In 2047, Lanwan, a coastal city in East Asia, was shrouded in a "global brain-computer cloud". Citizens relied on the official platform Mirage to produce clean energy "Dream Su" in their dreams. Behind the seemingly perfect appearance was the shocking lie of the monopoly Mirage Holdings - they used the brains of "Dreamers" to build a second Lanwan that reversely pollutes reality, in an attempt to swallow reality and become the god of the new world. Detective Gu Beishan, who was born with a "deficient sense of dreams", was involved in a conspiracy due to a bizarre dream beheading case. He followed anonymous clues and entered the Second Lanwan. He unexpectedly reunited with his twin brother Gu Qingli, who had been presumed dead for seven years and was actually the chief architect of the Second Lanwan. With the help of Jiang Mian, the curator of dreams, and the Dream Thieves Youth League, Gu Beishan faced the pursuit of Mirage Holdings, and refused the dilemma of "sacrifice millions of long-term dreamers to be reborn in reality" or "become a new dream anchor to survive", reversely infected the mirage with the physique of a zero-dreamer, and killed the cowardly shadow in his heart at the border of the broken twin cities. In the end, Jiang Mian turned into a wake-up bell, and Gu Beishan gave every citizen the choice of "staying in the dream" or "returning to reality", allowing the two cities to coexist in parallel.
Concept: The concept of "Phantom Net" directly strikes the boundary between reality and illusion, and explores the weight of choice and the true meaning. When the "perfect dream" constructed by technology becomes a cage that devours human nature, Mirage Holdings' ambition reflects mankind's instinctive desire to escape pain. The protagonist Gu Beishan, with the sobriety of a "zero dreamer", refuses the dilemma of black and white. He neither sacrifices millions of dreamers for reality, nor succumbs to the false immortality of dreams. He used himself as a bait to reverse the situation, returning the right of choice to everyone, and asked deeply: Is happiness without pain tenable? Is there value in a life without struggle? The novel uses the shell of the Game of Two Cities to tear apart the hypocritical veil of technological utopia, praises the courage to face the truth, and emphasizes that only the reality that carries the joys and sorrows of separation is the true destination of mankind.