[NR] Why Does Sleeping Work? - Chapter 513

Rosha shrugs, “Sure, it does that, but wouldn’t mental acceleration do the same? You can’t tell me that the godly figures with thousands of years under their belts aren’t capable of accelerating their thoughts a bit.”

Jason, “Firstly, the big thing with the whole ‘messing with time’? It works from an outsider’s perspective while not actually doing anything for the person experiencing it. What NeoRealm is doing works from everyone’s perspective. Secondly, I think what NeoRealm is doing isn’t actually what they claim it is. Though I’m waiting for Courtney to get back because I want her opinion on it.”

Good thing it didn’t take long for Courtney to finish up. Her experience in guiding her test subjects proved invaluable to her own efforts. Though out in the wider world, some people were having a bit of a conniption fit.

A scientist smacks the screen in front of her, half expecting what she is seeing to be a glitch. “We’ve got growth in the field! Why do we have growth in the field? The boy’s still in, yet things are changing!”

A guy in a suite sighs, “Were we wrong? It all lined up. The whole nonsense came about and was only advancing if he wasn’t in the pod. Could it have all been a coincidence?”

Another scientist shrugged, “There have been blips in other places, but those have been determined to be testing sites. So someone has figured something out. It might be whoever is doing more testing.”

The guy in the suit shakes his head, “Those were temporary changes at best. Though I guess this could be as well. We will just have to wait and see.”

Suffice it to say, this night gave certain organizations a lot to chew on. Especially when the added size of the area didn’t go away.

Back in the private room, Courtney is brought up to speed on the conversation. She shrugged, “So why do you think NeoRealm isn’t thought accelerating like they claim?”

Jason, “I hadn’t realized a discrepancy until recently. Why does sleeping in NeoRealm give us a full night’s rest?”

Rosha shrugs, “Well, we are sleeping?”

Jason shakes his head, “I’m not debating that, I’m debating the fact it gives us a FULL night’s rest. It is entirely possible to just hop into the pod and spend less than two hours to get a full eight hours. Sleep doesn’t work like that!

“Thinking faster does not make you sleep better. After all, sleep is the act of relaxing the mind. We should instead be sleeping five times worse. Thinking five times as fast while sleeping, if anything, should probably make us more tired.”

Courtney frowns, “That. That makes sense? Why hasn’t anyone figured it out?”

Rosha laughs, “Why would they bother? They’re told what to expect and then experience it. If someone tells you the sky is blue and you look up to see the sky is blue, very few are going to debate it.

“And even those that would? They won’t debate that the sky is actually red. They’re going to debate about how actually this or that and the sky isn’t blue, it just looks that way.”

Jason nods, “Plus, don’t forget how much control NeoRealm has. If it doesn’t want someone to spread that sort of information, it isn’t going to spread. They won’t even be as obvious about it as a shadow ban.

“I would bet that the System would instead curate who could see the post and what the post actually says for each visitor. It wouldn’t be hard to screw with a person.”

Courtney nods, “Fair. Now what do you think is gaining us this fancy five times multiplier?”

Jason shrugs, “The very thing that makes it so all other VR games are ephemeral things that can never stick. NeoRealm is a different dimension. We aren’t going five times as fast, we’re still just going along at one-to-one speed.

“Compared to our home dimension, the dimension NeoRealm is in is going five times as fast. If we were actually physically traveling here, it would be the same as if we had entered an area of fast time. Hell, if you tried just sending your mind into an area of fast time, it still wouldn’t work.

“The reason I assume NeoRealm works like this is because it is a separate dimension from our own. Just sticking your mind in a fast time zone will either make your body also age or your mind won’t match the speed, depending on the strength of the zone.

“And I don’t think what NeoRealm is doing is without risk in turn. While our bodies aren’t aging, part of what changes with cultivation is a person’s mind and how they react to time passing. You don’t get that with NeoRealm.

“I’m going to guess, the older generation isn’t as stable as those from before NeoRealm. Now, it seems there have been many massive steps forward in psychology, so we’re managing. However, the mind of someone who was only ever supposed to live a hundred years and yet has the experience of five hundred? There is only so much you can do about that.”

Rosha laughed, “So the guy claiming to be the reincarnation of a cultivator is telling us our elders have gone mad. Not that I don’t believe you, but looking at the situation without the context makes it so strange. With context? Well, with my family I’ve met some of the ‘elders’ and at best they’re obsessive. Though some of them do seem to be better off?”

Jason, “Those are likely the ones who have made it to level 100 in NeoRealm. While our avatars there aren’t our bodies, gaining a core is a qualitative change on all levels. This includes the mind and soul.

“Beyond that, I’m going to guess any that can break through the level cap will be even better off. While there is a limit to any change that doesn’t cover the entire self, it will help.”