Chapter 389: Introducing the Closed Beta
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“…two, one. Commencing entry!”
Along with this prompt, a white light illuminated the vision of all the players.
During the short loss of consciousness, Li Dong felt a surge of current flowing through his head which made his scalp feel squeaky.
After regaining his senses, he slowly opened his eyes.
Li Dong found himself standing on a green meadow. The gra.s.sland was endless and scattered with small flowers of yellow, red, and purple. Sporadically, there would be one or two saplings standing alone in the wilderness. There was a breeze in the air. The temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius, imparting players with the warmth of spring. Taking in a mild breath, one could catch a whiff of a faint floral fragrance.
“This…” Li Dong opened his eyes wide. “Is this picturesque place truly in a virtual world?
“This floral fragrance, this breeze, this temperature… I couldn’t even dream of this.”
He spread his arms wide and immersed himself in the utopia. “This is truly magical. I never expected this sort of magical technology to become reality.”
It would be worth joining, even if it were to be a bottomless top up game, just for this kind of gaming experience.
His eyes swept around the vicinity. There were many players like himself standing amidst the meadow. With his ears, he heard many exclaiming in amazement:
“Unbelievable! It feels completely different from VR games.”
“There’s really a sense of touch and smell. I can also feel the ambient temperature and the flow of wind.”
“Ouch, ouch, ouch! I can feel pain when I bite my fingers! A very genuine sense of pain.”
“Haha! This is great, this is so great! This is the virtual game that I imagined! From now on, this will be my home! All hail otaku life!”
“Eh, look what he’s doing! Why is he munching gra.s.s on the ground?”
Someone actually began eating the gra.s.s on the ground and yelled, “The gra.s.s is sweet! It’s tender, sweet, and has a really great texture! Try it yourself if you don’t believe me.”
“The gra.s.s is edible? Let me have a bite. Holy—it really does taste sweet.”
“Let me try! Hm, not bad indeed.”
“What the f*ck! There is someone eating bark over there.” A player was hugging a tree and chomping on it. He spit it out and exclaimed, “Don’t eat bark, my friends! it’s very bitter!”
“The water in the creek is good, refres.h.i.+ng and sweet. Much better than mineral waters in the supermarket.”
At that moment, among the players who entered the game, some were grazing, some were munching on trees, some were drinking from the brook, and some even eating soil. These dumb occurences would become funny iconic moments for years to come.
Furthermore, the first incident of hara.s.sment in the history of virtual reality games transpired.
“Ah—!”
A female player suddenly took two steps backwards, holding her chest while pointing her finger at a male player. “What are you doing? Why did you suddenly touch me?”
“What’s the matter?”
The male player was not at all remorseful. “I touched you, so what? We’re in a game, remember? Nothing happened to you IRL. If you’re really mad, I can let you touch me in return.”
“System! s.e.xual hara.s.sment!” The female player pointed at him again. “This guy s.e.xually hara.s.sed me! System, please punish him immediately!”
“Judging in progress… allegation is valid. Imposing stern warning!”
A black cloud quickly formed above the head of the male player. A lightning bolt as thick as a thumb suddenly struck on the head of the male player.
Boom.
“AHH!”
The male player who had previously held an indifferent att.i.tude turned into an explosive mushroom head, followed by a miserable scream. His whole body was charred, and most of his clothes were damaged.
The system also broadcasted: “Stern warning enforced. Upon next offense, player will be prohibited from logging in and will lose eligibility to the game!”
Holy Sh*t! The punishment was actually that harsh?
Upon feeling a gaze of disdain from all around and seeing female players pointing at him, the player lowered his head, feeling like a street mouse.
After a series of interludes.
A voice came from the skies as a rectangular figure scrolled open:
“Players, welcome to the virtual world. Before your eyes is a computer-generated world with almost 100% authenticity.
“This planet is called ‘Planet Aierfa.’ It is about one-third the size of Earth. 80% of the planet’s surface is covered by such a type of gra.s.s. You can also call the planet the Prairie Planet.
“Planet Aierfa is a temporary stop for novice players to adapt to the virtual world environment.
“Coming up, you will complete three days of basic training in Planet Aierfa. Training will include walking, adapting to cold and heat, eating food, manipulating tools, familiarizing yourself with the game consoles, exiting the game, and so on—learning the basic operations.
“After pa.s.sing a test on the basics, players will officially enter the beta version of Galaxy Era, thus partic.i.p.ating in the three-month closed beta test.
“Taking the breadth of time and s.p.a.ce into account, the execution speed of various instructions in the game such as research and construction is 20 times that of conventional scenarios. That is, what can be accomplished in a day within the game will be equivalent to 20 days in reality. Of course, this is not ‘time acceleration’; it is just an algorithmic blindness. In the later phases, when technology improves and the game’s complexity increases, the execution speed of instructions in the game will decrease in order to reduce the burden on our servers.”
This was not difficult to understand. a.s.suming that two galaxies were four light years apart, and the speed of an ordinary s.p.a.cecraft was 0.1C, it would take 40 years to travel from the outset. Now that it was 20 times faster, it would only take two years of travelling… after all, if things were to be 100% in line with reality, players couldn’t possibly wait for forty years.
“In addition, as the beta test is only three months – which is not even enough for interstellar fleets to complete a voyage – we have placed the battlefield on the surface of a planet called ‘Nidru.’ This planet is three times the size of the Earth. It has a land area of nearly one billion square kilometers and a technological level approximately twenty years ahead of Earth.”
“On planet Nidru, there are three ma.s.sive nations, 20 big nations, and 60 middle powers… totaling 83 forces. 83 players will become the leaders of these 83 countries and deal with major events and all aspects of crisis in their respective country.
“The players’ goal is to complete the integration of power and resources on planet Nidru and survive the final crisis until the end of the beta test. At last, the system will conduct a comprehensive evaluation. Outstanding players will receive stipulated rewards. After the game officially launched, the rewards may be of some help in Galaxy Era.”
“Fight hard, players. Let your brilliance blossom in this near-authentic world.”
After listening to the system’s introduction, the players cheered:
“Is the much-antic.i.p.ated challenge about to begin?”
“A mere beta test allows us to begin as the leaders of a country that will decide the fate of an entire nation… isn’t this the dream of us keyboard warriors?”
“I think I’ve got it. They way to obtain a high score is simple: unify the world and get rid of all military forces!”
“Haha, this means war! I like war. Please bring it on to me asap!”
Looking around at the players, who were agitated and excited, Li Dong unknowingly clenched his fists. He thought, No matter what, even a mere otaku can accomplish anything. Go f*ck yourselves, pay-to-win’s.