Starting Open Beta Life from Level 0!

"Welcome to Shelter 404." "I am the Administrator here." "Code name—Dawn." In the virtual world of Universe Beta, inside a metallic hall, a solemn, steady voice echoed above the heads of the true players, ringing like church bells. Tens of thousands of open-beta testers packed the football-field-sized hall to bursting. Long strings of IDs overlapped and stacked atop one another in passageways, elevators, and other transit areas where collision volume was disabled! If a player standing in the square didn't toggle off ID display, they couldn't even read the subtitles clearly. And this was only one of over a hundred completely packed server instances! With production capacity ramping up for the true gaming helmets and hardware prices dropping further, the sheer scale of the crowds held the potential to swell even more. Meeting pair after pair of excited, thrilled eyes, an azure set of power armor took measured, steady strides forward, coming to a halt before the crowd filling the hall. The sharp, chiseled facial contours resembled an unsheathed blade, and the resolute features and brow radiated an innate, commanding dignity and authority. Yet long before that imposing figure entered their sight, the players in the hall had already been stunned by the realistic lighting and deeply immersive experience. It was Ideal City's technology, after all. Although the shut-ins of Endpoint Cloud had long grown bored of virtual reality MMOs focused on a "Second Life"—turning instead to simpler novelties and pure fun—for the old-era residents of Universe Beta, this was their very first time experiencing such otherworldly immersion, feeling as if they had actually transmigrated to an alternate universe! To sum it up in a sentence: This lighting! This floor! These walls! And this Ah Guang! It was utterly mind-blowing!!! Everyone held their breath, overcome with excitement. The genuine noobs were still rooted in place, but the fake noobs had already lunged forward, trying to peel the hunk of iron off the Administrator. Only, they ended up tackling empty air, making intimate contact face-first with the floor. Get Rich Quick Small Eyes: "Holy crap!!" Blackened Tyrannosaurus Warrior: "What a scam!" WC No Mosquito: "Fuck! What happened to ninety-nine percent realism?! This isn't realistic at all!!!" WC No Mosquito: "@#%#!" A clamor of grumbling and whining broke out before the Administrator, while all sorts of player models phased through and overlapped with one another. A sort of "domain" seemed to envelop important NPCs; any player stepping into the domain had their collision volume disabled, stacking on top of each other like phased ghosts. The radius of this domain appeared to expand as the density of nearby players increased. While it diluted the game's realism to a degree and curtailed certain clownish antics, it also effectively prevented essential NPCs from getting blocked and stopping players from picking up quests. If someone truly wanted a one-hundred-percent realistic experience, their only option would probably be crossing physically into Universe Alpha. Standing at the fringes of the crowd, Ye Shi crossed his arms and stared at Ah Guang for a long while, unable to shake a nagging sense of uncanny dissonance. It wasn't because the guy had secretly modified his facial model, but because those eyes lacked a soul. How to put it? It felt as if the "domineering ruler aura" was stealing a bit too much of the spotlight. Word had it that the open beta's game data had been outsourced to a company in Ideal City. Perhaps distance really did lend enchantment to the view, because those folks seemed to hold some bizarrely exaggerated impression of the Administrator. Besides that... "Wait a second. Didn't he only get that power armor after Shelter 117 was unlocked?! Why does he have it slapped on already?" "And isn't this hall way too spacious?! The hall in Shelter 404 was never this huge!" "Haha, it's just a game, don't sweat the small stuff," Lao Bai laughed, clapping the grumbling Ye Shi on the shoulder. "As long as the newcomers have fun, that's what counts." Pioneering in the Alpha version had been far too grueling. If they truly had to start from scratch again, let alone these greenhorns, even he wasn't sure he could endure it. Incidentally, both of their nicknames on the open beta server were abbreviations of their closed-beta handles. Because closed-beta players would make cameo appearances as NPCs across certain storylines and dungeons on the open beta server, their closed-beta handles were reserved by default in the open beta, unavailable even to the closed-beta veterans themselves. To quote Shelter Technology's CEO, Dr. Yuan Li: "You are also part of the gaming experience." Though a bit unfair, the thought that their clones were perpetually out there flexing and acting badass