Embers of Embers

Chapter 200 The unknown is fear
"Did you feel it?"
042 asked during the march. He stood at the front of the team. The strong armor would be the toughest shield.
"Yeah, and it's getting deeper." 016 replied. She knew exactly what 042 was talking about, the emotion called fear.
For some reason, the fog in the valley became thicker and thicker, the field of vision was severely suppressed, and the visual distance was pitifully short. In this, the demon hunters could faintly feel the rising fear.
This is very strange. In the knowledge of the Demon Hunting Order, the emotion of fear is the brain's protection for itself, warning humans not to get close to the unknown that may be dangerous.
After training, demon hunters have the ability to suppress their emotions in order to pursue absolute rationality in the face of demons. But now that there is no erosion or demons, their rationality is gradually being eroded.
016 looked at the surrounding fog warily, as if there was something beyond demons affecting them in this strange fog.
"011 report the situation."
The demon hunter's eyes are as bright as a torch, and 011's power is Shanda's salary. Although the foreseeable future is very short-lived, in this mysterious and unpredictable situation, one more minute or one second may be the key to changing the situation of the battle.
011 regularly activates the power to provide early warning for the entire team.
"Safety."
He answered briefly.
The three of them began to go deeper into the fog. With the rise of the thick fog, it was already difficult for them to judge their orientation, and even the buildings became blurred in it, as if in an inadvertent moment, they arrived at an unknown place. world.
In fact, that's pretty much the idea. The entire valley town is closed and completely isolated from the real world. It's not wrong to say that it's a world separated by ordinary people.
Suddenly there seemed to be a surge of wind, and the thick fog was stirred by unknown hands, rolling up wild ash.
Almost at this moment, a rusty long knife cut through the mist, stained with disgusting blood, the target was 016.
"careful!"
Shang Dafeng's power played its due role at this moment. 011 may not have time to remind others, but this did not prevent him from taking action. He swung his nail sword to block the sudden attack.
The cooperation between the demon hunters was demonstrated at this moment. At the same moment as the metals rang together, 042 arrived brandishing a nail sword. He had the strongest armor on his body and did not care about the danger lurking in the fog.
The spiked sword was raised above the head, and then fell suddenly, like the execution blade that judged death.
The power is soaring. Many times, demon hunters are not efficient in killing enemies, or they choose according to different situations. Most demon hunters will leave cruel wounds on the enemy's body, as if they are torturing the enemy. But in fact, this is not a psychological abnormality or a bad taste, it is just to make the enemy fearful.
It is more terrifying to inject fear into the enemy's mind than to defeat the enemy.
Many of the ordinary people who fought against the witchers were not killed by the witchers, but lost their fighting spirit due to fear under the witchers' almost crazy attacks.
Fear is a universal language across countries and species.
The nailed sword fell smoothly, and the arm holding the long knife rose out of thin air, and then a lot of blood gushed out.
042 did not stop, he rushed forward again, broke through the fog, and then a ferocious face appeared in front of him.
His firm belief suddenly wavered for a moment, and the hand holding the nailed sword trembled slightly.
It was a strange emotion, similar to fear, but completely different.
"In fact, although fear is terrible, it is the most familiar emotion to humans."
In the mist, outside the story, Lorenzo sat safely on the bench and explained to the other three people.
Kestrel's eyes were a little impatient. He hated Lorenzo saying something else at a critical moment in the story, but Lorenzo seemed not to notice and continued talking.
"It can be understood as a kind of early warning system of mankind itself, which has been with us since the beginning of our birth."
Looking at the nonchalant looks of the others, Lorenzo continued.
"Please think about it, this is not just a story, it is a demon hunter's precious experience of hunting demons. It is so special that I still remember it clearly... Maybe in the future, this story will be I will save your life."
Perhaps it was the seriousness in Lorenzo's words that made the others look a little serious.
Lorenzo looked at the face in the mist, his eyes heavy and confused.
“Have you heard about the uncanny valley effect?”
He looked at everyone, but these listeners were not as knowledgeable as Lorenzo. After all, not everyone was like Lorenzo, who just went to college to take classes when he had nothing to do, or the kind who took a little bit of every class.
"Simply speaking, this effect can barely be regarded as a kind of fear, but it is much more special than fear. I think everyone has had that experience, such as looking at a small animal, maybe at a certain angle... suddenly Similar to a human being?”
Lorenzo said slowly.
"And not only that, I believe that after you realize this, you will find that the familiar things in front of you become unfamiliar, and then you will feel a little scared, right?"
The audience was silent, not sure if they understood what Lorenzo meant, until Joey among them nodded.
"The Purification Agency has done a lot of spiritual research. I vaguely remember such a situation, but it may not be the same as what you said."
The first thing that erosion affects is the spirit, so a series of studies on the spirit a long time ago became one of the main research projects of the purification agency.
Seeing someone finally replying, Lorenzo was much satisfied. He began to understand the embarrassment teachers felt when they asked questions in college classes but no one answered them.
"Yes, but to explain it in more detail, when humans judge an object, they will only classify it into one category, and will not judge it into two categories... You can understand A man who looks like a monkey because of his excessive body hair.
So when we first see this man, we will only judge him as a 'human' or a 'monkey' and not a 'human-monkey', right? "
An invisible mist surged between them, and fragmentary sounds sounded, as if countless insects were slowly crawling.
Lorenzo continues to talk about "fear".
"When a creature looks like a human, we will judge it as 'non-human', but what happens when the degree of similarity reaches a certain limit? What happens when it is infinitely close to humans?
Cats have similar species, and dogs also have similar species, but humans are different. We don’t have similar species. We are a unique species, the only species.
So when it is infinitely close to human beings, we will misjudge it and find it difficult to classify it as a 'human' or a 'non-human'. There are also warnings from survival... It is difficult for us to classify it. Judging whether they are the same kind, but once they are regarded as the same kind, then it is the most primitive competition and the struggle between the same kind. "
Lorenzo stared at everyone closely, trying to find any interesting expressions on their pretendingly calm faces.
"Unlike monsters, when we face monsters, our own fears will give us answers. Even if monsters are exactly the same as humans, they will not cause us to misjudge.
But the uncanny valley effect is different. It is an unknown. This information exceeds our cognition and is completely outside the scope of our understanding. "
Lorenzo sat up straight and clasped his hands together.
"Similar but different, the fear of bad nature and the unknown that threatens us as 'humans'."
In the story, 042 suppressed the strange fear. He panted heavily, raised the nail sword to block the counterattack from the fog, and then its appearance was revealed in the fog.
The face was covered with long and slender down hair, and the skin had dense folds. The dirty blood on the face turned into strange symbols, which seemed to be the difference in the skull bones. His skull protruded backward, and his eye sockets were deeply sunken. He seemed to be looking at 042, his eyes seemed to be abyss swallowing light.
He seems to be similar to us, yet fundamentally different.
The demon hunter roared and swung his sword, perhaps out of fear or anger. The nailed sword penetrated his chest, leaving red blood along the blade.
　This is not some literary youth. I have done some research.
　
(End of this chapter)