After the college entrance examination, life began to follow one's heart

Chapter 374 The Emergence of a Virtual World (Career)
For the next month or so, Xu Lin was even busier.

He had already asked Zheng Xincheng to move the laboratory and company here.

Furthermore, this laboratory is next to Xu Lin's laboratory, making it more convenient for Xu Lin to conduct experimental research.

In addition, the number of researchers in the laboratory has increased to 150.

The scale is considerable, and it has also accelerated the research process.

However, there were very few test subjects, only five.

Even before August 13th, there was only one test subject, Xu Lin.

Entering a newly created small virtual world requires the test subject to have a strong brain capacity, and initially only Xu Lin met this requirement.

In fact, these researchers believe that Xu Lin not only did everything himself, but he was also incredibly bold.

Because he was the first to enter the virtual world, no one could guarantee that nothing would go wrong. If something did happen and caused brain damage, the consequences could range from a vegetative state to brain death.

In medicine, brain death means that the person is completely dead and there is no possibility of recovery.

The most direct link between consciousness and the virtual world is the brain, which happens to be the most crucial organ in the human body.

How can we not be cautious?
Moreover, in many fields, these experiments typically involve paying outsiders to act as test subjects, commonly known as lab rats.

But Xu Lin dared to be the first to step forward.

Inside the laboratory, the more than one hundred researchers were all shocked and admired Xu Lin. After all, they wouldn't dare to go up there themselves, as everyone was afraid of dying.

On the 13th, with the breakthrough of new technology, it was finally possible to increase the number of test subjects, which meant that the number of people allowed to enter could be relaxed.

However, these admission criteria are not arbitrary; candidates must meet multiple requirements before being allowed entry. For example, a person must have relatively strong physical fitness as a foundation.

No one in the lab is satisfied either. These researchers, not to mention their exceptional physical fitness, rarely have good physical health, especially since people who use their brains a lot. The level of mental exertion required by researchers is beyond what ordinary people can match.

Therefore, the four new test subjects were all recruited from outside the organization, and confidentiality measures were taken.

Four people, two men and two women.

Xu Lin gave each of them 500,000 yuan, which is an extremely large sum. No lab rat in the world could possibly receive that much money.

But when it comes to technological innovations that involve epochal changes, Xu Lin is willing to spend money. He firmly believes that big things require big money, and the reason is that simple.

The four of them stayed in the lab for three whole days, allowing Xu Lin and his team to record data for hundreds of projects.

For example, one of the boys is a natural fitness enthusiast with excellent physical condition and perfect health indicators. However, he can only spend a little over two hours a day in the virtual world, which is already the best result among the four. The worst result is that of one of the girls, who only spends one hour and thirty-three minutes.

This is certainly not enough, because they are people with good physical fitness.

Why is good physical fitness important?
Because a person's brain's resilience is directly and positively related to their physical fitness.

The phrase "the will is willing but the strength is insufficient" means that one's body is unable to bear the burden of doing something.

As the old saying goes, health is the foundation of everything.

Like Xu Lin, he could only manage less than half an hour at first.

But now he can stay in the virtual world for more than eight hours, and he will be forced offline after a maximum of ten hours.

Furthermore, if he has been in the virtual world for a relatively long time, he needs to have a big meal to replenish his body's energy.

The same applies to the other four participants in the experiment; once they emerge from the virtual world, they must replenish their energy and nutrients promptly.

Most people may not understand the relationship between the brain and the body. Engaging in high-intensity mental work can actually lead to significant energy depletion and even damage to the body.

Those high-ranking officials during wartime, especially those who rose to the rank of general or marshal, were responsible for strategic military command over a large region or even the entire country. By the end of the war, many of them had developed varying degrees of physical problems. The high-intensity mental processing had taken a toll on their bodies, and it was a matter of who could withstand it.

Xu Lin's goal is to allow anyone to enter the virtual world, but in reality, not everyone can have excellent physical fitness.

Therefore, the experiment continued.

Xu Lin recruited ten more people, bringing the total to fourteen, to participate in the next experiment.

Sixteen days passed quickly.

this day.

"Young Master Xu, I feel that our virtual world has truly succeeded!"

