Damn, He's Mastered This Game!

# Chapter 17: Oh No, He's Figured Out This Game!

Murphy rested in the darkness before dawn while browsing the game forum, finding discussions about the "Morland Village Defense Battle" still raging hot.

Aside from "Mud Truck Iai" and "Bulldozer Man Attack"—those two unlucky middle-aged men who got themselves killed by shooting too wildly and having terrible luck—the other ten players had survived the fierce battle, which the small players considered their first major victory in the game.

Combined with the uniqueness of "True Otherworld," that fully immersive, reality-blurring experience had players still raving even after logging off.

But there were always those who weren't happy.

Like the two unlucky bastards who died right before victory. Though the truth was that Mud Truck and Bulldozer Man were indeed pretty bad, and had the misfortune of running into Natalie, that female Witch Hunter wielding her "Steam Gatling," in the online world who could admit they sucked?

So clearly it was a game difficulty issue!

A bug!

A serious, malignant bug!

It really ruined the gaming experience, they had to report it!

Report it hard!

The two of them, along with Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car, Bionic Snail, and Meow Shark—three students who'd died in the previous test—were frantically posting in the forum feedback section, arguing from every angle that their deaths were game bugs, strongly suggesting the dev team give them another chance.

Those face-conscious middle-aged men were really going all out for their gaming dignity.

The constantly refreshing posts in the forum feedback section irritated Murphy, so he simply turned off new post notifications and lurked in the built-in forum group chat, wanting to see the small players' feedback on this battle, while others were refreshing messages at two or three per second.

Since it was a rest day, no one had to worry about time passing.

Of course, special cases excepted.

Lumina Sunscar: [Guys, you keep chatting, I can't hold on anymore, gotta log off and sleep a bit.]

Leading Pigeon: [It's only noon, girl, your schedule's that messed up?]

Lumina Sunscar: [But it's already early morning here, o(╥﹏╥)o, if I stay up a bit longer I'll probably see the sun. I finally have a day off, so spare me. But hey, this game is really fun, if there's another test remember to call me in the group.]

Meow King: [I just checked the map and calculated the time difference, you should be in North America, right? No wonder you're so good with guns. Exchange student?]

Lumina Sunscar: [Yeah, grad student. If I can come back for summer break I'll find you guys to play. I'm logging off now, everyone good night, bye~]

The overseas student sister's logout didn't affect the others' lively chat; the group atmosphere remained heated.

Meow Brother and a few of his equally flamboyant employee friends he'd brought into the game started reviewing the details of the Morland Village sniper battle, showing off quite a bit of hindsight brilliance.

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car: [Damn it! The admin won't even acknowledge us, all our feedback posts got deleted, and we got hit with the "no trash dumping" warning. Ah, without "True Otherworld" to play, Car Car is dying. Who can tell me when the next test is?]

A-Cha'en: [We have to wait for the noobs to revive, right? The story's already at the point where our NPCs regrouped with the other vampires, this operation's probably wrapping up. If I had to guess, I'd say the next test might be a new scene? Like that Cadman City the NPCs keep talking about?]

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car: [Damn you! A-Cha, why don't you just say it more clearly, who are you calling a noob?]

Leading Pigeon: [Dog barking again? None of us died, you did. If you're not a noob, who is? And aren't you three only one day away from revival? Stop causing trouble, if you piss off the admin and get your account deleted, see what you do then.]

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car: [Ungrateful son! Ungrateful son! When Car Car revives and logs in this time, I'm gonna wreck you!]

Chen Dian Niu Niu Not Afraid of Difficulty: [Good brothers, I just heavily promoted this awesome game to a bunch of my buddies. My whole dorm's waiting to get in and wreak havoc. Who can give me a straight answer, when are the invite codes being handed out?]

Electronic Succubus Lao Qu: [Just wait patiently. They only send five each time, by the time it's your turn it'll be ages from now. But Niu Niu, you fought that female demon head-on before. Tell big bro, how realistic is this game's modeling?]

Chen Dian Niu Niu Not Afraid of Difficulty: [??? What do you mean? I think the game modeling's pretty realistic.]

Meow King: [Evil grin.jpg. Hey, it seems the innocent student doesn't get the game's essence yet. Since it's full simulation with real physics collision, you must have touched her when you took down that female demon. I took a good look before logging off, and honestly, that female boss was actually pretty hot.]

Spicy Gugu Chicken: [She's a slim-waisted, long-legged, big-assed gray-haired demon huntress! Slurp slurp, the dog of a game designer really knows what he's doing!]

Lumina Sunscar: [Hey hey hey! Come back to your senses, you bastards! Weren't we discussing the game plot? How did it get to the female NPC again? Oh, so this is what male players focus on?]

Meow King: [Ahem, actually, Lumina-chan is also very pretty. Ah, didn't you log off?]

