“Anyway, I personally think that the internet is a good thing. And it has infinite potential.
It might not be obvious now, but in the future, it might cause major changes to the entire world, and even alter human living habits.”
Aoki Haruhi returned to the bed, lay down, spread out like a large character, and muttered to himself while looking at the ceiling:
“As the internet continues to develop in the future, the distance between people will become closer and closer.
Originally, you had to travel by car to meet someone, but maybe in the future, you’ll be able to see them through a computer?”
Nao Tsuda pondered for a second, then rolled her eyes.
This guy was talking about things that were simply impossible to achieve again.
“Can people really crawl through a network cable?” Nao Tsuda chuckled.
Her eyes curved into crescent moons, looking incredibly adorable.
Aoki Haruhi pouted.
He didn’t say people would be transmitted.
It was just video chat.
However, telling Tsuda these things now was like talking about a fantasy; people couldn't cross their own Time and develop knowledge too far beyond this world.
It was like in 2023, if someone told Aoki Haruhi that teleportation gates already existed in the future, capable of transmitting people to any coordinate on Earth, Aoki Haruhi himself wouldn’t believe it, and it was the same principle.
But maybe one day in the future, it could suddenly be realized?
To some extent, science is equivalent to magic.
And some things we consider magic might just be limited by this Time, limited by the current level of technological development.
That’s all.
“Zhiyuan Jun, teach me.”
Just then, Nao Tsuda called out.
“Hmm?”
Aoki Haruhi sprang up from the bed.
“What is it?”
“I want to learn how to use the forum,” Nao Tsuda said.
“Alright.”
Aoki Haruhi didn’t say anything else, stood up, pulled a chair over from the side, sat next to her, and then showed her how to register an account on the forum.
“You fill in the information here. Actually, this information is just for your own viewing. The forum administrators, cough, cough, are pretty much like me. We generally don’t care if this information is real or not; as long as there are no issues, it will be approved.”
Aoki Haruhi said, “This registration mechanism has now been handed over to the system. Initially, the whitelist was set to prevent players with problematic behavior from joining, and also to avoid excessive server load.”
“However, we optimized the algorithm a bit, so one server can accommodate more than 100,000 people. Transmitting text isn’t a big problem.”
“So now it’s basically open; as long as you apply, you’ll be successfully approved.”
Aoki Haruhi said.
To some extent, the storage capacity for pure text is actually quite small. Although computer hardware isn't great now, at least maintaining a text-only forum isn’t a big problem.
The biggest fear is hacker attacks, where they send you posts with extremely large amounts of text, or millions of posts in a short period, which could cause the server to crash.
However, with Aoki Haruhi’s coding ability, he had already thought of these things and had long since implemented defensive measures.
“So I can use any name, it doesn’t have to be Nao Tsuda, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. And on forums, very few people use their real names online. Look at 【Furukawa Nagisa’s Boyfriend】, 【Clouds on the Horizon】, 【Tide Sound】… they’re basically all names chosen according to personal preference.”
“Ah, I see~”
Nao Tsuda hugged her hands, looking at the information fields on the computer screen.
“What should I call myself?”
After two seconds of thought, a cunning smile appeared on Nao Tsuda’s lips, and then she typed out a name on the keyboard:
【Miss Moon】
The system automatically checked, and the name was available.
Tsk tsk, Aoki Haruhi watched from the side, feeling quite complex.
He hadn't expected his girlfriend to join their forum.
The name Miss Moon would be very easy to expose.
Aoki Haruhi had many alternate accounts, but he was still willing to register another one, 【Mr. River】, for Nao Tsuda.
Immediately after, Nao Tsuda filled in the information fields:
【A mature woman who loves watching movies.
Twenty-eight years old.
Height 168
Weight 52
Measurements: xxxxxxx
ICUP】
“Eh?” Aoki Haruhi was instantly shocked, glancing down, “Is that true or false?”
To be honest, Tsuda was quite well-endowed, but in Aoki Haruhi’s perception, she wasn’t that well-endowed.
“Who would put their real information online?” Tsuda gave him a white eye.
Ah~ damn it.
I thought it was real.
After completing the registration.
Aoki Haruhi then taught Nao Tsuda how to post and so on.
“It’s pretty much like typing on a computer. After you’ve finished writing here and confirmed there are no issues, just click send.”
“See, how simple. Now others can see your message too.”
“Wow~ It’s true!” Nao Tsuda became excited, “It’s that simple.”
This guy, does she actually have such great enthusiasm for new things?
Aoki Haruhi squinted his eyes.
He finally found Nao Tsuda’s sweet spot.
He’d have to feed this guy more similar things in the future.
