Trembling At A High Altitude

"Protection program activated..."

"Automatically releasing wax seal..."

"Recovering memory..."

"Memory has been recovered."

"..."

A burst of electronic sound resonated beside the ear.

Li Teng had recovered all his memory.

When he had thrown himself onto the pillar, he had designed a protection program.

It meant that if he ever died during a performance, was wax-sealed, or encountered any other unforeseen accidents, the protection program would automatically activate.

After regaining his freedom, Li Teng looked back at the Film and Television City script review program he had set up...

He found indeed there were flaws.

For instance, Liu Shiyuan, who clearly won the race, was voted out by the other seven out of jealousy due to the so-called choice of the leader.

This did not violate the rules he had set.

However, if the rules were too rigid, the scriptwriters and directors would lose sufficient authority and freedom, which would make the scripts boring.

This was a significant problem.

Another issue was that during this trip to the pillar and when he had seen the café, it was clear some memories would appear; if it weren't for the wax seal, and he had experienced the plot a few more times, he might have recalled his previous experiences on the pillar.

If he decided to replay the pillar game, he would need to completely delete the memories of the previous more than a thousand years on the pillar, and it had to be an irreversible overwrite deletion. Otherwise, if he recalled them while playing, it would lose its fun.

"..."

"You've played the pillar scenario hundreds of times, aren't you tired of it?"

A white mist appeared beside Li Teng.

"It was only twice," Li Teng corrected.

"That's because you had erased the previous memory, and it was an overwriting erasure, so you don't remember. In fact, you have played hundreds of times, and even I am tired of it," the white mist corrected.

Li Teng pondered gloomily for a while, contemplating that permanently deleting hundreds of his past experiences' memories... was quite likely.

Because when he was previously released from the wax seal state, he had indeed thought about deleting the last experience.

"Let's switch to another kind of gameplay," the white mist suggested.

"What kind of gameplay?" Li Teng asked.

"So, you erased that memory too, clever you. All right, I'll explain again. Another gameplay is to copy your data, throw it into the Scripted World I created, and infuse it with a segment of so-called real life experiences and memories.

"Then set up a virtual theater, create a bunch of virtual audience elites and watch the performance of your clone with us.

"To put it simply, I am responsible for setting up the stage, you provide the actors, and we watch the play together.

"We can even let those audience elites rate your clone's performance. Isn't that interesting?" the white mist proposed to Li Teng.

"You are a Trojan virus invading the Film and Television City, and I suspect you have ulterior motives in doing this," Li Teng expressed his suspicion.

"Have I ever damaged your Film and Television City? If I wanted to, I couldn't even do it! We are both trapped in this virtual world, unable to return to the outside physical world, and just as bored. Tell me, what could my intentions be?

"Besides, you have the capacity to create a piece of Virtual Space and keep me isolated there, but why haven't you done so? Because you simply cannot find any real person to talk to, besides me. In this Film and Television City, everyone else is just code you wrote," the white mist responded with a chuckle.

"Fine, this does help with the current situation of boredom," Li Teng agreed after much thought.

"..."

After repeatedly checking and confirming that there were no traps in the virtual scripted world created by the white mist, Li Teng decided to enter the script himself to experience it.

Then, he left a clone outside to impersonate himself as an audience member.

The highest authority, of course, remained in his own hands.

Certainly, he did not forget to add various protection programs in case of any eventuality.

...

The script written by the White Fog this time was called "Black Rain."

"The protagonist's persona in this script doesn't really match my personality! It might cause a split in personality," Li Teng said as he studied the protagonist's character, bringing it up to the White Fog.

"It's always so assertive, ambitious, and smart—isn't that boring? It's time to change things up," the White Fog had its unique perspective.

"Alright, let's give it a try," Li Teng didn't say anything more.

Memory erasing, modifying...

Everything was ready.

Li Teng entered the Scripted World.

...

Li Teng sat in front of his computer gaming.

His mind drifted briefly, then he snapped back to clarity.

Uh-huh...

Unlike the previous scripts, this one directly modified his fundamental memories.

