Official Website Forum.
Xiao Xiao Xiao Bookworm: "Hahahaha! Sweet, I pulled a second prize! An LD-47 Scythe assault rifle!"
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "I got a second prize too! Wait, the Panzerfaust rocket launcher is single-use, right? Holy crap! What a ripoff!"
Ye Shi: "Motherf*cker! Why does everyone else have such good luck? I opened two advanced gift boxes in a row and hit the bottom-tier guarantee on both—one crappy Decurion pistol and one Legion-exclusive 'Ripper' pipe gun... This crap isn't even as good as the 7mm stuff from Boulder City! What rotten luck! Pure garbage!"
Makka Pakka: "LMAO, certified African Chief!"
Ye Shi: "A red dot! F*ck yes, my intermediate gift box gave me a red dot sight! Hahahaha!"
Makka Pakka: "%¥@#!"
Less than ten minutes after the gift box exchange announcement went live, the refresh rate of posts on the official website had more than doubled.
Some showed off their box rewards, some flexed their event points, some cursed the skies in fury, and some were even livestreaming themselves washing their faces and hands to cleanse their bad luck.
The entire forum was in an absolute frenzy!
The reward pool for this expansion's box opening could be described as genuinely generous.
The grand prize was actually an orange-yellow exoskeleton!
According to the stat panel, both its load capacity and battery life far exceeded the KV-1 that the Administrator had previously used, and its power source was the pinnacle of chemical-powered cells: a metallic hydrogen battery!
In the game's lore, this type of battery was already quasi-Tier 1 technology, far superior to the background setting's polymeric azide batteries and solid-state hydrogen batteries!
Even though it was called the Miner Type I, that hardly mattered.
Slip into it, and a muscle-bound Strength-type meathead would become an absolute juggernaut, while an Intelligence-type pretty boy could instantly transform into a super soldier.
Because it relied on kinetic sensors rather than neural links, the gear had zero stat requirements—in other words, it was god-tier equipment with no level requirement!
As the grand prize of this lucky draw, it could drop from both advanced and intermediate gift boxes, though the drop rate was 1% for the former and a mere 0.1% for the latter.
Besides the grand prize, the advanced gift box's first-place rewards also included the Enterprise standard-issue weapon: the "Black Swan" G9 assault rifle.
A compact barrel and receiver, modular accessories, a folding stock, and built-in digital gray urban camouflage... everything was purpose-built for urban combat.
Its 7mm ammunition was devastatingly effective against humans and mutants alike. Better yet, beyond switching between full-auto and semi-auto, its rate of fire in full-auto mode could be toggled across three settings: 60, 200, and 700 rounds per minute.
Crank it to the max setting, and the assault rifle turned into a submachine gun in an instant!
During the previous battle against the Legion, Chu Guang had procured twenty Black Swans and thirty-one red dot sights from the Pioneer.
After the fighting stopped, they had been occupied with funeral services, and Li De felt awkward asking for them back. Naturally, Chu Guang wasn't going to bring it up either, so the matter had simply been shelved.
In this event's prize pool, Chu Guang had placed a total of ten Black Swans in the advanced gift boxes, and ten red dot sights in the intermediate ones.
As for the rest, they were priced at 500 silver and 233 silver respectively, put on the shelves of the weapons shop to sell gradually.
Guns like this were fun for a spin, but the ammunition was simply too expensive.
The ammo provided by the wealthy Enterprise for the Black Swan G9 used propellants laced with X-4 fibers, which according to engineering specifications could theoretically achieve a detonation velocity 133% of conventional smokeless powder.
Although Chu Guang had scavenged a decent amount of X-4 fiber from the carbon dioxide scrubber, building a dedicated production line for just twenty rifles was out of the question—after all, very few receivers and barrels could withstand that kind of chamber pressure. In the end, they would most likely end up making knockoffs using conventional smokeless powder, which certainly wouldn't pack the punch of the original ammunition.
But did that matter to the players?
Obviously not!
When it comes to guns in a game, looking cool is all that counts!
The Black Swan undoubtedly fit the bill. Just looking at its sleek design made it obvious it was a weapon for the blessed, and pulling one would be an insane jackpot!
The drop rate for the exoskeleton was absurd, but the Black Swan's odds were actually within the realm of possibility. Almost every player trading for the advanced blind boxes had their eyes on it.
Chu Guang glanced over the backend of the official website.
In just ten short minutes, the entire server had opened over two hundred advanced gift boxes and nearly a thousand intermediate ones. The line between the blessed and the cursed was instantly drawn.
Three lucky little players had pulled a Black Swan, while five lucky souls had unboxed a red dot sight from the intermediate boxes.
Nearly every one of them posted an "acceptance speech" on the forum, and the replies below were uniformly green with envy.
Sleepwalking Follower: "Damn it, rigged! It's completely rigged!"
Kevin with Broken Legs: "So rigged, this is pure robbery! Why didn't I get one?! I don't care, the devs are playing favorites unless they give me one too!"
