Break out of the courtyard

June 30, 1994, Wednesday.

Indoor gymnasium at Shenzhen Peace College.

"You could consider adding a brainwave sensor to the gaming headset, and then use this device to monitor the player's brainwave activity, as well as control the headset's brain-computer interface to disconnect or raise the headset..."

Zhang Heping was standing on a temporary stage in the middle of the indoor gymnasium, talking to the experts and assistants around him.

People continued to enter the surrounding stands, and although there were many of them, they were very quiet, as if they wanted to hear Dean Zhang's voice in the arena.

More than a thousand students dressed in shirts and various uniforms sat on the south side of the audience. They were all graduates who had already received their diplomas and reported to their new workplaces.

Because Zhang Heping was too busy and the setup at the indoor gymnasium was a bit slow, the graduation ceremony was postponed until today, while other students were about to start their summer internships.

"Dean Zhang, I noticed that teachers like Zhang Bei and Zhang Feng are quite wary of the dissipation of spiritual energy!" A young assistant raised his hand and asked, "With so many people participating in the experiment today, are there any related risks?"

"That's a good question. Please find seats and I'll give you a general overview of the safety precautions!" Zhang Heping said, then went to get the microphone from the table.

After the teachers and students were seated and no one else came in, Zhang Heping looked around before turning on the microphone and saying in a slow voice, "Before the graduation ceremony begins, I'd like to say a few words."

"First, we will conduct a voluntary test! The test is risky, and those who do not wish to participate can now move to the audience seats behind me."

Zhang Heping paused for a moment, and seeing that no one was going to the north audience seats, he pointed to the bottles and jars in front of him and said, "Next, we will use this multi-species gene regeneration brain server to test how many people can be online simultaneously in its virtual dream."

"During this test, I will connect with graduating students, their teachers, school leaders, experts, and others. Students and teachers who are not connected to the virtual dream system should patiently wear their gaming headsets and wait, and should not touch the brain-computer interface switch!"

"A word of caution: there may be a risk of mental energy leakage during the test. Only by wearing a gaming helmet made of cast iron can you reduce the damage caused by mental energy leakage. So, again, please wear the gaming helmet properly, unless I upgrade it!"

Zhang Heping then gave a few more instructions before using his mental power to touch the switch and lower the black gaming helmets hanging above.

Because Shenzhen Peace College also sent teachers and students to the Hong Kong Island Virtual Dream Classroom this semester to experience the Nanjing Fallen Virtual Dream game, many people present were familiar with the game helmet.

Even so, after the helmet was lowered, Zhang Heping still reminded everyone about the small levers on the helmet and the mask that blocked brain-computer interfaces.

After everyone in the audience put on their black gaming helmets, Zhang Heping glanced at the bodyguards and guards standing by the outer wall and then began the test.

First, Zhang Heping used his mental power to manipulate the small levers on their helmets, sending the 1562 graduates into the virtual learning dream at a rate of 50 per batch.

Next came the teachers and school leaders sitting near the graduates, followed by the students on either side.

When the number of people online at the same time reached 3150, Zhang Heping regretfully interrupted the extreme test and raised his helmet.

"Test complete. This brain regeneration server can currently stably support 3150 people online simultaneously." Zhang Heping looked around and continued:
"Those of you who did not enter the virtual learning dream, please sit in the audience behind me and wait. You will be able to enter the virtual dream experience later."

As Zhang Heping finished speaking, the room gradually became noisy.

Although those who wanted to change seats spoke very softly, the noise became quite loud when many people were talking.

"Everyone, please maintain discipline and keep quiet!" Vice Dean Deng stood up, looked at the experts and professors on the right who wanted to change seats, but did not ask the non-graduating students to give up their seats.

Giving up a seat to a teacher is the most basic act of respect. Under Zhang Heping's scrutiny, and with Vice Dean Qian and Vice Dean Deng watching from either side, even students who were unwilling to give up their seats dared not show it at this moment.

So, a group of students quickly took their seats in the audience behind Zhang Heping. Only a little over a hundred introverted and shy professors and lecturers followed to the north audience seats, waiting for the next group to experience it.

Everyone settled down, and the game helmets dropped down again.

However, only 3150 black gaming helmets fell this time; the helmets in the remaining empty slots remained untouched.

The teachers and students sitting in the north-facing stands could only watch as the helmets fell, and then watch Zhang Heping, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, standing there motionless.

……

"Welcome to the virtual learning dreamland!" Zhang Heping, who had also transformed into a scarecrow, was wearing a pair of white shorts and was flying more than ten meters above the ground.

Below, 3150 scarecrows stand neatly outside the library gate.

"I received a call from Vice Dean Deng earlier, who hoped that I would come back to preside over this year's graduation ceremony."

"My first reaction was, time flies so fast, another class of students is about to leave."

"Then, I began to reflect. In the past year, I have been busy with brain-computer interface research and have not paid attention to your studies, life, and work internships. I feel that I have been a very incompetent dean!"

"After much thought and discussion with Vice Dean Deng and Vice Dean Qian, we finally decided to give this year's graduates a lesson in a virtual dream."

"Then, I started thinking, what should I talk about in this lesson?"

"When it comes to life, everyone's family background and circumstances are different, so their future will naturally be different as well. You just need to work hard and strive for your own success; you don't need me to tell you what to do!"

“Teaching ideology is the responsibility of your political education teachers, and I don’t need to waste my breath by teaching it again.”

"There's even less need to talk about professional knowledge. You've all graduated, and if you want to improve in the future, you'll mainly have to rely on your own learning!"

"After thinking it over, I've decided to share with you what happened at the genius training camp this February."

"This is a half-finished spaceship, built by five boys aged twelve or thirteen..."

As Zhang Heping spoke, the aircraft-shaped iron frame that had been placed on the flat ground outside the factory flew up to the top of everyone's heads.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Heping waved his hand, and the more than three thousand scarecrows standing below all flew into the air and scattered around the spaceship skeleton.

Zhang Heping then enlarged the spaceship blueprints designed by the five teenagers, visualized them in the sky, and then transformed them into a 3D virtual projection. He then explained the design ideas of those teenagers.

After the spaceship, Zhang Heping introduced the finished and semi-finished products of the other teenagers, as if he had been accompanying those genius teenagers all along.

After the teenagers finished introducing the airplanes, tanks, cars, and other items they had made, Zhang Heping finally had the scarecrows stand back on the ground, returning to the initial speech scene. He then began his summary and expressed his expectations for this year's graduates... (End of Chapter)