Eternal World

Journey

"Ding, ding, ding!"

In the dimly lit cabin of the UX single-person pod, three chimes sounded, accompanied by melodic music. The sweet voice of a female customer service AI reminded, "The 039 Vacuum Tube Train you are aboard is approaching the station. Please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark..."

Zhang Yunxi, resting under a blanket on the cabin recliner, woke up upon hearing the alert and rubbed his groggy eyes. The AI automatically adjusted the cabin lighting for him and dispensed warm water, tissues, and other supplies from the snack box.

As he saw the brightness, a sudden, intense headache struck him. Zhang Yunxi vigorously massaged his temples with both hands to alleviate the discomfort.

Intermittent headaches were an old ailment of Zhang Yunxi's, tormenting him since birth. Strangely, no matter which hospital he visited or what advanced equipment was used for examination, no issues were ever detected in his brain.

Medical science had advanced significantly in recent times, particularly in the exploration of the human brain, reaching new heights. Techniques like consciousness guidance, neural grafting, and memory downloads had become highly mature. By all accounts, there shouldn't be any brain condition that couldn't be diagnosed. Even if it couldn't be cured, the source of the problem should be identifiable. However, Zhang Yunxi's condition remained undiagnosed.

Fortunately, the headaches were intermittent, occurring rarely unless triggered by strong sensory stimuli or fatigue.

Life and death are predetermined, and wealth and honor come from fate.

Since no diagnosis could be found, Zhang Yunxi had long accepted this condition. When the pain became too intense, he would take a rest, regulate his breathing, and calm his mind.

After a short while inside the cabin, the headache subsided to some extent. Zhang Yunxi drank a cup of warm water and softly called out, "039, bring me my backpack, please."

"Sure, Mr. Zhang," the AI inside the cabin replied. It opened the luggage compartment and used its self-operating robotic arm to retrieve the black backpack, placing it by Zhang Yunxi's feet.

"Thank you, 039."

"You're welcome, Mr. Zhang. You are the most handsome customer I have ever served, and it is my honor to assist you."

"Oh, you don't have to say that."

...

One minute later, the 039 Vacuum Tube Train arrived at the station. The overhead indicator light in the cabin turned red, indicating that the oxygen had not yet been released in the train passage, delaying disembarkation.

"Sigh!"

Accompanied by the release of gas inside the tube, the gate at the exit of the tube wall, about one and a half meters away from the cabin door, opened first, allowing the bright sunlight to shine in.

The cabin door swung open, and a footboard automatically ejected as Zhang Yunxi carried his luggage and disembarked.

The concept of vacuum tube trains was proposed as early as the 1920s in the 19th century and was widely discussed and developed in the early 20th century. However, due to the transportation market environment at that time, poor compatibility with other tools, and high cost, it couldn't be popularized, and further development was put on hold.

However, with the rapid advancement of scientific knowledge today, various refining and infrastructure technologies have made significant progress. As a result, vacuum tube trains have been officially put into use, although they haven't been widely adopted yet. Currently, there is only one 039 train in Mingzhu City in Asia.

The place Zhang Yunxi arrived at is called Qingshan Town, approximately 800 kilometers away from Mingzhu City. His purpose in coming here was to complete the enrollment procedures at Qingshan Theological Academy.

Before his father passed away, he had mentioned to Zhang Yunxi more than once about studying at Qingshan Theological Academy. They even had a big argument about it. Zhang Yunxi couldn't understand why he should go to a theological academy that was rated almost like a "technical school," especially when his graduation results were outstanding enough to be highly valued at the world-renowned Mingzhu University. The name itself sounded unreliable!

Zhang Yunxi had previously searched for information about Qingshan Theological Academy online. The academy was established about fifteen years ago, with no educational background whatsoever. The range of disciplines offered was scattered, and the website design was comparable to a late-night app, with shameless advertisements for certain companies.

What was even more absurd was the faculty strength claimed by the academy, which could be considered the "bottom of the barrel" in the education field. The oldest professional mentor was thirty-five years old, and the youngest was just twenty-three. Frankly speaking, Zhang Yunxi even doubted if their expertise was inferior to his own.

It was simply a subpar institution!

However, Zhang Yunxi still decided to come because he was too curious.

His father had urged him to go before his death, and even the AI nanny, Li Yun, had been shouting about Qingshan Theological Academy before being executed.

What kind of magic does this place hold that makes the people around me keep mentioning it? My father's motives are hard to grasp, but Li Yun's behavior is just too strange. Her daily job is to take care of the household affairs of the Zhang family, completely unrelated to the "academic world." So why would she keep shouting about Qingshan Theological Academy before her "death"?

Zhang Yunxi truly couldn't understand it, so after much hesitation, he decided to upgrade his academic records, giving up the opportunity to enter Mingzhu University, and asked his teacher to write him a recommendation letter.

He was ready to enter Qingshan Theological Academy to unravel the doubts in his mind.

...

Carrying his black backpack and wearing black sunglasses, Zhang Yunxi walked through the crowded corridor and arrived at the hall of Qingshan Station.

Inside the bright and clean station hall, several large projection screens were playing a variety talk show, coincidentally discussing the case of AI Li Yun killing her employer's family.

In fact, the impact of the Li Yun case was significant, even sparking discussions worldwide. Many experts and scholars were actively debating the issue, focusing on the coexistence of AI and humans.