Mole on the Run from the Canyon: "Rigged my ass! All you guys do is scream 'rigged'! Getting god-tier gear without having to whale tens of thousands to hit VIP 10—where else have you ever seen such a generous publisher?"
Mid-Lane Sniper God Director Qi: "Waaaah, Dev Daddy, please, I beg you, give me one too!"
Among the first three first-prize winners, Chu Guang was surprised to see a familiar ID.
It was Brother Mole.
That guy had written a "field test review" after taking one to the battlefield, and now he'd actually pulled one for real?
Still, whoever got it didn't really matter.
What mattered was that in just ten short minutes, Chu Guang had drained half the server's event points.
Having opened their boxes, the players were either showing off their loot on the forum or seething with jealousy in the threads of the lucky few.
Traffic on the website surged, players got their thrill, and more armchair gamers and casual netizens hit pre-registration out of sheer envy. Chu Guang couldn't even count how many wins this racked up.
Bottom line: he was winning so hard it was almost numbing!
Elven King Fugui: "Damn it! Why can't we spend real money in this trash game?!"
Battlefield Hype Group: "Exactly! I strongly suggest the devs open up recharge options! I'd whale my way to VIP 10 right this second!"
Makka Pakka: "Not being able to buy event points with real cash makes no sense. The devs need to take notes from the Goose Factory! Even though it's in closed beta, as long as there's no data wipe, monetization is totally viable!"
Yaya: "Yeah, yeah! At least patch the bug where we can't spend money! And it'd be even better if you released some pretty clothes. QAQ"
Tengteng: "! Are my clothes not pretty enough?! Σ(゜ロ゜;)"
Ye Shi: "Lady Yaya speaks the truth! (funny face)"
Elaina: "+1! Unconditional support for her. (funny face)"
Looking at the goofballs on the official forum, Chu Guang chuckled.
Just as he was about to post some comforting words for the unlucky players who had burned through all their points, a new thread popped up out of nowhere.
Commander Spring: "Hahaha, the exoskeleton! Hahahaha! Yours truly f*cking pulled it!!!"
Ye Shi: "!"
Elaina: "!!"
Fang Chang: "???"
Replies flooded the thread instantly, piling over a hundred comments high in less than a minute.
A horde of players shouted that they didn't believe it.
Before long, however, the little player named Commander Spring posted a screenshot of his reward history, accompanied by a giant 1080p funny face emote.
The level of smug mockery was turned all the way up to eleven!
"Damn it! Kill this lucky bastard!"
"I'm crying! Why don't I have one?! It's rigged! Must be an alt account of the devs!"
"Boss, you selling? I'll offer 2,500 silver!"
"I'll pay 3,000!"
"5,000!"
The bids grew more and more outrageous.
Unable to take the nonsense anymore, Commander Spring jumped in to reply: "Get lost, all of you! Stop bragging—do any of you even have that kind of cash? Not selling, no way! Even for ten thousand silver, I wouldn't sell!"
Five thousand silver was definitely an exaggeration.
Even if an exoskeleton won from the draw wasn't bound and qualified as "no level requirement" gear in MMORPG terms, it was unlikely to fetch double its original price.
After all, Wasteland OL didn't allow alt accounts, and major guilds hadn't set up shop yet, so there was no pooling an entire guild's wealth to feed a single account.
A multiplier of 1.1 to 1.5 was more realistic.
Unless the open beta arrived and big guilds moved in—then the sky would be the limit.
It wasn't just inside the thread.
Across the entire forum outside, jealousy and envy were running wild.
Chu Guang, who had originally intended to comfort the unlucky players, felt awkward about chiming in after seeing all the players screaming about things being rigged.
He decided to just pretend he hadn't seen anything.
In short, this obscure ID that couldn't even be found anywhere in the Tier 3 bracket suddenly blew up across the entire forum.
To be honest, Commander Spring was in a daze himself. The instant he saw the winning notification, he felt weightless, floating on air.
It was like living in a dream.
With an exoskeleton, if used well, pushing from Tier 3 straight into Tier 2 would be a breeze; with enough effort, he might even reach Tier 1.
Without hesitation, he logged into the game.
He rushed to Boss Xia's weapons shop and, right before closing time, collected the divine equipment countless players dreamed of—
The Miner Type I exoskeleton!
Its bright orange paint job and goofy name did nothing to diminish its sheer coolness. In fact, if anything, they made it feel even more like a "protagonist-exclusive kit."
As everyone knew, the protagonists of mecha anime always piloted training units, and training units were almost always mustard yellow.
Stars danced in Commander Spring's eyes as he marveled at the gear, unable to put it down.
Could it be that he was the legendary chosen one?
The main character of an MMORPG web novel?
His luck was just insane!
...
Ox and Horse Club.
Ye Shi, who had been chatting up a storm on the forum, stormed in like a whirlwind.
