Interactive Fiction: The Right Choice After Unemployment

Chapter 17 The Protagonist Before Me

Option one 94.7%, option two 5.3%.

……

【Option [-]】

【go ahead】

……

really!We can only move forward!

The moment he saw the voting results, Zheng Zhuo moved.

If you step back, the percentage will drop.If the percentage is less than one hundred, you will never get out.

Rather than wandering hopelessly in a world with no exit, take this last chance now.

"—Goo——Isn't it—a little hot!"

Zheng Zhuo gritted his teeth and jumped forward.

He jumped into the cave.

……

…………

………………

In the dark cave, Zheng Zhuo squeezed in along the narrow rock wall.Every rock started to turn red due to the high heat, and Zheng Zhuo had to change the position of his hands at intervals to avoid possible burns.

"...cough cough..."

A faint smoke wafted from the cave.Zheng Zhuo could see flickering flames in the depths of darkness.Far away, flames were burning.But fortunately, this cave seems to have more than one exit.The dense smoke was diluted by the water source and the vents closer to the fire point. Where Zheng Zhuo entered, the smoke brought by the burning was not to such an extent that it was unbreathable.

But the deeper you go, the heavier the smoke.

"(...Please...find it before I fall...!)"

Zheng Zhuo prayed in his heart, wet the sweater and covered his mouth and nose.

He didn't dare to stop for a moment, and walked towards the faintly swaying shadow in the distance.

"..."

During this period, Zheng Zhuo squinted at the left side and opened the window of [Subconscious World].

"...44.2%..."

The percentage has gone up.Moreover, the rate of increase is still very large.

"(It is right to enter. And... there is hope...!)"

He gritted his teeth again and quickened his pace.

He jumped down the slippery corridor again and again.Finally, he heard a creepy sound coming from the depths of the cave.

"...hehe...haha..."

"……its mine……"

It's people!

If Zheng Zhuo was not sure before, then this time, he heard it very clearly.

The voice was hoarse and broken.However, it is still a human voice.

"(——!)"

Zheng Zhuo stopped urgently.

Gravel "sand" fell to the depths.He came to a high platform.Below, the shadow of a human figure can already be vaguely seen.

The black shadow was covered by thick smoke.Zheng Zhuo vaguely saw that the black shadow was pushing a huge stone hard.

47.8%, 56.2%, 59.9%…

The percentage keeps rising.Sure enough, he was on the right track.

Zheng Zhuo stood at the downwind position.More and more thick smoke hit him.

"(...No...breathing...too difficult...)"

Can't stand here!Zheng Zhuo groped and came to the side of the platform.

Along here, he slid down cautiously.

However, even if Zheng Zhuo made some noises, the black shadow in front of him might not notice it.

"……mine……"

Sombra muttered nervously while pushing the rock.

Just when Zheng Zhuo was about to go down to the bottom of the cave...

...Galala...

The rock was pushed away by the shadow.

……

…………

………………

boom!
Fresh air poured in, igniting the sparks in the corridor.

There was a loud bang, and a large group of sparks exploded from Sombra's body.The tongue of fire shot up to a height of three meters, illuminating the entire cave like daytime.

The heat wave hit his face, Zheng Zhuo felt that all the moisture on his face was evaporated in an instant.He immediately held his breath, but a large amount of hot air was still squeezed into the lungs, causing severe pain.

In this instant, Zheng Zhuo also saw the face of that black shadow clearly.

It was an old man with tangled hair and beard.On the old man's dirty face, there was a ferocious expression.

"——It's all—It's all mine—Ah——!!!"

He stretched out his hand, which was engulfed in flames, and pointed to the depths of the stone cave that had been pushed away.

What's in there?
Zheng Zhuo blocked the hot wind with his hands and looked inward.

Inside the rolling flames, there are golden objects shining.

"(--That is--)"

It's gold!
It turned out that the gold in the mine was hidden by this dirty old man!

Has he been around here all this time?
Zheng Zhuo was in doubt.

He is the No.13 person?A member of Phantom?part of the truth?still is……

Zheng Zhuo's mind was in chaos.Suddenly, he saw a layer of faint green light appear on the gold smelted by the fire.

The color of green light is very familiar to Zheng Zhuo.

That is the light effect that will appear when the 【Collective Subconscious】software is turned on.

"(Is something related!?)"

Zheng Zhuo was taken aback.

But at this moment, the dirty old man suddenly jumped up.

He yelled and rushed forward, ignoring the pain of his body being burned by the fire.

……

"(--what is he going to do!)"

Zheng Zhuo didn't know what the dirty old man was planning!But the other party clearly wanted to take the gold.

Gold emits the same green light as when the system interface is turned on, maybe it is the key to reaching 100%!
In case, the other party wants to destroy it at the end...

"stop!!"

In a blink of an eye, Zheng Zhuo jumped towards the newly opened cave.

As soon as he jumped in, the nearby fire coiled up his body.

"Uh-ah-!!!"

He rolled forward with the force of his fall, and the flames set his hair and eyebrows on fire.

But he succeeded.The old man's body was ignited by the flames, and he was stiff and unable to move.Zheng Zhuo rolled into the cave right in front of his eyes——

"—damn—if it doesn't work here—I really will—die here—!!!"

Zheng Zhuo screamed, put all his eggs in one basket, and stretched out his hand——

He held the gold nuggets.

at the same time.

A pale green light.covered his field of vision.

……

…………

………………

The scorching flames, choking smoke and excruciating burns all disappeared.

The cool, salty sea breeze howled.

The whistling wind blew Zheng Zhuo's sweater, and he opened his eyes with difficulty.

He is falling.

In front of you are continuous, snow-white clouds and mountains.Clouds meet with clouds, and they fit together seamlessly.Zheng Zhuo could only see the boundless clouds and the blue sky above his head.

