"Along with the Esoteric Buddhism lamas and the relic we discovered earlier, this made me think of something."

New Dynasty Elegance took out a handwritten document, all penned by him, because in the cyber world, these materials are practically lost, at least inaccessible in Night City's network, so he had to compile them himself.

"Have you heard of 'Illusionist'? Or other names like 'Zhuba' or 'Tupla'."

Brother Ni shook his head, bewildered.

"Never heard of it."

His family had been duped by a cult before, and they were quite repulsed by such religious knowledge, so there was no way he would willingly learn about these messy things.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it because it's not popular domestically. It's a practice method in Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism, with quite a following abroad."

Today, New Dynasty Elegance was dressed as a Daoist, his robe exuding tranquility and wisdom, especially in the bustling Night City, giving him an ethereal aura.

"The human brain is an incredibly powerful organ; it can do things other creatures with brains cannot—'simulate', like simulating how other people will act and think, or even simulating a person who doesn't exist... Imagine you have a lovely, kind, gentle childhood sweetheart who loves you deeply and wouldn't marry anyone else but you...."

"But I don't, and I can't even imagine such a thing you're talking about."

Brother Ni felt what the other person was saying was more science fiction than the game he was currently playing; even Liu Cixin would willingly give up the Hugo Award overnight.

Settings that even sci-fi novels dare not easily adopt.JPG

"You don't need to imagine, just roughly understand."

New Dynasty Elegance wasn't annoyed by Brother Ni's interruption but tried his best to explain.

"Use your consciousness to simulate, to imagine that it truly exists and is by your side. It will act as your guardian spirit to protect you. As you deepen your practice according to this method, the image in your mind will gradually materialize into your vision, even to the point of affecting reality; this is the 'Illusionist'."

Brother Ni found it somewhat astonishing.

"How does this sound like Hell's War God or a JOJO's stand-in?"

"You can roughly understand it like that. In fact, there are many art works abroad that have drawn on these things, but later it was confirmed that this practice method leads to personality splitting. Moreover, the split personality may not be as wonderful as you initially imagined, nor is it any sort of guardian spirit."

New Dynasty Elegance's expression was serious, as if he were recounting a criminal record.

"Because humans, unless trained in specialized meditation, find it hard to control their own random thoughts. This often leads to the split personalities of practitioners being mixed with a large number of stray thoughts, causing these personalities to become irritable, fierce, brutal, or even downright insane. Even their image will gradually escape control, becoming terrifying and bloody. The more you reject and resist them, the more negative and terrifying elements in your subconscious will concentrate in this personality's manifestation, even breaking free from your control and seizing your body's control to attack you and those around you." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"I suspect that a significant portion of cyber psychosis is due to brain modifications, which greatly accelerate this process. It might not even be an intentional personality split, but a second personality emerging from a series of coincidences. However, these individuals have a high likelihood of the second personality becoming extreme due to life's various misfortunes, turning into a monster."

Cyber psychosis is a general term, much like mental illness with many categories, each with different causes and symptoms.

"And a deep behavior chip is like a temporary second personality with minimal risk because there's a data input channel that can be turned off. The relic you're holding is a storage device; it doesn't have processing functions itself. Inserting it into the brain is actually using your own brain to simulate such a person based on the chip's data."

"The good news is that this relic has a fixed database and won't change due to your stray thoughts. But the bad news is that it's still a second personality. As long as it exists, there will be a threat to the first personality, and there's always a risk of it taking over and reversing roles. Moreover, this risk won't end due to the subjective decision of the two consciousnesses, even if you two are as close as the Oath of the Peach Garden."

"And the relic... It simulates a real person, but the issue is that no matter how well you understand another person, you can never be that person. The simulation by this relic will only be a falsehood, and there is a high possibility of someone tampering with it due to digitalization."

"Finally, and most critically."

New Dynasty Elegance leaned forward, seeming not to want others to hear their conversation.

"In this game's setting, there's a cyber world, and everyone's brain is connected to it. You know the situation with Yoshida Saki's brain rescued by the street rogue. Normally, when a person dies, they're just dead, but if an NPC in this game dies, it doesn't mean the second data consciousness born from it will die along with the body. Perhaps... these deranged data consciousnesses are the truth behind some rogue AIs, who knows."

These speculations aren't just New Dynasty Elegance's judgment but are the result of discussions within the circles of setting enthusiasts.

"Hiss—"

Brother Ni felt a chill run down his back as the warm August wind blew.