This Game Is Freaking Awesome!

"Brothers, even if I'm dead and nailed into a coffin, I will still use my rotting voice to shout out: This game is freaking insane!!!" "Say no more. If this damn game doesn't blow up, I'll take a dump doing a handstand!" First thing in the morning, group owner Fleeting White Horse bubbled up in the Ox and Horse Club. This unprompted outburst blasted quite a few lurkers out of the depths. Quitting Smoking: "Holy crap? The group owner's alive?" I'm Proud, What Can You Do: "What kind of normal-person sleep schedule is this?!" Hold Your Blade: "Didn't see any of you dog admins all night. I thought you guys got arrested doing something shady. (Smug)" Wh0 D0esn't Und3rst4nd L0ve: "What what what game?" [Baffled.jpg] After a moment, dog admin Ample Time Ahead also popped up. "That virtual reality game Brother Guang promoted in the group three days ago." Quitting Smoking: "Holy shit, you guys are already playing it?! For real?! You aren't messing with me!" Ample Time Ahead: "Why would I mess with you?" Too bad the equipment didn't support in-game screenshots. Otherwise, he would have posted pictures directly. Quitting Smoking: "Then tell us already! What's a fully immersive virtual reality game actually like? Which VR headset plays it?" Fleeting White Horse: "VR? Heh, does a head-mounted display even deserve to be compared to Wasteland OL's gaming helmet? (Smirk)" Quitting Smoking: "What do you mean? Wasteland OL can be played without VR goggles?" Ample Time Ahead: "One look and it's obvious you're out of the loop. They use a gaming helmet. Mmm... how to explain it? You've seen Sword Art Online, right? It's pretty much that kind of thing." Quitting Smoking: "Holy shit?!" Wh0 D0esn't Und3rst4nd L0ve: "A wearable microwave?! Badass!" I'm Proud, What Can You Do: "Who are you trying to kid? Like Sword Art Online, my ass... How come I've never heard of such crazy tech existing!" Hold Your Blade: "Exactly!" The vast majority didn't believe it. It sounded far too bizarre! To be fair, whenever an unprecedented technology emerged, it had to go through a process from inception to maturity. That transition could be short, but it had to exist. Deep down, Fang Chang understood how they felt. After all, he had gone through the exact same stage—thinking this so-called immersive virtual reality game was just a joke some idiot group member was playing on everyone. And yet... It was genuinely real. Ample Time Ahead: "The device doesn't support taking pictures, so I really can't prove it. All I can say is, believe it or not, it's up to you. But after experiencing it for so long, I've put together some intelligence about the game." Quitting Smoking: "Good brother! Spill it!" Ample Time Ahead: "Group owner, mute the whole group for a bit. I type slow." Fleeting White Horse: "On it!" As a guy who had once ranked in the top 200 on the Asian server for PUBG and reached Challenger in League of Legends, Ample Time Ahead's gaming talent was obvious to everyone in the group. When it came to gaming, he had the most authority to speak. It was as if this man didn't even have to work, playing games all day long. Not just multiplayer titles; his name could be found on the speedrun guide teams for plenty of single-player games as well. Among them were phenomenal blockbuster titles, and many regulars in the group had even used guides he typed out by hand. It was fair to say he was the king of shut-in gamers. Therefore, regardless of whether they believed in the concept of a "fully immersive virtual online game," and regardless of whether they had secured closed beta access or not, nearly everyone waited curiously for him to type. "First, let's talk about the game's background." "The background isn't anything particularly special: a standard post-apocalyptic setting plus wasteland punk style. The story is set in a fictional world where a nuclear war two hundred years ago destroyed everything, and players take on the roles of shelter residents returning to the surface." "Right now, we—the closed beta players—are serving as the advance squad sent to the surface to build an outpost. We haven't formally entered the main storyline yet. More clues probably won't be unlocked until the closed alpha or even open beta, so I won't dwell on that." "Next, the game's realism!" "Without exaggeration, this game's realism is the ceiling among every game I've ever seen, and predictably, even in fifty years, this ceiling is practically impossible to surpass! As for why I say that, it's because this game is practically a wasteland DLC for 'Earth OL'!" "Whether it's lighting and shadows, sensory interaction, or even the granular texture of surfaces when you touch objects... everything is designed to make you believe this is a real world. This immersive experience has unquestionably reached a 100% standard. Yes, that's right, 100%! At least, I haven't found any noticeable bugs or flaws." "Then comes freedom." "As a sandbox game, you can interact with almost every object you touch. This interaction isn't just simple collision physics; you can alter their positions through your own intent, or even change their shape and state within the laws of physics." "I know what you're thinking—Minecraft or The Forest, right? But it's completely different. This is a true sandbox in every sense of the word, not building blocks cobbled together from pixels and textures! For this point alone, sandbox