It Was Clearly Me Who Reserved First

Since the players were being so self-disciplined, Chu Guang felt it was better not to manage them too strictly and let them do as they pleased.

After piling the supplies beside the elevator, Chu Guang returned to the shelter, summoned the Administrator System, and soon saw pop-up notifications indicating completed tasks.

Congratulations, Host. Daily task completed: Stockpile Wood. Reward: Reward Points +2

Congratulations, Host. Daily task completed: Fire Cement. Reward: Reward Points +5

The completed daily tasks added up to seven Reward Points, not even enough for one intermediate blind box.

But Chu Guang did not care.

His players had already sorted out the cement, and their food reserves had surpassed ten kilograms. Soon, he could recruit a few more players as free labor.

"System, exchange all Reward Points for beginner blind boxes!"

The Reward Points in the Administrator Allowance were instantly cleared.

The alloy door in the wall opened, and the conveyor belt began moving, delivering the rewards from the blind boxes.

Five lollipops, a 200g bar of chocolate, and a 500g bag of table salt. Like before, none of them had expiration dates or brand labels.

Just how much did that damn first-generation Administrator like candy?

Looking at the five lollipops and the chocolate, Chu Guang did not know how to begin mocking it.

Still, the snowy-white salt was a good thing.

Chu Guang reached out and picked it up, his face full of pleasant surprise.

The salt sold on Bette Street was all coarse salt transported from Boulder City. It was waxy yellow, expensive, poor in quality, and its bitterness could even overwhelm its saltiness.

This kind of pure white refined salt was usually quite costly. Ordinary survivors simply could not afford it.

"If only there were more!"

This amount was enough for cooking, but using it to make cured meat or sausages would be a little wasteful.

Of course, trading it might be a good option. This pure white refined salt could at least be exchanged for ten, twenty, or even thirty times its weight in coarse salt.

However, that came with other risks.

River Valley Province was an inland province.

Salt was a hugely profitable commodity second only to arms. Without sufficient strength, doing this business was not particularly wise.

After confirming the rewards, Chu Guang opened the player list and checked the players' logout times yesterday and login times today.

To his surprise, Old White had actually leveled up?

"You can level up by chopping trees?"

Chu Guang was stunned.

Previously, all of these players' genetic sequence development progress had been at 0%, but Old White's had risen to 1%.

The corresponding level was LV1.

But after thinking about it, Chu Guang understood.

Tree chopping was strenuous physical labor in itself, practically a form of exercise. And Old White's genetic sequence was strength-based, so it was not strange for his development progress to increase.

Gaining experience did not necessarily require combat.

Though combat was relatively speaking the shortcut...

Closing the system interface,

Chu Guang sat before the computer in the residents' hall and logged into the backend of the Wasteland OL official website.

After setting the reservation threshold, requiring users to provide a delivery address and phone number and register an account before reserving, Chu Guang had already prepared himself for reservation growth to slow or even stagnate. Yet when he opened it today, the number of reservations had risen from 35 to 45.

Well, damn.

Did the Ox-Horse Club really have that many actual people?

Though surprised, Chu Guang logged into his QQ account, opened the game chat group called Ox-Horse Club, and scrolled through the chat history for a while before spotting the reason.

It turned out that yesterday, a large batch of newcomers had flooded into the group, and the member count had surged from just over one hundred to more than two hundred.

Most of these newcomers had been invited in by group members to watch the excitement. Many were group-hoppers who spent all year active in all kinds of gaming groups.

A modern urban legend about a "fully immersive virtual reality online game" had begun spreading through the PC gaming community.

Although most people scoffed after hearing it, there were always one or two who believed it and went to great lengths to find and join the "Ox-Horse Club."

No one was sure whether the damn admins had teamed up to pull some stunt. Still, the official website looked rather convincing.

--Chat History--

Quit Smoking: Why did so many newcomers suddenly join the group? (confused.jpg)

Junk Collector Level 99: Big shots! How do I reserve that game? Does it cost money?

Quit Smoking: Holy shit? You're all here for Wasteland OL? (shocked.jpg)

Gets Up Ten Times a Night: We can change the group name to Wasteland OL Player Group now. (smirk)

Ye Ao Nai Wo He: The closed beta is free for now. No idea about later. Just register an account and fill out a form to get in line. As for when your turn comes, that depends on luck... Sigh, I can't believe people actually believe this.

