Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

Chapter 34: Chapter 33 Do Everything Possible Chapter 34: Chapter 33 Do Everything Possible Zhang Zhiyuan abruptly removed his VR headset, finding everything he was familiar with returning to his view—the cold light of the ceiling, the small room with soundproof panels, the disordered office desk, and the concerned looks from several colleagues.

“Hey, are you okay?” Cui Zhen’en handed over a towel, “Wipe yourself down, you’re drenched in sweat.”

It was only then that Zhang Zhiyuan noticed several patches on his arm and a medical device beside him emitting a steady humming sound.

“… You were measuring my heartbeat and blood pressure?”

“We had no choice, you looked like you were in a lot of pain,” another colleague answered.

Zhang Zhiyuan recognized her as Ning Jing, the medic from the medical room. Agencies always kept a medic on hand for emergencies, though most of the time it was superfluous. He was seeing her in the office for the first time.

“I mean, playing a VR game shouldn’t warrant such an exaggerated reaction, right?” Cui Zhen’en said with a puzzled face, “Your whole body was trembling, and you were huffing and puffing—anyone who didn’t know better would’ve thought you were suffering from some illness. If it weren’t for the mission you were on, and if all your vitals weren’t normal, I would’ve wanted to take off the goggles and see for myself… Really, for a game to do this to you, it’d be the joke of the day if word got out.”

“Was it really just a game?” Ning Jing removed the patches and started packing up the equipment, “You came to the medical room looking so worried.”

“I… No!” Cui Zhen’en quickly retorted, “It was mainly his reaction that scared me!”

Right… The Paradise game…

Zhang Zhiyuan held his head as a flood of memories surged into his mind, causing him to feel dizzy and disoriented! An unknown harbor city, the completely different residents, the burning theater, and the North City Police Station… His last memories were of a disguised corpse and a huge fist coming straight at him; after that, there was the resounding silence of pitch blackness, as if it were all a terrible nightmare, and he had just woken up from the dream.

“How long was I in there?”

“Are you asking about the time after you put on the VR?” Cui Zhen’en looked up at the clock, “Less than twenty minutes, I’d say. Officer Zhang, what exactly did you see in the Paradise game? Can you hurry up and tell me?”

Only twenty minutes?

The new memories he had gained were clearly not limited to such a brief span!

“I saw a…” Zhang Zhiyuan began but suddenly closed his mouth. After exchanging a look with Cui Zhen’en, he changed his request, “Where is Director Gao? I need to see him immediately!”

“Director Gao is in a meeting outside; it will probably be another hour before he can come back,” Cui Zhen’en frowned, “What’s the matter, you can’t tell us?”

“Xiao Zhang, you didn’t discover some important information and want to take all the credit for yourself, did you?” a colleague joked from the surroundings.

“Hahaha… How could that be!” Zhang Zhiyuan grinned, “It’s just that Director Gao assigned me a special task while I was investigating Paradise, I need to report to him first.”

After finishing, he stood up and donned his uniform, “Where is the boss having his meeting?”

…

“It seems you didn’t invite me over for dinner, did you?” Gao Wei walked into the room, casually hanging his coat on the rack, “Come on, what’s the matter that you had to drag me to your house to talk about it?”

Zhang Zhiyuan shuffled the clutter on the sofa aside to make space for his boss to sit down, “Sorry for the mess, please make do.”

“That’s fine, I’ve been in the jungle on the frontier; just speak your mind.” Gao Wei gestured for him to stop fussing.

Zhang Zhiyuan also knew that he could only invite his superior to come here because he was highly regarded by his boss. But his leader’s trust wasn’t infinite, and he needed to get to the main topic quickly. “Director Gao, my home is a relatively secure place with excellent sound insulation; the neighbors won’t hear anything… after much consideration, this seems to be the only suitable place to make the report.”

“Report?” For a moment, Gao Wei was somewhat confused, “Is this related to Paradise and Wayne James? Can’t we do it in our office building?”

“It’s not quite… appropriate.”

Gao Wei gazed at Zhang Zhiyuan for a long while, and the latter’s eyes were filled with determination.

“Then speak, I’m listening,” he said, sitting down on the couch.

“Yes,” Zhang Zhiyuan saluted and began to recount his entire experience with the Paradise game in detail. His narration wasn’t slow, but it still took nearly half an hour. During this, Gao Wei hardly interrupted him, but the skepticism in his eyes became increasingly apparent.

“I know all of this is hard to believe, even I, who have seen it with my own eyes, feel like it’s a dream,” Zhang Zhiyuan clenched his fists, “but I swear on my party loyalty that every word I said is the truth, with no fabrication or fictitious details whatsoever!”

Gao Wei massaged his forehead, showing a hint of helplessness, “You mean to say, Magnificent Castle isn’t just a city in the game, but exists in reality? And Paradise controls the secret passage to it? Through a pair of VR glasses?”

Zhang Zhiyuan felt a slight sinking feeling in his heart; he knew his superior didn’t fully believe him.

But this was also within his expectations.

He knew it was not something easy to believe.

Director Gao didn’t storm out or dismiss him outright, which was already more open-minded than expected. If it were another leader, Zhang Zhiyuan suspected that he would have been kicked out of the police force the moment he finished speaking.

However, precisely because the matter was difficult, he had to try his utmost.

“Of course, there’s also the possibility that Paradise has mastered an extremely advanced virtual reality technology capable of fully simulating a real city, its residents, and the environment,” Zhang Zhiyuan continued, “Both explanations are equally incredible, but I am more inclined to believe the former.”

“Why?” Gao Wei pondered, “If you talk about full simulation, technically it is indeed challenging, but at least in theory, it’s possible, right? Like that popular TV show recently, isn’t it about someone who acquired alien technology and created miracles?”

“Indeed, but I have my reasons. It’s just that there’s not enough time now, and I haven’t fully organized them…”

“That’s all right, just speak as you think of them.”

“The biggest issue… I think is the question of benefit,” Zhang Zhiyuan took a deep breath, “If Paradise really had this technology, using it for a game would be almost the lowest-return option! Yes, it’s currently targeted at the wealthy, and the entry fee is not low, but Director Gao, do you think an organization with this technology would be lacking money?”

To project consciousness into an invented world is, in a sense, immortality! Compared to the allure of immortality, what does a mere game count for? If I were Paradise, I wouldn’t virtualize a steam civilization world at all; wouldn’t it be better to directly simulate reality? Even without offering immortality, simply renting out a conference room, or a laboratory, could create dozens of times more time out of thin air due to time differences, which would be enough to drive businesses and researchers crazy!

Unless… Paradise can’t change it!

“That’s a point,” Gao Wei mused thoughtfully, “Anything else?”

“Yes, but this is just my personal feeling,” Zhang Zhiyuan paused, “If Paradise could freely create worlds, then they should be the game’s rulers. But I feel… it’s not like that. Paradise approached us because it needs us.”

“Needs… us?” Gao Wei was taken aback.

“Yes,” Zhang Zhiyuan met his superior’s gaze, “Paradise’s infiltration of Interpol’s network wasn’t a provocation, but a deliberate invitation. It knew we were investigating Wayne James and that we would definitely take the bait!”