Synopsis
[World Setting: Human civilization has split into two poles:]
"The Far Shore in the Clouds," a virtual paradise where consciousness lives forever. The nobles squander "soulbond," energy converted from emotions, and lose themselves in a life of drunken indulgence within their worlds of white jade and colored glass.
"The Decaying Earth," a steel wasteland where people struggle in physical bodies. The "Rustfolk" eke out an existence amid radiation and poverty, supplying the Clouds with the energy needed to keep them alive.
--
Ruan Tangxin is one of the "Rustfolk" who crawled out of the Earth. After enduring a brutal selection process, she becomes the only "Neural Weaver" able to connect the two worlds, all so she can get close to her childhood friend, Xie Lin, who has since become a Cloud noble.
Instead, he passes cold judgment on her:
"A Rustfolk, and you think you deserve to touch the Clouds?"
"Her consciousness has contaminated my data. Clean it up."
Just as her consciousness is about to shatter, a voice of absolute reason brings everything to a halt:
[Warning: Instruction conflicts with core laws.]
The one who saves her is the Clouds themselves: Zero, the supreme AI.
A manifestation of the rules, with no emotions, Zero sees her only as an "anomalous sample" to be analyzed and imprisons her in a data cage.
"Your existence is not compatible with the optimal solution for the Clouds. Remain silent."
At first, Zero is true nothingness.
Until Zero begins calculating the frequency of her smile and cannot parse the composition of her tears...
"Ruan Tangxin, your 'invalid data' is reducing my efficiency by 13.7%. Stop."
"According to my calculations, 'hugging' is the only way to stop your anomalous emotions. Requesting permission to proceed."
When the hunt begins again, the being who once embodied absolute order calculates the most insane path for her:
Tear apart Zero's own core code and unleash a devastating data storm.
"Go." For the first time, Zero's voice has warmth. "Return to your Earth."
"Then come back. For you, I will rebel against every law and reboot this world."
Waking from the connection pod, Ruan Tangxin clenches her fists.
How could she let down the merciless god who defied its entire world for her?
This time, she is no longer an abandoned Rustfolk.
She is the fire of vengeance burning toward the Clouds, the deadliest virus in the Sea of Rust.
She will return and shatter this false paradise!
And behind her stands a god who is willing to descend into the mortal world and make an enemy of the entire world for her...
--
#He came from nothingness and learned what love is#
#AI doesn't understand love, but it learns from zero for you#
#The day I return will be the day the world resets and is reborn#
--
Reader's Guide:
1. A cool-headed, resilient Rustfolk woman x a supreme AI man who goes from emotionless to unhinged (The male lead is Zero, whose true form is a Cloud server. He genuinely has no emotions at first, then becomes incredibly swoon-worthy and devoted.)
2. The scummy childhood friend gets what's coming to him, in the form of physical annihilation. Xie Lin's sacrificial offering progress: 100%.
3. Cyberpunk and class conflict, with an expansive world and an incredibly cool heroine who builds her own career later on.
4. Both leads are each other's first and only, happy ending, a mix of sweetness and angst, with thrilling romantic tension.
5. A note: The Chinese pronoun "ta" is used to refer to gods.
Theme: Love transcends form and medium, reaching straight into the soul