{"product_id":"the-second-layer-world-horatio-tsoi-9798243179201","title":"The Second Layer World","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the year \u003cb\u003e2147\u003c\/b\u003e, cities are collapsing. Public infrastructure is decaying, healthcare systems are in disarray, poverty has spiraled out of control, pollution spreads unchecked, and resources are critically scarce. After decades of economic turbulence, reality itself is deemed beyond repair. Unable to fix the world as it is, a national government chooses a different path: \u003cb\u003eto remake human perception\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the goal of rebuilding \u003ci\u003ehow people perceive the world\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003cb\u003eSpace Management Bureau\u003c\/b\u003e is established. Over thirty years, it develops a full-sensory AI system that provides every citizen with a \u003cb\u003eSecond Layer\u003c\/b\u003e of vision, taste, emotion, and spatial projection-overwriting reality itself and delivering a continuous sensation of \u003ci\u003ehappiness\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCramped, decaying dwellings are transformed into luxury homes.\u003cbr\u003eRotting food is reconstructed into fragrant meals.\u003cbr\u003eUgliness, oppression, and fear are softened into acceptable brightness and color.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeople no longer strive to improve their lives; they strive only to upgrade their perception.\u003cbr\u003eWhen illusion coverage surpasses ninety percent, reality becomes unnecessary noise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet as the Second Layer World grows flawless-overusing happiness-the First Layer World quietly begins to crack. The city's illusion destabilizes. Reflections rot, memories fracture, perception is rearranged, and the Second Layer faces an unprecedented collapse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLucid Shen\u003c\/b\u003e, a perception engineer capable of seeing \u003ci\u003eboth worlds at once\u003c\/i\u003e, encounters a \u003cb\u003ebare-eye observer\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eAnna Soames\u003c\/b\u003e, during a system maintenance operation. She leads him into the First Layer of reality, forcing him to question: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat is truly being controlled-people's eyes, or the world itself?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen happiness must be defined by the state, \u003cbr\u003ewhen security depends on obscuring truth, \u003cbr\u003ewhen \u003ci\u003enot seeing\u003c\/i\u003e becomes an obligation...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDoes \"reality\" still need to exist at all?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Horatio Tsoi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798243179201\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/08\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 414\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.21lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.85d","brand":"Horatio Tsoi","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49083950399743,"sku":"9798243179201","price":14.89,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-second-layer-world-horatio-tsoi-9798243179201","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}