Quit Smoking: Brother Ye Shi! You guys logged in last night??? Did you test any new content??? (excited)

Gets Up Ten Times a Night: We did. Tested all night and got cement working, haha. Ask Fang Chang. I have class now, talk later.

Quit Smoking: Cement???

Junk Collector Level 99: Aren't you supposed to be collecting trash???

The group discussed it noisily for a long time.

Chu Guang skipped over that long string of nonsense and scrolled down to Fang Chang's messages.

Long Days Ahead: Honestly, this game's realism exceeded my expectations! Unlike most sandbox building games, logs in Wasteland OL do not automatically turn into lumber. Making charcoal is not as simple as tossing wood into a furnace and clicking one button either. You first need to build a charcoal kiln, and the firing method is basically the same as in real life. Cement is the same. There is no one-click crafting bench. You have to start by firing plant ash.

Quit Smoking: Holy shit? It's that realistic?!

Long Days Ahead: That's right, it really is that realistic! We have not tested the combat system yet, but as far as sandbox gameplay goes, Old White and the others and I have not found this game's limits yet!

Long Days Ahead: In theory, every material we have encountered so far can be altered according to real-world physical and chemical rules, and changes made to the map environment are permanently retained! They do not get reset! That is what surprised me the most!

It reminded him of Death Stranding, that "fake sandbox game" where people built roads all over the world.

But this game was not just about building roads. Its interactive content was richer than the pixel-art Minecraft, while its graphics were not lacking in the slightest. They were even more lifelike than the photo-realistic racing game Horizon 4.

Especially the immersive experience.

He had never seen anything like it.

To put it simply, he could not praise this game enough!

Ye Ao Nai Wo He: Heh, what a joke. If it is really that badass, I could build a whole Jinling City in the wasteland.

Spare Me: I don't believe it either! That's way too ridiculous.

Fleeting Time: Stop bragging. You'll know once you get into the game. This is the grindiest game I have ever seen. Every material has to be gathered manually, and there is no AFK support. In other games, you can leave your computer on and farm monsters all night. In this game, chopping a few trees will tire you out so much you cannot even lift your arms!

Level 8 Gale: True. I felt that deeply.

Quit Smoking: Fuck fuck fuck, listening to you guys makes me want to play so badly!!! Wuwuwu, Brother Guang, I know you're lurking! I'm begging you, please give me a chance!!!

Chu Guang continued scrolling through the chat history.

The damn admins and group owner who had obtained closed beta access were basically showering Wasteland OL with praise, saying things like "sandbox gameplay is forever the king" and "guaranteed game of the year."

Then there were the jealous players occasionally chiming in with things like, "Offering 100,000 for an internal test slot," and "100,000 is too little. I'll offer 100 million. (smirk)"

After that, the group members began discussing wilderness survival.

Perhaps because they were interested in the gameplay Long Days Ahead had described, many players who did not believe that a "fully immersive virtual reality online game really existed" also joined the discussion noisily and even began offering suggestions.

The one who interested Chu Guang the most was an old group member with the ID Damn, There Really Are Mosquitoes.

Judging by the time he joined, this guy had only been in the group for a short while. He was a newcomer.

While everyone else was noisily discussing the game, he was seriously explaining eighteen uses for wood.

Burning charcoal and making furniture were the most basic uses.

Beyond that, he also mentioned the "dry distillation" of wood.

The specific principle was that while wood was heated in a sealed container to make charcoal, it released large quantities of combustible gases and smoke rich in various organic chemical compounds.

These complex mixtures were collectively called "pyroligneous products," chemical precursors for many chemical products—at least until coal tar and petroleum came into widespread use.

According to that group member, filtering the collected condensate could produce an aqueous solution composed of acetic acid, acetone, and methanol, as well as thick tar-like residue.

Both were complex mixtures, but different organic chemical components could be extracted from them through fractional distillation.

Acetic acid and methanol went without saying, but acetone was good stuff. Not only could it serve as an organic solvent, it could also be used to make smokeless powder!

When he saw that, Chu Guang was completely stunned.

"Is this guy in the chemical industry?"

He subconsciously clicked the man's avatar, then opened his profile page.

The page was not locked, so he got in easily. However, there was nothing related to chemistry inside, only advertisements for furniture and building materials.

