How Real is a 100% Real Game?

"...How realistic is a one-hundred-percent authentic, fully immersive game?"

Earth, a university computer lab.

Staring at the group chat messages, the first image that flashed through Ye Wei's mind wasn't a game, but rather, pure, unadulterated justice.

To be more precise, it was his The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with over 200 mods installed, and the 100+ "wives" he had personally crafted coming to life from his save files.

Any more detail than that and he couldn't say it, or his account would be banned.

His nickname in the group was "Getting Up Over Ten Times A Night." Because it was too long and rather unrefined, the guys in the group simply called him Ye Shi.

"It's realistic in the literal sense."

"Sight, sound, smell, touch, taste... everything is exactly the same as the real world. The flow of time in the game world is 1:1 with reality, with a time difference of about 12 hours. And since the technical principle involves interfering with dreams, playing the game is equivalent to sleeping."

The guy who typed out these two lines went by the nickname "Light."

This serious, single-character nickname stood out like a sore thumb against the group name "Ox-Horse Club," so the goofy members of the group occasionally called him "Ultraman," "Gaia," or even "Brother Kai" or "Awesome."

Level 8 Gale (Admin): "Is this some kind of fantasy setting? (Laughs)"

Long Days Ahead (Admin): "And it sounds a bit dated. It feels like the settings for virtual reality games in early web novels."

Fleeting Time (Group Owner): "Haha, are you talking about wearing VR helmets? I quite liked reading those back when I was in school."

Getting Up Over Ten Times A Night (Admin): "Let's be reasonable, this kind of setting doesn't make sense. Why would the operator bother making players happy instead of making money? If it were truly one-hundred-percent realistic, how would you show off the prestige of a 'RMB warrior'? Everyone would just be playing for free!"

Ye Wei didn't read those kinds of novels, but he felt that since he had gone through nine years of compulsory education, he was different from the others; he should pursue logic over mere gratification.

That was why he preferred fantasy and supernatural stories.

Long Days Ahead: "Brother, you're taking it too seriously. If we're really talking about logic, rather than letting the fictional operator in the novel make money, wouldn't it be more logical to let the readers outside the novel enjoy themselves?"

Level 8 Gale: "No nesting dolls allowed."

The topic quickly drifted off course.

Although the Ox-Horse Club was a gaming group, it was rare for them to discuss games as seriously as they were today.

Especially a "game" that didn't even exist and was purely imagined out of thin air.

However, even though the conversation had completely veered off, the initiator of the topic—that guy named "Light"—stubbornly pulled the discussion back.

Light: "I'm saying, what if."

Light: "If such a game really existed, would you play it?"

Looking at the chat, Ye Wei shook his head with a smile.

Did he even have to ask?

Getting Up Over Ten Times A Night: "I would! Why wouldn't I? A one-hundred-percent realistic game, why not give it a try? You know what I mean. (Smirk)"

Level 8 Gale: "+1. But I still have some questions about the settings you mentioned. If game time is equivalent to sleep time... wouldn't it be more logical to apply this technology to work?"

Fleeting Time: "Holy crap, are you a demon???"

Long Days Ahead: "I think I'll just stick to sleeping normally. (Bitter smile)"

Quit Smoking: "You guys aren't sleeping in the middle of the night, you're dreaming in the group chat."

"I'm dying of laughter."

More and more people were popping up in the group.

There were also some who didn't send messages but were lurking with great interest.

In a gaming group of two hundred people, there were usually only ten to twenty active members. Occasionally, a few unfamiliar faces would pop up—people who knew you, but whom you didn't know—and only after asking did you realize they had been lurking for over two years.

That guy named Light, however, ignored them and continued to stay immersed in his own world.

"In fact, the company I recently joined is developing a fully immersive virtual reality online game."

The lively group chat went quiet for a brief moment.

But soon, as if on cue, a string of messages popped up.

"Holy crap?"

"For real?!"

"Awesome, brother! I almost believed you. (Smirk)"

Ye Wei felt this guy was being way too dramatic.

A fully immersive virtual reality online game?

One-hundred-percent realistic?

What a load of bull.

Just like Brother Gale said, if this thing actually existed, would they really use it to make a game???

Of course, he didn't agree with using it directly for office work. In his imagination, if such an incredible technology really existed, it would definitely be used in the military sector first.

Think of how awesome it would be to train special forces!

The guy named "Light" didn't say anything else, simply tossing over a URL.

Ye Wei clicked on the link, only to discover it was a game's official website.

The website's design was subpar; it looked as if they couldn't even afford to hire a graphic designer. The page was empty, devoid of any content, save for three stark lines of text.

A 100% realistic virtual reality game—"Wasteland OL"

Current number of pre-registrations: 0

Pre-register: yes/no

Ye Wei chuckled.

Good grief, after all that buildup, it turned out to be an advertisement.

He couldn't tell if it was for sports betting or online gambling.

Still, the pre-registration count was refreshingly honest; they hadn't fabricated an eight-digit number of active players or claimed that even famous celebrities were playing it.

"Fine, I'll see what kind of trash this is."

He gripped his mouse and clicked "yes."

To his surprise, the expected registration page didn't pop up. Aside from the pre-registration count changing from 0 to 1, nothing else happened.

"This crappy game doesn't even require an account registration???"

This bizarre move left Ye Wei stumped. For a moment, he couldn't even tell if this thing counted as an advertisement.

Could it be a virus?

That seemed unlikely.

What year was this? Antivirus software was practically a relic of the past. Were there still viruses that could infect a computer just by clicking "yes" or "no" on a website?

Not to mention he was in the school's computer lab.

Even on his own computer, he wouldn't be afraid of something like this.

Pre-registration count: 11

Wasteland, Vault 404 resident hall.

Looking at the numbers on the website's backend on his computer screen, Chu Guang, sitting in the cramped room, let out a sigh of relief and loosened his grip on the mouse.

"Is that all it takes?"

Answering him were two lines of text that materialized before his eyes.

Mission complete.

Reward: One carbon-nanotube bulletproof vest, reward points +5.

The wall on one side of the room vibrated faintly. As the curved alloy door panel slid open, a black vest lay on the platform behind it.

A conveyor belt pushed the vest out.

The alloy door closed again, and the room returned to silence.

Chu Guang immediately stood up from the computer and walked over to pick up the vest.

It was very light, with a texture much like silk pajamas. It felt delicate and soft to the touch; it was hard to imagine this thing could withstand gunfire.

Name: Carbon-nanotube bulletproof vest

Description: Effectively absorbs kinetic energy from bullets, disperses impact force within its durability limits, and resists a certain degree of piercing and slashing damage.

Durability: 100%

Rewards obtained from the Vault system were registered in the inventory, complete with product descriptions and usage instructions.

Chu Guang immediately took off his shirt and put the vest on against his skin.

It felt a bit chilly at first, but he quickly adjusted to it.

Just then, the cylindrical metal object in the corner of the room emitted a flat, electronic voice.

"Congratulations, Master. It seems you have completed your first mission."

"Can you stop popping up out of nowhere?"

"Understood, Master."

The robot, which looked like a wastepaper basket, was named Xiao Qi.

As the assistant to the Overseer of Vault 404, strictly speaking, it didn't have a name, only 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 was a story that had to start on a dark and stormy night...

Brothers and sisters! I'm back! Hahaha!