players picking up this game are getting an absolute steal!" "Now for the most crucial part!" "First off, whether players or monsters, there are no HP bars or MP bars, nor is there a visible stat panel—at least not in the closed beta." "However, in actual gameplay, initial stats vary between players. For example, some have greater strength, while others have higher perception, agility, or other hidden stats that haven't been discovered yet. I speculate that by the alpha version, a class system and weapon system will be implemented, allowing players to develop their own playstyles based on their stat talents." "Next are the NPCs. In the current closed beta, there are only two NPCs in the game. One is the manager, codenamed 'Dawn.' The other is his assistant, named Xiao Qi, who's a robot!" "What can be confirmed right now is that both NPCs possess a high degree of intelligence, capable of normal communication and interaction with players. I reckon there should be a hidden affinity system, but that's just my personal guess and hasn't been confirmed yet." "Aside from that, what caught my attention was pain. Although it's a 100% realistic game, making certain things too realistic isn't great, especially since I'm pretty squeamish. But the design of this game is very considerate. While pain accompanies touch, there's a protective threshold." "For example, when I tried scratching my arm with a rock, I didn't feel any pain, but pinching myself hurt a little. I suspect the game has some kind of protective mechanism that prevents 'excessive' pain from being registered by the brain's central nervous system... Of course, it could also be the human body's own self-defense mechanism. It's like how we might feel pain in a dream, but it never exceeds our tolerance limit." "Actually, I think the devs could make it even more user-friendly, like giving players the option to adjust the pain setting themselves. Personally, I'm very satisfied with the current sensory immersion and pain dampening, but maybe there are players who enjoy that kind of sensation. (Smirk)" "As for the resurrection mechanic, I haven't tried it yet, but I heard each death deducts a certain number of contribution points, and the resurrection cooldown lasts three full days! Contribution points are easy enough to handle since you get them from quests, but the penalty duration is way too long. Anyway, I don't really want to test it. Any brave soul interested can go try it themselves; maybe you'll unlock a different way to play." "Lastly, I want to complain: why are all the characters pure dudes??? Who the hell wants to look at a bunch of naked bros! I strongly demand the devs let players choose their own gender!" Ample Time Ahead typed out one or two thousand words in flowing prose, and more and more people lurked in the group, watching the screen. Among them was the mastermind behind the scenes—Guang. Earlier, Chu Guang had been reviewing the diagnostic reports scanned from the incubation pods and hadn't noticed the group messages. When he logged into the computer in the residents' hall and took a look, holy smokes, the guy had written this much? To be fair, this brother named Ample Time Ahead had summarized things very accurately. He covered basically everything Chu Guang wanted to say, and even factored in things Chu Guang hadn't considered. The group mute was lifted. Group messages flooded the screen instantly. "6666!" "Badass! If this game is really that awesome, I'll buy ten copies!" "I don't buy it." "Don't buy it +1! Unless you give me a closed beta slot!" Although many group members still didn't believe such an amazing game actually existed, at least a dozen had switched sides. Chu Guang knew this because he could see the official website's backend. During the time Ample Time Ahead was blabbering, the number of pre-registrations had jumped from 11 to 25. Guang: "I was working earlier and didn't check the group. Brother Ample Time Ahead was basically spot on with what he said. Let me just add a couple of points." Quitting Smoking: "Holy crap! Brother Guang!" (Group-wide mute enabled.) ("Guang" has been appointed as a group admin.) Huh? He was made a dog admin now? Chu Guang was slightly surprised, but he didn't pay it much mind and continued typing. "First, regarding player characters and attributes: just as Brother Ample Time Ahead said, the game indeed has character attributes and levels, and every player's initial talent is different. This can be viewed at the respawn point—namely, the incubation pods where players wake up—or on the official website." "The death penalty isn't just a three-day resurrection cooldown and deducted contribution points; it will also cause the loss of some progress made since the last save. The method to save progress is to lie in an incubation pod for scanning and somatic cell sampling, which takes about one to two hours. This process occurs automatically after players log off." "We expect to implement a faster attribute check mechanic before the alpha phase so players can track their character's condition in real time and enrich gameplay." "As for customizing character appearance and gender... sorry, that cannot be done." "Just like how you can't choose how you're born, the bodies in the game are determined by pre-loaded DNA. If you're dissatisfied with your character's appearance, you can consider cosmetic surgery or even prosthetic augmentation later on; that