Chapter 112: Artificial Soul 39
The comment section and barrage on the video site were closed, and Kui Xin couldn’t see the reactions of ordinary people. He refreshed the forum and saw a new comment saying that Lao Kang’s video had made it to the trending list.
86l: There are really fearless users planning to try it; reading the comments makes my blood boil. It seems the warnings had the opposite effect. I advise everyone not to read those comments. After reading, you can’t do anything and end up making yourself sick with rage.
87l: Anti-intellectualism has been rising in popularity over the years.
88l: There’s no need to call it anti-intellectualism; if we hadn’t experienced crossing over ourselves, no one would dare to believe what Lao Kang said is true.
89l: Bloggers are now making videos to analyze frame by frame whether Lao Kang’s video uses special effects. The blogger said there are no special effects, but some doubt he may be in collusion with Lao Kang to promote the game.
90l: I urge everyone not to express opinions online; be especially careful when chatting with friends and family. The best thing is to turn off the microphone permissions on your mobile phone. In the internet age, there’s no such thing as privacy. Once you post, others can trace your home through the internet. With so many cases of online violence and doxing, everyone should be alert. Always guard against others; never overestimate their bottom line.
116l: Lao Kang’s video has made it to foreign platforms, and someone even added subtitles.
117l replied to 116l: Damn. Now Lao Kang will be globally famous.
118l replied to 117l: The view count isn’t that high, only a few hundred. Videos posted by Huaguo people over there are throttled, and the video was posted by a new account without a fan base.
119l: Even with subtitles, the spread won’t be too high; language and cultural barriers are not so easily overcome.
120l: Is there anyone brave enough to post a foreign-language video warning foreigners not to play the game?
121l replied to 120l: That’s hard. Someone might take the initiative, but don’t forget that the anti-intellectualism abroad is much more severe than here. Their social environment and culture are different. I doubt even if someone stands up, the warning will have much impact.
133l: Report!! There really is a foreign player who posted a video. That player discussed the basic background of Crimson Soil and demonstrated his extraordinary abilities.
133l quickly posted a few screenshots. The video showed a person disappearing like a chameleon, with clothes floating in the air; it looked very much like a horror film effect.
Someone circumvented the firewall to watch the video and translated key sentences to post on the forum.
149l: This foreign player is out of his mind; he’s fanning the flames, not advising others not to play. He enthusiastically said that entering that world will grant you superpowers, like having a new life, allowing you to start over in another world… I strongly suspect his motives are impure.
150l: Although what he said in the video wasn’t wrong, he mostly talked about the benefits of the Second World and didn’t mention the downsides and risks, which indeed raises suspicions about his motives.
151l: Don’t doubt it; there are naturally those kinds of harmful people in the world. Some people think, “I’m already so unlucky, so why not let others be unlucky with me?” Hence, they incite others to participate in the game. When others suffer misfortunes, it balances their heart.
152l replied to 151l: I also believe such people exist. It’s not that they’re so evil; this game is just too easy to distort people. How many can stay true to themselves in that cruel world? In the real world, everyone is ordinary, having both selfish and kind sides, but after the baptism of the Second World, how much of that kindness remains? People’s evil is elicited by the environment, turning them into demons.
153l replied to 152l: Evil is evil; it has nothing to do with the environment. Good people do not become murderers just because they enter a bad environment.
154l replied to 153l: What I mean is, without that bad environment, people would just live their ordinary lives in the real world and couldn’t commit anything harmful to society. But due to environmental stimulation, they become bad people… it’s somewhat tragic, isn’t it?
155l: Over the past few weeks, I’ve reflected on life more than at any other time and have developed a greater love for life. After going through all that, I realize how precious ordinary life is.
156l: Remember a few weeks ago when a big shot exposed that the federation in the Second World was brainwashing players? Everyone speculated that a large number of informants might emerge among the players. I think this foreign guy posting videos is one of them.
157l: But would an informant be so thoughtless as to fan the flames directly? I feel like this person is just purely evil…
Kui Xin exited this thread and refreshed the forum homepage to look for other intelligence posts.
If He Kangshi’s video wasn’t deleted by official departments, it would take a few days to see any results—public opinion needs time to ferment. Looking only at short-term effects or reactions from certain specific groups will not yield accurate answers.
Time, everything needs time.
But the ten thousand player slots would be announced after a week, and then there would be a rush of ten thousand players flooding into the forum; by then, it would be too late.
Kui Xin silently scrolled through several pages of posts and surprisingly found someone discussing the major events happening in Hei Hai City, a matter directly related to her.
“Has everyone seen the news from Hei Hai City? The Deputy Minister of the Investigation Bureau was assassinated by terrorists.”
Original post: This news has shocked me for an entire year. Hei Hai City is one of the federation’s most important port cities, economically developed, comparable in status to New York City in a certain lighthouse country. The Investigation Bureau is also quite formidable; the minister’s status is hardly inferior to that of the mayor. In comparison to the First World, an official of this level being assassinated can create a massive international uproar.
1l: No wonder it’s the Second World; I’ve truly seen the world.
2l: Which terrorist organization did it?
3l: Looks like I need to pay more attention to the news. I work like a dog in the Second World every day, and I don’t even have time to watch the news.
4l (original poster): This incident has caused quite a stir; it made it to the mainstream media news in the Second World. The news page is still up until the return date; the people in the Second World are as shocked as we are, and surprisingly, a small portion is cheering, which is hilarious.
