Global Datafication

On a street in a small village, a young man around twenty drove an electric tricycle loaded with goods.

The young man was named Wang Xian, one of the few college graduates in the village.

After graduating from college, Wang Xian had stayed in the big city where he had studied, finding himself a stable job. Both the pay and the work environment had been excellent.

Moreover, through his own efforts, Wang Xian had bought an apartment in that big city—well, he had only paid the down payment.

With a stable job and a home, along with his above-average looks and build, Wang Xian had also found his other half through an introduction from friends.

With such qualifications, Wang Xian naturally had quite a reputation in the village.

After all, whenever villagers had nothing to do but chat, they always compared each family's children. Wang Xian happened to be the "other people's child" they always talked about.

But things had changed a year ago. Wang Xian was no longer the "other people's child" everyone praised, but the example they used to lecture their own children.

That was because, a year earlier, Wang Xian had suddenly quit his stable job in the big city, sold his apartment—on which he had only made the down payment—at a low price, and even broken up with his beautiful girlfriend.

It had originally been Wang Xian's own business, and no one had said much. As fellow villagers, they had merely felt it was a pity.

In their eyes, perhaps Wang Xian had run into some difficulty in the big city.

But as time passed, that view changed completely.

They had thought Wang Xian would stay home for a while before pulling himself together, but what he did next shocked everyone. For a time, they had even suspected he was possessed.

He stayed at home doing nothing all day, while furious roars often came from his house. Everyone in the village could tell that it was Wang Xian's father.

After nearly ten months of this, Wang Xian finally stopped idling around. He leased a plot of land and opened a breeding farm.

There was nothing wrong with a breeding farm. It was a normal livelihood, even if it was somewhat exhausting and dirty.

But Wang Xian was not raising familiar poultry or livestock. Instead, he raised all sorts of strange things: cockroaches, earthworms, locusts, scorpions, centipedes, and more.

What the villagers found most unacceptable was that Wang Xian's breeding farm also contained a huge number of rats.

That was right—rats, one of the things rural people hated most.

Fine, what Wang Xian raised was his own business. Even though the villagers had opinions about the rats, they only talked behind his back. After all, his breeding farm was tightly sealed. Several months had passed without a single rat or other strange creature escaping, and more importantly, the farm was not close to the village.

However, raising them was one thing, but the villagers had not seen Wang Xian gain any profit from it.

Not only that, he had even sold the apartment his father had bought in the city, using all the money to buy feed for those things. Rumor had it that he had angered his father into illness because of it.

Driving his cargo-filled tricycle through the village, Wang Xian arrived five or six minutes later at a building surrounded by walls around three meters high, with only a single iron gate.

At that moment, two middle-aged men stood before the iron gate.

Wang Xian's expression changed slightly when he saw them.

"Village Chief, Secretary, what brings you two elders here?"

Wang Xian got out of the vehicle and deftly pulled out a pack of cigarettes, offering them to the two men.

"Cut that out. What did you promise me last month? I didn't say anything about you raising cockroaches, earthworms, centipedes, scorpions, and the like. Those things can count as medicinal materials. But why did you have to raise so many rats? Are those damned things something you can raise casually? What if it causes a plague?"

The village chief glared at Wang Xian with an angry expression, his tone carrying a sense of disappointment.

Back when Wang Xian had gotten into college—a top university at that—the town had given him an award. It had brought the village chief great prestige throughout the surrounding villages. Yet now this brat had quit his job in the big city and come back to the village to open a breeding farm.

Opening a breeding farm would have been one thing, and he could have accepted raising strange creatures. But this fellow had later started raising rats.

"Brother, don't blame the village chief for getting angry. He's considering everyone's safety. Besides, you promised us you would deal with those rats. It's been over a month now, so why are you still raising them?"

The secretary also looked at Wang Xian helplessly. He and Wang Xian belonged to the same clan. Though he was nearly thirty years older than Wang Xian, Wang Xian's seniority in the village was astonishingly high.

"Village Chief, Secretary, give me three more days. Just three days. I guarantee I'll deal with those rats after three days. I've raised them for so long already—you can't let me lose everything, can you?" Wang Xian pleaded pitifully.

"You..."

Seeing Wang Xian like this only made the village chief angrier. The brat had made the same promise last time.

"Alright, Old Wei, give this brat another three days. If he doesn't resolve it, we'll help him resolve it. What do you think?" the secretary quickly urged.

"You spoil him too much."

After snapping at the secretary, the village chief left in anger.

"Honestly, what am I supposed to say about you, kid? Remember, three days. Only three days. If you don't deal with them after three days, I'll deal with them for you!"

After sighing, the secretary also left.

After watching the two men leave, Wang Xian opened the iron gate and drove the electric tricycle inside. Once he had unloaded the goods, he headed to the resting area.

Sitting on the sofa by the window, he took a jade pendant from his pocket and gently rubbed it.

It was a Dragon Phoenix Jade Pendant. The jade itself was poor quality, full of impurities, and its edges had several chips. It was the kind of thing no one would pick up even if it were thrown onto the street.

The only thing about the Dragon Phoenix Jade Pendant that might have been worth collecting was the spot of blood-red color at its center, which made it seem to hold the slightest bit of value.

"Two days. Two days left..."

Wang Xian gazed at the clear sky beyond the window and murmured.

The two days passed in the blink of an eye. People went about their usual business as normal, but then, without warning, an emotionless voice that sounded mechanically synthesized suddenly rang out in everyone's minds.

"Datafication template loading..."

"Communication module loading..."

"Forum module loading..."

"Safe zones beginning generation..."

"Wilderness instances beginning generation..."

"Class change temples beginning generation..."

"..."

"Life transformation beginning!"

Voice after voice echoed in their minds.

Countless people began to panic. They had no idea where the voice came from, but judging by the expressions of those around them, everyone had clearly heard it.