Digital Detox?
When Guan Tong saw this rule, his first reaction was that it was too simple.
What's so hard about not using internet-connected devices for a month?
Read so books every day, take a stroll, chat with people, or tinker with sothing by yourself—you could easily muddle through a month.
But looking at the phrase in the rule's note, "you who have been co-existing with the internet since birth," he suddenly realized a problem:
He thought this rule was simple because he was a transmigrator from Earth!
On the planet he ca from before transmigrating, the internet was also quite developed, but it was far from reaching the level of "co-existing with humanity."
For example, the mobile internet wave represented by smartphones was still considered "young technology" on his ho planet Earth, with a developnt history of only about twenty years.
But the world he transmigrated to, Tianshui Star, had internet developnt that surpassed Earth by a large margin. Especially embodied AI and wearable smart devices, which were still in the exploratory phase on Earth, were already commonplace in this world.
Children on Tianshui Star had been accompanied by smart devices since birth, with an average of three to five smart wearable devices per person.
For instance, a wearable wristband called "Baby Companion" from a national brand in Beixing was almost a must-have for every child, worn from birth. It could monitor the child's various data indicators in real-ti, quickly reporting to parents if the child was sick, thirsty, or hungry.
It's easy to imagine that an infant wearing a smart device from birth could indeed be described as "co-existing." As they grew older, they naturally wouldn't resist smart devices but would instead take for granted that they were an integral part of life.
As a transmigrator, Guan Tong, because he was unaccustod to them and didn't see them as essential, usually only carried a mobile phone and didn't use any other smart devices. This had always made him sowhat of an outlier in his class, which was also why he had few friends.
But the native-born people of this planet had been accompanied by network devices and smart devices since they could rember, forming habits and dependencies.
This current rule was inconsequential to Guan Tong, but for others, it might truly beco a painful experience.
Still, no matter how you look at it, the difficulty of this rule is extrely low. As long as you're determined, you can pass it smoothly.
If soone really can't bear it and chooses to give up, that's fine too. It's not a survival-type rule anyway. As long as you can accept the cost of Mind Power Upper Limit decay, you can simply act as if this rule doesn't exist.
"I wonder what the hidden rule for this type of rule will be?"
Guan Tong opened the Terminal panel to check the rule details.
After concentrating and staring for a mont, the hidden rule appeared.
[Hidden Rule Twelve: Mind Interconnection]
[Hidden Rule Content: During this rule period, Ascendants can mutually create a "Mind Network" connecting each other by consuming Mind Power, enabling long-distance communication.]
[Note: If it is possible to communicate directly through the mind without external objects, can humanity successfully build the Tower of Babel?]
"...This hidden rule is a bit strange."
Guan Tong felt so confusion in his heart after reading it.
This hidden rule contained no reward elents. Instead, it provided a thod of using Mind Power that humans had never considered before.
"If this 'Mind Network' can connect everyone, could each person communicate directly? Like so kind of large-scale telepathy?"
Guan Tong paid particular attention to the ntion of the Tower of Babel in the note.
He rembered it was a religious legend. The content was that humans united to try to build a high tower leading to heaven. To stop them, God made humans speak different languages, preventing them from communicating with each other, which led to the plan's failure.
Guan Tong also thought of the "Human Consortium" organization established by humanity before the earthquake rule... Is the Fire Thief now issuing such a rule and hidden rule also related to this aspect?
"Once this rule is announced, many official functional departnts in various countries will definitely be affected. Many tasks will be forced to halt, or they'll have to sacrifice so people, letting them pay the price of rule failure to maintain the operation of critical work.
But... wouldn't having those ordinary people whose Mind Power has already decayed to zero and whose Terminals are closed take over the work solve both problems? I wonder if the authorities will consider that."
"And this hidden rule... should I publicize it or sell it... No, that's not right." Guan Tong shook his head. "The rule prohibits using network devices, which ans I can't use computers or the Ascendant Ho website. So what's there to publicize?"
Without a safe channel, he would absolutely not risk exposing his identity by leaking the hidden rule. That would be even more dangerous and have far more serious consequences than exposing his true identity as Shadow.
"From now on, I can't use my phone either."
