New Talents and a New Year's Event!

The Ox and Horse Club group chat. Today, as always, it was lively. Ever since Ye Shi and Kuang Feng had respectively become the first Perception-type and Intelligence-type players to awaken in Wasteland OL, the name of the Ox and Horse Squad had shot to absolute fame on the forum. Some users on the forum had managed to dig up the group number from who knew where, leading to daily waves of join requests. To keep weird people out, and even more so to prevent people from harassing Ah Guang, Lao Bai, the group owner, simply turned off group applications altogether. According to the posts on the forum, two more Awakened experts had reportedly emerged on the server today. Both, moreover, were Strength-types. The talents they unlocked were "Berserker," which converted half of one's Intelligence into Strength, and "Battle Fervor," which granted +10% Agility and Constitution. Both talents required manual activation, lasted for one to two minutes, and had fairly short cooldowns. Now, the entire General Discussion board was clamoring, demanding that the officials open up a way to reselect gene sequences, and preferably enable gender changes while they were at it. However, the developers seemed entirely uninterested in responding, and Ah Guang the planner didn't pop up even once. Unable to get a word in edgewise on the forum, the gang all flooded into the group chat. Mosquito in the WC: "Sigh, I'm so jealous you guys level up so fast." Jieyan: "Hahaha, come run dungeons with me, Brother Mosquito! The tunnels are a blast! I'm already LV5!" WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Fuck, even Jieyan is LV5?!" Jieyan: "What do you mean 'even I'm LV5'?! I've been in the game for over a month, okay?! (Angry)" Mosquito in the WC: "Tsk." If he hadn't joined the game too early, knowing too little about the gameplay, and brainlessly copied Fang Chang by picking Agility-type, the server's second Awakened Intelligence-type would definitely have been him! Still, he wasn't the unluckiest. The truly unlucky ones were the two factory managers at the neighboring No. 81 Steel Mill. When those two brothers entered the game, they heard Strength-types were kings, so without another thought, they both picked Strength. Now they were even more bewildered, barely even getting many chances to swing a hammer and strike iron anymore. Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "Time flies so fast. Before we know it, we've almost been in the closed beta for three months, haven't we?" Fang Chang: "The novice phase in this game really is a bit long. Three months of grinding just to reach LV10. I wonder if they'll tweak the difficulty for the open beta." Ye Shi: "What do you guys think the level cap is?" Fang Chang: "Ghost knows. The devs have never mentioned a level cap, but I feel like level forty or fifty might be a plateau, and after that, it'll unlock gradually based on expansion pack progress, probably something like WOW." Lao Bai: "I think you're overthinking it. At this rate, whether we can even reach level forty this time next year is a question!" After hitting level ten, Lao Bai had clearly felt the difficulty of leveling up increase by a lot. Back when his level was low, even chopping trees yielded visible progress on his exp bar. Now, chopping wood only raised proficiency, while the progress bar stayed rock still, leaving him unsure if it even moved. This was far harder than any MMORPG he had played before! Remembering that Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes had also awakened a few days ago, Lao Bai kept typing. "By the way, Brother Scrambled Eggs, what talent did you unlock again?" Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "Balance." Lao Bai: "Balance?" Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "Yeah, the name's just Balance. The effect is converting half of my Constitution into Strength for one to two minutes." Ye Shi: "Holy shit?! That overpowered?!" Kuang Feng: "You could call that a godly skill..." Converting half of Constitution into Strength. Didn't that mean he could tank and deal damage at the same time?! If Constitution-types could all roll this skill, then after level ten, at least half of the Strength-type's battlefield dominance would be snatched away by Constitution-types! After all, the defenses provided by the Strength stat were pitifully meager. At medium and long ranges, Strength's impact on DPS mainly came down to weapon handling and throwing distance. Unless closed to extreme proximity, the damage bonus provided by Strength had diminishing returns in most situations! Unless, of course, there was equipment better suited to showcasing the value of a Strength-type. Such as the loyal "Golden Toilet," or a chainsword-style weapon... In contrast, once a Constitution-type's attribute points exceeded 10, even if it wasn't as exaggerated as the "take a breath to regen health" mechanic of FPS games, the rapid blood-clotting effect after getting shot was remarkably useful. As long as a vital spot wasn't hit, they could take at least two extra shots! After awakening, they could practically forgo bandages altogether! Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "Godly my ass! Lao Na's 'Limb Regeneration' is what you call a godly skill, all right? He can regrow an entire arm if it gets lopped off!" Fang Chang: "Badass!" Kuang Feng: "What the hell, isn't that a mutant skill?!" Elaina wasn't in the Ox and Horse Club group, but he was fairly familiar with everyone in the game and teamed up with them on occasion. On the forum in particular, he and Ye Shi frequently exchanged silly meme emojis. Hearing that he had actually unlocked a passive that prevented finishing blows, everyone was green with envy for a good while. Kuang Feng: "I feel like the golden age for Intelligence-types hasn't arrived, but the golden age for Constitution-types is already here. (Sigh)" Jieyan: "Hehehe, Constitution-types rejoice! (Grin)" Ye Shi: "This makes zero sense. I thought Lao Na would unlock the ratmen's 'Iron Stomach,' but instead he unlocked the regeneration of bears and lizards. (Smirk)" WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "By the way, Ye Shi, Kuang Feng, have you two tried your talents? Are they any good?" Ye Shi: "Tried mine. Felt so-so. Ah Guang said the talent I unlocked is pretty kickass, but I feel absolutely nothing. (Helpless)" The talent he obtained was "Killing Intent Intuition." According to the talent's description, it was a passive trigger, allowing one to perceive subjective killing intent on a conscious level. Furthermore, the stronger the killing intent, the stronger the perception! Unlike perception mediated through light, sound, smell, vibrations, and the like, this sense didn't seem to rely on physical mediums. Instead, in some unknown manner, it directly read killing intent from the consciousness layer. Brainwaves? Heart rate? Or some unknown "field"? The talent description offered no specific scientific explanation—perhaps the developers themselves had run out of ways to make it up. Setting aside those minor details, the talent actually suffered from a major flaw: severe distance attenuation! In open terrain, the trigger range was at most eight hundred meters to one kilometer, whereas in indoor environments, the maximum capture range might only span a three- or four-story building. Frankly, for a Perception-type, this range was somewhat underwhelming. After all, before even awakening, Ye Shi had already relied on his Perception bonuses to catch the faint reflection of a sniper scope a kilometer away. According to Fang Chang's analysis, the true purpose of this Killing Intent Intuition was to guard against ambushes. For instance, back when they were at the ecological research lab, Ye Shi's perception hadn't picked up on the high-agility unit lurking in the forest—the Deathclaw—at all. If he had possessed Killing Intent Intuition back then, he might have detected it the moment he was targeted. On the flip side, however, if the enemy concealed their killing intent, or simply hadn't noticed them, the talent would likely be useless. All in all, the talent was useful. Just not as useful as imagined! Kuang Feng: "Mine's about the same... It's called Overclock. The effect is basically the Intelligence-type version of Lao Bai's skill, granting a 150% to 200% boost to brain operating efficiency. The duration is slightly longer, around thirty seconds." Honestly, this talent was probably even more underwhelming than Ye Shi's Killing Intent Intuition. At least for Intelligence-types in the current version, what they lacked wasn't stats, but the ability to convert stats into damage. Mechanical arms, for example, were tools that could convert the Intelligence stat into DPS, but the power output of a mechanical arm had its limits, which became especially apparent after awakening. When the Intelligence stat was below 10, every point increased the mechanical arm's maximum working efficiency by 10%, made coordination with the muscles smoother, and allowed for more precise control. But once Intelligence exceeded 10, the improvements became negligible. Kuang Feng's own analysis was that in such a situation, one should install two more mechanical arms, or simply implant a third arm, or even a set of multi-functional appendages, just like Doctor Octopus. Another approach was to use neural link equipment to multi-thread the control of drones or unmanned ground vehicles, turning one's brain into a beehive commanding a drone swarm. However, both paths shared a prerequisite: that these two items could actually be bought from the NPC shop. And that was far too difficult! Jieyan: "Damn, pure intelligence boost? That's kind of a trap..." Kuang Feng: "It's not entirely a trap. Maybe the usage just needs some more development." "..." Scrolling through the chat logs, Chu Guang silently compiled the experiences summarized by the little players into a text document. Although his backend could view every player's skills, all he could see were raw stats; the specific nuances still depended on player testing and feedback. "...Awakened Constitution-types may enter a power spike, with talents leaning toward enhanced survivability and a greater variety of talents compared to other types." However, this sequence was somewhat talent-dependent; not everyone could roll a godly skill like Balance. In addition, even after awakening, an Intelligence-type's combat effectiveness didn't see a significant jump. It seemed this sequence was very unfriendly to newcomers. Going down the lifestyle profession route was fine, but taking the combat route relied far too heavily on external tools, which would likely be an immense money sink. "Xiao Qi." At Chu Guang's call, Xiao Qi's voice floated over from the side. "Here, Master." Chu Guang marked the document and leaned back in his chair. "Help me organize the content in this document and update it to the official website's lore compendium." "Alpha 1.0 will have three hundred newcomers. This information should be able to help them out." After hearing Chu Guang's instructions, Xiao Qi said with full enthusiasm, "No problem! Leave it to Xiao Qi!" As soon as the words fell, an