Chapter 66
Night hung low, and the sky was filled with countless stars. Every now and then, a single meteor flashed by, or a cluster of meteors swept across the heavens, tearing through the night curtain.
They lit up the faces of the people on the beach.
After Shen Jinfeng finished speaking, he adjusted his posture but did not sit up.
Perhaps it was because lying down and looking up at the sky was not tiring at all.
“Discuss it among yourselves and give me a hint, will you?”
After saying that lazily, he only stared straight at the night sky, his eyes reflected bright and shining.
He did not make another wish.
He had no idea what kind of bombshell he had just thrown down.
He Erwang and the others, who had been waiting to hear his wish, froze for a moment.
They did not understand at all.
Gu Shengsheng turned his head toward him in total confusion. “Boss, what are you talking about? What fake world?”
The lively and warm bullet comments filling the screen stalled for an instant.
In that instant, everyone was so shocked they could not process what had just happened.
Only after Gu Shengsheng spoke did someone hesitantly and fearfully type a row of question marks in the bullet comments.
[??? Big Boss Shen doesn’t mean… what I think he means, right?]
[He really discovered that this is a fake world?! OMG, God, my heart is beating so fast right now. My chest hurts from how nervous I am! This is too unbelievable, right? Too awesome, ahhh!]
[Sure enough, Big Boss Shen already suspected it that time in the forest with Ye God! But did something else happen later that made him confirm this was a virtual world? Why do I feel like everything has been normal these past few days? What exactly happened?]
[I feel like only Big Boss Shen discovered the truth. Ye God might have sensed a little too. Little Purple Hair, Little Qi, Shengsheng, and Brother Mo’s eyes are about to fall out of their sockets. They’re even more shocked than us. After hearing Big Boss Shen, they obviously still don’t understand what’s going on.]
[They’re the ones reacting like normal people, right! Who the hell would suspect they’re living in a fake world?! Seriously, although Big Boss Shen pointed out some flaws in the production team before, and a lot of people were scared in the comments, I didn’t take it seriously at all. Now it turns out I was the stupid one, covering my face… If it were me, and I found things in real life that didn’t match my understanding, my first reaction would probably be that I remembered wrong or misunderstood, or that it’s normal for something against common sense to happen once in a while. I might even doubt authority, like thinking the previously recorded growth habits of plants were wrong or not fully verified. After all, it’s like studying physics—every few years, knowledge gets updated and tells you the old knowledge was wrong… So Big Boss Shen’s reverse thinking is way too incredible, right!]
[That said, is there a possibility that Big Boss Shen is still testing the production team? Under conditions where all the scenery, environment, and senses are completely real, it shouldn’t be possible for anyone to be fully certain it’s fake, right?]
[I keep feeling like the production team secretly hid something. Clearly, a few days ago, Big Boss Shen was only suspicious, but now his tone is certain. Did the stupid production team expose another flaw somewhere we don’t know about?]
[Ahhhhhh, I’m going crazy! Right now, I only care about whether this show can keep filming! No, please, sob sob sob, weren’t we promised two months of watching Big Boss? Although the meteor shower is beautiful, if this is the ending, I really will cry!]
[Exactly! But isn’t Big Boss Shen giving the production team a chance right now? Production team, hurry up and respond. Tell Big Boss Shen to record for at least another month! Because I start school in a month, not really.]
The production team, who indeed knew a little more than the audience, was even more panicked.
“Holy crap, this meteor shower really was Big Boss Shen testing us?”
“We fell for it!”
Several staff members reacted after seeing the screen explode with bullet comments and immediately cried out in alarm.
Xiao Li stared at Shen Jinfeng’s calm and composed expression on the screen, his pupils dilated. He could not help stammering, “He… he’s a god, right?”
Right now, the bullet comments were wildly guessing what the biggest flaw exposed by the production team was, and where exactly Big Boss Shen had confirmed he was in a virtual world.
Wasn’t it tonight’s meteor shower?
It had really fulfilled what someone had joked about at the beginning.
What was several levels higher than Shen Jinfeng correctly predicting a future meteor shower?
It was that he used the meteor shower to lure the production team into a trap and turned the tables on them.
This group of people had been roasted over a fire, hesitating and struggling for several days under the expectations of the entire internet, and in the end, they had truly fallen into the trap.
They had delivered the greatest flaw right into his hands.
Now, everyone looked at the meteor shower still ongoing on the big screen. It was still so beautiful and magnificent that it shook the soul.
But their hearts were also about to stop.
After the group of working people cried out in alarm for a while, they all lowered their heads and suddenly did not dare speak.
