The Dog Game Designer Who Masters Human Nature

Eastern University Research Institute, cafeteria.

Dong Hai had just finished getting his food and sat down.

Ding Yanfeng leaned in with a mysterious look on his face and whispered into his ear.

"Dong Hai, do you play games?"

Dong Hai widened his eyes and looked at Ding Yanfeng.

"Old Ding, what is this about?"

"An epoch-making virtual reality game, one hundred percent realistic experience! Reservations are red-hot, you can't even get a spot, but I have a special invitation. As long as you say you want to play, I'll book it for you right now."

"You haven't been dragged into a pyramid scheme, have you!"

A sense of vigilance rose in Dong Hai's heart.

Being this obsessed, it had to be either a pyramid scheme or a cult.

"What pyramid scheme! Have you read 'The Three-Body Problem'?"

"I have, but what does that have to do with a pyramid scheme?"

"What the hell with the pyramid scheme, can you stop saying that?"

Ding Yanfeng was somewhat speechless.

"In the first part of 'The Three-Body Problem', didn't that ETO organization develop a Three-Body game?"

"The game I'm introducing to you is even more realistic than the one from ETO."

Dong Hai revealed a look of suspicion, "Are there aliens in our world preparing to invade too?"

"No aliens, I'm just asking if you want to play the game??"

Ding Yanfeng took out his phone and opened a webpage.

"As long as you click 'reserve', that's it. You don't even need to fill in any information."

Dong Hai's eyes widened even further. Was this some kind of new scam?

"Just one click? Nothing else needs to be done?"

"That's right, just one click."

Dong Hai reached out his finger, half-doubting, and tapped on 'reserve'.

[Clicking 'reserve' constitutes agreement to the terms, details can be expanded]

A line of text appeared, then vanished.

"Alright, I've filled in an ID for you (I Laugh at Tzeentch's Lack of Strategy), now you just wait for your game helmet to arrive."

Ding Yanfeng put his phone away.

"This game is guaranteed to blow your mind."

Dong Hai: "..."

That was it?!

He felt like something was wrong.

Ding Yanfeng didn't say anything more, eating his food while thinking about the game.

He had already hoarded quite a few Contribution Points.

He wondered what he would be able to buy at the Cybernetic Prosthetics Shop that was about to open.

In the evening.

Dong Hai was just about to walk out of the research building when he heard the front desk calling him, saying there was a package for him.

"I haven't bought anything online recently."

Dong Hai looked puzzled, but after walking over, he found that the front desk indeed had a package with his name on it.

After taking it back to his dorm and opening it, he discovered a strangely shaped helmet.

"What is this thing?"

Dong Hai felt a bit strange and picked it up to examine it.

The craftsmanship of the helmet was exquisite, looking just like a work of art.

Dong Hai reached out to trace the patterns on the surface of the helmet; the metallic touch was cold and realistic.

He tried putting the helmet on. At first, there was only darkness, then a golden Double-Headed Eagle appeared.

Beneath it, binary and runic code scrolled by.

[Game is loading, please wait patiently]

Dong Hai took off the helmet, his face full of shock—this was actually a game helmet!

"Could this be the game Ding Yanfeng was talking about? But I didn't fill in any information at all."

Dong Hai frowned. He picked up the helmet and hurried out of his dorm to find Ding Yanfeng.

The other person lived in a single dormitory provided by the Eastern University Research Institute, just like him, and not far away at that.

Within a few minutes, Dong Hai arrived at the dormitory of Ding Yanfeng.

At this moment, Ding Yanfeng was sitting at his desk looking up information.

"What is going on with this?" Dong Hai placed the helmet in front of Ding Yanfeng.

"What do you mean, what's going on?" Ding Yanfeng examined the helmet; there was nothing wrong with it.

Dong Hai walked to the door, looked left and right, then closed it before walking back to stand in front of Ding Yanfeng.

