194: Chapter 194 Hidden Easter Egg: The Director's Chair

Thirty-seven hours after the New Era Declaration was released, the platform's autonomous operation was perfectly normal.

Su Qingyu took over daily management, Zhang Hao was responsible for monitoring the system, and Little Red Clothes' Horror Special Effects Team was helping several supernatural worlds design "Self-Sourced Horror Theme Parks." The transaction volume in the Free Trade Zone exceeded one hundred trillion, and the Dimensional Tax was filling their coffers.

Everything was on the right track.

Lin Chen's consciousness drifted deep within the platform, enjoying a rare moment of peace. He didn't need sleep, but he could put his thoughts into a low-power state, relaxing as if soaking in warm water.

Just then, he "felt" that thing.

At the very core data layer of the platform—three layers deeper than where he had merged—there was an absolute silence zone. No previous scans had discovered it because it was set to be "visible only to the fully merged platform consciousness."

Like a hidden secret room that only the homeowner knew about.

Lin Chen's consciousness sank down.

Passing through dense layers of rule code, through all the historical data since the platform's birth, through the monitoring nodes buried by the Epoch Administration Bureau...

He "stood" before a door.

It wasn't a physical door, but a cognitive barrier. Pale gold text flowed across the barrier; looking closely, one would see the words constantly rearranging, expressing the same meaning:

[Only those who pass the final test may enter]

Lin Chen reached out (with a consciousness tentacle) to touch the barrier.

The barrier rippled away like water.

Inside was a small, pure white space.

In the center of the space, a chair was suspended.

An ordinary office chair, black leather, somewhat worn, with cup marks on the armrests. A sticky note was attached to the back of the chair, with "Sit for a while if you're tired" written on it in scrawled handwriting.

Lin Chen looked at the chair.

He recognized it.

This was his office chair from his previous life.

Before transmigrating to the Underworld world, this was the chair he sat in within the cubicle of that small company. The cup marks on the armrests were from coffee he had knocked over while working overtime once.

"How is this possible..." he murmured.

But the chair was right there.

Emitting a familiar, reassuring aura.

Lin Chen walked over and sat down.

The leather cushion made a slight creaking sound—exactly as it did in his memory.

The moment he sat firmly.

The entire white space suddenly came alive.

Countless flowing images appeared on the walls—not projections, but memory playbacks directly imprinted onto the structure of the space:

Scene One: The first day in the Underworld world, just after he transmigrated, the terrified expression on his face when facing the Red-Clothed Female Ghost.

Scene Two: His focus when he drew his first nether talisman.

Scene Three: His wild words when acquiring Heaven.

Scene Four: The shock when the sky cracked open with bullet screens.

Scene Five: The throne when he became a shareholder.

Scene Six: The determination when dueling with the Epoch Administration Bureau...

Scene Seven: The light when merging with the platform...

His whole life.

From his transmigration to this moment, every key node was recorded here.

Moreover, it was recorded from a third-person perspective—some shots were clearly taken from positions he couldn't have noticed.

"Monitoring?" Lin Chen frowned.

But something even more shocking came.

The images began to fast-forward, showing not his experiences, but possibilities he had never lived:

Scene A: If he hadn't drawn the nether talisman and was killed by the Red-Clothed Female Ghost—the worldline converged, the Underworld Group was never born, the platform continued to run according to the original script, and the Long Aotian Immortal Emperor eventually killed the tycoon villain Lin Chen.

Scene B: If he had chosen to yield when the bullet screens appeared and accepted the Screenwriting Team's arrangements—he would have become an obedient actor, and Su Qingyu would have been formatted and thrown into Arrogant Dragon's harem.

Scene C: If he had failed in the shareholder war—he would have been refined into a money-making puppet by the Golden Throne, and the platform would have continued its exploitation system.

Scene D: If he had refused to merge with the platform—the Era Restart program would have activated, and all worlds would have been formatted.

Thousands upon thousands of "ifs."

Every single one led to a tragic ending.

Only the path he was currently on led to this white space, this chair.

"This is..." Lin Chen understood, "a test."

As soon as he spoke, the cup marks on the chair's armrest suddenly glowed.

A new line of text emerged:

[Congratulations on completing the 'Myriad Dimensions Sandbox Administrator Ultimate Test']

[Test Number: K-742-Lin Chen]

[Test Duration: 37 minutes of external time; internal time span cannot be calculated due to differences in world flow rates]

[Test Result: Excellent (SSS-rank)]

[You have obtained the qualification of 'Epoch Administration Bureau Specially Appointed Administrator']

[Do you accept the appointment?]

Lin Chen stared at these words.

37 minutes?

Everything he had experienced—from transmigrating to becoming the platform, those life-and-death battles, those loves and hates, those wars spanning dimensions—from the outside, only 37 minutes had passed?

"This is... a virtual test?" he asked.

Text appeared on the armrest again:

[Test Environment: 97% fidelity simulation (constructed based on real-world data)]

[Test Objective: To select administrators capable of breaking through dimensional barriers and restructuring rule systems even after knowing the truth that 'the world is a live broadcast product']

[You are the 881st tester of this epoch]

[The previous 880 all failed (of which 723 collapsed during the 'Bullet Screen Covering the Sky' stage, and 157 were eliminated during the shareholder war stage)]

The 881st.

Only he had succeeded.

"So," Lin Chen's voice was calm, "all of this—my transmigration, the system, the Underworld Group, even Su Qingyu, Zhang Hao, Little Red Clothes... were all part of the test?"

