Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 873: Chapter 829: Gift_1 Chapter 873: Chapter 829: Gift_1 It’s easy to think about a Consciousness Chip.

But it’s hard to actually create one.

Lincoln has not fully prepared to completely transfer a person’s consciousness into the virtual world.

To be more accurate: he hasn’t even considered this!

As for this technology, the furthest he has thought about it till now is to disguise it as a more advanced chip, add stricter physical locks, and use it on Cloud Dream servers or devices like [Mirage 3.0] and [Eight Sides 2.0].

Even with these, he has not fully made up his mind.

The only thing he’s determined to do is upgrade his own equipment, so that portable devices can also exceed the effect of home consoles.

As for using it in consciousness transfer?

He thought that only when the ALS special effects drug failed hundreds or thousands of times, and Little Chun’s condition rapidly deteriorated, would he be completely determined.

After all, this technology is indeed a major issue, and once it’s discovered by the outside world, it’s hard to say what will happen in the end.

Good or bad?

No one knows, it’s similar to gambling.

Lincoln doesn’t like gambling.

But if he doesn’t gamble, is he just going to watch Sisi lose her life?

If it’s a stranger, he might be able to do it, but for the people close to him, Lincoln just can’t bring himself to do it.

Moreover, this is not something that he can definitely accomplish if he wants to.

Become a wanderer in the virtual world?

Is Sisi willing?

Are Sisi’s parents willing?

Even if they are willing, can the experiment surely succeed?

What if it fails?

Not to mention that this experiment might even be illegal – although the surgery for the brain-machine interface is not complicated and does not involve ethics, consciousness transfer undoubtedly involves the ethical issues in scientific research.

To put it in more severe terms, it could be called human experimentation.

…

Safety, ethics, legality, confidentiality, familial consent…

there are too many issues to consider.

Lastly, there’s the time issue.

All things must be completed within three months…

considering the uncertainty of acute diseases, it might even need to be shortened to one and a half months.

Is it really possible?

…

…

Lincoln had many things on his mind, but he didn’t say a word to Leonard, instead, he composed himself, opened the door, and walked into the ward.

Sisi’s parents, who Lincoln rarely saw before, always busy, were now present in the ward.

And it seemed, they had been in the ward for a long time, both of them appeared noticeably haggard.

They saw Lincoln come in, made an effort to smile at him optimistically, but the smiles quickly faded, replaced by exhaustion and powerlessness.

Only Sisi, on the hospital bed, her eyes lit up when she saw Lincoln, and she excitedly greeted him.

The little girl didn’t tell him about her illness.

Instead, she introduced him to her new friend: “This is my new friend Little White, he’s very well-behaved, he’s been with me all along.”

Lincoln moved his gaze from her pale face and looked at the small white tiger, White Luster, nestled by her pillow.

“Does Sisi like Pokémon?”

“Yes, I love them, they are all so cute.” Sisi’s affection was written all over her face, but after her joy there was some sorrow, “But I’m sick, I can’t go out to play.”

“Does Sisi want to catch pets?

Which one do you like?”

“No.” Sisi shook her head gently, “I already have many pets, they are all so cute, but I can only let one out, I want all of them to come out and play together.”

Right, Sisi obviously cannot raise her Master Level through pet combat, so she can only summon one Spirit Beast at the same time.

And to enter the World in the Painting, one needs the “Mountain and Sea Scroll”, which Sisi obviously can’t catch up to Zou Wu.

So, Lincoln asked, “Does Sisi want to go to the virtual world and play with lots and lots of little pets?”

“The world in the painting?”

To Lincoln’s surprise, Sisi did not become happy, but instead she became more distraught: “I can’t stay in the virtual world now.”

“I can’t stay in the virtual house for long, I also can’t play the new gameplay of [Candy Track]…”

Lincoln was taken aback, wondering why when Sisi’s mother explained to him: “Sisi used to be able to play in the virtual world when her pain wasn’t too severe, but now she’s in too much pain…”

Sisi’s mother hesitated to continue, but she looked at Lincoln earnestly, pleading, “Could you please help us to make Sisi…

happier?”

