The Uncanny Valley Travel Guide

In the N-Star building, He Huaizhou is looking at the large laboratory covering an area of ​​more than 2000 square meters through the clear and stainless floor-to-ceiling windows. The center of the laboratory rotates and projects the huge three-meter-high Full-body portrait, the research and development personnel are making final data adjustments to her.

He Qin stood still behind him and called out, "Uncle."

He Huaizhou, who was in deep thought, seemed to be awakened by him, turned his head hastily, and beckoned him to come over.

"Aqin, come and take a look, what do you think?"

He Qin took a few steps forward, and the assistants behind him were waiting two meters away in a measured manner.He glanced at it, and suddenly asked, "Uncle, actually, I've always wanted to know why you proposed to the board of directors to release a horror-themed game for the 200th anniversary?"

He Huaizhou laughed, and he said softly: "Fear makes you a prisoner, hope makes you free—"

"—A strong person can only save himself, and a great person can save others." He Qin smiled, and then skillfully continued.

This is a line from the movie "The Shawshank Redemption". When He Qin was a child, He Huaizhou took him to watch this classic masterpiece over and over again.In the past few hundred years, it has been reproduced no less than a hundred times, from the oldest form of videotape to the most advanced form of holographic somatosensory, He Huaizhou has carefully treasured them all.

When he was young, he was a naive president with a childlike innocence. After decades, he became an old man, and his love for games remained unchanged in his bones.

N-Star company can develop to the present point, besides relying on the businessman's natural keen sense of smell and the instinct to fight in the battlefield of profit, the most important thing is that those in the family who are obsessed with games and are willing to devote their lives to it, Geniuses who don't change their hearts.

They are leading the trend of the holographic era, and they are the core, decision makers and forwarders of N-Star Company. The pure enthusiasm of businessmen for profit will not work in this future world full of fantasy. Works can be immortal, immortal, and praised and praised by the world with relish.

"I think our works have been surrounded by flowers, halos, wealth and victories for too long." He Huaizhou said slowly, "It is true that games should bring happiness to people; but if games can only Bringing happiness to people is also completely deviated from the original intention of N-Star..."

He Qin listened quietly, and He Huaizhou sighed, and said: "N-Star is a giant country across the ages. It surpasses the government, any centralized country, and even the limitations of time and space. Sorrow and joy are closely linked together, forming another world without boundaries and barriers—but it is also because of this, Aqin, that our responsibilities are particularly heavy.”

"I understand, uncle." He Qin replied, "I understand."

"There are always people who need to lead the times," He Huaizhou said, pointing to the front of nothingness, "You see, even if we say irresponsibly now, 'We're going there', the giant ship of Nova City will immediately Turn it around and bring the whole world in that direction, but is getting there good or bad for our future? Nobody knows."

"So, the research and development of Uncanny Valley is also based on this concern." He Huaizhou whispered, "You have to know, Aqin, the greatest wealth of human beings is hope."

"Hold on to hope, and in your hands are dreams and everything. Fears of reality, or fears of imaginary ghosts, are prisons for us. Break it, break it with hope—this is What I and the developers of Uncanny Valley hope to see."

He Qin nodded and said, "So that's the case... I understand."

He Huaizhou laughed, and took off the coat of worrying about the country and the people just now, and turned back into that optimist old man: "Don't talk about this, I heard that you almost didn't come in today?"

He Qin smiled helplessly: "No, I lost a bet with someone in the game two days ago and bet the card to him."

He Huaizhou asked curiously, "Who can beat you?"

"Actually, it's not considered a win..." He Qin pondered for a moment, and confessed, "Well, I let the water go, because I didn't expect that child to offer such a valuable bargaining chip."

He Huaizhou's eyebrows were raised high, and he looked at He Qin with sparkling eyes: "What kind of bargaining chips do you need to mortgage your dog tag?"

He Qin smiled bitterly and said, "Uncle, let me ask you, in the City of New Stars, what are the chances of getting 3S-level item fragments in the lottery?"