"—No—isn't it—?"

This is where he first fell into the strange world - and here he is again!However, unlike last time, this time, nothing could be seen below.There are no other worlds, no seas, just stacked clouds.

"--the second time--!?"

Zheng Zhuo couldn't control the direction at all!He watched helplessly as he got closer and closer to the clouds——

He plunged headlong into the mountain peaks piled up by clouds.

……

…………

………………

Zheng Zhuo felt that he fell on a flat and smooth surface.

There is no imaginable impact.He moved and opened his eyes.

As far as the eye can see, it is white.He found that he had entered a pure white space, with only white in the front, back, left, right, up and down.

And in this whiteness that fills the field of vision...

He sees a table.Not far from where he fell.

It was a very ordinary desk.The desk is light tan with silver edging.On the desk is an old-fashioned computer from around 2000.

The computer is also gray and white, and the monitor is big and heavy. The main unit seems to have not been cleaned for a long time, and it makes high-frequency noise while it is running.

And facing the monitor...

…A young woman in her twenties, wearing half sleeves and jeans, sat there.

"……people?"

Zheng Zhuo's throat moved and he made a sound.

The ponytail on the back of the young woman swayed.She tilted her head at the sound.

Her face moved away from behind the monitor.Zheng Zhuo saw her appearance.

Comely appearance.without make-up.

Zheng Zhuo was sure that he had never seen this young woman before.

"30 points."

The young woman looked at Zheng Zhuo, and suddenly said.

"……what?"

"The awareness of collecting clues is good, but the advancing part is too amateurish. The man hid in the mine for 5 years in order to monopolize the gold mine. The secret of the town is the gold mine that the man hid. After he lived underground, the town He began to make rats. He became nervous due to his long-term underground life. After someone intervened in the investigation, he began to take risks to confirm how much the investigators knew. Sometimes, he would come under a certain house in the town. If he heard If anyone knows anything about the gold mines—even the townspeople, he'll do it out of rage."

The young woman speaks very fast.She didn't wait for Zheng Zhuo to interrupt, and continued talking for a long time.

"The mouse was only discovered in a week. The direction was not determined until the end. The follow-up advancement was basically pushed by the incident - 30 points. However, considering that the situation this time is quite special, the participants are not normal - give you 60 points Let’s divide it. It’s not easy to live to the end. Ah, but if luck is considered..."

"...you are 100 points."

said the young woman.

"You fell at the end and became the only one I had time to catch. Fortunately, I was able to save you in time—unexpectedly, the software will replace me by now. If you are lost in the subconscious forever In the sea, I will be very sorry."

She waved her hand at Zheng Zhuo.

"Go home! Reality is the best—"

"--and many more!"

Seeing that the other party wanted to see off the guest, Zheng Zhuo hurriedly called out.

"You told me to go home—but I'm still confused! Can you explain the situation? Where is this? Where is the place I just entered? Who are you? What have I been through—"

The young woman frowned at Zheng Zhuo's continuous questions.

She looked at the computer screen, then at Zheng Zhuo.

"It will take a while to start... Okay! It's okay to chat."

She said, snapping her fingers.

Zheng Zhuo clearly saw a golden card emerge from her fingertips.

The card shows a man wearing an aviator hat, holding a telescope and a map.

"Answer them one by one."

Said the young woman.

"first……"

"I was the [Explorer] before you... and the final winner of the [Collective Subconscious] project."

【Explorer】?Was it the woman that the thief had said was fouled out in the second game he played... She said she was the winner?

Zheng Zhuo raised his eyebrows.

Didn't it mean that after each round, the remaining people will participate in the next round?
"...the final winner."

The young woman looked at Zheng Zhuo and repeated herself.

"I entered the background of the software developer by meeting the two conditions of "winning the game" and "fouling" at the same time—"

She pointed to her feet.

"—entered here. I'm shutting down the support system behind the software."

"Soon, [collective subconsciousness]—this evil project will disappear completely from now on."

……

Completely...disappear...?
Zheng Zhuo looked at the young woman.

On his left side, the [Collective Subconscious] software flashed and appeared.

The interface of [Subconscious World] turned into a bunch of garbled characters and mosaic graphics.

After a while, it automatically turned a page.

[Subconscious voting] is still there.But it also becomes gibberish.

===
【problem】

【浠栬兘烇纻鍙交瀵旅粬瀵勪宁幜璖饋纻】

【Option [-]】

【鎴戠浉qi′粬吹瀹阿彲浠】

【Option [-]】

[汗嶅彲鑳麻纴纴相繛鲁d那流门篃娌℃湁锅钟埌】

【Option [-]】

[Bi 屼粬鑳滃埄釸熸病病阴礋崯阵拍麴纴涆槸钖】

【Option [-]】

[Chain 熸 湜 湜 婂 ぇ 飞 屽 け Chain 涜 秺 chan э 纴 鎴 戝 仔 翔 斁 斁冧 简]

【Option [-]】

[浠栧 忔湁 忔湁 殑 殑 滆 タ 鍩 鍩 鍩 ℃ ℃ ℃ 湁鍒 犲 犲 鍑 鍑 钖 钖 钖 钖 钖 钖 钖 钖 钖 钖 鍑 鍑 鍑 鍑]

【Option [-]】

【别d笢瑗善篃琈兘兘宁姪浠栥傝悝角见屽那何翔病病杂夊笇接綗笔】

　After [Option 1], [Option 1], [Option [-]], [Option [-]], [Option [-]] and [Option [-]], you can leave a message in the form of [this chapter says]. A message under [-] id counts as [-] vote.

　　票数统计截至至2022/11/11日中午12：00.
　　Finally, please recommend tickets~
　　
　　


(End of this chapter)