"I'm asking what's going on with that game."

"Didn't you get the helmet? Are there any other problems?" Ding Yanfeng asked, puzzled.

"Getting the helmet is the biggest problem! I didn't fill out any information, so how was it delivered? Did you sell my personal details?" Dong Hai demanded.

"I didn't." Ding Yanfeng raised his hand to swear. "When I first got the game helmet, I also thought my personal information had been stolen, but that wasn't the case at all."

"You won't listen to my explanation right now, so it's better if you just enter the game. Then you'll understand everything."

Looking at his friend's earnest expression, Dong Hai could only suppress the confusion in his heart for now.

He wanted to see exactly what this game was that had his friend so obsessed!

Once the game finished loading, Ding Yanfeng told Dong Hai to put on the helmet and lie down on the sofa.

Honestly.

Could there really be a virtual reality game more realistic than the Three-Body game?

The moment this thought crossed Dong Hai's mind, he, despite having his eyes closed, saw a beam of light pierce the darkness and shine directly into his pupils.

He hadn't even opened his eyes!!

Imperial Glory, Chapel of Prayers.

"Holy crap!!"

Dong Hai looked around, his look of suspicion replaced by shock.

This.

Is this really a game world??

"What are you shouting about?" Old Bird walked over to Dong Hai's side. "I told you it was an epoch-making virtual reality game, but you insisted it was a pyramid scheme!! Believe it now??"

"Is it really this realistic?" Dong Hai examined his surroundings.

"That's just the beginning. Remember when I told you about repairing the Reactor Chamber last time? That was in this game. The system is so complex it's just like the real thing."

Speaking of his own achievements, Old Bird looked proud.

"It's too shocking. Such a realistic game—if it were released to the public, tsk tsk, it would definitely overturn many industries." Dong Hai was like a curious child, touching this and that.

"Let's go, I'll take you around to get familiar with things."

Old Bird took Dong Hai to introduce the Chapel of Prayers, Strategic Command, and the Command Hall, and even took him to see the Reactor Chamber.

At the same time, Blood Pigeon also brought along several classmates who had flown planes before to log into Warhammer Online.

He was teaching them how to pilot a Valkyrie in the game.

The realistic handling had these students incredibly excited.

They all shouted that this game was truly amazing.

With these students acting as pilots, the many vehicles on the Imperial Glory finally had a purpose.

Over at the space station, Hina followed Qin Yun's instructions and drew up a detailed list, preparing to open the Cybernetic Prosthetics Shop for business.

Qin Yun reviewed the list and prices; the pricing wasn't outrageous.

It was just that most players at this stage were broke.

Only veteran players like Old Bird, Brother Zhong, and Ten-Timer had any real purchasing power.

"I need to make the players stronger so they can complete missions better, but I can't just hand out Contribution Points for nothing."

Qin Yun frowned.

The enhancement surgeries provided by Hina could directly increase the players' combat effectiveness.

But most players were strapped for cash and couldn't afford them at all.

If he just gave out Contribution Points, it would be unfair to the players who were working hard to earn them.

"The players don't have money, but I do. I can lend money to them."

"I'll launch a credit system while I'm at it; players with high credit scores can even enjoy discounts."

Qin Yun suddenly felt like a genius.

If the players don't have money to spend, why not just lend it to them?

If he doesn't saddle them with some debt, how else is he supposed to make them work like beasts of burden!!

Qin Yun explained his idea to Priest Hina and had her program a reputation system for the God Chosen.

Priest Hina didn't quite understand Qin Yun's train of thought, but she followed his instructions nonetheless.

Once all the issues were resolved, Hina Cybernetics Shop officially announced its grand opening.

Qin Yun even went out of his way to broadcast the opening announcement via holographic projection.

"Attention all God Chosen, Hina Cybernetics Shop is now officially open for business with a grand opening sale."

"All items are 15% off for the next twenty-four hours. Quantities are limited, so act fast."

