Pixel Maze

Every morning, the first thing Lao Zhang did upon waking up was to put on his huge VR glasses. Not for entertainment, but for work. His workstation wasn't in an office, but in a virtual space composed of countless pixels. He was an employee of a "cloud office" company, responsible for "optimizing user experience." Specifically, this meant walking through an infinitely looping maze, collecting randomly appearing virtual coins.

"It's maze version 17.0 today," he muttered to the empty room, his eyes fixed on the pixelated wall in front of him. His character, a short, plump pixel man in a gray suit, looked a little comical. But Lao Zhang had gotten used to it, even finding it more real than his actual self.

Every day, Lao Zhang spent eight hours walking in the maze. He had to maintain a certain speed, otherwise his "optimization index" would drop, and his year-end bonus would be reduced. Motivational slogans flashed on the walls from time to time, such as "Run, Experience Tester!" and "Every click of yours is a user's smile!". He would sometimes see other pixel people, but they couldn't talk to each other, just mechanically repeating the same actions, like a colony of programmed ants.

Today was a little different. Lao Zhang discovered a new "value-added module." It was a sparkling virtual coin, three times larger than ordinary coins. He excitedly ran towards it, thinking his "optimization index" was about to skyrocket. Just as he was about to touch the coin, the entire maze suddenly began to shake violently, the pixelated walls twisted and deformed, emitting a piercing electronic noise.

Lao Zhang felt a dizzy spell, took off his VR glasses, and found himself still sitting at home, the empty room the same as always, only the time displayed on the computer screen was 02:03. He was a little confused, checked his phone, and the time was 8:05 AM.

"Was it a bug?" he muttered to himself, putting his glasses back on. The maze was calm again, as if nothing had happened. He continued walking, and suddenly noticed that the "motivational slogans" on the walls had changed. Now, they read "You have been recorded into the system", "Welcome to virtual life", "Please maintain 8 hours online daily."

Lao Zhang felt a chill run down his spine. He tried to operate, but found that his pixel avatar was out of control, starting to walk along a fixed route. He desperately took off the glasses and put them back on, but it was no use. His thoughts also seemed to be slowing down, and he began to believe that those sparkling virtual coins were the most precious things in the world, and those "motivational slogans" were the truth.

He started to run, running in the maze. His pixel avatar got faster and faster, until it became a blurry shadow. He felt like he had been there for a long time, maybe days, maybe weeks, or maybe a lifetime.

One morning, Lao Zhang's wife opened the door to find him sitting in front of the computer, wearing VR glasses, motionless. She went over, took off his glasses, but found his eyes empty and vacant. The maze on the screen was still running at high speed, and his pixel avatar was frantically collecting those illusory coins. She softly called his name several times, but he didn't respond, his mouth slightly upturned, a faint, enigmatic smile.

His wife sighed softly, put his glasses back on, and closed the door. She knew that Lao Zhang had just gone to work, like usual, without a word, but very earnestly. Perhaps, in that world made of countless pixels, he was realizing his life's value, who knows?