Higher, faster, stronger!
Humanity had always pursued and tested the evolutionary limits of the body.
But in fact, over more than five thousand years, humans had not become taller, faster, or stronger. Instead, technological progress had slowed their evolution even further, and certain bodily functions had even deteriorated.
The spread of virtual technology had made this trend even more pronounced...
Almost all essential work and entertainment could now be handled through the virtual network.
With the arrival of the great age of Solar System development, nearly one-fifth of all Earthlings now worked by using virtual remote-control technology to operate robots in outer space, hundreds of millions of miles away.
According to the latest United Nations survey, since humanity entered the interstellar age, the average time people spent active in the real world had plummeted, while their daily time online had soared from 4.4 hours to 7.8 hours.
The number of people moving about in the real world had dropped sharply. Once-bustling streets now had few pedestrians, rapidly ushering Earth into an age of "slumber"!
Although rapid advances in medical technology had allowed average human lifespans to rise slowly rather than decline, this still could not conceal the increasingly serious problem of poor overall health.
The Human Instrumentality Project was a population-wide enhancement program designed to address this...
Magic City, Earth Defense Force Headquarters.
A long line had already formed outside the medical center.
Thousands of new Earth Defense Force recruits were waiting there to receive a basic enlistment benefit... Basic Human Enhancement!
After entering the building, the soldiers followed the instructions of staff in white coats into separate rooms, where they stripped, underwent disinfection, and lay down in medical pods.
"Excuse me... is this thing reliable?" a freckled recruit nervously asked the white-coated doctor beside him.
"Hehe! Don't worry!