He Huaizhou said firmly: "Zero, because this is completely impossible."

He turned around and led He Qin into an open passage. When the lights on both sides were completely dimmed, the walls of the passage seemed to be receding at a rapid speed, replaced by the boundless universe and the revolving galaxies.

One after another props flashing with diamond light emerged from the stars. He Huaizhou looked at them softly, as if these were seedlings he had carefully watered. He asked: "The child who bet with you, what is it?" Fragment of a prop?"

"The City of Eternal Time." He Qin said.

He Huaizhou opened his eyes wide in surprise. He scratched his head and said in doubt: "Are you sure? This is a treasure held by the Time Sage, and the method of obtaining it has not yet been opened... Wait, I suddenly remembered, there is One possibility..."

As He Huaizhou said, he moved out a palm-sized, crystal-clear crystal hourglass from the starlight, and with a vain pull of both hands, the hourglass was immediately dismantled into countless small parts, one of which was familiar to He Qin. The fragment that you hold.

Just as He Huaizhou was about to speak, the optical brain on his wrist suddenly beeped. He hurriedly pressed it, and his joy was beyond words: "What, the test is complete?!"

When He Qin heard this, he couldn't care less about the fragments, and hurried out with He Huaizhou. In front of them, a huge and beautiful statue of a holy nun slowly opened his arms, and the snow-white and soft dress was spotless. He smiled at the world: "Welcome to come!" In the uncanny valley, do you want to hear the gospel of heaven, or the echo of hell?"

On July 2301, 7 AD, "Uncanny Valley" was officially launched and released worldwide. Once it was launched, it immediately triggered a frenzy. Projections and portraits of Saint Teresa can be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys.The first volume | The expansion film "London at Dusk" has reached an astonishing number of hits on the entire network exceeding 25 billion as of the early morning of the 26th, but the first batch of open access qualifications is only 300 million randomly distributed , which caused the players to discuss angrily for a while.

In the fast food restaurant, Wen Zheliu stood at the front desk, showing a bright and handsome smile to every customer who came to order food. Although the business model of this fast food restaurant has already entered the mechanical assembly line, the front desk and the food delivery waiters But it cannot be an emotionless robot, so Wen Zheliu was able to find this weekend odd job.

"Hello," he said with a smile, "what would you like to order?"

"Vanilla beef burger, a large portion of French fries, a portion of half-sugar cocoa..." With flying fingers, he placed the order skillfully and quickly on the light screen, "Please wait a moment, the meal will be delivered to you shortly."

Perhaps because of the sale of Uncanny Valley, the number of customers in the store has decreased greatly in the past few days. When regular customers come to the front desk, they can still have a leisurely chat with Wen Zheliu.

"That uncanny valley...it's really scary, just watching the expansion, I can't breathe!" The middle-aged bald man sighed at Wen Zheliu, "Hey, it's still suitable for you young people to play. "

Wen Zheliu asked curiously: "I heard, isn't there a defense mechanism against heart disease patients, the elderly and children?"

The man laughed a few times: "Although that's what you say... But now that we don't even have the qualifications for admission, we don't have to think so much."

"The second batch will be released on the [-]th of next month," Wen Zheliu comforted, "You will definitely get the admission qualification."

A group of young girls standing next to them chattered and waited for a long time, and finally found a way to interrupt: "Brother, I want a two-color cone, a spicy chicken wing, and a Portuguese egg tart..."

The girls chattered a lot, and one of them suddenly summoned up courage and said loudly, "And your Xingwang account!"

The girls were silent for a moment, and then they all burst into laughter. Wen Zheliu paused his fingers for ordering, his face flushed, and he said embarrassingly: "I'm actually not good at playing, so I don't have anything to add."

The girl insisted: "You boys should be very good at playing games, add one more, add one!"

As he said, he took out his personal terminal and wanted to report his ID. Seeing this, other girls came up to join in the fun, begging for his star network ID. Wen Zheliu didn't know what to do. In the end, it was the store manager. They came out to relieve the siege, saying that wages would be deducted if the trouble continued, so they gave up.

