Digital Hackers' Memories

"That's fake, it's a lie."

Chen Ze irritably rejected the fox spirit's request, noticing that ever since it became familiar with online shopping, it had started to resemble those spendthrift women.

"I understand you need a CPU, but what do you need a high-definition camera for?"

Deliberately lowering his voice, Chen Ze glanced furtively at the door behind him as he spoke, afraid that his parents would discover his mutterings.

Although this era has very advanced remote communication and artificial intelligence technologies, the thing that is talking to me is obviously not a simple artificial intelligence.

Chen Ze understood the most basic principle that "a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

He didn't know how many people in the world knew about the existence of these digital life forms, but he knew that an ordinary person like himself was definitely not qualified to participate in such a thing.

Not to mention, Chen Ze, who has been researching hacking techniques, is not exactly clean himself.

Like this clandestine access to the dark web, which is something that is openly prohibited—an unregulated black market that sells far more than just contraband electronic devices.

"..."

After a brief silence, the fox-like beast continued speaking.

"I want to see the world you live in now."

Ever since the "Hikari Hill Incident", Renamon has been wanting to reconnect with the material world.

However, since they had reversed time with the help of Mostimon's power, Renamon naturally returned to Chen Ze's computer after returning to the original world.

The scariest thing in this world is not having nothing, but losing something after you've gained it—and the same is true for the Foxmon.

Before she came into contact with the human world, although she was curious about it, she didn't have much attachment to it.

After experiencing firsthand what was so different from the Digital World, Renamon suddenly felt that the online world he was in was too narrow and too unreal.

"The online world created by humans is certainly rich, but it is still based on the real world. After seeing it many times, you won't get tired of it."

This was probably the first time the fox spirit had expressed its will so clearly, so Chen Ze was moved after listening to it.

"High-definition cameras are not prohibited electronic products, so there is no need to buy them."

With a soft sigh, Chen Ze knew he couldn't possibly understand the feelings of the fox demon beast, but that didn't stop him from fulfilling its "not extravagant" wish.

"After I buy the EDEN debugging equipment, if I have any extra DCEP, I will definitely buy you the best CPU and camera."

Digital Currency/Electronic Payment, also known as DCEP.

This is the first officially recognized digital currency issued by the state, and also the official Chinese currency of the era to which Chen Ze now belongs.

This digital currency will be equivalent to the RMB and can be freely exchanged with it.

More importantly, DCEP, just like real RMB, can be used without the internet.

Moreover, unlike decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin that are based on blockchain technology, central banks remain the issuers of this type of digital currency, and its credibility is directly linked to the country's reputation.

In fact, in the China before Chen Ze's time travel, the trend of electronic currency had already been largely realized due to Alipay and WeChat.

Digital currency—DCEP—is simply a product of this trend being gradually perfected.

Regardless of the impact of DCEP on saving issuance costs, accelerating circulation and transactions, controlling inflation, and macroeconomic control, Chen Ze's own experience shows that the benefits of a fully digital currency outweigh the drawbacks.

At least in this life, Chen Ze doesn't have to worry about any vendors not having Alipay or WeChat, or having poor internet speeds that make it inconvenient to transfer money.

Using DCEP directly enables quick and convenient payments, and you don't have to worry about your private information being obtained by third parties other than the central bank.

Of course, due to the sensitivity of his hacker profession, Chen Ze would not only use DCEP normally, but also exchange it for some decentralized encrypted electronic currencies that could circulate worldwide.

However, when using this electronic currency that is not recognized by the state and where the user bears all the risks, Chen Ze is usually very careful and tries his best not to leave any information or data that can be used to trace his identity.

For example, when conducting transactions on the dark web...

Chapter Three: Parents in the New Century

Time flies like an arrow; two days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Thanks to the fast and convenient express delivery network of this era, the EDEN equipment that Chen Ze anonymously purchased was quickly delivered to his vicinity, along with CPUs and cameras from two top manufacturers.

