Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

Chapter 21.1: The Stakes Are Raised

October 8, first work day after the long National Day holiday.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when Academician Ke Jingguo of the Chinese Scientific Institute of Neuroscience hurriedly arrived at the Center for Neuroscience and Intelligent Technology Innovation, experts in the field of psychology and cognitive science, professors from Beijing University, as well as impressive young talents from the NeuroTech Center, were already seated in the conference room.

"Teacher Ke is here."

The person chairing this meeting was Lu Yiyun, NeuroTech Center's—Center for Neuroscience and Intelligent Technology Innovation—director. Just turned forty, she was a rising force among the new generation of scientists in China, having presided over and participated in the development of several domestic AI technologies, and an impressive talent possessing many patents.

She was also a former student of Academician Ke.

"There's no need for formalities, Xiao Lu. Let's begin." Academician Ke didn't bother with any polite greetings even when seeing his former student, raising a hand to stop Lu Yiyun, who was about to greet him, and found a seat for himself.

"Alright." Lu Yiyun knew Ke's temperament well and didn't waste any more time, immediately turning on the projector.

As the room of academics and scientists watched on, what appeared on the screen was a scene in a laboratory.

A young man sat compliantly as researchers attached several patches, which were sensors, to his head.

Then, this young man with electrode sensors attached to his head carefully put on a plastic motorcycle helmet connected to a mobile phone with a data cable. He paid attention not to dislodge the wires connected to the patches as he laid down.

When this helmet appeared on screen, several scientists in the field of neuroscience and brain couldn't help feeling a little twitching at the corner of their lips.

This helmet, which seemed nothing more than a modified motorcycle helmet, was a "neural interface" or "brainwave receiver" that was even more impressive than the set of equipment used by Stephen Hawking. It really made them wonder whether they were dealing with a scientific issue or the occult!

Within the video, the young man fell asleep instantly the moment he laid down, and snoring could clearly be heard.

The researchers quickly recorded the young man's brainwave data and various physical indicators.

A few minutes later, the young man suddenly woke up and had a conversation with the researchers.

After this conversation, the young man performed the act of falling asleep in seconds once more…

"The young man cooperating with our experiment is a family member of one NeuroTech Center's staff," Lu Yiyun paused the video and addressed the room of experts. "Six days ago, the subject purchased this helmet online from a game studio for 300 yuan. Three days ago, on October 5, he logged into a VR game called 'OtherWorld' using this helmet, which claims to be independently developed.

"Next, we have the footage recorded by the subject on October 5 within the VR game, in first-person perspective using the subject's 'game character.'" Lu Yiyun gave a brief introduction and played another video.

As this footage played, even though many of the experts in the room had already seen similar videos before coming here, they couldn't help but be amazed…

On the large screen, the blue sky, white clouds, and verdant distant mountains were displayed with incredible clarity. In the abandoned ancient town, skeletons with various bizarre IDs on top were running around wildly.

When the perspective of the subject's "view" was on the large group of skeletons, Lu Yiyun paused the video.

"On the morning of the 6th, many such videos were uploaded onto the Internet. By that very same afternoon, we managed to get the cooperation of the subject. Upon obtaining the original video footage, we specifically invited forensic experts from the Public Security University to examine it…" Lu Yiyun took a deep breath before continuing, "The conclusion of the experts was that all the filmed skeletons didn't resemble virtual models, but rather, real human skeletons."

Solemn faces filled the room full of scientists and academics.

"Based on the clear images in the video, experienced forensic experts can identify the gender characteristics of a skeleton. For example, in the case of the skeleton facing the camera directly, the female characteristics of the pelvic bone structure are quite obvious." Lu Yiyun understood the implications of her conclusion and said solemnly, "The most important point is that the forensic experts believe none of the skeletons recorded in the video are identical."

Academician Ke's brows furrowed, and he instinctively glanced at the old professor seated near him.

Guan Guomin, head of the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Beijing University, also looked back at him with a grave expression.

The two exchanged a silent glance while continuing to listen attentively to Lu Yiyun's presentation.

Lu Yiyun had already switched to the next segment, and in the display appeared… several bizarre skeletons wearing short-sleeved cotton T-shirts and shorts.

Surrounded by these skeletons was a middle-aged man who appeared to look impatient and was quite obviously gritting his teeth in anger.

