He rushed out of the house, ran through the carefully designed streets, and bolted out of the city.

The cold light on the street could not penetrate the agitation in his heart. The suppressed emotions seemed to have found the only outlet.

No one will understand why he wants to run away, because everyone is staying safe in the border world.

So, his running - that's part of the design of the border, it requires someone to run.

Ove ran towards the long-abandoned factory, that forgotten corner of society, where some power seemed to be calling him.

The iron gate is rusty and no one has set foot on it for a long time.

He walked through the door and entered a dark, silent area.

Here, there are no surveillance devices, no cold white light, just pure darkness and the breath of freedom.

Ove stopped, his heartbeat still racing, but his breathing gradually calmed down. In this darkness, only he and his own soul existed, and those suppressed realities began to echo in his body.

As he stood in the shadow of the abandoned factory, a voice suddenly came from the darkness.

"Did you feel it?"

The voice was low and gentle, echoing in Ove's ears, as if the air was condensing and forming.

Ove turned around suddenly and saw a blurry figure, which was the same as the image in his dream. The boundary between illusion and reality seemed to disappear at this moment.

"Don't be afraid, Ove," the voice continued, with some mysterious and irresistible power, "you have begun to see the truth. The world is not as perfect as you think. The system only controls your body, but

Soul—that's your own."

Ove was stunned, his breathing became rapid, and his eyes were full of confusion and surprise.

This voice seemed to tear apart the fog in his heart, revealing the deepest truth in front of him.

He felt that he should be afraid, but unexpectedly, he calmed down.

The gears of fate finally began to turn.

"Who are you?" Ove asked in a low voice, his voice trembling but filled with uncontrollable desire.

The figure walked forward slightly, revealing a smile in the blur of light and shadow.

"I'm Hugh Abraham," he replied in a low voice, as if from another dimension. "Welcome to the real world."

"155 years, my Independence Day, I arrived at my destination today - this is the place where I first met Hugh Abraham. No matter in the past or now, I think he is an adult full of bad taste -"

*

*

Year 158 of the Holy Frontier Calendar.

January 28.

Three years later, at the border, under the surface of silence, undercurrents surged.

The Border World has experienced a high degree of order and stability for many years. On the surface, there seems to be no abnormality, but the master behind the scenes who truly controls all of this is Corinius P. Bodfield II, the ruler of the Border World——

Yan finally woke up.

Ion's awakening brought a shock.

During the slumber of Bodfe II, the consul system on the border has been operating according to established procedures, controlling everyone's life, destiny and future.

However, an unexpected "exception" appeared in the system's predictions.

[He is a person bewitched by the ‘devil’, and he will destroy the new world;

No matter what method people use, do not be tempted by them, for before that day there will be apostasy, and the man of sin (or the son of destruction) will be revealed.

He opposed Ian and exalted himself above everything that is called God and everything that is worshiped, so much so that he sat in the temple of God and claimed to be God——]

This fable spread throughout the border world.

The first thing Bodefei II did after he woke up was to start killing people.

He did not publicly announce this order, but secretly issued a top-secret order on the grounds of border security: completely eradicate all people born in 41 (the age at which Ove was born), especially those whose names show any signs of being in the system.

"Exceptional circumstances" people.

Those names were recorded in the core system of the Destiny Plan, and these people were about to become targets of massacre.

The issuance of the massacre order was extremely secretive, and only the highest-level border security forces knew the specific details of the operation.

Drones and security forces began to operate quietly. They tracked and locked every target and eliminated any existence that might threaten the stability of the destiny plan.

The civilians on the border have no idea, they are still living in a day-to-day order.

For ordinary people, Ion's awakening did not seem to bring any changes. Pedestrians on the street were busy as usual, working, studying, and entertaining, all proceeding in an orderly manner under the arrangement of fate.

Monitoring equipment records their life trajectories at all times, and the emotional suppression system ensures their emotional stability. No one notices that a silent massacre is quietly unfolding.

Drones hover over cities like ghosts. Their presence has long been commonplace and is often considered a part of maintaining social order.

However, at this moment, their infrared sensors and sophisticated weapons are silently targeting targets hidden in the crowd.

Each individual with a special tag has its location accurately marked by the system.

The security forces quietly mobilized at midnight, and through covert raids and efficient operations, they eliminated these targets one by one.

This bloody campaign of suppression was ruthless, without mercy and without any public justification.

Those young men and women who were born in the same year as Ove were secretly taken away, some were executed at home, and some were instantly turned into dust under the precise strikes of drones.

Those executed had their names quickly removed from all databases of society and their existence completely erased.

The saddest thing is that the new world does not allow any questions or mourning.

*

*

Year 158 of the Holy Frontier Calendar, November 2nd.

Huhuhu——

Night shrouded the entire border, and every light on the street seemed too quiet, as if waiting for a storm that was about to break out. Ove shuttled quickly through the darkness, every step he took was full of anxious rhythm, and the ground beneath his feet

The soil and gravel made a slight sound.

Behind him, the harsh mechanical buzz gradually approached - they were the unmanned pursuit drones of the Border Security Force. In the dim street corners, they flashed a cold red light, like predators locking their prey, chasing Ou mercilessly.

dimension.

Ove's breathing gradually became faster, but he did not stop.

To stop is to die.

This thought echoed in his mind, like a rope tightening around his throat.

He quickened his pace, trying to get rid of the mechanical pursuers.

Tap~tap~tap~tap~tap~

The surrounding buildings seemed silent in the darkness, as if the whole world was against him.

Ove knew that his choice was already determined.

When he took that step on Independence Day and headed towards a freedom he had never imagined, there was no turning back.

His mind couldn't help but flash back to that important night three years ago, the moment that changed the entire trajectory of his life.

At that time, he was only fourteen years old.

independence Day.

That was the first time he met the mysterious man who called himself an angel

His mind always flashed back to the scene when he first met that angel on Independence Day three years ago. The guy who claimed to be an angel and an educator had a very vicious tongue.

Sometimes he wonders to himself - is there really such an educator?

"Look around here. They are all masterpieces carefully designed by programs. But what about you? You may be nothing more than a string of code, an imperfect simulation, or even, uh, a brain placed in an experimental vat, connected to various

Guanzi, happily wandering in this virtual reality."

Ove remembered that he was shocked and speechless by those words. It was the first time he heard such straightforward language, but it completely subverted his worldview.

The angel stared at him coldly.

"This place, this 'border' where you have lived since childhood, is just a virtual cage, an illusion. In fact, you are imprisoned in a thing called the 'Internet of Things Matrix'. To put it simply - you

, dear Ove, it may be just a fragment of consciousness in a human brain, and your entire 'life' is just a large virtual reality game."

Those words were carved into his mind like nails and could not be erased.

Ove was often haunted by these words in his dreams, and he even doubted whether that person really existed or was just a hallucination caused by his mental breakdown.

Buzz buzz——

The buzzing sound of the mechanical pursuit machine became more urgent, and the red light followed him like a shadow.

Ove's thoughts were still echoing, and the angel's words were wrapping around his heart like a poisonous snake.

"Countless imprisoned brains, countless consciousnesses - all in this beautiful virtual world! These people have no idea that they no longer have a body, and their 'life' is just a fantasy designed by programming. And control it all
To be continued...