Vladimir, who had been asleep, could be seen having subtle eye movements despite having his eyelids closed, hinting that something was messing with him while he was in his slumber.However, at the moment, he was unsure of the cause. Nonetheless, something seemed to be trying to interrupt his good sleep, something that he hadn't experienced much since he joined the government, and due to his history as a former KGB agent, he was conditioned to always live with a perpetual sense of paranoia about someone or the other planning to attack him, since there was a possibility of retaliation from the people whom he might have crossed with during his espionage days as it was likely that would target him and try to seek revenge from him. With a history of sleep deprivation due to constant vigilance, he would always be wary of any disruptions during his much-needed rest.He desperately moved to and fro, hoping to shake off this disturbing thing so that he would be allowed to continue his sleep w
"YOU!!!!!" Vladimir shouted, his voice a mixture of fear, surprise, and disbelief as he laid eyes and focused on the man who said those words. At the same time, he tried to comprehend what the heck had happened to him moments ago, and now that his mind was clear, he also couldn't help but wonder how they were even able to transport him here immediately."Long time no see. How are you doing?" Aron's calm smile and casual greeting sent shivers down Vladimir's spine, a stark contrast to the turmoil which he felt within."What did you do to me? Did you hypnotize me? You do realize that my government will be looking for me, right? Given the time it took me to wake up, it seems like we are still in Russia. In here, they can find anyone as long as they put their minds to it, you know, right?" He fired his questions like bullets as he tried to come up with a hypothesis that would make sense as to what was happening to him. At the same time, he was trying to intimidate the man in front of him
[It has been discovered that someone or something is attempting to access the user's brain map and other personal information.[Allow Access] [Block Access]]Without hesitating for even a second, Aron selected [Allow Access], granting Nova access to his brain data. After that, he remained silent, patiently waiting for her to finish her analysis of his condition and deliver him the report of it.{How do you feel now, after you re-educated him in the universal simulation for more than a week?} Nova inquired after she teleported them inside an office that looked like a therapist's workplace. She then sat at the doctor's chairs before raising her left thigh and putting it on top of her right one while she held a notebook on her lap– completely taking the role of Aron's therapist.Her qualifications were indeed unquestionable. Armed with a few terabytes of data about mental conditions and other brain-related matters, made her an expert who was completely qualified to be the perfect candi
Inside therapy session.Upon hearing Nova's elaborate explanation, Aron released a sigh of relief. Yet, an underlying feeling of strangeness forced him to ask, "But why didn't I experience any bad emotions like self-disgust for the grossly disproportionate punishment I dished out to Vladimir if my personality would have taken a few decades to manifest into what the system planned me to become?"{You triggered the system's emergency protocols when it sensed that your feeling of disgust for yourself and empathy for the man who had made you suffer might have hindered its progress of molding you and put it into setbacks, which would then force it to start from scratch once again. Hence, it suppressed the production of certain hormones to prevent you from feeling those emotions, and since I can't access your brain map in real-time, I failed to discover this happening until after observing your behavior when you sent him for the third round of the itch torture, during which I started monito
While Aron lay in a coma, the world continued to move forward, not waiting for him at all.Inside a heavily guarded and lengthy convoy, Alexander could be seen seated in the presidential car dubbed "the dragon." His eyes remained closed while he still wore his glasses. The car maintained its level of stability despite moving at a very fast speed along some rugged roads, thanks to the advanced suspension system in the car. The system reacted immediately to counteract any changes in the road, making sure that the car always maintained the same stability. It was effective to the point where even if a glass filled to the brim with water was placed in the car, it would not spill even a single drop."Where is Aron?" Alexander inquired when he entered the universal simulation after logging in.{He won't be available for a week as he is undergoing treatment} Nova answered. Her tone was devoid of any ridicule or superiority, as was typical of her."Even he can get sick?" Alexander muttered in
Meanwhile, within the pod.[DING!!!!!][A SUITABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR EVOLUTION HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!!!!!][INITIATING SYSTEM EVOLUTION]Those prompts were being displayed to the currently comatose Aron, who remained unaware of anything that was happening to him. The MANA inside the pod began to be absorbed by every pore of his body, being depleted as fast as it was being replenished, forcing Nova, who was alerted by the situation, to immediately increase the amount of MANA that was being sent to the pod, which ultimately resulted in Aron's body to start absorbing the incoming MANA even faster. This started a game of filling and refilling like an endless well, as Aron, no, his body continuously absorbed the incoming MANA. Nova had a hypothesis of what was happening; she suspected it was either an evolution in Aron's body or something else similar to that, and the more MANA she provided, the faster whatever the system was doing would be completed.She didn't try to intervene in it all, a
"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. You can't do that to me," Tom shouted in horror as the computer began shutting down amidst his celebration. His face stiffened in fear as he scrambled to power it on once again.After it powered itself on, he typed the password as calmly as he could, with his heart praying that he wouldn't input a wrong character.He pressed enter the moment he finished entering the code and clasped his hands in prayer as his eyes focused on the screen, hoping the password would still work."PLEASE NO, PLEASE NO..." he said when he saw the computer powering itself off again after flashing a warning. [Your account has been locked for six hours. Please check your password and try again later.] He lowered his head and pulled his hair in a fit of nervousness and fear, as he now knew he couldn't do anything to stop the computer from being transferred to DARPA. He'd blown his chance in his nervousness, as he either input the wrong password or it might be a one-time password that th
Lubyanka Square, Moscow Centre.The entire world was discussing the war between Esparia and Eden. And while it was growing more and more interesting with each new twist unveiled by the media, it seemed that the conflict had moved out of the battlefield and into the boardroom with the unconditional surrender of the instigating nation, Esparia.Now, onlookers were wondering what other demands Eden would be making, as Esparia couldn't deny any of them. That was how unconditional surrender worked, after all. It was becoming quite an argument, and even some betting sites had opened odds on what the conditions were going to be, with most people placing bets on land concessions being one of them.That was something that would also have been being discussed inside FSB headquarters, if they hadn't found themselves in a situation that required most of their attention: an operative of the FSB's Technical Security Department, Vladimir, had gone missing from his home.Many teams had been tasked wi