In the VIP room, Director Frederick chuckled as he sipped his coffee. “Good. Family drama is always effective for boosting the ratings.”
The mayor was somewhat displeased. More than a few comments were supporting Alex simply because of his handsome face and the accident that had happened to him.
“Is this really okay?”
“Haha, no problem, Mayor. We deliberately designed a new tactic for this fourth season. At the beginning, we’ll win the viewers’ sympathy for Alex, then slowly break their hearts until they feel betrayed. They’ll definitely be left with a painful grudge after seeing how Alex is swept along by life.”
Director Sebastian also smiled as he watched the pained reaction on the screen. Just then, Doctor Renata hurried into the VIP room, breathing hard.
“What happened?!” Director Frederick demanded angrily.
“Forgive my impertinence, Director Frederick, but it seems there’s been a technical error.”
Director Frederick slowly lowered his coffee cup. He appeared calm; he had already guessed what Renata was about to report.
“What error are you talking about?”
Renata was still breathing slightly heavily. Her eyes blinked several times with worry, and the young doctor’s beautiful face had gone pale.
“The pain stimulus to Alex’s nerves is active.”
Renata swallowed before continuing. “His neural pain-feedback instrument has switched on. Alex’s real body is receiving pain signals from this simulation. I think we need to stop it now.”
After Renata’s voice echoed through the room, the VIP room instantly fell silent. The mayor’s face showed restrained anger. Director Frederick saw it and immediately shot Renata a sharp look.
Even the live broadcast, which was showing Alex lying alone in a hospital bed, lost in thought with one hand covering his eyes, no longer held their attention.
Director Frederick slowly set his coffee cup on the table.
Tap.
His eyes fixed straight on Renata. “Repeat that.”
Renata felt her throat go dry. “Director Frederick, this is extremely dangerous for Alex. The instrument is actively transmitting pain. It shouldn’t be able to do that—the system is supposed to remain locked.”
“I think we need to stop the pain transmission now.”
“What did you just say?”
Renata swallowed. What else was there that he didn’t understand? Everything had already been arranged.
“You came here and interrupted the meeting just to say this? Do you still want this job?”
Renata immediately lowered her head. After apologizing with a slight bow, she left and returned to the simulation room.
There, her gaze met Rafael’s. Seeing how ordinary the young man seemed about what had happened, Renata curled her lip.
Meanwhile, in his simulated life, Alex closed his eyes and raised his right arm, resting it against his forehead.
Little by little, he processed everything that had happened so far. Fortunately, the viewers could only see what he did; they couldn’t read his thoughts.
He remembered the mechanical voice in his head saying that he was jade within his veins. Alex knew everyone was watching what he did, so he discreetly rubbed the vein on his left wrist. The spot where he had cut it with the keris was perfectly healed over. But there was a small, hard bump, like a tiny stone.
The moment his fingertip touched the hard bump on his left wrist, Alex felt a sensation he had never imagined before.
It was as if a powerful force had seized the center of his chest, pulling his entire body into an incredibly fast whirlpool.
And then, nothing remained but silence.
Alex opened his eyes.
“Where am I?”
“Why am I back in that room?”