Gurgle—gurgle, gurgle…

A sound of liquid surging suddenly rang in Feng Bujue's ears.

In the same second, he realized something—his eyes were closed.

The scenery before him had all disappeared, turning into a pitch-black void.

The surrounding damp, cold mist seemed to have thickened dozens of times in an instant, tightly enveloping him.

"What's going on?" Feng Bujue wondered in his heart, "Did I fall victim to some kind of mental attack… Why do I feel like my body, including my lungs… is filled with liquid? And… there's no discomfort…"

Beep—beep—

Just then, he heard two more beeps.

Next came a voice very similar to the system's voice: [Warning, test subject 8775 is waking up… Warning, test subject 8775 is waking up…]

"Hey! Who's in charge of that pod!"

"It's Anton, sir. He's gone to lunch, sir."

"Then hurry and move your ass over there and do his job for him!"

"Yes, sir!"

This muffled conversation, coming from who knows where, rang out a few seconds later.

"Who is it?" Feng Bujue wanted to ask, but he quickly realized that he couldn't open his mouth, and could only think in his heart, "What kind of development is this… Where am I?"

He wanted to open his eyes, but he felt his eyelids were as heavy as Mount Tai, and even this simple thought made his head ache unbearably…

"My whole body is extremely weak, all my senses have been reduced to almost a vegetative state, and the game menu can't be opened either…" Feng Bujue didn't panic, and quickly and calmly analyzed the situation, "In any case… just like that woman's voice said… I have to open my eyes as soon as possible. This is a great opportunity for me to figure out the setting of this scenario."

[Solution concentration is increasing, preparing for emergency pulse, countdown five seconds, five, four, three…] The emotionless voice rang out again. Although Jue-ge didn't fully understand what the other party was saying, he knew… that this was probably bad news for him.

[Two, one…]

Right at that last second, at the critical moment, Feng Bujue relied on his amazing willpower and endured the indescribable, severe headache… and opened his eyes.

However, his vision only recovered for about a second.

A second later, a stabbing pain that exceeded the limit of what the human brain could bear struck, causing his body to convulse violently… and then, he fell into a state of complete sensory deprivation.

But… Jue-ge was no ordinary person. In that short second, he withstood the sour feeling of the liquid soaking his retinas, and successfully "saw" something…

Through a transparent, light-green liquid, and two layers of glass (or at least what looked like glass material), he saw a person.

To be precise, an adult man in a light-colored, one-piece bodysuit, floating in the liquid.

Moreover, Feng Bujue had seen that man's face once before—the felt hat man.

…

"Ha… huff…"

It seemed like only an instant, or perhaps a long time.

In any case, when Feng Bujue regained control of his body, the first thing he did was take a deep breath.

Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and found himself leaning against the glass door of that store, sitting on the ground.

The surroundings were still filled with misty scenes, and the "ethereal female voice" and the rolling sound of bicycle chains… had all disappeared.

And beside him… a blank sheet of paper had appeared out of nowhere.

"Hmm… it seems I've 'returned', and inexplicably obtained a key item…" Feng Bujue glanced at the game menu. His Survival Value and Stamina Value hadn't changed, and he hadn't gained any debuffs, "What I just saw shouldn't have been an illusion, nor did it seem like a memory fragment; there's a very high probability… that it was a real event that just happened." He dusted off his clothes, picked up the white paper, and stood up, "In other words… this town I'm in right now, or rather… 'this world'… may not be real."

This hypothesis changed Feng Bujue's thinking. All his experiences and inferences since entering the scenario needed to be re-examined on this basis.

"Things are getting more and more complicated…" Although he was thinking, Jue-ge's actions didn't slow down. No matter what changes occurred before him, one basic principle remained unchanged—follow the quest, and you can't go wrong.

So, while Feng Bujue was savoring that scene just now, he had already gotten back on his bicycle and continued on his way.

"Now the question is… am I playing 'Dave', or the so-called 'test subject 8775'? Is Dave the name of 8775, or a 'role' played by 8775?" Jue-ge wondered, "And what kind of existence is that 'felt hat man'? Is he just a projection that appeared unconsciously in my brain, or a crucial clue?"

Feng Bujue struggled in the vortex of thoughts, searching for all possible answers.

The "clone" theory about the homeowners was no longer important. If this was really just a world existing on the level of consciousness, the appearance of those people would be meaningless… Even if they all looked like dogs, it would be perfectly reasonable.

He organized his thoughts while riding, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the town's north cemetery.

This was a seemingly ordinary cemetery… On a wide expanse of green grass, there were rows and rows of stone tombstones, each with a slightly raised mound of dirt in front of it.

"Hmm… where is that abandoned mailbox…" Feng Bujue pedaled his bicycle along the path between the graves, looking for the mailbox that could connect him with the ghost mailman.

Before long, he saw one on the western edge of the cemetery.

It was a dark green, cylindrical mailbox, with a slot for delivering letters at the top, and the words "Otaku Town Post Office" printed on the body.

Feng Bujue parked his bicycle, went around to the back of the mailbox, and looked at the collection opening, finding that it was fastened with a small ring lock.

"It doesn't look too hard to break…" He looked at the lock, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided not to use brute force to open it, "However… judging from the overall atmosphere of this scenario, I'd better not use this violent cracking method."

He went back to the front of the mailbox, took out the blank sheet of paper and the ballpoint pen that Dave came with, spread the paper on the top of the mailbox, and began to write…

[Dear Ghost Mailman, hello.]

Considering that he only had one sheet of paper and couldn't make any corrections, Jue-ge wrote very carefully, weighing every sentence before writing it down.

[My name is Dave, and I'm a temporary mailman at the Otaku Town Post Office.]

[I think you still remember me… because we've met more than once today, and you even "shocked" me once.]

[Of course, I have no objections to this… you did the right thing. I'm new here and don't know the rules (laughs).]

[Getting back to the point, I'm writing to you this time mainly to ask you a few questions.]

[First, can you tell me… the command codes for the eleven homeowners at 7 Third Street, 10 Fourth Street, 3 Fifth Street, 9 Sixth Street, 7 Seventh Street, 1 Eighth Street, 3 Ninth Street, 9 Tenth Street, 7 Eleventh Street, 1 Twelfth Street, and 3 Thirteenth Street?]

[Second, I want to confirm with you, are you really working in this town voluntarily?]

[Third, what kind of information is implied in the newspaper you gave me earlier?]

[Fourth, please tell me… why are all the shops in this town closed? Why can Chief Nelson kill people at will? And… how can I 'gain your approval' and become the official mailman of Otaku Town?]

[If it's convenient, please answer my questions as soon as possible, I'd be very grateful.]

[Sincerely, Dave.]

After writing this letter with what he thought was very neat handwriting, Feng Bujue read it through again, and after confirming that there were no problems with the content, he folded the letter and stuffed it into the mailbox…