Life Dungeon Game

The gods whispered in my ear, and time and space unfolded before my eyes.

This is how the world is, and this is how the world should be.

Now it was He Ao's turn to experience this feeling.

However, unlike Jess in the memory who drifted with the waves in the storm and waves created by madness, Heo stood at the center of this mad storm vortex, as immovable as a reef that has stood for thousands of years.

Jess has very few memories of his crazy period. He can only vaguely recall what he did and the feeling, but he can't remember exactly what happened.

Memories of the madness are like dreams; they gradually fade away during lucid moments, like water droplets drying up.

But He Ao was different; he maintained a certain degree of clarity throughout.

He raised his head and looked around.

At this moment, he heard all sorts of chaotic, background noise-like murmurs in his ears. These murmurs were similar to the background noise he heard when his extrasensory perception was activated, but they were more chaotic and disordered, and more polluting to his mind.

The scene in our field of vision also underwent some changes, with some inexplicable, distorted lines echoing throughout the space.

These lines exude an immense allure, as if they were the very essence of this world.

As he gazed at these lines, Heo felt a restlessness stirring within his body; his flesh began to writhe almost imperceptibly, breaking free of his control.

His body was trying to stretch out into a shape that fit this unknowable essence.

He felt that this was perfectly acceptable and should be taken for granted.

However, he still shifted his gaze from the distorted lines to the surrounding patterns.

His body, which had begun to mutate, gradually returned to normal.

Although his cognition was affected to some extent, He Ao's rationality remained. He knew very well that this mutation, which was "in line with the essence of the world," was complete madness, an alienation into a monster.

His current state is like that of someone having a lucid dream; his logic is the logic of a dream, but he is very clear that he is dreaming.

In theory, under such a level of mental confusion, Jess should have already mutated into a crazed monster, since Jess doesn't have the strong resistance to contamination that Heo possesses.

That is indeed the case, but Jess had something else that became the anchor point for him to maintain his humanity and last shred of sanity, and that was his hatred for Mystic and his obsession with the wrongful deaths of his family.

It's unclear whether this anchor point was intentionally left by the mysterious person or was created unintentionally.

These two situations reflect the extent of the mysterious person's knowledge of occultism.

After all, strong emotions or obsessions can serve as anchors for maintaining one's rationality and humanity amidst madness, a conclusion that He Ao reached after accepting Jess's memories.

There was no relevant information in his previous knowledge of occultism.

Prior to this, he had always believed that ordinary people, after falling into cognitive errors or being corrupted, would inevitably descend into madness.

Jess's case proves that even people who are on the verge of madness may be able to maintain their humanity and self-awareness.

This is knowledge that can perhaps only be understood at a deeper or higher level.

However, He Ao did not have time to think about this problem further at the moment. The purple patterns covering the walls, floors and ceiling were taken in by his eyes and quickly combined in his mind.

His consciousness was like a broken circuit that had been reconnected, and all knowledge flowed freely.

After examining these patterns, he still needs to carefully analyze the function of each part of the patterns and disassemble them as a massive magic array.

At this moment, when he looks at these patterns, it's like looking at a math problem for a child; the answer will naturally appear in his mind without any analysis.

At the same time, He Ao also felt that his soul power was being rapidly depleted in this state.

This kind of 'inspiration' that comes from delving into the essence of things in a state of frenzy is not without its drawbacks; it will greatly deplete the soul.

The weaker the soul, the higher the likelihood of it being devoured by madness.

To be precise, the causal relationship here should be that the rampant corruption enabled Jayce to see things that were originally not allowed to be seen, and seeing these things would accelerate the depletion of Jayce's soul, further accelerating Jayce's madness.

This powerful 'inspiration' is merely a byproduct of rampant erosion.

This kind of inspiration is uncontrollable for Jess; he can only draw it from hatred and obsession.

Nian tried his best to maintain his last shred of sanity, but he couldn't control the rate at which he went mad, and he didn't know when he would wake up after falling into madness.

However, He Ao still had some resistance to madness; this level of madness was not enough to erode his rationality.

Therefore, he can freely choose to unleash his frenzied state or suppress it, turning the 'inspiration' brought about by this frenzy into an active skill.

Of course, standing on the dividing line between madness and reason, one naturally wouldn't have the same level of inspiration as Jess, who was completely insane, but for Heo at this moment, it was enough.

Prior to this, He Ao had also had other dungeon characters go mad.

For example, his character Yezora in the beginner dungeon is a completely insane evil priest. He had been corrupted by his friends when he asked for help several times before, but none of those dungeon characters showed such terrifying high spirituality when they were close to madness.

Even with the influence of the mysterious figure, Jess's inspiration was still a bit too high.

Jess probably has other special qualities as well.

He raised his axe and placed it on the purple-glowing patterns in front of the door.

At this moment, without any analysis or understanding, he could see the function of these magic array structures and know the purpose of each line.

