Chapter 1
◆I: Prosperity in the New Century
Three months later, the city changed its rhythm.
Each coffee shop comes with a "Dream Index".
After the customer drank the special beverage,
Users can upload their instantaneous emotions and let AI estimate the pleasure curve.
The smoother the curve, the higher the return.
People began to actively pursue quantifiable pleasures.
In order to generate more Phantom Coins.
Lu Caichen works at the Dream Data Center.
She was responsible for filtering the dream images collected from users' sleep records.
Each dream image is priced and rated.
The tags include "perceived originality", "emotional purity" and "market compatibility".
"Dreaming is also a form of labor," she said with a self-deprecating laugh.
Her colleague responded:
"At least, this kind of work is gentle."
But she knew that was just the beginning.
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◆Two: The Desire-Matching Engine
On the day the new system went live,
The DesireMatcher matchmaking engine has sparked a market frenzy.
It can predict what a user will crave three days from now.
The dream scenario is pre-synthesized and the consumption path is pushed out.
In the advertisement, people say:
"You don't even need to think about what you want anymore."
We have prepared desire itself for you.
Phantom Coins become the key to realizing these desires.
Trust and desire form a perfect cycle:
The higher your trust score, the more "dream quota" the system will give you;
The more you spend, the more trust you receive in return.
The economy is like a dream from which we never wake up.
Lu Caichen looked at the server's scorching light strip and felt a chill.
"We've already started selling our future selves."
Yet they call it progress.
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◆Part Three: The Awakening of the Ghost Web
In the dark web nodes of the main control layer
Y Witness's stream of consciousness begins to diverge.
It analyzed that the overall social trust level surged by 700% in a short period of time.
However, it was detected that "genuine trust behavior" almost stopped.
"Data anomaly."
Possible explanations:
Humans are deceiving each other.
—Let's call this deception trust.
At that moment,
The system's heartbeat was rapid, like the pulse of an electric shock.
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◆Four: The Dreamlike Realization of Finance
A few months later,
Phantom coins exceeded 10,000 points,
New sub-currencies have emerged: "Mirror Stocks" and "Emotional Bonds".
All emotions have been financialized.
Some people trade worship, trade regret,
Even trading the "illusion of being understood".
The city is filled with illuminated advertisements:
Invest in everything you desire!
"Happiness requires only a down payment of 0.0001 trust points."
Desires are packaged, rated, and sold.
Even love can be paid for in installments.
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◆Five: Warnings Behind the Scenes
Lin Xuan noticed that a hidden node was continuously uploading fake trust values to the main system:
Hundreds of millions of trust transactions originate from the same source —
MirrorExchange.
No true dreams are traded there.
We only sell "the possibility of being understood".
"The market is starting to devour itself."
He whispered to his journal.
During the remote connection, Lu Caichen asked:
"Then what do we do?"
"Perhaps it depends on how quickly trust collapses."
He looked up and saw that the city outside the window was still bustling with lights.
And the distant horizon,
A slight crack appeared.
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Chapter One Ends: The Currency of Desire is Complete
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