Chapter 1602: Resurrecting from a Blank Corner
Was Abby still present in this body? Wu Yiliu didn't know.
The "driver" of the pocket dimension had, from the beginning, clearly delineated the roles of the hunter and prey, apparently without any intention to maintain a balance between the two sides.
The warnings that the pocket dimension sent to the prey were less for their sake and more to increase the difficulty for the hunters. But this was the only slight advantage Wu Yiliu could grasp.
He speculated—or more accurately, hoped—that the pocket dimension had set other limitations for the hunters, exactly what could be used by the prey for self-defense. Therefore, after the story was over, Wu Yiliu asked "Abby" once again, "What will happen to the person being driven after the pocket dimension ends?"
"Abby's" answer was, "They will be completely mine."
He found the word "completely" intriguing. Could it be that before the end of the pocket dimension, it was not "complete"? Was there a chance for Abby to escape from the "vehicle" status?
But on second thought, this could hardly be considered substantial evidence. It could either be a hidden truth unintentionally revealed, or simply a casual expression by "Abby" without any deeper meaning.
Which one was it?
In his anxiety, Wu Yiliu stared intently at the woman sitting across from him in the pouring rain. Her face, soaked white by the rain, suddenly threw back her head and erupted into laughter. Wu Yiliu's heart sank into his stomach.
"No wonder you didn't react at all, even though he has been whispering in your ear for so long!" the person inside Abby's body said, laughing and slapping her knee, looking past Wu Yiliu as if there were someone else there.
Of course... of course, was there an invisible third person here?
Wu Yiliu squinted in the heavy rain, his whole body tense. The story was over, and he had lost his tool to resist the whispers. If Abby couldn't really be saved, he would be left alone in this rain-shrouded forest, facing four other players.
"You really caught us off guard, attacking from this angle. We thought you were going to kill and run, so we watched you from the front and back, but you didn't move," someone said from behind.
"Abby" smiled. "It's a pity, once the brainwashing is successful, it's successful. That's the rule of the pocket dimension. Did you think you could resist the rules of the pocket dimension by telling a story?"
Rainwater flowed into Wu Yiliu's eyes, stinging a bit. He blinked hard, but his vision was still blurry. Through the rain curtain, he couldn't see anything unusual about "Abby."
Was there really no hope?
Had the original Abby truly disappeared when this player "moved in"?
After Wu Yiliu had rushed into the forest with Abby, he belatedly realized that something was wrong with her. At that moment, Abby didn't know that he had noticed. Facing an unguarded enemy, he had two choices: either to ambush Abby and then try to escape or attempt to "awaken" Abby herself.
Needless to say, the second option was riskier and less likely to succeed. But Wu Yiliu had instinctively chosen it—not only because it was more humane but also because he felt he had some chance.
Looking back, he couldn't say what gave him that feeling.
The rainwater was so uncomfortable in his eyes that Wu Yiliu couldn't help but wipe them with his hand. As he looked down for a moment, he saw his other hand, resting on his knee, suddenly raise a finger.
Two seconds later, that finger lightly lifted again, as if leisurely keeping time.
Wu Yiliu could no longer hold back and jumped up suddenly, a cold bucket of ice water drenching his bones as the realization struck him that he had not heard any whispers, and the hope that had arisen from this vanished.
"Where? Where is he?" He rapidly looked around, his eyes piercing through the dark curtain of rain, but finding nothing. It seemed that the whispering in his ears had begun again when his story had ended, and he hadn't even realized that he had been listening all along.
"Abby" paused for a moment before smiling and saying, "Forget it, will I remind you what to do? You know we can't let you go alive to blab, so you might as well resign yourself to fate. At least you know why you're dying, right?"
Stay calm, he must stay calm - the more his mind was in chaos, the more opportunities he gave to the brainwashing whispers.
Unless "Abby" attacked him, these players posed no threat to him except for the whispers. It was too late to run now since he was already being watched; the unseen third person could follow him all the way, whispering in his ear, and under the power of the "brainwashing," he might unwittingly run back to the camp cabin.
