"This game doesn't have a social system. Why don't I make a group chat and have everyone join?"
While everyone was collecting their weapons, Qian Peng suddenly made the suggestion.
Judging from the livestream chat, among the ten players who had secured early access, he was the only one streaming.
And at least two players were lurking in his stream.
This one-sided flow of information made Qian Peng uneasy. He was afraid that while walking down the road later, someone might knock him out from behind.
With that in mind, Qian Peng emphasized:
"Otherwise, once the newbie tutorial ends, it'll be a hassle to get in touch with each other."
"How do we join?" The bearded Dragonkin was the first to respond.
Qian Peng walked up to the Dragonkin. "QQ. I'll scan your code."
The Dragonkin said, "Bring it on."
Li Li, standing nearby, curiously observed these Blue Star people and their so-called group chat.
He saw Amulet Owl walk up to Not Iaido, But Drawing Sword. His eyes suddenly went blank, and only after several seconds did their usual liveliness return.
He gave the Dragonkin a slight nod and said, "Thank you, senior," before walking up to Golden Wind and asking:
"Are you one of the higher-ups from the number one guild, Golden Wind?"
Golden Wind merely smiled without answering.
Golden Wind was the country's largest guild, monopolizing resources in numerous games: alchemy, scroll crafting, enchanting... Even professional clubs focused on PVP bought services from them.
As everyone joined the group chat one by one, Li Li noticed that whenever Amulet Owl added someone, he would offer a few professional compliments. Sometimes he did it before inviting them, sometimes afterward, as though these people were all quite famous.
The most exaggerated instance came when he approached Lost a Leg. After pulling him into the group, he suddenly covered his mouth and exclaimed:
"You're Leg Lord?"
"Who else would I be?"
The Shadowkin shrugged, clearly enjoying the affected flattery.
Finally, muttering, "Why is there still one missing?" Amulet Owl found the dwarf who had been hiding in the corner.
Under everyone's gaze, the dwarf could only force himself to step forward.
The two stared blankly at each other for several seconds. Amulet Owl's expression shifted from confusion, to shock, to astonishment. He stared fixedly at the dwarf before him and asked tactfully:
"Baron, the Expedition Cup global group stage starts at the beginning of next month. You—"
"Does your club know you're doing this?"
The Dragonkin walked over and stood between them, his tone more serious than ever.
The dwarf named I Don't Want to Pay the Penalty squatted on the ground, clutching his head with both hands as he painfully defended himself:
"How was I supposed to know pre-registering for the classic server would delete character data? And I can't cancel the registration on the official website either."
"You're Baron from STAR Team?" The others finally caught on as well.
"Your team finally put together a Galactic Battleship this year, and the season hasn't even started yet, but one of the pilots is already gone." The elf named Sakurajima Mai mocked him.
Despair Expedition OL still held global professional tournaments, and though discussion around it was fairly limited, it had once enjoyed great glory.
STAR Team, where I Don't Want to Pay the Penalty belonged, was one of this year's favorites to win the championship.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" I Don't Want to Pay the Penalty howled in agony, looking as though he intended to flee from reality.
Watching these strange people, Li Li's doubts only deepened.
He knew these people were players of Despair Expedition OL.
After all, he had posted the recruitment letter on that game's official website.
He could also roughly guess that they had added one another through Blue Star's internet.
After all, their souls were still on Blue Star. What had descended into this world were merely soul projections, like reflections of the moon in water.
But why were they so certain this was a game world?
Where exactly had things gone wrong?
Apart from Level 8 Great Gale, whom Li Li had kept behind to "further optimize the operational logic," the other players left the starting warehouse one after another after choosing their weapons.
Qian Peng walked at the very back of the group. Looking at their backs, he suddenly had the illusion that he did not belong among them.
A retired three-time champion, an active championship favorite, a renowned Boss killer, an executive from the number one guild on the national server... Of the few whose identities he recognized, every one of them could crush him in every possible way.
But on second thought, it seemed his losses were also the smallest.
Every person here might have lost equipment worth millions.
The reason they were being so well-behaved—why nobody was attacking NPCs or pulling down their pants in public—was not because these players had good manners, but because of the terrifying sunk cost.
The account ban the NPC had mentioned earlier was genuinely lethal.
Qian Peng sighed. Less than half an hour into the game, he was already prepared to give up on suing Expedition Company.
Because his lawyer had tactfully indicated that his chances of getting his money back were slim.
Rather than waste time on that, as one of the first players to enter Glorious Expedition, he might as well make good use of his early-start advantage and establish himself in the game.
There would be plenty of ways to earn those losses back later.
Take the three million Golden Wind had offered Yu Jin, for example.
If this game truly used a "real world" system, that meant every quest and every Boss in the game was unique.
On the first day after launch, that price was not high at all.
"Huu—"
Having thought it through, Qian Peng let out a long breath and looked at the spear in his hand.
Hardwood Spear (Blue) Attributes: Attack +30, Armor Penetration +10, Accuracy +5 Trait: None Durability: 100/100 Weapon Description: An industrial product from the assembly line. Affordable, reliable quality, and delivery available.
"The starting weapon is blue-grade, with built-in armor penetration and high durability. It's far better than the Corroded Longsword in the original version, which only had 30 durability at the start."
After introducing the spear in his hand, Qian Peng leaned forward slightly and stepped out through the warehouse's rolling shutter door.
The next moment, he froze in place.
A light mist blanketed the grassland in the early morning, making everything seem unreal. At the construction site across the road, the cold glow of neon lights pierced through the haze, brutally branding the distant city's outline onto his retinas.
A massive advertising airship drifted between towering buildings. It appeared and disappeared like a nomad of the skies before plunging headlong into the forest of steel and iron.
Then the wind came.
It carried the roar of cars, the hum of machinery, the whistles of factories, and the pulse of the city.
Standing at the edge of this city of steel and glass, Qian Peng felt as though his heart had been violently clenched.
He wanted to open his mouth and loudly vent the indescribable emotions in his heart.
Yet he could not make a sound.
It was as if he had fallen in love.
But he did not know what he had fallen in love with.
He understood why this game had no opening cinematic. A mere corner of this world was enough to surpass everything else.
"A living Iron Wall City!"
"Absolutely breathtaking."
"How many NPCs must there be?"
"This is too incredible! I'm making this into a live wallpaper!"
"Damn it, stop standing around! Hurry into the city and explore!"
The viewers in the livestream were also stunned by the sight, but only Qian Peng knew that they could merely see this city, while he could see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, and touch it.
"As you can see, this should be Iron Wall City before its destruction."
"And the current date is—"
Qian Peng glanced at the abandoned construction site across the road. Its nearly scrapped LED screen was still flashing the current date.
"January 14th, Alliance Year 1104."
"Until the Alliance's fall—the world's corruption—"
"Until the extinction of the last civilization—"
"Until the day hope dies—"
"Until the day Despair Expedition OL players descend—"
"There are still six months left."
Before you continue