The First Batch of Closed Beta Players

"I am an NPC."

Saying this to the mirror, Chu Guang took a deep breath, adjusted his collar, and tried hard to make his image appear sufficiently imposing.

And expressionless.

Three days had passed since that day.

In a few more minutes, it would be time for the players to log in.

As for the blue jacket he was wearing, it was the one he had on when he first transmigrated to this world a long time ago.

Old Charlie on Bett Street had told him that residents who came out of the Shelter seemed to wear this.

"I am an NPC."

Chu Guang practiced again, facing the mirror he had picked up from outside.

The nature of this "new job" was completely different from the sales job he had done before. A smile as warm as a spring breeze and a polite attitude should never appear on the face of an administrator.

After all, this was the wasteland where the law of the jungle prevailed.

To survive in this wasteland, his image didn't necessarily have to be that of a tough guy, but at least it had to give people enough confidence and a sense of security.

Touching the lines of his cheek, Chu Guang pondered whether he should get a scar on his forehead.

Or simply style his hair into a punk-style mohawk?

After all, this was the wasteland where the law of the jungle prevailed.

Too handsome.

It would affect immersion.

"Master."

Chu Guang, who was still posing in front of the mirror, raised his chin expressionlessly.

"What is it?"

Xiao Qi said softly.

"According to the information I've found, NPCs in games usually don't refer to themselves as NPCs."

His expression froze slightly, and Chu Guang cleared his throat before speaking.

"Of course I know that..."

Facing the mirror, he mumbled again.

"...I am the administrator of Shelter 404."

It was about time for the agreed-upon moment.

Three hours ago, the cultivation pods had completed the synthesis of the clones.

And he had agreed with the four "lucky ones" who had obtained Closed Beta qualifications on Penguin that they should put on their helmets before 9 PM Yanjing time, lie flat or on their side in a comfortable position, and log in exactly at 9 o'clock.

Just as Chu Guang was contemplating how he should appear before the players, a "ding" sound suddenly echoed in his mind.

Immediately after, a line of text appeared before him.

Task Completed!

Chu Guang's heart tightened slightly.

It's here!

"Holy crap! Amazing!"

In an unremarkable room in the living area next to the residents' hall, four cultivation pods simultaneously unlocked, opening their translucent hatches.

Sitting up from the open cultivation pod, Ye Wei was dumbfounded, looking around with a face full of surprise, even stupor.

This—

This was the game world?!

Until a minute ago, he had been muttering to himself if this might be a carefully planned prank.

However, just as he was lying flat on the bed with a fully charged helmet on, about to fall asleep, a beam of light pierced through the darkness and shot towards him.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already in an unfamiliar room.

He was soaking wet.

As if he had just been pulled out of a pool.

The wind blowing from the vent above his head landed on his shoulders, and he could clearly feel the liquid gradually evaporating, taking away the heat from his body.

There was also a faint, unpleasant smell accompanying it.

Ye Wei suddenly realized, his eyes wide.

Vision!

Smell!

Touch!

Taste!

Hearing!

All five senses were present!

Awesome!!!

The immersive feeling brought tears to his eyes.

He never expected to witness fully immersive virtual reality technology in his lifetime!

This couldn't even be described as amazing anymore!

And he wasn't the only one.

The other three players who had sat up from their cultivation pods also showed the same look of shock on their faces.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap."

"...I thought it was a joke."

"Oh my god! It really is fully immersive!"

"Is technology this advanced now??? What the heck, why have I never seen this on the news?!"

"Hiss... there's even pain." One player pinched himself.

"Who are you? An NPC?"

"NPC my ass, I'm Old Bai! Fleeting White Steed! Who are you?"

"Holy cow? Old Xi?! I'm Gale! Level 8 Gale! How did you end up looking like this? Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter."

"Get lost! Call me Old Xi again and I'll show you what Old Cu means... Hey, this game is interesting. Is the appearance already set? I wonder if we can customize characters in the open beta."

Old Bai also pinched himself. Although he winced in pain, his face was filled with happiness.

Excitement!

Elation!

Disbelief!

Dreams had become reality!

