Impossibility

Translated by boilpoil
Edited by boilpoil

“That is impossible…” Mu Jiashi is almost retorting by reflex, “this is just a game!”

Fei keeps staring at him as she asks, “a game… with scenes that are virtually indistinguishable from the reality on Earth?” She adds, with a firm tone, “do you not think that it is some form of indication?”

Mu Jiashi cannot respond.

… The Apocalypse.

Words that humans in the Tower once used abundantly, but, before they even noticed, the word had faded out of use, or rather, was deliberately avoided altogether.

Scenes in the Nightmares have always been desolate, barren, blighted. Sometimes, there might even be clear post-apocalyptic scenes, as seen in this Nightmare.

It seems the Tower, or rather, the setting of the game itself, is survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Those Tower residents who are not so much living, but just surviving, are its survivors.

They are surrounded by an endless expanse of grey fog; perhaps, outside of the Tower, in the fog, are unspeakable horrors and monstrous entities. The last survivors all had to squeeze into this tall, decrepit Tower to survive.

That is why, in their Nightmares, themes of apocalypse, ruins, murderers, madmen, etc. are the overwhelming majority. At some point, even they, the humans, can’t help but suspect if their Earth also met a similar fate?

Is it a disaster that forced them here in exile? Did something really happen, but they all forgot? Or even… like what Fei said, have they all already died?

A few years ago, while the Missiontakers were going after Xü Beijin’s Nightmare passionately, the Apocalypse was the mainstream hypothesis for why they are in the Tower.

Back then, anyone thinking otherwise would be told, ‘well, yes, this is a game, but on what basis was this game created?’

Obviously, Shen Yünjü was not the first person to ever feel an inexplicable déjà vu among the scenes in the Nightmare.

In fact, the earliest Missiontaker who ever felt that sense of nostalgia, was the founder of Fei and Wu Jian’s organisation. He discovered the correlation many years ago, and then, was the first one to truly question the problem with their memories and the implications.

──If this game really did set itself up based on Earth, then, could what have happened in the Nightmares, actually be based on real events that took place on Earth?

A possibility that is beyond what any Missiontaker could hope to live with.

Never mind some unknowable ‘Apocalypse,’ but just see all those terrible crimes in the Nightmares. The massacres, madness, fervour, might have what have once occurred on Earth, occurred to them, the Missiontakers, before being forgotten… That is something no Missiontaker is ready to face.

So they would rather continue guessing at the Apocalypse, excitedly, even.

Slowly, though, even that Apocalypse hypothesis slowly lost favour with them in the Tower.

People have become increasingly sensitive and fragile. They cannot handle any imagination anymore. They cannot at all imagine──That an apocalypse really did happen once on them, once on Earth!

No, impossible!

Therefore, when faced with Fei’s pointed question, Biceps couldn’t hold back from yelling out, “stop joking! Implications my arse! This is just a game!”

Fei merely sighs.

Yes──A game. That is what Missiontakers coo themselves to sleep at night with.

They have already concluded, beyond all reasonable capacity for doubt, that this is just the background setting the game went with. So what? There have been a lot of games like that. Escaping from some apocalypse, or fighting zombies, or even players spreading the zombie virus to bring planetary doom… (TL: References to Plague Inc., maybe? Cor, and for people my generation, it would be Pandemic 2 and Infectonator, huh… I’m feeling nostalgic) The humans of Earth are quite acquainted with the culture indeed.

Obviously, they have no idea why they’re trapped in one such game, but if Fei had to say that it is because there was an apocalypse, they all died, and someone just put them into some virtual game afterwards…

See, Occam’s razor would discourage all extra propositions for an explanation that are unnecessary.

Those group of people like Fei, in order to explain how humans ended up in the game, just added all these unverifiable claims and assumptions!

“You all keep spouting nonsense about some apocalypse,” Baldie makes a cold chuckle asking, “ha, you might as well say aliens abducted all of us.”

Fei furrows her brows to say, “that is not what I’m saying.”

Collector claps his hands together to say, “I know what you mean,” he explains with a smile, “so you’re thinking that, an apocalypse sounds real cool, right? Cooler than some green aliens, no?”

Baldie “…”

It sounds awfully like Collector is making a dig at him as well.

But in any case, they’ve finally arrived in front of the building, and can see the bookstore owner sitting inside the bookstore right now, through the dirty glass. Mu Jiashi shuts his eyes and calmly says, “let’s get the Nightmare done with before anything else.”

Collector begs to differ, though, interjecting, “oh no, please don’t. I’m super interested in all of this, please, keep going,” he continues with his usual chipper tone, “tell me more about that apocalypse… I like that word, by the way. You think we might all be dead? Then are we ghosts right now? Or just data?”

Fei ignores Mu Jiashi’s rather pained look, and glances over at Wu Jian, who looks awfully disapproving, and then, moves her gaze over to Baldie and Biceps, who both look rather agitated, before firmly saying, “yes, that is what I am insinuating.”

Wu Jian reflexively yells out, “you can’t…!”

Both he and Fei are holding their breaths in, as if waiting for something.

Shortly after, when they see that nothing has happened, they both sigh in relief simultaneously.

Wu Jian is still extremely anxious when telling Fei, “you shouldn’t have said that… Fei, you shouldn’t. You knew that…”

“Wait,” Collector raises his brow and interrupts them, “please──No riddles, alright?”

Fei just quietly says, “let’s head up to the rooftop. I’ll talk up there,” she looks awfully poignant as she continues, “no matter what…”

That paranoia that was on their faces when they first entered this Nightmare is once again present. Mu Jiashi can’t help but furrow his brows.

But then, he rubs the crease away, and thinks, he shouldn’t worry himself over them. He promised himself he’s going to laze about, didn’t he?

On the stairs, Fei and Wu Jian remained silent, and still looked pretty much out of it.

Finally, when they’re on the rooftop, they realise it’s empty, just as it was when they checked the last run. Neither the victim nor the murderer is here.

Mu Jiashi ignores what Fei said earlier entirely, and speaks while thinking, “so neither the dead person nor the killer is here yet?” He takes a note of the time, and then adds, “while there is still a bit more time, but…”

But this shouldn’t be.

According to Xü Beijin, he was behind the counter of the bookstore the whole time, and besides Baldie and Biceps, he saw no one enter or leave the building at all.

And this run, the moment they were outside of the building, Xü Beijin was already there. In other words, ever since Xü Beijin has been there, no one could have entered or left the building.

… So where did the victim and the killer come from? Are they in the building right now?

The last run, though, when they saw the dead person and searched for the culprit in the building, there was still no one at all!

So where could they be?

Why did they suddenly appear, before the victim died, and after which the murderer disappeared without a trace?

Well, they are at an impasse, just like how it was in the last run.