She swallowed several words in her last sentence, Lincoln speculated that she might have meant [the last days].

Nevertheless, he understood why Sisi could no longer enter the virtual world—

In essence, Mirage simply masks brain signals through external neural signals, rather than truly taking over the transfer of brain signals.

This “wireless” signal mask coming from outside is much weaker compared to the “wired” neural connection inside the body.

If there is a severe change in the physical body in reality, the player would be kicked out of the virtual world instantly.

And severe pain, undoubtedly, would cause significant interference with the transmission of signals in the virtual world, making the connection extremely unstable.

Sisi could not stay stably in the virtual world any longer due to the advanced stage of her disease, combined with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and complications that put her in constant torment of the disease.

To shield pain through the virtual world is just a beautiful luxury.

—The virtual world could only shield and regulate the pain produced in the virtual world, which is false to begin with.

In most cases, it is indeed true.

But for Lincoln, it isn’t entirely impossible.

He silently took off his headband, adjusted the size, and replaced it on Sisi.

Sisi looked a bit puzzled at first, but soon her eyes widened in surprise, looking around the room in astonishment.

Without the headband, Lincoln could not see what Mavis showed Sisi, but he guessed that the ward should now be stuffed full with all sorts of fictional creatures.

But those are just minor details.

What was most important was, “Is it feeling any better?”

“Yes!” Sisi nodded vigorously, “The pain is gone, it’s amazing!

Thank you, brother!”

Lincoln knew that being completely pain-free was impossible.

As a lazy person—or perhaps more favorably, an advocate of the “All in One” philosophy—he had already integrated all the functions of the headband together.

And due to the special nature of Mavis, as well as a slight sense of superiority in his “exclusive feature”, his headband was an “enhanced custom edition” that was simply not available on the market.

For this reason, Mavis was able to use this headband for high-intensity signal output and interference that could not normally be achieved, thereby disrupting the “wired” neural signal to a certain extent and greatly reducing the pain Sisi was experiencing.

But this method was not sustainable.

Not only would it greatly reduce the lifespan of the headband’s hardware, but it would also negatively impact the user’s nervous system.

However, these effects would only appear after a long accumulation of time, and Sisi…

might not make it that long.

Perhaps due to her parents’ presence giving her courage, Sisi became chattier after her pain was reduced—this was quite a contrast to her previously shy and introverted demeanor.

She joyfully talked about her parents, who were by her side every day, telling her stories, buying her delicious food, and helping her collect cute pets…

She raved about how good her parents were to her.

But as she continued speaking, Sisi’s parents could no longer hold back, her father claiming he needed to go and talk to the doctor, her mother excusing herself to the bathroom, both temporarily leaving the ward.

Only her grandfather remained behind.

After her parents left, Sisi suddenly lowered her voice and whispered mysteriously: “Brother, lean in, I have a secret to tell you.”

“What?” Lincoln ducked his head to listen.

Sisi whispered: “I actually know I’m about to die.”

“!” Lincoln instantly widened his eyes, wanting to comfort her, but he did not know what to say.

But Sisi didn’t expect his comfort and continued:

“So, I secretly wrote lots and lots of notes and hid them around the house.”

“This way, after I’m gone, my parents will frequently find the notes I left behind, knowing I loved them.”

“That’s the gift I left for them.”

Kids don’t really understand death, Sisi did not appear overly scared or sad, instead, she seemed somewhat cheerful.

But for Lincoln, his heart felt heavy and he couldn’t force out a word.

The little girl had no idea that, if she really passed away, these notes would become the most brutal reminders in this world, hitting her parents when they least expected it.

Over and over again…

At this moment, Lincoln finally made a definitive decision.

He gently patted the little girl’s head and spoke softly:

“Sisi, I also have a present for you.”

“This is a very important gift, so I need a little time to prepare.

Could you wait for me?”