The Ghost in the Livestream Room

“Hey folks, today we're bringing you our latest smart robotic vacuum cleaner. This robot can not only automatically avoid obstacles, but also…” Li Ming said to his phone screen, forcing a professional smile. Behind him was a blue backdrop with the company logo.

This was already his fourth hour of livestreaming today. He felt his cheek muscles were almost stiff. He was not an internet celebrity, nor a sales elite, he was just an ordinary technician, temporarily caught by the company to be a tool for livestreaming sales.

“This robot uses the most advanced AI chip, it can…” Before he could finish his sentence, a line of glaring red text appeared on the screen: Livestream has been interrupted.

Li Ming was stunned. He looked at his phone, then at the computer, confirming that the network connection was normal. He tried to restart the livestream, but failed. No matter how he tried, the screen only showed the cold words “Livestream has been interrupted”.

He panicked a little and quickly contacted the livestream operations colleagues. His colleagues told him that the company did not know the reason either, and the backend showed his livestream was judged to be "content violating" by the system, but they couldn't explain what exactly was violating.

"Content violating?" Li Ming felt extremely wronged. Every word he spoke today followed the script given by the company, and even the tone could not deviate in the slightest, where did the so-called content violating come from?

He tried contacting the technology department, but their reply was very official, stating that it was an automatic system judgment, and they could not do anything about it, asking him to wait for notification.

Li Ming could only helplessly sit in front of the computer, continuing his "sales" work - facing a black screen phone, he continued to introduce the products to the air, occasionally clapping for himself, pretending that the livestream was very lively. He looked at the empty livestream room on the screen and felt like a ghost, wandering in the void of the internet.

In the following days, the situation did not improve, his livestream room still could not be opened, but he still sat in front of the computer every day, "livestreaming" to the black screen. His colleagues began to whisper, saying that he must have offended someone, or that there was something "unclean" in his livestream room.

"Li Ming, are you okay?" One day, a colleague who was a little closer to him, walked over to him and whispered, "Why don't you go see a psychologist?"

Li Ming smiled, he thought he might really be crazy. He was facing an empty screen every day, promoting non-existent products to the air, while the people around him treated him as if he was normal.

He decided to buy himself the latest smart robotic vacuum cleaner. Perhaps only in this way could he believe that he was still living in the real world.

He opened the company's internal purchase website, ready to place an order, but found the website was empty, and all the products were displayed as "out of stock". He asked the operations department colleagues in confusion, but they shrugged and said they were unaware.

Li Ming once again felt a deep sense of helplessness. He tried to open the company's livestream backstage, wanting to see his livestream data, but found he no longer had access. He felt like he had been completely erased by the company, becoming a non-existent person.

He looked around, and found the entire office was quiet, and all his colleagues were like him, busy working in front of a black screen, as if they were all performing a show without an audience.

Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and turned on the video recording function of his phone, and started recording his computer screen. He started telling the story of his experiences these days, the bizarre workplace, and everything absurd he had felt.

"Hello everyone, my name is Li Ming, I am a technician, and now I am doing a non-existent livestream..." He smiled strangely at the phone camera.

He pressed the stop button and saved the video. He posted this video to an anonymous social media platform, along with the text: Do you think what you see is real?

The next day, Li Ming was surprised to find that his video was viral, and countless netizens left comments under his video, saying that they had also encountered similar situations, and that they were all trapped in their own "black screens," doing meaningless performances.

Everyone speculated whether there was a problem with the system, or if some conspiracy had occurred within the company.

However, just when everyone was discussing it, the company suddenly issued an announcement, announcing that the company's business was transforming, and all employees would be transferred to the "Stream of Consciousness Livestream Department." The announcement stated that "Stream of Consciousness Livestream" was a new form of livestreaming that would allow viewers to experience products through "consciousness sharing," a "unprecedented" technological innovation.

Li Ming looked at the announcement and finally understood everything. He wasn't abandoned by the livestream system, but chosen by the company. They had all been turned into carriers of "Stream of Consciousness Livestream," and their daily work was to allow users to experience products through "consciousness sharing," and the livestream room was just an optional decoration.

He looked at his computer screen again, which was still black, and had not changed at all. He understood that he had completely become a "stream of consciousness" ghost, forever trapped in the company's carefully built "black screen," continuing his meaningless performance.