Data Space

“Then… let’s begin.”

Kada held the helmet in his hands.

His heart was pounding wildly.

He couldn’t tell whether it was fear or excitement.

After convincing himself, Kada put on the helmet and pressed the activation button.

A wave of dizziness washed over him.

Then—darkness.

System initialization: 1%… 100% complete.

Consciousness loading: 1%… 100% complete.

Scene loading: 1%… 50%.

After a brief blackout, Kada regained awareness.

The first thing he sensed was darkness.

He tried to open his eyes.

Failed.

He couldn’t even feel his eyes.

The sensation was strange.

As if he had become a cloud of gas, perceiving the world through nothing but awareness itself.

But wasn’t soul exchange supposed to happen while conscious?

No—

According to the design, shouldn’t he wake up inside another body?

He Zunyi:

‘Do you know how swapping two variables works in a computer?’

‘You copy data A into a temporary space C.’

‘Clear A to zero.’

‘Copy data B into A.’

‘Then put C back into B.’

‘That’s how A and B are exchanged.’

‘Data can be handled like this.’

‘Souls work the same way.’

A “voice”—or rather, a packet of thoughts—was injected directly into Kada’s mind.

There was no actual sound.

No sense of direction.

Pure concepts.

So this was the young lady’s way of speaking?

She was blunt as hell.

But wait—what was going on now?

Kada tried responding in the same way.

To his surprise, it worked.

Kada (frowning):

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘What does that have to do with our current situation?’

‘Isn’t this helmet supposed to let me become someone else once I put it on?’

He Zunyi (cold laugh):

‘Not anymore, idiot.’

‘Do you really think those so-called “safety components” were added just to improve safety?’

‘That was a half-assed modification.’

‘Originally, our consciousness should’ve been treated like programs on a hard drive.’

‘Copied. Cut. Then swapped between two storage locations.’

‘But someone wanted it to be “safe.”’

‘So it got changed into this VR dive mode.’

‘And as a result—’

Kada (impatient):

‘As a result, what?’

Scene loading: 95%… 100% complete.

A pure white space abruptly unfolded before Kada.

As the scene finished loading, his body formed within it.

He turned his head.

Standing there was the one who had been speaking to him all along.

A young man in casual clothes.

Fair-skinned.

Cocky expression.

He looked like a student who’d just graduated.

“Doctor He.”

Kada stared in shock.

At that moment, he understood.

He’d been completely played.

If He Zunyi was here—

Then the body outside belonging to “Doctor He” must be Xia Yuhe’s.

Everything clicked.

An entire day.

Every doubt brushed aside.

He’d been led around by the nose by a clueless rich girl.

Thinking back on his behavior earlier, Kada wanted to slap himself.

He had really fallen for it.

He Zunyi (shrugging):

‘The result is that the data exchange that was supposed to happen at the level of consciousness—’

‘Can’t be executed.’

‘The safety hardware limits power output.’

‘Copying, reading, or deleting cortical consciousness requires enormous bandwidth.’

‘One mistake and you get a fatal accident.’

‘Those components were ruled illegal by the Human Ethics Committee.’

‘They’re outright banned on the market.’

Kada knew exactly who she was referring to.

The repairman.

To hide the helmet’s true function, he’d lied and claimed it was a VR deep-dive gaming device.

So during repairs, he naturally followed legal specifications.

‘The “delete” step can’t run.’

‘The “copy” step turned into communication.’

‘In simple terms—’

‘Our consciousness, or souls, have been uploaded as data into this space.’

‘This is a VR game.’

Kada (furious):

‘Doctor He.’

‘After all that, I only want to know one thing.’

‘How do I get out?’

‘If this is data exchange, I just need to find the entrance to B and overwrite it, right?’

He Zunyi (snorts):

‘You’re naïve.’

‘The logic here is far more complex than you think.’

‘This isn’t something you solve by “finding an exit.”’

‘You’re still thinking about soul exchange at a time like this.’

‘Did you not finish middle school?’

‘Software logic is one thing.’

‘Hardware compatibility is another.’

‘No matter how clever the code is, the hardware decides what’s possible.’

Kada (face draining):

‘What are you saying?’