Well...

It seemed he sold furniture.

He probably knew so much about wood because of personal interest.

Still, his knowledge might come in handy here.

After considering it for a moment, Chu Guang immediately had an idea and sent him a private chat pop-up.

"Friend, interested in joining the closed beta?"

It was nine in the morning in the wasteland. In China on the parallel world, it should be nine at night, prime time for having fun. There was no way he would be asleep.

Sure enough, the guy called Damn, There Really Are Mosquitoes sent a question mark.

?

Who are you?

Chu Guang typed.

I'm a Wasteland OL planner.

Damn, There Really Are Mosquitoes: Holy shit?! You're the planner?

Damn, There Really Are Mosquitoes: Bro, how do I test it? Does it cost money? I'm broke.

Chu Guang patiently explained.

It's free. Just fill out a form. I'll send you the link.

Though full of doubts, Damn, There Really Are Mosquitoes still opened the link and filled in his address and phone number on the official website's reservation page.

However, when entering his address, he still kept his guard up. He put down the neighborhood parcel station instead of his apartment number.

Damn, There Really Are Mosquitoes: Then what? Any other steps?

Guang: That's it. Send me your reservation number, and I'll mark it on the backend. I'll notify you when you go online in three days.

It took three days to create a clone body.

Just as Chu Guang was wondering what talents the outpost still lacked now that it had a carpenter, the group chat suddenly exploded.

When he opened the group chat, he found that Damn, There Really Are Mosquitoes had barely finished filling out the form before running into the group to show off.

Hahahaha, brothers, your grandpa got a closed beta slot!!!

Quit Smoking: Holy shit? Holy holy shit!

Quit Smoking: Why?! I clearly reserved first! T.T

The group chat instantly exploded.

So did Chu Guang's private messages.

Looking at the long line of red notification dots, Chu Guang's scalp went numb. Knowing he could not keep lurking, he hurriedly came out to explain.

Guang: Everyone, please calm down. The closed beta is also for everyone's gameplay experience. At this stage, we need to test whether all the game systems are complete, so we need players with specialized knowledge in certain fields to serve as guinea pigs.

Quit Smoking: I can be a guinea pig too! I've had a driver's license for seven years! T.T

Spare Me: Pah, what the hell does seven years of driving experience count for? I can drive an excavator too!

Ye Ao Nai Wo He: Stop arguing. Haven't you noticed that this Damn, There Really Are Mosquitoes only joined the group yesterday? Maybe he's an alt account of one of the damn admins! Fully immersive virtual reality game, my ass! It's all fake!

Who Understands Love: His profile page doesn't look like an alt account...

Quit Smoking: Brother Guang! I'm begging you! Give me a chance!

Guang: ...Just wait a few more days. A hundred slots will be released in a few days. Trust me, everyone will have a chance!

The group members erupted into another frenzy.

Chu Guang tried to calm the group members down, but it did not work at all. The other admins were all in the game right now and could not manage things over here.

This would not do...

Should he release another slot?

Chu Guang rubbed his chin and began thinking.

There were already around ten kilograms of food stored in the base. Once they had guns, they could start hunting soon. Two more mouths should not be a problem...

Right, food!

Chu Guang's eyes lit up as he typed on the keyboard.

Guang: Oh, right. We're short a cook too.

Guang: To test the cooking system.

What Chu Guang had not expected was that after he sent those messages, the arguing in the group became even more intense.

Not everyone knew carpentry, but the threshold for being a cook was far lower.

Who did not know how to make two dishes and a soup these days?

Wasn't it easy as long as you had hands?

Whether they truly could cook or not, the guys in the group were each better at bragging than the last. Things like "I can make kung pao chicken with my eyes closed" and "Trash, even my dog can do that" all came out. They were just short of calling themselves reincarnated kitchen gods or culinary deities descending to earth.

For a closed beta slot, these internet users would stop at nothing. Chu Guang did not know how to choose anymore.

The argument lasted a full half hour before it finally died down when one guy posted his New Oriental certificate.

That was indeed more convincing than empty bragging.

Chu Guang immediately announced who would receive the sixth closed beta slot. After privately asking for the reservation number, he logged off at lightning speed.

Thanks to "Snow Ridge Romance" for the Alliance Leader reward!!