I. A Message to the People of the World
It was just another ordinary day.
The dilapidated virtual dome of the dungeon still diligently simulates the sky outside. If it weren't for the broken screens that cover the entire dome like psoriasis, making the sky appear mottled, one might actually mistakenly believe that they are still standing in the sunlight.
Pi Min wiped away his sweat, sorted the waste collected by the recycling robot, and moved it into the warehouse. Then he turned on his computer and put it into the warehouse one by one.
She has been in this world for almost a year, and she still can't adapt to everything here.
Who would believe that the Earth in this world belongs to only one person?
Who would believe that, apart from the final producer and his relatives and servants, everyone else in this world lives in the underground city?
Of course she knew about the wealth gap; in her original world, 99 percent of the world's wealth was held by 1 percent of the population.
She had seen the wealthy who spent money like water in the villa district, and she had also seen the destitute who went hungry in the slums. Sometimes the villa district and the slums were even adjacent, separated by only a thin line.
However, nothing was more shocking than the vast wealth gap in the world before her eyes.
Apart from the end producers, everyone on this planet is a proletarian sojourner. In order not to get in the way of the end producers, everyone "voluntarily" moves into the sunless underground city and lives underground like ants.
They need to work constantly to pay for the high cost of living, including air, water, electricity, food, and rent (the rent required to live on Earth).
Yes! Not only is there land rent, but even the air in this world requires payment.
"Cough cough cough—"
The terrible air outside the underground city made Pimin cough. She hurriedly closed the door of the recycling station and turned on the air circulation system.
Ten seconds later, the buzzing air circulation system finally turned on the green light.
She ripped off the air-filtering mask from her face and began to breathe heavily, as if a drowning person had finally surfaced, with endorphins in her body being released in a frenzy.
After finally calming down, Pi Min walked to the window and looked worriedly at the smog-shrouded sky outside.
The air outside has gotten worse again.
To maintain basic air circulation, each underground city pays an air fee on a city-wide basis. With the outside air quality deteriorating to this extent, who knows how many more elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people will suffocate tonight.
Pi Min felt as if a huge rock was pressing on her chest, but unfortunately, as a commoner, she was powerless to do anything about it.
She could only slump onto the sofa and stare blankly at the brand-new air circulation system in the corner.
This is the world's latest air circulation system, purchased by the original owner's parents for their daughter who suffered from asthma. To repay the exorbitant loan, the parents had to work in the most dangerous area of the garbage mountain, ultimately perishing in a garbage collapse accident and becoming part of the garbage mountain that once sustained their family.
He left his daughter only with a video transmitted from her personal terminal and the expensive air circulation system in front of her.
The air circulation system was forgone due to the buyer's accidental death, while the video of the garbage mountain collapsing, with its overwhelming momentum and a terrifying, apocalyptic atmosphere, continues to earn survival points for their daughter online.
Pi Min thought her life in her original world was bad enough, but after transmigrating into the body of Pi Min in this world, she realized that there was no limit to how bad things could get.
Because she was frail from childhood and even had asthma, a disease considered the most troublesome by the residents of the underground city, the original owner's parents stubbornly believed that their daughter could only survive if she went to the surface.
From the time the original owner could remember, she had always studied diligently. Apart from the necessities of life such as eating, drinking, defecating, and sleeping, she devoted almost all of her time to studying.
Compared to the original owner's educational experience from childhood, the three years of mock exams and five years of college entrance exams she had gone through were nothing.
Unfortunately, even with all that effort, the original owner still failed the exam.
It wasn't that the original owner wasn't hardworking enough; it was just that the competition was too fierce.
The only chance for the inhabitants of the underground city in this world to return to the surface is to become servants of the Producers through a global recruitment process.
Unfortunately, there can only be one final producer. No matter how extravagant he lives, the number of servants he needs is still limited, while the number of people who dream of passing the exam and returning to the surface is in the tens of millions.
After failing the exam, the original owner was very depressed for a while and felt that he had lost the meaning of life.
After witnessing the original owner's several suicide attempts, her parents finally came to terms with reality and stopped forcing their daughter to work hard, instead forcing themselves to work hard instead.
During that period, the two worked like madmen. One day, they suddenly brought someone home and installed the world's latest air circulation system.
Upon learning that her parents had been buried under a mountain of garbage, the original owner of the body cried uncontrollably, which eventually caused her to have an asthma attack and collapse to the ground.
When she opened her eyes again, the core inside her body had been replaced by Pimin from another time and space.
Perhaps having foreseen their own fate, the original owner's parents had kept everything at the recycling center in perfect order, and Pi Min inherited everything with almost no effort.
The dungeon was really poor; you couldn't find anything of value in the trash of the poor, and the recycling station didn't make much money at all. Fortunately, Pimin was the only one left in the house, and although they were struggling financially, they were still able to survive.
And so, the days went by, one after another.
After finishing a day's work, Pi Min took a sip of the "happy water" of this world, found a comfortable position on the sofa, opened the entertainment interface of the quantum computer, and began watching videos just like in the original world.
If reality is a prison, then the virtual world becomes the only salvation.
After a long day, Pi Min desperately needs a handsome young man with eight-pack abs to save her.
Unfortunately, this time, when the page opened, what appeared before my eyes was not a handsome young man with eight-pack abs, but a rather unfriendly announcement.
A Letter to the People of the World
You filthy, stupid, lazy parasites, I must remind you of a cruel truth.
The entire Earth is my personal property. You are unwelcome intruders; your presence is constantly encroaching upon, eroding, and defiling my private property.
The thought of billions of parasites standing on my land every day, breathing my air, drinking my water, and eating my food keeps me awake at night.