Who knew that one minute ago, the director had been making a wish that the show would have long-lasting ratings and air for the full two months!
This was truly the fastest bankrupt wish they had ever seen in their limited lives.
Help. The director must not lose his mind later.
Goat pretended to stare intently at the screen, but in reality, he was secretly glancing at Sun Xinping’s expression through the reflection along the screen’s edge.
Sun Xinping’s face turned green, then white. His eyes were fixed tightly on the screen, as if he was confused, shocked, aggrieved, and angry all at once.
His expression was so unstable it looked like he might explode at any moment.
Sure enough, after the control room was quiet for a few seconds—
Sun Xinping shot up from the director’s chair. “Qian Shixing, is this what you called no loss?”
His eyes were full of anger as he glared at the head of publicity.
The publicity team leader’s real name was Qian Shixing.
Usually, everyone just called him Old Qian.
Old Qian looked away guiltily.
“What do you suggest we do? Why don’t you reply to Shen Jinfeng and tell him how many days he can stay in there?” Sun Xinping had a belly full of anger and nowhere to vent it, so he grabbed someone and started roaring.
At first, Old Qian let it go in one ear and out the other, but after listening for a while, he could not help interrupting.
“Actually, this was going to happen sooner or later.”
Sun Xinping felt his blood pressure spike.
Xiao Li quickly tugged at his arm and tried to persuade him.
“Director, Big Boss Shen is still waiting for our reply.”
If he had not said that, it would have been fine. Once he did, it only added fuel to the fire.
Sun Xinping worked hard to suppress his anger and calmed himself for a few seconds.
This time, no matter what, he would not reply so quickly while his head was unclear.
After calming down a little, he noticed something was off. “Goat, how are Shen Jinfeng’s physical data right now?”
Wasn’t the program supposed to be set so that once someone discovered they were in a virtual world, they would automatically be ejected, and their consciousness would wake up in the real world?
Goat froze for a moment and also remembered this point.
“Director, you mean Big Boss Shen might really still be testing us?”
He sucked in a breath of cold air.
No way!
Layer after layer, trap after trap—was this another new trap?
“Then… we temporarily won’t respond?” He looked at Shen Jinfeng on the screen, whose posture was calm and composed as if he were waiting for a “hint,” and spoke hesitantly.
Sun Xinping shook his head and took a deep breath.
“Don’t reply for now.”
“Let’s see what Shen Jinfeng does next.”
On the deserted island—
Shen Jinfeng had no way of knowing the viewers’ and production team’s reactions, but the others, who had been blasted into sitting up by his words, were all uncertain and alarmed.
He Erwang shot up from the beach with a start and ran to Shen Jinfeng’s side.
“Boss, who were you talking to just now? Aren’t we waiting for the army or a passing ship to rescue us?”
Qi Xiu took out his tortoise shell and shook it with quick, fierce movements.
“When are we getting out?”
He looked at the result of his divination, his face full of confusion and fear.
The hexagram showed: very soon.
How soon was very soon?
He looked toward the boundless sea under the night, where not a single ship could be seen.
He also ran to Shen Jinfeng’s side, shivering all over.
“Boss, this hexagram feels so supernatural.”
Qin Ye also sat up properly.
He knew a little more. Just now, when he heard Shen Jinfeng’s words, his expression immediately turned serious.
But he was not as certain as Shen Jinfeng.
So he lowered his eyes slightly, his expression somewhat grave, and looked at Shen Jinfeng, who was still lying down. “You’re sure?”
Shen Jinfeng blinked. The night sky and stars that had filled his vision were almost completely blocked by several faces. Only a little light could be seen through the gaps.
“…”
He helplessly sat up slowly as well.
“Move aside a little. Give me some fresh air.” He pushed away the people who had gathered around him in unison and made them sit in a row.
Shen Jinfeng nodded toward Qin Ye, the last person to ask him, and lazily said, “Why don’t you first tell everyone about our previous guesses?”
“Alright.”
Qin Ye described the conversation they had had in the forest a few days ago, some unreasonable details, and the questions that had gradually arisen from their observations over the past few days.
Finally, he summarized, “Whether from the unnatural environment and vegetation growth that violate normal rules, or from the location we calculated based on the angle of sunlight and tidal patterns, as well as the unreasonable existence of the ancient tomb and the lack of commercial development—based on our existing knowledge, there should not be an island like this, nor a forest like this.”
“However, I guess these are not the decisive reasons why Little Captain determined that this environment is fake.” He looked steadily at Shen Jinfeng, his eyes dark and deep. “But I don’t know anything beyond that.”
