Banned Across the Board

There were no secrets on the internet.

There was always a crowd hungry for novelty and the bizarre.

They had barely slept all night, staring excitedly at Ye Jin on their screens, curious about everything about him.

Before long, all his information had been brought into the open.

Ye Jin, twenty-two years old, was about to graduate from an ordinary first-tier university in the country, where he majored in architecture.

His parents had died in a car accident when he was young, and he had entered an orphanage, struggling and crawling at the very bottom of society and enduring countless looks of disdain.

He had been preparing for his graduation project and had suddenly disappeared during a school-organized architectural study trip to John Country.

The school had already contacted the local embassy and requested assistance, but there had been no news. Nobody had expected to see him on their screens, and they were all shocked beyond measure.

An ordinary background and an ordinary education.

What about either of those qualified him to represent the people of Nine Domains?

Endless questions fermented online.

The domestic media, like sharks that had scented blood, swarmed in and frantically interviewed the classmates and friends around him.

If he had had a fixed residence and his parents had still been alive, the place would probably have been surrounded by a forest of cameras, with reporters from every major outlet lying in wait for firsthand information.

This reality show was simply too thrilling.

No show had ever been so novel before.

But some people smelled blood behind the show, which was full of signs of countless power struggles among the upper echelons.

One blockbuster exclusive after another filled the media headlines.

They frantically set people's nerves jangling.

But some of the remarks were unbearable to hear.

A prominent media influencer posted a lengthy commentary: "Ye Jin cannot represent Nine Domains Nation. In a world full of temptation, someone who isn't good enough will inevitably have the ugliness in his heart magnified in such an environment. The production team must replace him."

"He got ten million US dollars in compensation without lifting a finger. He must donate it to charity, at least eighty percent of it. It fell from the sky anyway."

As soon as these remarks appeared, countless comments followed.

Although the vast majority of people said the matter should be viewed rationally,

a small number of public intellectuals were still stirring things up.

They made even more excessive demands.

They demanded a comprehensive assessment of his qualifications, that every detail of his past and every one of his social media accounts be dug up and examined one by one, all under the noble pretext of safeguarding the nation's honor.

If he did anything to damage the nation's image, he should be held accountable to the entire country and apologize to all its people for his offense.

A war of words immediately erupted online.

Although there were plenty of these disgusting public intellectuals, more people were worried about the intentions behind the so-called Human Destiny Alliance.

Some of the public intellectuals who cringed and cowered in real life but swung their fists online

were met with a flood of rebuttals and left speechless.

They turned their sights directly on the show Humanity's Future, denouncing it and demanding that it die in the womb and come away without a single grain.

Some went even further, jointly filing reports and spouting nonsense and inflammatory remarks beneath posts by numerous official media outlets.

In the conference room,

several people in charge had all arrived, and the staff were making their final compilation of intelligence.

There was only one item on the agenda: Ye Jin.

If outsiders learned what was being discussed at this meeting, their eyes would surely pop out of their heads.

What they thought was merely a reality show, perhaps one staffed entirely by actors,

had actually been placed on the agenda.

"All the information shows that Ye Jin is just an ordinary person with an ordinary background. According to our intelligence compilation, he was simply an accident. He was selected because he met the conditions while overseas, and he wasn't manipulated by anyone with malicious intent."

"A great many extreme remarks have now appeared online. Some people are even calling for a boycott of the show, to bury it completely."

"Some are even more extreme. After exposing every detail of Ye Jin's personal history and his social media accounts, they're demanding that the personal information and messages in those accounts be made public as well, to determine whether he can represent Nine Domains Nation."

"Others claim that if Ye Jin does anything contrary to the image of our people, then even if he comes back alive, they will make him a sinner against the nation and socially destroy him."

"Our official media outlets have been under tremendous pressure these past few days. Should we release Ye Jin's personal information?"

The pieces of intelligence were compiled one by one.

After hearing the head of the staff finish, the people in charge all fell silent.

After a long silence, the person in overall charge took out a cigarette and lit it.

He took a deep drag and exhaled.

It was as though he had breathed out a mountain of pressure.

He slowly explained the inside story: "The Human Destiny Alliance had other intentions behind developing this show. You don't need to know what those intentions are."

"Some countries behind this show also want to use it to strike at our nation's spirit and greatness. They harbor evil intentions, but they won't find it so easy to succeed."

"What you need to do is keep a close eye on them during the show. Don't let them tamper with it. If necessary, you may use every resource at your disposal. You may leave now."

The staff members left.

Only the people in charge remained.

Some things were for them alone to know and must never be allowed to spread.

A faint haze of smoke hung in the conference room. The person in overall charge said quietly, "The Human Destiny Alliance created this show to select a chosen child of the gods to be the first to undergo modification. This matter is of vital importance to the country, and Ye Jin's inclinations are even more important."

At this point, he paused and smiled.

"I've looked at that child's records. His nature isn't bad. If he really competes on a level playing field, we won't necessarily lose."

"The best psychologists in the country are analyzing the situation. Fairness must be guaranteed; that is also our bottom line."

"If we do discover anything unfair, we will stop it at once. If necessary... we won't shrink from a fight!"

As he said this, he stressed the last few words.

The other people in charge all stood at attention. For the nation's rise, everything was worth it.

"Then what about those extreme remarks online? Are we just going to let them expose Ye Jin's information?"

At this, the person in overall charge narrowed his eyes slightly.

"At a time like this, there are still people thinking about fighting among ourselves. Who knows what goes through their heads all day, or what they're fighting over!"

"If they want to boycott it, let them."

"One day they'll realize that everything they did was a mistake and a joke."

"If they want to violate someone else's privacy, we'll see whether they're capable of it. Notify the public opinion monitoring department and keep those accounts in check. The internet is not beyond the reach of the law."

"If anyone does post remarks insulting the country online, deal with them severely during this special period."

His word settled the matter.

It also meant that if those accounts continued to post improper remarks, they would all be suspended.

Even the people behind them would face legal penalties.

Ten hours passed quickly.

As the first rays of dawn arrived,

Ye Jin's eyelids twitched.

He... woke up.