Mission Complete! Rave Reviews?

Mission Complete! Rave Reviews? The official letter of appointment would be delivered the next day.

After the graduation ceremony ended, Leon returned to his dormitory and happened to see a Messenger Bat land by the window, its wings frantically beating against the glass.

Kicking off his shoes, Leon walked to the window, opened it, removed the copper tube tied to the bat's leg, and pulled out the letter stuffed inside.

As expected, the letter had been sent by Jeffrey Priest.

Along with expressions of concern and greetings, the end of the letter also contained a bank account number and password.

"...You are a child with your own mind. I believe your choice to become a Demon Lord was one you made after careful consideration, and I am proud of your decision."

"As for living expenses, the father you never met actually left you some money. There is still some of it remaining now. Since you are already an adult and have graduated, I think it is time to give it to you and let you decide how to use it yourself."

"—Jeffrey Priest."

Leon read the letter to the end and gratefully accepted the bank account information and password.

He did not know how much money was in it, but it should be enough to get him through this month.

Starting next month, he would be someone with a salary.

Then again, was there really anywhere to spend money in the Demon Lord Territory he was about to take over? Leon remained skeptical.

After carefully writing a reply filled with gratitude, Leon rolled up the letter and stuffed it into the copper tube tied to the bat's leg.

Having finally finished everything, he dropped onto the edge of his bed, ready to focus on studying the "Calamity System" left to him by some transmigrator predecessor.

ID: Leon

Race: Human

Soul Level: Bronze (Level Cap LV30)

Level: LV30 Experience Points: (300,000/300,000)

HP: (800/800)

MP: (2600/2600)

Constitution: 8 Strength: 8 Agility: 8 Intelligence: 25 Spiritual Power: 26

Faith Points: 133

First was the attribute panel.

Although the system did not provide any specific formulas for calculating these attributes, it did give an explanation for each one.

For instance, Constitution affected vitality, recovery, and physical resistance; Strength affected carrying capacity and melee damage; Agility affected speed and dexterity; Intelligence affected memory, spatial imagination, casting efficiency, and spell power; Spiritual Power affected mana.

In Lin Te's era, an average Imperial young soldier had an attribute panel of 5/5/5/5/5. As for now, Leon did not know.

Experience Points, meanwhile, were simply a quantification of one's growth process.

Soul Level determined one's level cap.

Generally speaking, however, most people could not see their own Soul Level. That belonged to the domain of the Gods.

Yet the Calamity System not only displayed Soul Level, but also quantified the abstract concept of "strength" with "LV" values.

For example, the Black Iron-level cap was LV10, the Bronze cap was LV30, the Steel-level cap was LV50, the Silver-level cap was LV70... and so on.

At the same time, the higher one's level, the harder it was to level up, while the number of attribute points gained per level also increased.

As for "Race," it determined one's initial attributes and talents.

For example, humans had initial attributes ranging from 3 to 5, along with the relatively underwhelming talent "Balanced Development"—the "growth efficiency" of one's lowest attribute increased by 50%.

Taking Leon himself as an example, the lowest among his five attributes were Constitution and Strength. Therefore, he would receive bonus Experience Points when training those two attributes.

Incidentally, attribute growth was not obtained by assigning points after leveling up. Instead, it occurred simultaneously with leveling up.

If, at level 19, he mainly trained his Spiritual Power by resisting a Succubus's temptations, then when he accumulated enough quantitative change to become qualitative change—when he rose to level 20—the attribute that grew would most likely be Spiritual Power, rather than Strength and Constitution inexplicably increasing.

It was unexpectedly realistic.

But precisely because of that, the talent "Balanced Development" seemed especially underwhelming.

After all, in most cases, mages had no use for particularly high Constitution or Strength.

Moreover, most people had a "level cap," meaning there were only so many attribute points they could gain in a lifetime.

Even if physical labor granted an additional 50% Experience Points, the attribute points from leveling up would still be added to the less meaningful Strength and Constitution, effectively wasting precious room for growth. The loss outweighed the gain.

"...According to the God of Machines' theory, would a mage training Strength actually have the opposite effect?" Leon stared at the attribute panel and fell into thought.

Though he had never deliberately trained his body, some of his attribute points had still gone into Strength and Constitution.

Clearly, that was the cumulative result of living in hell for the past eighteen years, in every sense of the word.

In addition, as he looked at his nearly overflowing experience bar, Leon finally understood why he had been stuck at Bronze all this time.

Unfortunately.

His Soul Level was only Bronze.

Unless he changed the limits of his talent, he would not be able to break through the final bottleneck even if he meditated until old age... Lin Te had likely encountered a similar problem as well.

