Chapter 1493: Small Gains
Based on previous experience, the green door and blue door were relatively safe, but the blue door they had just opened nearly scared them to death. Once self-doubt set in, they became more convinced that the words on the doors were traps, and that there must be something even more dangerous behind the green door... However, the moment this thought arose, when they looked at the green door, they instinctively felt it should be safe. Caught in this contradictory suggestion, the group hesitated until the other doors all began to malfunction.
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Door after door was struck, accompanied by loud noises. Cracks gradually appeared on the walls around the door frames, peeling plaster and falling dust constantly reminding them: their time was running out!
"Right or wrong, let's just go for it!" One of them suddenly grabbed the handle of the green door. "Click!"
As the door opened, all the commotion around the room ceased. Behind the green door, there were no grotesque monsters, only a narrow path leading to the street.
The group exchanged glances and cautiously stepped out. To their surprise, the path led directly to the slum district—exactly where they had been lying in ambush earlier. When they turned back to look at the place where they had nearly died, it appeared no different from what they had seen before, let alone any monsters with eyes bigger than a person.
"Was everything we just experienced an illusion?" After a long silence, someone finally spoke. "He didn't intend to kill us... or is everything we're seeing now the illusion?"
Hearing this, the faces of the remaining few darkened. They had racked their brains to escape with their lives, only to be told that what they were seeing now might also be fake? Then what counted as safe? What counted as real?
"Has everything we've experienced in the past been real?" The person who had spoken earlier continued to mutter.
The person next to him couldn't stand it and slapped him. "Snap out of it! I get doubting reality, but who the hell told you to doubt your whole life?"
Regardless, none of them wanted to stay there any longer. After repeatedly confirming their surroundings, they each went their separate ways.
Having successfully implanted the suggestion, Xu Huo had roughly grasped the threshold. "Control" was essentially a qualitative change of "interference." Planting psychological suggestions in several players was both an "interference process" and a "control process." The difference lay in whether the target ultimately submitted to his "instructions."
For example, the suggestion "green door is safe" had been reinforced multiple times before being implanted into their minds. However, this suggestion could easily waver when faced with extreme danger or changes in external conditions—like encountering a giant beast would overturn the suggestion that "blue door is relatively safe," or the green door clearly marked "safe" seemed more like a trap to lure them in, once overriding the "green door is safe" suggestion.
Human thinking is constantly changing. Suggestions can only influence a person's behavioral logic to a certain extent, not determine their final actions. Therefore, achieving true "control" is very difficult. But if some requirements were reduced, "control" would be relatively easier.
For instance, Xu Huo had previously thought of "mind control" as "long-term" and "absolutely mandatory." But if the time frame were compressed and the controlled person was allowed to have "clear reactions," it would be much simpler.
Just like in the previous experiment, he didn't need the five players to believe and accept the concept of "green door is safe" stubbornly for a day or a month. He only needed a moment for them to instinctively make a judgment and influence their behavior.
Of course, if the experiment took that long for guidance and suggestion, it could at best be considered "mental interference" with unknown results. "Control" requires a degree of coercion. Therefore, the most direct and effective way is to compress the interference process, complete the foundation needed for "control" in an extremely short time, and then achieve the effect of "control" at the moment of qualitative change—that would be considered success.
"Compress the interference process..." Xu Huo silently repeated these words, still having no clear idea. For ordinary people, the mental pressure he brought could make them submit, but players with higher evolution rates were different. Simply put, to achieve the same effect as with ordinary people, he would need mental strength sufficient to overwhelm others—a height he couldn't reach for now. He currently needed technique more.
The night passed quickly. Xu Huo rested for two hours and got up early the next morning to take a walk.
The children dozing nearby called out to each other, gradually forming a long line behind him, following quietly without making noise.
Today was the day the Rain City people came to deliver vegetables.
People in the slums rarely entered the city easily. The vegetables and fruits ordered by players were delivered by Rain City people. Seeing several large trucks approaching from afar, the slum dwellers were delighted because when food was most abundant, players might throw out some "edible garbage."
The delivery people were also players. Seeing a large group of children standing in front of the slums from a distance, the big man driving the truck pulled a long face. "Those bastards are openly selling children now? And so many at once!"
Sitting next to him was a woman around thirty. Her skin was dark, and her hands were heavily calloused, making her look like someone who had been doing manual labor for a long time. She lifted her eyelids and glanced ahead. "No city has sent people out recently. These kids were probably born in the slums. As inhumane as those people are, they wouldn't drain their resources all at once. Let's see what they're up to."
The convoy stopped at the entrance of the slums. People from the Underground Palace, the casino, and the water shop all sent representatives to pick up supplies, along with some laborers.
These people silently passed by Xu Huo, keeping their heads down as they worked. Even the players didn't act out, not responding to the big man's provocations as they usually would.
Initially, the big man thought the slum dwellers were after the children, but the kids were just there to watch the commotion. He and his companion found it strange, and eventually, their gazes fell on Xu Huo, who stood out holding an umbrella in the rain.
Xu Huo smiled and nodded at them.
"Who's that?" the big man asked the nearby player.
This player was from the water shop. Not daring to reveal his fear, he simply said, "A distinguished guest."
"Distinguished guest? Distinguished guest?" The big man's expression grew more exaggerated each time. "You slum players can actually spit out those two words?"
It wasn't surprising that the big man was shocked. In their eyes, slum players were already beasts in human skin—there was no bad deed they wouldn't do, and no good deed they would do. Suddenly hearing them utter civilized terms properly was indeed a bit jarring.
Today's slum players were especially well-behaved. They didn't react to the taunts, silently directing the transport of supplies, settling the final payment, and quickly returning into the mountain. They didn't even bother with the children gathered around the trucks.
(Chapter End)