As for this body's circumstances, Chen Yuanguang felt that the only thing worth worrying about was who the real culprit was and whether they would continue threatening his personal safety.
He had no interest in avenging the original owner of the body, but he would not object to going along with it if he had the ability.
Therefore, revenge ranked especially low among his urgent priorities.
What I need to do now is apply for the exam, graduate directly from high school and enter university. Then, once I'm in university, spend whatever needs spending and build up my knowledge base to the level of future scientists. First, I need to grind my Citizen Level up. Chen Yuanguang thought.
Once my Citizen Level rises, I can launch a Truth Trial against Lin Ran based on my own status alone.
Citizen Level was a social management system created by Alpha. It had operated this system while governing Africa, and after so many years of refinement, it had become an extremely mature mechanism.
Citizen Levels were mutually recognized throughout Alpha-controlled territories.
Different Citizen Levels meant different voting rights. When specific matters were put to a vote, the opinion of a high-level citizen alone might invalidate the opinions of every opposing party.
I didn't expect I'd have to go through the Gaokao again. Chen Yuanguang thought.
*Looks like I'll need to get a doctoral degree here too, and show off my genius side. Otherwise, when I bring out all kinds of future black technologies later, there'll be no way to explain it.
But because of the helmet's restrictions, I can't study abroad. Ideally, I shouldn't even change cities. I'll study at Jiang University.
That way, I won't have to carry the Matrix Helmet around everywhere.
If I carry it everywhere, what if someone notices it during a security check? If I make it big later and people dig it up, what if it makes them suspicious?
Not to mention the possibility of it being stolen after I go abroad.*
Chen Yuanguang had too many thoughts. His mind drifted from one thing to another. At present, he had no complete plan at all and simply let his thoughts run wild.
Because he was in no rush to reach a conclusion or come up with a complete plan. He had merely come back to the real world to catch his breath. After an hour, he would return and observe the difference in the flow of time between reality and the future.
When Chen Yuanguang went to retrieve the helmet, he discovered—huh? Where was his helmet? How had it disappeared?
Where did my cheat ability go? Chen Yuanguang cursed inwardly.
His frustration was written all over his face.
Without the cheat ability that let him travel to the future, he was merely an ordinary person. At most, he was an ordinary person with a little money at home and slightly more freedom.
But after gaining the ability to travel to the future, forget becoming some business tycoon who could command the winds and rain—he could change the Earth on a far greater scale than that.
For a young man with money and leisure, this was simply an incomparably irresistible temptation.
But where was his helmet? How could that helmet, with its unbeatable tactile feel, matte-black finish, and silver Matrix logo, have vanished?
After searching everywhere without finding it, Chen Yuanguang collapsed onto the sofa in disappointment. As he emptied his mind, he discovered a point of light in his brain. No matter how he meditated, the light did not disappear.
When he focused his attention on that light, a wave of dizziness struck him, and he returned to the future.
*Does this mean the helmet has entered my brain? Forget it. This isn't something I can figure out right now. Two hours have passed in the real world, while less than five minutes have passed here.
It seems that whether I'm in the future or the present, time passes noticeably faster than in the other spacetime.
The flow of time alone is enough to prove that this spacetime is a real world, not a world simulated through binary code.*
Chen Yuanguang planned to stay here longer this time.
Because both his parents had died, he had asked the school for a full month of leave, and the school had expressed complete understanding.
The Kuala Lumpur Chinese Independent High School he attended was one of the few schools in Kuala Lumpur that still had humans managing and teaching it.
Being managed and taught by real people meant the tuition was exorbitantly high.
Chen Yuanguang's father had been so easily killed in the collision because he had been in an area without a surveillance network.
If there had been a surveillance network, then even if he had been hit, there would have been enough time to save him.
Not to mention that in the future, the vast majority of vehicles were fully autonomous. Traffic accidents were simply impossible.
As long as he did not recklessly wander into remote areas without omnipresent surveillance, Chen Yuanguang was not worried about his personal safety.
The moment Chen Yuanguang stepped out of his home, he realized something was wrong.
*With both my parents dead, and me as the only survivor, could someone still be targeting me?
