Early the next morning.
Having rested through the night, the caravan was packing its baggage and preparing to hit the road.
According to Liszt's plan, his caravan would continue east toward Red River Town, while a small detachment would travel light and head back to Boulder City.
Of course, the detachment returning to Boulder City was not going back empty-handed.
Under the contract between him and Chu Guang, this detachment would carry one hundred kilograms of spirit leaves and ten bolts of cloth woven from devil silk.
One bolt was a single roll, roughly thirteen meters long and weighing just over ten kilograms, mostly cleared from surplus inventory.
As for the spirit leaves, they were a specialty of the greenhouse ruins.
Some wastelanders liked using them to brew refreshing spirit water or blended them with shredded tobacco to roll into cigarettes. However, the stuff was mildly addictive, and heavy use could easily foster dependence.
Before the caravan set off, Chu Guang sought out Mole on the Run from the Canyon and Fang Chang.
These two were the players who understood him best out of everyone—or rather, the players with the sharpest grasp of the game's current meta.
He needed them to handle a matter for him.
For this quest, no one was better suited than the two of them.
"I have two important tasks to entrust to you."
Hearing those words, both players froze for a moment before ecstatic expressions broke across their faces.
A hidden quest!
And an important one at that!
At the thought, Mole trembled with excitement. Straightening his back, he proclaimed, "I stand ready at your service, respected Lord Administrator!"
He knew it! This game definitely had an affection system!
All his diligent brown-nosing up to now hadn't been in vain!
Standing beside him, Fang Chang stared in dumbfounded disbelief.
*Holy crap.*
*How can this guy be such a shameless bootlicker?!*
With no time to sneer at Mole and terrified of being left behind, Fang Chang hastily chimed in with a solemn look. "Likewise, respected and magnificent Lord Administrator! To forge anew the glory of the Human Alliance and for the honor of Shelter 404, I am willing to go through fire and water for you, without the slightest hesitation!"
It was just flattering an NPC.
It wasn't like he hadn't buttered up NPCs in other games.
As long as it triggered a hidden quest, there was no shame in it!
Chu Guang: "..."
While he certainly wanted the players to foster healthy competition, he preferred they do it where it was actually useful, rather than rubbing goosebumps all over his arms.
Clearing his throat, Chu Guang decided to pretend he had heard nothing and continued.
"Winter has drawn to a close. To carry out our next phase of work, we must strengthen our ties with the surrounding regions.
"The caravan allied with us intends to travel to Boulder City and Red River Town. I plan to send a representative to each to inspect local conditions, learn about the living standards and outlook of the survivors there, and most importantly, understand their needs."
Put simply, scout for intelligence and survey the market.
Chu Guang did not fully trust Liszt. While tasks could be delegated to capable people, in the end, he needed his own eyes on the ground.
Coincidentally, both players were veteran theorycrafters who loved writing game guides.
He was confident that without any hints from him, dropping them off there would guarantee they picked every detail clean.
Just as Chu Guang anticipated, hearing his words made both players' eyes practically gleam with light.
Boulder City and Red River Town!
New maps!
And two unlocked at once!
Evidently, the development team had completed designing the new maps but hadn't opened them up entirely yet, so they were picking two players to test the waters first.
Guessing the developers' intentions in an instant, both grew even more thrilled.
"I'll go to Boulder City!" Fang Chang was the quickest to react, taking the lead.
Mole was half a beat slower, but he snapped back to his senses immediately.
"Damn it, I want to go to Boulder City too!"
Anyone with eyes could tell that merchants from Boulder City were far more powerful than those from Red River Town.
After all, the caravan camped at their gates was equipped with cybernetic prosthetics, looking like they had stepped straight out of Cyberpunk 2077.
By contrast, though traders from Red River Town had visited twice, every time they showed up, their aesthetics were closer to Red Dead Redemption.
Who was wealthier was obvious at a glance!
Fang Chang glanced at Mole, attempting to bribe him into stepping aside. "Brother, two hundred silver coins. How about yielding this chance to me?"
Mole retorted, "Piss off, at least three hundred silver coins!"
Fang Chang countered, "Make it two hundred and fifty. If not, let's roll dice or play rock-paper-scissors. That's the fairest."
Mole said in indignant grief, "You bastard! Didn't you promise not to compete with me next time? Have you no shame asking me to roll dice?"
His luck was notoriously rotten, and he couldn't even trust his own dice rolls.
Fang Chang coughed dryly. "I was talking about auctions... not something like this. Besides, I called it first, all right? Strictly speaking, you're competing with me."
Mole: "@#%!"
Chu Guang: "..."
These two were really treating him like thin air.
Then again, it made sense.
After all, he had played dumb behind his NPC identity plenty of times.