Shortly after the announcement went out, the players gathered around.

Considering the large crowd and the inability to attend to everyone personally, Priest Hina deployed Servo-skulls and holographic screens so players could look up product information themselves.

The subsequent developments unfolded exactly as Qin Yun had anticipated.

Upon seeing the prices on the list, the players immediately began to howl in protest.

"What the hell! A basic cybernetic eye that only offers range-finding, vision adjustment, and light-dark adaptation costs two hundred thousand! And it doesn't even come with a blessing; it drops upon death!"

"A primary auxiliary core is priced at one point six million, providing memory caching, auxiliary calculations, and data shunting functions."

"The B-14 Mantis Blade, made of monomolecular material and utilizing neural interface technology, costs eight hundred and fifty thousand."

"Did the developers of this game play too much Bannerlord 2?"

"Are the scumbag developers of this game from Tencent?"

"These prices are way too predatory." Old Bird shouted, filled with righteous indignation.

He had painstakingly saved up over one hundred thousand, making him the richest among the player base.

Yet, he couldn't even afford a single cybernetic eye.

Seeing the God Chosen in an uproar, shouting about the heartless, greedy developers, Priest Hina followed Qin Yun's instructions and introduced them to the concepts of reputation and loans.

"This shop provides loan services, with credit limits determined by your reputation level."

"Reputation can be earned by completing missions, repaying loans, and other credit-worthy behaviors."

Hearing that they could take out loans, the players' eyes widened.

"Is this game really realistic enough to play like this??" Warmaster silently gave a thumbs up.

"First time I've ever heard of a game where you can take out a loan to buy gear."

Old Bird was also impressed by the developers of Warhammer Online; this line of thinking was truly unique.

"Taking out a loan for an expedition—am I actually going to be undefeated?"

"I don't even respect the walls, but I respect the developers of this game."

"We're supposed to be the Fourth Calamity, yet they're making us take out loans for gear? Aren't they afraid we'll just run off?"

"The last guy who took a loan and ran off has been beaten into a vegetative state at home for ten thousand years."

The players scoffed, collectively roasting the system.

Suddenly, Ten-Timer stepped forward.

"Screw it! I'd rather be penniless than miss out on gear. I'm taking a loan to install a Psyker Amplifier and see what it's like."

After signing a long agreement, Ten-Timer was led into the operating room by Priest Hina.

The surgery was completed quickly; ten minutes later, Ten-Timer walked out.

His head now featured over a dozen neural amplification cables, each the thickness of a small finger.

"How do you feel? Does it hurt?" Old Bird grabbed Ten-Timer's hand.

"I don't feel anything. I was anesthetized as soon as I went in. The whole process just felt like my Scalp was itching, and then it was over," Ten-Timer said.

Warmaster also leaned in, "Show us what you've got. Let's see how the gear you bought with a nine-hundred-thousand loan performs."

Ten-Timer extended his hand, and ice-crystal-like Aether Shards manifested, dancing around his body.

He looked exactly like a mage from a game, making the other players drool with envy.

"The amplification is significant, and the control is much more precise."

"You get what you pay for. I feel terrifyingly strong right now."

"Can I take out another loan? I feel like I can improve even more."

Having tasted the benefits, Ten-Timer turned to look at Priest Hina.

He wanted to max out his loan to see where his limits lay.

Unfortunately, his reputation did not support such a large loan.

Seeing the enhancements Ten-Timer gained after the surgery, The players continued to curse the developers for being greedy, but their bodies were honest; they flocked to take out loans, choosing their desired cybernetics to boost their combat power.

To ensure the players earned enough Contribution Points to repay their debts, Qin Yun broke down the operation to conquer Lycade Station into a series of individual missions.

He allowed the players to earn Contribution Points through these tasks while honing their skills in the process.

Chapter two will be a bit late, as it hasn't been finished yet.