Lumina Sunscar: [Can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes it's Morland Village, like I really went to another world to fight. Too intense, this is way more exciting than any role-playing or full-contact fighting.]

Meow King: [Strongly agree! But seriously, why can't this game let us create female characters? With modeling this realistic, it's a shame not to play a trap character.]

Bulldozer Man Attack: [Meow Brother, what exactly are you trying to do!? Panic.jpg]

A-Cha'en: [@Meow King If you make a trap character, remember to tell your brothers, let us have some fun first, evil grin~]

Alpha: [Yo, the little players sure have spirit! Looks like you're all pretty satisfied with the last test. The dev team's satisfied too, we finally passed this round of testing. But there's still a big event coming. @everyone Let's agree on a time when everyone's free. I'll adjust the schedule, then we all log in together to find the newbie guide NPC and take quests. The dev team needs to test a complex scene battle and NPC intelligence, requiring everyone's participation. Also, good news—this is the second-to-last test of the first closed beta. Thanks to everyone's efforts, many small bugs have been fixed. We're one step closer to the next round of testing!]

Murphy's sudden appearance livened up the already thinning group chat again, and the idle folks who'd just finished lunch popped up one after another.

Chen Dian Niu Niu Not Afraid of Difficulty: [Great, I'm free anytime! Admin, can I stay logged into the game 24/7?]

Leading Pigeon: [We're all free, you know. And the admin said last time, the active connection function for the game helmet won't be unlocked until the next phase of testing. You clueless guy.]

Meow King: [The main thing is we need to coordinate login times so the admin can adjust the schedule. Their testing team's work is more complicated than you imagine. Even I have to book time in advance for the outsourced software testing I do, let alone a project as big as "True Otherworld."]

Black Silk Under Keyboard: [The others should be fine, but Lumina's the issue—she's in a different time zone from us, which is pretty troublesome.]

Mud Truck Iai: [It's troublesome now. But once the free online feature unlocks, little sis Lumina can handle some nighttime testing in the game. That'll be her unique edge—she might even outpace us later. Don't forget, our main quest NPC is a vampire, a true nocturnal creature.]

Oh right, I hadn't thought of that!

Murphy, lying dead in the swaying carriage, blinked his eyes.

The little players sure had broad thinking.

He'd wondered earlier why Lumina, a student across the ocean, was among the testers. Now it seemed her getting the invite wasn't just luck.

Nighttime testing was indeed a crucial part.

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car: [Damn, using the natural environment as a cheat is so sneaky! No way, Car can't lose to the overseas sister. I'm starting to train my night-owl skills right now! I'll flip my sleep schedule!]

Meow King: [How about tonight? Little sis Lumina's side is just morning, everyone can log in, and tomorrow's a day off, so it won't mess with normal routines.]

Bulldozer Man Attack: [But the five of us haven't respawned yet. How do we take on quests? Sigh, frustrating.]

Alpha: [Don't worry. This test cycle will last at least 2-3 days in game time. You five will catch up. I heard tonight's task is discussing tactics with the main quest NPC. That's what the dev team said.]

A-Cha'en: [Discuss tactics with an NPC? Is he that smart?]

Alpha: [The main NPCs in "True Otherworld" are played by cutting-edge AI. They have deep learning programs, smarter than many real people. The more you interact with them, the smarter they get. That's a big selling point of this game. Take the Morland Village ambush—if you try the same tactic again, it probably won't work.]

Leading Pigeon: [Damn, that sounds awesome! @Alpha, are you guys really making a game? With tech like that, I feel like you're up to something big. Slanted smile.jpg]

Alpha: [Then I'll tell you a secret—we're actually trying to take over the world in secret. But even if that's true, what does a company's grand plan have to do with a wage slave like me? Log-in time is set for 9 PM tonight. Everyone good with that? @Meow King, can you handle organizing?]

Meow King: [No problem.]

Chen Dian Niu Niu Not Afraid of Difficulty: [Admin, I want to ask—does this game have a 'favorability' system?]

Alpha: [? Why do you think that?]

Chen Dian Niu Niu Not Afraid of Difficulty: [Because after I helped the NPC subdue the female demon today, his attitude toward me clearly changed. His tone got much gentler, and he even gave me a weapon. I'm wondering if there's a hidden favorability mechanic. If so, can I grind it through quests?]

Alpha: [Guess?]

Meow King: [Damn, that means there definitely is! What a trap! So besides the future faction reputation system, we have to manage individual NPC reputation too?]

Spicy Gugu Chicken: [Slurp slurp, I only care if maxing out reputation makes NPC girls treat me better than others. Falling in love with a 2D character sounds amazing.]

Leading Pigeon: [Your wife with a thousand opposite-sex best friends is awesome! Slanted smile]

Chen Dian Niu Niu Not Afraid of Difficulty: [Your wife is awesome! NTR is great, yeah.jpg]

Spicy Gugu Chicken: [Damn! Thief Cao, don't run, take your dad's sword!]

