, but… why does the item description say 【For Human Consumption】?”
Chapter 162: End
