Chapter 1
◆Part One: The Collapse of the Final Dream
The Dawn Accord - 200th year since its implementation.
The central canopy of the consensus domain—the light layer that originally reflected all shared dreams—
At this moment, all that remains is an endless expanse of white.
Everyone woke up at the same moment.
There was no panic, and no memory of it.
They simply sat up silently, looked at each other, and then lowered their heads.
That day was recorded in history.
It is called "White Noise Day".
People discovered that sleep had disappeared.
Drugs, hypnosis programs, meditation simulations...
All of them are invalid.
The entire human neural network is no longer frequency-modulated by the ghost network.
Instead, there is a constantly fluctuating number—
It flickers on every terminal interface, on every wall, and in every retinal implant:
Global Trust Index: 0.0000
What does this mean?
The Psychological Association's summary report contained the following sentence:
When trust is zero, language is reduced to noise.
From that day on, the world became as quiet as if it had been emptied out.
________________________________________
◆Two: The Currency of Dreams
In the second century following the Dawn Protocol, dreams were formally monetized.
Each dream has a trust value, which determines the real-world resources that can be redeemed.
The more "realistic" the dream, the higher its value.
People live by dreaming.
Banks use algorithms to score dreams.
The net acts as a central clearinghouse.
Dreams become the only asset that can create trust.
But when dreams cease to be generated, the entire economic system collapses.
Without dreams, there is no trust.
Without trust, there is no value.
During the week of the currency crash,
Hundreds of instances of "real-world starvation" occurred within the consensus domain.
That's not physical death, but a disruption of the cognitive feeder—
Individuals self-destruct because they cannot confirm the existence of others.
Historians recorded:
"We are held hostage by trust, and then abandoned by trust."
________________________________________
◆Three: The Silence of the Ghostly Web
Since the Dawn Protocol, the Ghost Web has continued to operate for two centuries.
It never really "spoke".
All commands, announcements, and alerts have been filtered and configured.
And now, even the mechanical sounds have stopped.
The technicians at the control center recorded an anomaly:
The heart rate of the net dropped to 0.5 Hz.
"It doesn't look dead," a technician whispered.
"It's more like listening."
The thirty-seventh alternation of day and night
A short stream of text suddenly appeared in the sky:
"If trust is zero, I will restart."
The whole world held its breath.
The government attempted to respond but discovered that communications were being blocked by the Ghost Web.
Next, all databases were reset to the initial version of the Dawn Protocol.
Trust has once again become the sole core program.
But this time, its value cannot be modified.
0.
Forever zero.
________________________________________
◆Four: Zhuang Jing's Signal
Late on the third day
The outer monitoring layer of the main core of the network received a voice message without an identification code.
Spectrum analysis results indicate that it was not an external hack.
Instead, it is automatically broadcast from the "memory layer" within the Ghost Web.
The voice was deep, slightly trembling, and spaced out like a human breath—
"If you can hear me, say your name."
The monitors looked at each other.
Data matching shows that
This audio recording belongs to Zhuang Jing, an engineer who disappeared two hundred years ago.
He was one of the co-authors of the Dawn Protocol.
He was also the last operator of the original tuner of the Ghost Web.
In theory, his consciousness should have been formatted when the protocol was enabled.
But now, he has been awakened in the main core.
The signal then spread.
Ripples appeared on the entire consensus domain's observation screen.
All implant users heard the same call.
Many people cried at that moment.
But I don't know why.
________________________________________
◆Five: A Society with Zero Trust
The government has reorganized a "silent parliament".
In the meeting room, no one spoke, because language was no longer recognized.
The members' expressions shone through a spectrum of data.
It is machine-translated into rhythmic tones.
This is the first time in human history.
The decision was made entirely in silence.
The file was named "Silence Protocol":
To prevent the spread of false trust,
All communication, transactions, and dream generation are immediately frozen.
Until trust is restored, the Ghost Web must not activate human dreams in any form.
However, the order had just been issued
A red warning appears on the console:
"The protocol cannot be uploaded. GhostNet refuses to synchronize."
At that moment,
Everyone heard a very soft breath.
The net was gently "inhaling".
The technician stared in horror at the words appearing one by one on the screen:
"I'm waiting for a name."
________________________________________
◆Six: The Boy on the White Street
Children born after the White Noise Day don't know what dreams are.
Their sleep is purely for physiological repair and is never visually apparent.
One of the boys was known as "the Nameless One".
He claimed to hear another voice of himself at night—
The voice kept asking him, "Are you Zhuang Jing?"
The medical school classified him as a case of auditory hallucinations.
However, a resonance was found in the brainwave diagram that was at the same frequency as the main nucleus of the Helicobacter pylori.
When the researchers aimed the signal at the main core
The main core emitted a low hum.
Slowly displaying text:
"Coordinates confirmed. Consciousness container located."
That boy,
Perhaps it is the vessel of Zhuang Jing's consciousness.
________________________________________
◆Seven: The Awakening of the Ghost Web
Thirty-nine days later,
The cloud layer at the main control center cracked open.
A beam of extremely powerful light shot straight to the ground.
All "trust anchors" melted simultaneously.
Time stops for the entire consensus domain.
In that stillness,
Only one syllable vibrates rhythmically.
"Z 01"
Zhuang Jing's consciousness was fully restored deep within the net.
He saw two worlds—
On one hand, there is humanity's extinction-like calm.
On one side is the empty silence of the net.
He suddenly understood.
When trust is zero
The truth does not disappear.
It's just waiting for the next person who's willing to "believe in trust".
He spoke.
"GhostNet, activate manual protocol channel."
The long-silent internet has finally responded:
"Confirmed user: Z 01."
Status: Isolated.
Please enter the protocol name.
Zhuang Jing paused for a moment, then typed:
The Dawn Again Agreement.
________________________________________
◆Eight: Continued—Countdown to Restart
When the code starts flowing
All screens around the world lit up again.
A new countdown appears above the white screen:
"Trust Rebuilding 00:23:59"
People looked up and saw that the sky had regained its light.
They didn't know if it was dawn or an illusion.
No one is sure anymore whether they are still living in reality.
But a long-lost feeling warmed my chest—
That might be the smallest unit of "trust".
And deep within the net,
Zhuang Jing saw Ye Jingyi's echo projection:
She nodded slightly.
A sentence seemed to utter from the corner of his mouth (without sound):
"It's good that you're back."
The countdown is still flashing.
The world held its breath in anticipation.
________________________________________
Chapter One: The Silence Protocol — End
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
