"Ding, there's a new message, please check!"
In a luxurious villa, a young man, enjoying a meal with his parents, blinked at the notification, and a message immediately appeared in his eyes.
He glanced at the message and found it was a game link code.
Confused, he clicked on it, and the screen immediately switched to the login screen for a game called "Civilization Restart."
"Oh my!"
the young man recalled, his heart pounding.
Seeing the game's name reminded him of the game reservation he had requested out of boredom a year ago.
It had claimed to simulate 99% of physical sensations, but after months of waiting without a response, he had assumed it was another scam.
Finally, after a year, he received the news!
He quickly finished his meal, said goodbye to his parents, and slipped into his room. Without a word, he grabbed a headband from the bedside table and put it on.
[Detecting mental fluctuations... Matching... Nerve fluctuations match, identity verification successful!]
[Entering Virtual Fantasy Plaza, please wait!]
It was the year 2100 on Earth. Due to the limitations of nuclear weapons, large-scale wars were unavoidable, so people devoted themselves to other fields of scientific research.
Soon after, in the 1950s, brain-computer interaction technology was fully developed, and humanity's second spiritual world order was officially established.
Initially, this technology was used for military exercises. Major powers, through quantum encryption, integrated their technology into virtual reality, transposing every conflict in the real world into the virtual world.
If you want war, then so be it!
After all, people in the virtual world won't die, and countries won't be destroyed.
The end result was that nuclear-armed nations were completely unable to fight, launching nuclear strikes without even deploying a single soldier.
In the end, all battles ended in defeat.
Forget hiding underground. Surface ecosystems collapse, and the survivors face only a painful extinction.
Attacking smaller nations is even easier.
If they remain undeployed, low-yield nuclear bombs can destroy them from a safe distance. At worst, the conquered territories will be uninhabitable, and they could simply turn them into mining operations.
As for whether any nation could falsify data, it's impossible.
Quantum-encrypted data is impossible to steal. The losing side could demand the release of weapons data afterward, and any discrepancies discovered would result in sanctions from around the world.
If an audit initiated through espionage leads to the public disclosure of a nation's technology, the initiating nation would lose control of its domestic assets for the next ten years.
Without assets, the initiating nation would be forced to work hard for the audited nation for ten years, paid a salary that meets the living standards of the weakest nations in the world today.
In such harsh conditions, even some weak nations would not dare act rashly.
If the audited data were proven to be falsified, the entire nation would suffer. Who would dare take such a risk?
As a result, in this climate, human power on Earth is being rapidly reshuffled. After all,
If you can't even win a virtual war, you're sure to be thoroughly beaten in the real world. It's what the victorious nation says that matters.
The landscape has shifted, and humanity on Earth is truly only one step away from truly transcending Earth and ascending to a star-level civilization.
The current obstacle to human progress is superluminal propulsion.
However, achieving a breakthrough at the civilization level is extremely difficult.
Brain-computer interface technology, considered one of the most significant contributions, has, through layers of sensors, become a mere toy for the masses.
A single connector costs only tens of thousands of yuan (perhaps due to currency devaluation?), affordable enough for the average person to purchase after two weeks of work. Playing, chatting, and anything else they can do in the real world can also be done in the virtual world.
The only drawback is the limited level of somatic perception, generally no more than 50%.
Countries worry that people will become lost in the real world, unable to distinguish between reality and virtuality, leading to unnecessary social unrest.
Of course, this is also a limitation of technology on Earth today.
After entering the verification code into his mind, John's consciousness quickly appears in a bright white room.
He discovers that not only himself, but also two other people are in the room:
A muscular young man, tall and thin.
Watching the two of them, John slowly inched toward the exit.
The room he was in was called a secret room, usually a virtual entrance created by illegal mini-game developers or individuals. The door served as a connection to an external network, making it difficult for anyone to find him once he exited.
If a secret room like this hadn't been closed by the cyber police for so long, it was probably because the attackers possessed extremely advanced information technology, or they were simply teasing the police; after all, they had work to do.
For this reason, he even used technology to change his face.
"Don't be afraid, brother. I'm just here to see the world, just like you, not the cyber police."
"You, don't come here!"
John took a step back.
Since virtual reality is no longer a local area network, if someone tries to escape, you can't catch them.
The only way to determine your location is through contact with your avatar. Specialized equipment, such as that from government or private institutions, can directly record your mental fluctuations, allowing them to identify you through big data comparisons.
Therefore, if you're not contacted by anyone, your identity is safest!
"Hey!"
The tall and thin young man shrugged, his expression blank.
The familiar young man waited for a moment, but when the game marketing company didn't show up, he muttered, "Could this game company be a scam? They said they were releasing a beta test spot today? I rushed over as soon as I heard the news!"
"You all came here for the game?" John's vigilance relaxed slightly upon hearing this.
The tall, thin young man was disturbed by John's previous caution and asked, "What do you think?"
"To be honest, this secret room has been very popular for the past year. Programmers in the industry have tried everywhere, but they couldn't find the location of the secret room link. In the end, even the government intervened and couldn't stop it." "It's precisely because of this
that I'm even more convinced that what the game company said is true. With such technology, physical perception can reach 99%, which is unattainable internationally. There's absolutely no problem."
John asked hesitantly, "What's your name, Brother?"
The tall, thin young man chuckled, "Just call me handsome, my online name is Big Handsome!"
"..." John scratched his head.
Seeing him so indifferent, he asked in confusion, "Aren't you afraid the internet police will receive the message and come and attack us?"
"This isn't a crime, but it's illegal!"
the man said, hugging his chest and giving a thumbs-up to the burly man behind him. "You're talking about him?"
Damn!
John stared at the burly man in shock, swallowed hard, and took a step back.
The burly man merely glanced at him and ignored him.
As the space spun, the burly man's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Don't joke around, the real culprit is here!"
"You're the internet police!!!"
Hearing this, John was horrified and immediately prepared to flee, only to realize that he couldn't move his legs no matter how hard he tried.
This was a system that suppressed the human mind, a highly sophisticated brain-computer interaction technology. In this situation, as long as you focused enough, you could quickly break free and escape.
Or you could consciously generate the urge to leave the virtual world. If you didn't exit after three seconds, the connector would activate a weak current to stimulate your cerebral cortex, forcibly pulling you out of the virtual world.
However, after three seconds, his mental projection was still left in the virtual world!
At this moment, even the tall and thin young man and the big man had to look solemn.
They didn't mind; at most, they would only suffer a little. According to the rules, people outside would immediately unplug the connector at a certain time. At that time, they would completely leave the virtual world, and at most, they would be mentally impaired for a few days.
But John, an ordinary person, would be miserable!
The other party was also a tiger. Knowing that this secret room must have been targeted by the higher-ups, they still had the courage to come.
"My name is John, the head of the xxxx family... Two big brothers, you must save me when you get out!"
The two of them looked at each other speechlessly.
Now you know you're afraid, what were you doing before!