11: New tasks and "brainstorming" training

Excellence hadn't even had time to savor the small joy and immense relief brought by the "partial success" of the optical camouflage, nor had he even had a chance to briefly scan the [abridged version] document rewarded by the system, when that cold and efficient death warrant descended once again without delay.

[New Mission Generated: [Thought Transition]]

The light screen unfolded silently, and new text appeared with an unquestionable majesty; the title font seemed even heavier than before.

[Mission Requirements: Within 60 natural days, successfully build and run a 'Simple Brainwave-Instruction Interaction System (Prototype)', achieving stable recognition and output of at least 3 preset simple instructions (e.g., On/Off, Left/Right, Open/Close). Recognition accuracy must be ≥ 85%, and response latency must be < 500ms.]

[Mission Reward: [Primary Neural Interface (Mind Control Version) Technical White Paper.zip]]

[Mission Failure Penalty: ... (Host is already familiar with this, no further elaboration. System friendly reminder: Historical record classification is complete, meme templates are ready)]

Excellence's eyes were locked onto the words "brainwave interaction" and "mind control," and he felt as if his brain had been stabbed hard by an invisible needle, causing it to throb violently. A feeling of absolute absurdity instantly overwhelmed him.

"System! Do you have some massive misunderstanding about me?! Or is your program glitching?!" Excellence, in the empty dormitory, finally couldn't help but let out a long-suppressed, desperate scream that echoed in the narrow space, sounding particularly shrill. "I'm a physics slacker who failed 'fundamentals of analog circuits' and can't even analyze a transistor amplifier circuit! You want me to do brain science?! To do neural engineering?! Can this stuff be 'hand-crafted' with this junk?! This requires fMRI, EEG, and top-tier signal processing algorithms! It can't be solved with a soldering iron and Pinduoduo!"

He felt like he was going crazy. The system's mission difficulty curve wasn't just steep; it was vertical and then snapped! From energy control to materials optics, and now it's jumping straight into the fields of bioelectricity and cognitive science? This span is comparable to asking a primitive man to 'hand-crafted' a rocket to land on the moon!

[Material list and acquisition suggestions have been generated.] The system's response remained chillingly calm, as if it had completely failed to receive his signal of emotional breakdown. [Please note, the core difficulty of this mission lies in algorithms and pattern recognition; the hardware acquisition requirements have been simplified to the maximum extent based on the technological level of this plane. Please build confidence, Host.]

A new list popped up on the light screen as expected, and sure enough, it was another pile of items full of the system's characteristic "ultimate cost-effectiveness" and "scavenger" style:

Dry electrode EEG collection cap (simplified version): (Attached Taobao link: "Future Tech Brainwave Sensing Toy DIY Kit", price ¥188 with free shipping, Note: Host must calibrate electrode position and impedance by themselves, and shield 50Hz power frequency interference)

Signal amplification and filtering module (requires extremely low noise, high input impedance): (Note: Can try dismantling old ECG machines or remnants of high-precision EEG instruments, or select specific models of high-end headphone amplifier chips to build it yourself; requires pairing with hand-soldered instrumentation amplifier circuits)

Pattern recognition core algorithm: (Attached compressed file: [EEG pattern recognition algorithm based on rough set theory and simple machine learning models (with detailed comments).py])

... (Followed by a long list including power isolation, AD conversion, data interfaces, and other equally headache-inducing items) ...

Excellence's gaze swept over that Python filename, and when he saw the words "rough set theory" and "machine learning models," his vision went completely black, and he almost choked. His Python programming level was still at the stage taught in the university computer basics course on how to use the print function to output "Hello, World!". As for machine learning? What was that? Was it edible?

"System... this code... are you sure this is something someone at my level can understand?" Excellence's voice trembled as he asked, clinging to a last shred of hope.

[This system has provided a basic algorithm framework and detailed comments, aiming to lower the barrier to entry. The host needs to understand, debug parameters, and successfully embed it into the hardware platform. This process is an excellent exercise for the host's autonomous learning ability, problem-solving ability, and perseverance, conforming to the essence of improving the comprehensive quality of civilized individuals.] The system's tone sounded like a cold AI dean who had no emotions and only knew how to recite from the script.

Excellence: "..." Thanks a lot! Thanks your whole family! Thanks your ancestors for eight generations! I don't want this kind of exercise!

In the following days, Excellence was completely plunged into an agonizing, dark, and miserable ordeal. He felt as if he had been split in two: one half of his soul had to be forcibly crammed into Su Mu's notebook, with its neat handwriting and clear logic, desperately absorbing that analog circuit knowledge that gave him such a headache, in order to cope with the upcoming retake exam; the other half of his soul was ruthlessly thrown into a completely strange, terrifying world composed of brainwaves, signal processing, and machine learning algorithms, scratching his head over a pile of code that looked like heavenly scripts and a pile of hardware that looked extremely unreliable.