In the end, after weighing the pros and cons, Mole accepted the two hundred and fifty silver coins.
Rolling dice and rock-paper-scissors were both fifty-fifty shots; if he lost, he wouldn't even get this money.
Besides, going to Red River Town wasn't bad either.
Even though Boulder City was clearly more developed, less developed places offered greater opportunities. Clearly, for a long time to come, the focus of the outpost's trade would be outside Qingquan City, rather than around the Third Ring Road.
Seeing that the two had settled their assignments, Chu Guang looked at them and continued, "I will arrange for a guard to accompany each of you to act as your translator and help you communicate with the locals.
"Remember, you represent the image of Shelter 404. I expect you to be mindful of your status while outside and keep our mission firmly in mind."
Having heard the Administrator's instructions, Fang Chang and Mole cupped their fists, saying with solemn expressions, "Rest assured, Lord Administrator!"
"Please leave it to us!"
...
The caravan set out.
Fang Chang and Mole fell into rank, waving farewell to the gathered players at the south gate.
"Goodbye, brothers! Await our good news!"
"Don't worry, we'll post first-hand intel straight to the forum!"
Yet the players gathered at the entrance weren't having any of it.
Seeing the smug grins on the pair's faces only made the sour grapes in their mouths taste more bitter.
"Damn it! Those two lucky bastards!"
"Screw that! It's rigged! It's definitely rigged!"
"I don't care! It's rigged if I wasn't picked! Unless they let me go too!"
"There's definitely some shady under-the-table deal behind this."
Hearing the crowd slander them, Mole on the Run from the Canyon couldn't resist shouting back, "Rigged, my foot! Opportunity favors the prepared, what do you lot know?"
Fang Chang chimed in as well. "Exactly! Do you have any idea how hard we grinded our affection points?"
Whether the others were pleased or not, only two had secured the quest.
And so, under the envious, jealous, and spiteful gazes of the crowd, the two players followed the caravan with smug expressions, vanishing into the forest.
After leaving Wetland Park, the caravan split in two. The main force followed its original itinerary toward Red River Town east of Qingquan City.
The other team carried the devil silk and spirit leaves procured from the outpost, retracing their steps back to Boulder City to purchase the equipment needed to open a factory and recruit technical personnel capable of operating the machines.
As they moved farther from the park, Xu Shun, dressed in plain clothes, looked at Qian Lai walking beside him and asked, "How long does it take to get to Boulder City from here?"
Qian Lai smiled and answered, "Depends on the group size. For a caravan like ours, three days if slow, and maybe two if we push it."
*We actually have to spend the night outside.* Xu Shun nodded thoughtfully.
Having grown up on the northern outskirts, he had only ever heard about how prosperous Boulder City was, but it remained mere hearsay. The route was packed with mutants and marauders, fraught with danger, making it nearly impossible for ordinary folk to walk it alone.
A nearby guard chimed in, "Gotta keep your guard up on the road. Let's not spread out too far. We ran into marauders on our way here. Even though they didn't jump us, there's no telling what they'd do against a smaller group... We'll detour around that area shortly."
Xu Shun asked, surprised, "There are still marauders?"
Qian Lai gave a light laugh. "Just small-fry lurking in the ruins. It's totally common. A guy might be a mercenary or traveling merchant yesterday, then decide to switch to an easier living the next day for one reason or another."
The guard beside them added, "They're like cockroaches. They always scurry out when you least expect it, and you can never kill them all."
Hearing that, Xu Shun couldn't help tightening his grip on the rifle slung over his back.
Seeing how serious he looked, Qian Lai found it amusing and teased, "Brother, how old are you this year?"
"Seventeen."
"Seventeen? Then I've got a few years on you. I'll be twenty in a few months."
Xu Shun looked at him in surprise. "I really couldn't tell."
He had assumed this guy was the same age as Ji Xiang...
"If you'd spent your life following the boss traveling all over since you were twelve like me, by my age you'd look like an old man too." Qian Lai pointed at his weathered face, speaking with resignation. "Take our boss, for instance. Going by looks alone, could you ever guess he's only in his early thirties?"
Xu Shun nodded in half-understanding. "I see."
"Still, our Administrator... looks pretty young."
Qian Lai shook his head. "Don't go thinking that way. You can't judge the age of those bluecoats from the shelter just by looking at their faces. He might look twenty, but for all you know, he's an old monster who's lived over a century."
Xu Shun gasped, "That's possible?!"
Qian Lai replied, "You've traveled too little. Once you've been around more, you'll understand."
Walking beside them, Fang Chang was bewildered the entire time. He stared at his VM for ages, but no subtitles ever popped up.
*What in the world are these two talking about?*
...
Shortly after the caravan departed, a fresh batch of new players finally reached the game's unlock time.
