Cyber Era Witch

Out of politeness, it wasn't explicitly stated, but the subtext was clear: Xu Yang had been completely replaced by an AI system and it was best for him to seek other employment opportunities.

Xu Yang slumped back; he had been optimized.

The trend of artificial intelligence replacing human jobs was unstoppable, with human improvement lagging far behind the advancement of technology.

The company had daily performance requirements and now that Xu Yang's job had been taken over by an AI, this meant he had no daily output. Not only could he not earn a salary, but he would also be fined and it might even be considered a crime.

The worst part was that Xu Yang had taken out a loan to install his Digital Mind. Now that there was no work for him, if he couldn't repay the loan, the company would directly remove and reclaim his Digital Mind. Given the high degree of integration between his brain and the Digital Mind, its removal could endanger Xu Yang's life!

The death of a Xu Yang would not impact the company in the slightest.

Xu Yang's only chance for survival was to resign proactively and then find a job outside to repay the debt and fill the financial void.

And if he resigned voluntarily, the company would not owe him a penny in compensation, letting him fend for himself and become his creditor. Xu Yang would have to frantically find work outside to continue paying off the company loan until he was worked to death.

This was the fate of the company's people: raised by the company, giving their all to it, until their individual destruction. This was confirmed from the time of their birth by contract. Even their parents had only given birth to them to alleviate their own burdens without considering their children's destinies.

Xu Yang just felt a chill in his heart.

Since joining the company, he had worked hard, fantasizing that he could spend decades in his position peacefully, but all of it now seemed like a joke.

His personal efforts were also worthless. The skills profile he had obtained through company training, the loan he took out to upgrade his Digital Mind, none of it was a match for the newly developed artificial intelligence—its efficiency in checking the network security system was more than ten times that of Xu Yang's.

He was replaced without warning, and then he was unemployed.

What could he do by selling manual labor? Could he earn 5,000 a month? How many years would it take to pay off this 4.5 million? Think of every possible way to repay the debt... and after repaying it—

He felt trapped at his workstation.

Xu Yang picked up a cigarette and began smoking desperately, as he always needed to do this to numb himself when his nerves were stretched to their limit.

Living a marginal existence.

The terminal flickered slightly, and Xu Yang turned his head to see a new message from Huang Na.

"The AI is under maintenance for an hour, you might want to see what you can do." A cheering emoji followed the message.

"Um, which process would apply if I resign now?" Xu Yang tentatively asked.

"Your Digital Mind is installed because of debt... If you resign, you'll need to go to the prosthetics department to have it removed..."

A chill ran down Xu Yang's spine.

He felt drained of strength, opened the company system, and saw that the "Heavenly" AI which had replaced him was temporarily offline.

What good was it offline? Now it was the one earning the salary, with everything handled by the AI. Xu Yang's despondency grew. Voluntarily resigning was tantamount to death. If Xu Yang's Digital Mind were removed, he could well become paralyzed or severely ill, and he would be unable to afford the follow-up surgery. For him, it was like facing a dead end in life.

Wait a minute...

Xu Yang took a deep breath and gathered his courage.

Escape!

Take the Digital Mind and run!

All the shopping coupons that the company had given Xu Yang over the years were converted into goods stacked in his dormitory. If he sold them all, he could make about 150,000, enough to buy the earliest plane ticket and hide in a small place.

This was his only chance to escape the company!

The company premises were covered with surveillance, once controlled by Xu Yang and now managed by the "Heavenly" AI. But with the AI offline for an hour, they were back under Xu Yang's control.

Once "Heavenly" was back online, any actions would be recorded; there would be no way to run then, only a dead end awaited!

If he ran now, he could still take some things to exchange for money and keep his Digital Mind intact, allowing him to move with a sound body.

I'm not paying this debt!

Thinking of his parents tirelessly dying at the company's workstation, Xu Yang felt a deep-seated disgust.

To live and die for such a merciless enterprise, impossible!

Staying even a second longer was courting self-destruction.

Even if doing so would put him on the company's blacklist.

Xu Yang was a company person, having signed a lifetime service contract with Kyushu High Pavilion while still in the womb. Escaping would no doubt lead to being hunted down.

No matter where he went, he would become a wanted person, and the security department would go to great lengths to capture him and bring him back.

Moreover, in all these years, no one had ever heard of a company person who had escaped Kyushu High Pavilion and survived. This was a capital crime! Xu Yang himself was in charge of the monitoring system, he would always be extremely vigilant against the escapes of other company people, knowing what fate awaited them after they slipped away.

But... trees die when moved, people thrive when moved!

Leaving now, he could also take his Digital Mind with him, rather than being stripped bare. Of course, that was another crime.

To stay was to be a mere human battery, going to work and then home, accepting the predestined fate of the company person, burning oneself for the company.

To break the contract and flee, although a grave act of betrayal that would result in being hunted, also held infinite possibilities!

Should he be the company's dog for a lifetime, or should he seek a path to freedom?

A decision formed in Xu Yang's mind.

He grabbed a few items at hand, stuffed them into his bag, and as a member of the Network Security Department, every device in the vicinity was under the control of his Digital Mind.

Using the authority he still had, he made a bold attempt to put himself on a white list to avoid tracking, turned off all the cameras and motion sensors from his location to the dormitory, and quickly left his workstation. Xu Yang knew the company's surveillance tactics too well, and now he was giving himself the green light to escape.