“As a comedian, why do you always look so sad?”

The outer city of Yarance. In a junk shop named Afterlife, an old man is comforting the only customer.

The old man nagged for a long time before the young man in the corner slowly turned around.

He looks in his twenties, casually dressed, with matted hair. He is not handsome but has an indescribable melancholy temperament. “My show has been discontinued, and I was fired by the company three days ago.”

“Don’t worry, you are such a good actor. You can find a new job in no time.”

The young man just shakes his head and doesn’t continue this topic, “I have played all the second-hand games you have here. Have any new games arrived?”

“Yes. But in your situation, I don’t suggest you play the games that are too exciting and bloody.” The old man takes out a black box from the bottom of the counter, “Have you tried the Healing game?”

“Healing game?”

“It's the kind of game with warm graphics, soothing music, and plots that make people laugh. It can bring people positive power.”

The old man opens the black box and takes out a worn second-hand game helmet.

“A good healing game can relax the nerves and warm the mind. I think you should try.”

Taking the game helmet from the old man, the young man finally nods after a while of hesitation. “What is the name of this game?”

“Perfect Life.”

……

Back in his rental house, the young man named Han Fei turns on the TV and then goes into the bathroom to wash his face with cool water.

Water droplets slip down his cheeks, and Han Fei looks at himself in the mirror, hooks the corners of his mouth with his hands, and tries to make himself smile.

As a comedian, he tried to make people laugh every day, but suddenly one day, he found that he couldn't laugh at all.

Walking out of the bathroom, Han Fei comes to the desk and begins to look at the game helmet on the table.

He has heard of Perfect Life for a long time. This game is said to be a deep immersive virtual reality game jointly launched by Deep Space Technology and Eternal Life Pharmaceutical.

Deep Space Technology is a giant in the aerospace, artificial intelligence, and communications industries, and has been aiming at immigration to outer space. While Eternal Life Pharmaceutical is a giant in the field of biological gene technology and human neural engineering, wanting to crack the ultimate mystery of life.

The reviews of "Perfect Life" on the internet are mixed. Some people feel that the game is simply an artificial paradise, you can get everything you want in the virtual city, and realize all your dreams. Others say this game has almost no moral and ethical limitations, which will completely wipe out humanity.

Han Fei is trying to play a deeply immersive virtual reality game for the first time, so he searches for a lot of information related to Perfect Life.

Perfect Life has undergone five closed betas and three major changes, and at zero o'clock tonight, Perfect Life will undergo the sixth closed beta.

“The game hasn't been publicly tested yet, how does the shopkeeper get a game helmet? And in addition, it is said that Perfect Life only supports the equipment called Space Game Warehouse, which is 20 times more expensive than a regular game helmet.”

Thinking about this, Han Fei feels that he may have been deceived, and the game attached to this helmet may just be a copycat game with the same name as Perfect Life.

But since having bought it, Han Fei decides to have a try.

He connects the various wires for the devices, sees the indicator light on, and then put on the game helmet.

The view is blocked, darkness shrouds everything, and Han Fei feels as if he has been thrown into a sea of black.

“……, the construction of the Intelligent City Project enters the final stage, and the emergence of the fully AI city of all things will become a monument in human history.”

“…… a serious fire disaster broke out in the antique street in the outer city of Yarance, and many junk shops were burned down, and the possibility of arson cannot be ruled out.”

The voice from the TV becomes smaller and smaller, and at a certain moment, the world in front of Han Fei suddenly turns blood-red.

Strange noises begin to appear inside the game helmet, Han Fei is instinctively a little uneasy, he is about to take off the helmet, and a sharp pain comes from the back of his head as if a steel needle pierces his skull and sends something deep into his brain.

“Biological file upload successful, memory file upload successful, a neural connection successful, original administrator account activated, permission number 0000..."