Low Dimensional Game-Chapter 3 - Designing a World

During the night, Lu Zhiyu drove his BYD to Mulanshan, which was near the lake where land was rich and fertile. Lu zhiyu had even felt the soil with his hand.

After he had chosen the place, Lu Zhiyu started to carry out his first plan to steal some soil. He had intended to use agricultural soil to prevent infestation problems, but it was too costly. With the amount of soil that he needed, even $10,000 would not be enough!

The air in Mulanshan was fresh, so it would be very nice to come in the morning. However, it was in the middle of the night at the moment. As the cold wind blew, it sounded like the moaning of spirits, and made the place quite scary.

Lu Zhiyu was a bit nervous, but not because he was stealing the soil, but because he was about to open the entrance to the painting space. This also happened to be the entrance to a two-dimensional world which was trapped by the forcefield of the Scroll of the World. Yes, Lu Zhiyu decided to name the painting the Scroll of the World.

The moment that the entrance opened, there would be a gap in the forcefield. If he was unable to control it, the consequences would be dire.

Earlier, Lu Zhiyu had sought advice from others in internet forums, questioning them about how to best design a two-dimensional world. When he asked what could go wrong after opening the entrance, someone from the forum asked him warily, “Hey, buddy, have you ever heard of the Dual-Vector Foil?”

When Lu Zhiyu thought of what he had in his hands, he swallowed hard. This thing could destroy the solar system at any given time.

When he was ready, the silver sigil in his brain flashed. He saw a black whirlpool appear on the Scroll of the World. Its powerful suction pulled at everything within the radius of half a mile.

“Enough! That’s enough!”

During the few minutes the wind whipped through the air, Lu Zhiyu found it difficult to keep his eyes open. He even found it hard to breathe. Much of the air within a radius of one kilometer had been drawn away, causing the air to thin.

After opening his eyes, Lu Zhiyu saw that the gigantic hill had turned into a cliff. The water of the lake was at its base, but the water level was slowly rising.

Lu Zhiyu was stunned, and quickly stored away the Scroll of the World for safekeeping then left the hill by a detour. After reaching the foot of the hill, he hopped into his car and hurriedly left.

The following day, it was reported in the news that, after the analysis of the experts, it had been concluded that a syndicate had stolen the soil. The experts strongly voiced their displeasure over such an action.

However, none of this had anything to do with Lu Zhiyu. He had hung his Scroll of the World, which was now no longer empty, on a shelf in his bedroom. Pictured upon it was a small island, surrounded by the swaying sea.

The water had been drawn from the lake so there should have been numerous fish in the water, but they had all disappeared. It was apparent that the painting space could only bear the weight and girth of tiny living things.

With the help of the sigil in his brain, Lu Zhiyu had spent the whole night separating the objects from the water, completely setting up a stable world. However, the sigil had gradually lost its silver color. It used to be bright, but it had faded, as if the changes made to the painting space had consumed its power. But even now, Lu Zhiyu still remained baffled over its power.

As he looked at the painting, he saw ants crawling within it. He jumped up with excitement, exclaiming, “This is exactly what I thought. Space is determined by matter, and time is determined by space!”

Finally, there was stable space established within the scroll. As Lu Zhiyu observed the ants, he realized that they were moving around like the characters in 2D video games. There was nothing unusual about their behavior. They had probably lost their three-dimensional senses, as they were living within the two-dimensional world. Another possibility was that they were two-dimensional creatures.

However, the two-dimensional world still seemed lifeless. It was nothing like the real, human world. In the twinkle of an eye, the ants began to die. Lu Zhiyu knew this was due to the lack of sun, lack of warmth, and the lack of fresh air. As soon as time started to pass in the painting space, the ants and some bugs started to die and disappear, which took Lu Zhiyu by surprise.

Warmth? Sun?

Lu Zhiyu found it bizarre. He could not create a sun…

Or could I? Why not?!

Although he had control over the painting space, he was unclear about the logistics of its overall operations. With the power of the silver sigil, it just might be possible to create a sun.

Since it is the two-dimensional space, can I just draw a sun!

Lu Zhiyu had a whimsical thought, leading him to quickly draw a sun in the sky with red paint. Upon doing so, he immediately felt a depletion of energy in the silver sigil – a third of the energy was consumed.

He was excited to see that the sun in the painting space started to move in accordance with the parameters that he had set. He then added a blue moon, and the sun and the moon followed a circular path, which formed night and day.

The two-dimensional space had started to stabilize in accordance to Lu Zhiyu’s design. He took things one step further, starting with bigger, bolder plans.

Since the parameters in the two-dimensional world could be adjusted, time should also be adjustable. Time was the reflection of the movements of an object. If there was no object or energy in space, time would not exist, and hence, it would be meaningless.

Only when were objects in the world, and the movements of the objects compared to each other, the meaning of time could then be represented. The movements of the molecules, atoms, electrons and photons were the components that created the aging process. From the small changes such as miniscule decaying process caused by mold and the ticking of the clock, to the significant changes such as rotation of the earth and the changes in the Milky Way, all these movements formed the concept of Time.If the objects did not move, time would stop. If the objects moved at a faster speed, time would then sped up. If the objects slowed downed, the passage of time would likewise slow.

Lu Zhiyu was filled with excitement.

If I can increase the movements of the objects in the two-dimensional space, time would speed up, too. One day in the outside world could be equivalent to one year, or even 10 years, in the two-dimensional space. Is this possible?

I will give it a try!

Lu Zhiyu started to research on the internet, jotting down his ideas in a notebook. He then crossed out and ticked off some of these ideas. After spending two weeks on this project, he had finalized his thoughts. Whether or not he would succeed, that was still in question.

As he sat in front of the Scroll of the World, he shut his eyes. He focused on the sigil in his consciousness, sensing the world inside the painting space. The entire two-dimensional world was set up based on the parameters and changes he defined. The size and data of the two-dimensional world all flooded into his brain, including how much is the gravity, the temperature of the sun, the time of the day, and the change of four seasons.

Lu Zhiyu felt that he was like a god creating a world. He injected his thoughts into the silver sigil and exerted control over the two-dimensional world. As he did so, the energy of the silver sigil continued to deplete. Only now did Lu Zhiyu set up the two-dimensional world based on his design.

Suddenly, he heard the clock strike. Time had started to move like the pointer in the timepiece. The speed became faster, and when Lu Zhiyu opened his eyes, he saw that the realm within the two-dimensional world had filled with colour, started to function, and had come to life.

Time continued to move faster, but before Lu Zhiyu had used up all of his energy, he stopped and fixed the Time parameters. every amendment to which required large amounts of energy.

Lu Zhiyu had set time to a pace which moved 10,000 times faster than the outside world. Time and the four seasons had been set according to the data of the outside world. Hence, one day in the outside world was equivalent to 27 years in the two-dimensional world.

Now, one hour would be equivalent to more than a year in the painting space. As Lu Zhiyu looked at the land in the painting space, he saw that the seeds among the trees and plants had started to sprout. In one hour, the entire island was filled with green.