Besides Xu Lin, the person with the highest status in the laboratory is Wu Xiulian, a top expert in the field of neuroscience, a person of great renown on the world stage.

"What does Mr. Wu think of the virtual world experience?"

Xu Lin asked him if today was Wu Xiulian's first time trying to log into the virtual world, and if he had succeeded.

Wu Xiulian was very happy: "I was a little dizzy and lightheaded just now, but I was fine after resting for more than ten minutes. My old bones, which are almost seventy years old, can still log on for 21 minutes. Although it's not much, there's still hope for the future!"

He exclaimed, "Young Master Xu, the country is overjoyed to have you! The virtual world can benefit many people!"

Wu Xiulian is a moral and idealistic person. He believes that the virtual world can benefit mankind. For example, as Xu Lin said before, it can allow disabled people to become complete people in the virtual world.

"You flatter me. This is the result of everyone's joint efforts."

Xu Lin had no intention of taking all the credit.

But in fact, many people in the lab understand that much of the credit goes to Xu Lin. The virtual world is a very important and absolutely epoch-making invention. It would have been impossible for them to develop it by just rushing in headfirst.

What's the saying?

Choice is greater than effort.

If you put your efforts in the wrong direction, you will not succeed.

What Xu Lin did was to correct their direction and make breakthroughs on major issues.

Therefore, the virtual world was created.

They couldn't have accomplished this without Xu Lin's presence.

That afternoon, Xu Lin summoned Zheng Xincheng.

"Old Zheng, give each researcher in the lab a five million reward."

"I understand."

Zheng Xincheng didn't ask any more questions. He already knew Xu Lin's habits. Xu Lin was the kind of person who liked to give away money all the time, let alone today. Today, the virtual world was officially established because even the elderly could log in.

Xu Lin's assessment of this virtual world was: This is a true prototype of a virtual world. "By the way, find a five-star hotel and treat everyone to a good meal tonight. Then we'll have a week off."

"it is good."

Zheng Xincheng nodded.

That evening, Xu Lin also attended the dinner, which was to celebrate the birth of a true prototype of a virtual world.

The scene was lively. A great invention of the era was born in their hands. It took more than half a year from start to finish, and now it was initially successful. People felt an immense sense of accomplishment, which was unparalleled and even surpassed money. Therefore, everyone was very excited.

Xu Lin returned home at midnight.

He drank a lot of alcohol, but he wasn't drunk, nor would he ever get drunk.

He was still very excited.

"I haven't written a paper in a long time, and the virtual world should be given a prominent place in the scientific and academic communities."

On a whim, Xu Lin felt it necessary to record some things.

That evening, Xu Lin wrote two papers.

The first article: "A Study on the Relationship between Virtual World Login Duration and Human Physical Fitness and Brain Endurance".

Part Two: The Symbiotic Relationship Between the Virtual World and Intelligent Life.

By the time I finished writing the second piece, it was already dawn. The total length was over 80,000 words, with the first piece alone taking up over 40,000 words.

Xu Lin ate breakfast, thought for a moment, and then wrote the third piece:
"Speculations on the Future Transformation of the Virtual World and the Human World"

The third paper is rather unique; it discusses Xu Lin's views on the changes brought about by the virtual world and some problems he foresees.

The virtual world is far more revolutionary than the changes brought about by artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is a driving force of civilization's development, similar to the steam engine, internal combustion engine, and communication technology. Therefore, artificial intelligence will be called one of the core driving forces of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In the short term, artificial intelligence will not have a significant impact on changes in the human world.

But the virtual world is different.

This is equivalent to directly creating a parallel universe, where human consciousness can log in and develop many things. For example, Xu Lin once had a vision that he could control the time in the virtual world. Theoretically, the time in the virtual world and the real world is 1:1. Xu Lin wanted to research the technology to control time so that humans could have more time in the virtual world.

This is impossible in reality, but it is possible in the virtual world.

But everything has its good and bad sides.

For example, Xu Lin felt that technology was developing too fast, and humans might not be able to keep up.

