I Clearly Made the First Reservation

Since these players were so self-motivated, Chu Guang felt it was better not to micromanage them and let them play freely.

After piling the supplies near the elevator, Chu Guang returned to the shelter and opened the Manager System. Soon, the task completion pop-up appeared before him.

[Congratulations, Host, you have completed the daily task: Stockpile Wood. Reward: Reward Points +2]

[Congratulations, Host, you have completed the daily task: Burn Cement. Reward: Reward Points +5]

The completed daily tasks added up to 7 Reward Points, which wasn't enough for an Intermediate Blind Box.

However, Chu Guang didn't mind.

His players had already sorted out the cement, and their food reserves now exceeded ten kilograms. Soon, he would be able to recruit a few more players to serve as free labor.

"System, exchange all Reward Points for Beginner Blind Boxes!"

The Reward Points in the Manager Allowance instantly reset to zero.

The alloy door on the wall opened, and the conveyor belt started moving, delivering the rewards from the Blind Boxes.

Five lollipops, a 200g bar of chocolate, and a 500g bag of salt. Just like before, none had expiration dates or brands.

Just how much did that damn First Generation Administrator love candy?

Looking at the five lollipops and the chocolate, Chu Guang was momentarily speechless.

But that pure white salt was a good thing.

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

The salt available on Bett Street was coarse salt transported from Boulder City. It was yellowish, expensive, and of poor quality. Its bitterness could even overpower the saltiness.

This pure white refined salt was usually expensive, and ordinary survivors couldn't afford it at all.

"If only there were more!"

This amount was barely enough for cooking; using it for cured meat or sausages would be a bit wasteful.

Of course, trading it might be a good option. This pure white refined salt could at least be exchanged for 10, or even 20 or 30 times its weight in coarse salt.

However, there were other risks involved.

The River Valley Province was an inland province.

Salt was a commodity with profits second only to firearms. Without sufficient strength, trying to do this business was a bit irrational.

After confirming the rewards, Chu Guang then opened the Player List to check the players' log-off times yesterday and log-in times today.

To his surprise, Old Bai had actually leveled up?

"You can level up by chopping wood?"

Chu Guang was astonished.

Previously, the development progress of these players' gene sequences was 0, but Old Bai's gene sequence development progress had already increased to 1%.

The corresponding level was LV1.

However, after thinking about it, Chu Guang felt relieved.

Chopping wood, which was physical labor, was itself a form of exercise. Furthermore, Old Bai's gene sequence was Strength Type, so it wasn't surprising that the development progress had increased.

Gaining experience didn't necessarily require combat.

Although the latter was a relatively faster path...

He closed the system interface.

Sitting in front of the computer in the Resident Hall, Chu Guang logged into the backend of the Wasteland Online official website.

He had previously set up a reservation threshold, requiring users to fill in their shipping address and phone number and register an account to reserve. Chu Guang had prepared for the reservation numbers to slow down or even stagnate, but he didn't expect that when he opened it today, the number of reservations had increased from 35 to 45.

Well, I'll be.

Are there that many active people in the Cattle and Horse Club?

While surprised, Chu Guang then logged into his Penguin account and opened the game group called Cattle and Horse Club. After flipping through the chat history for a while, he started to see some clues.

It turned out that just yesterday, a large number of newcomers had flooded into the group, and the number of group members had soared from over a hundred to just over two hundred.

Most of these newcomers were invited by group members to spectate, and many were frequent visitors to various game groups.

Now, a urban legend about a "fully immersive virtual reality online game" was starting to spread in 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 the "Cattle and Horse Club" and join.

Everyone was unsure if the dog administrators were colluding to pull a prank, but in any case, the official website was well-made.

---Chat History---

Quit Smoking: [Brother Night Ten! You guys went online last night??? Did you test the new content??? (Excited)]

Trash Picker Level 99: [Big brothers! How do I reserve that game? Does it cost money?]

Quit Smoking: [Holy crap? You're all here for Wasteland Online? (Surprised.jpg)]

Woke Up Over Ten Times Last Night: [The group name can be changed to Wasteland Online Player Group. (Sly smile)]

Why Should I Be Arrogant: [It doesn't cost money during the closed beta. I don't know about later. Just register an account and fill out a form to get in line. As for when you'll get in, it depends on luck... Sigh, I'm done. Some people actually believe it.]

