"Hello."
Mr. Xia was sitting in a chair, lost in thought; this was one of his rare moments of free time.
However, even without the social gatherings and the tedious approvals, his thinking could not stop.
As he pondered recent international events...
The computer on the desk suddenly exited sleep mode, and the entire screen lit up, with a light blue glow covering the desktop.
Two large white characters appeared above: Hello.
Mr. Xia was a little surprised, but he immediately waved his hand and told his secretary to notify the cybersecurity department to track down the intruder.
"Hello?"
Just as Mr. Xia was looking serious and preparing to type those two words on the keyboard.
The words on the screen changed again. "You can speak; we don't have to limit ourselves to text-only communication."
"Hello?" Mr. Xia asked tentatively.
The text on the screen changed to: Hello.
"Do you know who I am?"
The reply from the other end was quick, "Of course I know, and that's precisely why I came to you."
Mr. Xia's expression turned serious. "In that case, may I take this as you provoking us?"
"Provocation? That's an interesting answer; you might think of it that way."
Sensing the other party's condescending tone, Mr. Xia frowned in displeasure. "What do you want from me?"
At this moment, the secretary stepped forward and whispered in Mr. Xia's ear, "The cybersecurity department said they didn't find any signs of intrusion... I'm afraid this person has network technology far beyond ours."
Mr. Xia nodded calmly and waved for him to leave.
"I've discovered something very interesting."
Something interesting?
As Mr. Xia read this sentence, he wondered what interesting things had happened in China recently, while waiting for the rest of the text to appear.
"Currently, there are [number] players logged into the Meta World, and [number] daily active users. However, China, as the world's most populous country, has a very low percentage in these two figures: 13% of logged-in players and 5% of daily active users. I was curious, so I came to take a look."
Meta World...
Mr. Xia had heard of this game; after all, many people had told him that it might be a groundbreaking game.
"Are you from Meta World Productions?"
Mr. Xia asked, glancing down at the documents his secretary handed him.
After reading the entire document, the information can be summarized as follows: it is still unclear which company created the Meta World.
Mr. Xia was speechless.
"It may be, or it may not be."
"???"
What does that mean?
Yes or no!
Mr. Xia tried his best to remain calm and asked, "Since you are the representative of the Meta World, don't you think your current actions will cause a dispute between the two countries?"
Although the information doesn't specify who the company behind Meta World is, experts speculate that only the USA could produce a game with so much advanced technology.
"Does Mr. Xia mean that the USA Meta World?"
Mr. Xia remained noncommittal upon seeing this question.
When the Meta World first appeared, the advertisements were everywhere, unrestrained, and domineering, just like the USA.
"Heh, we don't even look at the technology from the USA."
It was just a line of white text on a blue background.
Mr. Xia sensed the other party's disdain.
But then suddenly I felt a strange sense of dread...
It is an undeniable fact that most of the world's cutting-edge technologies are in the hands of the USA, and no country can deny the power of the USA. However, the forces behind this Meta World do not take the USA seriously.
Does that mean they possess more advanced technology than the USA?
Mr. Xia denied it instinctively.
But then I realized that we were clearly talking to the other party, yet the cybersecurity department hadn't detected any signs of intrusion whatsoever...
Mr. Xia was confident that even if the USA invaded, it would be impossible to achieve this.
Are you an alien?
Mr. Xia wanted to ask this question aloud.
However, making such a statement without any evidence is highly irresponsible.
Mr. Xia sighed and asked, "So what is your request? You've come to me because you want to say something, right?"
The text on the blue screen disappeared and reappeared after a while. "I just find this too boring."
"There are too few players in the Meta World."
"Boring, boring, boring, boring..."
The blue on the screen was instantly replaced by countless boring white characters until the entire screen turned white.
Then all the white faded away.
The screen returned to blue.
A line of white text appeared. "I say, why don't you lift the ban on the Meta World?"
This led to even more typos.
"Ah, your research materials are quite interesting too. I'll take them with me."
"Oh, you guys actually did research in this area? Wow, that's interesting."
"Oh, as expected of you guys, you've prepared so many novel gadgets, haha, doomsday preparedness measures? Modern warfare possibilities?..."
One after another, documents containing state secrets were unearthed, making Mr. Xia's heart pound with fear.
Many of the theories discussed here are private; if they were released, they would cause a huge uproar!
Is he trying to force us to obey him through threats?!
"Enough!"
Mr. Xia slammed his hand on the desk.
The constant stream of blank text on the computer screen and the tense atmosphere in the office instantly created a stifling feeling.
The bulging veins on his forehead showed that he was in a very bad mood, extremely bad.
His tone returned to calm. "Yes, we will relax the Meta World ban."
"That's more like it. The Meta World is so interesting, how can you not play it?"
"Oh, right, how about we play a game?"
Two lines of white text appeared in succession.
"What game?" Mr. Xia asked, clenching his fists, his emotions running high.
No one would be in a good mood if they saw their personal wealth being scrutinized by others.
Mr. Xia had no choice; the situation was beyond his control.
"Four months from now, I'll arrange for the monsters from the Meta World to descend into reality. Then you can use your game equipment to fight those monsters, how about that?"
Looking at these words, Mr. Xia suddenly felt as if he couldn't breathe.
All the anger subsided at that moment, then plummeted, until it sank into a deep, icy pool.
"Haha, I'm really looking forward to it. I hope you can bring me some interesting scenes."
Then all the blue and white came to an abrupt end.
The computer was restored to its original state.
"Take this computer downstairs and let the cybersecurity department investigate it to see if they can find out how the other party hacked it."
"Also, save the video recording of my conversation with this mysterious person, and have the other responsible persons return to the capital as quickly as possible. While they're at it, please find me a few people with advanced psychological analysis qualifications."
"Hold all research projects at the research institutes suspended. Send me to investigate the possibility that the [Meta World] was created by extraterrestrials! Give me a conclusion within ten days."
"Have the purchasing department buy a portion of the virtual equipment first..."
After a brief encounter, Mr. Xia remained skeptical of the alien theory and unsure whether he should believe that the other party could materialize the monsters from the game into reality.
But even if it's fake, they're just wasting some time and resources.
He can't afford to gamble, and neither can China.