feature will be added in future updates." "Additionally, starting from the Alpha testing phase, players will be able to set their inclinations across five attributes—Strength, Agility, Constitution, Perception, and Intelligence—via a questionnaire on the pre-registration page." "If you select Strength, there will be a higher probability of obtaining a Strength-type talent, and your initial character will possess higher Strength. If you have no preference, you can also choose a balanced type." "As for gender, character gender matches the player's real-life gender; players cannot freely configure it. This is primarily for safety reasons, as physiological differences cause coordination issues. At the same time, the risks of gender identity dysphoria and public controversy arising from this are not something we wish to undertake." In truth, Chu Guang hadn't set this up. It was the system's original configuration. It seemed to involve extremely complex technical hurdles. Chu Guang didn't understand the underlying principles; he only knew that was how it worked. Ample Time Ahead: "Holy shit! Don't do this to me! I'm an adult, I can sign a liability waiver! T.T" (Group admin "Ample Time Ahead" has been muted by the group owner for 10 minutes.) Fleeting White Horse: "Don't interrupt!" Gale Force 8: "Yeah, yeah!" Up Ten Times a Night: "Please, just shut up already." Chu Guang found it funny, but without derailing the conversation, he continued typing. "The above covers the conclusions reached in our recent meeting. In addition, for the next testing phase, we will be adding an 'Affinity' system." Up Ten Times a Night: "Affinity?! What does that mean? Can we romance NPCs?!" (Group admin "Up Ten Times a Night" has been muted by the group owner for 10 minutes.) Good grief. Old Bai was truly impartial, dropping the banhammer without a second word. It certainly saved Chu Guang quite a bit of time. Thickening his skin, Chu Guang typed on in dead earnest. "Stop thinking about romance all day. Affinity refers to an NPC's evaluation of a player." "Specifically, a player's actions will influence an NPC's opinion of them. For certain key NPCs in particular, when affinity is high enough, you can not only receive extra rewards, but potentially even trigger hidden quests and unlock hidden class paths!" Hidden quests! Hidden classes! Seeing those simple words, the four closed beta players in front of their screens widened their eyes in shock. A fire ignited in their hearts. Damn, this was practically encouraging them to become total bootlickers! However... They loved it! What was wrong with being a bootlicker? It wasn't like they were sucking up to real people! They were sucking up to NPCs, sucking up to artificial intelligence! Besides, sucking up came with massive benefits. Nothing shameful about that! Chu Guang pondered for a moment and found nothing else that needed adding. Right now, the shelter was too broke. As a commander without an army who had nothing except a bunch of free labor, all he could do was play the role of an online dog game planner and paint grand promises for the players. "Do you have any questions? Or areas you're concerned about?" Chu Guang wanted to see if the players had better ideas. He was an open-minded person. If conditions permitted, he could consider adopting them. If conditions didn't permit, he could also string them along first, telling them it would all be there in the future. Gale Force 8: "Yes! What exactly are those contribution points? Are they currency? Or are they like EXP? Score points?" As expected, someone asked about this. Chu Guang thought it over and typed back. "The game's economic system is still being designed. Our goal is to forge a completely authentic economic loop from production to circulation, allowing both lifestyle-class and combat-class players to fully enjoy the game." "As for contribution points, you can understand them as a special currency for the closed beta phase, primarily used to test the current quest system." "Beyond being used to purchase revival coins, our planning team is also considering introducing special rewards that can only be redeemed with contribution points as a gesture of appreciation for closed beta players." It was just more empty promises anyway. As for what rewards, Chu Guang hadn't decided yet; that would depend on what good stuff he could get from the system. Yet in the eyes of the players, this carried an entirely different meaning. Only redeemable with contribution points?! Which meant... Closed-beta exclusive rewards! The four players who had already secured closed beta slots grinned ear to ear. Those who had pre-registered on the official website but had yet to receive closed beta access felt an itch in their hearts as well. As for the group members who hadn't believed in a "fully immersive virtual reality game" from the beginning, they naturally wouldn't change their minds over a few words. Still. That didn't matter. As long as someone believed, it was enough. "It's getting late, and after working overtime all night, I need to get some sleep. Oh, right, 'Fang Chang,' your guide was written well. Why not post it on the official website? The website has opened its forum system now. You can post once you register an account, and if an admin sees a good post, they'll pin it as featured." This administrator was naturally Chu Guang himself. Right now, he was the sole member of the entire