adorable little Klee popped up on the desktop, giving a thumbs-up to cheer him on. Though nine out of ten were stolen memes from the forum, Chu Guang couldn't help but smile faintly, feeling much of the fatigue from a day's work melt away. Closing the emoji, Chu Guang prepared to draft the promotional text for the New Year's Day event. Right at that moment, footsteps sounded outside the office. After two knocks on the door, Dr. Yin Fang pushed it open and stepped inside. In his hand was a round, silver-white earphone. Its casing looked like aluminum alloy, seemingly light, and compact in size; worn, it would probably cover about half an ear. The front of the earphone held a camera positioned perpendicular to the ear hook, perfectly facing forward when worn. To take a photo, one merely had to press a button on the side of the earphone. To record video, holding it down for two seconds was enough, and pressing it again turned it off. Placing the earphone on Chu Guang's desk, Dr. Yin Fang spoke. "I finished making the earphone you asked for. Based on what you said, I added communication functionality on top of the video and photo features." "However, I must remind you that the VM... that is, the vital signs monitor, has a very wide signal transmission range, reaching up to twenty kilometers at most, but its data transmission bandwidth isn't very large. Text and images are fine, but if you want to transmit audio or even video, you might need to equip it with a portable radio station." Chu Guang tried to digest the explanation. Simply put, the earphone paired with the VM and borrowed its communication chip, signal transmitter, and other components, which was why it could be made so compact. Yet the VM was, after all, only a self-rescue tool designed to help search-and-rescue personnel locate the wearer. Stability and reliability were its primary concerns, making it unsuitable for large-scale, long-distance data transmission. Using the VM's signal transmitter, using this earphone for squad communication was feasible, and contacting the outpost base a dozen kilometers away was barely manageable, but running a "live broadcast" remained rather difficult. Unless they were very close to a signal tower, or the squad was equipped with a more specialized mobile radio with stronger signal transmission capabilities. Solving this problem wasn't difficult. Whether signal towers or mobile radios, so long as they didn't deliberately pursue high integration and a lightweight, compact form factor, even relatively "primitive" radio equipment would do the trick. Not just mobile radios—Chu Guang also intended to build another signal tower at Changjiu Farm so the signal would cover the area north of Yumu District, providing information services for players exploring farther out. Picking up the earphone from the desk and scrutinizing it for a moment, Chu Guang looked at Yin Fang and asked, "Just this one?" "Five in total." Yin Fang pulled four more earphones from his pocket, laid them on the desk, and sighed softly. "I've already transferred the blueprints to your computer, including the portable radio. You can find someone to replicate them; it's not very difficult... So please, don't bother me with this sort of thing again. There's a mountain of data to process, plus that robot. I'm already swamped." Though Chu Guang fully understood that the research team's workload was heavy, unfortunately, Yin Fang was the only one in the shelter who understood how to work with those complex carbon-based circuit boards. Putting on a helpless expression, Chu Guang looked at him and said, "I'll try my best." After Yin Fang left, Chu Guang looked over the blueprints sent to him, which were detailed thoroughly. They included where to gather the required materials, how to process the collected materials, and how to assemble them together. Chu Guang planned to find several survivors with radio knowledge later to try replicating a few sets according to the blueprint's steps, which would then be issued to frontline squad leaders to facilitate unified command. After writing the plan into his work log, Chu Guang resumed drafting the text for the New Year's Day event. [Wasteland OL's First New Year Celebration Event!] [Description: New Year's Day is an important holiday in the wasteland! To celebrate surviving another year and pray for good luck in the year to come, wasteland scavengers often head out to forage a week in advance, gathering ingredients for the New Year's Eve dinner! What miraculous delicacies will be entered into the cookbook on this year's New Year's Eve? What fantastic beasts will be eaten into extinction next year? The Administrator has prepared a mysterious grand prize for all participating residents—participating is profit! In addition, the winner of the contest will receive the glorious title of "Wasteland Gourmet"! And be inducted into the Hall of Fame! The Administrator reminds everyone once again: safety always comes first! No matter what, do not upset your stomach! Unless you want to miss this celebration! ] [Event Duration: December 25, Wasteland Era 211 to January 1, Wasteland Era 212] [Requirement: Use easily accessible wasteland ingredients to create simple and delicious food.] Reading through the event proposal from start to finish, a satisfied expression appeared on Chu Guang's face. Not bad! The only slight flaw was that an event for such an important holiday surprisingly couldn't be monetized. If he added an event top-up progress bar, it would look identical to games from the Goose Factory or the Pig Factory! To prevent the players from doing something