He placed his phone in the desk drawer in the shelter and wouldn't touch it for the next month.
Without a phone, contacting people would require eting in person or using the previously obtained [Communication Scroll] item.
However, Guan Tong was more interested in researching what exactly the "Mind Network" ntioned in the hidden rule was, how to establish and operate it, and what its effects were.
...
Counterasures Research Office.
People gathered in a very "plain" room.
This "plain" ant the room contained no network devices whatsoever, only an electric light—which was quite rare, as the Internet of Things had long been realized in this world.
A table would be connected, able to adjust its height via voice or smart settings at any ti; a fan would be connected, able to adjust wind speed and rotation angle at any ti; even cups in this era were connected, able to display temperature in real-ti and remind you via voice to drink water on schedule.
In short, in this era of the Internet of Everything, it wasn't easy to temporarily find a purely illuminating light bulb.
"This rule isn't difficult for individuals," Gao Liangwei said. "But it will be a significant obstacle for various departnts carrying out their work."
"The director is right. Not being able to use network devices for a month will delay many important tasks. Not even ntioning the most critical ones; even material transport vehicles rely on networks for autonomous driving. If humans can't use network devices, they can't perform material regulation and allocation."
"Indeed. Many automated devices also require networks, and behind the networks are staff responsible for coordination. Even if we switch to smart robots for these tasks, humans are still needed to give commands to the smart robots."
Soone suggested, "How about having ordinary people whose Mind Power Upper Limit has already decayed to zero in previous rules take over the posts?"
"Right! That's a good idea!"
"Indeed. Having ordinary people take over the work won't trigger rule penalties."
"But, is that feasible? As far as I know, most departnts have been using Ascendants for a long ti."
Everyone fell silent.
Although the authorities had repeatedly ordered that Ascendants must not discriminate against ordinary people, the authorities' own departnts also used Ascendants the most.
The reason was simple: Ascendants had better physical fitness and could handle more intense, higher-pressure work. They could also be motivated with wages paid in Ascension Coins.
As ti passed, the physical gap between ordinary people and Ascendants grew larger, making ordinary people increasingly unable to handle many tasks. It was like a natural selection process; now, most departnts had very few ordinary people left.
Everyone looked at Gao Liangwei, who said solemnly, "So tasks that can be suspended should be suspended. For truly critical functions and work that cannot be stopped, we can rehire ordinary people with relevant work experience to return to the departnts.
As for the few high-intensity tasks that ordinary people cannot handle, we can only solicit volunteers within the relevant departnts to continue working at the cost of failing the rule challenge—of course, the authorities must provide these volunteers with sufficient additional compensation."
"Agreed."
"That's the only way."
Everyone nodded, knowing this was the best possible outco.
Then, Gao Liangwei looked at the personnel responsible for intelligence information work.
"Your departnt needs to arrange personnel to constantly monitor the Administrator of Ascendant Ho, to see if he will publish or sell hidden intelligence related to this rule."
That person was slightly taken aback. "If the other party wants to pass this rule, they shouldn't touch network devices, right?"
"That's true, but the other party might have so special thods. Anyway, arrange for so ordinary people to take shifts, monitoring the website information 24/7 without interruption."
"Understood."
After discussing official departnt matters, soone ntioned, "How should we reassure the public? Not being able to use network devices for so long, people will need other forms of entertainnt."
"Um, read physical books? Or chat with others face-to-face, aren't those options?"
"Perhaps watching TV is also possible," proposed the expert in the entertainnt field who had previously suggested creating an Ascendant variety show. "Coincidentally, our first episode is currently in production and should be completed and broadcastable by mid-August."
"TV? Aren't all TVs connected to the internet nowadays?"
"Um, I read a popular science article before that ntioned so antique TVs don't have network modules. Those should be usable, right?"
"No network modules? What kind of TV is that? I don't think I've heard of that." Most people in the conference room looked blank, having never heard of TVs that couldn't connect to the internet.
"It's the kind that receives analog signals," recalled an elderly professor in the room. "I rember my grandfather ntioning that kind of TV when I was a child. That seems to have been a product from over a hundred years ago. Naturally, young people today have never heard of it."
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