As a co-author of a paper in the main journal of "Science," Ren Zhong never believed in ghosts or deities. He habitually tried to use science to resolve all of his doubts.
Now, other than the suspected Poincaré recurrence, he couldn't find a better explanation.
Realizing this should have been a good thing, but the process of understanding the truth was simply too painful and despairing.
Now, he had figured out the pattern of the Flying Devices. Outside this forest spanning several tens of square kilometers, there were four Flying Devices, numbered 11896 to 11899, patrolling along a circular path at a fixed rate.
When his direct distance to a Flying Device was within five hundred meters, it would detect him. Regardless of whether its view was obstructed, he would be discovered, as the Flying Device appeared to have a sort of life detection system.
Now, he could easily avoid the Flying Device sweeps by keeping his distance, breaking out of the encirclement from any direction.
He had succeeded more than ten times.
But the sad part was that no matter which direction he broke through, he would encounter some strange entities before reaching humans.
There were giant flying insects with a three-meter wingspan and metallic sheen that would pounce on him at the sight of him, effortlessly tearing apart the stick he picked up for self-defense and knocking him down, then with a grinder-like mouthpart...
There was also a fist-sized, seemingly cute little creature that hopped around like an innocent bunny. Yet, when this thing stirred up dust on the ground in a flying rush, it used its pointed ears to easily smash the stones Ren Zhong hurled at it, then gave him a chill to the bone. Before dying, Ren Zhong also noticed that the fur of this white rabbit was not real fur, but rather, a metal shell as if coated with anti-rust paint.
There were also metallic fish lurking in puddles with voltages reaching millions of volts, which turned him into charred debris the moment he stepped in.
There was also an Iron Armor Giant Beast, standing like a small mountain, swallowing children whole.
These things weren't as straightforward as the Flying Devices, and their process of killing him was slightly slower, at least allowing him to struggle a bit like a dying grasshopper, but that's all he managed.
The process was more painful and horrifying than dying at the hands of the Flying Devices.
Ren Zhong felt that no matter how hard he tried, he'd eventually face inevitable death.
This world was like a colossal, terrifying ship magnified countless times, an infinite nightmare raised to infinite power.
He was on the brink of collapse.
Just before, he even attempted suicide in a desperate attempt to find relief.
But he still awoke from the Frozen Storage.
He thought, maybe he just shouldn't leave the forest.
He truly tried that too.
However, five days later, he collapsed in the shade by the creek.
This time he died from cancer.
There was no cure, just waiting for death.
Ren Zhong wrapped his arms around his legs, curling up next to the Frozen Storage like a walking corpse.
His mind was muddled, various gruesome scenarios of death uncontrollably playing in his mind.
His ears buzzed, and his body occasionally shivered involuntarily as his spirit was consumed by fear.
He even began to subconsciously resent his parents.
Why did they freeze me? Why did they throw me into this nightmare devoid of any visible hope? Wouldn't it have been better if I had just died? What did I do wrong to deserve such punishment?
At this moment, Ren Zhong was faced with two choices: either succumb to fear and reality, completely losing his sanity, and face endless torment in possibly endless cycles of death nightmares.
Or sever all distractions, endure all pains, stand up again, and carve out hope for escape with a thousand, ten thousand, or even infinite deaths.
These two thoughts constantly tore at his brain, causing him to let out subconscious groans of pain.
Faintly, his parents' farewell words echoed in his ears again.
"Since it cannot be changed, it can only be endured."
"But you must live well."
"One must look forward."
Ren Zhong abruptly snapped back to consciousness.
In the instant his mind was about to sink into the Abyss, it was still his parents' farewell words that pulled him back.
He gradually recalled that his parents were originally ordinary people living day-to-day, not seeking wealth or fame, being kind to others, and never bothering to hustle, with their proudest accomplishment being raising him, their extraordinary son.
This son, however, died young, and his parents could only face the tragedy of sending a black-haired person away.
When his parents sold their house and everything, they still needed to earn half a million a year to extend their son's life. In their hearts, they must have been despairing too.
Approaching their fifties, when they gave up their old life and took debt to do business, they perhaps didn't know what would come next, but they had no choice but to try once more with the mindset of "if this fails, we perish."
They ultimately succeeded.
Although they downplayed it in their farewell words, Ren Zhong could imagine how the tireless and dedicated effort of his parents looked under such circumstances.
Indeed, my hundreds of deaths were excruciating, but each time the pain only lasted a few seconds at most.
My parents, however, faced the terror of watching me die if their business failed, persevered with all their might in a field not to their liking for a full forty-five years.
Living like that wasn't easier than dying.
"Even though I'm in a terrible situation, this is the new life my parents worked their entire life to give me; how can I easily give up?"
Ren Zhong took a deep breath, anger and unwillingness gradually sparking in his pupils.
He once again forced himself to calm down and analyzed the situation bit by bit.
"I can continuously be resurrected, continuously reset, that's my advantage. I have 'prophetic foresight.' This is my S/L technique, ensuring an undefeatable position. There's definitely hope for escape!"
"After killing me, the Flying Devices cut off my brain, but when encountering those aggressive beasts, they remain unmoved. After killing me, the beasts devour me whole, not even sparing my bones."
"There must be some profound meaning behind this. With Arabic numerals, there must be other humans in this world!"
"This is a good thing, even a sign of hope."
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