It's time to settle this. After careful consideration, I have decided to evict you as a creditor under the Private Property Protection Act enacted by the Global Federation.
Out of humanitarian considerations, the expulsion will be carried out on a family basis, and all of you can retain your original homes. To ensure your survival, a mysterious higher-dimensional force is willing to provide technological assistance and broadcast your every move live throughout the universe. Popularity points gained from the broadcast can be used to exchange for resources.
I have done everything I can for you. How long you live is up to your own fate.
After reading the contents of the announcement, Pi Min was completely bewildered.
Why could she recognize all the words on the notice, but still not understand what it meant when put together?
She was about to open her social media app to ask others what was going on when suddenly everything went black. It felt like something exploded in her mind, and she felt dizzy, nauseous, and broke out in a cold sweat.
A buzzing sound of electricity filled my ears, followed by a completely emotionless AI announcement.
[Loading Earth region in the Space Drifting game...]
[Loading successful, welcome to the Space Drift game!]
When I opened my eyes again, the view outside the window had changed drastically.
The densely packed houses, stacked like matchboxes, were gone, leaving only an endless starry sky.
As we all know, the houses in the underground city are all fixed, and the view outside the window has remained unchanged for decades. Even planting a fake blade of grass in the crack of the stone at the door is worth taking a picture and showing off on social media.
Since the view outside the window cannot be changed, the only thing that can be changed is one's own dwelling.
After figuring this out, Pi Min jumped up from the sofa with a somersault and ran from the living room to the toilet, then from the toilet to the bedroom. After checking every window in the house in one go, he even ran to the warehouse at the back of the house and, disregarding the possibly bad air inside, peeked out through the warehouse's ventilation hole.
The starry sky, the starry sky, and more starry sky.
No matter where you look or what angle you are looking out from, all you see is an endless starry sky.
It was as if, in that instant, her house had been suddenly flung into space by some unknown force.
Could it be that everything stated in the announcement is true?
The thought had barely crossed her mind when it was instantly rejected by her reason.
How is that possible?
The underground city's houses use the most ordinary building materials, and simply maintaining airtightness is already extremely difficult. To maintain the shape of the houses in space is simply a pipe dream.
If her conjecture is true, given the quality of their house, it would explode the moment it enters space, turning into a firework in space.
As if guessing what she was thinking, the AI's mechanical voice that had just read the announcement once again resounded throughout the house.
Right now, you must be wondering how your shacks, with their terrible quality, managed to survive unscathed in space. That's thanks to the sponsor of the 'Cosmic Drifting Game,' the mysterious high-dimensional power, Illusion Star Technology.
The 'Cosmic Drifting Game' has a seven-day tutorial period. During this period, even if your shelter is just a tent and a sleeping bag, you can survive safely in space. Of course, if you don't upgrade your shelter to a sufficient level within the seven-day tutorial, well, you know what will happen.
[All beginner tutorials are included in the watches sponsored by PhantomStar Technology; you can explore them on your own.]
Have fun, everyone!
Wristwatch?
Pi Min looked down and indeed found a silver metal-cased wristwatch with a high-tech feel on her left wrist.
Not knowing how to operate it, she subconsciously pressed her right index finger on the smooth dial of the watch, which had no buttons.
After a gentle swipe, a long list of menus popped up in front of me.
Beginner's Guide, Star Chart, Health, Information, Forum, Live Streaming...
Having developed a habit from watching videos over the years, Pi Min immediately clicked the live stream button.
[Please enter a nickname. If no nickname is set within 24 hours, the player's real name will be displayed by default. To change your name after 24 hours, you will need to use a name change card.]
[The live stream is about to begin. Please choose whether to appear on camera as a real person. If you do not appear on camera as a real person, the system will automatically generate animal effects based on your physical characteristics.]
As someone with social anxiety, Pi Min would never allow herself to run around naked, so she hurriedly did a series of things.
Nickname: It's fun to be a little mischievous
Did the person appear on camera: No
The system automatically generated an animal effect of a lop-eared rabbit.
The instant Pi Min finished her operation, countless shrunken live stream screens quickly surrounded her entire field of vision in a 360-degree spherical shape. Everyone on the screen looked completely bewildered, and she even managed to find herself among those bewildered faces.
She doesn't remember clicking any of the start-up buttons, so will all players participating in the game be forced to start streaming?
It's not just a live stream, it's a live stream across the entire universe!
As someone with social anxiety, she felt a chill run down her spine at that moment, and the feeling of being watched by countless people made her feel completely lost.
Not knowing what to say or do, she clicked on the main live stream of "Cosmic Drifting Game" in a daze.
To her surprise, the virtual anchor was interviewing the final product owner at that moment.
The host asked, "Why the sudden expulsion of all humanity?"
The man replied, "I was dumped by the girl I liked, and I felt utterly hopeless."
It was as if the series of shocks she had just suffered were not enough.
Pi Min was shocked to discover that the man in the picture, dressed in a suit and swirling a glass of red wine, had the same face as her ex-boyfriend whom she had just broken up with.
How could her boyfriend, who was frail and sickly and always out of breath, and who relied entirely on her scavenging for food during their relationship, possibly be a lifelong progenitor?
She must have opened the live stream wrong!
Pi Min randomly switched to another live stream and stared at a pink cat on the screen that was clearly still confused and making faces at the camera for a full minute.
A minute later, she finally mustered up her courage, took a deep breath, and with trembling fingers, switched back to the main live stream.
To her disappointment, the man dressed in fine clothes and sitting on the exquisitely decorated sofa that resembled a throne still had the same face as her ex-boyfriend.
In that instant, the vicious words her ex-boyfriend uttered during their breakup, "You'll regret this!", were instantly brought to life.
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