In this Scripted World, he was a homebody who livestreamed games from home, a minor game content creator.

It was raining outside the window.

A downpour.

But Li Teng knew that it wasn't an ordinary rain outside, for the falling rainwater was black.

Like ink, it draped the whole world in an endless veil of black.

However, this black rain wouldn't stain people's clothes black like ink would.

It wouldn't stain the ground black either.

Upon closer inspection, one could realize that this rain only exuded a black mist.

It fell to the ground, seeped into the earth, and after the mist dissipated, it was indistinguishable from ordinary water.

Scientists had researched the black rain for half a year and found no viruses, bacteria, or any other unknown substances in it.

They concluded:

Black rain was harmless; it was merely an unusual refraction of light, and there was no need for the residents to panic.

While gaming, Li Teng found himself inexplicably reminiscing about his life of over twenty years.

His father had experienced a car accident a year ago, and although he could take care of himself, he damaged his spine and couldn't travel long distances or do much of anything—nearly a disabled person.

His mother was a music teacher at an elementary school.

He also had a sister; she was also in the car during the accident. She was worse off than their father, having lost both her legs.

After graduating from university, he had worked in a company, delivered couriers, and done food deliveries, but for various reasons, he had resigned.

Varying reasons... The biggest was that he found it hard and not very profitable.

The second biggest reason was that in his memory, he was not good at dealing with people and didn't like to interact with others. Ultimately, he stayed home and became a game video content creator.

Although he earned little money, he seemed quite satisfied with his life.

No need to deal with others, just play games and focus on creating his game videos everyday.

"Stop gaming! Look at you, you've wasted yourself!"

Mother Li nagged Li Teng impatiently.

It was hard enough to get him through university, and now he had holed up at home, gaming all day with dark circles under his eyes. Whose child does this? Wouldn't that worry a parent?

Moreover, with two patients at home needing care and money being tight everywhere, gaming all day and not earning money, did he want to exhaust his mother to death?

"I'm working," Li Teng took his meal quickly and locked his room door.

After brooding for a while, Li Teng felt that he was indeed somewhat disappointing.

Why am I so disappointing?

Am I really such a disappointing person?

I always feel like something is a bit off.

Forget it, don't want to think about it, headache.

"If you find a girlfriend within three months, get married within a year, and have a child within two years, I will never nag about you playing games again!" Mother Li added loudly from outside the door.

"Find a girlfriend? That costs so much money! Besides, my hands would be jealous." Li Teng muttered quietly as he returned to his computer desk and set down his bowls and chopsticks.

The heavy rain outside continued to pour.

Not long after dinner, there was a knock at the door again.

"Bring out the bowls and chopsticks!" the voice of Mother Li.

Li Teng hurried to open the door, but instead of handing the bowls and chopsticks to Mother Li, he went straight to the kitchen and washed a large pile of dishes and utensils.

"Eh? Is the sun rising from the west? You're actually helping me wash the dishes?" Mother Li was quite surprised; this didn't quite fit with her son's usual behavior. Had he grown up? Gained some sense? Learned to sympathize with his mother?

Li Teng also fell into thought...

He used to be a very lazy person, always waiting to be fed and dressed, never having washed dishes or done housework.

What happened today?

He also felt he was a bit strange.

"Mom, carry me to the bathroom."

A voice came from another room.

Li Teng listened, and it sounded very familiar...

Nonsense, of course it's familiar, it's his sister, duh!

Watching Mother Li struggling to carry his sister, Li Teng rushed over.

"I'll do it."

Li Teng rushed over, carried his sister out of the room and into the bathroom, and placed her on the toilet.

The matters after that were rather inconvenient, so he left Mother Li to come and hold her, waiting for her to finish before he would come back and carry her back to her room.

When leaving the bathroom, Li Teng looked back at his sister...

His sister's name was... Li Anna?

I always feel like something is a bit off.

Could it be that my memory was confused?

"Brother, what are you looking at?" Li Anna blushed and quickly stopped what she was doing.

"Nothing, you're thinking too much," Li Teng hurried back to his own room.