on their behalf felt surprisingly neat. Want your clone to get more screen time in the open beta? Then give it your all on the closed-beta server! Even if you didn't do anything earth-shattering and merely hauled bricks diligently on a construction site, your clone would be projected right onto an open-beta construction site! Or... Reverse effort worked too. For instance, in Dawn City's "Player Prison," two permanent NPCs labeled as players spent their days trading crude gestures and spitting at each other across their cells. Red-name players jailed after losing a PK duel could interact with those two clowns to trigger a "sentence-reduction minigame." In any case, despite various shortcomings, the long-awaited open beta had finally launched! And... This was a game created by everyone together. Not just by the trash dev alone. While Ye Shi and Lao Bai were talking, shouts of "Skip!", "Skip cutscene!", and "Hurry up already!" were already echoing across the square. Upon realizing the cutscene was skippable, the rookies had no desire to sit through Brother Guang's droning. One after another, they equipped the VMs that materialized out of thin air and scrambled impatiently toward the elevators. That was the entrance leading to Level B1. There was no need to wait for elevators on the open beta server. The instant a player stepped through the elevator doors, they automatically entered an instanced zone. Inside an elevator "visible only to themselves and their guide NPC," they rode up toward a "purely fictional Level B1 overrun by marauders and mutants." This dungeon prohibited partying and incurred no EXP loss upon death; it served as the beginner tutorial. Inside, players received their very first weapon in the game—a crowbar with 5 blunt damage—and triggered the inaugural quest of their gaming career: reclaim the fallen shelter entrance from marauders. Once the dungeon was cleared, they could freely access Level B1 in the overworld. Throughout the quest, players followed their guide NPC to learn mechanics such as stealth, lockpicking, and scavenging, and picked up weapons dropped by marauders to familiarize themselves with melee weapons, firearms, and smart equipment. Here lay the biggest difference between the open beta and the closed beta: players were not locked into a single gene sequence. Based on custom stat distributions and initial racial traits, they could combine classes such as Brawler, Commando, Engineer, Hacker, Assassin, and Psionicist to forge their own playstyle. Whether it was a popsicle cyber-summoner skilled with drones, a mutant thug charging with a nuclear warhead strapped to their back, a wasteland engineer rocking DIY exoskeletons, a lizardman rifleman spraying lead, or a Gaian wielding supercharged superpowers, all of it was possible in the open beta. In a way, the degree of freedom in the open beta seemed an order of magnitude higher than in the closed beta; even mutants were no longer ultra-rare draws requiring godlike RNG, available to anyone who ticked the disclaimer agreement. After all, this was an actual video game world. As long as the code permitted it, you could fool around however you liked. "I think I'll try superpowers this time... What about you? Decided on a build yet?" Watching the flashes of light flicker and vanish by the elevator doors, Ye Shi spoke with eager anticipation. Lao Bai grinned. "I'll see when the time comes. Class selection isn't until level five anyway." Clearing the first dungeon would only get him to level three at most, so he planned to sample how every class played before making a choice. Unlike the players busy rushing progression and competing for server-first achievements, he had already tasted what it was like to be top-tier in the closed beta. He had no interest in chasing server firsts anymore. Here, he just wanted to be a casual player, popping back in whenever nostalgia struck to look around and chat with those who had already passed on from Universe Alpha. "Fair enough, see you in a bit!" Understanding Lao Bai's mindset, Ye Shi said no more. He eagerly stepped into the elevator, dissolving into flashing light as he teleported into the instanced world. Lao Bai followed suit. The moment he stepped inside, a soldier clad in a Type 5 exoskeleton was already waiting there. The man held a G9 assault rifle at the ready with proper posture, looking remarkably legit, as though the shelter truly faced some dire crisis. Yet any genuine veteran knew Level B1 was tiny. Unless the elevator broke down, even if marauders somehow broke in, they'd simply be trapped inside like rats in a barrel and exterminated. The open beta, however, was another story entirely. These ridiculously overpowered marauders had not only gratuitously released a swarm of mutant cockroaches (neutral mobs) onto the shelter's first level, but also possessed an overpowered hacker (level 10 elite mob) who could seize control of Level B1 yet only used it for petty shenanigans. Small wonder the NPC soldier wore an expression of facing a mortal foe, even while wielding an Ideal City-exclusive assault rifle. "Listen up, rookie. Our objective is Level B1's data center. If we want to regain control of Level B1, we have to secure that place first... Take this crowbar, you'll need it shortly. And remember, stay close!" The man barked orders with meticulous precision, thrusting out a crowbar. Hearing that familiar voice, Lao Bai froze. Then he looked at the stern face. And the instant he saw that face, he nearly choked on his own spit. Holy shit— Isn't this me?! Or more accurately, the guy was literally his closed-beta character—"Fleeting White Horse." Yet the NPC standing in the elevator seemed wholly unaware that his original self was standing right before his eyes. Just as Shelter Technology's CEO, Dr. Yuan Li, had stated on the official website, the NPCs on the open beta server were merely NPCs, possessing only limited intelligence. Lao Bai figured that if he didn't take the crowbar from his hands, this ascending elevator would probably fly right out of the solar system without stopping. Chuckling wryly, he reached out and took the crowbar. "Understood..." The moment his fingers touched the crowbar, a pale-blue floating window popped up before him: [Acquired Item: Crowbar Durability: 100/100 Damage Type: Blunt Damage Value: 5 + x (Strength multiplier 0.2 + Constitution multiplier 0.15 + Agility multiplier 0.05) Special Effect: Triggers a "Lockpick" check when performing lockpicking. If damage exceeds the defense rating, consumes 20 durability to dismantle "locked doors."] Even a crowbar had this much detail? In plain English, it could break down five doors at most, right? Looking down at the crowbar in his hand, Lao Bai didn't even know where to begin roasting it. Almost the moment he finished reading the item description, the elevator, which had been traveling for who knew how many minutes, finally came to a steady halt at Level B1. "Follow me." Fleeting White Horse wasted no breath. The instant the doors opened, he charged smoothly into the corridor ahead. A marauder smoking with his back turned to the elevator was deaf to the world, completely oblivious to the elevator's arrival. Fleeting White Horse strode up and swiftly dispatched him with a clean backstab-and-throat-slit combo. The spurting blood was remarkably lifelike, well worth the Realism Booster shared by Mosquito, which he had routed through an account registered on a South Seas island called Beta Island. He suddenly wondered what would spurt out without the booster enabled. Slime? "One down... Grab his weapon, but don't open fire yet. We have to reclaim the Level B1 controller first." Fleeting White Horse spoke calmly as he flicked the blood off his dagger, smooth as an unfeeling hitman. The marauders in a nearby room were practically blind and deaf, totally oblivious that their comrade had been killed, sitting around a fire pit burning who-knew-what, laughing and playing poker. Amused and curious to see how his alternate self would perform, Lao Bai refrained from creating extra trouble. After looting the iron pipe rifle, iron dagger, and 50 Y-coins off the dead marauder, he followed behind his other self with an odd expression, diligently sneaking, looting corpses, and picking locks as instructed. According to info shared by other open-beta players on the forums, simply following this routine would clear the tutorial in no time. If a player deviated from the script and wandered off, they'd simply get mobbed and pummeled into the dirt by marauders, forcing a reload right back to when they stepped out of the elevator. The moment Lao Bai pried open the data center's iron door, shrill alarms wailed across Level B1, and alerted marauders and mutants swarmed in like angry hornets. "Hurry! Plug the hard drive into the server!" Fleeting White Horse bellowed, tossing a hard drive against Lao Bai's chest before propping his rifle at the doorway and opening fire outside. For an ordinary person born in an era of peace who had never experienced an actual battlefield, such an intense, thrilling firefight might well have set their blood pumping. Especially since one second they were sneaking around, and the next, a furious firefight erupted! Yet as the man's original self, Lao Bai had fought in more battles, large and small, than he could count. There was no way a few gunshots could spike his adrenaline. Besides, against a meager handful of filler marauders like these, back in the closed beta he wouldn't even have bothered sneaking—he could have carved straight through them with a single dagger. Out of respect for his other self's hard work, Lao Bai followed the quest prompts and inserted the flash drive into the designated