Shen Jinfeng nodded, indicating that what he said was correct.
For a normal person to confirm that the world they were in was “fake,” these reasons were not enough.
They could only be called suspicions, just like Qin Ye’s condition over the past few days.
After hearing Qin Ye’s analysis, the others felt the same way.
Mo Fan scratched his head. “It sounds very reasonable. But I’m not doubting you, ah. I just want to raise one question. Is it possible that it’s all just coincidence?”
“Yes. With only these reasons, it can be attributed to coincidence.” Shen Jinfeng affirmed his question.
“But…” He was just about to continue when Qi Xiu suddenly interrupted with a cry of surprise.
“Eh, wait, that’s not right!” Qi Xiu’s suspicious gaze moved back and forth between Qin Ye and Shen Jinfeng.
“Boss, why did you only tell Brother Ye about these guesses, but not us?”
[Pfft, I really can’t. Hahaha, Little Qi, you finally noticed!]
[Laughed to death. At a time like this, Qi Xiu’s focus is actually this! No, it should be said, he finally noticed!]
Shen Jinfeng was also a little confused.
Hm? Shouldn’t they be concerned right now about what other reasons he had?
He explained naturally, “Because that day, Qin Ye and I went to gather herbs and happened to discover the thing that was most wrong.”
He explained the ghost orchid’s growth habits.
He Erwang pouted. “Then after coming back these past few days, Boss, did you not tell us because you thought we were stupid?”
???
Shen Jinfeng looked at He Erwang and saw the aggrieved expression on his face.
“No. It was because I hadn’t confirmed it yet and didn’t want you all to worry along with me.” He explained quite patiently.
He Erwang turned his face away. “Boss, what you said is exactly the same as what my parents always say.”
Qin Ye did not understand. “Right. It means we care about you the same way parents who care about you would.”
He Erwang said, “But my cousin said my parents just think I’m stupid.”
Shen Jinfeng was caught between laughter and tears.
Better to let a fellow Daoist die than a poor Daoist.
In his heart, he apologized to He Erwang’s cousin, whom he had never met.
Then he said seriously, “Your cousin was talking nonsense.”
He Erwang’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Shen Jinfeng and Qin Ye nodded together.
Under their affirming gazes, He Erwang quickly let go of his self-doubt.
“Right. I knew it. I’m so smart.”
[Pfft hahaha, Little Purple Hair, tell me, what benefit do you get from making me laugh to death?]
[Cousin: Don’t cue me. There was one less person in this world willing to tell Little Purple Hair the truth, and now there’s really none left.]
[Am I the only one who thinks Big Boss and Ye God comforting Little Purple Hair is like two people coaxing a child together? Starry eyes.]
Because He Erwang had interrupted, Qi Xiu did not get to keep digging.
Shen Jinfeng continued explaining to them.
“The night after we encountered the wolves, I actually went back there again.”
He looked at He Erwang and nodded toward him. “It was that night when we met in the middle of the night.”
[Hm? What? Big Boss Shen went back again? Met in the middle of the night? Damn, production team, you really hid good stuff from us and didn’t let us see it!]
The bullet comments suddenly reacted and exploded.
[So what happened that made Big Boss Shen suspect things even more?]
[Blind guess: the production team messed up again.]
Sure enough, Shen Jinfeng’s words confirmed their guess.
“In just a few hours, the entire wolf pack that I had hung in the trees vanished into thin air. There were no signs of struggle on the trees, nor any traces of the wolves walking under the trees.”
“They didn’t fall down from the trees. They disappeared out of thin air.” He repeated this most crucial point again.
“And another very important point is that in the forest, apart from small birds like pigeons, all traces of wild animals disappeared.”
He did not say that he had discovered this conclusion by playing the beast-taming tune.
The others did not ask either.
Mo Fan got goosebumps all over. “Damn. Boss, don’t scare me.”
Gu Shengsheng would not doubt Shen Jinfeng’s judgment. “When you put it that way, it really is strange!”
[…I’m convinced. No need to say it. It must be the stupid production team’s doing.]
[The wolves vanished into thin air? No, production team, are your brains seriously diseased? Setting aside the fact that you mistakenly simulated wolves and nearly injured people, Big Boss had already handled the wolves. What were you thinking, making them vanish into thin air for no reason?]
[With this stupid production team, how could they have guessed that Big Boss would be so meticulous that he’d specifically return to the grove?]
[No, production team, please release that section, alright? I want to see it! What was Big Boss Shen’s reaction at the time?]