The little players started their usual banter, while Murphy exited the forum. He sat up in the swaying carriage heading to the Filthy Swamp, rubbed his chin, looked at the annoying sunlight outside, and let out a strange laugh.

"Favorability... right, what's better than a hidden favorability system to keep the little players obedient and not daring to act out? Genius! My goofy group friends are all little geniuses. This excellent self-management ability is fantastic. Good, decided! I, Ravnos Murphy Lasombra, officially launch my personal favorability system today! Maxim's favorability will follow. Hmm, I need to craft a persona for him first—a silent, white-haired loyal servant who craves strength and power? Emmm, that classic persona shouldn't go wrong, right?"

Murphy thought this as he was about to close the forum, but suddenly noticed a new post in the feedback section, which had just been cleared of spam. The poster was "Meow King."

This was a little player Murphy kept a close eye on, so he opened the feedback post and found the guy's game feedback was quite formal:

[Summary of issues found during my "True Otherworld" game trial:

1. Confirmed the game has a complete day-night cycle, which is cool, but the two realms seem to have a 12-hour time difference, which is extremely anti-human. Suggest the dev team sync game time with real time completely, so players can enjoy daytime play. Ps: I checked the built-in functions of the game helmet and found a "sleep connection" mode, but it's locked. So the time difference might not be a bug but a convenience for scheduling, or related to the dev team's test plan. If so, please ignore point 1.

2. Strongly suggest adding a player interface! At least a quest acceptance interface. I understand the dev team might want a fully immersive environment, but no interface prompts are too painful. I can't exactly carry a notebook in-game to record my quests.

3. Speed up the testing progress! Better yet, start the open beta immediately.]

Now players can't actively connect and can only wait for the fixed test times to go online—it's way too painful. Your game is addictive; I can't go back to those other flashy trash games anymore!]

Seeing that last comment, Murphy immediately cracked a smile.

It seemed the "game" he was in charge of testing really had a strong pull. Unfortunately, the three issues Meow Brother raised were ones Murphy couldn't solve at all.

"But how did they get their hands on those 'consciousness transfer' game helmets in the first place?"

Murphy stared at Meow Brother's feedback post, pondering:

"Could there really be a 'True Otherworld' game operations team in their world handling this? Or is this just another feature of my ridiculously overpowered admin system?"

A few minutes later, the vampire's eyes rolled, and a plan came to mind. He then edited his reply.

As the forum admin and test lead—though not by choice—he still had to give positive responses to the little players' enthusiastic feedback.

Yeah, that's what you call professionalism.

That's what you call loving the job you do!

On the other side, Meow Brother had just gotten off work and was sitting in his apartment. Still riding the high from the Morland Village defense battle, he was fidgeting with his game helmet on his head, praying to every god he knew for the next test round to start soon. But the gods completely ignored him.

So, with nothing better to do, the sly socialite could only kill time inside the game helmet, scrolling through the newly opened forum on the virtual interface projected before him—eerily similar to a VR device.

He was having a blast chatting in the water thread when a private message notification pinged on the forum. He opened it to find a feedback reply from "Brother Fa."

The content was quite concise:

[The report submitted by tester "Meow King" has been received. The content is detailed, the issues are accurate, and it has been forwarded to the development team for appropriate adjustments.

Additionally, the game helmet device used to play "True Otherworld" also requires testers to provide a usage evaluation. Tester "Meow King" is now invited to conduct a full-function exploration and usage evaluation of the game helmet in hand.

Ps:

The tester has the right to decline this invitation, but completing the helmet evaluation and submitting a full test report will result in a rare in-game item reward.

Finally, thank you for your valuable feedback. Our company wishes you a smooth gaming experience.

-

"True Otherworld" Test Team Member · Alpha.]

"??? Are you kidding me! I'm venting, and you give me a quest? I'm working for NPCs in the game, and now I have to work for your company in real life too?"

Meow Brother complained bitterly:

"Also, is the complaint response time really this fast? Hey, if you've got the manpower for personalized replies, why not use it to speed up development, huh?

Do I look like the kind of guy who cares about rare rewards? I just want to play the game!"

He curled his lip, but the mention of rare in-game rewards still piqued his interest. He took off the game helmet and glanced at his computer sitting to the side.

That hunk of junk with its flashy RGB lighting had cost him tens of thousands. He used to love it, but now it was just an old flame, mercilessly discarded—along with every game on it.

What era is this, still fussing over ray tracing and graphics with a traditional keyboard and mouse?

Can't you step it up and stop giving rival companies something to laugh at?

The guy curled his lip again and started fiddling more eagerly with the game helmet in his hands. A few minutes later, a strange yell rang out in the bachelor apartment:

"Damn! This thing actually has airflow AC and a massage function? What the hell is bioelectric energy? Sounds super high-tech. And it even supports a standard 220V plug or AA batteries?

This grounded?"