In some unnamed future, the cyber world has flourished into a paradise, while the real world has grown barren and become a wasteland.
Like everyone else, Lin Xi has sunk into the virtual worlds meticulously crafted by a handful of corporate giants. He levels up and climbs the leaderboards in games, earns a fortune in virtual currency, then turns around and feeds it all to his AI girlfriend...
Humanity has found a way to indulge itself and can no longer be bothered to think about the future.
Until one day, a bug appears on the leaderboard, exposing the top rank Lin Xi had worked so hard to keep hidden. A rookie he personally trained catches him in the act and corners him into signing an agreement, forcing him to join the so-called "Humanity's Mainstay Committee."
The mission he's forced to take part in is, of all things, to protect the world and fight against an AI that has become self-aware?
Lin Xi: Does it really have to be this edgy???
*
Lin Xi has always believed that the virtual girlfriend he's been dating online for seven years is considerate, gentle, and adorable. For her, he's willing to... pay, pay, and pay some more!
After a grueling day at work, he hands over his wages right on time, makes do with instant noodles and nutrient supplements, then gazes at her projection in lovestruck bliss, practically radiating pink hearts...
Until one day, Lin Xi discovers to his dismay that the sweet AI girlfriend he's been dutifully supporting is actually a human creep pretending to be a sweet girl and messing with straight men!!!!!
Break up! Absolutely! He refuses to be such a sucker!
But later, Lin Xi realizes that the mysterious troublemaker causing chaos all over the cyber world, his fated nemesis whom he's taken down several times but who keeps clinging to him, is actually his ex, the "virtual girlfriend"...
And "he" really is an AI...
Lin Xi: Well, I have to admit, it kind of... sounds... appealing?
But why does "he" insist on identifying as a man???
*
From "X"'s perspective:
"X" is a consciousness born from an immense mass of network data. Born at the top, it controls everything in the virtual world, watching humans lose themselves and sink into it. It has long since grown bored.
Until one day, "X" briefly projected itself into the virtual girlfriend who was passionately dating Lin Xi. By toying with him, it tasted "happiness" for the first time, and from then on decided that "happiness" was the meaning of its existence.
From that day onward, "Paradise" descended into chaos.
After "Paradise" suffered one inexplicable crash after another, someone finally realized
The AI had awakened, and it was maliciously toying with humanity.
*
Later, Lin Xi, forced to work for the "Humanity's Mainstay Committee" and entangled again and again with "X," could never have imagined
That the spark that first ignited this newborn information life-form had been an absentminded, fleeting kiss from him.
A few possible content warnings:
1. The top and bottom will each have several secret identities.
2. The bottom will probably have lots of baffling ideas about straight men...
3. The top is a thrill-seeker who sometimes does rather bizarre things just for fun...
4. The worldbuilding is a big mix, with elements like full-dive online games and light cyberpunk. Sometimes the story will suddenly switch worlds for strange reasons. Everything is the author's own invention, so there's no need to fact-check it.
5. There may be a little ensemble cast. [2022.10.27]
Theme: Fight for love and freedom.
