[Blade: Alright, then let's all give it a try.]
[BUG: Yeah.]
[Grayfist: Okay, I'll go try too. If any of you succeed, remember to come back and share your experience!!]
[But I'll definitely be the first one to succeed, don't worry. When I make it, I'll teach you guys!]
After everyone replied to Steve, they each entered their own game pods, and the group chat returned to silence once again.
———
[Inside Notch's Office]
After watching the tenth horror video compilation, Rookie's fragile heart finally couldn't take the intense shock and fear anymore. His eyes rolled back and he completely lost consciousness.
Who knew how much time had passed. When Rookie woke up, he found himself in an endless void.
The surroundings were pitch black, like a bottomless abyss, making one's scalp tingle. That kind of darkness where you couldn't see your own fingers felt like it could swallow a person's soul whole.
"This should be the inner world…" Looking at the scene before him, Rookie muttered to himself in disbelief.
Although he had looked carefree and confident when he said "see you in the inner world" to Notch earlier, in reality he had been panicking like crazy.
Truth be told, he didn't have complete confidence that he could actually enter the inner world.
For this "rescue" plan, Rookie had done a huge amount of preparation.
He gathered a lot of information about the inner world through various channels and carefully analyzed and studied it.
After putting in all that effort, he roughly summarized some possible conditions needed to enter the inner world.
The most important point was that one had to gain the recognition of the inner world.
This was the only prerequisite for entering the inner world. Without its approval, no matter how much effort you put in, it would all be useless.
However, even though he knew this important condition, how exactly to gain the inner world's recognition was a headache.
Because this so-called "recognition" had no clear or fixed standard or definition. The scope it covered was extremely broad and could be evaluated from many different angles.
Maybe it was a person's courage, wisdom, perseverance, or other qualities. Or perhaps it was how much they loved this world. It could even be related to vague things like luck or fate.
In short, figuring out what kind of performance would earn the inner world's approval was definitely not easy.
Although Rookie couldn't determine the exact standards for being recognized by the inner world, there was one thing he was certain of... Notch was definitely someone who had been recognized by it.
And the reason why Notch was recognized was obvious... he loved this world enough.
It was precisely because he knew this that Rookie wasn't fully confident he could enter the inner world.
He had rarely been involved with this game world. It was only after he crossed paths with Entity 303 that he slowly began to understand it.
Other than that, he didn't really have any emotional ties to this game world. The driving force behind everything he did came from just one person... Entity 303.
Although Old Wu and Notch both treated Rookie very well, Rookie knew very clearly that most of the time they treated him more like a junior, caring for him in a protective way.
Old Wu was like an old father to him, doting on him endlessly.
And Notch was like an older brother, looking after him carefully.
That kind of care was naturally a good thing. It made Rookie feel warmth, but at the same time it also created an invisible barrier that made it hard for him to completely open up his deepest thoughts to them.
For example, regarding the issue of the subconscious and the conscious mind, Rookie had never mentioned a single word about it to Old Wu or Notch.
But when it came to Entity 303, things were completely different.
Not only was Rookie willing to share these deeply buried secrets with him, he would often confide his worries and troubles as well.
Even though they now existed in different dimensional worlds, separated by a distance that couldn't be crossed, their connection hadn't weakened at all. Instead, it had grown even stronger.
So the original intention behind everything Rookie did wasn't to save this world, nor was it because of his friendship with Xu Yuan. It was completely and entirely for just one person... Entity 303.
He silently protected Entity 303's home and did everything he could to protect Entity 303's family from any harm.
Because of this, Rookie was so worried, afraid he wouldn't be able to successfully enter the inner world.
After all, to enter it required the necessary condition of loving this world, and Rookie knew he hadn't reached that requirement.
So when he asked Notch to think about the state he was in when he created this game world, helping Notch connect with the inner world, he himself hadn't thought that far.
Instead, he planned to combine his subconscious and conscious mind to find a way in.
Although he didn't know how he had managed to find a way into the inner world after being scared unconscious, fortunately the method had worked.
After thinking this, Rookie didn't dwell on it further and immediately began searching for Notch in this barren emptiness.
Rookie searched for a long time in this desolate place but never saw any sign of Notch. Just as he was about to disconnect his spiritual link and return to the real world to give Notch another lecture, he suddenly felt a large hand rest on his back shoulder.
At the same time, a familiar voice sounded beside his ear, "You're 27 minutes and 12 seconds late."
Hearing that familiar voice, Rookie quickly turned around. But when he saw what Notch looked like now, he froze completely.
After standing there stunned for a long time, his hand unconsciously reached toward the top of Notch's head.
After touching that thick head of hair, Rookie quickly pulled his hand back as if startled by the sensation.
"Handsome guy, have you seen a bald uncle?"
Rookie's earlier action had already confused Notch a bit. But after hearing that, Notch suddenly realized something and quickly touched the top of his own head.
When his hand touched that thick hair, his eyes instantly became moist.
"It's back! It's all back!!! It's all back!!!"
Seeing Notch's high-spirited appearance now, Rookie suddenly realized something very clearly, hairstyle really does have a huge impact on appearance…
Just as Rookie was lost in thought, without any warning, Notch suddenly snapped his fingers lightly toward the north.
Seeing this, Rookie felt confused and was just about to ask a question when he suddenly saw a blue point of light shooting toward them from the distant north like lightning.
In the blink of an eye, that point of light flew in front of Notch at an astonishing speed and steadily stopped in his open palm.
Only then did Rookie get a clear look at what it was.
"It's the Blade of the God of War!"