"...How real is a 100% realistic fully immersive game?"
Earth, a university computer lab.
As Ye Wei looked at the group chat messages, the first image that popped into his mind was not a game, but pale, gleaming righteousness.
To be more specific, it was his copy of Elder Scrolls V with over 200 mods installed, and the hundred-plus wives he had personally created coming to life from his save file.
Going into any more detail would get his account banned.
His nickname in the group was "Wakes Up More Than Ten Times a Night." Since it was too long and not very tasteful, the guys in the group simply called him Ye Shi.
"Exactly as it sounds."
"Sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste... everything is identical to the real world. Time in the game world flows at a 1:1 ratio with reality, with a time difference of roughly twelve hours. And since the technology works by interfering with dreams, playing the game is basically the same as sleeping."
The guy who typed those two lines had the nickname "Guang."
That serious one-character nickname seemed completely out of place in a group called Ox-Horse Club. So the goofy members would occasionally call him Ultraman, Gaia, or even Brother Kai or Awesome.
Level 8 Gale (Administrator): "Is this some kind of fantasy setting? (laughs)"
Long Days Ahead (Administrator): "And it sounds pretty dated too. Feels like the kind of virtual reality game setting from early webnovels."
Fleeting Time (Group Owner): "Haha, you mean those VR helmets? I used to love reading those when I was in school."
Wakes Up More Than Ten Times a Night (Administrator): "Seriously, that setting makes no sense, does it? The game company isn't trying to make money, just trying to make players happy? If it were really 100% realistic, how would RMB warriors show off their status? Everyone would just freeload!"
Ye Wei did not read those kinds of novels, but he felt that, having received nine years of compulsory education, he was different from everyone else. Rather than simple wish fulfillment, he believed stories should pursue logic.
That was why he preferred fantasy and supernatural fiction.
Long Days Ahead: "Bro, you're taking this too seriously. If we're talking logic, isn't it more logical for readers outside the novel to have fun than for a fictional game company inside the novel to make money?"
Level 8 Gale: "No nesting dolls."
The topic quickly drifted off course.
Although Ox-Horse Club was a gaming group, they rarely discussed games so seriously like they had today.
Especially a "game" that did not even exist and had been entirely imagined out of thin air.
However, even though the topic had completely wandered off, the person who started it—the guy called Guang—stubbornly pulled it back.
Guang: "I mean, what if."
Guang: "If there really were such a game, would you play it?"
Looking at the group chat, Ye Wei smiled and shook his head.
Was that even a question?
Wakes Up More Than Ten Times a Night: "Of course! Why wouldn't I? A 100% realistic game—why not give it a try? You know what I mean. (grin)"
Level 8 Gale: "+1. But I still have a question about your setting. If game time is equivalent to sleep time... wouldn't it make more sense to apply this technology to work?"
Fleeting Time: "Holy shit, are you a demon???"
Long Days Ahead: "Then I'd better just sleep honestly. (wry smile)"
Quit Smoking: "Why are you guys still awake in the middle of the night, daydreaming in the group chat?"
"I'm dying laughing."
More and more people began popping up in the group.
Some did not send messages, but were still watching with great interest.
In a gaming group of two hundred people, there were usually only ten to twenty active members. Every now and then, a stranger would pop up—someone who knew you, but whom you did not know—and only after asking would they admit they had been lurking for more than two years.
But the guy called Guang paid them no attention and continued immersing himself in his own world.
"Actually, the company I recently joined is developing a fully immersive virtual reality online game."
The lively group chat briefly fell silent.
But soon, as though they had planned it beforehand, a string of messages popped up.
"Holy shit?"
"Really?!"
"Damn, brother! I almost believed you. (grin)"
Ye Wei felt this guy was laying it on a little too thick.
A fully immersive virtual reality online game?
100% real?
What a load of crap.
Just as Brother Gale had said, if something like that really existed, would anyone use it for a game???
Of course, he did not quite agree with using it directly in an office setting either. In his imagination, if such an awesome technology really existed, it would definitely be used in the military first.
How badass would it be for training special forces!
The guy called Guang did not say anything else. He simply tossed over a website link.
Ye Wei clicked it casually and discovered that it was actually a game's official website.
The site was poorly made. It looked like they could not even afford to hire an artist. The empty page contained nothing at all, only three bare lines of text.
100% realistic virtual reality game—"Wasteland OL"
Current reservations: 0
Reserve: yes/no
Ye Wei laughed.
Well damn, after all that buildup, it was an advertisement.
Who knew whether it was gambling or online betting.
Still, the reservation count was realistic enough. They had not fabricated an eight-digit online player count and claimed some celebrity was playing too.
"Fine. Let's see what kind of Ox-Horse you are."
He clicked yes while holding the mouse.
Yet, to his surprise, the registration page he had expected did not pop up. Other than the reservation count changing from 0 to 1, nothing happened.
"This trash game doesn't even require account registration???"
That bizarre move left Ye Wei baffled. For a moment, he could not tell whether this thing even counted as an advertisement.
Could it be infected with a virus?
Probably not.
What era was this? Antivirus software was practically becoming obsolete. Were there still viruses that could infect a computer just because someone clicked YES or NO on a website?
Let alone in the university computer lab.
Even on his own computer, he would not have been afraid of such a thing.
Reservations: 11
Wasteland, Vault 404 residential hall.
Looking at the number on the website backend displayed on the computer screen, Chu Guang, seated in the cramped room, let out a sigh of relief and released his tightly clenched mouse.
"Is that enough?"
Two lines of text floating before his eyes answered him.
Task complete.
Reward: One carbon nanomaterial bulletproof vest. Reward points +5.
The wall on one side of the room trembled faintly. As the curved alloy door opened, a black vest lay on the platform behind it.
A conveyor belt carried the vest out.
The alloy door closed again, and the room returned to silence.
Chu Guang immediately rose from the computer and walked over to pick up the vest.
It was very light. Its texture resembled ice-silk sleepwear, smooth and soft to the touch. It was hard to imagine that this thing could withstand gunfire.
Name: Carbon Nanomaterial Bulletproof Vest Description: Effectively absorbs the kinetic energy of bullets, disperses impact force within its durability limits, and resists a certain degree of puncture and cutting damage. Durability: 100%
Rewards obtained from the vault system would be registered in the inventory, complete with product descriptions and instructions for use.
Chu Guang immediately took off his shirt and put it on against his skin.
It felt a little chilly at first, but he quickly got used to it.
At that moment, the cylindrical metal object sitting in the corner of the room emitted a flat electronic voice.
"Congratulations, Master. It seems you have completed your first task."
"Can you stop suddenly speaking like that?"
"Yes, Master."
The robot that looked like a wastepaper basket was called Xiao Qi.
As the assistant to the administrator of Vault 404, it technically did not have something like a name. It only had the serial number 777.
But Chu Guang found that troublesome, so he gave it a name.
As for who Chu Guang was and why he was in Vault 404, that story had to start on a dark and stormy night...
Brothers and sisters! I'm back! Hoo hoo hoo!
Before you continue