Chapter Twenty: The Virtual Realm and the Treaty of Non-Interference Between Reality and Illusion

"Made it out safely."

Chen Nian opened his eyes.

Before him was the familiar interface of the Metaverse.

The time displayed on the Metaverse interface was precisely six o'clock in the morning, July 24th.

Additionally, that last entrance now had a new countdown.

“???
Countdown to activation: 47:59:55”

...

“So it's six in the morning on the twenty-fourth now.” Chen Nian mused to himself.

He remembered clearly that he had entered at three o'clock in the morning on the twenty-fourth.

If it was now six in the morning, then he had only been inside for three hours.

Which meant that for every hour that passed outside, a day passed within the alien Metaverse.

He silently memorized this ratio of time, then set the matter aside—he had more important things to attend to.

...

"Hey, are you there?" Chen Nian asked in his mind.

No one responded.

"Looks like that idiot isn’t here."

He muttered to himself again, still no reply.

"This time he really must be gone," Chen Nian concluded.

Though they had only been together for three days, he understood his other self well.

Besides social anxiety, the other him was somewhat childish.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said things like “if we join forces, nothing can defeat us,” nor would he sulk over Chen Nian's threats.

And this was all because of that one sentence:

"All these years, you’ve mostly been the one in control of the body. I’ve hardly ever spoken to outsiders.
I don’t like talking to people—that’s perfectly normal, isn’t it?"

Having little to no interaction with others, he remained immature.

For someone like that, a single insult would always elicit some reaction.

Now there was none, which meant he was truly absent.

"I’ll have to investigate thoroughly later," Chen Nian thought to himself.

He had to understand, within the next two days, how exactly his other self had come to be.

...

"Welcome back, everyone."

Just then, Ye Guangyu’s voice came from the Metaverse pod.

"I know things were tough for you in there. I’ve arranged a place for you all to rest. Get some proper sleep first. Once you’re rested, we’ll discuss the alien Metaverse."

Chen Nian breathed out quietly.

To be honest, he was exhausted.

Especially in those last twelve hours, when he was almost constantly on the move.

...

Half an hour later.

Inside Ye Guangyu’s office.

Wang Yinlong was furiously smoking.

Though only three hours had passed in reality, his body insisted he hadn’t had a cigarette in three days.

"That’s the situation. It’s relatively safe in there," Wang Yinlong said, tossing his cigarette butt into the nearby trash and lighting another.

Ye Guangyu frowned slightly, then pressed a button on his desk.

A projection full of text appeared in front of Wang Yinlong.

"This is information our intelligence department just gathered from abroad about the alien Metaverse. Take a look.
By the way, the international community has settled on a unified term for the alien Metaverse: ‘the Unreal World.’"

Wang Yinlong looked up and began reading each point.

"1. In reality, entering the Unreal World from different places results in different character spawn points.
Known entry points include all kinds of terrain—forests, snow mountains, mountain ranges, grasslands, islands, hills, and so on...
Of course, many of these terrains are named according to our own understanding, but whether those names are truly accurate is uncertain.
For example, one team discovered a mountain range, but its main substance wasn’t stone, but some unknown material. We simply call it a mountain range.

2. Dying in the Unreal World causes death in reality.
This isn’t due to a single factor, but a combination of two.
One is the Unreal World’s intense realism, which deceives the brain.
The other is consciousness upload—it seems only half the consciousness is uploaded, while the other half remains in the body.
So, whether in reality or in the Unreal World, death on either side means death overall.
Injuries within the Unreal World have minor effects in reality—mostly stress responses, such as instinctively dodging when someone touches the injured area.

3. So far, no nation has encountered aliens in the Unreal World, but many strange species have been found.

4. Daytime in the Unreal World lasts twenty-four hours, and night is likewise twenty-four hours.
There is no time difference—when night falls, the entire Unreal World is plunged into darkness. There’s no situation where one area is day and another is night.

5. Most integer coordinates in the Unreal World have teleportation arrays. Teleportation is unrestricted, and items can be transferred. Typically, you move in a set direction to the next integer coordinate.
To teleport, stand on the array for five seconds.
As for why ‘most’—a team found a region where teleportation was impossible.
The nature of that area is still unclear.

6. Characters in the Unreal World are exactly the same as their real-world counterparts.
Among more than ten million samples, not a single case of change after entering the alien Metaverse has been reported.

7. The Unreal World appears to have no population limit.
In theory, every person on Earth could enter simultaneously.

..."

"How many people did other countries send in this time?" Wang Yinlong asked casually after reading.

"More than ten million," Ye Guangyu replied.

Wang Yinlong nearly dropped his cigarette at the answer.

"They must be insane! How many died?"

"According to our intelligence, the mortality rate is around one percent."

"That’s still over a hundred thousand. This is only the first wave—what happens next?"

"Yes, many countries are busy collecting the bodies of those people."

Ye Guangyu paused, then spoke with gravity: "According to several experts… when the alien Metaverse opens again, an estimated one hundred million people worldwide will enter."

"One hundred million?"

"Mhm… A new Age of Exploration is beginning.
Many nations, many forces are preparing to stake their claim in there."

Wang Yinlong threw away his cigarette and asked, "What about us? The Space Corps only has a few hundred thousand people.
If we could bring gear inside, a hundred million wouldn’t be a problem. But you know, we’re still in the Stone Age in there. Damn, it took ages just to kill a bigger monster.
Should we… coordinate with the other three branches and get more manpower?"

Ye Guangyu shook his head, unusually stern.

"No. If all our forces go in, what happens if someone attacks us in reality?
The higher-ups have made it clear—the Unreal World is entirely the responsibility of the Space Corps.
There’s only one way forward: expand the Space Corps.
When you transmitted the message to the outside, we issued a nationwide recruitment order.
But maybe because it’s late at night… there haven’t been many responses yet."

Wang Yinlong’s brow furrowed deeply.

He knew well—even if the response was huge… compared to a hundred million, it’d never be enough, unless they lifted restrictions and let everyone enter freely.

But if they really did that, the whole country would descend into chaos.

Sensing Wang Yinlong’s concern, Ye Guangyu offered reassurance: "Let’s wait and see. At ten o’clock this morning, all nations will jointly sign a Treaty of Non-Interference Between Reality and the Unreal World.
Meaning, whatever happens in the Unreal World—no matter how many die—it won’t affect the real world.
Our diplomats will make their final efforts to see if a peaceful resolution is possible…"

At this point, Ye Guangyu’s words faltered.

With everyone ready to sign the Treaty of Non-Interference, it was clear they intended to go all out—would any effort really make a difference now?

"No matter what, we have to try, don’t you think?"

Ye Guangyu forced a smile.

Wang Yinlong’s eyelid twitched slightly, then he reluctantly nodded.

"Alright, let’s wait until the negotiations are over before deciding."

"Yinlong, you’ve worked hard. If there’s nothing else, go get some rest."

Ye Guangyu gently patted Wang Yinlong’s shoulder.

Wang Yinlong was about to turn and leave when he remembered something.

"Actually, there’s one thing I need to mention.
During this operation, that Metaverse player named Chen Nian performed exceptionally well. Without him, we couldn’t have established our base so quickly.
He’s truly talented—I want to submit him for a First-Class Merit award."