System Consciousness Wave

Penghai City.

3 PM.

An open space in the southern suburbs.

Chen Yi checked the camera, signaled his employees, and began a new day of live streaming.

"Ding ding ding, welcome brothers and sisters to Yi Yi Flying Store! Today, we're proudly launching a brand-new model airplane!"

Chen Yi greeted the camera and then pulled over a box of accessories.

"This 70mm ducted fan, 12-blade turbofan accessory is the main body of the model airplane engine. It's the core component that uses an electric motor to propel the model."

"A 100W electronic speed controller, with a high-speed motor made of silicon steel sheets at its core. It features high efficiency, high precision, low friction, and low noise. Paired with the 70mm 12-blade ducted fan, it can instantly unleash a powerful thrust of 3300 grams. We'll assemble the engine first, then the pure handmade model airplane shell, and finally the high-capacity battery and remote control module to easily realize your model airplane dreams!"

Chen Yi took out the accessories one by one and skillfully assembled the model airplane.

"You can choose to buy the parts and assemble them yourself, enjoying the fun of DIY assembly."

"Alternatively, for an extra twenty yuan, you can choose to have the entire unit shipped, ready to fly upon arrival."

Chen Yi showed the assembled model airplane to the camera a few times, then tossed it into the sky.

On the other side, the employee responsible for cooperation, Qin Xiaoyu, immediately turned on the remote control. She controlled the model airplane, which suddenly ascended at a steep angle, soaring into the sky and performing various stunts like rolls, side-flies, and inverted flight.

Chen Yi adjusted the live stream camera to follow the model airplane as it roared and circled in the sky.

"Length 96 centimeters, width 39 centimeters, height 18 centimeters, maximum speed 210 kilometers per hour, maximum flight time 58 minutes, equipped with an 8-megapixel camera supporting 10x zoom."

"How much would a model airplane like this cost?"

"788!"

"788, and you can take home a premium model airplane!"

"For an additional 100 yuan, we'll also give you two ultra-high-capacity lithium batteries, so your model airplane can refuel and fly longer, and you can have more fun."

"As the saying goes, when buying a car, you look at the model; when playing with drones, it's better to play with model airplanes."

"788 yuan. You can't buy a studio apartment or a car with it, but you can own your very own model airplane, control the power of flight, and experience the charm of the sky."

Chen Yi shouted with passion.

More than an hour passed.

After showcasing three handmade model airplanes, Chen Yi ended the live stream and went to ask another employee on his team.

"Keke, how are today's sales figures?"

"Boss."

Xia Keke, who was in charge of the online store operations and backend customer service, turned the computer screen towards him. "Our live stream just now only sold 3 model airplanes, and the number of viewers online at the same time didn't exceed 300."

"Only 3 units?"

Chen Yi was taken aback. "How's the traffic on other platforms today?"

"Very poor. It's down 7.6% compared to yesterday, and down 37.9% compared to a month ago."

Xia Keke pulled out the statistical report and highlighted today's traffic data.

"I understand."

Chen Yi nodded. "Don't worry about it. The weather is unpredictable during the rainy season, and it's starting to change now. Let's all pack up the equipment and get ready to go back."

"Brother Yi, our store's traffic and order volume have been decreasing recently, and the click-through rate of the videos we upload has also been declining."

Qin Xiaoyu didn't rush to pack. She asked with a worried expression, "Is our handmade model airplane online store going to close down?"

"That's not something you need to worry about."

Chen Yi neither confirmed nor denied it, smiling and reassuring her. "Even if we do close the store, your salaries won't be reduced by even a single cent."

"Oh."

Qin Xiaoyu understood. She didn't ask any further questions, just dejectedly packed up the various model airplanes and accessories.

"Let's go, we're heading back."

Chen Yi helped load the items into the car. As they drove back to the store, a downpour suddenly covered the sky.

"Keke, please edit the playback of today's live stream video and upload it to Shu Zhan, Weibo, and Xigua Douyin."

"Xiaoyu, take stock of the inventory in the store and give me the report before we close at 6 PM."

After assigning tasks to the two employees, Chen Yi went up to his office and assembly area on the second floor.

"Ding! Due to... reasons, the system's eighteenth restart failed. Please collect consciousness waves as soon as possible to maintain the system's quantum collapsed state and stabilize the system's spark..."

"What kind of scam message is this? Don't they know I downloaded the anti-fraud center app?"

Chen Yi took out his phone and saw the message pop up on the screen. He grumbled and started his live stream account.