In short, as long as he saw the genuine smile on Nao Tsuda’s face, Aoki Haruhi felt his whole heart melt.
The world was all pink.
After using it for a while, Nao Tsuda couldn't help but exclaim.
“This feeling, how should I put it? It’s like chatting with a bunch of invisible people, and also like my brain automatically extending tentacles to exchange information that can’t be touched.
You know what I mean, right?
It’s very interesting, but especially unreal.”
“Yes, you’re right.” Aoki Haruhi nodded, “But this feeling is exactly right!”
……
The next day at work, Aoki Haruhi seemed unusually happy from early morning.
HR-chan just took a glance and could tell from him that this guy probably spent the night at some woman’s house again yesterday.
The president really wears all his emotions on his face.
Just a sniff, and it’s a strong whiff of love’s sour stench.
He sat down and opened his computer.
Aoki Haruhi re-registered an account for 【Mr. River】.
When registering, he found that this nickname had already been used by someone else.
He couldn't help but frown.
He decisively activated his super administrator privileges, deleted 【Mr. River】, and kicked him out.
Sorry, buddy, you’re in the way!
Re-register 【Mr. River】
OK.
……
To have a good chat with 【Miss Moon】, Aoki Haruhi even specially developed a friend function.
In reality, these were all very simple codes.
Whether it was chat tools like QQ, or the friend function and message sending function in forums… these were all very simple things.
Aoki Haruhi could have developed them independently in his third year of university.
If it was just to implement basic functions, the amount of code wasn’t much.
It was about a week’s Time, that’s all.
After Mr. River registered, he began his online chat journey with Miss Moon.
“The weather is very nice today. It’s still daytime, but unfortunately, I won’t be able to see Miss Moon until tonight.”
Aoki Haruhi created a sub-forum called LOVE LIFE in the upcoming LL section.
Of course, this section was not only for him and Nao Tsuda, but also content visible to everyone.
LOVE LIFE, to some extent, also fit LL quite well.
After all, the initialisms were the same.
After sending out the first post.
Someone quickly replied.
“Isn’t that right? If you want to see the Moon, you definitely have to wait until night.
This player is very romantic, already dreaming in the daytime.”
But it wasn't Miss Moon.
“Eh? By the way, isn’t this section specifically for LIFE-LINE discussions? I remember LIFE-LINE hasn’t been released yet, has it?”
“Not only hasn’t it been released, but there haven’t even been any advertisements yet. According to Pokeni’s usual practice, it will be at least a few months.”
“Ah~ Is it that long? It’s so hard to wait.”
“I hope LL can be released sooner. I especially want to know what the relationship between LL and CL is, and whether it will be particularly heartbreaking.”
Hmm…
Seeing the players’ comments was quite interesting.
But it would be even better if it was from Miss Moon.
Aoki Haruhi would occasionally check this specific section of the forum during his work, to see if he had received any messages from Miss Moon.
After about ten minutes.
Miss Moon replied below: “The Moon misses Mr. River very much too.
Unfortunately, Mr. River is too far away.
This is the distance between heaven and Earth.”
Aoki Haruhi smiled slightly, then quickly replied below:
“Not far, not far.
Miss Moon is in Mr. River’s heart.
Moreover, Miss Moon possesses a powerful gravitational pull, so maybe one day we can embrace each other?”
“Ah?” Miss Moon replied, “If that day really comes, wouldn’t it be the end of the world?”
“Don’t you think that when Miss Moon approaches, and gravity pulls the river water up into the sky like a water bridge, it’s an incredibly romantic thing?”
“I don’t think so. Compared to that, I’d rather go for a walk in the forest this weekend.”
“Forest? A walk?”
Aoki Haruhi’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly called Nao Tsuda.
“Haha, you got the message?” Tsuda said from the other end, “It’s very interesting, chatting online.”
“When I think of you, Zhiyuan Jun, and typing and sending messages, I feel like there’s a concrete person, it’s not so illusory anymore.”
“So, about the walk?” Aoki Haruhi asked.
“What do you think?” Tsuda chuckled on the other end.
……
Over the next period of Time, Pokeni’s players discovered a strange thing.
Or rather, this matter itself had the potential to become one of Pokeni’s Top Ten Mysteries.
Although what these Top Ten Mysteries were was still unknown, this matter was definitely one of them.
On Pokeni’s forum, people often saw a guy named 【Mr. River】 exchanging posts with a girl named 【Miss Moon】.
But the content of their exchanges was particularly strange, appearing out of place with other netizens.
They didn’t talk about game, nor did they discuss content related to the LL game; in fact, more often than not, it was like reading a fairy tale.
Under the moonlight, the river flowed quietly, they attracted each other, and then engaged in inexplicable conversations.
