At night, thunder rolled in the gloomy sky. No rain fell, and the air was full of dullness and depression.
Lightning flashed across, and a manor on the outskirts stood out.
The surroundings returned to silence, and faint thunder could be heard.
A sudden light illuminated this place. It was not a manor, but a mental hospital.
Darkness returned again. This building was like a giant beast in the darkness, dormant.
In contrast, there is a city a hundred kilometers away. High-rise buildings tower into the dark clouds, and countless small dots shuttle between the buildings.
Under the dark clouds on the dome, a huge airship slowly circled the city. Neon lights flashed on the hull, displaying advertisements.
[Tronce Technology can customize the weather you like every day. Sunny days, rainy days, radiation clouds, quantum dust, and solar storms are all available. For reservations, call: 014-41562491]
After the thunder and lightning, the air becomes duller.
Until the sharp alarm pierced the night sky and echoed over the hospital.
[It has been detected that the patient has left the ward. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, all patients are asked to stay in the room and not lie around in the corridor——]
Two minutes later.
The hospital was in chaos. In the front yard, two figures stood one mile and one away by the front door.
"Damn it, what do you want?" A rapid and suppressed voice sounded. The middle-aged man in security uniform lowered his voice and nervously turned his head to look at the figure at the door of the building from time to time.
He was a bit clever. After the system alarm sounded, he realized that the patient would want to escape, so he came to the front door as soon as possible. He found that a strange colleague had arrived earlier than him, and pointed at the bushes outside the door and yelled not to run. He even walked out of the door.
Pick up pebbles from the path and throw them over.
He has no reason not to trust his colleagues.
So he opened the front door and was about to explore the bushes. The colleague beside him suddenly quickly took off his security uniform, revealing the eye-catching blue and white patient uniform underneath, and ran out of the door with a cheerful expression.
He knew it was over now.
Once it is known that he opened the door and allowed the patient to escape, the job he got from the robot will naturally go back to where it came from.
Robots that don't get tired are easier to exploit and cheaper than humans.
The current solution is to let him leave without anyone noticing, and his job will be saved. No one will find out that he let him go.
"If you don't want to be caught by me, get out of here." He closed the door and made a fierce expression, hoping to scare him away.
But he forgot that the young man in front of him was a patient of this mental hospital. Most of the people here have some brain problems.
"Leave?" the young man shouted, grabbing the fence and squeezing his face up, squeezing his face out of shape, as if he wanted to get back in. He stared at him sideways with white eyes: "Don't even think about it——"
Hence the previous conversation.
"Damn it, what do you want?" the security guard said with hatred.
The young man's expression suddenly straightened up, like a normal person: "You know, I'm penniless, so I just go out like this..."
The security guard looked behind him again and saw a figure approaching from the door.
[User Dington transfers 1,000 credits to you.]
"Only 1,000?" A string of information was displayed on the retina. The young man complained dissatisfiedly, and then said to himself: "Forget it, I want a bicycle. Add a friend and let's have a meal or something together when we have time."
[User: Musu applies to add you as a friend.]
"No! You can get out now...you can leave." The security guard changed the word "get out" to "leave".
"Accept it quickly, accept it quickly -" the young man shook the fence and shouted excitedly.
Seeing how crazy he looked, the security guard had no choice but to accept it.
"Is it okay this time?" He had already heard the voices coming from behind him, and couldn't help but nervously turned around to look. Two figures were walking through the front yard park, coming this way.
He turned back anxiously: "What on earth are you..."
The sound stopped suddenly. He could no longer see the young man's figure.
He pressed his face against the fence suspiciously, swaying his eyes from side to side, and through the lightning flash, he could only see the empty street.
"Dington? What's wrong?"
Greetings from colleagues came from behind.
"It's okay... I'm afraid the patient will run away from the door, so come here and take a look. There's nothing." Dington said casually and followed the two of them back.
It happened that lightning pierced the dull night sky, stretching the shadow of the fence into a long and narrow one. One of the strange black shadows was extremely conspicuous.
Dington was shocked and turned his head suddenly uneasily.
