When Evans opened the door, that sound suddenly vanished.
He stepped out of the prison cell. Rather than hiding in a sealed space, he preferred staying in the corridor.
If he had pushed open the door and run into the corridor earlier, whatever killed him might not have caught up.
It might not have even entered the corridor at all.
This time, Evans didn't wait for whatever was in the cell across from him to start a conversation. Instead, he walked straight down the center of the corridor and left.
He didn't change direction. Though this wasn't the way to the exit, he wanted to exchange a few more words with that person.
It only took Evans five minutes to find that particular prison cell. He opened the door and stepped inside, and soon, the row of writing appeared on the wall again.
"Who are you?"
Evans smashed the mirror and retrieved a sharp mirror shard. A second line of writing appeared.
"I have no memory of the past. Are you the same?"
"Same here. I'm Evans. How did you know we could communicate through these messages?"
Evans wasn't sure if the other person also retained any previous memories, so he didn't reveal any information about his simulation attempts.
"Hello, Evans. I've tried other ways to communicate too."
"Have you talked to anyone else?"
"No."
"Right now, we can only understand each other through these messages. I think we should be honest if you still want to keep talking."
The other side paused for a moment before writing a new message.
"When I regained consciousness, I was holding a piece of document paper. The writing on it had already faded. But on the back of the paper, I found some notes I might have left myself as a reminder."
"Can you tell me what they said?"
The other side paused again before writing another line.
"They said I could communicate with others through messages, but I shouldn't trust the D-Class personnel here… I think I'm one of the researchers here."
"Then why did you tell me that? I'm wearing prison garb, so I should be that D-Class personnel."
"I just think you're right. We've both lost our memories, and now we can only communicate through messages. If we can't even be honest with each other, then there's no point in talking."
"This situation might have something to do with Information."
"Information? What does that mean? Wait, I think I hear footsteps."
"Get out now! Leave the cell! Please trust me!"
Evans carved the words and rushed toward the prison compartment door. Suddenly, a crashing sound rang out in the distance.
Boom!
Evans pushed open the door and ran into the corridor, but he didn't close it behind him.
The crashing sounds grew closer. Evans didn't leave. He stared at the wall inside the room, waiting for the other person's reply.
The door closed by itself. Evans began darting left and right until he quickly found an unlocked prison cell. He pulled open the door and slipped inside.
As soon as Evans entered the cell, the door closed automatically. The crashing sounds passed by outside, and that unhurried footstep continued drawing nearer to them.
Evans opened the door and stepped out of the cell. Someone else closed the prison cell door behind him.
The moment the cell door shut, that slow, unhurried footstep disappeared.
Evans reached out near the door, but he didn't touch anyone.
"Are you there? I can't reach you."
Suddenly, a line of writing appeared on the corridor wall.
"If this is just a problem with information transmission, could this happen?"
Evans used the mirror shard to carve a reply beneath the writing.
"It's possible. Our consciousness is made up of various information. If we can't collect each other's information, we can't interact with each other at all."
"But you do exist, right? Even if I can't perceive your information, I should still be able to pass through where you're standing, shouldn't I?"
"Maybe you can touch me, but you just can't perceive the information related to me?"
"No. If that were the case, my movements would start deviating the moment I touched you. Unless my memory was constantly being modified, the deviation would grow until I could no longer perform normal actions."
"...There's another possibility. Maybe we've already been informationalized."
"You mean we're inside some kind of game world?"
"No. Matter is the carrier of information. Energy drives matter to move, which is the driving force of information transmission.
Under specific conditions, matter and energy can transform into each other. Maybe matter and information can also transform under specific conditions."
"How do we transform? Forget it. This isn't the time to study that. The large door over here is locked. I'm going to check the other end of the corridor. Do you want to come with me?"
"Yeah, let's go together. Every few steps, I'll leave a message on the wall. If the message disappears, it means I'm in trouble."
"Don't get close to the prison cells. Some of them have dangerous things inside. Leave your messages on the ground, and I'll watch the floor. If something approaches, try to leave it to me."
"Okay."
Evans began walking down the center of the corridor. He kept glancing down to check for messages. This time, none of those strange things appeared on the path, and they reached the end of the corridor smoothly.
There was another metal door there, also locked tight.
"What now?"
Evans tried to reply on the ground, only to find that the mirror shard couldn't leave a mark on the floor.
He had to walk to the wall and carve his message there.
"We have to find a way out of here. Maybe we should search those prison cells for something that can open the door."
Two seconds passed, but Evans didn't see any new messages. He quickly turned his head to check the ground—nothing there either.
That person claiming to be a researcher was gone.
Evans carefully scanned his surroundings. He didn't notice any changes.
Just then, he heard a faint sound.
He snapped his head around to look into the distance. About ten meters away, the door to a prison cell had swung open.
Evans sprinted to that cell at top speed. Inside, there was nothing at all. Even when he reached out, he couldn't touch anything.
'Informationalized…'
Evans steadied his breathing. He partially closed the prison cell door, leaving only a gap wide enough for a person to slip through.
Then, he placed one hand on the door and stood outside the crack.
The door trembled at first, then suddenly burst open wide.
Evans slammed the door shut with all his strength. When he found he couldn't close it, he fiercely smashed the door into the unseen thing stuck in the middle.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Evans slammed it down dozens of times. Suddenly, the thing disappeared, and the door crashed against the frame, nearly catching his thumb.
"Hah. I feel much better now."