The magic circle on this door is not integrated with the magic circles on the walls and floor. The souls absorbed by the magic circle on the door are only used to maintain the integrity of this door.

This structure was likely designed to prevent the magic circle from being destroyed when the door is opened or closed.

Although the magic array on the door has intricate patterns that connect to the overall magic array, only a few lines actually play a crucial role in communication.

He Ao observed the operational routes of these magic arrays, raised the bone axe in his hand, and cut into the edge of the stone door, slicing into a purple pattern on the left side that connected the door to the wall.

The once powerful and indestructible purple patterns, which remained unscathed despite several fierce blows from Elent, were easily severed by him.

Then he raised the axe and carefully cut the other lines connecting the door and the wall.

As the last line was severed, the entire massive stone door trembled, and its radiance dimmed considerably.

Then He'ao raised his axe and chopped it down in the center of the stone gate, severing the two adjacent lines.

boom--

With a violent tremor, the magic array on the stone gate shattered suddenly after a dazzling flash.

The stone gate, which had been cracked by the impact of Ellen but remained undeformed, shattered with a deafening roar, and scattered rubble fell like a torrential rain.

A huge cloud of smoke rose up, and He Ao's figure passed through the rubble and stepped behind the door.

Then he stopped walking.

Behind the hazy smoke and dust, a dazzling pattern, resembling a densely packed spiderweb, spread across the entire space.

These patterns, like stars in the night sky, constantly shimmer with purple light, making the space as bright as day even without any other lights.

He Ao looked up at his surroundings. In this connected two-story space, apart from the surrounding walls, there were no pillars.

It is a vast, empty cave, like a dragon's cave.

Then Heo gazed at the shimmering light, realized something, and briefly activated his super memory to look around.

Dense shadows spread down from the ceiling above the space, merging into the vast space and into the shimmering purple patterns.

This entire space is a giant magic circle, a continuously operating magic circle.

Those shadows likely came from the mental patients upstairs. Above this space is the sixth floor, where those seemingly unconscious mental patients are imprisoned, and on the ninth to thirteenth floors, there are even more 'mentally ill patients'.

The nurse said that the mentally ill patients on the sixth floor were dangerous.

However, judging from the state of those mental patients, and the secret thoughts that had been eroding Heo's mind ever since he entered the building.

The patients detained on the sixth floor may not be dangerous patients, but rather patients who have been completely transformed into suitable 'food'.

As for whose 'food' it is.

He Ao's gaze fell on the shimmering magic circles.

The answer is self-evident.

That dormant, hidden entity seems to be trying to assimilate the consciousness of everyone in this mental hospital.

As Ellen said, this mental hospital was a huge farm, and the people living inside were 'livestock'.

Animals that were not fully mature lived on the higher floors, while those that were fully mature were moved down and kept on the sixth floor as 'food'.

At this moment, He Ao was able to see the operational structure of these magic arrays to the greatest extent possible.

Whether it's the gene serum or these magic circles created by Jess's father, they all serve the same purpose.

That is to simulate and attempt to replace the rituals for obtaining power in that occult knowledge.

All rituals are based on equivalent exchange.

To gain power, you must exchange something for it.

Based on He Ao's observations, those who took the gene serum invariably surrendered their lives and souls after death, and the price they had to pay was likely much higher than that.

After all, an ordinary person's life and soul cannot be exchanged for C-level power.

However, regardless of the circumstances, it is a gene-enhancing drug that requires living people as users.

Gene therapy is a simplified ritual, and the user is essentially the performer of the ritual. As a living being, he is naturally willing to pay the price, even if the price is himself.

The magic array before He Ao was an inanimate object; it was impossible for the array to generate a price out of thin air. Without a price, there would naturally be no blessing.

Therefore, someone needs to be paid as the 'price'.

These 'patients' living in mental hospitals are the 'price' prepared for sacrifice.

He Ao took small steps forward, gazing at the shimmering magic circles.

In his observation, the magic circle did not seem to be fully completed and had obvious flaws.

According to traditional occult knowledge, the person performing the ritual must be highly involved in the ritual in order to receive the blessed power.

Whether it's a magic circle or a gene potion, they are both simplified rituals that require someone to operate. That person is the one who performs the ritual and also the ultimate beneficiary.

For genes

In terms of medicine, it refers to people who take gene-enhancing drugs.

However, this magic circle is somewhat strange.

It was set to operate naturally, with the mentally ill being paid as the price for the blessing. They were highly involved in the operation of the magic circle, but they were not the real beneficiaries.

He Ao was very fast; he traversed the entire space in a very short time and arrived at the innermost part of the space.

Here, there is a stone platform covered with purple patterns, and on the platform is a long wooden box about a meter long, which is also covered with dense purple patterns.

Although Jess doesn't have those patterns that seem to have been created by his father, he does have memories of this wooden box.