To be truly honest, someone who is genuinely straightforward wouldn't act like Hu Lai. As soon as her words fell, she would gaze into the other person's eyes, as if trying to peer into their very soul. Then, after taking a deep breath, she would put on a smile, leaving the other person hanging in suspense.

"Um... Hu Lailai, no, Hu Lai, aren't we here to experience the true illusion? It's not appropriate to talk about this in a work setting, is it? Didn't you say there are surveillance cameras here?"

The sly smile on the young girl's face reminded Shen Zhengying of a weasel paying a New Year's visit to a chicken.

Just a few minutes ago, Shen Zhengying thought she could handle whatever Hu Lai said. But now, she realized she had overestimated herself. If the girl said something outrageous, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"That's true."

Sensing the subtle shift in Shen Zhengying's attitude, Hu Lai decided not to press further. "Then let's wait until we're in a non-work setting, without surveillance, to talk about this. In private, you can still call me Hu Lailai. It sounds nice, and I like it." After saying this, she didn't linger on the topic and swiftly demonstrated how to wear the helmet and the functions of the two buttons.

"Once you put on the helmet and start it, you'll enter the game within seconds. There are several scenes to choose from. At the beginning, you'll see..."

Before she could finish her introduction, Shen Zhengying placed the helmet on her head, pressed the start button, and immediately entered the game, as if she didn't want to hear another word from Hu Lai.

Hu Lai didn't mind and calmly put on the helmet.

"You can run away from the monk, but you can't run away from the temple, Professor Shen. Your physical body is still here."

Hearing such a deafening remark while in the game, Shen Zhengying's face turned as red as fire. She indeed had the intention to escape, if she couldn't win an argument, escaping was always an option, right?

But the current situation was too surreal. Her embarrassment lasted only a second before her attention was completely drawn to the surrounding emptiness.

Beneath her feet were several paths leading to an unknown distance, and within her line of sight, there was no scenery to be seen.

Shen Zhengying's heart skipped a few beats uncontrollably.

If it weren't for Hu Luan's teasing remarks still echoing in her ears, she would think she had crossed over into a horror movie, like "The Mist."

This so-called true illusion was more like a nightmare.

With a cat's meow, Hu Lai silently appeared by her side.

Shen Zhengying was startled, then burst into laughter.

The young girl was covered in short grayish-white fur, her head nestled in the same-colored pelt, complete with two cat ears. Her hands and feet were cat paws, and she had a long tail swaying behind her. She looked like a short-haired cat that had turned into a spirit.

The look of annoyance on Hu Lai's face thoroughly amused Shen Zhengying. Laughing, she said, "Are you dressed like this to perform in the musical Cats?"

Hu Lai raised a paw to scratch her face and replied helplessly, "I was testing the cat girl world last time and didn't change my appearance before logging out. Sorry for the embarrassment, meow."

The joy she felt during the test was now replaced by sheer embarrassment.

The system was set up so that every sentence ended with a high-pitched "meow," and she felt like she had been humiliated all the way to Siberia.

Shen Zhengying was delighted and reached out to stroke her furry head, then rubbed her furry chin, feeling the realistic texture accompanied by a purring sound effect.

This time, it was Hu Lai's turn to show a hint of embarrassment.

"Da.mn it, you're gonna rub all my fur off, meow."

Shen Zhengying laughed so hard she could barely stand. "No wonder you fall asleep as soon as class starts, turns out you're a reincarnated cat demon."

Without bothering to retort, Hu Luan tapped a few times in the air and finally returned to her usual demeanor.

"Laugh all you want, what's so funny..." As soon as the words left her mouth, she couldn't help but laugh too.

The two of them just stood at the game's starting point, in the center of the wasteland, and laughed for quite a while.

"I thought the controls were brain-activated and didn't require manual operation." Shen Zhengying coughed lightly, bringing the conversation back to the game.

It was a pity that the phone couldn't appear in the game, otherwise she would have taken a photo as a memento. Just the thought of Hu Lai's cat demon form could make her laugh for a whole year.

"The brain has too many fragmented thoughts, and the system cannot execute commands through sensing. The operation menu has two modes: eye movement mode and manual mode. I have set it to manual."

Shen Zhengying nodded in understanding.

When a person has a thought, it is often accompanied by many other thoughts. To go or not to go, to eat or not to eat—if the user is indecisive and keeps wavering on these yes or no questions, the system would be stuck in an endless loop.

The system cannot execute unclear commands, which means that artificial intelligence cannot determine a person's exact intentions. Fortunately, that's the case. Otherwise, if machines could understand people before people could understand each other, it would be terrifying.

"The place we are in now is equivalent to the game lobby, doesn't it feel very spacious? Try taking a few steps, anywhere you want to go." Ignoring Shen Zhengying's suppressed laughter, Hu Lai explained seriously.

Shen Zhengying looked around for a while. The surroundings were empty, with no obvious hints or clues, and then walked straight ahead for two steps. Upon taking the third step, an inn suddenly appeared before her, and the lanterns hanging high above lit up.

Shifang Inn.

The inn rose from the ground, and the lanterns suddenly lit up. Shen Zhengying's eyes brightened as she looked at Hu Lai.

Hu Lai winked at her, "Welcome to the true illusion."

Unlike the reactions of others entering the game, Shen Zhengying didn't excitedly rush in. Instead, she stopped in her tracks, turning her hands over and over to look at them, then checked her clothes.

