Chapter 2

"Is this punishment or treatment?"

The man in front of me asked with a cold tone. From his expression, it was clear that he was already well accustomed to such procedures.

Although I could immediately answer "treatment" to end this farce, submitting too early or resisting too strongly might raise suspicions or draw attention.

Even if the other party might not notice anything, I didn't want to create additional risks.

So...

"You f*cking..." I replied with a curse at the time.

As soon as I started speaking, the guy flipped the switch on the "treatment device" again.

In the next second, an electric current passed through my body, causing intense pain that directly affected my nerves and a brief cardiac paralysis, which left me mentally shaken.

If electroshock therapy is an art, then I am the Van Gogh of electroshock therapy, and the institution I am in... they are probably at the level of an amateur art class in a third-rate community college.

Of course, although they don't know how to precisely control the physiological reactions caused by electric shocks by adjusting the strength, waveform, phase, and frequency of alternating current, they at least know how to cause continuous pain without causing serious external injuries. For a "treatment institution," this level of knowledge seems sufficient.

Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself yet. My surname is "Zi," and my given name is "Lin."

Currently, I am receiving "treatment" at a very famous "Youth Behavior Correction Center"; today is my first day, and the institution plans to let my "parents" see the "treatment results" before they leave. Thus, I had this extremely "comfortable" experience.

So far, infiltrating this institution has been extremely smooth. They didn't suspect that the two people who bear no resemblance to me were not my real parents. Their attitude towards reviewing various documents was similar to a teacher grading summer homework... except for being particularly serious when explaining the fees and counting the money, their laxness in accepting "patients" was astonishing. Compared to my previous experience applying to enter a mental hospital, getting into here was as easy as checking into a budget hotel.

However, the real challenge is still ahead.

Infiltrating a mental hospital is easy because at least 95% of the people there are genuinely ill. As long as you pass the threshold and successfully blend in, you can boldly do all sorts of suspicious things. If you get caught, you can always pretend to be crazy and get away with it.

But here, almost everyone is normal. To infiltrate among them without drawing attention, I must appear "ordinary."

Ordinariness is a great quality.

It has extraordinary significance for the entire human world.

Without it, our current social system would immediately collapse; without it, our civilization would never have been able to continue from the beginning.

The human race needs ordinariness as much as it needs air and water.

Throughout history, the operation and maintenance of human society have relied on the countless ordinary people; they are mediocre and follow the wind, yet they consider themselves extraordinary and unique.

Because the majority of humans are such people, the Fifth Kingdom has been able to inherit, develop, and flourish.

But what is the significance of the existence of those few extraordinary individuals who stand out and act on their words?

Naturally... it is to trigger "change."

Change is an illusion; fundamentally, it is just a part of a cycle.

The endpoint of change is still ordinariness. The world, once "transformed," will eventually be handed back to the ordinary people. For a long time, they will believe that the world has changed, become different, and better... even if there are still some bad things, they will think it is just the pain of change, which will eventually be resolved.

But in fact, it won't.

Nothing has changed; the cycle continues.

Despite this, change is still necessary; it is like a "muscle relaxant" or a satisfying self-indulgence. It allows the world to gain a bit of relief and release from accumulated pain and pressure.

I am a changer, and also an inheritor.

If I learned anything from "that person," it might be the life realm of being able to casually say that one's career is like helping the world to masturbate.

In short, for me... being ordinary is very difficult.

Of course, it is also very interesting.

If philosophy could be summarized into "theorems" like mathematics, one of them would definitely be—things that are more difficult are also more interesting.

Overcoming difficulties can give people a sense of achievement and superiority, and this satisfaction is proportional to the difficulty. However, people generally don't like dealing with difficulties because the process of overcoming them always comes with the risk of failure, and the result of failure means... you have invested time and energy, but in the end, you only get a deep sense of frustration and a mess to clean up.

I don't like failing either, so I have to seriously transform myself into someone else.

A normal person.

"Punishment or treatment?"

Another round of electric shocks ended, and the man asked the same question with a serious face.

I really wanted to laugh, but I held back. Not only did I not laugh, but I also had to cry.

Fortunately... holding back laughter can also produce tears.

After a few seconds, I adjusted my expression, and with a full emotional, postmodern, and highly accusatory scream, I shouted: "Treatment! Ah—hahaha..."

My tears finally came, and the uncontrollable laughter was masked by my crying.

Sigh, being an ordinary person is really tiring.

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