To raise one's Soul Level without side effects, Faith Points were one of the keys!

He remembered that his Faith Points had still been at 0 on the status panel that morning, yet after just one morning, they had already become 113.

Looking at that number alone, Leon couldn't discern any pattern.

It could have been contributed by players from another world, or perhaps by some little fangirl or fanboy at the academy who admired him.

In any case, it required further observation.

Incidentally, upgrading a Bronze-level soul to Steel-level required 10,000 Faith Points. An increase in the triple digits could only be called a drop in the bucket.

After studying his own attributes, Leon shifted his attention to the mission tab.

At present, he had only unlocked one mission.

"Film a game promotional PV and upload it... I filmed it, sure, but how the hell am I supposed to upload this thing?"

You call yourself the God of Machines, yet you hadn't even invented computers in this world?

Taking the Camera Crystal he had previously used to film the promotional PV from his pocket, Leon held it in his hand and examined it for a long while. Yet after waiting forever, no upload button appeared.

Just then, his gaze suddenly fell on the residual traces of the Magic Array on the floor, which had not yet been completely wiped away. His heart stirred slightly.

"Could it be this thing?"

A Recording Crystal was worth 2,000 Keila—equivalent to a month's living expenses for him.

Leon had always used this thing to record classes. At the thought that the Magic Array might swallow the crystal ball, his heart ached.

But pain was pain. Considering his long-term development, Leon still took out the Magic Crystal Chalk and redrew the Magic Array, then placed the crystal ball in its very center.

Just as he had expected.

The instant he tried to pour energy into the Magic Array, an eerie green glow flared up, enveloping the clear, transparent crystal ball.

However, unlike last time, Leon wasn't drained of all his magic power and knocked unconscious. Instead, he remained awake and held on until the very end.

More than that.

The crystal ball remained perfectly intact at the center of the Magic Array. Its smooth outer shell was unscathed, as good as new! "It didn't eat the crystal ball?" Leon was delighted.

Excellent!

He had saved 2,000 Keila!

At that same moment, a flat voice rang out beside his ear.

"'Film a promotional PV' mission complete! The voting post has been automatically opened. Please wait patiently for the review results..."

A voting post? Leon froze for a moment, then quickly realized something. He immediately sat down to meditate, sinking his consciousness deep into his Sea of Consciousness and entering the Official Website of "Calamity Online."

Sure enough, the moment he opened the forum, he found the video he had just uploaded through the sacrificial ritual! The 360-degree panoramic, dead-angle-free footage had been stretched into an ultra-wide 2D landscape format. The grand, imposing underground world and the towering, sinister ancient castle struck him straight in the eyes.

Little Devils fluttering their wings swooped low over his head, alongside the imposing Fear Demon, the Flame Demons, and all manner of demons and undead.

Th-this was where he went to school every day?!

Leon stared at the video in utter disbelief. Having studied in this place for three years, he nearly failed to recognize it for a moment.

"...This filter is fucking incredible."

While he was still marveling at it, the comments below the post had already exploded.

Night's Starlight: "Holy shit!"

Riding Two Cars: "Is this actual gameplay footage?!"

Boar-Headed Knight: "Fake, right?! How could a promotional PV use in-game assets? It must be outsourced animation!"

Peerless Hero: "Even if it's animation, it's fucking amazing!"

Minotaur Warrior: "SUCCUBUS!!! I WANT TO BE A SUCCUBUS!!! AHHHHHH!!!"

Tanghulu: "Come to think of it... that mage holding the crystal ball is kind of handsome."

Roasted Mutton Skewer: "+10086"

Xiao Wan Can't Get Enough: "Because he's the only one around who looks remotely human?"

Excited Netizen: "Is that a developer test account? Or an NPC?"

Gossipers: "We strongly demand that the dev team release a DEMO version!!!"

Driver on the Toilet: "We strongly demand that the dev team release an adult version!!!"

Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Well damn, are they really handing out Succubi in the village this time?! (stunned)"

"..."

Watching the replies refresh every second, Leon stood there in a daze. He wanted to make a post and say something, but he didn't have that function.

Directly beneath the video was the voting page. The full score was 10, the lowest was 0. More than 500 people had already participated, and the average score had basically stabilized around 9.8.

This was way too outrageous!

Leon's heart pounded fiercely. He had never expected that a video he casually filmed would become such a massive hit on the forum!? Though the things these idiot netizens cared about were somewhat different from what he cared about. More than half the comments in the post were clamoring about the Succubus.

Those asking to keep a Succubus as a pet were one thing, but what the hell was with wanting to become a Succubus?! Soon, the number of voters surpassed one thousand, while the average score of the voting post remained firmly locked at 9.9.

