Han Yanyan ignored the malice in Leo's words. Instead, she said, "It was in Qiao Chengyu's world that I confirmed many things."
"You keep marking me and erasing my memories. But, building these worlds is not difficult. I can easily make small adjustments on the sly," she explained.
Leo raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What did you do?"
With a slight smile, Han Yanyan replied, "I hid an Easter egg."
"A country I've never heard of, in a city that's completely unfamiliar. This shows that it's not truly my own world. But when I became Miss Han, I found the wardrobe full of brands from my real world."
"At that moment, my guess was finally confirmed. I wasn't sent to some other place; I was living in a world built by myself. That's why you call me the Builder."
"Wow, you're amazing," Leo clapped, quite mockingly this time.
"This world, you say it's a vacation for me. I later thought about it, and it’s probably because the difficulty level is low. It's the first and only world that has successfully concluded," she replied. "In this world, I still can't tell if anyone other than my mission target, Qiao Wenxing, is real. And then, I met Qiao Chengyu."
A hint of sadness appeared in Han Yanyan's eyes.
"I had a heartfelt romance with him, making you laugh at me," she said lightly.
"But because of Qiao Chengyu, I vaguely realized that in a world, aside from myself and the mission target, everyone else… should be created by me."
This time, Leo truly admired her.
Curious, he asked, "How did you figure that out? Qiao Chengyu was constructed very successfully."
"Indeed, it was extremely successful. From his background, growing experiences, character formation, to psychological changes and social needs—all were flawless. My skills in character creation have stepped up," Han Yanyan mocked herself.
"Qiao Chengyu wasn't a perfect person, but for that world, he was the perfect romantic partner. He possessed all the qualities I liked, and his background and experiences led him to have a near-obsessive infatuation with my version of the world. He was the perfect loyal dog, simply too perfect."
"A lover that perfect cannot exist. Qiao Chengyu must be fake, created by me."
"Though I vaguely understood this in my heart, I was still unwilling to face it. When I came out, I asked the people from the previous world if I could meet them again, and you laughed at me. It was you who gave me the final confirmation, extinguishing my last glimmer of hope."
"Qiao Chengyu and the others are, after all, not real people, right? In a world, there's only the Builder and the mission target, this task is completely 1v1, isn't it?"
"Mm-hmm." Leo beamed with pride, "You've figured it out."
Han Yanyan smirked, with a mixture of amusement and sorrow. "When I entered Yao Chen's world, I already understood this, and then I made a new discovery."
"I hadn't had the time to deal with Zheng Yao. Qiao Wenxing was completely different from Ding Yao. So at that time, I wasn’t aware of anything until I confronted Yao Chen directly."
She paused, stating with strong conviction, "Yao Chen is Ding Yao!"
This time, Leo fell silent, almost like he had vanished.
"Before this, it was really Qiao Wenxing's existence that led me astray. But if I ignore Qiao Wenxing, I realized that Zheng Yao's world collapsed, and Ding Yao's world ended abnormally. In fact, you never told me that their missions 'succeeded.' What's even more interesting is that other than Yao Chen and Ding Yao, Zheng Yao's name also has a 'yao' sound, just like the two of them."
"Ignoring Qiao Wenxing makes things clearer."
"There was a man whose name contains the 'yao' syllable, who for some reason, you detained, making me pursue him repeatedly until I succeeded. He had to succeed like Qiao Wenxing, right?"
"And these worlds, I thought they were dream-building. But dreams are discontinuous and jumpy. Yet, I discovered that even though these worlds were built by me, the details were too concrete. They couldn't possibly be dreams. I had gone through every book on Yao Chen's shelf, and not a single page was repeated. The knowledge I learned in school from those books was entirely real."
"So I ultimately confirmed that these so-called worlds are all virtual."
"My body should be lying somewhere, under your control. The entity speaking with you here is merely my spiritual form."
"I’ve seen Zheng Yao, who caused worlds to collapse, and Yao Chen, who could stop bullets; at that moment, they are the true 'yao.' They should also be spiritual forms, just like me."
The white space fell into silence for a long time till Han Yanyan finally heard Leo release a long breath.
"You woman; you woman..." he murmured.
"Did I guess everything right?" Han Yanyan asked.
"Close enough, but calling it a virtual world is far too low-class," Leo replied with disdain.
