Chapter 674: My Cerebellum Is Overloaded (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Chapter 674: My Cerebellum Is Overloaded (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Song Ren felt something strange in the game.

After all, as a player who had just experienced The Witcher: Wild Hunt, he was still very concerned about Elizabeth's whereabouts.

Yet now, the character he was controlling was named Jack?

Moreover, the scenes of Rapture around him seemed slightly different from the previous preview?

The Rapture before Song Ren felt extremely eerie.

It was completely unlike the content shown in the preview video.

The underwater metropolis of Rapture was empty, filled everywhere with ruins.

Mad mutants leaped out to attack people.

Putting aside his fixation on Elizabeth for now, Song Ren cautiously advanced forward, exploring step by step.

Guided through the radio by a strange man named Atlas, Song Ren began exploring Rapture.

"This guy is quite polite—uses honorifics the whole time."

As Song Ren explored Rapture, he sighed with emotion.

This was probably the most respectful NPC he had ever encountered in a game.

Even when giving directions, every sentence included a polite "Would you kindly," making Song Ren feel a bit awkward.

We're practically family—why so formal?

As Song Ren continued exploring Rapture, he increasingly felt a striking contrast.

The architecture of the deep-sea metropolis was exquisitely crafted, yet shattered and broken, with leaks everywhere.

The dreamlike neon signs along the streets contrasted sharply with the corpses and bloodstains nearby.

The lazy singing from the bar's jukebox was melodious, while the clown sound effects from the vending machines were unsettling—Song Ren jumped in fright the first time he heard them.

Combined, these elements made Song Ren feel as if Rapture were a dream—beautiful yet grotesque, mad yet real.

Of course, what interested Song Ren even more was the game's combat mechanics.

Similar to the Magic (attack type) in The Witcher: Wild Hunt, the superpowers in Rapture were called Adam Plasmid. Like the Magic (attack type) in Columbia, the Plasmids derived from Adam substance were openly sold.

Fire, lightning—through different Plasmids, players could unleash different elemental powers.

What stunned Song Ren, however, was that, just like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, players could use elemental powers to interact with the environment.

For example, if the ground was wet, using an electric attack would electrocute any monsters standing in the water.

Ice-covered paths could be melted with fire.

Yet what intrigued Song Ren most was the story of Rapture.

Besides himself, Rapture was filled with addicts driven insane by Adam substance, as well as Little Sisters collecting Adam and Big Daddies protecting them.

A Big Daddy was a massive monster wearing a metal diving suit, wielding a giant drill.

Their relationship resembled that of Elizabeth and Nightingale.

But unlike Elizabeth, who was protected, the Little Sisters could move freely.

As Song Ren progressed through the game, his mind filled with curiosity and confusion.

When would he finally meet Elizabeth? What had happened to this city of Rapture?

These questions lingered in his mind.

But Song Ren didn't have to wait long before he finally saw Elizabeth.

In the game, Chen Xu employed a dual narrative structure.

This differed slightly from the previous life.

After all, in the original BioShock and its DLC Burial at Sea, the stories were largely independent.

Chen Xu trimmed some drawn-out level progression here.

He also added transitional scenes to make character switches smoother.

After all, Elizabeth's storyline and Jack's storyline were parallel.

Much like the relationship between Geralt of Rivia and Ciri in The Witcher: Wild Hunt.

The main quest followed Jack's perspective—a clear, visible path.

The hidden path, however, followed Elizabeth's perspective.

In the original BioShock, there were indeed visible and hidden storylines, but due to production scale and budget, the hidden path was mostly conveyed through documents.

Here, Chen Xu integrated some of that hidden narrative with Elizabeth's Burial at Sea storyline—depicting Rapture's rise and fall, and the backstories of characters like Dr. Yi—through Elizabeth's journey.

Elizabeth and the surviving Booker belonged to the past.

Jack's Rapture was set in the Future Era.

Through Elizabeth's eyes, Song Ren finally saw the once-glorious Rapture at its peak.

It was vastly different from the time period Jack experienced.

At this point, Rapture had not yet fallen into civil war or chaos.

Its prosperity rivaled that of Columbia, the Sky City.

But unlike Columbia's heavy religious atmosphere, Rapture was filled with artistic flair.

Theatrical posters, sculptures, and films were everywhere on the city's streets and alleys.

At this juncture, Song Ren watched as Elizabeth led Booker on an adventure.

Through clues and collecting items, he began to piece together the connection between Rapture and Columbia.

The concept of Big Daddies and Little Sisters originated from the bond between Elizabeth and Nightingale in Columbia.

Likewise, the Magic (attack type) in Columbia stemmed from Rapture's Adam Plasmid.

As the game progressed, more and more truths were gradually unveiled—Song Ren was completely stunned.

Compared to The Witcher: Wild Hunt, this concluding chapter titled Rapture was even bolder in its story.

Why was Elizabeth still alive?

What was the origin of Booker in Rapture?

When Booker was attacked by a Big Daddy along the way, Elizabeth's guidance helped him finally recall everything.

In this timeline, Booker first became Comstock, choosing baptism after the Battle of Wounded Knee.

After that, his story mirrored Comstock's in The Witcher: Wild Hunt.

By funding the Lutece siblings, he built Columbia, the Sky City, and created a machine capable of opening parallel worlds.

Using knowledge from parallel worlds, he became the Prophet—Comstock.

But he lost his ability to have children, so he searched parallel worlds for his daughter, Elizabeth.

Yet a variable emerged: Elizabeth's existence was a constant.

But her life or death became a variable.

In this particular timeline, when young Elizabeth was taken, it wasn't her finger that was cut off—it was her head.

He had personally killed his own daughter, even if she was from a parallel world.

This realization shocked Booker, but instead of facing it, he once again fled reality—just as he had after the Battle of Wounded Knee.

He asked the Lutece siblings to teleport him to a place no one knew.

That place was Rapture.

And precisely because of this teleportation of Comstock, Rapture and Columbia became intertwined.

Here, Booker adopted a daughter named Sally—the Little Sister.

Elizabeth had guided Booker all along in searching for Sally, merely to make him remember his sins.

By this point in the game, Song Ren was utterly dumbfounded.

Elizabeth found Booker just to guide him to regain his memories—and then kill him!?

If this shocked Song Ren, what came next left him confused.

"Booker died again!? What the hell is going on? Is Elizabeth connected to Jack somehow? And the timelines of Elizabeth and Jack are only a few years apart!"

Watching the sudden appearance of the Big Daddy, who not only killed Booker but also Elizabeth, Song Ren's head started to ache.

His cerebellum was overloaded—this was exactly how he felt.

Even stranger was Elizabeth herself.

Though she died under the Big Daddy's drill just like Booker, she was different.

Due to her unique abilities, in the instant before death, Elizabeth, like the Lutece siblings, entered a state of quantum entanglement.

She existed in every timeline, yet not truly present.

But unlike the Lutece siblings, Elizabeth could only observe the course of fate—she could not interfere.

In terms of life signs, Elizabeth had entered an immortal, undying state.

But what Song Ren never expected was that, after seeing the future, Elizabeth chose to abandon her observer form and willingly become mortal.

This caused Elizabeth to lose some of her memories, while her subconscious transformed into Booker's mindset, accompanying her throughout her adventure.

Moreover, Elizabeth made a deal with a rebel leader to save the Little Sister, Sally.

Why did Elizabeth do this?

What future had she seen?

<>