Chapter 102 1/2

For ordinary people, holographic technology has always been in the realm of imagination.

The most they saw of this technology was in various media reports—real or fake.

[An institution develops holographic xxx]

[Holographic technology achieved xxx, expected to be available in xx year xxxx]

After seeing these reports multiple times, everyone had defaulted to the idea that holographic technology was still in development. Even if it were developed, it wouldn’t be immediately applied in daily life.

Ordinary people thought that if they wanted to see or use holographic technology, it would take at least fifty years. right?

That was their initial thought.

Until a movie appeared in front of everyone in holographic projection,

Everyone was stunned.

Some even thought it was a joke.

Holographic projection technology?

Is this happening in a movie theater?

And it only costs 299 yuan!

Yu Miao, for the first time, realized that people, under immense shock, could be rendered speechless.

In the dead silence, the sound effects of the movie became even clearer, enveloping the audience.

The viewers first saw a row of dolphins playing. They seemed to appear out of thin air, lined up side by side. Sometimes they leaped into the air, and when they landed, the area below, supposed to be the “floor,” somehow transformed into crystal-clear seawater.

—Splash!

The dolphins joyfully jumped in, and the originally calm seawater instantly splashed into large waves.

These waves were high, prompting the surrounding audience to subconsciously retreat to avoid getting wet.

But as they reflexively moved backward, they felt the backs of their seats. Only then did they remember—they were watching a movie.

This was a holographic projection, not a real one.

But… This was too real, right?

In other words, for those who had seen dolphins in person, they knew that the effect seen in photos or videos was completely different from witnessing it live.

It’s like many people have seen killer whales on TV, knowing their length and what they like to eat, but no matter how many times you watch it on screen, it’s not the same as being there in person to witness the awe of their massive size.

Yu Miao had never been to the movies before, thinking that watching a movie was just about following a plot. Whether at home on a computer or a TV, it seemed the same.

It wasn’t until she experienced 3D, IMAX, and more that she realized the vast difference between ordinary movie-watching and a sensory feast.

And holographic projection was a hundred, no, a thousand times more enjoyable than the cinematic experiences she loved. At this moment, it really felt like several real dolphins were happily playing in front of everyone. Some had even tried to reach out to touch the nearest dolphin after realizing what was happening.

Of course, they couldn’t touch it.

Yu Miao reached out into the empty space, pondering the constant reminders from the staff to fasten their seat belts. Were they worried that the audience would be unable to resist leaving their seats to touch the dolphins?

Suddenly, a massive sound of water echoed in everyone’s ears, and the vast blue sea in front of them suddenly sank. The transition wasn’t abrupt; it was as if someone was taking them down to the ocean floor.

A beautiful and vibrant underwater world appeared before everyone. Small fish, shrimp, sea turtles, and even cute little octopuses swam around. Crabs walked horizontally in the water, and in coral clusters, tiny seahorses stood upright.

As the dolphins chased and played in the water, the scene progressed, presenting the audience with an underwater world that felt as real as life itself.

Yu Miao saw seahorses for the first time and found them incredibly cute. Suddenly, a group of penguins swam by, their white bellies forming a chubby, streamlined body. One even swam near the audience, prompting those in a row to reach out instinctively.

She reached out too, of course, and touched nothing. This was also the first time Yu Miao had seen live penguins. Yes, she had started to perceive what she saw now as “real” and “alive.”

Because she couldn’t touch anything, Yu Miao’s excited brain cooled down slightly. She suddenly realized, Wait a minute, dolphins and penguins can’t live together, right? They need different temperatures.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, a large whirlpool formed in the calm underwater world, growing larger and quickly engulfing everything around her.

The audience, who had just been immersed in the underwater world, was more or less startled. This enormous, slightly “deep-sea phobia” and yet comforting “underwater” setting was easily sucked into the vortex.

Then, the entire ocean floor rose up and overturned.

The perspective shift made many audience members lose their sense of balance, giving them the feeling that they might fall. Shocked voices echoed around Yu Miao, and she found herself instinctively gripping the armrests.

Yu Miao: So, that’s how you use the seatbelt.

Witnessing the sea drying up, the sky collapsing, and the earth splitting—even though they knew it was just part of the movie—the lifelike scenes couldn’t help but tense everyone’s bodies.