On Floor B3 of the shelter.
The plaza before the elevator was packed shoulder to shoulder, a bustling wall of noise.
"Holy crap?! It really is virtual reality?!"
"Incredible! I almost went to see a neurologist, but it's actually real!"
"Am I dreaming? This can't be a dream, right? Waaaah, if it's a dream, please don't wake me up!"
This lighting!
These walls!
And this lifelike sense of touch!
Many still hadn't recovered from their sheer shock.
Just then, a player shouted across the plaza, "Brothers, I'm Silver Sword! Where are my two sworn brothers?"
Someone answered almost immediately, "Silver Hand is here!"
Silver Sword rushed forward in delight, clasping his hand. "Brother, have you seen Silver Shield?"
Silver Hand shook his head. "Nope. No idea where Silver Shield ran off to. I've been searching for half a day and haven't seen anyone with that handle."
Silver Sword was taken aback. "Did he get a reservation spot?"
Silver Hand said, "Yeah, he did! I specifically asked him just before! But after logging into the game, I called out for him forever and got no response."
Right then, a voice came from the side. "Are you two Silver Hand and Silver Sword?"
Turning around, they saw a short-haired man standing there.
That cheeky grin gave him away instantly as their good friend.
"Holy crap, where the hell did you go?"
"We've been looking for you forever."
The man smiled sheepishly and answered awkwardly, "Uh, actually, my handle isn't Silver Shield."
Silver Hand paused. "Then what is it?"
Silver Daddy replied, "Silver Daddy."
Silver Hand: "???"
Silver Sword cursed, "You bastard! Didn't we agree to call yourself Silver Shield before registering our IDs?!"
Silver Daddy chuckled, "Hehe, good boy, son."
Silver Sword: "Screw you!"
Silver Hand: "Damn your whole family!"
The entire Floor B3 hall was filled with clamorous chatter.
Because word of the game had spread primarily through word-of-mouth across various chat groups, many players already knew one another in real life.
The moment the servers opened, everyone began identifying their acquaintances.
Standing near the elevator, Tail stroked her chin and nodded with an air of world-weary gravity. "Oh, not bad. This batch of rookies has great spirit!"
Sisi asked, "Tail, have you decided which one to pick?"
Tail said, "No rush, no rush. Tail decides to observe a bit more!"
Sisi cautioned, "Wait any longer, and all the high-quality rookies will be snatched away, you know."
Tail snapped, "Curses! Then we'll just have to pick the biggest one!"
Sisi: "...Huh?"
Veteran players were all scouting candidates for "passing the torch"—an established tradition in Wasteland OL.
As for the newcomers, most were still utterly bewildered.
Although promotional videos and game cinematics had consistently been released on the official website, the urban legend surrounding Wasteland OL had always been a hotly contested topic.
A simple shift in perspective made it easy to understand: if a company claimed to master controlled nuclear fusion, released a mountain of slides, and staged several videos about fusion power generation without ever connecting the generator to the power grid, practically anyone would suspect it was a scam.
The helmets only functioned when placed on the user's own head, and other people couldn't even see the countdown while wearing them. Thus, even those who secured closed-beta access found it hard to prove anything to others through simple means.
Everyone possessed different information, different values, and different perspectives.
Did that matter, though?
Evidently not.
If some doubted, others were bound to believe.
And the crowd of players standing here now, along with the prospective players who had filled out the reservation forms, without exception belonged to those who believed.
Even if they had only half-believed before.
Yet for those whose feet now firmly stood here, all doubt had vanished into thin air in an instant.
The countdown reaching zero had served as a key, unlocking an entirely new world before their eyes.
A doorway was opening wide for them.
Staring in disbelief at his own hands and then at the surrounding walls, Wang Haiyang reached out and rapped his knuckles against the surface, his face practically stunned into idiocy.
"I didn't lie to you, did I?"
An unfamiliar voice sounded from the side.
Wang Haiyang turned his head to look. Standing there with a smile was a slender man whose right arm had been replaced by a cybernetic limb.
Wang Haiyang froze for a second.
Intuition told him who this was.
"You're... Yan Feng?"
Kuang Feng gave a light cough. "Don't call me that in the game..."
Wang Haiyang caught on instantly and rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed grin. "Sorry, the game is so lifelike... I didn't even realize I was inside a game."
Kuang Feng said, "That's normal. Everyone's like that at first. Your reaction is already relatively calm."
Wang Haiyang asked, puzzled, "How did you recognize me?"
"Habitual movements, expressions, and little details—like that head-scratching motion you just did," Kuang Feng said after a moment's thought. "It's hard to describe the feeling precisely. Maybe it's intuition. I do have seven points in Perception now, after all."
Wang Haiyang asked blankly, "Perception?"