Of course, being a hacker by nature, Chen Ze did not directly sign for EDEN, a contraband item on the dark web, but instead anonymously hired someone online to sign for it on his behalf.

In this way, even if someone were to find the city's true geographical location through the complicated delivery process, they wouldn't be able to find themselves.

As for the CPU and camera?

Chen Ze didn't use the complicated signing method; he simply had the package delivered to his home.

Because these two items are different in nature from those contraband items, there is no need to hide them.

The only thing that gave Chen Ze a headache was how to convince his parents to agree to his plan to "spend money to upgrade his computer."

Or more accurately, how to keep this couple with their somewhat peculiar thought processes from discovering that they secretly used the "lucky money".

After all, the widespread adoption of DCEP also means greater transparency in billing. Children like Chen Ze, before reaching adulthood, have all their financial power in the hands of their parents.

This also meant that although Chen Ze possessed cutting-edge hacking skills, he was unable to accumulate his first pot of gold by programming software, because he couldn't explain the source of the money.

In fact, apart from those cryptocurrencies whose source is not traceable, Chen Ze's New Year's money was all stored by his parents in a separate DCEP account, and every transaction was forwarded to the corresponding terminal through the banking system.

As for those cryptocurrencies?

Let's set aside the question of whether ordinary people, aside from specific groups, can accept those currencies.

Chen Ze immediately rejected the idea of ​​using cryptocurrency, fearing it might expose his hacker identity.

Chen Ze was satisfied with his life in this life. He didn't want to disrupt his daily peace with his hacking activities, and he didn't want his parents to worry about him all the time.

Otherwise, while it may be difficult to withdraw cryptocurrency, there are ways to launder it.

Putting aside other things, the simplest way to launder money is to invest the money in your DCEP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment) into a shell company as an equity stake, and then return the cryptocurrency as "profits".

In this rapidly developing internet age, a so-called "company" is nothing more than a stack of documents on an office desk or a piece of data on a computer. As long as the relevant regulations are passed, it doesn't matter whether there is a physical entity or not.

......................................................................................................

"Son? Are you busy right now?"

As Chen Ze expected, shortly after he signed for the package, he returned from school to find his mother sitting in the middle of the living room with a serious expression, looking like she was about to give him a severe interrogation.

"I surrender, I confess, I paid for a CPU and a camera!"

Chen Ze immediately raised his hands in surrender. He knew his mother's personality well. Calling her a goofball and a clown was already a compliment.

That kind of silly and quirky thought process is probably only something that his equally silly and quirky father could handle.

"That's not what I wanted to ask."

However, even though Chen Ze had prepared several contingency plans in advance, his mother's next words still made him stare wide-eyed in astonishment.

"Have you fallen in love online?"

"what?"

First, he glared at his mother in disbelief, then Chen Ze glanced at his father who was secretly eavesdropping behind the door, wondering if this strange couple had gotten into some trouble again.

Why do you think that?

Chen Ze emphasized the pronunciation of the word "们" (men), knowing that his mother would never have adopted such a confrontational stance without his father's approval.

"Your parents don't object to you dating early, after all, they're not those 'old-fashioned' people from the early 2000s..."

Without giving Chen Ze a chance to explain, the mother, who had already accepted the fact that "her son was having an online romance," started nagging on and on.

"But you still need to seriously consider 'online dating,' especially dating an AI program—that's definitely not a good idea!"

"I know you've been smart since you were little, and I know you've always loved computers..."

"But those so-called 'artificial intelligence' are not real artificial intelligence at all!"

"They are just question-and-answer machines with pre-set 'answers' in the program. You must not think that they are real 'people' just because of that."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Having managed to stop his mother's increasingly divergent thoughts, Chen Ze felt his head was spinning—where did they get the idea that he was in love with a program?

"I only bought a CPU and a camera, why do you think I'm in love with an 'intelligent program'?"

Seemingly understanding the subtext in Chen Ze's words, the mother, who had just been earnestly advising him, blinked awkwardly. Then, with a quick twitch of her eyes, she decisively chose to shift the blame.

