Chapter 14
Translator: Min Lee Editor: Tennesh
After Du Ang left, Fang Zhao examined his office carefully .
Apart from his office desk and mini-computer, the most glaring items were a row of bookcases .
Very few people read physical books these days, but there were still a few . Some folks liked to go retro, others liked the look and feel of paper .
The bookshelves in the office held up to some 10,000 volumes . Some of them looked new, some were dog-eared from repeated use . Perhaps it was the improvement of paper quality, but Fang Zhao didn’t see any damaged pages . Or maybe the damaged books had already been replaced with new ones .
Who knew how many department heads the bookshelves had survived .
Fang Zhao scanned the collection . Most of the books were about virtual idols, including volumes covering the history of virtual idols, technological advancements in the field, and aesthetic design .
"Virtual Idols and Their Cultural Characteristics," "The Aesthetics of the Virtual Idol Body," "Emotional Expression in the Virtual Idol," "An Introduction to the Reg Dimension," and so on .
Fang Zhao picked a book about the cultural development of virtual idols and began reading in his office chair .
The office was much nicer than his surroundings on the black street . There were no distractions . He had enough light with the window open; he didn’t need to turn on a light .
Browsing the book, Fang Zhao could sense how far along the entertainment industry had come . The virtual revolution began in the 206th year of the New Era, when the so-called "father of virtual idols" invented the "Reg Dimension," which launched virtual idols onto the big stage . The open competition between real celebrities and virtual idols marked the pinnacle of the virtual age .
"After the apocalypse, the world economy recovered rapidly . Technological advancements proliferated, among them the advent of digital technology, which converted all available data into a digital format and created a new sensory experience that encompassed sight, smell, and other human senses . Through certain algorithms and procedures, the digital revolution also paved the way for images, texts, sounds, and physical shapes that didn’t exist in the real world . "
"Virtual forms derived from digital technology are a by-product of mankind’s visual era . They crossed over from the virtual world to appear life-like in front of regular people, dazzling audiences on screen and injecting life into convention centers . The Reg Dimension is undoubtedly a ground-breaking invention .
Fang Zhao was fascinated by the book’s overview of the Reg Dimension .
The Reg Dimension was a virtual world, an application blending physics and computer science, invented by the New Era’s so-called "father of virtual idols," Reg Smith, 300 years ago . Virtual idols were created with this program .
Three hundred years ago, Reg Smith revolutionized virtual technology with the invention of the Reg Dimension, which enabled future digital artists to craft better and more realistic virtual forms .
The Reg Dimension encompassed billions of colors, overcoming the limitations of digital projection, making the movement of virtual idols smoother and more natural . Regardless of vantage point, they looked like real humans when beamed into life .
To quote the book: "The creation of a virtual idol is the process of creating an image in the virtual world and breathing life into it . "
Virtual idols born into the Reg Dimension were refreshed by new ideas digital artists brought to the table and advancements in digital technology .
In the past 300 years, virtual technology has gone through countless upgrades that have perfected the virtual idol, but all these breakthroughs were built on the foundation of the Reg Dimension . You could say the Reg Dimension was the cornerstone of virtual technology .
Reg Smith created the Reg Dimension, laying the groundwork for the golden age of virtual idols, but 300 years later, Reg Smith and the golden age were long gone . That wasn't the program’s fault . The key was human talent .
Human expertise was the driving force behind the Reg Dimension, the "hand of god" that shaped virtual idols .
If he had the choice, Fang Zhao would've loved to time travel to 300 years ago and see the golden age of virtual idols for himself, the period so well-documented in books and film . Footage wouldn’t leave as deep of an impression as the real thing .
Back in the real world, Fang Zhao had a problem on his hands . He could find the technical expertise, but first he had to decide what his virtual idol would look like .
The book said, "In the Reg Dimension, you’re an artist with a pencil or a sculptor with a chisel, ready to bring your dreams to life . "
Fang Zhao’s dilemma: what would he draw or sculpt if he had a pen or chisel?
Just as Fang Zhao was deep in thought, he had visitors—three of them, no less .
The head of the arrangement department, Ya Erlin, operations head Julian, and the head of back office operations, Bu Lai, showed up together .
"Geez, what a rare sight it is to see someone on this floor again . " Ya Erlin raised his seemingly boneless finger and pointed at the corners of the office . "It’s still too empty . "
"No worries . It’s Fang Zhao, right?" The head of back office operations, Bu Lai, assumed a paternal tone . "I’ll have a sofa shipped over tomorrow . Let me know if you need anything else . As long as it’s not too much trouble, I’ll take care of it . "
"Don’t be a stranger with Bu Lai . He’s got tons of funding . Siphon off a little and you can take care of things," Julian joked .