Suddenly, a voice spoke up.

“Can you take the scene creation more seriously? Have some common sense. When creating an underwater scene, it’s not about putting all the sea creatures into it.”

—Zzzla, zzzla. With a frame-dropping-like effect in the air, a person gradually “assembled.”

She was very beautiful, wearing the familiar uniform of the Hua Nation. Long-sleeved top, long pants, short hair, and a rainbow-colored eye mask covering her eyes.

Complaining while continuously waving her fingers, she “repaired” the sky and “compacted” the earth. With a wave of her hand, all the sea creatures that had just been swimming at the bottom of the ocean flew into the air.

She pointed at them one by one and said, “This is an Antarctic penguin; delete it.”

“This is a solitary animal; keep a distance.”

“This is…”

After deleting a few, she couldn’t help but turn around and scold:

“You can actually move this strange-looking deep-sea fish to this water area. What were you thinking?”

Behind her, after a familiar “frame drop,” another listless man in a tight white suit appeared. Compared to the expressive boss, his expression was wooden, a typical blank face.

But he was still very handsome, with a face frozen as if he had just undergone plastic surgery.

However, his voice was full of emotions and guilt as he muttered, “I really don’t understand what the higher-ups are thinking. Anyway, it’s just a game, all fake. Just let us put things wherever we want.”

This expression and tone that didn’t match almost instantly made the audience watching the movie more aware that this was indeed in the game.

In the playing projection, the woman laughed, showing that she wasn’t bound by the game’s “body” restrictions. Her expression was quite rich.

“Just put things wherever we want? Do you know about the holographic game protection law for minors? It’s fine for instance games, but for landscape scenes like this, if there are discrepancies with reality, the server will be shut down for rectification.”

“I warn you, No. 998, if you make such a mistake again, end your internship immediately. I will apply to transfer you out of the World Maintenance Department.”

The man still had a numb face, but his tone instantly turned pleading: “Team leader, please don’t! It took me a lot of effort to get in here!”

“I was wrong, I was wrong! I’ll fix it right away!”

Sitting there, Yu Miao watched the man earnestly repair the underwater scene. The feeling of everything in the world being controlled by one person, where the sea could be split open and the sky could be patched up at will, was really novel and exciting.

Even though she knew it was a game scene, the audience was still shocked.

Of course, the BGM, with its built-in shock factor, had a lot to do with it.

The audience was initially stunned.

And then they remained captivated until the end.

Actually, the plot of this movie wasn’t extremely exciting. It mainly depicted the holographic era and the Polar game, which was already well-known and was gaining even more popularity with the enhancement of holographic technology.

The protagonist wasn’t the first appearance of the beautiful female World Maintenance Officer, nor the player who triumphed in the player battles, nor the twins who, with a novice understanding of holography, created a crude holographic cabin for external linking at the age of fifteen.

The main character, Wang Kaixin, appeared to be an ordinary young woman.

She didn’t have the inherent privilege of a maintenance officer, nor the smooth and unbeatable strength to top the player power rankings, nor the genius ability to create holographic cabins.

At the beginning of the story, she was just like most players in the game—playing casually, with a tendency towards being a bit of an online gaming addict. However, since everyone had “gaming addiction” in the holographic era, this trait seemed quite ordinary.

Until the game suddenly launched an event. Players who completed a series of tasks and obtained the title of “Best Player” would receive the luxurious and exclusive 000-version holographic cabin.

This set off a frenzy among all players, including the scenery-loving player Wang Kaixin, who had never competed or fought for anything.

Even though it was the holographic era, not everyone could afford a game cabin. Most players used gaming helmets, which could only be controlled through devices on their hands. The difficulty was quite high, but with enough practice, muscle memory could be developed. Moreover, it was the cheapest option among all devices.

For those with a bit more money, they could equip their helmets with a set of “full-body running” devices. If they had even more money, they could afford a complete set of walking devices.

The holographic cabin was the top tier among these devices. It not only simulated the five senses of the game for an optimal experience but also allowed players to comfortably lie down and play.

Of course, even though holographic technology was widespread, these high-end holographic cabins, with their high costs, were still astronomically expensive. Unaffordable for the average person.

The game-holographic cabin was divided into levels 1–9 based on technical difficulty and cost. The higher the ranking, the better the experience, and the more expensive the price.