Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 295: Chapter 285: New World

”Let’s sit down first.”

Knowing the conversation to come wouldn’t be a short one, the people who had been playing with Bo Niou sat down one by one on the dirt ground, settling in for what looked to be a long talk.

Tang Mo was naturally delighted to see this. Without any hesitation, she pulled Mr. Hu down to sit on the ground with them.

The perceptive Bo Niou seemed to know the adults were about to discuss serious matters, so it obediently lay down to one side.

”You’ve just arrived, so you might not know yet, but this is the New World. Most of the people here came from different worlds of their own.”

The first to speak was a woman in the crowd who looked to be in her thirties. Judging by her well-kept appearance and air, she looked nothing like a farmwife who toiled in the fields day after day, but more like a high-society lady.

Her very first sentence shocked Tang Mo and Mr. Hu.

’This world doesn’t have any native inhabitants? So everyone here is from another world?’

’So did they come from that post-apocalyptic world, or are there more parallel worlds in the universe?’

”Perhaps it’s because life in our original worlds was unsatisfactory. This world is one where human will is supreme.

”You’ve probably figured it out by now. This world is completely dominated by big data and high technology. Even the rules that run this world are determined that way.

”Every year, there’s a Rule Day. On this day, everyone fills out a detailed voting questionnaire, and then big data uses the results from everyone’s votes to establish the world’s operating rules for the next year.

”In other words, in this world, there are no rulers or leaders. Everyone is a participant in creating the world’s rules.”

The woman’s voice was gentle, and she laid out the background of this world for Tang Mo with clear and detailed logic.

”So, you’re saying that these people in uniforms, the so-called ’staffers,’ aren’t real people? They’re AI robots?”

The amount of information was huge, but Tang Mo’s mind worked quickly, and she soon grasped this point.

”That’s right. In this world, no one needs to work. The maintenance of all the world’s rules relies on these AI ’staffers’ produced by system-controlled factories.

”These individuals maintain the world’s order according to the rules set on Rule Day.

”Because humans are the highest authority here and everything revolves around human will, as long as you don’t break the rules, these staffers won’t bother you.”

”I get it. These staffers are basically NPCs in a game, produced by the system to maintain the world’s normal operating order. I didn’t expect this world to be so advanced.”

Mr. Hu pushed up his glasses. As a university professor, his ability to absorb new information was also extremely fast.

”Since the rules are made by everyone, why has the world become like this? Do you all really like the world as it is now?”

Tang Mo hadn’t been in this world for long, but she already had a deep sense of unease.

She believed she couldn’t be the only one who felt this way.

”Sigh... that’s the helpless part. Although the rules of this world are completely customized through human votes...

”...in the very beginning, when there were only a few people, everyone was fed up with the miserable lives in their own worlds and chose this current lifestyle, one so easy you can survive just by lying down.

”As more and more new people joined from different worlds, everyone gradually came to accept this comfortable way of life.

”This life is just too comfortable. So comfortable that after just a few months, a person can no longer adapt to their original life that required labor.”

The woman sighed. This was also the most despairing part.

”Even if there are people among us who are temporarily clear-headed and realize this is wrong, the rules are still made according to the will of the majority.

”Even if most people know in their hearts that there’s a problem with living like this, they still make the same choice when the next vote comes around.

”Because no one is going to choose to rebel against excessive comfort.”

’Yes, excessive comfort, even if it’s problematic, will never incite the human heart to resist or protest.’

Tang Mo nodded. She was beginning to understand how these people felt.

”So, coming here to the solarium to work... that’s something you chose to do voluntarily, right?”

’People in this world don’t need to work, so how could there possibly be a need for manual planting and harvesting?’

”Yeah, it’s not easy to get a chance for a Labor Day. I waited a long time before I got my turn.”

”Exactly! I haven’t moved around in so long. Moving around today finally made me feel like I’m really alive.”

”My arms are sore as hell, but after working, I feel so fulfilled and happy. I hope I can get scheduled for another Labor Day next month.”

When the topic of being farmers in the solarium came up, everyone chimed in about how hard-won the opportunity was and the joy they felt after a day’s work.

’It really is a new world. Even the chance to work is something you have to get in line and fight for.’

Hearing everyone talk about how rare the chance for a Labor Day was, Tang Mo and Mr. Hu understood. In this world, even if the rules were hard to overturn—or rather, no one yet had the courage to overturn them...

...everyone was still filled with an endless sense of nostalgia for things like labor, real animals, or even just a part of the rules of a normal world.

Tang Mo was suddenly reminded of a journalism and communication class she had audited in college. The lecture had covered a concept called the ”spiral of silence.”

The theoretical foundation of the ”spiral of silence” mainly comes from psychology, mass communications, and sociology.

When faced with a controversial issue, people form a perception of the ”climate of opinion” around them and judge whether their own opinion is part of the ”majority opinion.” When people feel their opinion belongs to the ”majority” or is in the ”ascendant,” they tend to express it boldly. When they find their opinion belongs to the ”minority” or is in the ”descendant,” they may remain ”silent” when given a chance to speak publicly in order to avoid ”isolation.”

The more silent people remain, the more they feel their views are not accepted by others, which in turn makes them more inclined to continue their silence. After several repetitions, the opinion holding the ”ascendant” position becomes stronger and stronger, while the voices of those holding the ”descendant” opinion become weaker and weaker. This cycle forms a ”spiral process in which one side becomes increasingly vocal while the other sinks ever deeper into silence.”

’And in this current world, the continuation of such a distorted rule set was clearly the result of a spiral of silence.’

”When is the next Rule Day?”

Just as Tang Mo was still pondering the rules of this world, Mr. Hu, who had been listening intently beside her, spoke up.