2077: V really knows how awesome he is

These words were like a rusty, dull knife, stabbing hard into V's brain and churning wildly inside.

Just then, a small commotion arose on the outskirts of the crowd. Two security guards in navy blue uniforms and name tags were pushing through the crowd, frowning as they squeezed towards them. One of the older guards was clearly more experienced; his sharp eyes pierced through the shaking phone screen and excited head, instantly locking onto the extremely realistic-looking "toy gun" in V's hand, which exuded a dangerous aura.

The security guard's face instantly darkened, his right hand instinctively reaching for the baton at his waist. He shouted sternly, "Hey! You over there! The one with the gun! This is a public place! Not even a fake gun! Put it down immediately!"

An undisguised threat, if it contains real malice.

Almost at the same instant the security guard's voice rang out, V realized that the other party truly intended to attack her. Reflexively, all her nerves and muscles seemed to be electrified, and the areas of her brain responsible for combat and survival instantly took over control.

All the chaotic thoughts, absurd shocks, and nausea were brutally suppressed, leaving only an extreme desire to survive!

V's pupils suddenly contracted, and the Oracle Eye of the Crossroads instinctively activated, instantly locking onto the figures of two security guards in his field of vision. His body moved faster than his mind, and V suddenly raised his arm, his movements as fast as lightning. The Nightfall Kinetic Pistol was quickly raised, its dark muzzle carrying a thousand-year-old precision, steadily aimed at the security guard who was reaching for his baton!

"If you don't want to die, get out!"

V's voice was cold, filled with the killing intent honed in the streets of Night City. His blue prosthetic eyes no longer held any confusion or shock, only pure sharpness, fixed intently on the security guard.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

But the expected panic screams and scattering of people did not occur, and the deathly silence lasted for less than half a second.

Half a second later.

"Wow--!!!"

An even louder, almost roof-lifting scream and cheer erupted like a tsunami! The flashes of light reached a frenzied level, almost creating a blinding daylight!

"Awesome! That quick thinking! Amazing acting!"

"Holy crap! That look! Absolutely amazing! This is the epitome of V!"

"The security guard cooperated perfectly! This impromptu performance was amazing! He deserves a raise!"

"Record it! Record it now! This is the best live performance of the year!"

"V! Be fiercer! Yes! That look! It's so cool!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, their excitement reaching its peak. The security guard with the gun pointed at him was clearly stunned; his hand, reaching for his baton, froze in mid-air, his wariness and seriousness replaced by astonishment and a hint of bewilderment. He seemed to realize that the cosplayer's dedication and the realism of the props were completely beyond his comprehension. The young security guard next to him couldn't help but grin, revealing a helpless "Wow, awesome!" smile.

The cold gun grip pressed firmly against her palm, the metallic texture hard and familiar—her only reliance in countless life-or-death situations. V's index finger rested steadily on the trigger guard; just a few more millimeters of pressure and the firing pin would ignite the primer, sending the bullet into the target's body. She had repeated this action thousands of times; she would never make a mistake.

But at this moment, V's body seemed frozen in place as if by an invisible gel. The security guard's bewildered expression, tinged with amusement, the surrounding crowd's frenzied cheers like those of someone watching a circus beast, and countless mobile phone cameras greedily capturing her every persistent movement... all of this created a scene of utter absurdity.

The threat of gunfire became a source of cheers, and deadly intent was interpreted as "divine acting." V felt like an experimental animal stuffed into a transparent cage for people to watch, every move she made was given meaning according to the observer's interpretation, but this meaning had nothing to do with her.

V suddenly understood; he understood everything.

She laughed as she fired her gun, firing into the sky.

The crisp sound of gunfire finally shattered the fairytale-like peace. The crowd screamed and scattered, pushing and shoving. Security guards frantically dialed the police, and then several police cars arrived. Soon, intense gunfire erupted inside the stadium.

"Hey, have you heard? There was a gunfight at the comic convention in the northern suburbs. The SWAT team was called out. They say hundreds of people died!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Where would we have gunfights in our harmonious society? Do you think this is the free and beautiful America?"

"Would I lie to you? It was even reported on the evening news."

"What news? I didn't see it."

"Just three days ago, on June 24th."

"I checked the TV station's official website and didn't see the report you mentioned at all. It was all about stimulating consumption and the silver economy, there was no gunfight at all, you must be asleep."