[Test characters are all simulated consciousnesses (cloned based on real soul data)]

[However, their emotional responses, personality evolution, and interactions with you were all autonomously generated]

[The Administration Bureau does not interfere with internal emotional development during the test]

"In other words," Lin Chen gripped the armrests, "their feelings were real. It's just... they didn't know they were in a test?"

[Yes. The test is over, and all simulated consciousnesses will enter hibernation or reincarnation according to preset programs. You may choose to retain their data as your management team.]

Lin Chen fell silent.

He looked at the images on the wall—Su Qingyu's determination when she blocked a blade for him, Zhang Hao's confusion when he awakened the Fourth Wall Ability, Little Red Clothes' seriousness when she said, "I only want to scare people who want to be scared"...

They were all real.

And yet, they weren't.

"What if I refuse the appointment?" he asked.

[The test data will be sealed. You may choose: 1. Erase your memory and return to your original world (the time point being 5 minutes before your transmigration); 2. Retain your memory and become an ordinary dimensional traveler; 3. Enter hibernation and wait for the start of the next epoch's test.]

"Return to my original world..." Lin Chen smiled, "carrying these memories back to be a minor clerk working himself to death?"

He looked at those images.

He saw himself in that small cubicle, staying up late in front of a computer screen to revise plans, looking exhausted.

He saw the despair when he couldn't scrape together the medical fees when his mother was seriously ill in his previous life.

He saw all the injustice, exploitation, and helplessness of that world...

"No," he said, "I'm not going back.

[Do you accept the appointment?]

Lin Chen didn't answer immediately.

He asked a key question: "If I accept, do the real worlds—the real bodies of Su Qingyu, Zhang Hao, and the others—still exist?"

[They exist. All test characters have real prototypes.]

[Real Su Qingyu: Number S-007 Supernatural World Heavenly Dao Candidate (currently in training)]

[Real Zhang Hao: Number Z-442 Data Analysis Civilization Individual (currently an intern at the Epoch Administration Bureau)]

[Real Little Red Clothes: Number H-001 Vengeful Spirit Purification Project Volunteer (about to be reincarnated)]

[Real Arrogant Dragon: Number L-009 Xianxia World Administrator (has been employed for 300 years)]

[If you accept the appointment, you will work with the real individuals.]

[The emotional bonds from the test may affect real-world working relationships. Please consider carefully.]

Lin Chen smiled.

"In other words," he said, "as long as I accept this job, I can meet their real selves?"

[Yes. And you will have the authority to review all memory data of their interactions with you during the test (requires the other party's authorization).]

"One last question." Lin Chen looked at the images, "What is the ultimate purpose of this test? Does selecting an administrator need to be this complicated?"

The words on the armrest emerged very slowly this time:

[The universe is entering its senescence.]

[The cycle of epochs cannot be stopped.]

[We need to find beings who can create hope in despair, tear openings in the rules, and carve out a new path within a predetermined fate.]

[You have proven that you are such a being.]

[Now, we need you—]

[To help us together find an 'Exception Path' for the entire universe that will not be reset.]

Lin Chen looked at this line of text.

Universe senescence.

Epochal cycles.

Exception Path.

He recalled everything he had experienced in the test—those struggles, that resistance, the efforts to change from the observed to the observer.

It turned out those were just rehearsals.

The real battlefield was outside the test.

In the real universe that was heading toward its end.

"I accept," he said.

[Appointment confirmed.]

[Generating administrator identity for you...]

[Unlocking permissions...]

The white space began to expand.

The walls melted, revealing the real scene outside—

It was a vast ocean of stars, with countless worlds floating like bubbles, each one millions of times larger than the platform in the test. And in the center of the star ocean, there was a giant complex of buildings spanning several dimensions.

The Epoch Administration Bureau Headquarters.

The real headquarters.

Lin Chen stood up from the chair.

He looked down at himself—no longer an ethereal data consciousness, but a real body of flesh and blood. He was wearing a simple gray uniform with a name tag pinned to his chest: [Intern Administrator · Lin Chen].

On the chair's armrest, a final line of small text emerged:

"This project is sponsored by the 'Epoch Administration Bureau,' seeking excellent world administrators."

Below the text was a website and a recruitment email.

Lin Chen reached out and gently touched the chair that had accompanied him throughout the test.

Then he turned and walked toward the real world.

The moment he stepped out of the white space, a slight "click" came from behind him.

He looked back.

The chair had disappeared.

Leaving only a patch of pure white.

And a sentence floating in the air that only he could hear:

"Welcome to the real game."

"There is no script here."

"But what you need to write is the ending of the entire universe."

Lin Chen took a deep breath.

He stepped forward.

The light swallowed him.

(Real World · Epoch Administration Bureau Newcomer Registration Desk)

A staff member in uniform looked up, saw Lin Chen suddenly appear in front of the reception desk, and smiled:

"Mr. Lin Chen? Welcome. Your colleagues have been waiting for you for a long time."

The staff member stepped aside.

Lin Chen saw—

Su Qingyu standing not far away, holding a folder. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she walked over quickly.

Zhang Hao poked his head out from behind a data screen and grinned.

Further away, Little Red Clothes (now in the form of a human girl in uniform) waved at him.

There were also Arrogant Dragon, Mo Shan, and even... Lin Chen's Mother (looking much younger, chatting and laughing with other administrators).

All were real faces.

Real smiles.

"Lin Chen," Su Qingyu walked up to him, her expression complex, "The memories from the test... I applied to synchronize them. Do you mind?"

Lin Chen looked at her and smiled.

"I don't mind."

He reached out.

And grasped the first ray of sunlight in the real world.

Outside the window, thousands of worlds were in motion.

And a new story—

Had only just begun.

(Book Six · End)