Kuang Feng explained patiently, "Wasteland OL features five attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, and Perception. A player's starting character corresponds to one of five sequences, though a few lucky souls managed to roll unique characters—like that dopey lizard next to me."
Scavenger Lv99 barked, "Damn it! Call me dopey one more time! I already have four points in Intelligence, all right?"
Kuang Feng nodded, continuing to use him as an example. "The baseline for attributes is five. Four points of Intelligence is equivalent to eighty percent of an average healthy adult male's baseline mental capacity. It has nothing to do with IQ; it's purely about neural cell activity."
Wang Haiyang was stunned. "How is something like that represented in a game?"
"It's hard to explain," Kuang Feng said after some thought. "Anyway, just wait for the novice guide to finish the opening cinematic first. By the way, what's your handle?"
Hearing the question, Professor Wang Haiyang smiled bashfully, clearing his throat. "Well, uh... Doomsday Lone Wolf."
Kuang Feng: "..."
Scavenger Lv99: "..."
Seeing their reactions, this brother Lone Wolf grew flustered. "Is there something wrong with that name? I use it in other games too."
Kuang Feng sighed. "Nothing. It just has a very... vintage feel to it."
Seeing his hesitant manner, Kuang Feng had assumed it was some unspeakable, embarrassing handle, only for it to be this.
Scavenger Lv99 sighed as well. "Yeah... takes me back. Reminds me of the old days playing Legend of Mir."
Lone Wolf: "???"
Just then, Ye Shi leaned over. "Be honest, what's your relation to Doomsday Lone Hero?"
Lone Wolf looked bewildered. "What's that?"
"Nothing. This friend of ours is fairly young and often says weird things; don't take it to heart."
Kuang Feng coughed lightly, swiftly steering the conversation away, and continued looking at him. "Anyway, wait for the cutscene first. Once the introductory sequence wraps up, I'll walk you through the basic mechanics and how the game plays."
Lone Wolf nodded excitedly. "Sounds good."
...
The introductory cutscene was very short.
To sum it up: everyone was a shelter resident slumbering underground, bearing the hopes of humanity as they ventured to the surface to fulfill the grand endeavor of reviving the Human Alliance.
Standing beside Lone Wolf, Kuang Feng continued, "The game's lore leans sci-fi, but in most cases, you'll probably have to fight like primitives.
"However, the recent battles have wrapped up, and the current patch focuses on base-building and farming, which is right when your expertise will come in handy."
Lone Wolf smiled wryly. "Damn, am I being treated as a tool right after stepping into the game? What can a complete newbie like me even help with?"
A smile appeared on Kuang Feng's face.
"That brings us to what makes this game special. Level isn't the sole metric for power, and gameplay isn't limited to leveling up. You can farm, you can craft, and you can even develop industry."
Lone Wolf froze. "Develop industry?!"
*Inside a game?*
Kuang Feng nodded. "Yeah. That's also the most unique aspect of this game. Any design that works in reality can be realized in the game as well."
Lone Wolf asked, "How on earth do they pull that off?!"
Kuang Feng shook his head. "No idea. My understanding of the tech behind it is no different from anyone else's. But according to the official website, they utilize some sort of dream-interference technology, drawing upon the collective cognition of users to construct a nearly completely realistic physics engine. For instance, if a portion of players knows the acceleration of gravity and forms a consensus on it, then the game's gravitational acceleration matches that... at least, that's what they claim."
Lone Wolf immediately asked, "What about disputed areas?"
Kuang Feng said, "Perhaps they consult experts for verification, or perhaps they treat it as a black box. They haven't elaborated much on the technical specifics. Honestly, I'm skeptical of some of the developer's claims... Many details that seem terrifying upon deeper thought actually support another theory of mine. Still, groundless speculation is meaningless. Maybe we'll get answers once the game enters open beta."
Lone Wolf pressed no further and nodded. "All right... So is there anything I should do first?"
Kuang Feng continued, "First, accept the 'Passing the Torch' quest. I'll carry you to level three so you can get your hands on a VM.
"In this game, you only really gain basic self-defense capability at level three—maybe level five or higher if you're an Intelligence-type. But to experience the full game, getting a VM is the very first step."
Curious, Lone Wolf asked, "What's a VM?"
Standing nearby, Ye Shi cut in, "Simply put, it's your game menu, including your character interface and all that. Once you reach citizen rank, you can buy one with a bit of cash. I think the price went up to a hundred silver coins now? But it doesn't matter; quest rewards have gone up too, so the grind isn't bad. Once your contribution points hit citizen rank, you'll naturally be able to afford it!"
*Holy crap?*
*You have to spend money just to buy the game's system interface?*
Lone Wolf was utterly dumbfounded.
This was taking realism a bit too far...
Chapter 243