reckless and causing non-combat casualties, Chu Guang, after careful consideration, decided to appoint Yaya as the official food tester. He believed that the helpful Boss Ya would gladly accept the assignment. "That makes it foolproof!" The day after tomorrow was the twenty-fifth. Having finalized the revisions on the event proposal, Chu Guang clicked his mouse twice to set the scheduled post for tomorrow evening, then yawned, stretched, and headed back to his room to sleep. ... Perhaps because he had been overworking himself lately, Chu Guang had a very long dream that night. Still, this dream couldn't be called a nightmare; at most, it was a bit bizarre. The person chasing him demanding DNA had switched from Heya wielding a syringe to Boss Xia. Waking up drenched in a hot sweat, Chu Guang waited until the players' peak login and logout hours had passed before heading down to Floor B3. The Medical Lab. Miss Heya, with her silver hair, was observing tissue slice specimens collected by the players. Seeing Chu Guang enter, she immediately stopped what she was doing, skillfully activated the scanning bed nearby, and patted the pillow. "Come on, lie down here." Perhaps because she had been inspecting specimens just a second before, Chu Guang couldn't help feeling that the look in her eyes was practically stripping him bare. Still, with Xiao Qi around, Chu Guang wasn't worried about anyone in the shelter hurting him. Seeing the specimen obediently lie down on the scanning bed, Heya eagerly walked over to the terminal at the head of the bed and tapped several buttons on the touchscreen. Accompanied by a faint electrical hum, the scanning equipment quickly went to work. Before long, the compiled attribute panel appeared before Chu Guang's eyes. [ ID: Chu Guang Gene Sequence: Administrator (Stage Two) Level: LV.14 → LV.15 —Basic Attributes— Strength: 17 Agility: 11 Constitution: 15 → 16 Perception: 12 Intelligence: 14 ] Perhaps due to his effective training regimen lately, his level had risen another notch, now sitting at LV15. "I wonder if there will be another awakening at LV20." Chu Guang's gaze lingered on the parenthetical "Stage Two" suffix behind his gene sequence. LV1 was Stage One, LV10 was Stage Two; by the same logic, shouldn't Stage Three be LV20? Furthermore, while he still hadn't figured out the leveling patterns of the Administrator sequence, Chu Guang could clearly feel that leveling up was becoming harder and harder. "Incredible... All of your body's values far exceed the realm of a normal human. Just how did you accomplish this?!" Sitting before the terminal at the head of the scanning bed, Heya looked at Chu Guang in utter disbelief, her face brimming with intense curiosity. Accustomed to her making a fuss over nothing, Chu Guang paid it no mind. Sitting up from the bed and straightening his collar, he replied casually, "I'd like to know too. Why don't you research it for me?" Heya nodded and said, "No problem. But before that... I have something here you might be interested in." Chu Guang cast an inquiring glance at her. "What is it?" "Research regarding slime mold mutants..." With that, Heya picked up a tablet modified from a VM and turned it toward Chu Guang. "Based on the slice samples provided by your 'players,' my previous conjecture has been verified. The various slime mold mutants, including gnawers, Crawlers, Detonators, and Tyrants, aren't just fruiting bodies of mutant slime mold—their morphologies, predation habits, and every physiological phenomenon and biological behavior are actually imitations of us." Chu Guang raised his eyebrows slightly. "Us?" "Humans, but not limited to humans. Even including... machines." Heya nodded gently, paused for a moment, and continued. "Take the Tyrant, for example... Inside it, I found morphology highly similar to a gnawer, while the outside is an entirely different layer of hardened fruiting body structure. Because of this, even if its outer fruiting body suffers up to 90% destruction, it can still continue hunting, release spores using organic matter gained from prey to spread the slime mold, and slowly repair the damaged fruiting body." "Doesn't that sound surprising?" Looking at Chu Guang, whose face was gradually showing surprise, Heya continued recounting her astonishing discovery with animated excitement. "It's imitating us. Although the imitation is clumsy, you can't say it's completely useless. It feels like... um." Frowning in deep thought for a moment, Heya seemed to be searching for words to describe her findings. Chu Guang, however, had understood. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and he ventured, "...Like putting a biomass exoskeleton, or powered armor, over a gnawer?" Heya's eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers. "Exactly, that's the feeling! Isn't it amazing? No wonder those people were always clamoring to go outside—the outside world is simply unbelievable..." Heya continued chattering with excitement. Yet human emotions rarely aligned; Chu Guang felt none of her joy at discovering a new species, feeling only a budding headache. Self-repairing biomass armor, paired with the astonishing mimicry displayed by that slime mold... Just what kind of monster was this? "Is there any way to turn those slime mold fruiting bodies into something edible?" Chu Guang interrupted Heya's rambling, looking at her with absolute seriousness. Heya paused slightly, looking at him with incomprehension. "Something edible? Why would you want to eat something like that..." Chu Guang sighed softly. "Because I really can't think of a better solution."