prynovel Chapter 4257 Self and Variables
Chapter 4257 Self and Variables
Chapter 4257 Self and Variables
She took a step forward and stopped in front of the rabbit girl. The two were no more than a meter apart, as if they were staring at an absolutely clear mirror.
From this distance, Angel could even see the frequency of their eyelashes fluttering, which was so similar.
The subtle silence made the rabbit girl feel an invisible pressure. Her lips moved slightly, as if she was trying to say something to break the suffocating symmetry.
However, the other person spoke first.
“Because I carry all their memories, I see things more clearly than any other layer of ‘me’…” Her gaze seemed to penetrate the surface and reach the core, “…you have discordant noises on you.”
The rabbit girl's breath hitched; she knew what the other person was talking about.
“From the artistic self to the strategic self, at every crucial juncture, your knowledge will experience a groundbreaking leap.” She said calmly, “The content after these leaps is exquisite, accurate, and self-contained, yet it is incompatible with your original knowledge framework.”
“The answer to this question comes from my own understanding of natural history.” She tilted her head slightly, as if listening to the returning “voices” within her.
"There is only one answer: you, standing opposite me, are not truly alone. Behind you stands one or more 'non-me' individuals."
"And that's why you can keep clearing the game."
"Am i right?"
Her tone was calm, and although she was asking a question, her eyes were extremely firm. Even if the rabbit girl wanted to lie or refute her, she felt that she couldn't find the words.
Seeing that the rabbit girl didn't speak, she didn't mind, stepped past the rabbit girl, and returned to the center of the seventh floor.
With his back to the rabbit girl, he murmured softly, as if sighing, "This 'My Arena,' from the birth of its rules to its form of existence, is set up to test one's own skills."
"When you look in that mirror at the bottom, the ring replicates all the facets of you."
"According to the rules, in order to pass the test at each level, you must integrate your knowledge and complete a new transformation in your skills."
"However, when He set up this arena, He forgot about the variable of 'you'."
“You possess variables that are ‘not me’.”
"By relying on 'non-self,' you can indeed complete the game in the simplest way, without breaking through any skills..."
As she said this, her voice suddenly lowered: "But do you really think this is a good thing? This is clearly a training ground for you, an opportunity to integrate your knowledge, and you've given it up like this..."
The rabbit girl pursed her lips, suddenly unsure of what to say.
If it were someone else questioning her, she might not pay attention, but the one questioning her is herself.
Looking at the rabbit girl's conflicted expression and the complex emotions she seemed to be experiencing without even needing to observe, Angell pondered to himself, "Should I step in myself?" After all, she had already guessed that there was someone else involved, so it shouldn't be considered presumptuous of me to answer these questions.
Just as Angell was hesitating about whether to leave the field, the rabbit girl suddenly closed her eyes.
After a long silence, she seemed to have made a decision and spoke softly:
"If you were me, you would know that I have a priority order in my mind when dealing with anything."
"Just like when I handle official business in Rabbit Town, anything related to order comes first, followed by survival, stability, and development, and only then do we talk about the future."
"Because only by maintaining the current order can we have a future."
"The same principle applies here as well."
The rabbit girl turned around and walked to the entrance to the seventh floor, the same place where she had been before.
"In my view, integrating existing knowledge to break through new skills is what is called development and the future. But for me, it is the lowest priority."
"And the highest priority right now is to clear this 'My Arena'."
"Therefore, I will use every means possible, even if it is something you call 'not me,' to pass the level as soon as possible."
As the rabbit girl finished speaking, she turned her head and looked directly into the other person's eyes.
"Why?" She didn't avoid the rabbit girl's eyes, and the two looked at each other.
Rabbit Girl: "If you're asking why I prioritized clearing 'My Arena' the highest..."
"Because of time."
Rabbit Girl: "You only possess my skills, not my memories. So you don't know how urgent time is for me right now."
"I need to complete this challenge as quickly as possible, and then let my teammates face... Him."
"Then, defeat Him."
"Therefore, I am willing to give anything to achieve this goal."
Hearing the rabbit girl's explanation, she seemed to understand something, her eyebrows lowered slightly: "...I see."
She indeed had no memory of the rabbit girl and was unaware of the situation outside.
If it's to challenge... Him.
She agreed with this reason.
The rabbit girl came back and went straight to her, the two still less than a meter apart.
This scene seemed strangely familiar to Angell.
This time, however, it was the rabbit girl who took the initiative to approach; while the one who stood still was "me" from the seventh floor.
The "mirror-gazing" continues, but the person holding the mirror and the image in it have switched places.
The rabbit girl's expression was calm, even more composed than hers at this moment: "You just said that when He set up this arena, He forgot about the variable of 'me'."
"What I want to tell you now is that you have also forgotten that I am you, and you are me."
"Therefore, 'you' are also a variable."
She was stunned.
These words were like an invisible thunderclap, plunging her into a deep, inexplicable contemplation.
She has always been clear that she is a "rabbit girl", but she feels that she is above the other "me" and has always regarded herself as an independent soul.
Therefore, she never equated herself with the rabbit girl.
I even think it's better this way, unlike the "artistic self" that is constantly fixated on such low-level topics as "I am you, you are me".
But when the rabbit girl said, "I am you, and you are me," she suddenly froze.
This statement, which she considered a "low-level" understanding, actually came from the rabbit girl—who was also her own origin.
The high wall that was originally built on the concept of "independence" was suddenly dissolved by a single sentence.
She suddenly realized that what she considered to be detachment and independence was actually a more hidden form of "obsession"—obsession with being "different" and "superior."
She and my artistic self are actually not much different.
Aside from knowing a little more, isn't everything else the same?
She enjoys this "independence," but mistakes this alienation for "maturity."