server slot. Accompanied by a hum of electrical current, the steadily humming server rack seemed to ignite a hidden magic circle, exerting an instantaneous, sweeping influence across Level B1. The blaring alarms cut out immediately. The automated defenses deployed throughout Level B1 spun to life at that very moment, joining the fray! A despairing wail drifted from the distance—seemingly from the level 10 elite mob working for the marauders. "No! Impossible! My control was overridden!" Following that came what sounded like the boss's furious roar: "You idiot! What good are you?!" Hearing the curses and wails in the distance, Lao Bai couldn't help roasting them in his head. If you knew the data center was so damn important, why'd you only leave two grunts guarding it? Then again, poking fun at that was rather pointless. After all, no matter how rigorous the worldbuilding was, sacrificing entertainment value defeated the whole purpose. Objectively speaking, the beginner tutorial dungeon was quite well done. "Follow me!" Fleeting White Horse roared from the doorway, taking the lead and charging out rifle in hand. The incoming hail of bullets washed over him like bathwater, failing to shave off even a sliver of his health bar. It must have been tough for the guy to hold back until now. Seeing that the counterattack had finally begun, Lao Bai didn't hold back either. Leveling the iron pipe rifle scavenged from the marauder, he charged forth, picking off every marauder along the way with maximum ammo efficiency using five-times headshot damage. Including that level 10 Hacker-class elite mob. After destroying the five level 3 assault rifle-mounted drones controlled by the hacker, Fleeting White Horse dropped him with a single shot. Lao Bai looted a U-shaped-pillow-like drone controller from the corpse. Before he could even open his holographic menu, Fleeting White Horse, reloading nearby with a cool expression, spoke to him. "Remember to collect those drones. Fix 'em up, and you might be able to use them." This was probably Hacker gear. "Roger that." Lao Bai replied casually and followed his other self's advice, picking up the drone wreckage from the floor. Unlike the closed beta, looting items on the open beta server automatically stored them in virtual space, displaying them as thumbnails in a holographic inventory. Naturally, this applied only to lootable items. Non-lootable objects could be moved, but had to be carried by hand just like in the closed beta. While he scavenged scrap, Fleeting White Horse babbled about survival tips on the wasteland. For example, scavenged junk could be sold for cash or dismantled into components. The reclaimed parts could craft gear, repair equipment, or even build a personal homestead. The territory concept proposed back in the closed beta hadn't gained widespread traction for various reasons, but it seemed to have been implemented here. Players could build their own shelters in any wilderness outside safe zones, though the constructed shelters were visible only to themselves and invited guests. The mechanic functioned similarly to an instanced area seamlessly tied to the main map, where players could place teleport waypoints, pets, NPC companions, or flavor servants and followers. After clearing up the battlefield debris, Lao Bai continued forward with his alternate self and soon triggered the expected boss battle. A massive marauder stepped onto the stage. He was clad in absurdly bulky steel plate armor, his bulging muscles resembling those of a mutant. At first, Lao Bai only thought the guy looked familiar, but when the giant drew a rusty hunting shotgun, his identity clicked in an instant. This was none other than the chieftain of the Bloodhand Clan—"Bear," the one one-shotted with a hammer by the Administrator. To think the poor guy had been dragged out to be flogged once more in the open beta. Lao Bai didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he put up at least thirty percent effort to fight. Coordinating with Fleeting White Horse—who, despite having full health, skirted the edges of the arena to deal chip damage—Lao Bai kited the boss through several rotations to create an opening against the weak points, then surged forward at his guide's shouted cue to deliver the fatal finishing blow to Bear. At that exact moment, a translucent holographic popup materialized before his eyes, accompanied by an uplifting, victorious victory theme. [Congratulations, Player! You have reached Level 3!] Standing in the center of the Level B1 hall like a hero on a stage, a beam of bright light cascaded over his shoulders. "Congratulations! You defeated the enemies who invaded our home and halted a barbaric incursion! Though this is only the beginning..." Fleeting White Horse stepped up to him, his face lit with a bright, triumphant smile. Lao Bai smiled back at that