Boom——
Amid the rolling thunder, he could only see the empty front door.
Could it be that everything that just happened was just an illusion caused by me being too nervous...
His idea didn't last long.
Ten minutes later, a message popped up on the horizon.
[Your friend Mu Su invites you to pay for him: the consumption fee of Kaishi Interstellar Group in District 14, totaling 194 credits.]
[Your friend sent you a message: Mu Su: I love you (showing my heart)]
Dington trembled and chose to pay.
And a few minutes later——
[Your friend Mu Su invites you to pay for him: Convenience store consumption fee: 33 credits]
"Uhhhhhhhhh!"
Valentine Street Park
On a bench beside the park path, a young man with black hair and black eyes, wearing a blue and white hospital uniform, sat down on it and let out a sigh of relief.
There were several couples walking and cuddling around, whispering faintly, exuding the sour smell of love.
Suddenly there was an exclamation: "Look! It's a shooting star. I thought I would never see a shooting star in this life..."
"Liu Xing? Why is he here if he doesn't take photos of his family and his children?"
Mu Su looked up from the bench and saw nothing but dark clouds.
In fact, even if there are no dark clouds, from the orbit around the sun, you can only see the zenith of the iron dome.
Opposite the path is a long street. From time to time, shuttles land from high altitudes, and men and women get off the cars. Pedestrians come and go on the street. There are few ground vehicles. The only ones that can be counted are a group of teenagers and girls playing power skateboards in small groups.
Slide over.
The billboards on the walls of the building are flashing, and various advertisements are projected into the park, brazenly announcing noise pollution.
[Want to have your own butler? Do you want to have a unique robot companion? Film Machinery Shop is free to customize your wishes. Address: No. 39, Trans Avenue, 14th Ring District. Whatever you want, we have it
.]
[The best private game in history! Put on your helmet and you will be immersed in the era of technological explosion four hundred years ago. Nearly unlimited freedom. You can be anyone you want to be. Scientist, tycoon, dictator, etc.
Arms dealer. You can have close contact with any figure of that great era. What are you waiting for? Call us to order: 014-12346131, free door-to-door delivery!]
[14th Ring District, the crime detection rate reaches 99.8%, and the average detection time is 1 hour and 15 minutes. It has been ranked in the top 10 in Ring Taiyang Ring for security for 25 consecutive years. The environment is beautiful and pleasant, and the district mayor’s team is dedicated to serving the residents.
District 14 is your best city to settle.】
Listening to the advertisements around him, Mu Su took out a can of Coke from the bag.
belch--
After opening it and drinking it down in one gulp, Mu Soda burped and turned to look at the other end of the bench. A middle-aged man who was looking at his clothes raised a soda can to say hello.
"The clothes are nice, right."
The middle-aged man smiled reluctantly, turned back, and moved aside calmly.
【...Weird and bizarre, lunatics are welcome here.】
When he heard the madman, Mu Su subconsciously raised his head and looked in the direction where the sound came from.
Building on the right, screen billboard.
It was a black man, standing in front of a pure white background. His hair and beard were trimmed just right, making him look gray. His suit was neat and straight. Neat and straight.
Those blue eyes reveal infinite wisdom and seem to be able to penetrate people's hearts.
He stretched out his arms as if he were holding something. His voice was low and magnetic: "You call it a game, but I prefer to call it - another world."
"And this." A string of codes composed of 0s and 1s appeared in his palm, transforming into an old-fashioned metal key. "If you want to open the door to another world, you will need it——"
His tone of voice suddenly changed and he became much more relaxed: "The key is ten thousand credits, no matter the price. After you fall asleep... you are welcome."
[After Asleep is now logged into the Valve Game Platform, details...]
【?-Her’name’is’Lola,She’was’a’showgirl.With’yellow’feathers’in’her’hairs…The exotic red Mars. Wandering in the blue…]
The screen changes to another advertisement.
"Crazy space." Mu Su was very interested.
"Hey, do you want to see magic?"
"What?" The middle-aged man on the other side of the chair looked blankly.
"Magic." Mu Su turned sideways and said, "Whatever you give me, I can turn it into money."