The trio were curious about the project . They also felt that it was poor form to assign such a dead-end project to a newcomer, not to mention the newcomer who performed the best in the new talent contest . Wasn’t this hazing?
Even though they felt bad, they would never take on the project themselves . All Bu Lai was offering was to throw some resources his way . They didn’t want to touch the project itself .
"Fang Zhao, I know your expertise is composition . How much do you know about virtual idols?" Julian asked .
When it came to their age, Fang Zhao was much older than even Bu Lai, the oldest of the group, but he was trapped in a young body . Sensing their patronizing attitude, Fang Zhao didn’t take the conversation seriously . As for Julian’s question, Fang Zhao pondered and said, "Virtual idols are like Xun Huai and Fei Lisi . "
The three department heads went silent for several seconds . That was a tough comment to follow up on .
After a while, Julian joked, "Don’t set your bar too high, young man . Otherwise you’ll be disappointed .
Everyone knew the other two Big Three companies excelled at producing virtual idols, especially Tongshan True Entertainment . Anyone they launched drew tens of millions of fans . Xun Huai was another success . They had even started putting him in movies, which meant he would become even more popular . The two-bit virtual idols of Silver Wing were no match .
"There’s no need to set your sights on Xun Huai and Fei Lisi . Ai, just do your best . If you fail, we won’t blame you," Bu Lai said with a sigh .
Hovering in the horizon, Ya Erlin rolled his eyes . Sure, they wouldn’t blame Fang Zhao, but the higher ups were a different story .
"Do the three of you have favorite virtual idols?"
"Of course . " Ya Erlin was about to say something but pretended to laugh instead . "That was so long ago . It’s not worth mentioning . "
Fang Zhao shifted his gaze to Julian and Bu Lai . The two of them weren’t in a sharing mood either .
"We were just concerned . Fang Zhao, we gotta get back to work . " Bu Lai waved and headed out .
"I should get going too . "
"Me too . "
Julian and Ya Erlin followed suit . Barely out the door, Ya Erlin was glad he had stopped his train of thought . If he said too much and Fang Zhao created a virtual idol based on his ideas, he would be blamed for the failed project too .
"Thank God I caught myself . Thank God . "
After the three department heads left, Fang Zhao was just a few more pages into his book when another person showed up .
The new arrival was about 30 . His beard was a mess and his palm-length hair resembled a mop . There was a mark on his face, probably made when he fell asleep on his desk . This was the lone staffer Du Ang had mentioned .
"How are you? I’m Zu Wen, a technician in the virtual idol department . "
"I’m Fang Zhao, the new producer . " Fang Zhao signaled Zu Wen to find himself a chair .
Zu Wen pulled up a chair casually and sat down, legs spread . "I know about you . The whole department has heard . "
Fang Zhao knew his new reputation didn’t stem from the new talent contest . Even though the competition was important to newcomers, it wasn't not so important to other staffers . He had an idea where his newfound renown derived from .
The whole company knew that the virtual idol project had been dumped onto a newcomer from the composition department . It was a hot topic on internal message boards . A techie like Zu Wen had to be up to date .
"So we’re the only two people left on the project?" Fang Zhao asked .
"Yep, it’s just us two," Zu Wen responded lackadaisically . "There used to be three more people . They applied for transfers this morning when they heard you were assigned to the project . "
So before Fang Zhao’s arrival, the virtual idol department hadn’t been gutted entirely . There were four staffers this morning . The department hadn’t had a manager since last year’s project failed . The last department head/producer was still hospitalized . Word has it he took the failure hard and was mired in deep depression . He’d been resting in the hospital since . No one knew exactly how he was doing .
Since they didn’t have a boss, the staffers behaved like carefree shepherds, signing in and then napping and gaming until the workday was over . Their pay wasn’t great, but it didn’t require much effort .
After word spread that the department was being revived, the three staffers fled .
"Why did you decide to stay?" Fang Zhao asked . "How come everyone else left and you decided to stay?"
"I didn’t transfer in time," Zu Wen said with a yawn . "I fell asleep writing my transfer application . I just woke up . "
Fang Zhao: "… . . . "
No wonder Du Ang didn’t lash out at Zu Wen when he caught him napping . He was probably afraid that he would scare off the final employee .
Zu Wen kept yawning . Fang Zhao suddenly asked, "You follow any pop stars?"
"You mean the virtual idols that are active on the internet these days?"
"Yes, but older ones count too . "
"If that’s the case, no . " Zu Wen flashed his white teeth . "Because I’m a Reg Dimension technician .
Fang Zhao remembered reading in his book that most Reg Dimension technicians shared the same mindset: I only worship the idols I create . The existing pop idols on the market were created by others . My idol has to be the product of my own imagination .
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