Chương 196: The Great Success–Or Why I Am A Genius

Whilst awaiting golden wires or a new job, I tried my hand at upgrading the curses I had already created. The curses I had available had potential, but their inferior quality held them back tremendously. They were filled with stringent restrictions that made some of them basically useless, and the rest pretty much not worth the hassle of even applying them, as it was simply more logical to simply… Beat the target to death immediately.

Some of them could definitely be useful against stronger opponents, like the 'Minor Curse Of Endurance Loss', 'Minor Curse Of Fragility', or 'Inferior Ailment Curse Of Hunger'. These three could definitely help, but as far as I was able to test them, their prefixes were accurate. They really didn't have much of an effect at all, and against stronger adversaries who would be more resistant to everything in general, they might not even have an effect at all.

Nonetheless, my tests ended up resulting in a slight improvement to the 'Minor Hide-Behind Curse'. This curse had a lot of potential since it could hide another curse, but at the moment, it couldn't hide itself, and only lasted a single day. To upgrade it from 'minor' to 'lesser', I merely added tomato sauce to the dish that created this curse in the first place–Which was Spaghetti and meatballs. Though the only improvement was that it went from twenty-four hours to a week.

Which was definitely good, but not really the thing I wanted to improve upon the most at the moment. I wanted to be able to put curses on people and have even experienced curse slingers being incapable of noticing a thing. I wanted my curses to be completely invisible… In this manner, I would be able to use 'Remember Me?' with greater efficiency, as if it couldn't be detected as a curse, then how could anyone get rid of it?

Certainly, there would always be a way, or people good enough to see right through the concealment, but it would definitely be of great assistance nonetheless… Apart from cooking inside the mindscape, I've also been spending a whole lot of time inside what I decided to dub the Dreamscape. Which was where I could create pre-final trials, and where I had access to the mechanical genius I was meant to always possess…

I could see that it was intended to be an integral part of me, judging by how obsessed and focused I could get when working with machines inside the Dreamscape. I had created several alternate versions of Glown's Wonderland. I had figured out how to really design these trials, and it could get awfully precise. Some ideas were scrapped due to being deemed too easy. I wanted the pre-final trials to be complicated even at their simplest difficulties.

As such, most of the new variants of Glown's Wonderland were variations that either simply involved a switch-up of how my clown gals attacked, or additions onto the base to make it more difficult. For example, I had found out that I could decide how long the trial would last. The base version–The one I had created within the A. R. DL– Lasted the same amount of hours as the usual nightshift… Which meant that a victim would have to fight off the clown girls for seven hours and thirty minutes.

Which was already a long time, especially in the context of a nightmare trial where a mistake could result in your death. A simple variant was just to make it so a minute was actually a bit longer than sixty seconds, extending the length of the trial by a bunch. Of course, caught in my obsession with using these skills and knowledge that I could not access anywhere else but here. I found myself thinking about designing additional automatons…

Not just extra clown girls to add to the gang, but new groups altogether, in the view of creating completely new environments for the pre-final trial. I might have gotten a little bit too into this, actually… As I found myself using the skill and talent I had available here to design things that I definitely didn't intend on using inside of the nightmare trial, but the call of creation was strong within me, and perhaps it was the right thing to do.

This was a gift that I was meant to have, so using it only seemed appropriate. I feel that some of the variants you created are far too difficult for a trial taker. In the sense that I don't think anyone will be deemed good enough to actually be made to face them You never know, and besides, I am treating it more as a way for me to experiment more than anything… Look at this, I made designs for three more clown girls, and I even have a logical reason for them to exist!

I am not certain I get the need to create a logical narrative within self-contained nightmare trials It's a matter of flair and style, Nara. I want them to forget that this is a nightmare trial. I don't just want them to fear for their lives because the nightmare can kill them–I want them to be afraid like they were genuinely teleported to an alternate space and are physically present within the building! After all, I don't actually restrict them to staying in the office.

They'll die for sure if they move, but they can technically roam around as much as they want–Oh, this just gave me an idea… What if I designed different variants of Glown's Wonderland, where the victim has to fend off the clown girls from various areas of the building, and then create another one where the trial taker can move between each of these locations as the trial progresses? Ohoho… I think that's a nice idea! It does sound like a nice idea…

Ah, I think Leou is knocking at your door, Big Sis I left the Dreamscape, and my metal body regained life. I had been sitting on the edge of my bed as if I was just thinking deeply, as I wasn't willing to show anyone that I sometimes seemed to 'power down'. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Co–o–me in""Hello, Maya! I just wanted to tell you that I've got most of the things you wanted prepared… Due to some of the installations, I had to put them down into the basement, so I hope you don't mind going up and down the stairs of the tower""No pro–problem" I made an OK-sign with my hand of steel, and after exchanging a few more words with my fluffy friend, I went down to find that Leou had really not held back. She really wanted to make sure that I would want to stick around, huh?