familiar face and gave a gentle nod. "Yeah." Though conveyed in a way he had never imagined, he felt that what needed to be passed on had indeed been delivered. The dust lingering on the floor quietly dispersed, and the once-derelict Level B1 shelter imperceptibly returned to its clean, tidy state. As if time had moved on. By the time Lao Bai looked down, a gleaming medal had already pinned itself to his chest. It bore the number 404. And beneath the digits ran an inscription: [Exclusive to Closed-Beta Players: Thank you for your dedication.] Come to think of it, when he first entered the game he had wondered where the promised closed-beta reward had gone. Who knew it would appear here? How to put it? This gesture of sincerity arrived at just the right moment. Following behind the beginner guide named Fleeting White Horse, he walked through the circular archway, stepped onto the elevator, and rode up to the exterior of the shelter. The familiar plaza greeted his eyes. The scene of rebuilding from ruins was identical to the very start of the closed beta... From Xiao Yu diligently tallying ledgers behind the "Bank" counter, to Boss Xia yawning behind the weapon counter while tossing out impatient, tsundere remarks, to the countless wastelanders facing a world "steeped in despair yet flickering with sparks of hope." Some lived one day at a time, some had given up struggling, and others refused to yield and longed to do something, yet felt powerless... Yet no matter who they were, those emerging from the shelter had never abandoned or given up on them. "This is our settlement, the place where everything began... From here we set forth, marching on toward a new era." "Welcome to our world." That seemed to be the closing monologue. When Lao Bai turned around, the smiling Fleeting White Horse who had guided him out of the shelter was already gone. The once-empty plaza had filled at some point with all sorts of players. Some bustled around the settlement entrance; some tried crawling under Boss Xia's counter only to hit an invisible collision wall; others stood in the middle of the square trying in vain to rip off their unremovable undergarments. Shouts and hawking from the stall area in the distance rang out continuously, just like back in the closed beta. "Level 5 Brawler LFG! Leech Cave farming!" "Any caravans heading to Boulder City? Big bros, carry me, please!!" "Holy cow! You've already unlocked the map all the way to Boulder City?! I'm still wandering around Bet Street." "Too insane!!!" "I've got a Level 10 Intelligence-type orange item here! Drone expansion slot! Whales, PM me fast if interested!" "Holy shit? Orange drops in the early game? Bro, where did it drop?" "Right by the lakeside where split-claw crabs spawn!" "Does water-damaged Intelligence gear still work?" "It works, it works! Forget water—it'd work even if soaked in piss!" "Waaah, my Xiao Yu! Why aren't you talking to me?!" "You must've tanked your favorability, right? I think there are items to grind back to Friendly... What the hell? Disgusted? How the fuck did you hit negative one hundred?!" "Heheheh..." "Where are the guards?! There's a creep over here!" "Fuck! Don't call the cops on me! The i-invisible wall blocked me, I couldn't do a thing, alright?!" "Looking for game CP, hit me up!" "Are~ there~ any~ big~ bros~ willing~ to~ carry~ a~ cute~ girl—" "Bro, turn off the voice changer. It's cringe." "Fuck off, lmao, u mad? Idiot." "???" Listening to the chaotic babble in the square, Lao Bai rubbed his temples and toggled off Nearby Stranger Voice Chat, finally feeling a bit of relief. Maybe... the closed-beta server was more normal after all. With over thirty million players pouring in worldwide, a few weirdos were bound to slip into the mix. Even so, compared to the utter bedlam on the global chats of certain other games, the antics here weren't even that absurd. At that moment, Ye Shi, who had already swapped into a full set of new gear, strolled over and greeted him with a grin. "I've been waiting for ages! What took you so long?" Lao Bai looked at Ye Shi and was surprised to see he was already level 5. "I wanted to experience the full tutorial, so it took a while... How'd you get out so fast anyway?" "Didn't you read the forum guide? Once you plug in the flash drive, you can speedrun it. You don't have to follow the tutorial step by step to the end... Oh yeah, did you notice? That beginner guide had the exact same model as your closed-beta character, hahaha!" Seeing Ye Shi grinning like an idiot, Lao Bai pulled a helpless face. "I noticed... Even though they made me look a bit goofy, I guess it passes. By the way, where's Fang Chang?" Ye Shi gave a wry shrug. "Him? He hired a few familiar gold-farming mercenary groups to escort him to Boulder City." Lao Bai stared at him, dumbfounded. "There are gold-farming groups already?" Ye Shi