Infinite Nightmares

"I caught a computer virus! That’s why I have amnesia! You want amnesia too?" Song Jianguo snapped before pulling his sleeve protectors back on.

"What the hell? A computer virus? A living person can catch a computer virus?"

Zhang Wenda was stunned. It felt like any bizarre thing could happen. "If you caught a computer virus, that means that place is..."

"The Internet World," the Auntie drinking water nearby interjected abruptly.

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda’s spirits lifted. He didn’t believe the Internet World here was just simple dial-up. If even an Auntie could become a sentient being, then the internet itself becoming one didn’t seem so impossible.

"So your amnesia, the cat ears on your head, and the materialization of your Auntie are all because you were affected by a computer virus from the Internet World?!" Zhang Wenda looked at Song Jianguo in astonishment.

Memory loss, physical mutation, and concept materialization—three completely different phenomena, all caused by the same place.

Zhang Wenda knew this place was probably not to be trifled with.

"I don’t know! I told you, I have amnesia! I just remember being terrified. I barely escaped with my life," Song Jianguo answered, his face full of frustration.

"What exactly is the Internet World? Tell me in detail. How can it help me increase my strength?" Zhang Wenda asked again, his tone serious.

Hearing this, Song Jianguo seemed even angrier. "I already told you that place is dangerous, so why do you still want to go? Do you want to lose your memory? Do you want cat ears to sprout from your head?"

"Whether it’s dangerous and whether I should go is for me to decide. Right now, you just need to tell me what kind of place it is and what dangers it holds."

"I won’t tell you! If I do, you’ll definitely try to drag me back there to get us killed. I’m never going to that place again!" Song Jianguo threw down the fried rice in his hands and turned his back in a huff.

Seeing that he wouldn’t budge no matter what, Zhang Wenda turned to the only other person in the know: Song Jianguo’s Auntie.

"Auntie~ can you tell me? If you do, I’ll buy you as much brown sugar water and as many painkillers as you want."

"Ooh~ Really? That’s so nice of you! Looks like I misjudged you. You’re not so bad, kid." The Auntie gently nudged Zhang Wenda with her elbow.

"I can tell you. It’s not like it’s a secret. You could find out from someone else anyway."

The Auntie took a sip of her brown sugar water and continued, "Actually, Mimi is right. That place is really dangerous. The Internet World is filled with a lot of malice."

"Can you elaborate?" Zhang Wenda quickly pulled out a pen and paper and began to take notes diligently.

"Hmm... how should I put it? Since it’s the Internet World, everyone can DIY their appearance. A lot of people think no one will know it’s them, so they just do whatever they want."

"For example, they might secretly place a computer virus on a good item. If you’re not careful and touch it, you’ll be in deep trouble just like Mimi." She picked up Song Jianguo’s sleeve-protector-clad hand and waved it at Zhang Wenda.

"Ah, it’s really hard to explain with just words. Anyway, if you go, you’ll know what it’s like once you see it for yourself."

"Can everyone just freely go to the Internet World? How come I’ve never seen it?" Zhang Wenda stopped writing and asked curiously.

"Of course not," the Auntie said, putting down her cup and raising a finger. "This is a new world, you see. It hasn’t been around for long, so most people don’t even know it exists."

’A new thing... just appeared not long ago...’ Zhang Wenda quickly jotted this down.

"Also, time is chaotic in there. You might see things from the past, or even your past self. Absolutely do not make contact with yourself." Zhang Wenda wasn’t too bothered by this point. ’I’m so young now, any further in the past and I’d be an embryo.’

As the Auntie spoke, Zhang Wenda wrote, quickly gaining a whole new understanding of the so-called Internet World.

Unlike the library and the Youth Palace, the Internet World was clearly a brand new world in the truest sense. You could even say that everyone entering this world now was like an explorer during the Age of Discovery, constantly probing its boundaries and potential.

Although very few people could or dared to go online at the moment, it was foreseeable that the various materials brought back from this new world would continuously change the entire world.

After looking at the densely packed notes in his notebook, Zhang Wenda looked back at the Auntie. "Okay, I understand the dangers now. Can you tell me about the benefits of the Internet World? How much can it help me improve my strength?"

"Er..." Hearing this, the Auntie’s expression became a little awkward. "Well, about that... I don’t know either. After all, I’ve only been inside with Mimi once. No, that’s not right. It’s more like... I only exist because Mimi went in that one time."

"But! I’ve heard there are a lot of good things in there. For example, someone mined Red Mercury from the Internet World, and one gram is worth dozens of yuan."

"Dozens of yuan? For one gram?" Zhang Wenda knew all too well what the currency’s purchasing power was like right now. That was a huge sum of money.

"I also heard that someone posted a Qi Gong manual directly online for anyone to view, no ticket or money required!"

"Qi Gong? Free to watch and learn?" Those words truly stirred Zhang Wenda’s heart.

He remembered someone at the Xinhua Bookstore saying that when the Da Xing’an Ridge was on fire, a Qi Gong master could put it out by projecting his energy. He didn’t need a Superpower that amazing; he just needed enough power to defeat that sickle monster.

After listening to her rambling answers, Zhang Wenda closed his notebook. He now had a basic understanding of the so-called Internet World. It was a place where risk and opportunity coexisted.

"Alright, thanks a lot. It’s about time, I have to get to class." Zhang Wenda climbed back down the utility pole.

Zhang Wenda barely paid attention in his afternoon classes, completely absorbed in analyzing the pros and cons of this Internet World and whether he should go.

It certainly sounded dangerous, with Song Jianguo’s case as a prime example. But for the current Zhang Wenda, it was also incredibly tempting.

’If the only price is sprouting a pair of cat ears in exchange for getting rid of that sickle monster, it seems like a trade I could accept.’

’Besides, I don’t have an Auntie, so I doubt the Internet World could conjure an "Uncle" to follow me around.’

’But the amnesia part is definitely tricky. I’ll have to ask Song Jianguo about it in more detail and try to mitigate that risk as much as possible.’

The afternoon passed by as Zhang Wenda mulled things over, and when the school bell rang, he was jolted as if from a dream.

"Haozi, you coming? Let’s go home together," Pan Dongzi said, pulling a crushed packet of dry noodles from his desk and pouring them into his mouth.

"I’m not going. I need to see Ouyang about something." Zhang Wenda remembered that he’d had Ouyang’s class that afternoon. He felt it was necessary to ask her about the Internet World.

’Since there’s a local adult I can consult for free, why wouldn’t I take advantage of it?’

Arriving at the door of the teachers’ office again, Zhang Wenda pushed it open to see Ouyang grading papers with another, bald male teacher. The setting sun slanted through the square window panes, making the room look exceptionally warm and cozy.

"Is something wrong, Wenda?" Ouyang was as good-natured as ever, handing him a White Rabbit creamy candy.

"Teacher, I’d like to ask you something."

"Oh? What is it?" she asked, her signature ceramic smile on her face.

Zhang Wenda unwrapped the White Rabbit candy and popped it into his mouth, along with the edible, translucent layer of rice paper. "Teacher, what do you know about the Internet World?"

The moment Zhang Wenda finished speaking, the sound of pens scratching on paper instantly stopped. The entire teachers’ office fell deathly silent.

"Wenda? Who told you about the Internet World?" Ouyang slowly rose to her feet. As she stood, the sound of cracking porcelain, CRACK CRACK CRACK, filled the air, and her body began to grow larger.

When Ouyang whipped around, what faced Zhang Wenda was a completely shattered, ceramic, smiling face.

"Who told you! WHO!!"