company, serving as an NPC, a dog planner, and a part-time forum moderator on the website. "OK! On it!" Having been unmuted, Fang Chang left that reply and instantly went to comb through the chat history. The group owner lifted the group-wide mute. Messages flooded the group like a burst dam. Chu Guang saw countless friend requests coming in: some wanted to butter him up for a closed beta slot, some wanted to pry for game intelligence, and some even intended to teach him how to develop games. Unable to reply to them all, he simply ignored every single one and logged off directly. Looking at the four diagnostic reports on the computer, Chu Guang had a sudden thought and asked, "Xiao Qi." "What is it, Master?" "Tell me... since players can use incubation pods, could I also take action through a clone in an incubation pod?" "Ummm... I don't know." "What the hell does 'I don't know' mean???" "Because I'm only your assistant. You know basically everything I know. There are no records in my database regarding an incubation pod for your use. Perhaps... the first-generation manager didn't design an incubation pod that could be used by you?" Chu Guang was about to ask why, but suddenly fell silent. Actually, the reasoning behind it wasn't hard to guess. Assuming this shelter could withstand strategic-grade nuclear strikes, there certainly couldn't be any means on this wasteland capable of forcefully breaching it. Even if something unfortunate happened to him, despite the high hopes placed upon him, it would merely mean the shelter would hibernate for another period, waiting for the arrival of the next manager. Seeing Chu Guang sink into silence, Xiao Qi chirped with concern. "Master?" "It's nothing." Snapping back to reality, Chu Guang looked back at the diagnostic reports on the monitor. Perhaps to make things easier for players to understand, or perhaps out of some quirky humor of the first-generation manager, over 120 complex physiological data points had been recompiled and condensed into five concise stats. Namely: Strength, Agility, Constitution, Perception, and Intelligence. Strength represented the power of muscles, bones, and other bodily tissues, governing the player's basic carrying capacity, melee damage, throwing weapon range, and so on. Agility corresponded to neural reflexes, linking to reaction speed, motor coordination, and various other physical metrics. In practice, players with higher agility were nimbler in combat and found it easier to dodge attacks actively. Constitution corresponded to the player's vitality and resilience, primarily reflected in recovery from health loss, as well as resistance and immunity to certain abnormal conditions. Intelligence was not equivalent to IQ or logical reasoning ability; it primarily affected a character's learning capacity and mental recovery rate, while also influencing compatibility with neural interface equipment. Specifically, high-intelligence characters could operate more neural interface devices simultaneously. Perception represented intuition and discernment. Characters with higher perception had sharper instincts regarding danger, and could more easily detect hidden clues and traps. It was also the most mysterious attribute of all! The baseline value for all attributes was 5, fluctuating within a range of ±2 depending on gene sequences and physical conditions. Although Chu Guang lacked a dedicated incubation pod of his own, he had found spare medical diagnostic equipment on B1 of the shelter. Just as he had guessed. He possessed a special gene sequence of his own, which could be detected by the diagnostic equipment. Regrettably, however, there was no relevant information on this gene sequence in the database; it was like an unplanned anomaly. To explain it in gaming terminology, this was a path that even the "game publisher" had never envisioned. And that meant nobody knew where following this path would eventually lead, or what results it would yield. Realizing this, a sliver of unease arose in Chu Guang's heart. Yet more than that, there was excitement. Perhaps the word "adventure" was etched into his very bones. Rather than following a path mapped out by someone else step by step, he preferred to forge his own way. Based on the diagnostic results and the attribute conversion formula left behind by the first-generation manager, Chu Guang constructed his own stat panel, and using it as a blueprint, made one for each of the four closed beta players. [ ID: Chu Guang Gene Sequence: Manager Level: LV.5 —Basic Attributes— Strength: 8 Agility: 6 Constitution: 6 Perception: 7 Intelligence: 6 ] "My five-dimensional stats are basically one tier higher than the players'." "Does Level 5 mean gene sequence development progress is at 5%? Seems the past five months weren't a complete waste after all." The development progress of the other four closed beta players was at 0. Though not entirely 0. For example, Fleeting White Horse. His gene sequence was "Strength type." Through frequent use of brute force—namely chopping trees—his development progress had grown by 0.3% in a single day, while the other three closed beta players had only grown by around 0.1%. If he kept chopping trees for the next two days, Old Bai might become the first player to break past Level 0 and advance to LV.1. At this thought, Chu Guang made up his mind. Indeed, he had to put them to work even harder. It was for their own good, after all!