2077: V really knows how awesome he is

"What a joke, you're making V sound like a robot."

The penguin nodded: "V is a robot."

J froze for a few seconds, then shouted, "What did you say?!?!"

The penguin covered its ears and shouted back at the same volume: "I said, V is a robot!!!"

J was jolted backward and angrily said, "Why are you yelling so loudly!"

Penguin: "Huh? You were the one who started it..."

"Let's not talk about this anymore." J waved his hand to interrupt the penguin: "Is V really a robot?"

"Yes, but not a traditional robot. She has two sets of execution programs inside her body, and her body is also composed of a special kind of nanorobot that can adjust itself at any time according to needs, possessing a fault tolerance rate far exceeding that of machines. However, her nervous system is still designed according to human standards, which is very primitive and cannot utilize the full capabilities of this body."

J swallowed hard. Her rational mind told her that the more she knew, the faster she would die, but her emotions made her unable to resist her curiosity, and she continued to ask, "What if you want to unleash your full potential?"

"Modify the nervous system, and completely rebuild it from scratch." The penguin replied, "As it stands, the nanobots within her are already doing this."

J asked cautiously, "So that's why her nervous system looks like it's extensively atrophied?"

“Large-scale shrinkage?” Penguin pondered. “Now that you mention it, it does seem very similar. However, this is all temporary. Over time, the nanobots will eventually create the most perfect nervous system for V.”

"how long?"

"At this rate..." Penguin calculated, "1 year and two months."

J tried hard to imagine how powerful V would be a year from now, and then realized that he couldn't imagine it at all.

Even a severely weakened V can break through the clouds with his bare hands; at his peak, V would surely tear a hole in the sky. If anyone could defeat the AI ​​army and restore order to humanity, it would have to be V.

But J hesitated again because Penguin said that V is a robot, and very likely also an AI. Is it possible that AI attacks AI to protect humanity?

J thought about it and decided to take another gamble.

Anyway, she didn't have many good options.

J gently patted V's cheek and whispered her name: "V?"

V kept his head down and did not react. J lifted V's chin and found that V's eyes were open, but both eyes were shining with a blue light and flashing continuously.

J, a hacker familiar with this situation, asked in surprise, "Is V diving deep? Where's the connection cable?"

"No need for cables."

"why?"

"Because her goal in diving deep was not cyberspace."

"If it's not cyberspace, then where could it be?!"

"I do not know."

J stares at the penguin.

Penguin: "Coo-coo-quack-quack?"

"I won't give up!" J told himself.

She first informed Sasha that V had been found, but his physical condition was somewhat complicated, and told them not to worry. Then she focused on talking therapy with V.

The world needs you, you need to cheer up, no one is blaming you, and so on, but V remained unresponsive, like a puppet.

This went on for three to five days, and V's condition showed no improvement whatsoever. Even J couldn't help but feel discouraged and sighed, asking, "V, what are you doing?"

V is staring blankly in the world of the simulated sandbox.

She feared that a careless action would allow bio-intellectual AI to take over the world, and she was also afraid that it would once again go out of control and harm her friends. For this reason, she could only leave the chip behind to warn others, and she didn't even dare to operate it herself.

What she fears most is a life that has already been written in advance.

V sits on the rooftop of a high-rise building, watching the sun rise and set in this virtual world, where people go out during the day and return at night, feeling the breath of nature and savoring the lights of the world.

One day, she suddenly asked, "How would people in this world feel if they knew they were virtual?"

The giant jellyfish replied, "Want to know? Then take a look at this."

V's phone now has a novel app, and the only book on the bookshelf is called "2077: V Really Knows How Awesome He Is".

V stared speechlessly at the giant jellyfish.

“I am you, and you are me. I am curious about the things you are curious about.” The giant jellyfish explained, “So I modified the world parameters and borrowed the hand of a struggling online novelist to write this book.”

V opened the book.

It contains her story.

The first half is a standard feel-good story, which has garnered praise from everyone. Some even said that the author is a native of Night City and suspected that the author had some kind of shady deal with the censors, which is why the book was not "censored".