Her refusal to acknowledge the origin is essentially a refusal to reconcile with that imperfect, limited entity that requires external assistance.
Then she discovered that the "perfection" of the original self was composed of these very things that she refused to acknowledge.
They always stand at the finish line and laugh at the starting line, but they ignore the fact that without a starting line, there is no finish line.
What she rejected was precisely everything that constituted her "complete" self.
The moment she understood all this, the aloofness that had been emanating from her melted away like ice and snow.
She looked up at the rabbit girl, and for the first time, her gaze was devoid of scrutiny and distance, replaced by a clear, knowing calm.
"You've cleared the game." She didn't say anything, nor did she express her thoughts; she simply made a light, concluding remark.
This surprised the rabbit girl.
Is that all? Did you not have to ask any questions in this level?
Or has the challenge already begun?
Just as the rabbit girl was bewildered, the ceiling light suddenly flickered with a pale red glow...
"Red light?" The rabbit girl frowned. Did that mean she failed?
However, even if she didn't complete the level, the text bar should have given a notification. Just like when she triggered the red light in the Art Layer, the text bar indicated that the Light Disaster was about to erupt and showed a progress bar: 1/7.
But now, there are no prompts in the text box.
Moreover, she didn't feel any pressure from the light disaster.
Business as usual.
Just as the rabbit girl was wondering, she heard Angel's voice in her ear.
"Look at the other side."
The rabbit girl looked up at "me" on the seventh floor.
At this moment, she was looking up at the red light on the ceiling, her brows furrowed and her eyes flickering, as if she were communicating with some unknown entity.
The next second, the red light flashing on the ceiling grew stronger and stronger.
If a progress bar were used, the light disaster might have reached 2/7 or 3/7?
But the rabbit girl still didn't feel any physical discomfort... On the contrary, the "she" opposite her clearly became pained.
"She's suffering... a light disaster?" the rabbit girl asked in astonishment.
Angel: "It's strange, but your guess is probably right. The Light Disaster didn't erupt on you, but on her instead."
Rabbit Girl: "Could it be that she just let me pass the game?"
Angell: "Possibly, after all, it doesn't follow the rules."
The rabbit girl had guessed this as well. The normal procedure was that she would try to pass the level, and then the other person would fail, and only then would the level be cleared.
But now, she didn't even have to take on any challenges, and the other party just let her pass the level directly, which is obviously not in accordance with the procedure.
Why did she do this?
The rabbit girl didn't know, but looking at the increasingly crimson light and "her" curled up on the floor, she felt a pang of pity.
"I don't need you to guide me through the game, I want to ask questions! I want the normal walkthrough!!"
But no matter what, "she" on the ground remained silent, letting the red light engulf her.
Her complexion, lip color, and even her hair were slowly turning pale and brittle...
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the progress of the light disaster may have reached 6/7.
But she didn't care, nor did she pay attention to what the rabbit girl said; she just silently endured it.
Just as the red light was about to engulf her, a soft sigh suddenly came from the air.
"Ugh……"
The sighing sound was very similar to the rabbit girl's voice, but it seemed to echo through a mirror, with a slight buzzing sound.
This is... the voice of the person in the mirror.
As the sigh appeared, the red light on the ceiling slowly faded, and soon turned into a faint, soft green light.
This means that... the ruling approves the passage.
Even though the ruling was passed, "she" on the ground remained pale and weak, as if she were terminally ill.
"Are you alright?" The rabbit girl rushed forward, trying to help her up.
She waved her hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about me."
The rabbit girl frowned: "But you look very weak..."
"It doesn't matter, I... will disappear soon. Just like the other 'me', so whether I'm weak or not is no longer important."
"And you'll be leaving here very soon."
The rabbit girl had already sensed it; the surrounding space seemed to be peeling away, just like the "she" before her, turning into specks of golden light.
"Why?" the rabbit girl asked, her tone the same as when "she" had asked her before.
There was no suffix, but "she" understood what the rabbit girl was asking.
“Because… you just said that you are the variable in this arena, and I am you, so I can also become the variable in this arena.” She smiled, even though her face was pale, but she had a kind of pride as if she had conquered fate: “The facts show that I succeeded.”
Even if the bunny girl didn't challenge herself according to the rules.
She also successfully broke through the limits of the rules through her own abilities.
"Actually..." The rabbit girl paused, wanting to say something, but felt that it was not appropriate to say these things now.
However, as someone who sees the rabbit girl from the side, she guessed what was left unsaid: "I know what you want to say is that you could have passed the test even if you had just gone through it normally. After all, you have 'the one who is not me' behind you."
"But you are me, and I am you, so why can't I be the one to pass the test and you watch?"
"See? I passed the level."
“I combined all my skills and asked her a question that she absolutely could not answer.”
"I'm actually not bad either."
The rabbit girl didn't know what she had experienced during those few seconds of the light disaster, but... she was happy.
"Yeah, you're not bad."
After a pause, the rabbit girl added, "You are me, so I'm no less than you."
She smiled, and in the final moments before her body disappeared, she looked at the rabbit girl's sorrowful expression and whispered, "Don't look sad."
"If we say that a person has an id, an ego, and a superego, then I am your 'ego'."
“I am the foundation of your being, therefore, we are not separate, nor ever separate…”
Finished.
The "self" transformed into countless golden specks of light, but these golden specks of light did not float into the ceiling; instead, they merged into the rabbit girl's body.
As the last ray of golden light entered her chest, the solid arena beneath her feet seemed to turn into quicksand.
She fell directly into it.
The world is spinning upside down in silence.
When she felt the solid floor beneath her feet again, the rabbit girl came to her senses and looked around, realizing that she was back in the main hall outside.