8l: I’ve been following this news. The official report says the assassination was planned and executed by a terrorist organization called “Mechanized Dawn,” and this organization is now wanted globally. Providing relevant clues can earn you 100,000 federation coins, and major clues can earn 500,000, with a million for assisting in the capture.
12l: Hey, I’ve also got some information. It’s said that the Deputy Minister of the Investigation Bureau who was assassinated is also an heir of a wealthy clan. Not only is there an official reward, but that clan has also announced a private bounty in the underground world, which is worth even more—with a base price of 30 million, no upper limit! Just how awesome is that?
16l: That’s the Deputy Minister. He must have bodyguards when going out; the bodyguards have to be at least at the awakened level, right? What kind of terrifying organization can assassinate the Deputy Minister under such protection?! Incredible!
17l: I’m more curious about what this organization’s goal is. Since they are a terrorist organization, they must be at odds with the federal government. What’s the benefit to them in killing a political figure?
18l: Darker thought: could it be political strife hiring someone to assassinate him?
This thread didn’t have a high level of discussion; everyone was caught up in the upcoming second batch of beta testing and He Kangshi’s video.
“Friends, my crossing location is a barren place in the Second World, lagging significantly in understanding external information. Sometimes I miss news that everyone already knows because I have no channels to check. It would be great if everyone could summarize the major news happening in the Second World in this thread; I want to learn more about that world.”
Original post: As stated. No need for overly private information; just summarize the major news for me. Thank you very much!!
1l: Is there really a place in the Second World that is so developed yet has incomplete information networks?
2l (original poster) replied to 1l: Yes. My newbie village is located in the same latitude and longitude as Equatorial Guinea in the First World, extremely arid and desolate, remote and poor, with all resources exhausted and severe pollution. I almost starved to death when I first crossed over qwq.
3l: Original poster, don’t expose your personal information!
4l (original poster): Can’t expose it; no one would go to that barren place. Know why it’s so poor and polluted? Because it’s a wasteland, abandoned by the federal government, with factories suffering the worst radiation pollution and poor people suffering from radiation sickness—it’s hell on Earth. Compare the poorest African countries in the First World with the wasteland, and you’ll find the wasteland is worse than the poorest African country.
5l: Original poster, that’s tragic.
6l: Sorry, original poster, I can’t help much; I don’t have the habit of watching the news. I’ll make a note of the news when I return to the Second World next week and come back to tell you.
7l (original poster): Thank you to the above.
8l: I haven’t been keeping track but have watched the news for a few days. Here’s what I can share: the biggest news is that Lin Xinji, the Deputy Minister of the Investigation Bureau in Hei Hai City, was assassinated by the terrorist organization Mechanized Dawn. Then there was a high-ranking official I can’t remember the name of who fell due to embezzlement of 30 billion… Next, there was an accident at a polar combustible ice extraction mine, where more than thirty people died, and the insurance company refused liability and compensation. Also, a large number of environmental scholars criticized whalers for killing whales, and the public staged a sit-in protest under the technology company tower against the promotion of mechanical neural connection technology…
9l: To add one more point, brain machines are going to be launched for civilian use, and psychiatrists can use brain machines for treatment of mental patients and those with psychological disorders. Related policies and laws are being improved. Based on the information provided by the big shots in the forum, I think brain machine proliferation is a double-edged sword.
10l: Also, a progressive individual giving a human rights speech on the street was shot during the speech, and the killer has not been caught. People spontaneously took to the streets to protest, demanding relevant departments arrest the murderer, which resulted in a trampling incident during the march that killed quite a few people.
16l: The news mentioned above has me numb; the Second World is just an ultimate cesspool.
17l: Original poster, can you provide us with a detailed explanation of the situation in the wasteland?
18l (original poster): I’ll explain when I get home tonight if I have time; I’m just an average worker, even after surviving in the Second World, I still have to be a worker in the First World.
Kui Xin set down her phone and rubbed her forehead, processing the information she gleaned from the forum.
She stood up, opened the window to ventilate the room, and then took out the high-calorie food she had previously bought and stuffed it into her mouth.
She was about to start practicing her extraordinary ability “Data Manipulation.” Based on past experience, she needed to eat well before practicing, just like how exercising consumes energy and makes people feel hungry; using extraordinary abilities would do the same.
The situation was changing every second; she had to seize the time to grow stronger and familiarize herself with her extraordinary abilities in order to gain an advantage in the shifting landscape.
Once ready, Kui Xin took a deep breath and activated “Data Manipulation.”
The moment she used this ability, the scene before her changed.
She saw countless green “doors” made up of numbers, letters, and symbols, each door connected to a “web.”
The webs intertwined with each other, and the torrent of information was transmitted within, the characters flowing like a rushing river, constantly changing and dazzling.
Kui Xin focused on the nearest “door”—her mobile phone!
“Now I understand…” she realized, “The phone is a ‘port’ for data, as is the computer; data cables and wires are the ‘web,’ materialized information superhighways.”
Data Manipulation didn’t allow Kui Xin to suddenly acquire computer knowledge and become a super hacker, but rather presented various data, data ports, and data networks in a way she could comprehend and manipulate.
She could reconstruct the data like building blocks, entering the internal “doorway” through the “port,” ultimately connecting to the information network that covers the world and placing her consciousness into the torrent of data.
Kui Xin looked at her phone, her consciousness connecting to the electronic device, and instantly she gained control permissions over the phone. With a thought, the phone automatically switched to the social app interface, and then, following her instructions, it began to play music automatically as if an invisible hand was operating it.