“Good evening, Miss Moon.”
“Hmm, are you off work, Mr. River?”
“What are you doing now?”
“Oh, Miss Moon, of course, I’m daydreaming in the sky,” Miss Moon replied.
“Ah~ I envy you. Every day I have to direct the little fish to migrate and take care of the surrounding flowers and plants; I’m busy to death. If it weren’t for my irrigation, they wouldn’t survive.”
“Hmm~ Mr. River, you’ve worked hard. Should I say you’re benevolent, or a scumbag?”
“Don’t misunderstand, I’m devoted to the Moon; those are just work, work, do you understand?”
“Ah~ I envy you. It seems I’m the loneliest,” Miss Moon sighed.
“Then, Miss Moon, how about a walk? In the forest,” Mr. River said.
“Hmm? The Moon can’t go into the forest.”
“Just walk over. I’ll look for a good forest park.”
“Eh? Really? Then tell me a Time.”
……
After a while, this Time it was Miss Moon who spoke first:
“Mr. River, shall we have dinner together this weekend?”
“Sure, sure. Where shall we eat?”
“Hehe, I was just teasing you. Mr. River doesn’t need to eat; aren’t you a river?”
“But Mr. River also needs to eat, otherwise he’ll dry up. Does Miss Moon not need to eat?”
“Hmm… if sunbathing is considered eating, then I guess I also need to consume food to replenish energy, right?”
“Ah~ That’s great. Then how about barbecue?” Mr. River invited.
“Barbecue? I’ll think about it then. I’m a bit inclined to eat Chinese food.”
At first, some people replied below, wanting to join the fairy tale woven by these two.
Because it was quite interesting, some players even thought they were playing a tabletop role-playing game.
Old Dungeons & Dragons players.
Playing for a week or two, or even a month or two, was quite normal.
But Miss Moon and Mr. River ignored the interjections in the later content.
Gradually, a big question mark appeared in everyone’s minds:
“Damn it!
Are these two having an online romance?”
“It looks like it. They don’t reply to other people’s messages.”
“Oh, this… Why did I click in to see this kind of thing? Watching my friends and classmates fall in love is already enough.
I finally found a sacred place here where I can freely discuss game.
I didn’t expect something like this to happen!”
“Damn it, why am I watching other people fall in love online? I feel terrible.”
“What kind of astonishing operations are these?”
“Kuso, I originally thought I was playing a tabletop RPG, but I inexplicably suffered 10,000 points of damage, boo hoo hoo… This isn’t the wonderful place I imagined!”
……
October 5, 1994.
Tokyo.
Pokeni Co., Ltd..
“President!”
Early in the morning, HR-chan was full of energy, rushing into the president’s office and interrupting Aoki Haruhi, who was posting with Miss Moon.
“What’s wrong?” Aoki Haruhi coughed lightly, closed his computer screen, and turned to look at HR-chan.
“Sony has invited you to attend this year’s Chicago Electronic Consumer Exhibition. The marked date is October 24th.” Ayase Akane placed the invitation letter on Aoki Haruhi’s desk.
This invitation letter was sent by the Chicago Electronic Exhibition, and Sony also sent an email.
Clearly, Sony’s PS was about to be released.
Of course, Pokeni also participated in this year’s Chicago Electronic Exhibition, where the long-awaited blockbuster “diablo ii” for Europe and America players would be exhibited.
“Eh? This Time?”
Aoki Haruhi asked in confusion.
However, the new game LL was about to be released, and he wanted to stay in Tokyo to see the specific situation.
“Oh, there’s one more thing.”
Ayase Akane continued, “Ghibli just called. Master Miyazaki Hayao wants to invite you to travel together the week after next, estimated to be for about a week.”
“Eh?” Aoki Haruhi was slightly stunned.
Wouldn’t that clash with the Electronic Exhibition date?
“They say it’s to Yakushima. It’s incredibly beautiful, the natural environment is stunning, a World Heritage site.
If you go, wouldn’t you need someone to accompany you, chat and so on?”
HR-chan hinted frantically.
But Aoki Haruhi was clearly unmoved.
Because the news itself was very impactful.
“Go traveling? Why me?”
An old man over fifty years old, inviting a 30-year-old young man alone, is this normal?
But why the hell do I have to accompany an old man to Yakushima?
“They say it’s for a field trip, to produce a new animated film,” Ayase Akane said, “And Joe Hisaishi was also invited.”
Joe Hisaishi?!
Aoki Haruhi immediately became excited upon hearing this.
Joe Hisaishi is a music master. If he could meet this grandmaster-level music deity this Time, he might be able to ask Joe Hisaishi for a friendly price for future game productions.
But…
Damn it, damn it!
Why is everything happening at once?!