"I just logged back in specifically to check—the weapons shop actually sells the Miner Type I exoskeleton! But stock is limited to just nine units!"
Fang Chang: "How much??"
Ye Shi: "Two thousand silver coins apiece. A hundred event points can get you a ten-percent-off coupon."
Kuang Feng: "..."
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Motherf*cker! Is the ten percent coupon what I'm missing?!"
Ye Shi: "Heh, you couldn't buy it even if you wanted to. The exoskeletons bought from the weapons shop have restrictions: your contribution rank has to be Citizen, and your character level has to be Lv10! On top of that, it's bound by default once purchased—no trading with other players, only selling back to the NPC shop."
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "F*ck! I'm only Lv6!"
Fang Chang: "Right now, Old Bai has the highest level on the server. Over the next few days, we should focus on clearing the 'greenhouse ruins' and try to beat it in one go to see if we can push our levels up."
Strength-types, who had a greater inclination toward physical enhancement, leveled up a bit faster; whether chopping wood or hauling bricks, they steadily filled their progress bars.
Therefore, even within the same team, where everyone normally ground levels together, Old Bai's leveling speed outpaced the rest.
After Strength-types came Constitution-types serving as tanks, Perception-types serving as scouts, and Agility-types acting as primary damage dealers.
As for Intelligence-types, unless they had neural-link equipment, they were essentially along for the ride, tagging along behind Agility-types to chip in whatever token damage they could.
Kuang Feng: "What about the lucky draw? Is the one from the draw bound?"
Ye Shi: "I just DM'd that Spring guy. Looks like it isn't."
Fang Chang: "Sigh, I envy the lucky bastards. Damn it, I opened three advanced blind boxes and all of them were garbage."
Kuang Feng: "Same here... That Decurion pistol even uses 10mm ammo. I haven't even seen that caliber in the weapons shop."
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "You guys pulled that junk too? Hahahaha, me too! But don't worry, brothers, stay calm! If the NPC shop doesn't have it, we'll make it ourselves! When I get home from work tonight, I'll figure out how to manufacture it!"
Ye Shi: "Counting on you! (funny face)"
Kuang Feng: "Speaking of which, Old Bai, what did you get?"
Old Bai: "Ahem... what was it called again, the Black Swan? Anyway, it looks pretty slick, just not sure if it's any good. (grin)"
The group chat fell silent for a moment.
Nobody said a word for quite a while.
Kuang Feng: "..."
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "..."
Fang Chang: "Looks like an undercover lucky bastard infiltrated our group."
Ye Shi: "+1, let's kick him."
Old Bai: "???"
...
The lucky draw event ran from evening in wasteland time all the way until midnight.
In reality, this happened to be noon.
As the players' event points were completely exhausted, the official website closed the event link, replacing it with an announcement of the lucky winners.
Of course, players could choose to remain anonymous, but not a single person did.
They won this fair and square with their own luck—why hide it?
We're all blessed, be proud!
After the rewards were published, Chu Guang also took a quick look at what he had handed out.
First were the first prizes: a total of nine Black Swans and eight red dot sights had been distributed.
Second prizes saw twenty-seven "Scythe" LD-47s and forty-nine pipe scopes given out.
Third prizes and consolation prizes weren't worth mentioning—all just junk scavenged from the battlefield.
The standard weapon of the clone light infantry—the "Ripper" pipe rifle—only sounded intimidating by name; in reality, it was just a 7mm bolt-action gun.
As for why it was called the Ripper, it was probably due to its long bayonet, which would come in handy during a charge.
Priced at 100 silver in the shop, it wasn't a bad starter piece for newcomers.
Sitting before the computer in the resident hall and looking over the backend statistics, Chu Guang couldn't help smiling.
This batch of players wasn't quite up to snuff.
The prize pool hadn't even been emptied, and they were already completely drained.
"Um, Master..."
Hearing Xiao Qi's voice, Chu Guang looked up and asked, "What is it?"
"In our inventory, we seem to have only five 'Scythes'..." Fearing her master had forgotten, Xiao Qi whispered, "You gave away twenty-seven of them this time, but we don't have anywhere near that many..."
"We just don't have them yet," Chu Guang said nonchalantly. "I never said the rewards would be redeemed immediately. It's totally normal for new gear to take two or three days to go live since it's still undergoing testing, isn't it?"
Besides, it probably wouldn't take that long.
The parts custom-ordered from No. 81 Steel Mill had already been delivered. Soon, Brother Toilet Cable and Brother Levin would begin trial production of the first batch of stamped receivers and gun barrels.
The craftsmanship of the LD-47 wasn't complicated, and its accuracy requirements weren't nearly as high as the designated marksman version, the LD-47s.
So why hadn't he put the LD-47s in the prize pool?
Chu Guang had factored in all of these questions long ago.
Xiao Qi tilted her camera, staring at Chu Guang in awe.
As expected of Master!
He had planned to issue IOUs right from the very start!
Chapter 165