So, would "Abby" attack him?
Wu Yiliu clenched his fists tightly, digging his nails deep into the flesh; he focused on this small but clear pain, hoping it would block the inaudible whispers in his ears - whether it would work, he didn't know.
No, "Abby" probably wouldn't attack; he was now a live chicken that couldn't escape or resist the brainwashing, so there was no need to harm him.
Moreover, the relationship between "Abby" and the third person might not be harmonious.
This thought struck like lightning, and Wu Yiliu suddenly understood.
He understood why he had felt sure he could "awaken" Abby; he also understood that "Abby" had lied.
"I have a question, 'Abby'," he said. "To the player who has been whispering in my ear, if you're really there, I suggest you stop for a moment and listen to what I have to say next."
There was only the sound of heavy rain in his ears, like a curtain that couldn't be penetrated, blocking all other noises.
Without waiting for the woman sitting on the stone to speak, Wu Yiliu continued, "Why did you attack me?"
"Abby" remained silent, apparently not understanding his meaning.
"After you took over her body, you tricked me into covering you with your blanket, and then whispered to me, trying to brainwash me," Wu Yiliu said slowly. "What's going on? Four players, four chickens, one to one, fair. Why do you want more?"
He smiled slightly at "Abby," hoping to appear confident.
"Of course, I understand that having an extra body is like having an extra life. So even if it means one of your companions loses, you couldn't resist the temptation to take another body."
"At this time, do you still want to sow discord?" the woman on the stone said coldly.
"No, I'm not trying to sow discord, because that's not the point," Wu Yiliu said. "You said that after brainwashing, we would be like cars ready to be driven. But it's strange... how can you, alone, drive two cars at the same time?"
"Abby" remained silent.
"Thinking back, you were the first to use the word 'possession.' You wanted me to believe that you moved into Abby's body like moving into a new house, and the original owner was evicted. After all, that's the implied meaning of 'possession,'" Wu Yiliu continued. "But that's not the case, is it? You alone, clearly unable to inhabit two bodies at once, still attacked me... because it wasn't in vain. You never 'moved into' the chicken's body."
He slowly turned in place, his eyes sweeping over the trees, the rain curtain, and the grass, finally landing on "Abby."
"Just like you made me lift my finger with a whisper. After you successfully brainwashed Abby, the way you control her body is not by moving in, but by commanding her through whispers. Once brainwashing is successful, the only difference from before is that Abby no longer has her own thoughts, and she won't resist you anymore."
The words spoken by this player through Abby were produced with Abby's own brain, vocal cords, and tongue working together.
"In other words, it's the brainwashed Abby who willingly obeys your commands, following your instructions, performing every action you want her to perform, saying every word you want her to say."
Wu Yiliu stared intently into Abby's eyes, saying softly, "She has not disappeared from this body as you implied. On the contrary, if she really had disappeared from this body, then you would be in trouble—you cannot directly control her muscles and nervous system; you need the body's owner to control it."
"This is all just your speculation."
Wu Yiliu nodded. "If my speculation is correct, then it also means that when you were focused on my story, Abby heard it too. While I was telling the story, you didn't tell Abby step by step how to view it, what to think here, what to feel there. You were busy listening to the story yourself at that time."
The woman sitting on the rock suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"During this blank time, Abby had the opportunity to form her own views on external information, generate her own feelings—thus, she had the chance to regain control of herself," Wu Yiliu said almost indifferently. "If I'm wrong, it's very simple for you to prove me wrong."
"Oh?"
"While I was recounting my past experience, I noticed that you never stood up from the rock. For so long, you've moved your hands, your mouth, but never your legs, as if they were paralyzed."
Wu Yiliu looked at Abby's legs, which had never changed position, and said, "If I suddenly turned and ran, you would have to stand up to chase me, inevitably delaying precious seconds. But when I jumped up just now, you remained seated without moving... I think it's not that you didn't want to stand up, but because Abby resisted the command to do so, right?"