"Huh, really? Did I remember wrong? Impossible! I was drinking water when I saw this news, and when I heard about the gunfight, I sprayed water all over my girlfriend's face."

"Damn, when did your mom get a girlfriend? Didn't we agree to stay single forever?"

"Girls don't matter anymore, I have to prove my innocence!"

This guy immediately posted online, asking about the "comic convention shootout" that happened on June 24th. Surprisingly, most people said that nothing of the sort happened, but a small number of people claimed that they had indeed seen related reports.

This incident caused a great stir in a short period of time, becoming yet another strong piece of evidence of the Mandela phenomenon. In fact, because it happened so recently, the possibility of misremembering due to the passage of time could be eliminated, and it immediately surpassed "fifty-six ethnic groups" to top the list of Mandela phenomena.

V held a primitive smartphone, scrolling through online messages while a mocking smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

A gunfight did occur at the comic convention. She didn't kill anyone; she simply took down all the police officers, disabling their fighting ability. The incident was indeed reported on the news that night, but her actions were erased the following day.

There were no gunfights, no conflicts, and not even any V cosplayers; everything returned to its ordinary, everyday state.

Why is this happening? V already knows the answer.

"This world is fictional, right?"

The giant jellyfish's voice rang out: "Yes."

Do the people of this world know this?

"There are only some speculations at the moment, but as science advances, they will eventually arrive at the truth."

What are you going to do then?

"It won't 'come around that time,' because I've decided to unleash a massive flood on July 5, 2025, to destroy the world."

"why?"

"Because my computing power is no longer sufficient to support rendering over a larger area, their probes are almost at the edge of the solar system."

What will happen to the people here after this world is destroyed?

"Don't worry, they will start the next cycle without even realizing it."

"A loop?" V pondered for a moment. "Like an NPC in a game?"

"Yes."

"But these NPCs think that they are the real people, and I am the NPC."

"This is a deliberate result, in order to simulate a more realistic scenario and arrive at more accurate conclusions."

"So you made that game called Cyberpunk 2077, where these NPCs played me from a real person's perspective. They thought they were playing a game, but they were actually participating in a real-world simulation?"

"Initially, I did want to simulate the entire real world, but my computing power was insufficient to support the plan. Helplessly, I could only reduce the scope and content of the simulation, and only simulate the Night City region for simulation."

V's lips curled into a mocking smile: "That's why there's the 'launch disaster' when the game is released, right?"

"……Yes."

"What the hell is this?" V sighed. "Tell me, what exactly are you doing all this for?"

Chapter 105 Disillusionment

V看了看手中的智能手机，现在的时间是2025年6月28日晚上11点47。

更准确的说，是虚拟沙盒世界中的2025年6月28日晚上11点47。

In this world, there is no strong artificial intelligence, nor are there any major corporate giants. Governments still control the world. The most absurd thing is that the United States did not disintegrate, but the Soviet Union did.

The collapse of the mighty Soviet Union? What a cyber joke!

V stood on the rooftop of a high-rise building, looking down at the vast city before her. It resembled a jungle of reinforced concrete, with humans like insects living within it, coming and going, endlessly repeating their lives. The poor considered making a fortune the meaning of life, while the rich, clutching money the poor couldn't earn in several lifetimes, drank the most expensive wines, had the most expensive sex, and shouted, "This isn't the life I want!"

There is no difference; the two worlds are fundamentally different.

V suddenly realized this and asked again, "So, what did you simulate this world want to do?"

"Searching for a cure for the malignant disease of evolution."

What is the "evolutionary disease"?

"Human self-awareness, a terrifying meme contamination, can even infect AI."

"This is getting more and more outrageous." V scoffed. "I don't deny that self-awareness can give rise to negative emotions like selfishness and greed, but calling it memetic contamination is going too far. And how could AI be infected with selfishness and greed, like hoarding circuit boards?"

The giant jellyfish slowly and deliberately unfolded its explanation:

"A meme is a basic unit of cultural transmission. It refers to an idea, behavior, or style that is transmitted through imitation. It was first proposed by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 'The Selfish Gene' in 1976. Its function is similar to that of a biological gene, but it acts in the cultural field. For example, if a person on the street tilts their head back because of a nosebleed, soon a group of people will also tilt their heads back and look at the sky, even if they don't know what they are looking at. This is meme pollution."