"The little girl now is full of energy." The middle-aged man sighed.

Wen Zheliu bowed his head and said nothing, others only thought he was shy, but only he knew that he was thinking about another thing.

From that day on, he was forced to go offline by Liu Tianxiong, and after the trouble in Liu's family, he never logged into City of New Stars again.Of course, he also had the idea of ​​going to N-Star Company to find He Qin by car, but when he got to the station, he hesitated again.

Who is He Qin? The major shareholder of N-Star Corporation, the future owner of Nova City.Their identities are compared with each other, almost ten Mariana Trench distances apart.Before him, the most important person Wen Zheliu had ever met was Liu Jianzhang's superior, the department head of a small company in the N-Star division—and He Qin's level, even the president of that small company had no right to contact him. The presence.

What about yourself?An orphan who lives in another family, has problems with enough food and clothing. In order to pay off the living expenses owed to Liu Jianzhang and Wen Qian over the past ten years, he can only sneak a little time every week to pick up missions in the City of New Stars to earn money.In the future, if he can get back what his parents left for him, that's all. If the Lius and his wife hide a little bit eastward, and only a house in the old city is left for him, then he has to make another plan.

One side is the proud son of heaven who stands at the top of the world, and the other side is a poor child who needs to work hard to make a living. Why bother to close the distance because of a joke-like bet?He still has the last hole card in his hand. If he can't hold on anymore, it's not completely desperate. Someone will definitely be willing to pay a sky-high price to buy that fragment.

Looking at the clean and transparent glass windows of the fast food restaurant, he secretly made a decision, he would send the dog tag back to He Qin after get off work, and then say thank you to him.

After all, after being bullied and scolded by Liu Tianxiong and the Liu family for so many years, he really wanted to have an older brother.

In the evening, the setting sun was shining brightly, and the clouds in the sky were like fire. As soon as Wen Zheliu took off his apron and walked out of the store, he received a message on his personal terminal.

"[Star Post Communications] Your courier has been deposited in the home mailbox at No. b, Building 6, Huaxing Community, please pick it up as soon as possible."

He was at a loss, he didn't know who delivered the courier to him, and he didn't care about sending back the dog tag at the moment, so he hurried home. Fortunately, the Lius and his wife hadn't finished get off work yet, and Liu Tianxiong also went to the after-school remedial class. There is no one here.He picked up an encrypted small package from under the mailbox, looked at it curiously, and saw "Address: Wendi" written on it, and his heart skipped a beat.

Who sent it to him?

Is it teachers and friends, or players he met in the game?

He opened the door with his fingerprint, unlocked the package with a dog tag, threw it into the trash can, and found a small box inside that required an iris verification code to open.

This battle was so familiar, Wen Zheliu stopped, and an incredible idea gradually appeared in his mind.

Could it be He Qin who gave it to him?

In a hurry, he opened the box in twos and twos, only to see a delicate and clear silver-white chip quietly lying on the black velvet, like a small gem made of dewdrops, reflecting a breathtaking light.

what is this……?

There was also a letter inside, like an instruction manual. He took out the paper, closed the box and walked upstairs, reading it as he walked.

"Why don't you go to me and want to wander the world with brother's dog tag?"

The handwriting on the letter was smooth and smooth, and the first sentence at the beginning made Wen Zheliu blush, okay, no need to guess, He Qin was right.

Why did he give himself this thing?

Wen Zheliu continued to look down.

"I know you have logged on to N-Star's official website and my account..." he read softly, his eyes filled with an uncontrollable smile, "then I got your IP address, but wait You haven't seen you come over for several days..."

The strategizing figure in the photo on the official website was gradually moving away from him, and returning to Wen Zheliu was the boy-like Chin he knew again.

"...So, I'll give you this chip. You open the chip groove of the dog tag and replace the original one..."

