What Is Real?

Lem's simulated self pursed his lips, before charging directly at the trunk.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

He broke off branches of surrounding trees as he ran.

Through his rage, somehow, his mind entered a state of utter calm and stillness.

The motions of the [Nine Bull Fist] were replaying over and over again.

Each muscle contraction.

Each breath.

The repositioning of his weight, from one foot to the other.

The swing of the hips.

His fist swung out in a punch, the most powerful punch he had ever delivered, directed squarely at the base of the trunk, where the thickest vines were.

At his knuckles, there was a slight hint of a force that was similar to spiritual energy, but much more subdued.

It made his fist vibrate slightly with warmth.

Thud!

His arm rebounded in an explosion of pain, throwing him to the ground.

"Agh!"

He leapt to his feet and swung his fist again. He was able to produce the slight emergent force again.

Thud!

[In desperation, you attack the vines with the [Nine Bull Fist], but you cannot leave a mark on it, only hurting your hand. You keep attacking the vines…]

Lem watched as his simulated self attacked the vines of the evil flower over and over again.

His attention became fully immersed in the feedback he was receiving from his body.

Movement by movement, his use of the [Nine Bull Fist] was improving.

When he observed carefully, he saw that the engagement of his muscles seemed more coherent and unified on every strike.

The change was perceptible, and even though he did not have access to the thoughts of his simulated self, he could understand that something was occurring from the state of his body.

Was his simulated self experiencing enlightenment?

How else could the rapid improvement of the [Nine Bull Fist] be explained?

This development brought a small measure of happiness back to Lem.

He was already sure that his death was impending and worse, he would have to watch it unfold in a prolonged manner. 

At least now he could see just how far the 'enlightenment' could take him!

[Night falls and you are exhausted. You decide to sleep to recover energy, and look for a solution later. You eat from your rations and fall asleep…]

As the world turned to darkness, Lem was left alone with his thoughts again.

He began thinking about the power of the evil flower, if that was even its true form…

In the past, when his mind had succumbed to the evil within him, his senses were merely diminished.

From his detached perspective, he could not see the illusions because they were occurring entirely within the mind of his simulated self.

However, this had changed with the evil flower.

It had the ability to influence the raw perception transmitting to his body, distorting his senses on a fundamental level. 

This was frightening. It could confuse even his detached mind, bringing another level of danger into his life.

After all, if he was tricked into thinking that a path was safe from the simulation, when in actuality, it was a trap set by an evil, then he might accidentally walk directly into certain death with his true body.

This thought cast Lem into further confusion.

What could he trust?

His assumption was that the flower started affecting him when the strange sensation began, but that wasn't necessarily the case.

The previous day, he had encountered the harvest tree and the water lily.

Were they even real, or were they just illusions produced by the flower?

To be on the safe side, he decided never to venture towards the harvest tree with his true body.

The risks were too great!