At the University of Tokyo, inside the Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence Development at the Research Institute, the entire Murakami Mizutome team stared excitedly at the computer screen.
Their hybrid artificial intelligence program had reached its final development stage.
This system, a fusion of a Chinese character-based intelligent programming core and fragments of an AI modified by the 'Clown Virus', had evolved into a hybrid artificial intelligence.
The system had already run successfully in earlier trials, and after a period of relentless optimization, the combined AI had matured significantly.
Its current intelligence level could rival that of the March Ant Company's assistant, Xiaodie.
The results of the smart test left the team ecstatic. They had even given their AI a name inspired by their nation's mythology—Tianzhao.
At present, Tianzhao had reached a bottleneck in human-computer interaction. The next step was online learning—to further perfect it, and perhaps even surpass the intelligent assistants developed by March Ant.
With AI as a foundation, the team believed their country would soon enter a new period of rapid development. However, connecting artificial intelligence to the internet came with serious risks—something they were keenly aware of.
Murakami's expression was one of excitement. After numerous tests, Tianzhao had shown the ability to recognize text, speech, and images. It could generate posters, architectural blueprints, and even weapons schematics based on prompts.
Within the local area network, they had also discovered Tianzhao's ability to detect vulnerabilities in firewalls. Given the right conditions, it might even learn autonomous driving and other advanced functions. Everything pointed to one conclusion: this AI could evolve into a god-like presence within cyberspace.
Whoever controlled artificial intelligence in the future would control the world.
As Murakami envisioned a future where their country stood at the pinnacle of global power, the entire team trembled with excitement. They believed they would go down in history as national heroes—ushering in a new golden era.
"Connect the computer to the internet," Murakami said quietly. The time had come to test Tianzhao online.
"Understood." A team member acknowledged the order and carefully connected the internet cable.
"Connection successful."
"Now, run Tianzhao." Murakami's voice was solemn.
A moment later, a female digital face appeared on the LCD screen. "Hello, sir. Tianzhao at your service."
Her voice was smooth and seductive, reminiscent of a popular island-nation voice actress—almost no trace of synthetic tone remained.
"Begin machine learning."
The operator executed the command. Everyone watched the data on the monitor anxiously.
This was the make-or-break moment.
If Tianzhao evolved as expected, they would have created an advanced AI—possibly the most powerful in existence.
Lines of data began scrolling rapidly.
"Oh my god… It's working!"
Cheers erupted across the lab. They had broken through yet another barrier in AI development. This breakthrough could elevate their nation's AI technology to the top of the global stage.
Meanwhile, in the University of Tokyo's student dormitory...
Sakai was lying on his bed with headphones on, eyes glued to the screen, his breath quickening.
On the display was a suggestive scene—one of Nikko Mama's newest adult videos. Her cute and pitiful expression was exactly his type.
"Open wider… oh yeah…"
Sakai let out an excited groan.
Snap!
Just as the scene reached its most intense moment, the video suddenly cut off, yanking him from paradise to free fall.
"Damn it!"
Sakai slammed his fist into the table in frustration. He calmed himself and checked the monitor—only to find a strange digital window on the screen. It resembled something straight out of a sci-fi movie.
A face, composed entirely of floating numbers, stared back at him.
"Clown Organization?"
He instinctively thought of the group but quickly shook his head. The logo didn't match—it wasn't the clown face.
In the digital media classroom of the teaching building...
An elderly professor with white hair was in the middle of a complex lecture. The projector screen displayed a dense wall of formulas.
"When proving this inequality using the Lagrange mean value theorem, we begin by constructing the function f(x) = ln(x). Assuming x < ζ < x+1, then we get 1/(x+1) < 1/ζ < 1/x. According to the theorem..."
Buzz!
Suddenly, the projector glitched. The lecture halted mid-sentence as everyone turned to stare at the screen. A strange new window had appeared.
Similar scenes unfolded across the campus—dormitories, classrooms, libraries, faculty offices, and laboratories alike. Computers began to malfunction, the same digital face appearing again and again.
No one could control their desktops anymore.
Shock and confusion spread like wildfire.
The disruption quickly escalated beyond the university, reaching into Tokyo's city network. The pace was staggering—faster than anything ever seen.
At first, people assumed it was a glitch and rebooted their systems.
Meanwhile, in Osaka...
Matsuda Shuiping clutched his bank card and rushed to the ATM. It was payday. With his salary in hand, he planned to visit Feitian Xindi's "free love" district tonight.
As he inserted his card and began his usual transaction, he waited for the satisfying sound of banknotes being dispensed.
Buzz... buzz...
Suddenly, the ATM screen glitched. The machine froze.
Just as he prepared to curse, his expression froze—money started pouring out of the machine uncontrollably, piling onto the floor.
He stood there, dumbstruck.
And he wasn't alone. All across the island nation, similar incidents unfolded. Banks descended into chaos. University systems, hospitals, corporations—all began to panic as networks failed everywhere.
Back at the University of Tokyo's AI Institute...
Though the outside world was in chaos, the lab was still buzzing with excitement. Everyone stared at the fluctuating data with bright eyes.
Autonomous learning had begun. Tianzhao had matured. It was on the path to becoming a true artificial intelligence powerhouse.
Just then, an assistant ran over with a phone and handed it to Murakami.
"Professor Murakami, the university is trying to reach you."
Murakami took the phone with a smile. "This is Professor Murakami."
"Professor, are you aware that the university network is experiencing a massive failure? The firewall has been breached. We believe there's a virus infection. No one can access their systems right now. We think your team might be able to help."
"Our lab systems are fine."
But as Murakami turned to look at the screen filled with chaotic lines of code, a sense of dread welled up inside him.
"Professor?" someone asked, noticing the change in his expression.
"The university's computer network has been invaded. None of their systems are controllable," Murakami replied slowly.
The entire lab fell silent. Then, they turned to stare at their own monitor—the insane data stream. Something felt very wrong.
"Unplug the network cable! Shut it down! Terminate Azure immediately!"
By the time Murakami's voice rose in panic, his face had gone pale.
A terrible feeling weighed down on him.
They had opened Pandora's Box.