Chapter 120: Superego, Id, Ego
Thirteen years ago.
At that time, something incredible must have happened to Bai Yan himself, and he was very clear about it in his heart.
The records about thirteen years ago are on this "13th" bookshelf, which Bai Yan is already standing in front of.
"OK, it's time to reveal the answer."
He took out the book and started flipping through it, discovering a lot of information.
For example, a list of victims.
No doubt, his own name and Alan's could be found in it.
"The Alan whom I rescued from bullying thirteen years ago, was at a really high level of being bullied."
Bai Yan raised an eyebrow and understood that Alan knew the truth.
But Alan never told him.
Perhaps, some people might feel angry, as if they have been betrayed by a good friend.
However, Bai Yan didn't share the same belief. He firmly held the principle that "not everyone needs to know everything" and didn't hesitate to keep all the secrets of the Babel Tower to himself.
In that case, everyone can be considered even.
There are also some records and conjectures regarding a part of the "Tower."
A member of the "Tower" who perished 13 years ago suddenly appeared in the Noah world and came to the Air Alliance, claiming to be "Pride".
"An unknown race possessed a terrible power similar to that of 'Apocalypse', but fell due to the defeat in a ritual of the gaming type with 'Number 1878908'."
"It is speculated that 'Pride' was likely to launch a certain ritual to sacrifice Tatsumi City, but unexpectedly fell and interrupted the sacrifice."
This long number should be referring to myself, so thirteen years ago, did I defeat the 'Apocalypse'-level superhuman alone?
Bai Yan raised an eyebrow and blinked when he saw this.
"I am indeed becoming weaker and weaker. Thirteen years ago, I could defeat a demigod, but now, without the use of 'Power Possession', I may not even be able to beat the neighbor's dog."
He muttered to himself while flipping through the pages of the book, searching for vital clues.
"Bian Cheng, male, ID number 1878904 (memory alteration)."
"Gail, male, ID number 1878905 (memory alteration)."
"Yi Si Shui, female, code 1878906 (memory alteration)"
"……"
Among the many participants in the event, the two that Bai Yan was most concerned about were "Code 1878907 Alan (recruited)" and "Code 1878908 Bai Yan (memory alteration)"
From all indications, except for Alan, all the participants in the incident had already been subjected to memory correction by the Demon Hunt Agency.
This is a common technique used by the Night Watchers.
In the Air Alliance, extraordinary abilities are not allowed to be leaked out. Ordinary people who unwittingly get involved are forcibly given memory corrections. It seems that he has also undergone such treatment.
"This is it."
His pupils suddenly shrank.
Bai Yan took a deep breath and lightly touched the black and white photo on the last page of the book, which recorded the "process" of the event that happened thirteen years ago.
"The things of the past reveal the truth."
The surroundings around Bai Yan began to change in the next moment, with the bookcase disappearing constantly, the darkness turning into blue, and everything spinning into something completely different like a whirlwind.
He had already reached a huge chessboard, with the wind gently brushing against him.
"Chess?"
Bai Yan noticed that it was a chessboard floating in the blue sky, the huge chess pieces seemed like small giants, and Tatsumi City was prominently displayed below the board!
While at the two ends of the sky chessboard, the chess players were two completely different beings.
On one side stood a monster over five meters tall with a mottled black-and-white body resembling that of a wood-boring beetle, sporting six thin arms and eight blue eyes blinking incessantly on its face.
This is "Pride".
One of the members of the legendary "Tower", this extraordinary organization is a mysterious group that exists outside of Noah, and its members come from various civilizations, with few being humans.
On the other side is the Bai Yan of his youth.
Yes, Bai Yan sees his younger self, a handsome and expressionless boy.
He sat on a seat suspended in midair, lacking an eye, a leg, and an arm.
"Pride" emitted a delicate voice similar to that of a young girl.
"The fifty-seventh round begins, choose your wager."
There was a nonchalant smile on the face of the young Bai Yan.
"The stake is that boy's eyes."
He gestured casually.
Bai Yan saw it. The direction he pointed towards had a huge suspended birdcage filled with children. And the golden-haired boy that Bai Yan had pointed to looked like… Alan when he was a child.
Alan stared blankly at the scene, his eyes filled with admiration and fear.
The chess game began.
Bai Yan silently watched the game unfold, it was just a replay of past experiences, he could not intervene or interfere.
He soon realized something was amiss, that Bai Lian's gaming skills were gradually improving, yes, it was quite apparent that the skill of the "Bai Yan" playing in this game was significantly improving!
It was unreasonable, it seemed more like a "restoration" of his gaming ability.
Bai Yan's expression was filled with great shock!
As if,
There was something reviving on "me"!
It was a monster wearing the skin of "myself"!
Bai Yan suddenly realizes that the root of his distorted memories is not the Demon Hunt Agency!
It is something even more unknown!
"Pride" seems to have encountered this situation many times before, and it didn't show surprise, still winning the game.
It emitted the voice of an elder.
"In the fifty-seventh round, you have only won twice, while I have won fifty-five times."