Mission Complete!

Rating: S

Reward: 100 Closed Beta Qualifications

Three lines of pop-up text flashed before Leon's eyes.

At the same time, the Official Website forum's homepage refreshed with another pinned post—

"Calamity Online" Opens Reservations!

To thank all players for their support, the development team of "Calamity Online" was releasing 100 test accounts and a download link for the DEMO program! Bind any VR device to an Official Website account to apply for a test reservation and download the DEMO program!

Note: This game follows a one-person, one-account policy. Closed Beta Qualifications are distributed at random, may be canceled, and cannot be transferred to a designated recipient. Violations during the testing period or prolonged AFK will result in the qualification being revoked. Clicking the reservation button signifies acceptance of these rules.

It had to be said, the timing of this post was perfect.

Just as the entire forum was fervently discussing that eye-popping promotional PV, the development team directly announced the release of a DEMO version.

Watching the reservation count climb higher and higher, Leon was delighted, but he could not help feeling a little uneasy as well. He wondered whether this so-called DEMO version would affect him in any way.

What if some players caused trouble in the magic capital and ended up dragging him into it? Those guys could just dust off their asses and leave, but he still had to live in this world.

At the very least, Lint had never said he could travel back to Earth.

But when he remembered that he was about to take up his post in the Demon Lord Territory, Leon quickly calmed down again.

His Demon Lord Territory was quite far from the magic capital. Without using a Teleportation Gate, he had heard it would take one or two months to travel through the underground world.

Besides, there were only a hundred Closed Beta Qualifications in total. Even if there were risks, they should be manageable overall.

The Closed Beta Qualifications were quickly distributed.

Those who had not won shouted about shady dealings, while those who had won flaunted their prizes.

Some also speculated conspiratorially that the so-called Closed Beta was nothing more than a scam, and that everyone who had won was a bot, and so on.

But such remarks were ultimately in the minority.

After watching that promotional PV, the vast majority of people were looking forward to the DEMO of "Calamity Online"! These days, there were not many conscientious game companies that dared to offer an online trial before a game officially launched. So many awful games ran paid tests and still would not even let people get a proper taste of the game.

Give it a try.

It was free anyway.

If VR Glasses were not something most households lacked, there would probably have been even more people reserving a test slot—far more than the mere thousand there were now.

Leon browsed around the forum, wanting to see what was happening after those players who received Closed Beta Qualifications logged in, only to suddenly discover that the number of logged-in users had gone from 0 to 99.

Wait—

These people were already playing?!

Just as Leon was dumbfounded, complaint posts had already appeared on the forum.

Xiao Wan Can't Get Enough: "What's going on???"

Peerless Hero: "Why isn't there a character creation screen?"

Boar-Headed Knight: "Fuck! Why can't I move?"

Minotaur Warrior: "Is it bugged?"

Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Everyone, stay calm! I just logged out. This viewpoint may seem immovable, but there's actually something hidden within it!"

Roasted Mutton Skewer: "???"

Tanghulu: "%￥#@! Stop being so mysterious, will you? Spit it out already!"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "What mystery could there be? Isn't it obvious? The DEMO players are playing the crystal ball in that mage's hand. The mage is sitting right next to it—anyone who watched the promotional PV could have guessed that!"

Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Holy shit! I wasn't done typing yet! I was just about to say that!"

Holy shit?

Leon was instantly shocked when he saw that.

Those guys had transmigrated into his crystal ball?!

The thread continued refreshing.

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Who told you to type so slowly... But that doesn't really matter. What shocks me more is the way this game works. Did any of you notice that the game visuals aren't actually displayed through the built-in screen of the VR Glasses?"

Roasted Mutton Skewer: "Hiss... Now that you mention it, I really do feel that way!"

Tanghulu: "+1. My neck turned 360 degrees, and I froze for a moment, thinking I was hallucinating."

Time Leaves No Trace: "Yeah, and the graphics are absurdly high-definition. It's beyond what 4K or 8K can describe—the texture feels just like... the real thing? Come to think of it, the secondhand VR Glasses I picked up for 800 bucks probably shouldn't be capable of that kind of resolution. (wry smile)"

Old Man at the Village Entrance: "What's going on? Listening to you guys... why do I feel chills running down my back? (nervous)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "One hypothesis is that this game may be using some sort of special technology that's still in the experimental stage, like remote hypnosis or something."

Xiao Wan Can't Get Enough: "Hypnosis???"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Yeah. You think you're seeing the game through your eyes, but in fact, you're asleep during the time you're in the game. Everything you hear and see in the game is generated in real time by your brain's 'GPU'... It feels like dreaming, except it's a lucid dream."