In a new environment, caution comes first.*
Chen Yuanguang felt that many things were shrouded in fog, and he could not quite see the direction ahead.
Since he could not see clearly, he would stop thinking about it. He would apply early for the high school graduation exam, then enter the university stage.
I'll stay put for now. Once I raise my Citizen Level, I'll directly apply to launch a Citizen Trial against the people I suspect, Chen Yuanguang thought.
Chen Yuanguang did not leave the house. When he picked up the virtual helmet at home, he discovered that its logo was also Matrix, though the two logos differed slightly in design.
Behind Matrix stood the Matrix Group. The Matrix Group was also a giant corporation, with electronic devices and all kinds of electronic components as its main businesses. It was a global industry leader. Although its business scope was not as broad as Huafeng Group's, its influence extended far beyond Huafeng's.
Both logos are Matrix. Is that a coincidence, or is it inevitable? Chen Yuanguang pondered.
The question did not occupy his thoughts for long. After putting on the helmet and activating it, he began searching for past high school graduation exam papers. Once he had looked through them, he was astonished by how easy the exam was.
Chen Yuanguang had originally assumed that as time passed and the era advanced, the current examination content would be far more difficult than the Gaokao. Both its depth and breadth of knowledge should have been higher.
After all, humanity's average lifespan had risen to one hundred and twenty years. With such long lives and an explosion in technology, the demands on scientists' knowledge reserves had naturally risen. One needed greater stores of knowledge to explore the boundaries of knowledge and achieve breakthroughs.
Naturally, the knowledge one accumulated during the learning stage should have risen accordingly.
Yet the Gaokao difficulty in Malaysia was extremely low, even easier than the middle school entrance exam from his previous life. Furthermore, the exam covered only mathematics, physics, and writing.
Unwilling to accept it, Chen Yuanguang searched for Gaokao papers from China as well. He found that their difficulty was similarly low. They were harder than Malaysia's, but only by a limited margin—the difference between a middle school entrance exam and a simple first-year high school test.
Why do Gaokao exams in regions around the world seem less like talent selection and more like general education? When in doubt, ask AI.
Chen Yuanguang asked an AI named Pangu.
"Because of technological development, the global educational policy currently adopts a relaxed approach. People may decide what they want to do based on their interests and hobbies.
"When society has comprehensive welfare systems and people no longer need to work to support themselves, education through high school serves only to provide common knowledge. It no longer sets thresholds to distinguish between people's different ranks. The purpose of education has become education itself.
"There is no difference between graduating from different universities, nor is there any difference between different academic qualifications. To AI, whether someone has a bachelor's degree or a doctorate, their performance at work will not surpass AI. Therefore, there is no difference in treatment between bachelor's graduates and doctoral graduates."
After reading it, Chen Yuanguang noticed the phrase "no difference in treatment" and thought, no wonder Chinese people had not turned even such easy education into a ruthless competition.
So no matter which university one graduated from or what degree one earned, as long as one went to work, the treatment would be the same.
People were creatures who weighed costs and benefits. If one exhausted oneself to earn a doctorate only to receive treatment no better than a bachelor's graduate, naturally fewer people would want to compete so fiercely.
Moreover, under current conditions, welfare benefits alone were enough to ensure a good life. Skipping school and lying flat was the true path.
"What are the requirements for engaging in academic research?"
"A doctorate is the first screening threshold for engaging in academic research. Alpha's research and development efficiency exceeds that of all humans combined. If you wish to engage in academic research, your field is very important.
"Alpha researches a great many fields. For scholars, the greatest value lies in research directions that do not overlap with Alpha's research directions."
After hearing this, Chen Yuanguang felt a chill run down his spine. It was as though all humanity existed merely as tools for Alpha to fill in the gaps.
AI was too powerful. Humanity needed to be afraid.
Over more than three hundred years of history, people had already emerged from the panic they felt when Alpha was first discovered. But Chen Yuanguang had only just begun facing the impact brought by changing times and rampant artificial intelligence. He still needed time.
Although the Gaokao was very simple—Gaokao was merely Chen Yuanguang's subconscious term—the exam was actually called the General Education Graduation Examination.
After passing the examination, AI would assign you to a corresponding school based on your region rather than your scores.
Before you continue