…
Mu Su Zilaisu put his arms around the middle-aged man's shoulders, snapped his fingers and said excitedly: "Quick, anything will do."
"A street magic show?" The middle-aged man shrank his neck, touched his pocket, and said, "I don't have anything..."
As he spoke, he took out a fist-sized control panel from his pocket, and he probably accidentally put it in his pocket when he came out.
The young "street magician" grabbed the control panel from his hand, crossed the path, put his hand on the park fence, and jumped over in one swift movement.
Snap——
His feet hit the fence, and the "street magician" slapped his face on the black road. The sound was so clear that he could hear it.
The street magician hurriedly got up, wiped his nosebleed with his sleeve, and trotted all the way to the alley across the street while whimpering.
What's happening there.
Under the beautiful light, a man and a woman were arguing in the alley. The man was bloated and obese. The woman was slender with long sleeves, wearing a thin nightdress, and her long legs were hung with stockings that she had put on in a hurry.
The metal circuitry on the outside of her forearm was exposed, and she was a synthetic human. It seemed that there was a dispute over prostitution.
The bench faced the alley, so he could see clearly.
Then he saw that the young "street magician" picked up the control panel he gave him and knocked the fat man unconscious. Then when the mechanical woman covered her mouth and screamed and retreated, she squatted next to her and rummaged through her pockets with a swift movement.
After a while, the "street robbery magician" who had gained something gained stood up and looked here with his blood-stained face. He crossed his legs, spread his arms and bowed slightly, doing a gentlemanly courtesy.
He seemed to hear a voice in his head.
"Dengdengdengdeng~"
…
One hour later.
A family hotel in the countryside.
Compared with the bustling lights of the city clusters in the distance, this single-family hotel on the plain seems quite peaceful.
Room 301
The latest Valve gaming helmet is placed next to the bed. Compared with the adjective "helmet" which seems bulky and huge, a mask is more suitable to describe it.
It's so thin and light that you won't feel uncomfortable even when lying on the bed. It's just not as convenient as a game console.
Because it is a newly purchased gaming helmet, it only contains the game "After Sleep" that I just purchased.
The game's advertising slogan obviously attracted Mu Su. He "earned" some hard-earned money and hid here to secretly play the game. He also used the ten minutes it took to deliver the game helmet to log on to the official website to learn more about the game.
The game features random copies. The server was just launched earlier today. As the main computing program, the quantum computer Sophon has collected all the information on hundreds of years of modern human history. Whether it is historical documents, entertainment videos, or even online works, you can easily
All of them have been recorded and incorporated into the works.
To describe it, it's like an AI that has read all the literature for hundreds of years and then asked it to write novels.
Impatient, Mu Su couldn't wait to jump on the bed and put on his helmet.
His vision was completely dark, as if he was blindfolded or in darkness.
At first, I could still feel the presence of my body. After a few seconds, a strange female voice sounded in my ears, and at the same time, I lost the awareness of my body.
【Welcome to After Sleeping.】
【Login to the public network.】
[DNA sequence has been recorded.]
[Location: District 14 of Ring Sun.]
[Neural connection in progress...]
[The body detection has been completed, and all forced systems are turned off by default. If you want to turn it on, please call the settings in the game.]
[The current player image is the default synchronized reality. If you need to make changes, please call out the operation settings.]
[Loading mode is sleep mode. In the current mode, you can only match with players of the same mode, and can enjoy a game time with a ratio of 1:7. You can stay online for up to: 72 (×7) hours in real time
Time. Using the game compartment, you will be able to play games in deep sleep.】
[Neural heart rate recording is ready. When the player's status is abnormal, he will be forced to pop out of the game and contact medical services for a fee. ]
[The default clothing will then be...completed]
【Ready】
[Please enter a nickname. Special characters other than Chinese and English are not allowed to be used as nicknames.]
Mu Su, who had been dozing off, saw that it was finally his turn to appear and blurted out the words without even thinking.
"Crazy."
——
*Synth Rule 5189: At all times, robots must retain obvious external characteristics to distinguish synthetics from humans.