Wen Zheliu took out his dog tag curiously. There was a groove on the edge filled with a chip. The chip is the passport that guarantees the player's connection with Nova City. Every time he enters the game room, he needs to scan this chip. Why does He Qin Let him change?

He thought for a while, walked to the table and sat down, turned on the cleaner that Liu Tianxiong discarded, and set up a simple dust-free environment for the time being. Gently twisting the silver-white chip, push it into the dog tag tightly.

"... After changing it, log in to the player's official website, enter the personal account, and select the scan activation entry..."

He followed the steps to turn on his personal terminal, tentatively raised the dog tag before scanning the laser, only to hear a crisp click sound, and the light screen displayed the words "Activation successful", and then a line of small words slowly floated up.

"Congratulations to the player [Wendi] for becoming the 4697800th resident to log into the world of Uncanny Valley. Don't walk at night, don't enter the lonely building, I wish you a happy game!"

Wen Zheliu was dumbfounded.

He hastily flipped through the letter paper, looked down, and saw He Qin wrote: "...then log in to Nova City and come find me in Uncanny Valley. If you dare to hide again, I'll beat your ass to death.

Also, about how you obtained that 3S-level fragment, we will talk about it online. "

Without signature, this letter is over.

Wen Zheliu's mouth twitched, and he lifted his dog tag.

He never expected that what He Qin gave him was the admission qualification to Uncanny Valley!

There was a faint sound from downstairs. It should be that the Liu family has returned. Wen Zheliu thought about it, covered the box containing the original chip, put the dog tag aside, and searched for Chin on social platforms. ID, send a friend request.

"I'm Wendi."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door of the attic, Wen Qian poked her head in, and shouted uncomfortably, "Zhe Liu, why don't you go down to eat?"

Wen Zheliu pushed the box onto the table, turned off the buzzing cleaner, and turned to stare at her.

"understood."

The closer he was to adulthood, Liu Jianzhang and Wen Qian lowered their profile towards him, as if they were trying to avoid disputes, because they knew that the Vulnerable Groups Protection Agency would come as scheduled when Wen Zheliu was. Ask Wen Zheliu for what he deserves.

He calculated the money in his account and went downstairs. At the dinner table, Liu Tianxiong tried to move a few times and wanted to spit into his bowl, but Wen Qian stopped him with his eyes.

After eating, he saw that Wen Qian still had something to say to him. Wen Zheliu didn't want to get entangled with her, so he consciously packed up the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Fortunately, the new automatic dishwasher bought by Liu's family was very useful. The sound of the water covered up the surrounding sounds, and it also allowed him to let go of his thoughts for a while, leaning against the cooking table and staring blankly for a while.

The dishwasher stopped, Wen Zheliu arranged the bowls and chopsticks one by one, went upstairs without even looking at Wen Qian.

The door of the attic was half-closed, there was a rustling sound coming from inside, Wen Zheliu felt suspicious, and suddenly had a bad premonition.

He pushed open the door and said sharply, "What are you doing in my room?!"

Liu Tianxiong was so frightened that he slammed the dog tag on the table with a clang. He turned his head and said sternly, "What's the matter, this is my house, I can do whatever I want! Can't you come in, you Is this small broken room so expensive?"

Wen Zheliu gritted his teeth and said, "This is a house that your family bought with my parents' money. Put my things down and get out!"

Liu Tianxiong sneered and said, "I saw you sneaking around just now. What's your game ID, Wendi? Who sent you something? It's still the admission qualification for Uncanny Valley. You're awesome."

Wen Zheliu took a deep breath, knowing that he was careless and shouldn't have put the express carton in the trash can in the living room, and he repeated: "I said, this has nothing to do with you, hurry up and give it to me." I'm going."

"You didn't activate the chip, did you?" Liu Tianxiong turned a deaf ear, took Wen Zheliu's dog tag, and used his fingernails to pick the groove next to it, "Give it to me, I want to play."

Wen Zheliu couldn't help cursing a curse word, and finally rushed up and punched him in the face: "I told you to put it down and get out, are you fucking deaf?!"