Ye Wei, on the bed next to him, stared with wide eyes, motionless, trying to process the shock in his heart.

Besides him, there was another guy sitting still, who should be There Will Be Plenty of Time in the Future from the group chat.

This guy was staring at the area between his legs, deep in thought, wondering what he was contemplating.

"Is the default character male? There's no character customization step. I mean... can we create a female character?"

"Damn, you're so perverted! You must be Night Ten."

"I'm Fang Chang..."

"Holy cow?! Fang Chang?! My brother... you know what I mean, right?"

"Get lost, I just said that casually. This brother next to me must be Night Ten... You're all here?"

Seeing the three of them look at him, Ye Wei finally snapped back to reality.

Realizing he was still naked, he quickly grabbed the uniform hanging by the cultivation pod and pulled it over his head, responding casually.

"Yeah, just got here... How do you play this game? Is there no新手 tutorial?"

"Don't know, we just arrived too."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the room opened.

A man in a blue jacket walked in from outside.

Behind him followed a robot shaped like a wastepaper basket. Its cylindrical body looked a bit clumsy, but its streamlined shell and polished silver paint were full of futuristic flair.

The eyes of the four players went wide.

"NPC!"

"Exactly like a real person!"

"Is this really a game world?"

"This is too realistic!"

"Quiet," Chu Guang interrupted the chattering noise, sweeping his gaze over the four players in the room. He spoke slowly, "Welcome to Shelter 404."

"I am the administrator here."

"My codename is Dawn."

The air fell silent for a moment.

The four players were unexpectedly well-behaved, staring at him with bated breath, afraid of missing any plot details.

It seemed his imposing presence had successfully controlled the situation.

Chu Guang breathed a sigh of relief, his momentum having successfully controlled the situation. Following the prepared script, he continued.

"First, I have good news for you. The war is over."

"But the bad news is, our world is unrecognizable. If you expect to grab your luggage and go home to find your mom immediately, that's clearly not possible."

"It is now the two hundredth year after the apocalypse. Fortunately, we have successfully weathered the most difficult years. The fact that you are standing here means you are luckier than 12 billion people, and now I need you to quickly recognize the current situation and then fulfill your declaration under the banner of the Human Federation—rebuild our homeland!"

"This is my assistant next to me. Its name is Xiao Qi. You can ask it any questions about the shelter or anything you don't understand."

That was the opening speech.

When the next batch of players arrived, Chu Guang would say it again.

After all, he had gone to great lengths to come up with it.

As for Xiao Qi, Chu Guang had already informed it beforehand what it could and couldn't say, so there was no need to worry about it spilling the beans.

Actually, even if it did, it wouldn't matter.

Any inexplicable points could be brushed off with a simple "that's a game setting." These days, where are there perfect settings? If you really wanted to nitpick, you could even find bugs in the news broadcast.

Seeing that Chu Guang had finally finished speaking, the player whose registered nickname was Night Ten immediately spoke up.

"Excuse me, where is Brother Guang? I mean, the game designer who gave us the helmets."

"I don't understand what you're saying," Chu Guang replied expressionlessly.

"How do I log out of the game?" Old Bai chimed in.

"Lie down in the cultivation pod, and you can log out normally."

Actually, there was another method: abnormal states such as unconsciousness, sleep, or death would also cause the connection to break, but Chu Guang didn't want them to try that casually.

Lying in the cultivation pod was more energy-efficient; dealing with bodies lying around everywhere would be very troublesome.

"What about levels? Where is the player system interface? I can't find it."

As soon as Gale asked this question, and before Chu Guang could answer, Fang Chang next to him quickly interrupted and asked.

"What about the character creation system? Can character settings not be changed? And what about character gender—"

"Enough. You can ask the desi... cough, it's not your turn to ask questions yet."

Interrupting their endless questions with a black line across his face, Chu Guang sternly and officially threw four small booklets into their hands without explanation.

"I will take you to familiarize yourselves with the environment here and tell you what you need to pay attention to."

"Especially what you can do and what you shouldn't even think about doing."

-

(Thanks to "ε伊蕾娜з" and "卡卡罗特 from the Future" for the Alliance Leader rewards~~~~~)