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Oh, and just to be safe, let me add this: I looked it up online, and I haven't heard of this kind of technology being available on the market, so its safety is also a mystery. Considering this website itself is full of suspicious elements, we can't rule out the possibility that we've become lab rats for some mysterious organization. If anyone has concerns about personal safety, I suggest you don't try it casually."

Heaven Defying Dragon Emperor: "What bullshit are you talking about?! How could technology like that possibly exist!"

Unruly Life: "Exactly! Unless you send me a pair of glasses!"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Will it kill you to dig up a secondhand pair yourself? (eye roll)"

"..."

One Leaf Knows Autumn's opinion quickly sparked heated discussion among the crowd.

Quite a few players who had gone straight to the Official Website to complain without properly trying the game put their VR Glasses back on and returned to give it another shot. Sure enough, they discovered something unusual.

Leaving aside the lifelike visuals, the immersive sensation of actually being there was clearly not something VR Glasses as clunky as bricks could provide.

And that wasn't all!

More and more closed beta players began discovering that they could perform all sorts of unimaginable actions in the game, such as rotating their viewpoint 360 degrees, flipping upside down, and so on—

Yet when they logged out, their bodies in reality remained in the exact posture they had been in when entering the game. They hadn't moved at all!

It was too incredible! Just as One Leaf Knows Autumn had said, it was as though they had fallen asleep in reality, with only their consciousness entering the game world.

As for how this had been achieved through simple VR equipment and a mere DEMO program, no one knew.

The players weren't the only ones who found it absurd. Leon, who had been secretly watching the screen, also found the system utterly ridiculous. It had actually stuffed Earth's players into his Recording Crystal! With his current knowledge, he had no way of understanding how Lin Te had accomplished it.

That might well have been within the domain of the Gods! He could only guess based on intuition that the conscious entities stored within the Crystal Ball were perhaps some kind of artificially created "Soul Mirror Image."

After putting on their VR Glasses, the players triggered some sort of ritual and established a connection with the Soul Mirror Images in another world through a special medium.

That medium was most likely the Stone Tablet in his Sea of Consciousness.

Furthermore, these "Soul Mirror Images" were very weak. Like ghosts such as Madam Susan, they possessed only pure consciousness. They could not even move freely and could only reside within specific vessels.

However, unlike Madam Susan, Leon saw room for growth in the Soul Mirror Images controlled by those players.

Though weak, they were all complete!

Creating souls that had never existed out of thin air...

It was simply unbelievable! "...If I replaced the Recording Crystal with skeletons, would the players gain bodies that could move freely?"

At the exact moment Leon thought this, new words surfaced upon the Stone Tablet standing deep within his Sea of Consciousness.

Quest: Prepare freely movable bodies for the players (0/100)

Reward: 10,000 Faith Points

Raising his Soul Level from Bronze (II) to Steel (III) happened to require exactly ten thousand Faith Points. It was difficult not to suspect that this reward had been tailor-made for him.

"Summoning a few Skeleton Soldiers won't be difficult."

Still, to avoid unnecessary trouble, it would be better to wait until he reached the Demon Lord Territory before completing this quest...

After ending his meditation, Leon rose from the dormitory floor and walked over to the Magic Array, reaching out to pick up the Crystal Ball located at its center.

The once clear and transparent Crystal Ball had become utterly murky, as if it were filled with filthy mist.

Clearly, the magical program inside had been rewritten, and it had completely lost its original function.

Leaning closer, Leon could even hear hushed conversations coming from within the Crystal Ball.

'He's looking at me!!' (scream)

'A little closer! A little closer!'

'It's so realistic!'

'Holy shit! I can even see the NPC's nose hair!'

'Let me out! I want out!!!' (scream)

'Get lost, male NPC! Bring in a Succubus! I want the one from the end of the trailer!!!' (scream)

'...'

Even without bodies they could move around in, these players were still having the time of their lives. They seemed to have already turned the Crystal Ball into a chatroom.

"Those 2,000 Keila really did go down the drain."

Thinking of how the Crystal Ball had accompanied him throughout three years of university, Leon felt a faint pang of pain in his heart. He casually wrapped it in clothes and tossed it into his suitcase.

Although he could log all the players out through his Sea of Consciousness, there seemed to be no need to do so for the moment.

Leon opened the wardrobe, changed into casual clothes in front of the mirror, then slipped the letter Jeffrey Priest had sent him into his pocket.

His living expenses were nearly exhausted.

It was time to withdraw some money from Demon God's bank. -(Thanks to "Cloud Pigeon" for the Alliance Leader donation!!!)