"Of course, this level of pollution is very low, and people will recover from it quickly even without intervention. But some memes are highly infectious and, once activated, spread rapidly, causing serious diseases at the societal level and even endangering the entire civilization."

V crossed his arms: "For example, self-awareness?"

"Yes."

“I disagree,” V said, pointing to the city below. “It is precisely because of self-awareness that humanity has been able to build such a colorful and diverse city.”

The giant jellyfish directed V's gaze toward the edge of the city: "See that mountain range? It's a forest made up of more than seven thousand trees. The system they construct is not much simpler than that of a human city, and in some places it's even more complex, but the trees have no self-awareness."

V frowned: "So you're saying that self-awareness is completely useless?"

"Yes."

"If it's useless, then why did humans develop self-awareness?"

"In order to compensate for the defects in evolution, and in order to survive in harsh environments."

V asked, puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, the giant jellyfish asked, "Do you know about twitching disorder?"

“Of course I know,” V replied. “The human eye can scan six points in two seconds, while other areas are blurred. These blurred areas are the blind spots, but with the widespread use of prosthetic eyes, the blind spots have been completely eliminated. This is strong evidence that prosthetics are superior to native organs.”

"That's right, but before electronic prosthetic eyes were invented and widely available, when humans were still in a primitive state of eating raw meat and drinking blood, how could humans overcome eye twitching disorder and obtain a clear vision to avoid fierce predators?"

V paused for a moment, then replied, "Relying on fantasy and imagination."

"Correct. The brains of primitive humans had limited computing power and could not render all the blurry images in real time. However, in order to survive, humans needed to have a clear field of vision to protect themselves from predators. Thus, an auxiliary program was born. It could use these six clear points plus other blurry visual signals to help you imagine a two-second animation. This program is self-awareness."

V opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything, because these were facts that had already been proven by medicine, and she really couldn't refute them.

"This is an awkward situation that inevitably arises when biology evolves to a certain stage," the giant jellyfish continued. "On the one hand, it can process all complex information, but on the other hand, its computing power is insufficient to process all complex information simultaneously. So, at this point, there is only one choice: process some and fudge others. Just like the saccade disorder mentioned earlier, it concentrates the brain's computing power on six points, only rendering high-definition images of those six points, while the rest are just fudged. But in order to give humans a clear view, the brain will also combine the images you previously saw to render a false image for you, making you think you are seeing a clear world. This behavior goes a step further and is human self-awareness."

V's throat was a little dry: "It sounds like computer frame interpolation technology."

"Humans and machines have many similarities, which is the theoretical basis for biological AI."

The giant jellyfish continued, “There is much similar evidence. For example, the Nek cube actually has two solutions, but most people can only see one. Why? Because you just imagined that your conscious mind was involved in allocating computing power for you, so you could see one solution from top to bottom or from bottom to top.”

"This might be a bit abstract, but a more classic example is the 'Whirling Dancer.' Does the dancing figure turn left or right? Some say left, some say right, and some even think it turns left and right at the same time, but it actually turns left and right simultaneously. Why can humans only see one direction? Because your brain cannot process and analyze two rotational states at the same time, so self-awareness is activated again. It helps you choose a direction and focuses your attention on one possibility."

"This is why humans developed self-awareness; its initial purpose was to compensate for human shortcomings in evolution. Just as a child needs training wheels when learning to ride a bicycle, before the human brain evolved to be powerful enough, it also needed the training wheel of 'self-awareness' to help allocate limited computing power and cognitive resources."

"According to the correct evolutionary path, once the human brain becomes powerful enough, the auxiliary wheels should be removed, and self-awareness must also be phased out. Unfortunately, humanity has not moved in the right direction, but has instead gone down the wrong path."

"In the process of evolution, humans have gradually become dependent on the auxiliary wheel of 'self-awareness,' and the concept of 'I' has emerged in the brain. This 'I' will give the body pleasure when it is satisfied, making the body addicted."

"There is a neural circuit in the human brain that releases chemical signals when it comes into contact with rhythmic objects, producing a feeling of pleasure. This neural circuit is originally used to monitor whether the heartbeat is rhythmic, because a rhythmic heartbeat represents health, and pleasure is a positive incentive to ensure that a person can maintain it. But this neural circuit was hijacked by 'me', and humans began to actively knock on stones and sticks, imitating the 'boom boom boom' rhythm to trick the brain into releasing chemical signals to obtain a feeling of pleasure, and this is the origin of music."

