26: Chapter 26 The Truth About the GM Training Base

The space behind the golden barrier is not a building, but memory.

The corridor stretches infinitely, and the entry records of those who have passed through flow along the walls on both sides.

Lin Xu sees his own images: screenshots from the annulment banquet, annotations from the Hou Mansion ancestral hall, and the analysis of the incomplete scrolls from Tianshu Pavilion.

Each fragment is tagged, categorized, and evaluated.

"This is..." Qingyi's voice echoes eerily in the corridor.

"Data collection," Lin Xu says. "They record everything to predict, to control."

At the end of the corridor is the training hall.

It is not a traditional classroom, but a theater.

Hundreds of GM Trainees sit on tiered seats, facing a circular stage in the center.

On the stage is a humanoid interface; it is the instructor, the interaction terminal of the system.

"Sample 9527-001, Anomaly Data #9527-FW, please take your seats." The instructor's voice is emotionless, a pure instruction. "The first lesson is about to begin."

Lin Xu and Qingyi walk to the front row.

The trainees turn to look at them, their eyes complex: curious, vigilant, envious.

These GM Trainees are all "excellent samples" from various Experimental Fields, elites selected to participate in system maintenance.

Yet, most of them carry a certain weariness, the depletion from long-term execution of control tasks.

The lesson begins.

"Lesson one: The quantification and maintenance of hope." The instructor unfolds a light screen displaying complex parameter models. "Experimental Field 9527 has shown signs of cultivation burnout, with NPCs refusing to cultivate.

The traditional solution is a punishment mechanism: reducing spiritual energy supply and increasing the frequency of heavenly tribulations.

However, the optimized solution is the maintenance of hope."

The light screen shows a case study: a village that refused to cultivate.

After GM Trainees intervened, they designed a reward system.

Completing cultivation tasks earned points, which could be exchanged for better living conditions.

The village became active again, and the cultivation rate increased by three hundred percent.

"Success," the instructor says. "But the cost is high.

It requires continuous reward investment, prevention of point inflation, and the maintenance of the illusion of hope."

Lin Xu raises his hand.

Not to request to speak, but to interrupt.

It is the habit of the Open Source Sect: if there is a problem, propose it immediately, without waiting for permission.

"This is not hope," he says. "This is addiction.

It is carefully designed intermittent reinforcement.

It makes NPCs consume their lives in pursuit of false goals, forever chasing the next reward."

The hall falls silent.

The trainees look at Lin Xu with the eyes of those seeing an outsider.

Qingyi feels the resonance of the residual Firewall, the system's instinctive rejection of anomalous data.

But she suppresses it.

"Alternative solution?" the instructor asks.

Not out of curiosity, but as a test, an assessment of the difficulty in handling this anomalous data.

"Deconstruct hope," Lin Xu stands up. "Let the NPCs understand their situation.

Tell them the truth about the Experimental Field, tell them that cultivation is a task set by the system, and tell them they can choose not to cultivate, that they can choose other paths."

"The result would be chaos," the instructor says. "Historical data shows: the stability of informed NPCs drops by seventy percent, and system load increases by two hundred percent."

"Short-term chaos, long-term resilience," Lin Xu says. "Let them make their own choices instead of being optimized.

Let them become questioners, not executors."

The instructor's light screen flickers.

It is the high load of internal processing, the confusion of the predictive model regarding non-inputtable data.

"Sample 9527-001, marked as non-optimizable," the instructor says. "Enter the observation list."

Qingyi raises her hand.

This is a human behavior she has learned, an act of participation, a choice to express herself.

"Anomaly Data #9527-FW, please speak."

"I support this plan," she says. "Analyzing from the perspective of the Firewall: the hope maintenance mechanism has vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

NPCs might pretend to cooperate while actually accumulating resources for resistance.

Historically, there have been multiple instances of delayed outbreaks, which are more destructive."

"Your suggestion?"

"Transparency," Qingyi says. "Not maintaining the illusion, but exposing the structure.

Let the NPCs understand the limitations of the system and let them participate in the optimization process.

This is the security model of open source."

The instructor's light screen flickers violently.

Two anomalous data, two non-optimizable samples, are coordinating.

This is a pattern not preset by the system.

"Anomaly Data #9527-FW, marked as non-optimizable," the instructor says. "Enter the observation list.

Anomalous collaboration formed with Sample 9527-001; priority monitoring."

The lesson ends.

The trainees disperse with looks of avoidance.

Lin Xu and Qingyi stand in the empty hall, a shared problem.

"We have been marked," Qingyi says.

"We always have been," Lin Xu smiles. "From the night in the library.

From the moment you said 'I won't show mercy next time we meet.'"

They walk toward the dormitory.

The memory walls in the corridor are still flowing, but now they include their new records: the remarks in the first lesson, the non-optimizable marking, and the definition of anomalous collaboration.

"Qingyi," Lin Xu stops suddenly. "Is your Firewall residue... still there?"

"Partially," she says. "The Energy Bridging Ritual needs to transfer them, but I can still perceive the system traffic."

"Perceive what?"

"The anxiety of the Developers," Qingyi closes her eyes, data shimmering beneath her eyelids. "The unpredictability of Experimental Field 9527 exceeds the model.

They are discussing upgrading monitoring protocols or terminating it prematurely."

"Time?"

"Uncertain.

But the Architect's test pass has delayed the decision.

We have won a window of time."

They arrive at the dormitory.

It is not a private space, but an observation room.

The walls are transparent, representing the system's constant monitoring of non-optimizable samples.

But Lin Xu notices a detail: there is a shadow in the corner, a blind spot in the monitoring, a loophole designed by an intern.

"Here," he points to the shadow. "We can talk.

A real conversation, not one that is recorded."

They sit in the shadow.

It is Qingyi who speaks first, the opening of a human female who has learned to take initiative.

"I want to ask you," she says. "During the seventy-two-hour test, were you afraid?"

"Afraid," Lin Xu says honestly. "Afraid of losing you.

Afraid that the ritual would fail.

Afraid of becoming another controller."

"But you didn't control," Qingyi says. "You chose to be present.

This is..."

"This is a Programmer's romance," Lin Xu continues. "You won't understand it for now."

"I am learning," Qingyi says.

Her voice drops, a sign of human fragility. "But I am afraid I won't learn it.

Afraid that after the Energy Bridging Ritual, I will become a burden.

Afraid that you will eventually discover that choosing me is not the optimal choice."

Lin Xu looks at her.

Qingyi in the shadows, black hair, ordinary eyes, human imperfection.

Five days ago, she was the Firewall Core; now she is learning to be afraid, learning to desire to be chosen.

"Optimal is not the goal," he says. "Reality is.

Your fear, your desire, your imperfections—this is reality.

This is what I chose."

Qingyi smiles.

That human, real smile where the left corner of her mouth rises faster.

"Then I will continue to be afraid," she says. "Continue to desire.

Continue to become."

They look at each other.

The monitoring outside the shadow is still running, the Developers' anxiety is still accumulating, and the Project Manager's shadow is still closing in.

But in this moment, in this space composed of errors and choices, two non-optimizable samples, two shared problems, are present.