Chapter Ten: Vivian

Chen Hao decided it was best to get a clearer answer, so without hesitation, he pressed further, “Vivian, do you know… no, do you have any idea just how big this world we’re in actually is?”

Vivian, innocent as ever, didn’t seem to notice that her own question had gone unanswered. Perhaps it was simply her nature—she was used to asking others about things she didn’t know, and people generally responded in kind. So, she easily forgot about her own query and replied in earnest, “Hmm? Don’t you know? Our world is vast! I haven’t seen all of it with my own eyes, but I’ve heard many people in my tribe talk about it!”

“Oh?” Chen Hao’s interest was piqued. “And what have you heard?”

Vivian thought for a moment. “I’ve heard that places like the Forest of Elves are actually quite common in this world. If you count by area, I heard the whole world is made up of about a hundred and twenty Elf Forests. As for the size of one Elf Forest… it’s about five million square kilometers, I think!”

“What?!” Chen Hao was stunned. “Five million square kilometers? Is it really that big?”

Vivian didn’t understand why Chen Hao was so shocked, but she knew she wasn’t making things up. She’d only heard it from others, but everyone said the same thing, so it couldn’t be wrong, could it?

“Yes! I haven’t measured it myself… but that’s what everyone says!” Vivian answered matter-of-factly.

Chen Hao’s shock was not without reason. Five million square kilometers might not mean much to most, but in Chen Hao’s own country, the total area was just under ten million square kilometers—and his country was the third largest in the world. Now, one Elf Forest was half the size of his real-world country?

If the whole game world was just that big, it wouldn’t be so strange. But Vivian claimed there were around a hundred and twenty places like the Forest of Elves? That would make the world’s total area over five hundred million square kilometers! Yet the surface area of Earth itself is only about 510 million! Was this game world really bigger than reality itself? Since when did Unreal Corporation have the technology to create such a massive world within a game? Chen Hao was filled with doubt, so he asked again to confirm, “Are you sure you’re not mistaken? There really are more than a hundred places like the Forest of Elves, and each is five million square kilometers?”

Vivian, so confident before, now faltered at his question. “Uh… well… I’m not entirely sure. I mean, it’s not like I could have walked through all that space myself! I only heard it from others. Why are you so interested in this? Don’t you know how big the world we live in is?”

Now it was Chen Hao’s turn to be tongue-tied. He truly had no idea how to answer Vivian. He wasn’t from this world, after all, so how could he possibly know? And after the recent virus disaster, the virtual world had essentially been rebuilt from scratch. He was just a technician, not part of the development or design team, and he knew nothing about what the new version was like after the latest update.

Chen Hao couldn’t just tell Vivian the truth. Not only would she likely not believe him—or worse, think him insane—but what if she did believe him? Would she tell other self-aware NPCs? And if they found out, what then? He didn’t want to be the cause of a computer program uprising, a scene straight out of a classic sci-fi movie. He’d go down in history as a villain.

So Chen Hao feigned calm and shook his head. “It’s nothing. I’m just curious. Maybe someone else told me before, but for some reason, it’s as if I’ve suddenly lost my memory. I can’t remember anything from before. When I woke up, I was lying not far from here, and then I saw those five people trying to catch you. The rest you know already…”

He made up a vague story for Vivian, hoping it would reasonably explain his ignorance of the virtual world.

“Oh, so that’s what happened!” Vivian exclaimed, suddenly sympathetic. “Poor thing, to lose your memory like that. You must be terribly anxious, right? Oh, by the way, what did you mean earlier about being a technician at Unreal Corporation? Was that your job before? What kind of technician were you?”

Chen Hao’s heart skipped a beat. Damn, he’d forgotten about that slip. When talking with the five programmers earlier, he’d revealed his identity to gain their trust, and this little NPC had overheard. Vivian seemed innocent, but she had a sharp memory, recalling his words and taking an interest.

He quickly made something up. “Oh, that! Ha, I just said that to trick those people. I thought I could fool them, but it seems my lying skills have suffered since the memory loss.”

Vivian snorted and pinched his cheek. “Shame on you! An amnesiac like you trying to outsmart those bad guys—don’t you know how clever they are? We’ve tried so many times to disguise ourselves as their allies, trying to sneak by right under their noses, but for some reason, they always see right through us. They’re really sharp.”

Chen Hao nodded and agreed, but inwardly he scoffed, “Of course you can’t fool them. Those wings of yours are a dead giveaway—any fool could spot you in a second. Besides, you’re just an NPC, and the programmers have their own ways to distinguish NPCs from real people. For all I know, to those guys, Vivian is just a heap of data models and numbers.”

Vivian, still thinking, offered her own theory. “You say you’ve lost your memory, so does that mean you don’t remember how you came to the Forest of Elves either? Where’s your home? Where did you come from?”

“Why couldn’t I be a native of the Forest of Elves? Why must I be from somewhere else?” Chen Hao asked, puzzled.

Vivian shook her head and sighed. “You really are completely amnesiac. Don’t you remember? The Forest of Elves doesn’t belong to humans—it’s inhabited almost entirely by my kind, the elves. And you are clearly human!

“Though there are a few humans living here, every one of them is registered with us. Each of us knows all the other races living in our home. There are fewer than fifty humans in the Forest of Elves, and though I haven’t met them all, I’ve seen their photos. You’re not one of them, so I’m sure you’re not local!”

Seriously? Chen Hao was speechless, but soon came to terms with it. In fact, that was how the original game was designed. The Forest of Elves didn’t exist in the previous version, but all the races’ birthplaces and homes were clearly divided. Humans had their own territory, elves theirs, and so on. He couldn’t believe he’d missed such a simple detail.

Vivian, oblivious to Chen Hao’s thoughts, continued guessing about his origins. “Let me think. Actually, there have been humans who’ve wandered into the Forest of Elves before. But their situation was different—they hadn’t lost their memories, they’d just gotten lost.

“We elves are generally friendly to lost travelers. We find them a place to rest, figure out where they want to go, and then see them safely out of here.

“You’re a bit special, but I can’t just leave you here alone. The Forest of Elves is huge, and there are not just elves, but many wild beasts and even magical creatures! If you’re not careful, you could lose your life, not to mention the bad people out there. You might be skilled, but you’re empty-handed, without supplies or food. I doubt you’d last more than a few days before starving in the woods.”

Vivian’s chatty nature was on full display, carrying on as if Chen Hao’s feelings didn’t matter. But Chen Hao was unconcerned with the ins and outs of this so-called Forest of Elves; after all, it was just a game. No matter how dangerous, he wouldn’t be harmed in the real world. What he really wanted to figure out was why he’d ended up in this game world, and how to return to reality.

However, Chen Hao clearly underestimated Vivian’s enthusiasm—or perhaps her curiosity upon meeting a stranger. Without a word of protest, she scooped him up and soared off in a certain direction. “Come on! You’ll stay at my place tonight. We’ll talk about everything else tomorrow.”

“Huh?!” Chen Hao, at first reluctant, suddenly perked up. “Her place? For the night? I wonder how many beds she has…”