This middle-aged man was not Asian. His facial bone structure and features resembled a mix of Slavic and Latin American descent, while his limb proportions were like those of a black person.

Of course, Lu Yiyun wasn't focused on this "NPC" but rather on the fantasy world-style clothing worn by the NPC as well as the beginner outfits of the skeletons.

After showing a segment demonstrating the dynamic representation of clothing and fabric wrinkles during player-NPC interactions, Lu Yiyun paused the footage and said, "We consulted material and texture model virtual engine experts from both North America and the domestic AI physics engine lab, and the conclusion reached is that… even the most advanced laboratories in the world would have a difficult time achieving the real-time dynamic calculation of fabric materials and wrinkle changes."

Li Yiyun paused for a moment before adding, "Experts from both sides agree that while this level of realistic fabric simulation could be achieved using computer graphics (CG), achieving real-time calculation would require a supercomputer acting as a server."

And this was only fabric…

At this point, all the scientists in the room could grasp what Lu Yiyun meant. Even the most cutting-edge laboratories worldwide would struggle to achieve real-time calculation of fabric physics, yet a self-proclaimed "independent development team of a VR game" managed to achieve it; Lu Yiyun, who was originally an expert in AI technology research, had her reservations as any scientist should.

Academician Ke silently nodded his head. He could understand what Lu Yiyun was getting at. As an expert in neuroscience research, he found it hard to believe that brain waves could be accessed through such crude "receivers" and integrated into a "network game" located elsewhere, allowing for a series of complex operations. To make matters worse, it was all achieved by a group of self-proclaimed "game developers"!

How could scientists show their faces if that were true!

However, scientists must maintain a rigorous scientific attitude. Even if they felt disgusted, they still needed to maintain an objective and neutral stance. Therefore, scientists like Lu Yiyun wouldn't outright deny it in clear language…

Without explicitly stating her stance, Lu Yiyun proceeded to present three "real footage" clips provided by the subject.

These three clips mainly featured "human NPCs" in the game. The first clip showed an NPC who became visibly angry and spoke aggressively after being provoked by a player.

The second clip showed the NPC chasing and attacking the player with a weapon, and the most crucial third clip depicted a player harassing the NPC while eating, rudely picking up and examining the food, only to be killed by the NPC with a knife…

These scenes, though not bloody nor brutal, left the scientists astonished.

While it could be argued that the emotional expressions and language responses similar to those of a real person could be attributed to the game development team utilizing some means of using supercomputers as real-time calculation servers, the fact that the food eaten by NPCs being identical to commonly found products in supermarkets was eerie. Despite being removed from the packaging and placed on a plate, the NPCs' food consisted of sausages and sandwich bread!

While the scientists in the conference room wore perplexed looks, Lu Yiyun presented a document sealed with a top-secret stamp from the National Security Bureau.

"These are the results of a trace investigation conducted on the login helmets released for the game 'OtherWorld.'" Lu Yiyun swallowed nervously and took out a stack of A4 papers from the envelope and placed them under the projector.

"These helmets were sent out between September 25 and October 1 from a suburban residential house in An City, G Province. The sender and the person who rented the residential house have the same identification documents. After conducting an investigation and retrieving the household registration records, it was confirmed that the registered identification documents belong to a person who was arrested in 2018 for suspected illegal activities and is currently in custody. It should be his identity that has been stolen."

At this point, Lu Yiyun took a deep breath, and her expression became even more peculiar. "Local police conducted on-site visits to the area where the helmets were sent from and made contact with the landlord, nearby neighbors, and surrounding restaurants. It has been confirmed that starting from the middle of last month, the only person who has regularly entered and exited the rented house is a man in his thirties to forties."

Scientists in the room: "?!"

"One person?!" Ke Jingguo exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, only one person," Lu Yiyun confirmed. "In addition, the cyber police department coordinated with the investigation and retrieved the past month's online shopping records of the suspect impersonating someone else's identity. It was confirmed that this person purchased 300 plastic compression motorcycle helmets, 500 plain white T-shirts produced by a small factory in Guangzhou, 500 pairs of workwear shorts… and even placed orders for 500 denim waist pouches and 500 faux leather backpacks from a certain prison."

Scientists: "??"

"It can't be… the outfits worn by the skeletons in the game?" Ke Jingguo's voice was trembling.

"The very ones," Lu Yiyun answered.

All of the scientists in the room were dumbfounded.