"Heh, son has grown up huh, knows how to help mom, and also knows how to care for his sister." Father Li, supporting his waist, walked into the living room and praised Li Teng a few times.

"Of course, just call me if you need anything," Li Teng said before returning to his own room.

Mother Li didn't trouble Li Teng; she was not quite used to her son suddenly becoming so sensible.

After Li Anna finished using the bathroom, Mother Li herself carried her back.

When Mother Li was out at work and not at home, Li Anna would manage to go to the bathroom by herself, using her hands to support herself; she was a very strong girl.

"Why is my family so unhappy?"

Li Teng sat in front of his computer, deeply contemplating this question.

...

Outside, the Black Rain fell, then stopped, then fell again.

Since the Black Rain first appeared three years ago, during these three years, it had mostly been raining for two days and stopping for one, and it was always heavy rain.

...

A week later.

Noon.

"Don't close the door, I have something important to talk to you about," Mother Li pressed against Li Teng's room door with a secretive yet joyful expression after delivering the meal.

"What is it?" Li Teng could tell from his mother's expression it was nothing good.

"I received a bonus at school, two thousand yuan. You've been really short on cash lately, haven't you? I've decided to give you the two thousand yuan, and you don't have to pay it back," Mother Li took out her phone and began transferring the money to Li Teng right there.

"Don't! Absolutely not! I won't accept it unless you explain clearly," Li Teng replied, realizing the seriousness of the matter.

To talk about something good and to transfer money voluntarily, this was very unlike Mother Li's usual behavior!

When Li Teng had decided to stay home and make gaming videos, his mother had declared that she would not give him any more living expenses, and even started charging him monthly for rent and meals.

If he didn't pay on time, she would charge interest!

It was understandable, given that there were two sick people at home. Although Anna was also doing live streams, singing and basically earning enough for her own meals, Father Li couldn't work, so the burden on Mother Li's shoulders was heavy.

Now, her willing transfer of two thousand yuan definitely indicated a big problem.

It was essential to ask clearly what was going on.

"Mom has found you a match for an arranged date, and I've already set up a time and place with the other party. It's tonight, and you must go and meet them.

"If it works out, your father's medication, your mother's heart condition, your sister's prosthesis, and your lifelong happiness will all be resolved together!" Mother Li said, her expression filled with excitement and anticipation.

"So, you mean if I agree to the blind date, whether it works out or not, the two thousand yuan is mine?" Li Teng tested.

Of course, he wasn't really interested in the money.

"Only if it's successful. Otherwise, it counts as a loan, and you have to pay it back with interest," Mother Li stated firmly.

"Ha, I don't want the money, you should just go yourself!" Li Teng prepared to close the door.

He felt that being a homebody, going on a blind date was too embarrassing and didn't match his personality…

Instinctively… Instinctively?

Showing opposition?

Why was there some struggle inside? It seemed like two personalities were conflicting?

Was he experiencing a split personality?

Li Teng started to have a headache again.

"Hear me out! Do you know who the match Mother found for you is?" Mother Li pressed against the door, preventing Li Teng from closing it.

"Who?" Li Teng asked while rubbing his head.

"It's Liu Qian's daughter from He City, Liu Yin," said Mother Li, her voice trembling with excitement.

Liu Yin?

That name seemed a bit familiar?

The daughter of the city's wealthiest person, he should have heard of her, right?

"Mom," Li Teng looked at Mother Li with concern.

"What?"

"Have you stopped your medication recently?" Li Teng touched Mother Li's forehead to see if she had a fever.

"Scram! Your guts are getting fatter, huh! Now you don't even believe what your own mother says, do you?" Mother Li furiously grabbed Li Teng's ear.

"Let go!"

"No letting go unless you agree to the blind date!"

"Alright, alright! I agree,"

"I know you don't believe me. I didn't believe it at first either, so, to be cautious, I thoroughly verified the evidence she provided and confirmed that she is indeed Liu Yin, the daughter of the city's richest man, Liu Qian," Mother Li let go of his ear.