The SoulNet shimmered like a cosmic vein threading through invisible space.No sound, no sensation—just a pulsing awareness in the back of every connected user's mind.And now, it had changed. It wanted something.
A subtle change in the interface drew attention.
Beneath the familiar skill panel and sign-in log, a new function had appeared:
[ Upload Contribution System: Reward SoulNet Currency for Inventions, Research, and Technology]
[ Your contribution will be evaluated based on:
1. Uniqueness
2. Practical Usefulness
3. Technological Level
4. Structural Completeness
Only technologies from tech-based civilizations are currently accepted.
Reward Range: 1 to ??? SNC ]
The change rippled across the userbase.
In an apartment just outside the city's industrial sector, a college graduate named Yu Fei sat blinking at the blue interface.
He wasn't a fighter. Not a warrior.Just a tinkerer. An engineer. Someone who had grown up loving the quiet hum of machines.
His gaze settled on the glowing prompt.
"Technology…? I've got a few circuit optimization designs. They're nothing special…"
He hesitated.
In a world slowly spiraling into chaos, his innovations hadn't mattered much.They were personal. Small. Practical.
But now—
He uploaded the schematics of a Low-Power Dual-Loop Circuitry Optimizer he had spent two years developing during university.
The upload bar shimmered, and the interface evaluated the data with eerie precision.
[ Upload Complete]
Evaluation in Progress…Uniqueness: Moderate (D-)Usefulness: High Tech Tier: Contemporary-LevelCompleteness: 94.3%Reward: +9 SoulNet Currency (SNC)
Yu Fei blinked.
He hadn't expected anything.
But now… now he had value.
The system sent a follow-up message.
"Thank you for your contribution. Users across SoulNet may now purchase and study your work. You will receive passive SNC income based on usage."
Somewhere else, a doctoral student in biomedical nanotech hesitated over his private files.His world had rejected his ideas—labeled him paranoid, impractical.
But when he uploaded a project proposal titled "Synthetic Red Blood Cell Delivery Using Nanobots for Targeted Healing", the SoulNet responded with a gold-tinted notification:
[Upload Complete – Evaluation: Exceptional]
Reward: +31 SNCPotential Passive Income: High
The world didn't know his name.But SoulNet did.And it remembered.
Across different regions, more users began experimenting.
Not everyone succeeded.
Some uploaded photos of refrigerators and were politely rejected with a soft [Submission Rejected – Incomplete Format].
Others tried plagiarizing online resources, only to find the SoulNet had its own trace algorithms, instantly detecting duplicates with scathing clarity:
"Detected Content: 89% match to Public Patent Archive – No reward granted."
Meanwhile, forums buzzed with chatter:
"Anyone else try the upload thing?""Got 3 SNC for my homemade 3D printer mod!""I uploaded my high-frequency transistor spec and earned 7 SNC! This is real!""Holy hell, someone uploaded AI-based anomaly detection and got 26!"
A sense of energy sparked across the network.
Those who couldn't fight now had a purpose.Those who couldn't awaken abilities… could still become pillars.
The SoulNet was rewarding not power—but intellect.
At the center of it all, Su Yuan sat quietly.
He could feel the shift—see the rising pulse in the threads of light.Where once SoulNet had been a whisper, now it pulsed with curiosity, ambition… even hope.
He browsed the uploads with distant interest. Some were crude. Others—surprisingly clever.
And still, they were just the beginning.
He let out a quiet breath and tapped on one listing—a modular power cell configuration that showed promise.
"I'll allow this to reach more users," he murmured. A subtle flick of his interface raised its visibility.
He wasn't a god. Not yet.But the SoulNet made him something more than human—a curator of progress.
And as tech submissions climbed and users debated the best way to "farm" SNC, Su Yuan's mind was already preparing for the next layer.
Because light, when not guided, could become flame.And he sensed one user, already, who wasn't uploading to help others…
…but to exploit.