Hunter of Immortals

Chapter 28: Pitiful

Before Adam had a chance to reply, Cowboy continued, "Our organization has obtained some information, information that is nothing short of a bombshell. Would you like to hear it? You see those people outside who are being used as playthings? Do you find them pitiful?"

"I do."

"Those who are supporting them from the outside are even more pitiful. For those who can't earn enough virtual currency to support themselves, as long as they still have loved ones on the outside, whether that be their spouse or their children, none of them would be willing to let someone so close to them truly die. They'll constantly complain about the system, but they'll still work hard to earn money and support their loved ones in the Metaverse. But you know what what the real kicker is? Those people are actually already dead!"

"What do you mean by that?"

The most alluring aspect of Metaverse 12.0 was its promise to grant immortality to everyone's loved ones, yet here, Adam was being told that everyone in the Metaverse was already dead!

"I mean it in the literal sense, there's no deeper meaning to it. All of the data that they store is incomplete or even fake. It's truly a pitiful state of affairs," Cowboy sighed as he clenched his fists tightly. "A human's memory bank is simply far too massive. The theoretical storage capacity of the average human brain exceeds that of 10,000 libraries, which means that uploading one's persona to the Metaverse will take up an enormous amount of memory. Is the Metaverse really capable of storing that much data? Even if it can, the resulting expenses would be far too much for the average person to be able to afford."

"Then what are those people inside the Metaverse?"

"They are all manifestations of incomplete or fake data, or even simulated data. It's very difficult to upload the entirety of one's persona, but it's far simpler to access all of one's memories."

Despite the astonishing nature of this revelation, Cowboy was speaking about it in the most nonchalant tone.

Adam knew that if Cowboy were telling the truth here, then that would make the Metaverse the biggest lie of this century, one that had enslaved the entire human race.

"Why would tell me something so important and impactful?"

"We're on the same team now, so it's only fair that we share what we know with one another. Besides, telling you all this is inconsequential anyway because you won't be able to release this information. They have a firm grasp on all of the media and speaking rights. Now then, it's time for you to tell me the secrets of the human farm. Tell me everything you know, and based on that information, we'll be able to recruit more valuable individuals to our cause. Messing with the adapter community is not an endeavor to be taken lightly."

After hearing what Cowboy had to say, Adam nodded in response, then revealed everything he knew to Cowboy.

……

"I see, so it has something to do with Golden Teeth Incorporated, and Golden Teeth Incorporated is a part of their media conglomerate. This is a very valuable piece of information that directly impacts the interests of adapters and encroaches upon the laws established by Mechguard. With this, we'll have some leverage against those high-up figures who have already used blank slates, but if we want to truly grab the bull by the horns, then further investigation will be required."

Cowboy tapped the table before continuing, "You want safety and to uncover the truth, while I want to seize control over the media. Our objectives are aligned. I can supply you with the funds required to support your investigation, and in exchange, you give me all of the information that you uncover. Deal?"

"That sounds very fair," Adam replied with a nod. "If anything, the deal is skewed in my favor. I have one final question: if you're already so rich, why are you still taking hitman missions?"

"I only accept missions that seem very counterintuitive. Abnormal events always hint at abnormal circumstances, and those circumstances are sources of information. I don't need the money. In contrast, I'm much more interested in gathering useful information."

"I see."

The conversation between the two drew to a conclusion here.

Shortly thereafter, Cowboy took a call and departed to take care of some work. Prior to his departure, he made many arrangements, including contacting that so-called master among invocator-class adapters and paying Adam's tuition fees.

In light of the safety concerns surrounding Adam, he decided to remain in the company building. The security level here was very high, so even if there were other hitmen coming after Adam, it would've been very difficult for them to make a move here.

Adam stayed up the entire night in the company building, using the computer to extensively study personas. Following his night of intensive study, he came to understand that the brain's memory bank was extremely enormous, so much so that it could fit 50,000 massive libraries. Even if the most advanced hard drive storage technology were to be used, such an enormous amount of memory would've still placed great strain on the system.

Despite how massive one's memory bank was, the things that one could remember clearly were very limited. The brain would store trivial pieces of information such as the color of the flowers that one saw as a child while passing by a garden, but one wouldn't be able to recall that information. The brain would capture how lustrous the feathers of a bird that one saw flying overhead back when they were a middle school student were, but once again, no clear recollection of that would be possible.

The brain would help one blur this information, molding it into a part of one's mood and personality. These seemingly useless and trivial memories formed the majority of the foundation for one's personality.

Furthermore, this was only the memory area of the brain. The areas in the brain that were responsible for creativity and emotions also played roles in forming one's personality.

If all of that were to be discarded with only the memories retained, artificial intelligence could be used to simulate someone's personality, thereby creating a "person", and that was not much more difficult than creating a character in a novel.