[The most speechless thing is that the production team probably got scared and removed all wild beasts. How could Big Boss Shen not suspect anything?]
[But how did Big Boss Shen know that aside from birds, there were no other animals?]
[Isn’t that simple? Big Boss Shen definitely has a thousand and one ways to verify it. For example, casually scattering some medicinal powder that attracts specific wild beasts. Big Boss Shen can mix medicine, right?]
The viewers watching the livestream had emotions rising and falling wildly, with speculation flying everywhere.
He Erwang was dumbfounded. “Damn, so it was that time when you told me you had specifically gone into the grove to relieve yourself?”
Shen Jinfeng: “…Yes.”
He Erwang’s expression changed back and forth. He gave him a thumbs-up. “So Boss, you went back there again that late at night?”
“Did you make us get up so early to exercise because you were in a bad mood when you came back?”
Yes. That day, they had all gotten up more than an hour earlier than usual to exercise.
Although they had not realized it at first—
After finishing the workout and discovering that the sky was not fully bright, and the sun had not risen to its usual angle, they noticed something was off.
[Oh! So that’s why. No wonder that day I came on time to follow Big Boss’s workout, only to find they were already halfway done!]
[…I had it even worse. I came a little late, and that day’s workout was already over.]
Facing He Erwang’s question, Shen Jinfeng embarrassedly touched his nose.
“More or less.”
Hearing this confirmed—
Everyone truly began to feel suspicious.
“The wolves disappeared into thin air? That’s really too bizarre.”
“Can we go back and take another look?”
Because they had not seen it on the spot, nor personally discovered the fact that night, now that Shen Jinfeng said it, they only felt creeped out.
But there was still a slight lack of reality.
Shen Jinfeng looked at their expressions and gave them time to digest it.
“But what made me ultimately confirm it was…”
He reached out and pointed at the sky.
“Hm?” Everyone followed the direction of his finger and looked up at the sky. “The meteor shower?”
Shen Jinfeng said, “Yes. The meteor shower.”
His tone carried a strange calm. “There shouldn’t have been a meteor shower today.”
“Three days ago, Gu Shengsheng said he wanted to see a meteor shower. I suspected that the deserted island we were on was fake, and that someone outside was observing us. Because the wild beasts had all disappeared into thin air before, I guessed that the people observing us had no hostility toward us. So I followed along and said there would be a meteor shower today. I just wanted to see their reaction.”
Now, the result was obvious.
The moment his words fell, another stretch of meteor shower crossed the sky, breathtakingly gorgeous.
[!!!!!]
[Holy crap, f*** f*** f***! What is Big Boss Shen saying? I can’t even find words to describe how shocked I am right now!]
[Let me sort this out. There shouldn’t have been a meteor shower today, but Big Boss Shen guessed by himself that the deserted island was a virtual world. And somehow, he even guessed almost perfectly that people outside were watching them! He deliberately said there would be a meteor shower today! It was to trick the production team into taking the bait! To observe the production team’s reaction!]
[Yes… and the production team really took the bait… Godly.]
[Big Boss Shen fooled us for so long with that one sentence! The whole internet really waited for three days. I suspect the production team really designed a meteor shower because of this.]
[I think the production team was scared to death. We didn’t know Big Boss Shen went to check on the wolf pack in the middle of the night, but the production team definitely knew. Did they already secretly communicate with Big Boss Shen?]
[No. Right now, Big Boss Shen is requesting communication with the production team and asking how much longer they have to stay in the show.]
[Wait, does Big Boss Shen already know he’s recording a show? Judging from the conclusion he just stated, he probably hasn’t guessed the complete truth yet, right? It’s over. My brain can’t sort this out.]
[I feel like the production team wants to die right now. This is so dramatic hahaha! Completely manipulated by Big Boss Shen! Every step fell right into Big Boss Shen’s planned pit. Now they’re even being threatened to give a response hahaha.]
Indeed, Sun Xinping wanted to die.
Shen Jinfeng had actually stated all his guesses so directly in the livestream.
He had exposed the production team’s entire series of stupid actions!
On the deserted island, Shen Jinfeng was still summarizing. “So, it’s obvious… this deserted island and forest full of bugs should be a virtual environment created using some high-tech method. We might be some kind of experimental lab rats.”
He shrugged and stated his final conclusion.
Then, once again, he dropped another bombshell.
“And I suspect that all of our memories have been tampered with.”
“I’m guessing the people who threw us into this deserted island wanted to test the realism and experience of this environment, so they encrypted our memories of entering this place, or used some other method.”