The young boy Bai Yan had a blank expression on his face.
"But soon you will start losing terribly, I believe you understand that yourself."
"Hahahaha!"
The self-proclaimed "Pride" entity instead becomes increasingly excited in the face of provocation, emitting a burst of terrifying, ghostly laughter.
"Aaaaahhhh!"
At the same time, a scream came from the cage as little Alan's eyes burned, he looked incredulously at the young man who completely ignored him.
"……"
Bai Yan gazed upon the conclusion with composure, well aware of its contents as they were explicitly recorded in the book at hand.
In the end, he emerged victorious over "Pride," succeeding in rescuing all those in peril.
However, each and every child suffered a great deal of psychological damage, necessitating the employment of extraordinary measures in their treatment.
It remains unclear how much time had elapsed before Bai Yan emerged from the past memory, once again finding himself in the dim, silent records chamber.
However, his expression was peculiar.
It's not right at all, completely unlike myself, that boy…it's really not me.
"Calling it a humanoid monster would not be an exaggeration!"
Bai Yan had an inexplicable fear, as if his heart was tightly gripped, his pupils shrank, perhaps this "past" was actually false?
What's the matter?
Although occasionally boasting as a "rationalist", in fact, Bai Yan understood very well that this was impossible, absolute rationality is an unattainable thing… But in the sealed past, that boy was indeed an absolute rationalist, with no emotions towards "people".
He suddenly understood a sentence that Alan had said before.
"You have become ordinary, but it's not bad either."
Bai Yan sighed and compared his current self to his past self, realizing how ordinary he had become.
Without finding the other members of the "Tower," it would be impossible to continue the investigation.
But those guys were not even in "Noah's World"!
In his memory, he had drawn "Moon Witch" a few times, and her background story seemed to include a description of having previously joined the "Tower."
Yes, depending on the time when Core Operators were obtained, their background descriptions may also vary.
"It only happened a few times, most of the time she had no association with the 'Tower' at all."
I wonder, this time in the real world, did the "Moon Witch" ever join the Tower?
Bai Yan frowned, nonetheless, this was the only lead he could continue to follow.
So, why should I continue searching?
"It's like a puzzle game."
He muttered to himself.
"Even though there may not be a good outcome after clearing it, I still really want to keep solving it."
"I want to solve this puzzle."
Now, I can reach 'awakening' through the realm of dreams.
Let's just enter here, whether you do it at home or here, it's the same.
"But to smoothly become stronger like this, could it be the reawakening of…something?"
Bai Yan's expression was strange, as he always felt that there might be a terrible entity residing within him, and "Bai Yan" was nothing but a shell that trapped the monster, which could shatter at any moment.
There are many secrets within him, and these secrets may well be the reason for his rapid advancement. Perhaps, beneath these secrets, lurks a dreadful truth.
It is not necessarily a good thing to become strong so quickly…
He remained silent.
But Bai Yan also understood that he couldn't refuse the improvement of his abilities.
He could only accept everything.
He took out the Mirror of Dream once again.
Bai Yan saw his "self" from inside, the seemingly lustful "Bai Yan" was smiling and holding a monocle.
"Thank you for creating me."
"What does that mean?"
"You gave me the name 'Profligate', don't you remember? 'Profligate' is your true self, you made me a reality."
The "Bai Yan" in the mirror continued speaking:
"Moreover, you will regret it. You will definitely regret it, creating a 'perfect monster' in this real world."
Bai Yan shrugged and calmly said, "The so-called 'Profligate' is just a role-playing game for me. I sincerely want to advise you… not to try to shake my will."
"Say what you want." the "Bai Yan" in the mirror gradually faded away.
"……"
Bai Yan remained silent for a while, took a deep breath, and once again entered the "Self Dimension".
He traversed, walked and gradually advanced through the continuous fragments of possibilities once again.
Bai Yan met with various possibilities again, some joyful, some sad, some painful, some angry, and some incredible.
He even encountered a "Profligate" that had not yet appeared in reality, the role he intended to play… stepping on a woman's face.
Bai Yan only glanced briefly before leaving, and the possibility of the future was utterly meaningless.
Seizing the present is the most important thing.
As long as Bai Yan doesn't encounter the shadow of the Outer God, he won't continue to consume his spiritual energy in the Self Dimension like a normal superhuman being.
Therefore, he can continue searching tirelessly.
After an indeterminate amount of time passed, he finally arrived at the ultimate destination.
At the end.
Bai Yan arrived at the front of the white door of the ultimate destination.
"This is it, I succeeded."
He calmly opened the door and in the memory that was distorted, but restored at this moment, he saw… "the new self".
So that's how it is.
At this moment, Bai Yan completely understood.
No wonder it is said that people only need a moment to see the "new self" and understand that it is indeed the "new self".
Because the "Bai Yan" in front of him was also looking at him in surprise, having just opened the white door.
In this completely still Self Dimension, only two "Bai Yans" are able to move, and they have always been searching for each other.
Finally, they merge into one entity.
The awakening began.
