But objectively speaking, it's difficult for someone who is dreaming to realize the fact that "they are dreaming," perhaps they are currently also "in the fog without knowing the fog, in the dream without knowing the dream."
The "complete logical chain" he perceives is not complete; he just can't detect the part that is leaping and breaking.
"Forget it... Choose the longest from three shorts and one long."
With no expression on his face, Ji Minghuan employed the mentality and boldness of a primary school student tackling multiple-choice questions, moving his index finger straight to the position of the fourth option and clicking without hesitation.
The text on the panel refreshed in the next second.
[The player chose—Option D: "This is both a dream and reality."]
[Congratulations, your answer is correct.]
[As a reward for answering correctly, the player has received an "Initial Skill Point" (to be used for developing the "Character Skill Tree" once your first game character is created in the real world).]
If Ji Minghuan still had a head, then at this moment it might be tilted, and quite significantly so, but unfortunately, in this pitch-black space, he is only accompanied by the severed index finger.
The text on the panel silently refreshed.
[Would you like to start creating your first "game character"? (You can also choose to begin the character creation phase after gathering more world-view information—knowing more might enhance the initial strength of the generated game character.]
Two small text options then appeared below, labelled "Yes" and "No".
"No matter what happens, at least it's interesting."
The month-long confinement has left Ji Minghuan's mind in a state of extreme languor and numbness, weighing down his entire being from head to toe, and at this moment, such amusement emerged like a massive stimulus dancing in front of him.
He simply treated this as an interesting "lucid dream" in his heart and released himself to enjoy it.
Much like controlling a mouse, Ji Minghuan "dragged" his index finger over to the option interface.
Then, he pressed the first option—"Yes".
The text within the box changed, with denser words jumping out, almost filling his entire pupils like young spiders emerging from an egg sac. Ji Minghuan's eyelids didn't even twitch as he silently watched, somewhat grateful he didn't have arachnophobia.
[Next, you will be allowed to create a "game character" in the real world. Once the creation is successful, you will be free to control the character's actions according to your own wishes—regardless of where your body is, your consciousness can transfer into the created game character each time you fall asleep.]
[When your consciousness is awake, i.e., outside of dream time, the game character will formulate a set of "logical deduction criteria" based on your previous role-playing behavior and perform automatic adaptive actions in their environment according to those criteria until you take control of the character again.]
[Of course, if you want to control the game character even when awake, you can make changes in the game settings. (Please note—doing so may easily cause "split personality" or "personality disorder" symptoms: because the collision, friction, and conflict among multiple perspectives and sensory entities coexisting in the mind are beyond what ordinary people can endure, this will impose a tremendous burden on your spirit. When overloaded, the outcome will be unimaginable, and the game character may enter a "berserk state.")]
[Now, please choose one of the two "identity records" below. It will serve as your first game character, marking their grand debut on the theater named "Real World."]
"How come I remember 'grand debut' being a derogatory term... haven't started playing yet, and already got the villain's script welded to my hand?" Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow, thinking.
Distracting himself from meaningless thoughts, he continued to read on.
[Role Record No. 1]
[Name: Gu Wenyu]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 17 years old]
[Race: Asian]
[Category: Superpower User (one of the three extraordinary races, each Superpower User possesses a unique superpower, which is closely tied to their growth experiences)]
[Basic attributes: Strength: C-level; Speed: C-level; Spirit: C-level]
[Initial Evaluation: C-level]
[Background Introduction: You live in the Chinese capital and are a native high school student in Li Jing. However, on one particular night, you suddenly awakened to your superpower, gaining the ability to generate and control a "pitch black restraint". It was from this day onward that you gradually discovered that your family, with whom you've lived for more than a decade, seemed to hide some unknown secrets...]
[The game character has three "growth main lines" available for selection: Main Line One: Hero; Main Line Two: Villain; Main Line Three: Gray character.]
[Note: Once a growth main line is selected, the outcome will be irreversible; please choose carefully.]
Glancing over the lines of text in the file, Ji Minghuan softly muttered, "Superpower User, the ability to control restraints, sounds kind of weird, and speaking of Li Jing coming here... isn't it just my hometown?"
To be more precise, Li Jing is the city where the welfare institute he grew up in is located. Until being abducted to the laboratory, he hadn't left the welfare institute even once, not even attending school like some of the smarter children there.
He used his index finger to drag the text panel downward, looking toward the second role record.
[Role Record No. 2]
[Name: Andre]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 16 years old]
[Race: Caucasian]
[Category: Anecdote Envoy (one of the three extraordinary races, capable of acquiring "Anecdote Fragments" in mysterious places worldwide, using the various fragment powers in the "Anecdote Atlas" for battle)]
[Basic attributes: Strength: D-level; Speed: D-level; Spirit: C-level]
[Initial Evaluation: D++ level]
[Background Introduction: You live in the Danish Capital and have been fascinated with anecdotes and stories from around the world since childhood, harboring an indelible enthusiasm for extraordinary adventures. On one morning, you suddenly received an invitation letter from the "Whale Terrarium", opening the doors to the world of Anecdote Envoys.]
[The game character has two "growth main lines" available for selection: Main Line One: Anecdote Sentinel; Main Line Two: Evil Anecdote Envoy.]
"Can't understand it... but it seems powerful. Since the description in the character category mentions three extraordinary races in total, it suggests that besides 'Superpower User' and 'Anecdote Envoy', there is a third type of extraordinary human in the real world, what could it be?"
Ji Minghuan grew curious about this, but didn't spend much time deciding between the two role records.
Because the welfare institute where he grew up is located in the Chinese capital—"Li Jing", and the No. 1 role record's "Gu Wenyu" happened to be a native of Li Jing, the moment he saw the city name, his mind had already made the decision.
If this dream was really generated by his superpower and had some connection to reality, then choosing the first record would at least facilitate his investigation into the welfare institute he once stayed in, seeking to understand exactly which organization captured him into this laboratory.
The police might not know what's going on, but given Ji Minghuan's understanding of the director, unless the director is dead, he would certainly know about the mysterious lack of two children from the welfare institute, and might even know where they were taken.
[You have chosen the No. 1 role record—"Superpower User • Gu Wenyu", please choose one of the three character growth paths: A, Hero; B, Villain; C, Gray character.]
Casually scanning through the three options, Ji Minghuan chose C.
The reason is simple: he neither wants to be a hero nor a villain, just to know who those researching captors are, and how to fish his body out from this damned laboratory.
And as a gray character straddling both black and white sides, naturally there would be more opportunities to acquire relevant intelligence.
[You have selected this character's growth route No. 3—"Gray character", and a unique Character Cultivation System has been generated.]
[Please wait a moment, your No.1 game character "Gu Wenyu" is being created in the real world, making his existence "reasonable"...]
[About to land in China Li Jing... Please stand by for the final countdown.]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
At the moment his pupils saw the number change to 0, Ji Minghuan's vision was engulfed by sudden brightness.