"In a few years, I should start researching aerospace technology. Human technology is developing too fast, and most people will not be able to keep up. At that time, social conflicts will intensify. To solve this, we can only transfer the conflicts elsewhere. This is why human societies often fight wars. Because internal conflicts cannot be reconciled, they can only be resolved by transferring the conflicts elsewhere. Therefore, if we can develop to other planets, all the conflicts will be resolved."

"Many idealists believe that the human world can be a place where everyone can sit down and eat together happily, but that is impossible. Even rural people will fight over an inch of land, sometimes even to the point of violence, and sometimes even to the point of death. So, it is impossible to talk about things involving bigger interests. Therefore, many things can only remain ideals."

Xu Lin was pondering a very long-term question. He had no choice but to think about it, because he was the one who created this virtual world and intelligent life. If his appearance caused major problems for human society, then he would be a sinner in history and would be nailed to the pillar of human shame in the future.

The movie *Ready Player One* depicts a social backdrop of an absurd world where decaying reality coexists with highly advanced virtual technology. In reality, this world faces global environmental pollution, energy depletion, a vast wealth gap, and intense social conflicts.

The same applies to technological development; it's impossible for all outcomes to be positive. War can drive technological progress, but it also kills many people.

The same applies to the virtual world; it can cause many problems, especially big ones.

Xu Lin had to think about this, after all, he was the kind of person who would wipe his own bottom after taking a dump.

So in a few years, he will study the issue of extraterrestrial development.

So Xu Lin wrote down many of his thoughts in his third paper, both positive and negative.

Generally speaking, a responsible scientist will think about this kind of question; only capitalists and politicians think about distributing profits.

Around noon, Xu Lin had Yue Shen format the paper and make some simple revisions before sending it to the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

When Xu Lin is in China, any papers he submits will be reviewed immediately.

When the scholars from the Academy of Sciences saw the name of Young Master Xu, their first thought was: Is Young Master Xu planning something big?
As everyone knows, Mr. Xu doesn't publish papers indiscriminately like others. For one research project, others would publish a hundred papers to prove how amazing they are and to make their academic qualifications look more impressive.

But Young Master Xu wouldn't.

When the scholars in charge of the review saw the words "virtual world," they were stunned for a moment, followed by surprise. Soon after, many people gathered around, and the entire Academy of Sciences was alerted.

"The scientific community is about to undergo a dramatic change!"

"What Young Master Xu's paper means is that the virtual world has been born. The first paper also records in detail the birth process of the virtual world. At first, only Experiment Subject One, that is, only Young Master Xu, could log in, and the login time was less than half an hour, otherwise the body could not withstand it. Subsequently, as the research progressed, these problems were solved!"

"In the latter part of the first paper, Young Master Xu meant that their laboratory has now developed a prototype of the virtual world!"

What exactly does this prototype of a virtual world look like?

Everyone at the Chinese Academy of Sciences is incredibly excited about these three papers. Tonight, and even tonight, the entire academy has been up all night.

Everyone knows that once these three papers are published, they will cause a sensation not only in the domestic scientific community but also in the global scientific community.

It is epoch-making, a world that existed only in fantasy, and it has now been born under Young Master Xu's leadership, but we do not yet know its true nature.

Xu Lin didn't pay attention to it after submitting the paper. He planned to wait until the paper was published before releasing a video of someone from his lab logging into the virtual world.

The next day at noon, Xu Lin went to pick up Ning Yuhan.

September has arrived, and Ning Yuhan has been in Jiangdu for several days now. Today, she will be registering at Jiangdu University to begin her postgraduate studies.

On Ning Yuhan's first day of university, Ning Haifeng brought her there. It was the first time she had come to a big city from a small county.

Now, Xu Lin is taking her to school.

It was still an electric scooter. Ning Yuhan sat behind Xu Lin, her arms around his waist.

Xu Lin had wanted to buy her four wheels before, but Ning Yuhan refused.

She is an easily satisfied girl who feels that happiness is like this, and she doesn't like riding in luxury cars, as that's not the life she longs for.

"This time it's for accommodation, right?"

"Yes, accommodation!"

"Then we'll see how my roommate is. If he's difficult to get along with, I'll stay outside."

"Uh-huh."

(End of this chapter)