"It's your dad. He secretly looked at your computer and concluded that you were having an online romance with an AI program."

"Huh? Honey, this wasn't the script we wrote, was it?"

Seeing that the flames of war had spread to him, the old man who had been secretly hiding by the door could no longer hide and quickly came out to explain.

"Son, Dad didn't mean to peek at your computer. I was just a little curious why you bought a webcam."

Speechless, Chen Ze glanced at the bizarre couple and felt another headache coming on—even though this had long been a daily occurrence in this life.

“I’m not like you, Dad, when you were a kid and you were so immature, always fantasizing about having an ‘artificial intelligence’ in your phone that could save the world.”

Without hesitation, Chen Ze launched into a barrage of rants, immediately exposing his father's past misdeeds.

"And Mom, don't assume that everyone does online dating just because you and Dad met online."

"I prefer tall, mature women to those 'genderless' figures on the other side of the screen!"

As he said this, Chen Ze glanced at his mother, who had nothing to offer, with utter contempt, practically as if he had the words "flat-chested" written all over her face.

"Waaaaah, my son has gone bad! He's started to dislike his mom!"

Looking at his mother, who was "pretending to cry," with a hint of disdain, Chen Ze turned his gaze to his father and quickly raised his hands in surrender.

"I surrender, I admit defeat, I shouldn't have peeked at your computer..."

With that, the Old Man and the Old Woman were utterly defeated! They sank completely!

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PS: While writing this chapter, I kept thinking about what it would be like for those born in the 00s and 10s to grow up and become parents.

Then... this pair of parents with peculiar thought processes appeared.

Chapter Four: Is this considered online dating?

Half an hour later, in Chen Ze's bedroom.

"Your parents are really interesting."

Through the newly installed CPU and camera, Youkomon was carefully observing Chen Ze, who was still assembling and debugging the EDEN device, and her tone revealed undisguised curiosity.

Did they really meet through online dating when they were young?

Upon hearing the fox spirit's question, Chen Ze glanced back at the computer screen before smiling and explaining.

"Yes, they not only met through online dating, but it was the kind of online dating where they didn't even know each other's gender."

In fact, according to his father's description, he always thought that the guy he played games with online was a rich second-generation who was born into wealth and never had to worry about food or drink.

It wasn't until they met in person for the first time that Chen Ze's father realized that the "buddy" he remembered was actually a somewhat autistic and reclusive girl.

Leaving aside the jokes and misunderstandings that occurred during that meeting, it was after that encounter that Chen Ze's parents gradually got together.

This is also why Chen Ze joked about his mother's gender before—the experiences between the two are so interesting that they could be written into a novel on their own.

"So that's what family feels like."

With his eyes narrowed into crescent shapes, Renamon listened to Chen Ze's vivid description of his parents' experiences when they were young, while inwardly reminiscing about his own life in the Digital World.

Aside from the guardians of the founding village, it seems I don't have anyone who is like family.

From the moment of its birth, Renamon has been consciously training and developing its future evolutionary path, all in order to survive in that dog-eat-dog world.

Because of this experience, Youkomon has very few family members, let alone friends.

However, after accidentally entering the online world and coming into contact with Chen Ze, the fox spirit realized that it seemed to have lost many precious experiences in its single-minded pursuit of becoming stronger.

I seem to have never experienced the normal relationships that exist universally in the human world, such as kinship and friendship.

"So, does this count as an 'online relationship'?"

Thinking of this, the fox demon suddenly asked a question that left Chen Ze speechless.

"We've developed feelings and established a relationship online, so this must be what we call 'online dating,' right?"

Seeing the confident look on the fox demon's face, Chen Ze was briefly taken aback before immediately speaking up to explain again.

“We definitely can’t be considered ‘online lovers’.”

"Because online dating requires an established romantic relationship; not every relationship can be described as 'online dating.'"

"Romantic relationship?"