Chapter 6: The First Batch of Players
"I am an NPC."
While talking to himself in the mirror, Chu Guang took a deep breath, straightened his collar, and tried to make himself look as dignified as possible.
He wore an expressionless face.
Three days had passed since he returned, and in a few minutes, it would be time for his players to login.
The blue coat he wore was what he appeared in the world with, and Charlie from Baker Street once told him that it was what residents of shelters wore.
"I am an NPC."
Chu Guang faced the mirror he obtained from somewhere outside the shelter and practiced again.
The nature of his new job was completely different from the previous job he had. The smile and polite attitude he once donned should never appear as an administrator. After all, they were currently in a wasteland that followed the laws of the jungle. He might not need to act all tough to survive in the wasteland, but he had to at least instill a sense of security by looking confident when they arrived.
After touching his cheeks, Chu Guang wondered if he should scar himself on the forehead or style his hair and look like some sort of punk.
After all, they were in a lawless wasteland. If he looked too handsome, it would affect the immersive fantasy factor of the game…
"Master."
Chu Guang, who was making poses in front of the mirror, lifted his chin with no emotion, "What?"
Little Seven responded in a hushed voice, "According to the information I have looked up, NPCs in games don’t usually call themselves NPCs."
The expression on his face stiffened, and Chu Guang said with a light cough, "Of course, I know…" Looking into the mirror, he muttered again, "... I am the administrator of Shelter 404."
As he practiced, they neared the appointed time. Three hours ago, the nurturing cabins had completed the process of clone synthesis. He had arranged for the four lucky fellows to wear the helmet at 9:00 at night where they were and to look for a comfortable place to lie down before entering the game.
Just as Chu Guang was thinking about what kind of posture he should assume when appearing in front of them, something chimed in his mind. The next moment, a line of text appeared in his vision.
[Mission Complete]
Chu Guang's heart tightened.
They’re here…
...
"Holy fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! This is incredible!"
In the underground living area next to the Resident Lobby, in an unassuming room, four nurturing cabins were unlocked at the same time, their translucent hatches opening.
Sitting up in the open nurturing cabin, Ye Wei was dumbfounded. He looked around, his face full of shock.
Is this the game world?
Until a minute ago, he was still wondering whether this could be a carefully planned elaborate prank, but when he was lying flat on the bed about to fall asleep with the helmet on and fully charged, a blinding ray of light shot at him from the darkness. When he opened his eyes again, he was already in the strange room. His body was wet as if he had just crawled out of a pond. A slight breeze came from the overhead air outlet and brushed against his shoulders, causing the liquid to evaporate while cooling him down. There was also a faintly unpleasant smell in the air.
Ye Wei’s eyes widened in shock.
Sight!
Smell!
Touch!
Taste!
Sound!
All five senses!
It felt awesome!
The immersive feeling made tears well up in his eyes.
I didn't expect that in my lifetime, I would actually be able to experience a fully immersive virtual reality!
Saying that it was awesome would fail to capture the true extent of the technology he was exposed to. It wasn’t just him either as the other players who sat up from their nurturing cabins also had looks of shock on their faces.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Is this for real right now?!"
"... I thought it was a joke."
"Oh my god! It really is completely immersive!"
"Is technology really this advanced now? Are you serious? Why haven’t I seen it on the news?!"
"Ow... Even pain feels so real." A player had pinched himself.
"Who the fuck are you? Are you an NPC?"
"NPC my ass, I am Old White! White_horse_passing_a_crevice! Who the hell are you supposed to be?!"
"What the fuck? Old White?! I'm Gale! Level_8_Gale! Why do you look like this? Hahahaha. I’m laughing my ass off."
"Get lost! This game is interesting, but it looks like our appearances have already been set. I wonder if they would allow us to modify our appearance in the future…"
Old White also pinched himself. Even though he could feel the pain, there was a wide grin on his face.
He was excited!
It was exhilarating!