Quit Smoking: [Night Ten, my brother! You guys went online last night??? Did you test any new content??? (Excited)]

Woke Up Over Ten Times Last Night: [We tested, tested all night. We got the cement figured out, haha. Ask Fang Chang, I have class now, talk later.]

Quit Smoking: [Cement???]

Trash Picker Level 99: [Isn't it trash picking???]

The group chatted noisily for a long time.

Chu Guang skipped the long string of nonsense and scrolled to Fang Chang's message.

There Will Be Plenty of Time in the Future: [To be honest, this game's realism is beyond my expectations! Unlike most sandbox building games, in Wasteland Online, logs don't just turn into lumber by themselves. Synthesizing charcoal isn't as simple as throwing wood into a furnace for one-click synthesis; you need to build a charcoal kiln first, and the burning method is basically the same as in reality. Making cement is the same; there's no one-click synthesis workbench. You need to start by burning plant ash.]

Quit Smoking: [Holy crap? That realistic?!]

There Will Be Plenty of Time in the Future: [That's right, it's that realistic! The combat system hasn't been tested yet, but for the sandbox gameplay, Old Bai and I haven't found the limits of this game yet!]

There Will Be Plenty of Time in the Future: [Theoretically, all the materials we've encountered so far can be modified according to real-world physical and chemical rules, and these modifications to the map environment are permanently preserved! They won't be refreshed! This is what surprised me the most!]

This reminded him of Death Stranding, a "pseudo-sandbox game" where players built roads everywhere.

However, this game wasn't just about building roads. It had more interactive content than the pixelated Minecraft, and the graphics were absolutely stunning, even more realistic than the photographic quality racing game Forza Horizon 4.

Especially the immersive experience.

It was something he had never seen before.

Simply put, he was completely blown away by this game!

Why Should I Be Arrogant: [Heh, hilarious. If it's really that awesome, I could build a Jinling City in the wasteland.]

Spare Me: [I don't believe it either! Too outrageous.]

Fleeting White Steed: [Stop bragging. You'll know when you get into the game. This is the most grindy game I've ever seen. All materials are collected by hand, and it doesn't support AFK. In other games, you can leave your computer on to AFK grind monsters all night, but in this game, chopping a few pieces of wood will make your hands too tired to lift!]

Level 8 Gale: [Indeed, I feel that deeply.]

Quit Smoking: [Damn, damn, damn, hearing you guys talk makes me want to play so bad!!! Woo woo woo Brother Guang, I know you're lurking, I'm kneeling to you, please give me a chance!!!]

Chu Guang continued to scroll down the chat history.

The dog administrators and group owners who got closed beta access were basically praising Wasteland Online with rainbow farts, saying things like "Sandbox gameplay is the GOAT," "Annual霸权预定" (Annual Hegemony Reserved), and so on.

There were also some envious players occasionally interjecting, "Offering 100,000 for internal beta access," "100,000 is too little, I'll offer 100 million (joking)," and the like.

After that, the group members started talking about wilderness survival.

Perhaps interested in the gameplay described by [There Will Be Plenty of Time in the Future], many players who didn't believe that "fully immersive virtual reality online games really exist" also joined the discussion, offering advice and suggestions.

The one that interested Chu Guang the most was an old brother in the group with the ID [There Really Are Mosquitoes in the WC].

Judging by his join time, this old brother hadn't been in the group for long; he was a newcomer.

While others were chatting about the game, he was seriously discussing the eighteen uses of wood.

Making charcoal and furniture were just the most basic ones.

In addition, he also mentioned the "dry distillation" of wood.

The specific principle is that during the process of baking wood in a sealed container to make charcoal, a large amount of flammable gas and smoke rich in various organic chemical components are released.

These complex mixtures are collectively called "pyroligneous acid," which was a chemical precursor for many chemical products — before coal tar and petroleum were widely used.

According to this old brother's description, by filtering the collected condensate, one can obtain a watery solution composed of acetic acid, acetone, and methanol, as well as a thick tar-like residue.

Both are complex mixtures, but their different organic chemical components can be extracted through fractional distillation.

Acetic acid and methanol go without saying, but acetone is a good thing. Not only can it be used as an organic solvent, but it can also be used to make smokeless gunpowder!

When he saw this, Chu Guang was completely stunned.

"Is this guy in chemicals?"

He instinctively clicked on the person's avatar, then clicked on their profile.