"Oh?" Han Yanyan was surprised. "Then what is it?"
"You're just too uncultured," Leo pinched his nose, explaining to the woman from a primitive place, "Virtual world technology can perfectly replicate the hardware of a world and allow NPCs to act according to rules. But no matter how realistic it is, you know it's fake."
"Later, some used human brains to replace the system, building worlds and giving them souls. Such worlds are known as simulated worlds."
"Not everyone can do this, only a small group of people with extraordinary brainwaves can achieve it. They can structure a world that is both logically complete and soulful. This group of people is called Builders. Builders construct the framework of the world, while the system relinquishes control and only fills in the details."
"For example, Yao Chen lives in a luxurious villa; he has an expensive solid wood bookshelf filled with books, and the biographies of legendary figures are what he loves to read. These are all your decisions. But the content of every book on that shelf is filled in by the system. Some come from databases, some are extracted from your brain; in short, these details combine to support your world structure."
"Han Yanyan, I scanned your brainwaves and saw your values, knowing you could become an excellent Builder. My eye for talent is truly exceptional, ha ha ha..." Leo chuckled, proud of himself.
Han Yanyan had no expression and said, "Saying so much still makes it virtual. What's wrong with calling it a virtual world?"
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! You uncultured hillbilly! The technical content here is on a whole different level! Primitive person!" Leo became furious over the technicality.
"I'll tell you, simulated worlds were later banned. Do you know why?" He went on about it, "Because it was too! Realistic!"
"Just because it was too realistic led many people to lose themselves in it, becoming a widely spread and harmful mental drug! In the end, all the governments had to join forces to suppress and manage it."
"But the true fundamental reason this technology was banned is that someone successfully upgraded a simulated world into a secondary world. Primitive person, you certainly don’t know what a secondary world is. A secondary world is… um, let me think about how to explain this to you. Let me see if there's a similar concept in your knowledge system..."
"Ah, found it! What's this? Three thousand worlds? Um, not quite accurate but similar. Small worlds, medium worlds, large worlds. You figure it out on your own."
Han Yanyan was a person of great imagination, so understanding this concept was not hard for her.
"You mean, a simulated world is a fake world. But a secondary world is a real world?" she asked.
"Very good, very good, I knew you could understand," Leo said with satisfaction.
Han Yanyan, shocked, asked, "How is this technology achieved?"
"Energy! Providing enough energy allows a simulated world to operate independently from the system that created it, thus upgrading it to a secondary world. It would no longer be subjected to human disconnection or shutdown. It can exist on its own for eternity."
"That's incredible." Han Yanyan marveled, expressing her admiration for advanced civilizations, thus satisfying Leo's vanity.
"Of course, it's incredible. You have no idea the uproar this technology caused and how many messes it created. In the end, all the governments reached a consensus, agreeing that this technology violated the 'Basic Law of Cosmic Dimensions and Life', completely banning it. Ah..." Leo sighed, an endless regret in his tone.
But Han Yanyan said, "Dimensions and… Basic Law of Life?"
"You mean, after a simulated world upgrades to a secondary world, even those fake lives created in it also..." her voice became slightly hoarse.
"Of course, they've all upgraded. According to the Basic Law of Life, they are deemed real lives. Think about it, for example you and me; we believe we are real. But who can say we are not a secondary world created by some higher world? So… wait!" Leo suddenly reacted, bursting into laughter, "Oh my goodness, Han Yanyan, what are you thinking? Are you still thinking about Qiao Chengyu?"
He laughed so hard that he shook: "God, you uncultured hillbilly are so bold! Do you know how much energy it takes to upgrade a simulated world to a secondary world? It needs an entire planet! And it must be a planet rich in energy mines! I can’t even imagine it unless it’s a billionaire! You, a primitive person, are actually thinking about this. My God, you cracked me up! You really like the man you created, huh? After all, he is your ideal type."
Han Yanyan patiently waited for him to laugh for half a minute before saying, "In this world, only human thoughts cannot be constrained. Even if it's impossible, it won't stop me from thinking."
"Fine, fine, fine. Think as much as you want. You're really interesting." Leo was still laughing, unable to catch his breath.
"This technology was completely banned, so Leo..." Han Yanyan said, "What you’re doing now is all illegal, isn’t it?"
Leo's laughter came to an abrupt halt.