A wide portion of the basement area of the building had been basically reserved for me alone. Featuring contraptions that would allow me to train my resistance upgrades and such, but also the computer I had asked for. According to Leou, this was actually what had taken the most time due to how difficult it was to find anyone with any amount of knowledge in the subject. Of course, it was far less advanced than any other computers I had gotten the occasion to interact with, but that was fine.

I only wanted one because it seemed like the 'Ghost In The Machine' form had something to do with computers. My focus was on the pile of golden wires in the corner of the room. It was accompanied by a cold room filled with flesh and a pile of various kinds of steel, but testing my idea was my priority at the moment. I had done tests inside the Dreamscape, even though the knowledge and skill did not translate over, just to get a better idea of how to do it…

I took off my fancy clothes, exposing my steel body covered in patches of flesh, mechanical eyes, and wires. I didn't really notice it myself, but my body was actually quite messy overall with all the stuff that naturally grew from my steel bones. I pulled out some of the copper and silver wires and took hold of golden wires. As per usual, I had the moral support of my little sisters.

It was all they could do, apart from Elowen, who could actually physically interact with stuff freely, but I wasn't going to be needing my tomboyish sister's assistance. I carefully placed the golden wires inside the gaps left behind by the removed wires. Getting that right took a little while, but as time passed, I was slowly able to put them in there without the new wires falling out… The more I progressed, the more I removed the copper and silver wires, but at one point–I stopped. Mmh… This needs something more.

Replacing wires was nice and all, but sticking something into my bones did not make them an inherent part of me like the other two wires were at this point. No matter what, copper and silver wires would always grow back. If I activated 'Repair Protocol' right now, they would all regrow without fail, but not the golden wires. I needed to 'accept' them as a part of me. I needed to ensure that these wires would become like the other two. Simply willing it was stupid.

I needed to try using them, like I could control the other wires. First, I channelled lightning currents from the 'Faraday Box' through the golden wires. Obviously, since they were directly linked to me, it worked, and as I did so… I could have sworn that something else happened. They lightly twitched in a way that was far from natural, so I channelled more lightning currents.

It seemed as though having the artificially added wires interact with a genuine upgrade of mine was sort of 'tricking' the wires into believing that they were also a genuine upgrade. It was to the point that I began being able to slightly move them with my mind. … This is working. I just need to not stop… Aherm, Big Sis? Mara? What's up? You've been doing this for twelve hours, now Already? It barely feels like a minute passed… I think I realised something, though. What is it?

I think the golden wires are reacting positively, not just because they are interacting with an upgrade of mine. I think they are reacting in this way because the 'Faraday Box' is directly linked to not just wires, but to the 'Wire Mess Form'. Nara didn't say anything, probably because she would either want to agree or disagree, which would count toward giving unauthorised information to me. I was confident that I was correct, and I continued on my trajectory for another twelve hours, until finally…

Something happened. By this point, I could move the golden wires almost as well as I could move the copper and silver wires. I could even feel the notable differences between them as though all three were already an integral part of me. Gold was light in a similar way to silver, unlike copper, which was noticeably a bit heavier… However, gold was clearly a lesser conductor compared to the other two, but it made up for it by having an excellent resistance to corrosion.

I had no idea how this all came to me all of a sudden, but I just knew the intricate differences between the materials. The confirmation of my success was far more overt, however. You have acquired a new upgrade: 'Golden Wires' Golden Wires - Your body forms golden wires, capable of conducting lightning through them You have successfully acquired a new upgrade through an alternative means. Congratulations!

In light of this milestone achievement and your own astute understanding of the requirements–You have been granted a certain amount of direct intel on how to unlock the 'Wire Mess Form' Congratulations, once more! To unlock the 'Wire Mess Form', you must first acquire the following types of wires on top of the three you already own: Aluminium Wires. Nickel Wires. Tungsten Wires. Steel Wires. Good luck in your future endeavours! Ahah! It fucking worked! More wires, you say?

This is going to be easy to get them for free. The only issue is… These system panels said a 'certain amount of direct intel'. It's totally not telling me everything, even then, is it? No matter, it also said that I had an astute understanding of the requirements for this form. I doubt it would just say this for no reason, so it has to mean that the 'Faraday Box' is indeed connected, right? I rubbed my hands together. I knew what I was going to ask Leou to get me next…

It honestly feels great to be able to get upgrades so easily. I wish I had figured this out earlier. Hopefully the 'Wire Mess Form' is good stuff…