"Furthermore… Through investigations of the impersonated identity's expenditure records, local police discovered… that the suspect entered into a partnership with a local supermarket to regularly bulk purchase expired products removed from their shelves." Lu Yiyun gulped once again.

"Staff from the supermarket confirmed that the expired products purchased by this man include various types of bread, instant noodles, biscuits, energy bars, sausages… and so on."

Every scientist in the room appeared to be in shock.

"X-Xiao Lu," Ke Jingguo got up agitatedly, his voice trembling non-stop. "W-we didn't alert this person, did we?"

"During the joint investigation by local police and National Security Bureau, the person under investigation was not alerted," Lu Yiyun answered with precision and composure, although it couldn't be denied that she was still shocked.

The conference room broke into a cacophony of noise at this moment, with various Chinese accents thrown all over the place.

"Silence please, everyone." Lu Yiyun hurriedly raised her hands. "The opinion of the leadership is that they hope we can reach a consensus and come up with a reliable plan. Regardless of what approach we take next… the leadership will consider our opinions."

Her words were still precise and didn't divulge anything, but the meaning was clear—the leadership was aware of the implications of the black technology exposed by this mysterious individual, but wouldn't recklessly interfere and instead prioritized the needs of domestic scientific research!

Only then did the group of scientists calm down…

Regardless of whether the black technology of the "OtherWorld" game was in the hands of a group or an individual, and regardless of whether this person was a practicing pseudoscience or a researcher with undisclosed background support, since this person was within the country and claimed to be a domestic resident, striving for cooperation and learning opportunities was necessary!

Scientists who were dedicated to serious research were different from those in the fields of literature and arts. Such scientists who reached the top levels nationally and internationally didn't have the desire to establish exclusive domains or claim exclusive rights! They just wanted to channel their energy and time into excelling in their respective fields and making significant contributions.

If scientists were to behave like some people in the literary world, creating academic fiefdoms, then the world would be doomed!

"Xiao Lu, where is the login helmet?" Ke Jingguo asked urgently.

"With the consent of the subject, we attempted to dismantle the helmet. Unfortunately, it seems that the part in contact with the back of the head has been processed as a whole, possibly through some special technique. As a result, we couldn't open it without using force," Lu Yiyun regretfully explained. "After leaving collecting relevant data and X-ray scan images, it was returned at the strong behest of the subject."

As she spoke, she displayed photographs of the helmet and X-ray scan images onto the screen.

Many scientists were no longer able to sit still and got up, gathering around the screen to discuss.

From the X-ray scans, it was apparent that something had been added to the area where the helmet came into contact with the back of the head. However, the crucial bit was as if it was shielded by lead or a similar substance, which prevented the internal structure from being visible.

"It would be great if we could get hold of a helmet for thorough research!" Ke Jingguo said, looking toward Lu Yiyun eagerly.

Lu Yiyun nodded. "Unfortunately, all these helmets are already bound to their respective owners. We have attempted using a second person to apply for an account on the game's website and use the helmet, but a successful connection couldn't be established.

"Currently, we have arranged for some staff to contact the development team via the official forum in hopes of acquiring both an account and helmet as 'players,' but there has been no response."

Ke Jingguo sensed that she was tactfully indicating that the family member of the NeuroTech Center employee wasn't willing to contribute the helmet for scientific purposes, and his face immediately became stern.

.

Lu Yiyun's hands were tied as well. She very much wanted to dismantle and study the helmet, but the young subject's cooperation with the experiments had already reached its limit. He had threatened to climb to the top of the NeuroTech Center's tallest research building and livestream his suicide if anyone tried to forcefully take his helmet. There was no room for compromise…

Seeing that Ke Jingguo wasn't accepting her explanation and was about to get angry, Lu Yiyun quickly reassured him, "Teacher Ke, rest assured. We are actively in contact with the player who owns the helmet. If we can convince them to transfer the ownership, we will have the opportunity to dismantle and study it."

Ke Jingguo's expression softened after hearing this.

If it weren't for the leadership's clear instruction to have the NeuroTech Center take charge of the work and if the representative wasn't Lu Yiyun, a former student whom he highly respected, given Ke Jingguo's temperament, he might have forcefully intervened and taken command.

After all, the Chinese Scientific Institute of Neuroscience had sufficient funding and a rich reserve of talent. If they wanted to, they could immediately start the work by obtaining two helmets.

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