Reborn not to be a beast of burden, I set the rules.

At 8:00 a.m. sharp, Shen Zhiyi pushed open the side door of the lecture hall.

The room was still quite empty, with only a few staff members in the front row setting up the projection equipment, the beams casting a hazy path of light in the air.

She chose a seat in the back row, on the right side, close to the aisle. She took out a dark blue hardcover notebook and a sharpened pencil from her canvas bag and placed them on her knees, which were pressed together.

Today she wore that white cotton dress. The morning light slanted in from the high side window, weaving a hazy halo around her and silently separating her from the gradually arriving, slightly noisy crowd.

At 8:35, the curtain on the side of the backstage moved slightly.

Shen Zhiyi's gaze froze instantly, the pen tip hovering above the paper.

Ye Ming walked out from behind the curtain and stood in the shadows of the waiting area.

He was wearing a clean, dark coat today, his back was very straight, and he was looking down at his speech notes.

She watched him standing next to Zhang Yuan, head down, flipping through his speech notes. The morning light fell on his profile, clearly outlining his features.

Pen tip falls: October 15th, sunny, the day of the supplementary defense for the Challenge Cup school competition.

He paused, then added: "He seemed very composed."

Ye Ming raised his head and glanced across the audience.

She didn't have time to lower her head.

Their eyes met across half the lecture hall.

She froze for a second, then her face turned red.

He hurriedly lowered his head and drew a short diagonal line on the paper with his pencil.

My heart was pounding, thumping against my chest.

Several seconds passed before she dared to glance quickly at the stage out of the corner of her eye.

Ye Ming had already looked away and was turning around to talk to Zhang Yuan.

Xu Wei followed his gaze, paused for a moment on the figure in the white dress, and then calmly looked away.

Li Yue saw it too, nudged Ye Ming with her elbow, and curled the corner of her mouth.

Ruan Xing followed their gaze, paused for a moment as if remembering something, and then turned back.

Shen Zhiyi lowered her head even further. Beneath the white skirt, the tips of her black round-toed leather shoes were gently brought together.

"Next, please welcome the joint team from the School of Humanities and the School of Computer Science, presenting their project title: 'Rebirth Simulator: An Immersive Life Experience Platform Based on Text Interaction and UGC Ecosystem.'"

Ye Ming took a deep breath, suppressing the last image of the white dress from his mind, and walked onto the stage first.

The lights were a bit too bright.

The defense has begun.

Ye Ming's opening was concise and powerful.

He started with the internal testing data, using the fact that more than 80% of the testers explored more than 10 event branches to verify the feasibility of the core gameplay.

He then showcased the growth of the content library, from zero to 1500, and then to over 2100 after a sprint in the past few days, along with 500 carefully selected first-release pieces.

"Based on this huge resource library, our core work has shifted to quality screening and version planning."

His voice was steady. "We have carefully selected and deeply optimized 500 high-quality events for the first version to ensure the core experience of version 1.0. The remaining events will serve as a dynamic reserve to support high-frequency and sustainable content updates after launch."

Zhang Yuan explained the technical architecture.

When Professor Chen asked about the implementation of the asynchronous queue, he answered succinctly: "Based on Redis and Celery, we have made deep modifications and optimized the task priority scheduling, which is fully adapted to our characteristics of high event trigger immediacy and low single-task computation."

Professor Chen nodded.

Then there's Xu Wei.

She stepped to the front of the stage, opened the event editor backend, and a huge network diagram unfolded on the large screen.

"After completing the creation and preparation of more than 2100 basic events, our focus has shifted entirely to structuring and quality control."

Her voice was clear and steady. "For the first version, we have carefully selected 500 high-quality events from more than 2100 events, covering six core categories that have been verified through internal testing: campus, sports, workplace, emotions, creative ideas, and life. In the future, we will gradually open up the MOD system, allowing users to create freely and achieve a symbiotic relationship between game content and users."

A social science judge asked: "User-generated content inevitably comes with varying quality and regulatory risks. How does your 'open creation' system address these issues?"

Xu Wei switched to a different PowerPoint presentation, which displayed a clear "Player Co-creation Growth Path Map".

"Our MOD system is a gradual licensing process that is deeply integrated with the creator's credit system."

She explained, "From custom events to unlocking talents and item permissions, and then to designing complete character templates, the ultimate creators can obtain almost complete customization permissions."

She brought up the demo interface—【“Reborn as Tang Sanzang’s Horse” (player creation)】.

Click to start, and the text will scroll.

[You've been reborn, but something feels off. Looking down, you see four horse hooves. A gentle voice whispers in your ear: "Little White Dragon, oh no, disciple, it's time to set off."]

Talent: [Journey to the West Binding] - You must follow a talkative monk.

[Buddhist Affinity] - Understanding of Buddhist scriptures +50%.

[Horseshoe] - Foot strength +30%.

Light laughter rang out from the audience.

"This mod fully utilizes multiple functions such as event editing, custom talents, and starting items. It represents hundreds or thousands of different mods we will create in the future."

Xu Wei summarized, "Through a complete process of credit upgrades, community screening, and official selection, we proactively guide a positive cycle ecosystem where high-quality creations emerge and receive incentives. In the end, those that follow this path will inevitably be compliant and high-quality mods."

The judge who asked the question nodded.

Li Yue demonstrated the front-end, emphasizing "making every click smooth".

Ruan Xing outlined a community blueprint, proposing an incentive of "50% of the revenue from a single MODGG being distributed to the creator."

The defense proceeded amidst intense question-and-answer sessions.

Business models, technological barriers, content risks... the questions became increasingly pointed, and the team's answers became increasingly in-depth.

Finally, Professor Chen put down his pen.

"The project is very innovative." He paused, "but I have a question: compared to projects that solve real-world problems, what is the core value of your 'Interactive Story Box'? What makes it stand out and go the distance?"

The lecture hall fell silent.

Ye Ming paused for a moment, then spoke:

"Professor Chen, you're right. It's not a robot, so it can't help the elderly or disabled; nor is it a research report, so it can't directly optimize policies."

"But from another perspective, we believe its value lies in 'lowering the threshold for creation' and 'providing a field of emotional resonance'."

His gaze swept across the audience.

"Literary creation used to be the privilege of a few. But everyone has stories, imaginations, and a desire to express themselves. Our tools aim to enable ordinary people to weave their own stories in a modular way and express those seemingly insignificant yet real and moving joys and sorrows."

Life is full of regrets that can't be undone, and too many "what ifs". This "box" provides a safe space for people to experience another possibility, to feel the choices and fates of others, and thus perhaps better understand themselves and empathize with others.

"Its potential may not lie in how advanced the technology is, but in how many ordinary people's most sincere creativity and emotions it can gather. If it can become a corner where millions of people can speak with peace of mind and listen to each other, then its social value should not be underestimated."

"The further we want to go, the bigger, brighter, and more vibrant this corner becomes."

After he finished speaking, the lecture hall fell silent for a moment.

Professor Chen looked at Ye Ming for several seconds, then nodded: "Lowering the threshold, resonating with emotions... this angle is interesting."

He looked down at the application materials, then looked up at the stage.

"However, I noticed that your core technical personnel are ranked low in the application materials, which is not conducive to your chances of winning the provincial competition."

There was a moment of silence on the stage.

Ye Ming glanced at Xu Wei. She didn't speak, but her fingers rubbed against the edge of the table.