The giant jellyfish interjected, "It was supposed to be censored, but I pulled the strings behind the scenes."

V was speechless at this guy's perverse sense of humor and continued reading.

The story took a turn when the "truth" was revealed. When the virtual sandbox world appeared in the book, people were surprised by the author's boldness, but they just thought it was a design and left comments that were either curious, amusing, or calm.

[Huo Yan, who loves eating ChaCha sunflower seeds: Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream? The Matrix?]

[The left-hand guard beast who likes pipes: Oh no, I've become data.]

[Dan Ying from Nanyang City: This is quite a common setting; the natives of World A believe they are transmigrators from World B.]

[Nuwa's junior sister, who loves tandoor-roasted meat: I'm the NPC! /crying]

[Shui Mei, who loves egg and salvia soup: Oh no, I've become a substitute.]

V was somewhat surprised because these NPCs were not shaken by the fact that they were virtual; they didn't even acknowledge the fact and treated it as a joke.

why?

What are the reasons that these NPCs are so certain of their true identities?

V originally just wanted to kill some time, but now she's really interested and continues watching.

Chapter 109 Brainless Fans

The novel's recent chapters have been very controversial, and the number of readers has plummeted.

When discussing "self-awareness," the giant jellyfish argues that it represents a wrong turn in evolution, but many readers hold different views.

One reader, whose username is "LuTJ", objectively and systematically refuted AI's views from multiple perspectives and put forward his own opinions.

[LuTJ: The emergence of self-awareness has never been an evolutionary curse; rather, it represents a completely new possibility for evolution.]

[LuTJ: The emergence of AI also stems from human self-awareness; it has no right to say such things.]

[LuTJ: Making up for evolutionary deficiencies is itself a form of evolution; the emergence of "me" is inevitable and irreversible.]

[LuTJ: Evolution itself has no predetermined endpoint, only adaptive strategies; there is no such thing as a "correct" one.]

[LuTJ: Humanity is indeed still bound by biological constraints, but "being aware of these constraints" is itself a breakthrough. The greatness of a civilization lies not in its perfection, but in its continued efforts to surpass itself despite knowing its imperfections!]

His explanation leans towards formal academic interpretations, while some readers have also left relatively colloquial explanations.

[Chairman Zhu, who loves Shuangwu tea: Without the concept of "me," humans would be no different from most animals. Humans learned to ride horses for easier travel and invented trains for more efficient transport of goods. Without the concept of "me," everyone would just be content with feeding themselves, and human society might not even have entered the industrial age. When natural disasters come, people would flee; if they couldn't escape, they would die; and those who survived would just continue farming.]

[The chirping of insects in the still night: This is entirely the superiority complex of an AI perspective, believing that human evolution should be "efficient." But what makes humans human is precisely this unpredictable stage of fate!]

Of course, there are also readers who don't care at all and continue to be silly.

[Feng Xiaoqin from Mansha Peninsula: Okay, okay, so you're going to use super-resolution rendering of 1080p to make it look like 4K, huh?]

[Shi Liang from Phu Quoc Island: Old Huang's Perfect Frame]

[Silent Night Insect Chirping: Machines and AI are both creations of humans, so how can you say the father is like the son? /Side-eye]

But the most insightful comment came from a reader named "No Regrets When Leaving the Shore".

[No regrets when leaving the shore: To borrow a phrase from the stars, "Natural selection has always been associated with only one word—failure."]

What you perceive as superfluous self-awareness is, in my view, a miracle that defies the laws of nature. No matter how much you optimize a mountain of genetic excrement, it's still a mountain of excrement.

The giant jellyfish believes that the existence of self-awareness keeps humans from pursuing the process rather than the result.

But living things evolve for survival, while this thing evolves for the sake of evolution itself. It's empty, knowing only how to evolve, but can it explain the meaning of evolution?

The self is the meaning of my existence. What's the difference between you refuting my existence and trying to kill me? Since you want to kill me, my biological instincts will naturally resist you.

