June 1, 2050, 18:57.
With three minutes left on the countdown, Qian Peng finally took out his Holographic Simulation Helmet and prepared to officially begin tonight's stream.
"The Holographic Helmet has a threefold Brain Domain acceleration effect, so I might speak a little fast. Viewers watching on their phones or computers can use slow mode or turn on the AI subtitles below." After explaining the precautions, Qian Peng sighed and put on the helmet.
He had consulted a lawyer. Because of the predatory terms he had agreed to when creating his account, even though the game account that had been swallowed was worth millions, it would be difficult for him to seek compensation from the game company.
Left with no other choice, Qian Peng exposed the fact that his account had been swallowed online, hoping public opinion would pressure the Expedition Company.
However, the Glory Expedition officials had been playing dead. Even after all this time, they had not made a sound.
This bizarre situation made many netizens suspect that he was actually colluding with the game company, working together to build hype for the nostalgic server of "Despair Expedition."
That infuriated Qian Peng.
Because of his swallowed account, he had not streamed for the past two days. He had been busy gathering evidence, preparing to face the Expedition Company in court, only to end up trending online.
Even his longtime fans were asking whether he had secretly accepted a sponsorship to help promote Glory Expedition's nostalgic server.
The time has come. Descender, welcome to my world.
Before Qian Peng could react, the game's countdown abruptly ended. His world spun, as if someone had stuffed him into a flushing toilet, and a violent sensation of weightlessness slammed into him.
Please select your race.
When Qian Peng regained consciousness, he saw a handsome man as perfect as an ancient Greek statue standing in a pure white hall, looking at him from afar.
He stared blankly for a long while before realizing that this was the game's character creation screen.
He hurriedly opened the settings, projected the helmet's visuals into his stream, and loaded the chat overlay.
Then, lines of translucent comments drifted across the upper-right corner of his vision.
"Ah? The server is really opening today?"
"This visual quality... is this really a holographic game? It's practically as good as the naked eye, isn't it?"
"Did the streamer take a sponsorship?"
"With visuals this insane, why wasn't there any news beforehand?"
"With the Holographic Helmet's trash performance, can it even run a game with this kind of graphics? I'm a little worried about the streamer's scalp temperature."
"Selling grilled brain mush in the front row."
"Don't jump to conclusions. This is just the character creation screen. Once he gets into the game, it might still be those classic blocky little people."
Qian Peng ignored the comments.
He silently chose Dragonkin, intending to make himself a Great Horned Dragon Girl for fun.
The next moment, a tall, muscular lizardman with a swaying tail appeared in the middle of the hall.
Qian Peng took one look, then mindlessly clicked Next until the prompt asking whether he wished to complete character creation appeared. Only then did he blurt out:
"Why isn't there a gender option?"
Since he could not satisfy his preferences, he might as well become a ruthless meta chaser.
He selected human again, then glanced at the comments from the corner of his eye before deciding on his appearance.
"Can't you make a shemale character?"
"If the actual game can maintain the character creation screen's quality, this game will definitely become the next disaster zone for online dating."
"Why does the official website call this a nostalgic server? What part of this is nostalgic?"
"It's clearly an ultimate Plus remaster!"
"Classic human start. Is Pengpeng still planning to play a Time Palace Knight?"
"How about trying to import facial data?"
Qian Peng hummed in acknowledgment, selected Import Facial Data, then chose Yes when asked, "Would you like to import your facial data?"
The preset character's originally heroic and handsome face then turned into an utterly ordinary, forgettable face.
That made Qian Peng freeze again.
As a professional streamer, this was not his first time importing his own face into a game. He had long grown used to it.
However, unlike other holographic games, the nearly lifelike visuals made that slightly youthful face look like the Qian Peng from ten years ago.
This is really so real...
You have completed character creation. Please wait patiently for the other players to finish creating their characters...
"Why do we have to wait again?"
Qian Peng felt somewhat frustrated, so he could only chat with his viewers.
"Forget it. Let's use this time to talk about the game."
"Those of you who looked into it should know that after successfully pre-registering on the official website, the game's displayed title was 'Glory Expedition OL.' Combined with the new visual presentation, it is basically certain that this so-called nostalgic server is actually a next-generation remaster."
"However, based on the information available so far, this game is most likely a prototype."
"No opening cinematic, no login screen, no BGM, and the traits of different races were not even labeled during character creation."
"Fortunately, those are all minor problems. They can be fixed with some effort."
"What worries me most right now is the hands-on gameplay experience."
As he spoke, Qian Peng pondered for a moment. After organizing his thoughts, he said:
"I didn't download a new client and went straight into the character creation screen, so I believe Glory Expedition is using cloud gaming."
"For those who don't know, cloud gaming is similar to watching a livestream."
"The game program runs entirely on the official remote servers. Our helmets only need to send control commands and receive the video transmitted by the officials."
"The advantage is that it compensates for the helmet's performance limitations and allows for high-quality visuals, but the downside is also obvious."
"That is latency."
"But the selling point of holographic games is the realistic first-person experience, and the most important thing in first-person games is smoothness."
"Who wants to experience a 'second life' in a game while dealing with high latency?"
As he explained, he glanced at the comments, nodded in agreement, and said:
"You're right. The reason Glory Expedition became popular worldwide and still hosts global tournaments today is because its combat system is exceptionally good."
"So for Glory Expedition, latency would be even more fatal."
"I wonder how the officials plan to overcome this technical hurdle."
After beating around the bush and voicing a bunch of pessimistic opinions, much of Qian Peng's resentment dissipated.
Although he planned to take the Expedition Company to court with a lawsuit, that did not stop him from continuing to play the company's games.
At worst, he simply would not spend any money.
After all, unlike those dime-a-dozen "pixel-style" holographic games,
Glory Expedition's visuals, indistinguishable from what the naked eye saw, currently had no substitute.
Manufacturing body... Crossing worlds... Loading projection...
While Qian Peng casually chatted with the viewers, his consciousness suddenly jolted, and the scene before him changed from white to black.
When his vision returned, he was already lying on the floor of a warehouse.
Qian Peng climbed to his feet and looked around, once again stunned by the sight before him.
The surroundings were actually quite empty. It was just a warehouse without much inside.
Yet the visuals, indistinguishable from reality, had exceeded his expectations so thoroughly that they hard-controlled him for more than ten seconds!
Did I really transmigrate?!!
Qian Peng was horrified.