CH 6: The First Batch of Closed Beta Players

"I am an NPC."

Chu Guang said this to the mirror, took a deep breath, straightened his collar, and tried to make himself look as imposing as possible.

And expressionless.

It had been three days since that day.

In a few more minutes, it would be time for the players to log into the game.

As for the blue coat he was wearing, it was the one he had on when he first crossed over into this world a long time ago.

Old Charlie on Bet Street had told him that residents coming out of the shelter seemed to all wear this.

"I am an NPC."

Chu Guang practiced again, looking at the mirror he had picked up outside.

The nature of this "new job" was completely different from his previous sales job. A warm smile and polite demeanor should in no way appear on a manager in a place like this.

After all, this was a wasteland governed by the law of the jungle.

To survive in this wasteland, his image didn't need to be that of a hard-boiled tough guy, but it had to inspire enough confidence and a sense of security.

Touching his cheek's contours, Chu Guang wondered if he should add a scar to his forehead.

Or maybe go with a punk Mohawk hairstyle?

After all, this was a wasteland governed by the law of the jungle.

Too handsome.

It would ruin the immersion.

"Master."

Still posing in front of the mirror, Chu Guang lifted his chin expressionlessly.

"What's up?"

Little Seven said in a small voice.

"According to my research, NPCs in games typically don't call themselves NPCs."

His expression slightly stiffened, Chu Guang lightly coughed and said.

"I knew that..."

He muttered again at the mirror.

"...I am the manager of Vault 404."

It was almost time for the appointed meeting.

Three hours ago, the cloning process in the cultivation pods had been completed.

Just before this, he had arranged with the four "lucky ones" who got the closed beta qualifications on Penguin. They were to put on their helmets before 9 PM Beijing time, find a comfortable position to lie down or sit, and log into the game precisely at 9 PM.

As Chu Guang was contemplating how he should make his entrance to the players, he suddenly heard a "ding" in his mind.

Immediately, a string of text appeared before him.

[Mission completed!]

Chu Guang's heart tightened slightly.

Here they come!

……

“Holy fuck! Fuck! This is incredible!”

In a inconspicuous room next to the residential hall in the living area, four culture pods unlocked simultaneously, opening their semi-transparent doors.

Ye Wei sat up from the open pod, wide-eyed and stunned, looking around with a face full of astonishment, even dazed.

This—

Was this the game world?!

Just a minute ago, he was still wondering if this was a carefully orchestrated prank.

But when he put on his fully charged helmet and lay down on the bed, just about to fall asleep, a light pierced through the darkness towards him.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a strange room.

His body was wet and sticky.

As if he had just been fished out of a pool.

The wind blowing from the vent above fell on his shoulders, clearly evaporating the liquid bit by bit, taking away the heat from his body.

There was even a faint unpleasant odor.

Ye Wei suddenly realized, eyes wide open.

Sight!

Smell!

Touch!

Taste!

Hearing!

All five senses!

Incredible!!!

This immersive sensory experience brought tears to his eyes.

He never thought he would see fully immersive virtual reality technology in his lifetime!

This was beyond incredible!

Not just him, the other three players who sat up from the cultivation pods also showed the same shock on their faces.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap."

"...I thought this was a joke."

"God! It's really fully immersive!"

"Has technology advanced this much? fuck, how come I've never seen this on the news?!"

"Ow... There's even pain." One player pinched himself.

"Who are you? An NPC?"

"No way, I'm The white horse that gallops! Bai Ju Guo Xi! Who are you?"

"Whoa? Old Xi?! I'm Kuang Feng! The Level 8 Gale! Why do you look like that? Hahaha, this is killing me."

"Screw you! Call me Old Xi again, and I'll show you what an old brute is... Hey, this game is interesting. The appearance is already set? I wonder if we can customize it in the open beta."

White Horse pinched himself too, grinning despite the pain.

Excited!

Thrilled!

Incredible!

A dream come true!

Night Ten, lying on the bed next to him, stared wide-eyed, trying to process the shock in his heart.

Besides him, another guy sat there without moving, presumably the one from the group chat named "There should be ample time."

This guy was staring at the area between his legs, lost in thought, contemplating something.

"Is the default character setting male? There's no customization phase. I mean... can we create a female character?"

"Damn, you're so pervy! You must be Night Ten."

"I'm Ample time..."

"Whoa?! Ample Time?! We are best buddies... you know what I mean, right?"

"Get lost, I was just saying. The guy next to me must be Night Ten... Did all of you come?"

Seeing the three look at him, Night Ten finally came to his senses.

Realizing he was still naked, he quickly grabbed the uniform hanging by the pod and put it on, casually responding.

"Yeah, just got here... How do we play this game? No newbie guide?"

"No idea, we just got here too."

As soon as the words fell, the door of the room opened.

A man in a blue coat walked in from outside.

Behind him followed a trash-can-shaped robot, with a cylinder-like body that looked somewhat clumsy, but the streamlined shell and seemingly polished silver paint were full of sci-fi vibes.

The eyes of the four players widened.

"NPC!"

"Looks just like a real person!"

"Is this really a game world?"

"This is too realistic!"

"Quiet," breaking off the chatter, Chu Guang glanced at the four players in the room and slowly spoke, "Welcome to Vault 404."

"I am the vault manager here."

"Codename—Dawn."

The room fell into silence immediately.

The four players, unexpectedly obedient, held their breath and stared at him, afraid of missing any plot details.

It seemed his presence had established control.

Chu Guang breathed a sigh of relief and continued according to the prepared script.

"First, I have good news for you: the war is over."

"But the bad news is, our world has been completely devastated. If you expect to grab your luggage and head home to find your mom right away, it's clearly impossible."

"It is now the 200th year after the doomsday, the day the nukes fell. Fortunately, we have survived the hardest times. Standing here means you are luckier than 12 billion people. But now, I need you to quickly recognize the reality and fulfill your declaration under the banner of the Federation of People—To rebuild our homeland!"
 

"This is my assistant, its name is Little Seven. You can ask it any questions about the shelter or things you don't understand."

That was the opening line.

When the next batch of players arrived, Chu Guang would say it again.

After all, it took a lot of effort to come up with this.

As for Little Seven, Chu Guang had already told it in advance what it could and could not say, so he wasn't worried about it slipping up.

Even if it did slip up, it didn't matter.

Anything that couldn't be explained could be dismissed with "It's a game setting." Nowadays, there was no such thing as a flawless setting; if you nitpick, even the news could have bugs.

Seeing Chu Guang finally finished, the player with the nickname "Night Ten" quickly asked.

"Excuse me, where is Brother Light? I mean, the game planner who gave us the helmets."

"I don't understand what you're saying." Chu Guang answered expressionlessly.

"How do we log out of the game?" White horse asked.

"Lie back in the pod to log out."

Actually, there was another method; states like unconsciousness, sleep, and death would also cause the connection to disconnect, but Chu Guang didn't want them to try it casually.

Lying in the pod was more energy-efficient; dealing with bodies lying around would be troublesome.

"What about levels? Where's the player system interface? Why can't I find it?"

As soon as Level-8-Gale asked this, before Chu Guang could answer, Ample time interjected.

"What about character customization? Can't we change the character settings? And the character's gender—"

"Enough, these questions will be answered by the de-... ahem, it's not your turn to ask questions yet."

Cutting off their endless questions with a head full of black lines, Chu Guang, with a businesslike attitude, handed out four small booklets, thrusting them into their hands without further ado.

"I will take you to familiarize yourself with the environment here and tell you what you need to pay attention to."

"Especially what you can do and what you can't even think about."

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