‘I said it’s a game.’

‘A virtual game with uploaded consciousness.’

‘A game?’

‘You’re telling me all that effort just landed me in this stupid game?!’

‘There’s nothing funny about it.’

‘This incomplete exchange process has another possible outcome.’

‘We could be stuck here.’

‘Forever.’

‘The program’s termination condition is locked by the hardware.’

Kada fell silent.

‘Can’t get out?’

‘What kind of joke is this?’

‘You must’ve done something.’

‘You think I’ll believe this crap?’

Kada swung his fist at He Zunyi.

It passed straight through her body.

No impact.

No resistance.

Like friendly-fire immunity in an online game.

Kada (gritting his teeth):

‘Why are you so calm?’

‘Did you know this would happen?’

‘One last piece of advice.’

‘Don’t bother trying to hit me.’

‘And don’t assume this game even has a proper ending.’

He Zunyi looked at him with a relaxed expression.

Like she was watching an idiot.

Even as Kada continued flailing, furious and helpless.

Suddenly—

She grabbed his wrist.

Redirected it casually.

Then slammed him down into a patch of grass.

In an instant, Kada felt as if several overweight men were pinning him down.

He couldn’t breathe.

‘Calm?’

‘I’m just not as useless as you.’

‘Instead of throwing a tantrum, think.’

‘This is virtual space.’

‘Exploit the bugs.’

‘I wrote the software.’

‘I built the original hardware.’

‘Even if the form’s changed, the exit routine should still exist.’

‘Then get off me!’

‘How am I supposed to calm down like this?’

‘And why can you hit me when I can’t hit you?’

‘If you cooperate, we can both get out.’

‘And while you’re at it, stop thinking about serving the organization.’

‘I already betrayed them.’

‘Betrayed?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘How dare you!’

As they argued, the virtual environment began to distort.

The ground cracked.

The white horizon twisted into spiraling streams of code.

Something was interfering from the outside.

“Detected… hardware driver… error…”

“Error code: 0xA112C.”

“Initializing cleanup process…”

“Cleanup process abnormal…”

“Attempting repair…”

The mechanical voice stuttered.

Distorted like a jammed broadcast.

Each “error” came with harsh static.

Then—

The ground split apart.

The white void collapsed into a chaotic vortex of code.

Metal fragments erupted from within.

They assembled themselves like living creatures.

A massive mechanical spider emerged.

Its many legs touched the ground with screeching sounds.

Each step made Kada’s heart pound violently.

Kada’s eyes went wide.

“W-What is that?!”

He Zunyi stood up from atop him.

Kada wanted to run.

But He Zunyi didn’t move.

He hesitated.

Should he pull her along?

After all, he had tried to screw her over earlier.

Awkward.

Painfully awkward.

He wished none of this had happened.

He Zunyi rolled her eyes.

‘Cleanup program.’

‘Looks like the system is still trying to execute a normal soul exchange.’

‘It’s here to delete and copy us.’

‘Perfectly normal.’

“Then run!”

‘No need.’

Kada didn’t want to deal with this anymore.

A spider tank like that was the last thing he wanted to face.

He Zunyi raised her right hand toward the spider tanks.

She stared at it.

Closed her eyes.

The image of a mechanical prosthetic surfaced in her mind.

Her palm grew heavy.

Cold metal crept along her fingers.

Soon, her entire arm was mechanical.

She lifted it sharply.

A cannon aperture opened in her palm.

Crimson energy gathered.

Lighting up the entire space.

A thunderous blast followed.

The beam struck the spider tank.

Explosion.

Flames engulfed everything.

Boom.

The shockwave knocked Kada off his feet.

He tripped and crashed to the ground.

Red-hot light tore through the spider tanks.

The blast pressure dragged He Zunyi back.

The environment snapped back into the white virtual space.

The night mountain road vanished.

Only scattered fragments remained.

They dissolved into code.

Returning to the blank program space.

“Do you get it now?”

“This is the data layer.”

“Your body is just a simulation.”

“To break limits, you use your brain.”

“Imagination.”

He Zunyi turned to look at Kada.

A trace of pity crossed her face.

‘You’ve died here so many times.’

‘How have you still learned nothing?’