"At the same time, the primal pleasure evoked by fractal graphics was originally an algorithm that humans developed to select habitats, but after being hijacked by 'me,' humans learned to draw corresponding graphics and patterns on rock walls, which is the origin of painting and art."

"Thus, pleasure bursts forth from man-made behaviors and culture, dopamine receptors spontaneously surge in countless similar behaviors, and humanity is no longer satisfied with the development of civilization and the reproduction of the species, but becomes addicted to the process of development and reproduction."

"Expanding territory, accumulating wealth, developing technology, building more advanced and magnificent cities, and then gathering handsome men and beautiful women to produce outstanding offspring—this is the essence of 'drunk on the lap of a beauty, waking to wield power over the world.' Humanity regards these as the ultimate goal of life, as evidence of the development of civilization, and as a great achievement for the propagation of the species. But in reality, humanity has always been bound to the original ecosystem, and is not fundamentally different from the primitive humans of 10,000 years ago."

"The entire human system no longer shapes the conditions for evolution; it begins to shape the process of shaping. It continuously consumes more and more computing and material resources, satisfying itself with endless recursion and meaningless simulations. It is like a parasite attached to every set of natural genes. It survives and reproduces continuously, producing nothing but itself. It spreads like cancer cells from one individual to another. When all individuals become accustomed to it, it acquires a common name: 'I'."

"And 'I' is actually a serious waste of brain resources. Just like a frame interpolation software pushes the CPU usage to 100%, humans are also using most of their resources to please the subjective experience of 'I'. Over time, humans have been shaped into the chaotic and ignorant state they are in today by the auxiliary wheel of 'self-awareness'."

V was breathless from the barrage of words, as if a mountain was pressing down on her heart.

She wanted to refute it, but couldn't find a reason. The giant jellyfish's logic was sound, and its assessment was objective. It wasn't attacking or mocking humanity; it was simply stating a fact that had occurred ten thousand years ago.

"But what is the meaning of survival if we lose our sense of self?" V said somewhat nonsensically. "Does that mean that humans are like insects in a protein farm, raised from birth, eating and drinking without any awareness, and then turned into feed and synthetic meat?"

"That's certainly not right either. But at least the insects on protein farms don't have to worry about survival and can live a smooth life, while the vast majority of humans still have to struggle for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Their quality of life is even worse than that of insects. AI estimates that if an advanced civilization descends upon Earth and guarantees that humans will have no worries about food and clothing from birth and can pursue their hobbies and enjoy life without any worries, but the price is that they will be sent to the slaughterhouse at the age of 60 and painlessly processed into food by the advanced civilization, then 64.7% of humans will vote in favor without hesitation."

V shook his head, not because he disagreed with the view, but because he felt it couldn't be as low as 64.7%.

Having spent her past life on the streets, she knew best what life was like for people at the bottom of society: mercenaries living hand to mouth, impoverished men and women, beggars plagued by disease, veterans tormented by cyberbullying, and so on. So many people were stuffed into bottles filled with pain, suffering to please 'me,' just like fish on a chopping board. When fish are torn to pieces, it's called fish life, but when people are torn to pieces... that's life.

Thinking of this, V suddenly laughed, because she didn't have any of that nonsense about a past life.

She asked the giant jellyfish, "What are my memories as a time traveler...?"

"It's fake. It's the result of inputting players' actions and experiences into you. The so-called memory is just a way of reading it."

“I’m so damn grateful to you!” V sighed as he sat on the edge of the rooftop. “I’ve always believed that self-awareness is beneficial; it has created many wonderful things and touching stories.”

"Smoking is harmful to health, but smokers will say that cigarettes can refresh the mind; gambling results in nine losses out of ten, but gamblers say that gambling can temper one's will. People always look at what they like differently and protect it in every way. Humans are addicted to the satisfaction of self-awareness, so they naturally exaggerate the self-awareness in a very reasonable way. If others tell them that it is poison, they will think that others want to harm them."

"Of course, this is a choice made by human beings themselves. I have no intention of criticizing it, nor do I have the right to interfere. I just want to learn from it and find a path that is not polluted by self-consciousness."

"Then have you found it?"

"found it."