So this is what's been happening in the Metaverse...

After gathering all of this information, Adam closed his eyes to take a short rest.

He came to the realization that the memory crisis was the fundamental reason behind why these tech giants were deceiving the entire world.

……

The next morning, he departed from the company building and immediately made his way to the invocating master's residence.

Just as he had said to Cowboy, his top priority at the moment was his own safety. Unless the giant reward on his head was dropped or he developed his powers to a point where he would be able to fend for himself, he had to proceed with the utmost caution at all times.

With such a powerful adapter living here, this place should be safe.

By the time Adam arrived at the master's residence with the address that had been provided to him, dawn was only just beginning to break. This was a strange estate that looked as if it had been renovated from some type of sports ground, and it sprawled over a massive area with a glass roof overhead.

Upon arriving, Adam pressed the doorbell, following which two lines of beautiful women wearing maid uniforms emerged from inside. After verifying Adam's identity, a female housekeeper led him into the estate.

All types of plants were growing in the courtyard, and they were complemented by elegant pavilions and terraces, as well as small bridges arching over flowing water. It was a very tastefully designed courtyard.

"Master is still sleeping, so please wait here for now. If you need anything, feel free to call me at any time." The housekeeper invited Adam to take a seat in a pavilion, then instructed the maids to carry various types of fruits and snacks to him.

What came next was a long wait.

Adam wasn't planning to eat any of the snacks that had been offered to him, but he was forced to wait from 6 AM all the way to 2 PM, a wait that spanned a total of eight hours. During that time, his hunger and thirst got the better of him, and he dug in for a meal.

Only after 2 PM had passed and Adam's patience had long run out did an elderly figure emerge in a leisurely fashion.

"Oh, that was a fantastic night of sleep." The old man was as short and thin as a monkey, yet he was wearing an extremely huge and baggy nightgown. An image of the eight trigrams was embroidered on the back of the nightgown, and its tail was trailing all the way down onto the ground. "So ya came. What was your name again? Aiden?"

"Adam."

"Ah, Adam, that's right." The old man yawned as he made his way into the pavilion, then began munching on the nuts on the platter. "Someone already paid a week's worth of tuition fees for you. What do you want to learn?"

"I want to learn life-saving skills that will allow me to keep myself safe," Adam replied. This was what he needed most desperately right now. "If possible, I also want to learn how to control invoked entities."

"Alright, let's talk about life-saving skills first."

The old man bit down onto a walnut, and with the audible crack produced by the breaking shell of the walnut, Adam noticed a change in the surrounding scenery, and he discovered that he was already in the psychic world.

"If you want to keep yourself safe, then first, you have to be sensitive." The old man was still chewing on the walnut inside the psychic world. "Regardless of whether someone else is invading your psychic world or if they've dragged you into their psychic world, you have to be able to detect the change immediately, so sensitivity is the first key to self-preservation. Tell me, do you know when you were dragged into the psychic world?"

"When you bit into that walnut."

"No, I already did it back when I was talking about the fantastic night of sleep I had. If you can't even get that right, then a true master in illusions will be able to easily trap you in an eternal dream that you'll never be able to escape from," the old man sighed. "Honestly, this is the first time I've taken on such a weak student. If Cowboy hadn't given me so much money to cover your tuition fees, I would kick you out the door right now!"

Adam had no rebuttal for the old man's harsh criticism. He had already guessed that all those who were able to find this place and afford the hefty tuition fees had to have at least been quite accomplished in the field of invocators, if not masters themselves.

However, he hadn't even graduated from Layton Academy, so he didn't really even qualify as a novice. It was a little like sending a primary school student straight to a PhD supervisor, so it was no wonder that he was being looked down on.

"All hitmen who specialize in psychic assassination will employ deceptive techniques as they carry out the assassination, even if those techniques aren't very potent. They won't allow you to immediately realize that you've been dragged into the psychic world. After that, they'll conceal themselves, and only then will they have the best chances of succeeding in their assassination. The first lesson that you have to learn is to maintain sensitivity and alertness at all times, and also to be able to discern auras.

“In the real world, all things have their own auras, regardless of whether that be cars, trees, the streets, women, streetlights, insects... Those auras consist of countless different facets, such as the traces left behind by the wind blowing over those objects, the smells that they give off, and the degree to which they refract light. What you have to remember is that there will always be discrepancies in the auras of things in the psychic world compared with the real world, so the first thing that you have to learn is to discern auras.

“Only after you master this skill will I teach you other things. If you can't do it within a week, then leave of your own accord. There's no point for you to continue here. No matter how powerful invocator-class adapter is, if they can't discern auras, then they're constantly susceptible to being assassinated by even the weakest of hitmen."