scratched the back of his head. "Uh... It's less that this game has gold-farming groups, and more like studios from all around the world rushed in." The frenzy over silver coins had been plain for the entire world to see, reaching such extreme heights that African tribal chiefs had loaded people into trucks to reserve spots at internet cafes one by one, where a single successful reservation had an entire village celebrating. While Y-coins couldn't compare to silver coins, the sheer volume of global players was staggering. And considering that the open beta server was the reserve pool for the closed beta, the potential of Y-coins was not to be underestimated. Predictably, the open beta's economic system would weather a massive tsunami. Before emotionless gold-farming machines, activities like scavenging would likely face an immediate collapse in profitability right after launch. Imagining a scene where players fought tooth and nail over a single mob, Lao Bai couldn't help sweating on Dr. Yuan Li's behalf. "That's going to be a disaster..." Unlike Lao Bai, Ye Shi chuckled with the look of someone waiting for a good show. "Haha, who knows? Don't forget, the house is Brother Guang. Try to harvest Brother Guang's leeks? He'll flay the skin right off you!" From what he knew of Brother Guang, as long as borderline gaming behavior didn't break explicit rules, Brother Guang usually turned a blind eye, leaving it alone whenever possible. But if some knucklehead thought Brother Guang was too weak to swing his blade and tried challenging authority beyond the rules— they'd quickly realize that order never dropped from the sky; people had to establish it. "Maybe. But since this is a server meant for entertainment, knowing Ah Guang, he probably won't be that serious about it." Lao Bai smiled, then looked at Ye Shi. "Speaking of which, what about you? Aren't you going to the Wandering Marsh to find your little girlfriend?" Ye Shi curled his lip, feigning indifference. "Tsk, I really did plan on it at first, but on second thought, there's no need. In the open beta, the Wandering Marsh is a Level 60 map, three times higher than the closed beta... We'll talk once someone actually hits Level 30." That was what he said, but he was actually waiting on updates from Fang Chang. From his observations of the open beta server, NPCs in safe zones fell roughly into two categories. One was story-type NPCs—no health bars, either phased like the Administrator or shielded behind invisible protective barriers. This kind of NPC capped at 60 favorability, triggering quests or granting skills at best, and nothing more. The other was passerby-type NPCs—possessing health bars and no barrier protection, but any malicious contact was flagged as combat. Starting a fight in a safe zone was an instant red-name offense, usually resulting in being one-shot by level 100 guards. This type of NPC had no favorability cap. Surpassing 120 made them sworn brothers or sisters whom players could take out to fight mobs, and going past 150 along with completing dating quests unlocked even more intimate relationships. Generally speaking, once an NPC was successfully romanced, they would move from the settlement to the player's stronghold, and their original spot would be filled by a newly spawned NPC, preventing any gut-wrenching drama. As for whether what followed faded to black or showed actual visuals, that depended on which regional publisher the player was paired with and whether their registration showed they were over eighteen. Theoretically, having participated in the Alliance's historical journey, Dolly would be implemented into the game code just like Boss Xia, though she'd likely appear as a story-type NPC in safe zones and specific dungeons. By that logic, Xuezhou should be the same... So he didn't really have anything to worry about, did he? Then again, it was just an NPC on the open beta server, not the real person. There was zero reason to worry in the first place! Watching Ye Shi fret internally, Lao Bai laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Knowing Brother Guang, he wouldn't pull anything distasteful." Ye Shi threw his hands up. "Let's hope so. Don't let his usual smiling face fool you—cut him open and he's black to the core." Five years! Five whole years pretending to be an NPC! It was a miracle that black-bellied bastard could keep it up for so long! The words had barely left his mouth when a warm, broad palm lightly patted his shoulder, followed by that familiar, long-missed voice teasing from behind him: "Aren't you afraid your Brother Guang might hear that?" A violent shiver ran down Ye Shi's spine, and he whipped around with a whoosh. When he saw that handsome smile, as warm as the morning sun, he nearly felt like a ghost exposed to sunlight—scared so bad he almost disconnected on the spot. "Holy shit?!" "Ah Guang?!"