The profile wasn't locked, so he easily entered, but there was nothing related to chemicals inside. Instead, there were advertisements for furniture and building materials.

Alright...

Looks like he sells furniture.

His extensive knowledge of wood is probably due to his interest.

However, his knowledge might be useful here.

Chu Guang thought for a moment and immediately had an idea. He sent him a private chat pop-up.

"Friend, interested in joining the closed beta?"

It was nine in the morning in the wasteland, so it should be nine in the evening in the parallel world's China, which was prime time for being active, so it was impossible for him to be asleep.

Sure enough, the old brother named [There Really Are Mosquitoes in the WC] sent a question mark.

[?]

[Who are you?]

Chu Guang typed.

[I'm the planner for Wasteland Online.]

There Really Are Mosquitoes in the WC: [Holy crap?! You're the planner?]

There Really Are Mosquitoes in the WC: [Brother, how do I test it? Does it cost money? I don't have any.]

Chu Guang patiently explained.

[It doesn't cost money, just fill out a form. I'll send you the link.]

Although full of questions, There Really Are Mosquitoes in the WC still clicked the link and filled out his address and phone number on the official website's reservation page.

However, when filling out the address, he was still cautious and wrote the community's delivery station instead of his apartment number.

There Really Are Mosquitoes in the WC: [What then? Any other steps?]

Light: [That's it. Send me your reservation number, and I'll mark it for you in the backend. I'll notify you when it goes online in three days.]

Making a clone takes three days.

Just as Chu Guang was thinking about what other talents the outpost needed now that he had a carpenter, the group chat suddenly exploded with messages.

Opening the group chat, he saw that the reason was that [There Really Are Mosquitoes in the WC] had just finished filling out the form and immediately went to the group to show off.

[Hahaha, fellas, I got a closed beta slot!!!]

Quit Smoking: [Holy crap? Holy crap, holy crap!]

Quit Smoking: [Why! I made the reservation first! T.T]

The group chat instantly exploded.

Along with it, Chu Guang's private messages also exploded.

Seeing the long string of red dots, Chu Guang's scalp tingled. He knew he couldn't stay hidden anymore and quickly came out to explain.

Light: [Everyone, please calm down. The closed beta is for everyone's game experience. At this stage, we need to test whether the various systems of the game are complete, so we need some players with specialized knowledge to act as guinea pigs.]

Quit Smoking: [I can be a guinea pig too! I have seven years of driving experience! T.T]

Spare Me: [Tch, what's your seven years of driving experience compared to? I can even drive an excavator!]

Why Should I Be Arrogant: [Stop arguing, all of you. Didn't you notice that this There Really Are Mosquitoes in the WC only joined the group yesterday? Maybe it's a small account of the dog admin! What fully immersive virtual reality game, trash! It's all fake!]

Who Doesn't Understand Love: [Doesn't look like a small account from their profile...]

Quit Smoking: [Brother Guang! I'm kneeling to you! Give me a chance!]

Light: [...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 went into another frenzy.

Chu Guang tried to calm the emotions of the group members, but found it was useless. At this time, the other administrators were all in the game and couldn't manage things here at all.

This won't work...

How about releasing another slot?

Chu Guang rubbed his chin and started thinking.

Anyway, there were already about ten kilograms of food stored in the base, and with a gun, he could hunt soon. Adding two more mouths shouldn't be a problem...

Right, food!

Chu Guang's eyes lit up instantly, and he typed on the keyboard.

Light: [Right, we're still missing a chef here.]

Light: [To test the cooking system.]

What Chu Guang didn't expect was that after he sent this message, the arguments in the group became even more intense.

Not everyone knows carpentry, but the threshold for a chef is too low.

Who doesn't know how to make two dishes and a soup these days?

That's something anyone can do!

Whether they really knew how or not, the old timers in the group were bragging more than the last. Things like "I can stir-fry Kung Pao Chicken with my eyes closed" and "Trash, my dog can do it" all came out. They were just short of bragging about being a reincarnated God of Cooking or a descending Food God.

For the closed beta slot, these netizens were doing everything they could, which left Chu Guang at a loss.

How the hell should he choose?!

The argument lasted for a full half hour until an old timer showed off his New Oriental certificate, which finally calmed things down.

This, indeed, was more convincing than bragging.

Chu Guang immediately announced the owner of the sixth closed beta slot, and after privately asking for the reservation number, he quickly went offline.

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