Hu Lai knew what she was looking at and patiently explained it to her.

"Without purchasing or changing the appearance, the clothes are set by default by the system. The same goes for the hands; If you remember your palm print, you'll notice it's different. If you want it to be the same, the hardware can achieve that through scanning."

"In other words, it's possible to create an exact replica of oneself here?"

"Can't say it's 100%, but it's about 80% feasible, and we can accordingly lower the similarity ratio."

"Does the hardware directly send signals to connect with brain neurons?"

"Yes."

Getting a positive answer, Shen Zhengying was astonished, "Then, can it directly access information stored in the brain?"

"Of course not, that's impossible."

Before experiencing the true illusion, Hu Lai had the same concern. If it could read brain information, not only would privacy be compromised, but personal property and life safety would also be at risk.

Pandora's box lay before her, and with immense profits at stake, she didn't believe anyone had the willpower to resist opening it.

Restricting access through industry agreements was merely a superficial solution, just a facade of propriety, much like the previous practice of selling information. Facial data, privacy details—no sooner were they filled out than they were sold off to corporations. Over the years, who knows how many hands this data had passed through.

"The human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons, with 16 billion of them located in the cerebral cortex. Even if the vast majority of these neurons are inactive, they still represent a massive dataset. Acquiring information is one thing, but analyzing and processing it is another. Current hardware simply cannot handle such an enormous information system. Therefore, the system's capabilities are extremely limited."

Shen Zhengying felt slightly reassured.

Compared to being able but not doing it, she believes more in not being able to do it.

"It seems that Professor Shen is just cautious by nature and not deliberately targeting me. I feel a bit more at ease now." Hu Lai had originally lagged behind Shen Zhengying by a step to explain things to her, but seeing her hesitate, she simply walked ahead to lead the way.

Targeting her? After eating hotpot and riding in a car with someone who had just appeared out of nowhere, she had the nerve to say she was being targeted. If she told Sun Shuxue about this, even Sun Shuxue would think she was bewitched. With Hu Lai's elusive nature, in ancient times, she would have been labeled a fox spirit.

"I think you shouldn't be called Hu Lailai, but Hu Shuo (Nonsense)."

"Oh, Professor Shen, are you saying I only talk and don't act?"

Hu Lai stopped and turned around in an instant. Shen Zhengying, caught off guard, almost bumped into her arms.

"What are you going to do?"

"What do you want me to do?"

Her slightly upturned corners of the mouth, her eyes full of meaning.

Shen Zhengying wanted to get angry but couldn't, so she had to helplessly say, "Speak properly."

"Alright, I'll listen to you. Actually, our technology has a wide range of applications. Currently, we have small-scale applications in the education sector, still in the experimental stage. The next phase will involve trial runs in the emotional realm."

"Emotional realm? You mean virtual dating?"

"Not just dating. Professor Shen, have you heard of White Horse Club? Or Sheng Society?"

Shen Zhengying actually had heard of them, from Yang Hui.

The former provided entertainment services for women, with a variety of male staff. The latter offered customized lovers tailored to women's preferences, with both male and female staff. She had heard that the latter was high-end and expensive, far beyond the reach of someone on her salary.

Yang Hui once suggested giving her a service as a birthday gift, which scared her to death, and she firmly refused.

Therefore, it left a particularly deep impression.

Shen Zhengying had assumed that only wealthy, experienced, and lonely women knew about these places. She hadn't expected Hu Lai to know about them too.

"You know about them too!"

"Of course. Quite a few people have been to White Horse Club, and some who don't play domestically go abroad to find host clubs. Unfortunately, none of the people I know have been to Sheng Society. Honestly, I'm quite curious. There's a saying: 'I don't want to make friends, nor do I want to fall in love. I just want to enjoy a moment of tenderness without any attachments when I'm feeling lonely, and that would be enough for me.' These days, love is a luxury. Finding someone who truly matches you is too hard, and managing relationships is too much trouble. It's better to enjoy fleeting pleasures, like a spring dream. When the dream ends, it ends."

Shen Zhengying was so surprised that she couldn't speak. She thought only women with a lot of experience would think this way. A young girl like Hu Lai should be passionate about love, like her son's girlfriend, who had a lovesick look in her eyes.

As they walked to the entrance of the inn, Hu Lai noticed that Shen Zhengying seemed a bit dazed following behind. With a smile, Hu Lai reached out to pull her along. "Have you decided which world to visit first? Wuxia? The future? A primitive jungle? Catgirls? The African savanna or even a cosmic black hole—it's all possible."

"Hu Lailai, you're so young. Shouldn't you be at the age where you're longing for romance? Why are you so focused on these things?"

Longing for romance? The kind that changes every two months? No, thanks. Hu Lai twitched the corner of her mouth.

"Maybe you won't listen, but no matter what, young people should take relationships seriously and not treat life like a game." Shen Zhengying spoke sincerely, sounding much more like a teacher than when she was reading a PPT on stage.

"I'm just curious. Young people are naturally curious about new things. Besides..." Hu Lai paused, then smiled at her, "I already have someone I'm interested in."

Shen Zhengying felt uneasy and had no way to respond.

Hu Lai continued, "Hey, Professor Shen, I can't help but feel that you're more interested in me than in our project."

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