"Thank you all for your support during the live stream just now. Our Yi Yi Flying Store sold 140 model aircraft, achieving a breakthrough in sales.

Now, I will be live-streaming the manual assembly for you.

All model aircraft will be assembled and shipped tonight, striving to get them into your hands as soon as possible."

Chen Yi placed his phone on a stand. Regardless of how many viewers there were, he chatted with the camera while assembling the model aircraft that had just been ordered.

However, Chen Yi, who had turned off other message notifications on his phone, was unaware.

While he was chatting and live-streaming, as viewers came and went, messages on his phone's background also popped up one after another.

"Detected intervention of consciousness waves, observer effect stabilized, quantum collapsed state stabilized, system spark stabilized, loading program. Current loading progress 8/100"

". Current loading progress 21/100"

". Current loading progress 48/100"

"Loading complete, proceeding with life binding"

Soon, an hour passed.

Even while chatting and assembling, he finished building three model aircraft.

Chen Yi made an excuse to end the live stream, then packed the assembled model aircraft. Finally, he stood up and looked at the place where he had spent four years of his youth.

"The decline in store orders and video traffic is irreversible. We've been operating at a loss for the past six months."

"Without core technology, we could capture some market share during the growth phase, but in the saturation phase, without technology, we'll just be cannon fodder."

Chen Yi recalled his experiences over the years.

Five years ago, he graduated from vocational college and started working in assembly at DJI Drones, commonly known as a screw-tightener.

He worked for about half a year.

By chance, Chen Yi discovered that drone assembly was almost a blank slate in the civilian sector. He decisively resigned and opened an online store selling and assembling drones.

At the same time, he created a self-media account, filming drone assembly and flight videos to drive traffic to his online store.

In less than two months, he became popular.

Leveraging the integration of online and offline resources, his online store's orders began to skyrocket. Coupled with revenue from video playback and advertising, he achieved his goal of buying a car and a house outright in Penghai City and accumulating millions in savings within just two and a half years.

Then, two years ago, drone assembly and FPV drones entered a red ocean, with countless related self-media accounts and online stores crying out in agony.

Chen Yi decisively shifted his focus to the model aircraft field, continuing for another year or so.

But six months ago, everything changed.

With the continuous impact of short videos, video playback volume began to plummet.

Not only did the revenue from playback and advertising almost disappear, but the drop in traffic also caused a landslide in his online store's order sales.

Furthermore, as model aircraft entered a saturation phase, countless hyper-competitive individuals flooded the field.

Students from the Seven Sons of National Defense also began posting videos online, playing games like "building a rocket from scratch" to disrupt the market.

Facing such intense competition, other stores with technical expertise and channels started playing with more technically advanced models like turbojet aircraft.

Meanwhile, a store owner like him, a vocational college graduate who had only ever manually assembled drones and electric ducted fan model aircraft, could only slowly lose his competitive edge.

"Forget it, let's just close down."

"Although I've lost some money in the past six months, the remaining money is enough for me to live it up for a few years, maybe get an off-road vehicle and travel around the country."

"I'll go see if Xiaoyu has finished compiling the inventory of spare parts. I'll clear them out to Old Zhang, a competitor, in the next few days. What the hell is this?"

Chen Yi moved aside a model aircraft, about to leave.

Suddenly, a semi-transparent interface popped up above the model aircraft.

[Item: Handmade Model Aircraft]

[Attributes: Energy x7.3, Speed x4.2, Stability x4.6, Strength x2.3, Aesthetics x5.1]

[Consciousness Wave: 3089]

[Adjustable Attributes: 0]

[Note: This is a toy model aircraft with a simple design and average performance!]

A strange interface displayed various attributes.

Each attribute had two small plus and minus signs next to it.

The plus signs were grayed out and unselectable, while the minus signs were bright and selectable.

"This consciousness wave... it feels a bit familiar."

Chen Yi thought for a moment, then picked up his phone from the table.

He unlocked the screen, and a dozen messages popped up.

"Detected consciousness wave intervention, observer effect stable, quantum collapse form stable, system spark stable, loading program. Current loading progress 48/100"

"Loading complete. Acquired 3000 initial consciousness waves. Initiating life binding."

"Binding complete. Greetings, respected Host."

"Through the system's control over the quantum field, you can adjust the attributes of crafted items, develop various black technologies, and establish a super-dimensional civilization."

Looking at these messages and then at the transparent interface that appeared next to the model airplane, Chen Yi couldn't help but fall into deep thought.