In the real world, it's 8:00 AM.
Professor Li Yinhua looked at the scrolling prompts on the helmet screen in front of her and realized that she had finished the first day of testing.
He merely moved a finger and quickly sensed the unusual movement of the person next to him, only then recalling that he must have been under surveillance all night.
"You're awake? Please don't move around. Do you need to take off your helmet?"
The younger man in black asked.
"Um."
The professor agreed, and the man reached out to help him remove his helmet and brought him a pillow.
The old professor had already seen the numerous medical instruments beside his bed, and his vital signs were being displayed in a comprehensive manner.
The young man sat back down in his chair.
"I have a few questions for you. After you answer them, I will help you remove these electrode pads."
"Ask away."
This reaction was exactly what the old professor had anticipated; he understood their motives.
Caution is the safest attitude when facing the unknown, and we should be sufficiently vigilant towards anything that is beyond our ordinary understanding.
The young man cleared his throat, and his tone became much more formal:
"Next, I will ask you twenty questions. The first five are a cognitive test, so please ensure you are currently of sound mind. The last fifteen are related to the game content. Please rate all questions using integers from 0 to 10, where 0 represents negation or complete disapproval, and 10 represents affirmation or high satisfaction. If you did not hear a part clearly, you can say 'repeat,' and I will read the question again. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Okay, first question..."
"..."
"Alright, all your electrode pads have been removed. You are free to move around now."
"Good."
The old professor finally left his single hospital bed, took the breakfast from the man in black, and began to eat heartily.
For someone his age, he should have eaten by 8 a. m., but because he was participating in the test, his stomach was empty, and it started to rumble when he answered the questions.
He took a sip of warm soy milk and looked at the young man:
"You didn't sleep all night?"
The young man shook his head:
"The three of us take turns working four-hour shifts, which gives us enough rest time."
The professor then remembered that he had been conducting tests for a full twelve hours. Just as he was about to say something, the young man continued:
"We've already arranged for you to take leave from the college."
"You mean?"
"Please continue testing here for the next two days. You can go home once we have fully confirmed that this 'game' will not harm your health."
The old professor swallowed hard.
"Then... will I be able to log in again in three days?"
The young man suddenly laughed:
"It seems you are quite satisfied with ' World of Disorder.' Please rest assured that when faced with something that is difficult to explain with current technology, our first priority is always to determine whether it is harmful."
"If it's just a simple immersive game that doesn't harm your health, then whether it's a masterpiece of another civilization or a gift from another world, we can treat it with more composure."
"Conversely... if this 'game' shows any harmfulness, we will do everything in our power to stop it."
"So... where does your research stand now?"
The young man replied somewhat sheepishly:
"Unfortunately, we haven't made any progress on the network front yet, but we have obtained firsthand information from you regarding the biological impact."
The young man in black opened a folder next to the hospital bed:
"Last night, all your physical data were perfectly normal, showing no difference from deep sleep. Based on the current data, this game actually has a positive effect on improving sleep."
"Here are the test results from last night. You can take a look."
The old professor took the folder and began reading. The young man in black continued:
"Just wanted to let you know about tonight's testing plan. After you enter the game, we will subject you to various random external stimuli to your five senses, such as collecting blood samples, playing background noise, and releasing irritating gases, to assess your brain state during the game."
The old professor closed the folder in front of him and nodded.
"That makes sense. Let's leave it at that. I'm going to make a phone call home now."
Seeing the young man's hesitant expression, the professor spoke in a reassuring tone:
"Don't worry, this isn't the first time. I know what I should and shouldn't say."
In the real world, at a game company.
"Director, what can I do for you?"
Cui Yuan (game ID: Great Wei Boxing Champion ) stood in front of the director, looking at the unfriendly man and pondering his oversights at work.
Some middle-aged men with Mediterranean features glanced at him and said:
Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong.
He sighed and continued:
How can ghost stories be attributed to humans?
This unfounded exclamation left Cui Yuan completely bewildered. The technical director beckoned him closer, so Cui Yuan went to the other side of the desk and looked at the screen in front of the director.
He had seen this interface countless times, whether at work or while playing games. The screen now displayed the top-ranked games on their gaming platform.
Is there a problem?
Cui Yuan asked.
The director pointed to the twentieth game on the [New Games Chart] – " World of Disorder," a nightmare that no one in their company could avoid:
"Look at this trending tag. Our platform's trending data is the result of inputting clicks and conversions into relevant algorithms. How much trending is ' World of Disorder '?"
"Eight million three hundred thousand."
"Then take a look at number nineteen on the new game chart?"
Three hundred and seventy thousand.
"Where's the number one new game?"
Five million eight hundred thousand.
"Now you know where the problem lies, right?"
Cui Yuan nodded vigorously. He knew it all too well. It was like a student who got perfect scores in every subject, but only ranked twentieth on the overall list... Did that mean the nineteen people ahead of him were all cultivators?
But how can this problem be solved?
Cui Yuan looked at the director:
"I understand the problem, but this popularity ranking is part of our underlying algorithm, and it's impossible to modify the popularity ranking of ' World of Disorder ' independently..."
The director sighed and took off his glasses.
"Of course I know, so I've already received instructions from above. Take your group and delete the 'hot topic' as quickly as possible."
"All games?"
"Yes, for all games. From now on, the keyword 'popularity' will no longer appear on our new game charts."
The company really went to great lengths to make it reasonable...
He mentally muttered a complaint, but Cui Yuan's expression remained serious.
"Okay, I'll do it right away."