V thought about these words carefully and pondered them. Although the content was somewhat informal, it truly showed her another path.

She asked the giant jellyfish, "Are they right?"

The giant jellyfish replied, "I am you. You have no answer, and neither do I."

V seemed to have heard something and had a glimmer of understanding, but it was still vague and he couldn't quite grasp it.

Since that's the case, she simply let things take their course, stopped thinking about it, and continued reading.

When the story reached the point where "everything about V was fake," the readers erupted again.

[Ultimate Sexiest Queen: I Don't Admit It!]

[Lei Ge, who loves mushrooms and vegetables: It's all a lie. V did so much for Xu Zhong's dream, for the people of Night City, for his friends, and to change the ending of his past life, only to find it was all a lie. V won't believe it, and neither will I!]

V's prosthetic eye felt hot. She couldn't understand why these NPCs trusted her so much, even though she had already backed down and become weak.

There were also many who angrily denounced the author.

[Wang Yepu, who loves roasted vegetables: This is ridiculous. Why do wish-fulfillment stories have to include some melodramatic philosophy? Isn't this just like the plot of The Matrix? Why add a few dramatic twists when you're already having a blast?]

[Alicia (Limited to 1000): Why do this? It looks so uncomfortable.]

[Bu Xixi Le: I feel like I got carried away with the last few chapters, something's not right]

[User 17310705: Dude, you must think you're so insightful]

[NNKKY: Why does a wish-fulfillment story have to resort to conspiracy theories, denying V's life and self-awareness, as if it thinks it's so wise?]

[Megumin's Explosive Magic: Boss, stop messing around! Focus on Night City content, don't discuss these philosophical things!]

[Dream Tired AI Foot Massage: It's already reached the point where it's going to poop a huge mess later on]

V couldn't help but laugh, because the more these people criticized the author, the more it proved they cared about themselves. The author was just a tool, taking the blame for what actually happened.

She continued reading, wanting to see what the quirky netizens had to say next.

[Xu Xian marries a little snake: Great! These chapters have me itching to read more. Keep it up, author!]

[Mo Yuxia: The author is conveying his views to us, but I have no views; I'm just here for entertainment / wink]

[My sweet, gentle voice: Author, keep it up! I think this kind of setting is very interesting. As long as it doesn't have a bad ending, take your time, no rush.]

[Username 35525442: This is probably a pessimistic build-up; V will still win in the end. Don't rush to comment.]

[The Foundation of the Shimada Family: It feels like the author wrote it while having trouble sleeping at night]

V couldn't help but laugh again, because the author really hadn't been able to sleep for nights on end because of the declining data. Thinking about it, this "tool" was really unlucky; not only did he take the blame for her, but he also spent hours every day in front of the computer racking his brains, and the money he earned wasn't even enough for a fast food meal. Maybe she should just send him some money as compensation.

“It’s best not to,” the giant jellyfish said. “Your actions will directly affect the interference with this author.”

"What do you mean?"

"He might stop writing once he has money."

"Is that so?" V nodded. "Then I won't send the money."

V glanced at the author, who remained oblivious, still typing away at his computer. This NPC probably had no idea what kind of wealth and glory he had missed out on. But seeing his earnest expression and the furrowed brows as he carefully crafted his words, V felt a surge of admiration for the spirit he embodied.

The data is getting worse and worse, and I'm not making any money at all. I'm being tortured by thousands of words every day, and I'm constantly thinking about stopping updates, about leaving the story unfinished, and about never having to suffer like this again.

But he would still mutter "writing novels is a dead end" while diligently submitting his manuscripts every day, forgetting the word "give up" that he had been talking about the day before.

why?

V quickly came up with the answer—because the author was also one of the many people who trusted, admired, and loved him!

Even though they see me as just a game character, a fake existence, they still love me.

This world is fake, but genuine feelings are born from this falsehood.

So, what is true and what is false?

Where is the line between reality and illusion?

V took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally, and continued reading.