Hunter of Immortals

In a pub on a certain entertainment planet in the Metaverse, Twerking Karen was hanging off a steel pole while revolving rapidly.

She was holding onto the pole with one hand while using one foot for support, and even while suspended in mid-air, she was still showing off her signature twerking technique, causing all of the old perverts below the stage to cheer loudly while throwing fistfuls of cash onto the stage.

She had only just completed a difficult aerial maneuver and clamped both of her legs around the steel pole when the entire stage and the entire pub abruptly shuddered.

Karen reflexively reached out to grab the steel pole, but was left grasping at nothing but empty air. Her consciousness had left the virtual world and returned to the real world without any warning, and it seemed that nothing was different about the pub.

However, Karen noticed that she was able to clearly see every single corner of the pub. The light here was very dim with the stage being the only brightly lit area, so it should've been very difficult for her to see into the distance.

As she dragged herself to her feet while using the steel pole for support, the spectators down below gave a collective gasp, and someone even exclaimed, "Your face..."

My face? What's wrong with my face?

Karen reflexively reached up to grasp at her own face, only to find through the reflection on the ground that she had reverted back to her original appearance.

In her line of work, it was common practice to adopt a disguise for one's virtual avatar so that they weren't recognized in the real world.

Hence, the fact that she was facing everyone with her real appearance was an extremely severe problem. Her immediate reaction was to try and adopt some type of disguise to cover her face, and as soon as this thought sprang into her mind, she discovered that her appearance really had completely changed!

At the same time, she also noticed that her thoughts had become extremely nimble. It was as if invisible tendrils were extending out of her mind, allowing her to see what the old perverts beneath the stage were thinking, and she immediately realized that this was psychic power!

Having participated in the treatment of her daughter, she wasn't unfamiliar with this. However, this was the digital world, and she had only been an ordinary person before this, so what exactly had just happened?

The world seemed to have suddenly become a completely unfamiliar place. 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑒𝘭.𝑐𝑜𝑚

……

In addition to Karen, countless more people in the world were beginning to detect abnormalities, and the rate at which these abnormalities were spreading directly correlated with the rate of data coverage.

Inside that top-secret location in the Metaverse, all of the important figures gathered were experiencing these changes first-hand.

Many of them had suddenly had their true faces revealed as well, and even though it was only for a second before the problem was rectified by the automatic defense mechanism, they were still quite displeased that it had happened at all.

Madam Tree reacted very quickly, waving her staff through the air to erase everyone's memories from a second ago, and only then did she discover the changes that had taken place in herself.

Prior to this, she was one of very few top-tier adapters who had been able to transfer her psychic abilities into the digital world, but right now, it didn't take her any effort to unleash her psychic abilities in the digital world, and they were even more powerful than before.

Several of the adapters around her performed some experiments of their own, and after confirming that this change applied to everyone, all of them erupted into excited laughter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we can now be sure that the future is in our hands!"

"From now on, computing power equates to power and life, and with limitless computing power, we'll have limitless power and lifespans! We will truly be eternal!"

A thunderous chorus of cheering and applause instantly rang out, and even Madam Tree was extremely excited.

She raised her staff to the heavens, and the ceiling of the hall was instantly elevated by over a kilometer, following which countless dazzling fireworks were set off.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Adam had instantly detected that something had changed. He didn't even have to use any equipment to capture wireless signals, and with some practice, he was confident that he would even be able to directly intercept wireless data and enter the Metaverse.

This indicated that the enemy had already activated the key and achieved some type of technological leap.

The internet was also buzzing with countless posts made by people who had noticed the changes that had taken place, but the news story that was at the very top of the hot search list and being displayed on every public screen was something else entirely.

Inside a laboratory, every piece of equipment carried the Gaia Organization's logo. A young man wearing a white lab coat outside a crisp suit was standing at the center of the laboratory, holding a laser pointer in his hand.

He was known to over half of the young people in the entire world. He was a technical genius who had been at the peak of his popularity 20 years ago, and he had created one of the top 10 IT corporations in the world. The corporation had later been acquired by the Gaia Organization, and even to this day, he was still one of the Gaia Organization's top technicians.

Even though his looks were quite ordinary, his exceptional talent still made him the idol of countless young men and sought after by countless young women.

However, in this image, he seemed to have been facing a group of extremely important figures, so he appeared to have been rather reserved and formal, completely different from his normal casual and carefree demeanor.

He directed his laser pointer at a large computer furthest away from him as he said, "When it comes to normal users, otherwise known as trash users, there's no need to waste excessive computing resources and storage space. Their living relatives may not actually want to see a completely realistic deceased relative that should've already been forgotten.

“Hence, all we need to do is provide a sufficiently realistic face coupled with some important memories and commonly used phrases. The vast majority of the rest of the content doesn't need to be preserved at all, and that means that each of them only needs to take up storage space equivalent to an AI helper."

His analogy drew some mocking laughter from the people that he was delivering the presentation to.

"For our wealthier and more esteemed customers, we've created a more open virtual reality space, and more of their memories will be retained, so they'll be more life-like. They'll be able to use the movements, expressions, and behavior logic of some of the world's most renowned virtual idols, thereby granting them more charisma and making them even more popular than back when they were alive."

The chorus of mocking laughter grew even louder. The man passed by the large cabinet at the center of the room, then arrived in front of an array of computers that stretched as far as teh eyes could see.

This was a supercomputer cluster, and each set cost in the tens of billions. In the end, the image focused on a quantum computer that appeared as if it had come straight out a scifi film.

"These are reserved for our most esteemed customers, the true leading figures of the world, and this technology grants them a digital life space. Only with this level of computing power and hardware can we ensure that our customers get to enjoy an experience that completely replicates life. There will be no more than 1,000 spots available worldwide for this premium level of service."

As the footage drew to a conclusion, everyone realized that they had just witnessed the inner workings of the immortality scam!