His dormitory had completely turned into a bizarre hybrid: on one side were the open textbook and problem set for "fundamentals of analog circuits," and on the other side were the dismantled "brainwave toy" helmet, exposed circuit boards, multimeter probes, as well as dense Python code and maddening error messages on the screen.

He wore that "dry electrode EEG collection cap" bought from Taobao, which looked extremely cheap and just like a low-quality prop from a sci-fi movie, with the electrode pads pressed tightly against his scalp, feeling both cold and awkward. Like a patient with severe, late-stage chuunibyou, he sat alone, staring at a small LED icon on the computer screen that was waiting for instructions, desperately concentrating all his mental energy to "think": "On! Off! On! Off!"

However, most of the time, the screen showed no reaction. Occasionally, the LED icon would suddenly flash, but that was usually because Excellence's accumulated anger and frustration from long periods without progress suddenly erupted, causing drastic fluctuations in his brain electrical signals, which were (mistakenly) captured by the system.

[Detected excessive noise in the host's brainwave signals (mainly composed of θ waves and high-voltage β waves, highly correlated with anxiety and anger), with too low a signal-to-noise ratio. It is recommended to maintain a peaceful state of mind, focus attention on a single instruction, and avoid drastic emotional fluctuations.] The system prompted coldly.

"Peaceful my ass! You try meditating for a few hours while staring at a broken toy hat and see if you can stay peaceful!" Excellence's pent-up anger was instantly ignited, and he tore off that ridiculous hat and slammed it hard onto the bed. "This thing is just a toy to scam kids! The electrodes have poor contact, the signal drifts severely, and the 50Hz power frequency interference is stronger than my own brain signals! Using this to accurately recognize instructions? It's simply a fantasy!"

[Please do not easily question the feasibility of the plan provided by this system. Failure is the mother of success; every failure is a valuable accumulation of data leading to success.] The system began to dispense chicken soup for the soul.

"Failure is the grandmother of success, for crying out loud! How many times have I failed already!" Excellence was furious, pacing back and forth in the dormitory. "And why is the mission difficulty getting more and more ridiculous? From fusion at the level of boiling water at the beginning, to optical camouflage at the level of invisibility, and now it's jumping straight to brainwave interaction at the level of mind reading?! Next time, are you going to ask me to 'hand-crafted' a warp drive or a dual-vector foil?! Is this tech tree skipping too much?!"

[The evolution of civilization is a complex process of spiral ascent; different branches of the tech tree need to be lit up simultaneously as much as possible according to resources and the environment to cope with possible multi-field challenges in the future. Please adapt to this rhythm as soon as possible and improve your comprehensive capabilities.] The system was impervious to reason, spouting principles one after another.

With no other choice, Excellence could only bite the bullet once again. While cursing in his heart, he forced himself to calm down and tried to read and understand the algorithm comments that were like heavenly scripts—the explanations about "feature extraction," "dimensionality reduction," and "rough set attribute reduction" made him dizzy. At the same time, he still had to keep tinkering with that pile of unstable hardware, trying to use tin foil for shielding and electrical tape to fix the electrodes, attempting to extract that weak, effective signal representing his "mind" from the massive noise.

He felt like he was really on the verge of a nervous breakdown. When walking, eating, or even daydreaming in class, what circled in his mind were no longer circuit diagrams or formulas, but brainwave shapes, noise spectra, filter cutoff frequencies, and those incomprehensible Python error messages. He would often unconsciously frown or grimace, as if trying to use his facial muscles to assist in emitting brainwave signals.

His roommate, Li Hao, noticed that his eyes were looking more and more wrong. Finally, one night, while the other two roommates were away, he carefully leaned over and whispered, "Lao Zhuo, have you... been under too much pressure lately? I notice you're always talking to yourself, making weird expressions, and practicing 'qi' on a broken hat... sometimes muttering, sometimes slamming and hitting things... How about... we go see a psychologist? The school's psychological counseling center is free; it's nothing to be ashamed of..."

Excellence: "..."

He opened his mouth, but found any explanation pale and powerless. In the end, it could only turn into a smile uglier than crying, and a long sigh filled with endless bitterness and unspeakable suffering.

"I... I'm fine, it's just... finals are coming up, I'm a bit anxious..." he explained dryly, then silently turned around, continuing to face the vast ocean of code on the screen, letting out a silent wail.