CH 1: How realistic is a 100% completely immersive game?
Earth, a university computer lab.
“.....How realistic is a 100% completely immersive game?”
Reading the messages of the groupchat, the first image that popped into Ye Wei's mind was not a game, but slender legs...
To be exact, it would be like if the 200+ mods in his game of ‘The elder scrolls V: Skyrim’ and the over 100 custom-made wives in his saved files came to life.
If his in-game wives had any more ‘details’, then it might get his account banned.
His nickname in the group was "Gets Up Ten Times a Night," but because it was too long and vulgar, the group members shortened it to "Night Ten."
"It’s realistic in the literal sense."
"Visuals, sound, smell, touch, taste… everything is like the real world. The game world's time flows at the same rate as the real world, with about a 12-hour time difference. Since the technology is based on dream interference, playing the game is equivalent to sleeping."
The person who typed these two lines had the nickname "Light" in the groupchat.
This proper, one-word nickname seemed out of place in a group named "Cattle and Horses Club," so the goofy members sometimes call this person "Ultraman," "Gaia," or even "Awesome Dude."
Level Eight Gale (admin): "Is this some fantasy setting? (laughs)"
There will be ample time (admin): "And it sounds a bit dated, like an early web novel's virtual reality game setting."
The White Horse Gallops (member): "Haha, are you talking about wearing a virtual helmet? I liked reading those when I was in school."
Gets Up Ten Times a Night (admin): "Honestly, such a setting is impossible. How would companies let go of profits by creating a fully realistic game? What about the pay-to-win whales? If the game was fully realistic how would the pay to win players show their superiority. In such a realistic game everyone would just be a freeloader!”
Ye Wei didn’t read those novels, but he thought he was different from others because he had received nine years of compulsory education. Instead of a wish fulfillment, he preferred rationality.
So he preferred reading fantasy and horror stories.
There will be ample time: "Bro, you’re too serious. If we talk about rationality, it’s more reasonable to make the readers outside the novel feel thrilled rather than making the fictional operators in the novel earn money, right?" Brother, you are too serious. If we talk about a realistic game in a novel then it would make more sense to let the readers of the novel feel thrilled, who cares if the companies in the novel world make money?”
The topic soon went off track.
Level Eight Gale: "Don’t get away from the topic."
Although the Cattle and Horses Club was a gaming group, it rarely had serious game discussions like today.
Especially about a non-existent, entirely imagined “game.”
However, even though the topic had strayed far, the initiator—“Light”—stubbornly pulled it back.
Light: "I mean if.."
Light: "If such a game existed, would you play it?"
Ye Wei shook his head with a smile as he read the group chat.
Was there even a need to ask??
Gets Up Ten Times a Night: "Of course! Why wouldn’t we? If it’s 100% realistic, why not give it a try, you know. (smirk)"
Level Eight Gale: "+1, but regarding your setting, I still have a question. If game time equals sleep time… wouldn’t this technology be more reasonable to use for other more reasonable purposes like working 24/7?"
The White Horse Gallops: "Damn, are you a devil???"
There will be ample time: "Then I’d just sleep as usual. (sigh)"
Quit Smoking: "You guys are up late, dreaming about such unreal things in the group."
“Lol.”
More and more people joined the chat.
Some didn’t send messages but lurked with interest.
In a 200-person gaming group, usually, ten to twenty people were active, and occasionally, a couple of unfamiliar faces would pop up. If you ask them about how long they were in the group only then would they reveal that they had been lurking for many years.
However, "Light" ignored the chat and continued in his own world.
"Actually, the company I recently joined is developing a fully immersive virtual reality online game."
The lively group chat fell silent for a moment.
But soon, as if on cue, a string of messages popped up.
“No way?”
“For real?!”
“Awesome, brother! I almost believed you. 😏😏(smirks)”
Ye Wei thought this light guy was overdoing it.
A fully immersive virtual reality online game?
100% realism?
Nonsense!
Like Gale said, if such a thing existed, would it be used for games???
Of course, he didn’t agree with using it for work. In his opinion, if such advanced technology existed, it would surely be used in the military first.
Imagine training special forces with it!
“Light” didn’t say anything else, just dropped a URL.
Ye Wei clicked on it and found it was a game’s official website.
The website was poorly made, looking like they couldn’t even afford a designer.
The empty page had no content except for three lines of text.
[100% Realistic Virtual Reality Game—"Wasteland OL"]
[Current Reservations: 0]
[Reserve: Yes / No ]
Ye Wei laughed.
This guy had built up all this suspense, and it turned out to be an ad.
Who knew if it was for gambling or some other scam?
But the reservation number was certainly real, not like those fake high online numbers claiming "even Jackie Chan is playing."
“Fine, let’s see what kind of crap this is.”
He clicked [Yes].
To his surprise, no registration page popped up. Apart from the reservation number changing from 0 to 1, nothing else happened.
“This game can’t even register accounts???”
This strange move left Ye Wei confused, unable to determine if it was an ad or not.
Could it be a virus?
Unlikely.
In this day and age, antivirus software was almost useless. Could a virus still infect a computer just by clicking yes or no on a website?
Not to mention it was on a school computer.
Even if it was his own computer, he wouldn’t be scared.
……
[Current Reservations: 11]
Wasteland, Vault 404's resident hall.
Staring at the number on the webpage, Chu Guang, sitting in a small room, breathed a sigh of relief, releasing the mouse.
“Is this enough?”
The answer came in two lines of text that appeared before him.
[Mission Completed.]
[Reward: A set of carbon nano-bulletproof vests, reward points +5.]
The wall on one side of the room vibrated slightly. As the curved alloy door opened, a black vest lay on the platform behind the door.
The conveyor belt delivered the vest.
The alloy door closed, and the room returned to silence.
Chu Guang immediately got up from the computer, walked over, and picked up the vest.
It was lightweight, feeling like silk pajamas, soft and delicate to the touch. It was hard to imagine it could withstand bullets.
[Name: Carbon Nano-Bulletproof Vest
Description: Effectively absorbs bullet kinetic energy, disperses impact within durability range, and resists a certain degree of puncture and cutting damage.
Durability: 100%]
Rewards from the Vault system were registered in the inventory, complete with product descriptions and usage instructions.
Chu Guang immediately took off his shirt and wore it close to his body.
It felt a bit cool at first, but he soon got used to it.
At that moment, a cylindrical metal object in the corner of the room emitted a flat electronic voice.
“Congratulations, Vault Manager. It seems you have completed the first task.”
“Can you stop speaking so suddenly?”
“Yes, Vault Manager.”
That cylindrical robot was called Little Seven.
As an assistant to the 404 Vault manager, it didn’t technically have a name, just a number, 777.
But Chu Guang found it troublesome, so he gave it a name.
As for who Chu Guang was, why he was in Vault 404, That story began on a dark, windy night...
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