In fact, he felt that each person’s memories might have been encrypted to different degrees.
For example, Gu Shengsheng’s memories and his physical condition clearly did not match.
Mo Fan’s memories also conflicted with his knowledge and cognition.
But Qi Xiu, He Erwang, and Qin Ye’s memories and the skills they possessed seemed to have no obvious flaws.
Aside from He Erwang’s self-perception of his personality being slightly inconsistent, but that was not a major problem and was not strange.
Shen Jinfeng had discovered some similar doubts, but he had not figured out why this situation had occurred.
This, he had to thank the production team’s “cleverness” for.
Although everyone was just as Shen Jinfeng guessed and had their memory of participating in the show erased in the virtual world—
The degree differed for each person.
For instance, because Sun Xinping had been lazy and the production team had been perfunctory, Qi Xiu, originally an ordinary person, had the least memories erased.
His memories up until the past few months were mostly consistent with reality.
For instance, He Erwang and Qin Ye’s childhood-to-adulthood memories were also real. They had only had their entertainment industry memories sealed, with those years in entertainment being replaced or extended by experiences from before or after.
But Gu Shengsheng and Mo Fan had implanted memories and personas that differed greatly from reality.
That was why a series of mismatched reactions had appeared.
But normal people did not doubt their own memories.
In fact, they themselves would automatically rationalize and gloss over unreasonable situations.
With truth and falsehood mixed together, Shen Jinfeng naturally could not fully figure out what was going on.
He was still not completely close to reality.
After hearing his analysis, the others were completely stunned.
The viewers watching the livestream were once again shocked numb.
[! Although the result is a little off, it’s really almost there! Big Boss Shen actually not only judged that the deserted island is virtual, but also guessed that his memories were tampered with!]
[This reasoning ability, reverse-thinking ability, sensitivity, and judgment—I truly respect it!]
[Damn. He even guessed this. Can season three of What Kind of Person Are You really keep airing? How will this end?!]
[So, production team, have you thought of how to deal with Big Boss? Dog head.]
[What do I do? Right now, I’m excited, thrilled, and scared! Hearing Big Boss Shen’s analysis was so cool, so satisfying, and so comfortable! Stanning such an awesome person really means getting carried by surprises eight hundred times every day! But Big Boss, could you go easy? I feel like you’re about to break the production team, smile.]
[If I didn’t know What Kind of Person Are You and Old Dog Sun so well, I’d really suspect Big Boss Shen had colluded with them. The way he’s doing this variety show is practically like a movie protagonist!]
Sun Xinping was already numb.
His mind was blank for the moment, and he could not think of a way to respond.
But the even more dramatic scene—or rather, the scene that should have happened—occurred.
On screen, after Shen Jinfeng’s words fell—
The others were full of shock and still did not dare believe it.
“Let me process this. This is really overturning my worldview a little.” He Erwang grabbed his own purple hair with both hands and tried hard to think.
Qi Xiu said, “Although I know a bit of divination and technically touch on metaphysics, I can’t see anything wrong with a fake world at all. That’s too scary!”
Mo Fan swallowed. “Could this meteor shower also be a coincidence? It looks no different from the real thing.”
Gu Shengsheng looked completely lost.
Only Qin Ye, who had already faintly guessed and had been prepared for several days, listened to Shen Jinfeng’s final two almost ironclad proofs and only pondered for a few minutes before feeling that there was no flaw in the logic.
He murmured, “Little Captain, I agree with your judgment. Everything here is fake.”
As soon as his words fell, he suddenly felt dizzy.
A flood of memories that had not existed before surged into his consciousness.
“I…” Before he could say anything—
His figure suddenly became unstable and gradually turned transparent.
Like a special effect in a movie, in one moment, he vanished from the beach.
Shen Jinfeng: “?”
The others: “!!!”
The viewers watching the livestream and the staff in the production team control room were all dumbfounded.
“What’s going on?”
Surprise flashed through Shen Jinfeng’s eyes. “Did he get out?”
He Erwang and the others’ mouths opened into “O” shapes.
After a long while, they stammered, “Brother Ye disappeared?”
The fact was right in front of them.
“So this deserted island really is fake?” They finally fully believed Shen Jinfeng’s conclusion.
Almost at the same time, their figures disappeared just like Qin Ye’s.
Shen Jinfeng: “???”
What was going on?
Was he the bug?
Why was he the only one still here?
Did the person who designed this world have a hole in their brain? Was the technology this immature?
They had made living people disappear just like that?
And left only him behind?
Were they retaliating against him for noticing that this world was a little fake?
