Mythological origin

Hou Zi's answer was indeed somewhat unexpected by Bai Mo.

The air in the room seemed to freeze because of the sudden silence.

Only the occasional small cargo plane passing by outside the window made a few sounds as it struck the air.

Bai Mo's gaze fell on Hou Zi's slightly pale face.

"Because I'm too much of a homebody," Hou Zi said softly, his tone carrying a matter-of-fact calmness, and even a hint of...satisfaction?
"Everyone is too much of a homebody. In the last fifty years of my life, I've only gone out three times in total."

He raised his hand, his slender fingers making a "three" shape in the air.

The monks of the Holy Terra Empire do not have the practice of going into seclusion for decades or even centuries before venturing out for a breath of fresh air.

Even with major projects, people usually only work for a year or two without eating or drinking.

The world is changing so fast. If you close yourself off for decades and then come out, you can easily become an outdated old man.

Unless it's true immortals undergoing reincarnation tribulations, which can take an unpredictable number of years, it can't really be considered seclusion; at most, it's like traveling to another world and living a different life.

……

Hou Zi slightly tilted his head and looked at the large curved screen in the corner of the room that was constantly flashing a soft stream of data.

The screen is currently displaying a tranquil grassland landscape, a replica of the East African grasslands where Hou Zi once built his ideal paradise on Earth.

"Among the people I know, almost all of them rarely leave their homes."

Bai Mo remained silent.

He originally thought that Hou Zi had changed, that his edges had been smoothed out over the long years, or that he had been distorted by some reality, becoming a person with a "flexible moral bottom line" who could easily adjust his principles for survival or profit.

As it turns out, times have changed.

Hou Zi seemed oblivious to what the two people in front of him were thinking, or perhaps he had become so accustomed to this kind of communication through a screen, with its delays and filters, that he had become somewhat insensitive to subtle emotional responses in real life.

He continued in that steady, monotone tone: “The vast majority of jobs in the city have already been replaced by AI. They are more efficient, have a lower error rate, and never get tired. They don’t need empty promises or manipulation.”

Hou Zi's lips twitched slightly, as if he were smiling, but there was no warmth in his expression.

"Ordinary people simply sit in front of a screen at home, watching the one or a few AIs they are responsible for tracking, to see if they have done anything wrong, if their operating logic has deviated, and whether they handle emergencies in accordance with the pre-set complex ethical framework."

It's like... herding a flock of electronic sheep that never tires but occasionally goes astray.

Most of the time, everything is calm and peaceful, no different from the daily routine of a security guard watching surveillance cameras. But once a problem arises, you have to go online immediately to "clean up the mess," analyze the source of the error, manually calibrate, or submit anomaly reports to a higher-level AI oversight body. This is the daily work of an ordinary person.

"I remember when I was in my early twenties, I was working overtime until I was sick of it. I even had the thought that I might as well take another twenty years of detours and become a security guard. I never imagined that hundreds of years later, all ordinary people would end up as security guards." Recalling those days, Hou Zi managed a rare smile.

He reached out and tapped the air, and a wall on the other side of the room instantly lit up, splitting into dozens of small screens, each displaying different data and scenes.

Everything was in good order.

The cold numbers and smoothly running machinery created a picture of extreme efficiency but lifelessness. As a sixth-level cultivator, Hou Zi had plenty of ways to obtain resources even if he didn't want to reveal his identity. Of course, he didn't need to actually rely on this kind of work to make a living, but that didn't stop him from working as a security guard to experience life during his seclusion.

After all, this was a "dream" that he had only briefly considered when he was young.

……

"As for entertainment..." Hou Zi switched the display content, and the wall screen immediately turned into a vast and boundless sea of ​​stars.

The stars are dazzling, seemingly within reach.

"It also takes place almost entirely in the virtual world of the internet."

“There are hundreds of worlds to choose from in games like ‘Beyond the Stars,’ ‘City of Darkness,’ ‘Domination of the Overlord’, and more.”

"The Battle of the Overlord..." Bai Mo was taken aback for a moment when he saw this.

Teach noticed this subtle change in expression instantly.

However, he didn't know what was going on, so he could only silently remember the name of this virtual world and go back to have someone investigate in detail what was inside that could move Bai Mo.

Hou Zi, however, did not notice anything amiss with Bai Mo.

“In these virtual worlds, one can unleash all kinds of desires, those desires that are bound by laws, morals, and even physical rules in the real world.”

As Hou Zi spoke, several clips flashed across the screen.

Warriors clad in magnificent armor roared amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, brandishing burning greatswords;
In the dazzling city with its flashing neon lights, blurry figures entangle in dark alleys;
There were also massive interstellar warships that exploded silently in the vacuum, turning into dazzling fireballs;

The medieval castle crumbled under the breath of a dragon, sending rubble and flames flying...

"Kill, rape, demolish, destroy... you can do anything. The sensory simulation in the virtual world makes it impossible to distinguish between reality and illusion below at least the fifth level."

"Pain, touch, smell, taste... and even some subtle sensations that are difficult to describe in reality are no different from those in the real world."

You can be a hero who saves the world, or you can be a demon king who slaughters all living beings;
You can experience the ultimate love, or indulge in the deepest malice.

Once everything is over and the connection is broken, you are still you, safely sitting in your chair at home.

It won't really hurt anyone, and it won't really hurt anyone either.

“Back to the real world,” he said, turning off the wall screen, and the room returned to the tranquility of the prairie on the main screen.

"All kinds of desires, good and bad, have already been vented in the virtual world."

In comparison, real-life offline social interactions require time and energy, involve understanding people's hearts, and deal with complex interpersonal relationships and potential emotional harm, making them seem so... boring.

Is face-to-face chatting as fun as having a personalized AI companion in the virtual world that perfectly matches your needs?
Can an offline gathering compare to the sense of accomplishment and excitement of conquering an epic dungeon with teammates in a game?

"So, this is the result. The average person is single, living alone, and a shut-in; their work isn't tiring, and their mental stress is low—after all, they've already experienced the most exciting parts in the virtual world. (End of Chapter)"