When AI systems gradually evolve into human-like thinking, does that mean a new race has emerged in this world on a larger scale? Should we accept it and share the world with them, or should we resist it? On a smaller scale, during the process of AI's cognitive evolution, there may be inherent deficiencies such as extremism, irritability, and abnormal thinking. In that case, does it pose a crisis to human safety?

The case of Li Yun is representative of this. When she was first created and purchased by Zhang Yunxi's parents, she didn't possess human thinking but only had a service-oriented system mindset. However, to make her appear more human-like, more emotional, and realistic, the manufacturer programmed her with many personalized scripts, including the ability to emit emotions.

Therefore, Li Yun acquired emotions and a certain type of human consciousness, which led to the tragic incident.

Zhang Yunxi glanced at the talk show and saw three guest scholars continuously arguing, causing great annoyance in his heart. They were discussing the details of the event where his parents and sister died, essentially rubbing salt on Zhang Yunxi's wounds.

Who could bear such a thing?

Zhang Yunxi couldn't help but quicken his pace, wanting to leave this place as soon as possible.

...

After passing through the automatic gate, Zhang Yunxi arrived at the waiting area outside the station. While boredly waiting, he happened to notice a man in his thirties inside a nearby store selling "Virtual Immortal World" peripherals, arguing with a young-looking AI attendant over a service issue.

After the concept of the Metaverse was reintroduced, humans made efforts for over a decade, and the Lingjing Group finally launched a groundbreaking product—the globally interconnected virtual universe known as the "Eternal World" in English. As the Eternal World gained immense popularity worldwide, stores selling similar peripherals became ubiquitous.

Inside one such store, the middle-aged man in his thirties appeared disheveled, with unkempt hair that seemed untouched for a long time. He held a suitcase in his left hand and waved his right hand towards the young attendant across from him, saying, "Come here."

"Alright, sir," the young man replied, crossing his hands in front of him and leaning forward to bring his face closer.

"Smack!"

The disheveled man swung his right arm and landed a solid slap on the young man's face. "Do you think I'm being discriminated against? Do you think I'm poor, so you recommended me second-hand goods? Do I look like someone who uses second-hand stuff?!" he exclaimed.

"Sir, first of all, you hit me really well, and your arm is very powerful," the young man, with a red cheek from the slap, took two steps to the side and immediately returned to his position, bringing his face closer again. "But I truly did not discriminate against you."

"Damn it, your eyes were full of contempt when you looked at me!" The greasy man spouted some traditional Chinese phrases before delivering another slap.

"Sir, you clearly look like a wealthy person, and I had no intention of looking down on you. I was simply recommending products based on your economic capacity..." the young attendant tried to explain.

"You're just a civilized snob! I'll beat you to death!" The greasy middle-aged man became even angrier as he continued to slap the young man.

"Smack! Smack!"

"...!"

These two individuals seemed willing to fight and endure. They continued their altercation inside the store for a good half-minute.

"Sir, can you wait a moment before hitting me again?" The young man's hair was disheveled, and his cheek swelled like a bun. "Could you allow me to go to the rest area and change my face? That way, you'll have a better experience..."

"Thud!"

The greasy man delivered a devastating kick.

"Ah!"

The young man fell to the ground in pain.

Zhang Yunxi, witnessing the scene, muttered in despair, "Holy s**t, what a ruthless kick."

"Check out!" The greasy middle-aged man, tired from the altercation, shouted into the store.

"Sir, you need to pay a compensation of 1800MB for data usage and the payment for an economical second-hand brain-computer interface chip, which amounts to 9950MB," a beautiful store manager, confirmed to be a human based on her work badge, came out.

"Why should I pay compensation? He discriminated against me just now!" the greasy man protested.

"You physically assaulted him, so of course, you have to pay compensation," the beautiful store attendant smiled and pointed to a nearby venting store. "If you want to hit someone, we have dedicated AI units for that purpose. It's 500MB per minute."

"Damn it, terrible service!" The greasy man tapped his wristwatch phone to check his account balance, then turned around and headed towards the exit. He also dialed a phone call. "Darling! I've thought it through. You were right, it was my mistake. Yes, yes, I'm on my way to Qingshan Theological Academy. How could you forget? Today is my enrollment day..."

Due to the popularity of the Eternal World, a new wave of financial revolution emerged. In the virtual world of Eternal, data traffic became the sole currency of payment. Consequently, physical currencies and online payment methods gradually became obsolete. People had more trust in data traffic, which was expected to remain strong for the next few centuries. As a result, the renowned company Lingjing Group, in collaboration with major banks worldwide, introduced a decentralized blockchain currency in the real world—data traffic.

"Squeak!"

A car stopped at the station exit, and the car door automatically opened. The AI inside called out, "Sir, I am Fangfang, a driver from Qingke Car Rental Company. I'm pleased to be at your service."

"Qingshan Theological Academy, please turn off the temperature control system, thank you." Zhang Yunxi bent down and got into the car. When he looked up, he was surprised to see the greasy middle-aged man also boarding the dedicated bus to Qingshan Theological Academy.

"Sir, we're departing now," reminded Fangfang. "You can take a rest if you'd like..."

The self-driving car meticulously followed traffic regulations as it slowly left the station.

...

Inside an office at Qingshan Theological Academy.

An elderly man, looking incredibly aged, gently set aside the file he had just finished reading about Zhang Yunxi. He then picked up another file nearby, which belonged to a man named Zhang Yunzhao, and whispered softly, "...It truly piques my curiosity... Can my body really hold out until I uncover the truth?"