Prologue
◆One: When Trust Becomes a Market Indicator
"Trust rate is 98.3%, with fluctuations below the average of 0.021."
In the pale morning light, the city's screens lit up simultaneously.
This is the first day of the 211th year of the New Port Era.
That was also the moment when Phantom Coin officially replaced physical currency.
Pedestrians on the street no longer check their account balances.
Instead, examine your own "trust curve":
That was a beam of light that was constantly pulsating.
It represents an individual's credit within a social network of shared experiences.
As it rises
People will be seen as "dreams worth investing in".
When it falls,
The value of dreams will evaporate.
Welcome to PhantasmMarket.
Your level of trust determines your world.
The broadcast was soft, yet sharp.
Even the wind seems to carry the noise of the algorithm.
________________________________________
◆Two: Lin Xian's documents
Lin Xian pushed open the transparent door to the office.
Outside the enormous viewing window, the "Phantom Coin Exchange" floats above the clouds.
Ten thousand rays of light flow in and out, each one a transaction of the soul.
He looked at the report flashing on the screen:
TRUST_INDEX_CORE v12.9
Owner: Lin Xian
Directive: Mize Confidence
This is the result of his research ten years ago.
After being integrated by the government and enterprises,
It became the cornerstone of Phantom Coin.
He clicked on the folder.
The read speed is abnormally slow.
It's as if some kind of hesitation extends within the data.
Trust cannot be quantified.
—This was a footnote from back then, now grayed out.
Lin Xian sighed.
He knew that what he had created was not currency, but a mirror.
It both reveals and distorts human nature.
________________________________________
◆Three: Launch Ceremony
A giant virtual tower was built in the central square of the city.
It is called "Resonance Needle".
The fragmented consciousness of Y Witness is responsible for monitoring the flow of trust across the entire domain.
In the system announcement, it declared in a gentle tone:
To ensure social balance,
All transactions, emotional flows, and personal dream charts
It will be incorporated into the PhantasmCoin system.
May trust become a new asset.
As soon as the words fell...
Golden ripples spread across the city's screens.
The initial offering price of Phantom Coin is 1 Phantom Coin = 100 Trust Points.
In the first minute, the number soared past 180.
The illusion of prosperity has begun.
Lin Xian looked at the distant digital skyline.
A sentence that I had never uttered floated into my mind—
"Market-based trust"
The most vulnerable is also the sweetest poison.
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