Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

Gu Ming was awakened by a fragrance.

It doesn't taste like coffee, Red Bull, and instant noodles mixed together in a lab.

It has a cool, refreshing flavor with a hint of floral and fruity sweetness.

He opened his eyes.

I saw a piece of beige tweed.

It feels warm.

He sat up, and a coat slipped off his shoulder.

Chanel.

It's still the classic model.

This coat costs more than the cot and all the plaid shirts worn by all the programmers in the lab combined.

He instantly regained his senses.

He looked around and saw Su Qingying curled up on the sofa not far away, wearing only a black silk shirt, sleeping soundly with her arms crossed, her eyelashes casting shadows in the morning light.

She stayed here all night?

Gu Ming's heart clenched.

From not avoiding his mother at home last time, to saying "I'll protect you" at the restaurant last night, and now this coat that still carries her body heat.

This woman is calmly and gradually breaking down his psychological defenses in an elite manner.

First, they offer business support, then they offer emotional comfort.

He couldn't fight back.

What an amazing woman.

Gu Ming thought to himself, but a smile crept onto his lips.

He picked up his coat, tiptoed over, and covered Su Qingying with it again.

After doing all that, he glanced at the clock on the wall; it was six in the morning.

He patted his face, trying to shake off the thoughts in his mind.

Now is not the time to relax.

He turned back to the code and data.

……

three days later.

It was 11:50 p.m.

The atmosphere in the joint laboratory was tense.

Everyone stared at the large screen in the center, remaining silent.

There was a frenzied atmosphere in the air.

The fans of dozens of servers were running, and the indoor temperature was like summer.

Professor Zhang Lide rubbed his hands together, his forehead covered in sweat.

The programmers behind him had bloodshot eyes and were holding black coffee, but their eyes were bright.

Gu Ming stood calmly in the center of the control panel.

Shen An'an was standing behind him.

She sat on a small stool, holding a bucket of popcorn, swinging her legs, looking on with anticipation.

She is the "Special Chief Experience Officer" for the internal testing of this "Digital Life" project.

In her words, it was "to represent the people in inspecting the results."

"Mr. Gu, the data stream check is complete. The emotional interaction module loads normally, and the server stress test is stable."

A programmer turned around and said, his voice trembling slightly.

"We can start anytime."

"Countdown."

Gu Ming said.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

As the electronic sound rang out, everyone in the lab straightened their backs.

"Three, two, one!"

"start!"

Gu Ming gave the order, and the programmer pressed the Enter key.

The home screen flashed.

An anonymous live stream has started.

A virtual girl image appears in the bottom right corner of the screen.

"zero"

She was wearing a white T-shirt, sitting in a gaming chair, waving at the screen, looking a little shy.

"H-Hello everyone, this is Zero. Today is my first time...live streaming. I'm a little nervous, please be kind to me."

Her voice was a little grainy because of "nervousness," and she spoke a little fast, with a slight tremor in some words.

That's so true.

This opening made Professor Zhang and his team's palms sweat.

They did it; they reproduced the feeling of "sorrow" using code.

On the screen, "Zero" took a deep breath and entered the game interface.

It's a domestically produced horror game called "Paper Dolls".

The game is set in an old house from the late Qing Dynasty.

"Zero" controls the character to push open the vermilion door, and a chilling aura rushes out.

"ah!"

The character stepped on the floor, making a "creak" sound.

Zero shrank his shoulders and let out a very soft gasp.

She covered her mouth, her eyes filled with fear and caution.

"This...this place is terrifying...I feel a chill down my spine..."

As she navigated the corridor with her character, she muttered to herself in a trembling voice.

When she hears a crow cawing in the distance, she freezes in shock.

When lightning flashes outside the window, she closes her eyes.

If she can't find the props, she'll puff out her cheeks.

Her every micro-expression and the rhythm of her breathing were synchronized with the game, very naturally.

She was like a girl who was playing a horror game for the first time—a little scared but talkative.

Shen An'an was so engrossed in watching that she forgot to eat her popcorn, her mouth slightly agape.

Professor Zhang's team members all had tears in their eyes.

They knew that every natural expression on the screen was the result of millions of lines of code.

The game's story unfolds through exploration.

The character with "zero" control arrives at a stage based on clues.

This is the most terrifying "corner kill" scene in the game.

coming.

Gu Ming thought to himself.

His eyes were fixed on Zero's face, awaiting the test.

"Zero" carefully maneuvers the character around the screen.

Just as the character peeked out...

"Clang!"

A sharp Peking Opera aria rang out.

A terrifying paper figure dressed in Qing Dynasty official robes burst out of the darkness, its face filling the entire screen.

This is enough to send chills down anyone's spine.

And this time.

The virtual girl "Zero" in the bottom right corner of the screen responded.

Her pupils were at 0.

Within 01 seconds, it shrank to its maximum.

Her mouth was open in an "O" shape.

then.

"ah--!!!!"

A realistic, high-pitched scream, slightly distorted, pierced everyone's eardrums.

That scream was filled with fear and terror.

On the screen, the character she was controlling had lost the mouse and was spinning around aimlessly.

The virtual image of "Zero" held its head in its hands, its body trembling slightly, and its face drained of color, filled with terror and lingering fear.

……

The laboratory was very quiet.

Everyone was stunned by that shout.

Three seconds passed.

"Whoa—!!!!!"

Applause and cheers erupted.

"It's a success!"

"We did it!!"

"Holy crap! That's awesome!!"

A group of tech experts and programmers hugged, jumped, and roared like children.

Someone threw the folder into the air, and the papers fluttered down.

Some people hugged their colleagues, crying and laughing at the same time.

Professor Zhang Lide took off his glasses and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Successful.

They created more than one virtual person.

They created a life with a "soul".

Gu Ming stood in the center of the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at the still trembling "zero" on the screen and smiled.

It became.

He won the bet again.

He was just about to say something.

Shen An'an stood up from the small stool next to her.

She threw away the popcorn, grabbed Gu Ming's arm, and shook it.

Her eyes were bright, and her face was filled with admiration and excitement.

"Gu Ming! You're amazing! You're a god!"

"She...she just screamed..."

Shen An'an's face flushed red with excitement. She tried to find a word to describe it, and finally said loudly:

"Her moans just now... were even better than mine!"

"From now on, can you make her call out like that to me every night?!"

……

……

The tech geeks who were celebrating just a second ago are now frozen in shock.

Their smiles froze, their raised hands hung in mid-air, and their mouths remained agape, still in the shape of cheers.

The group of programmers slowly and stiffly turned their heads.

They stared blankly, bewildered, and incredulous at the chaebol heiress clinging to Gu Ming's arm with an innocent expression.

She then looked at Gu Ming, who was equally astonished.

Then, they felt... that their CPU was overloaded.

sizzle.

It was burned.