Everything he felt was incredible!
It was a dream come true!
Ye Wei, sitting in his chamber next to them, stared blankly into space as he remained motionless. He tried to digest the shock he was feeling. The other guy beside him was sitting just as still and he should be There_will_be_ample_time from their group. He was staring at his crotch while looking to be in deep contemplation. No one could tell what he was thinking.
"Is the default role set as male?! Why can’t we create our character? I mean… Can we create a female character?”
"Damn, this guy is so horny! He must be Night Ten."
"I’m Ample Time..."
"Yo! Ample Time?! We’re best buddies, right?… You know what I mean?"
"Scram! I was just asking... That’s probably Night Ten. From the looks of it, everyone is here, right?”
Seeing that the three of them were staring at him, Ye Wei finally snapped back to his senses. Realizing that he was still naked, he quickly picked up the uniform hanging by the nurturing cabin, pulled it over his head, and said casually, "Mhm, I just logged in... How do we play this game? Is there no beginner tutorial?"
"I don't know, we just logged in as well."
As soon as their voices fell, the door opened and a man in a blue jacket walked in. Behind him was a bin-shaped robot. The tube-like body looked a bit dumb, but the streamlined shell and polished silver paint were full-on things that looked like it came out of a science fiction movie.
The eyes of all four players widened in shock.
"An NPC!"
"It looks exactly like a real person!"
"Is this really the game world?"
"This is too realistic!"
"Quiet," Chu Guang interrupted and glanced at the four of them. He spoke slowly, "Welcome to Shelter 404. I am the administrator here, codenamed ‘Dawn’."
The room fell silent for a moment.
All four players seemed exceptionally serious as they stared at him with bated breaths, afraid that they would miss anything he said.
There was no doubt about it. He was in full control of the situation.
Chu Guang heaved a sigh of relief and continued to speak according to the script he prepared, "First of all, I’m here with good news. The war is over. The bad news is that our world has changed beyond recognition. If you expect to go home and find your mother, you’d be shit out of luck.”
"This year marks the two hundredth anniversary of the end of the world. Fortunately, we managed to live through the most difficult years. To be able to stand here today, you are already more fortunate than the twelve billion people who died along the way. I now need you to understand what situation you’re in and complete the declaration under the banner of the Federation of People. We will rebuild our homeland!”
"This robot next to me is my assistant. You may call it Little Seven. You can ask it any question about the shelter or anything else you may not understand."
Everything he said was according to the script he wrote, and when the next batch of players arrived, Chu Guang would say it again. After all, it was hard to come up with something new.
Chu Guang had already told Little Seven in advance what it could reveal to the players, so there was no need to worry about it exposing his mission. That said, even if he did expose himself, it wouldn’t be a problem. Anything that couldn't be explained could be answered by telling them it was a game setting. After all, it wasn’t as though there weren’t things in games that made no sense…
Seeing that Chu Guang was done speaking, the player who registered with the nickname Night Ten quickly asked, "Where is Light? I mean, the game designer who gave us the helmet."
"I don't know what you are talking about." Chu Guang replied blankly.
"How do you log out of the game?" Old White continued.
"You can return to the nurturing cabin and lie down to log out."
Actually, there was another method. Abnormal states such as coma, sleep, and death would also cause the connection to be interrupted, but Chu Guang did not want them to try it on their own. It was more energy efficient to lie in the nurturing cabin, and it would be annoying to deal with their corpses.
"What about our level? Where is the player interface? Why can’t I find it?" Gale just shot off a series of questions when Ample Time interrupted before Chu Guang could answer any of them.
"What about the character creation system? Are the settings for the role unchangeable? And the gender of the character…"
"Enough! You’re asking too many questions... It's not your turn to speak yet." Interrupting these people's endless questions, Chu Guang sternly threw four pamphlets into their hands, "I will help you familiarize yourself with the environment and tell you what you need to pay attention to. Specifically what you can do, and what you cannot do."
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