"I’ve caught a computer virus! Only by being infected by a virus could someone lose their memory! Do you want to lose your memory too?" Song Jianguo said irritably, then slipped his sleeve back on.
“What the…? A computer virus? Living people can even get infected with a computer virus?”
Zhang Wenda was stunned—how could this absurd thing even happen?
“So, if you contracted a computer virus, that means that place is…”
“The network world,” Auntie (Mom’s period) blurted out unexpectedly as she sipped her water.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Wenda immediately perked up—he didn’t believe the network world here was just dialing up to the internet; even Auntie became sentient, so who was to say the internet couldn’t become sentient too.
“So your amnesia, cat ears growing on your head, and Auntie becoming materialized are all due to effects from a computer virus in the network world?!” Zhang Wenda asked, surprised, glancing at Song Jianguo.
Memory loss, physical distortion, concept materialization—three completely different effects all caused by the same place.
Seeing that he wasn’t budging, Zhang Wenda turned to the other person in the know—Song Jianguo’s Auntie.
“Auntie, can you tell me? As long as you tell me, I’ll buy you as much brown sugar water and painkillers as you want.”
“Oh—really? That good? I misjudged you, you’re not bad at all.” Auntie lightly nudged Zhang Wenda with her elbow.
“I’ll tell you everything. You could’ve asked someone else and gotten this info anyway.”
Auntie took a sip of brown sugar water and continued, “Actually, Mimi was right, that place is indeed very dangerous. The network world is filled with many malice.”
“Can you explain in detail?” Zhang Wenda quickly took out paper and pen, beginning to record seriously.
“Um… how to say… because it’s the network world, everyone’s appearance can be changed at will, like DIY. Many people think no one will trace things back to them, so they do whatever they want.”
“For example, someone might secretly plant a computer virus on something good. If you’re not careful and touch it, you’ll be as embarrassed as Mimi.” She shook Song Jianguo’s sleeve-covered hand toward Zhang Wenda.
“Ah, it’s hard to explain with words. Anyway, if you go there and see it with your own eyes, you’ll know what’s going on.”
“Can anyone freely go into the network world? Why haven’t I seen it?” Zhang Wenda paused writing and asked curiously again.
“Of course.” Auntie put down her teacup and raised her finger.
“This is a new world, just emerged not long ago. Ordinary people simply don’t know about it.”
“A new thing… only just appeared recently…” Zhang Wenda quickly wrote this down.
“Also, time there is chaotic. If you go, you might see things from the past or even meet a past version of yourself. You must never interact with yourself.”
This didn’t bother Zhang Wenda—he was so young now that even if he met his past self, it would just be an embryo.
As Auntie spoke, Zhang Wenda kept writing, and he soon gained a new understanding of this so‑called network world.
Unlike the library or the Youth Center, the network world was clearly a truly brand‑new realm. One could say that everyone entering this world now was like in a new age of geographic discovery, continuously exploring the boundaries and potential of this world.
Although very few dared to go online right now, it was foreseeable that all the various materials brought out from this brand‑new world would continuously change the entire world.
Looking at the densely scribbled notes in his notebook, Zhang Wenda once again looked at Auntie.
“Okay, I’ve understood the dangers. Now you can tell me what benefits the network world offers. How much can it actually help me improve my power?”
“Uh…” Auntie looked a bit embarrassed upon hearing this.
“I… I don’t know either. After all, I’ve only entered once—with Mimi. No, I should say, because Mimi entered once, that’s why I appeared.”
“But I heard that there are many good things inside. For example, someone mined red mercury in the network world, and one gram is worth dozens of yuan.”
“Dozens of yuan? Per gram?” Zhang Wenda knew too well the current purchasing power of money—this was a huge amount.
“I also heard that someone directly posted a qigong manual online for others to view freely. No ticket, no money needed!”
“Qigong? Free to view and learn?” That one sentence completely tempted Zhang Wenda.
He remembered that at Xinhua Bookstore, people said that when the Greater Khingan Mountains were on fire, qigong masters could extinguish it using their power. He didn’t need such powerful special ability—he only needed enough to defeat that scythe‑monster.
After listening to the other’s long-winded explanation, Zhang Wenda closed his notebook—he now had a basic understanding of the so-called network world, a place where risks and opportunities coexisted.
“Alright, thanks. Time’s about up, I should head to class,” Zhang Wenda said as he climbed back down the utility pole.
That afternoon, Zhang Wenda barely paid attention in class, completely absorbed in analyzing the pros and cons of the network world, and whether he should go or not.
It did sound dangerous—after all, Song Jianguo’s case was right in front of him—but to Zhang Wenda right now, it was equally full of temptation.
If the only price he had to pay was growing a cat ear to deal with the scythe monster, maybe that was acceptable.
Besides, he didn’t even have Auntie; he didn’t believe the network world could conjure up an Uncle and make him follow around.
“But the memory loss thing… that’s tricky. I’ll still need to ask Song Jianguo in detail to find a way to avoid that risk.”
The afternoon passed with Zhang Wenda deep in thought.
When the bell rang, he snapped back to reality as if awakening from a dream.
“Mouse, let’s go home together,” Pan Dongzi said, pulling out a packet of crushed crispy noodles from his desk drawer and pouring it into his mouth.
“I’m not going. I have something to ask Ouyang,” Zhang Wenda replied.
He remembered Teacher Ouyang had class that afternoon, and regarding the network world, he needed to ask her properly.
Since he had access to a local adult he could consult for free, there was no reason not to take advantage of it.
Arriving once again at the teacher’s office door, Zhang Wenda pushed it open and saw Ouyang grading homework with a bald male teacher.
The setting sun slanted through the square glass window, bathing the room in a warm light.
“Something wrong, Wenda?” Ouyang greeted him in her usual gentle tone, handing over another White Rabbit milk candy.
“Teacher, I’d like to ask you something.”
“Oh? What is it?” she said with her signature porcelain smile.
Zhang Wenda unwrapped the White Rabbit candy and popped it into his mouth along with the thin, translucent rice paper covering.
“Teacher, how much do you know about the network world?”
The moment he finished speaking, the sound of pens gliding across paper came to an abrupt stop, and the entire teacher’s office fell into dead silence.
“Wenda? Who told you about the network world?”
Ouyang slowly stood up, and as she rose, the sound of porcelain cracking echoed softly.
Her body began to grow larger as she stood.
When Ouyang suddenly turned around, what appeared before Zhang Wenda was a face—her ceramic smile completely shattered.
“Who told you?! Who!!”