Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Second World!

"No problem, Xiao Wei, go ahead and introduce it to me," Yuan Hao replied, taking a moment to touch his face and discovering that the sensation in his hand was utterly indistinguishable from reality.

"Alright. Previously, I’ve already introduced the room’s instant teleportation feature. Now, please walk over to the teleportation array," Xiao Wei said, guiding him to the circle of swirling light by the door.

"So this is a teleportation array. What does it do? Where can it send you?" Yuan Hao realized, his earlier curiosity about the supernatural glow now satisfied.

Before Xiao Wei could answer, Yuan Hao was startled to see the silvery-white wall beside the door suddenly transform. The entire surface became a giant screen, and in the center appeared a translucent dialog box with three options. The top one was ‘Friend Teleportation.’ Yuan Hao tapped it, but his friends list was empty; he couldn’t test the feature without any friends.

Helpless, he hit the return key and looked at the second option: "Glory of Heroes" Game Teleportation.

"This ‘Glory of Heroes’ game, isn’t it the one showcased at that recent virtual network company press conference?" Yuan Hao turned to ask Xiao Wei.

"Yes. All you need to do is select it and walk through the door; you’ll enter the world of ‘Glory of Heroes’ as a powerful summoner," Xiao Wei confirmed.

"Hmm... no rush, let me check the third option: Reality Network Mapping? What does that mean?" Yuan Hao was puzzled by the meaning of the third item.

"Reality Network Mapping is just a temporary feature. The virtual network is still in early development, so some functions from the real network haven’t been fully integrated yet. You can think of this screen as a computer monitor. Whatever internet function you want, I can help you accomplish it," Xiao Wei explained.

"Seriously? So I can go online here? And with a huge screen… If I watched a movie, wouldn’t that be amazing? It’s like a private cinema!" As Yuan Hao spoke, he looked a bit sheepish. "If I watched certain… special movies… wow!"

"You’re naughty, Mr. Yuan Hao! But Mr. Lan Tian has already set restrictions. The virtual network will comply with certain policies; websites prohibited in reality are inaccessible here as well," Xiao Wei replied, feigning shyness.

"Uh… alright, I guess I got carried away. Still, such a massive screen would be too much, too wild..." Yuan Hao scratched his head awkwardly, then looked downward. "Hey, what’s this fourth option—Practice Ground? Why is it still gray?"

"The Practice Ground is a feature still under development, which is why it’s grayed out," Xiao Wei answered simply, offering no further details. This was at Lan Tian’s direction: there were too many types of cultivation methods to classify, and he wasn’t ready to open them all to the public.

The virtual network had only just launched; people needed time to adapt.

"Alright, so currently the virtual network has three main features: Friend Teleportation, ‘Glory of Heroes,’ and Reality Network Mapping. Honestly, that’s already incredible—even just one of those would be enough to take the world by storm!" Yuan Hao clicked his tongue in amazement. He realized that once everyone had a virtual network access helmet, physical distance would vanish; people could meet, even work, in the virtual world.

"That’s right, but you missed one feature—your room itself is an immensely powerful function," Xiao Wei reminded him with a smile.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Yuan Hao asked, confused.

"Actually, the size, decoration, and even the background of everyone’s room can all be freely customized according to the owner’s preferences," Xiao Wei explained.

Seeing Yuan Hao still puzzled, Xiao Wei waved her hand. To his astonished eyes, the entire room suddenly expanded several times over; what was once a modest thirty or forty square meters was now over a hundred. She waved again, and several new walls appeared, dividing the space into a living room, bedroom, and study.

Yuan Hao explored in awe. The living room was complete with couch and coffee table; the bedroom had an immense, inviting bed; the study was filled with bookshelves, and beside them was a floating, translucent selection panel—input a book’s name, and the shelf would produce and eject it for you.

Of course, aside from a limited number of free books, most required payment—not because Lan Tian was stingy, but because all fees went directly to the authors as royalties.

"If you don’t like homey styles, you can choose other environments: beach, mountaintop, ocean, forest, even the clouds, desert, or the rim of a volcano. My database contains over ten thousand room modes for you to choose from," Xiao Wei patiently explained. "And you don’t need to worry about mental fatigue in the virtual network. Once your consciousness enters, your body will automatically enter a resting state, like being asleep. In other words, you’re essentially dreaming right now."

"Moreover, my core program is strictly set: if there’s an incoming call or any noise louder than thirty decibels, you’ll be notified at once to ensure your safety."

"Oh my god... and now this final surprise—the virtual network company is practically divine..." From Xiao Wei’s description, Yuan Hao suddenly realized something.

Didn’t this mean that every night’s sleep could be spent in the virtual network without affecting your actual rest?

In other words, insomnia would be a thing of the past!

And people would no longer be bound by those seemingly wasted but necessary six-plus hours of sleep—they could truly make use of all twenty-four hours in a day!

This… this virtual network… it was nothing short of a second world!

Yuan Hao was thunderstruck. He could hardly wait to share this world-shaking revelation with everyone. Eagerly, he asked, "Xiao Wei, can everything I do in the virtual network be recorded, so I can upload it to Weibo? Haha, everyone will go crazy!"

"Of course. All your actions in the virtual network are kept for twenty-four hours. You can access any recording from the past day at any time." Xiao Wei nodded, then pointed at the wall-sized screen; instantly, a desktop-like interface appeared. Yuan Hao logged into Weibo and uploaded all his marvelous experiences.

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