Reincarnated NPC, But Arknights

No one meant anything by it, but the listener took it to heart.

Bai Ye's words left everyone at Penguin Logistics in silence.

What kind of life did this guy live in the past?

Chapter 19: Open Beta Countdown

Bai Ye didn't sleep well.

The game panel's notification sound jolted him awake from his slumber.

[Ding——]

[Arknights Online Open Beta Countdown: 31:59:58]

[Test Version: Beta]

Bai Ye pulled back the curtains, his eyes reflecting the glow of the game system panel that only he could see.

On the panel, the countdown continued to tick.

Tomorrow at 8 AM, the 24-hour open beta without data wipes would begin. The time was based on Terra's 8 AM, and the test scope included Earth, the Moon, and near-Earth orbit floating cities.

Although he had mentally prepared himself, Bai Ye hadn't expected the open beta to arrive so quickly. He had thought it would take at least another month.

The release of Arknights Online was destined to cause a massive stir, as there hadn't been a new fully immersive virtual reality game released for over a year before this.

I'm going to die without new games to play.JPG

As everyone knew, one of the selling points of fully immersive VR games was their realism. Therefore, in the early days, various game developers added a large number of R-18 elements to attract players. At first, they were somewhat restrained, mostly visual shock, allowing people to see but not touch; however, as the "arms race" intensified and industry competition reached an unbelievable level, visual shock finally transformed into physical sensation.

They had truly taken that step!

The emerging industry lacked regulation, leading to widespread chaos that eventually spiraled out of control. Silly netizens created all sorts of memes to complain about the situation, such as:

Your imagination of a fully immersive VR game: 2022 SAO

Actual fully immersive VR game: Digital prostitutes

Finally, the Earth Alliance struck with a heavy hand, halting the development of all fully immersive VR games. The release of this type of game required strict approval processes and grading to ensure the physical and mental health of minors.

The fully immersive VR game industry entered a year of stagnant rectification, known as the "Ice Age."

This upheaval even affected other industries. According to rumors online, experts from all walks of life and various geniuses were uniformly summoned to a central city in the Pan-Asia region for a six-month, completely closed-door seminar.

Due to non-disclosure agreements, no one knew what these people discussed or did—in any case, a year later, Arknights Online made its stunning debut.

It was also because of this closed-door seminar, whose information authenticity could not be confirmed, that some people on the internet deliberately spread rumors, claiming that Arknights OL was actually a large-scale human experiment by the Earth Alliance.

There were even rumors that the Earth Federation's high command had been brainwashed by alien lizard people, and all players were test subjects...

Regardless, the appearance of Arknights Online was a carnival.

'I bet the internet on Earth must be buzzing right now, right?'

After holding back for so long, the sudden appearance of a fully immersive VR game utilizing brand-new technology, with incredibly high quality and 100% realism, this breakthrough work was definitely a heavyweight.

No wonder it was jokingly called "the first for young people."

Bai Ye looked at the constantly ticking countdown on the game panel before him, falling into thought.

In his past life, he was also part of this carnival. Unfortunately, he was unlucky and couldn't get a spot in the open beta, so he could only watch livestreams to satisfy his craving while waiting for the 1.0 official version.

He never expected that now, he had become a native inhabitant within the "game," an NPC in the eyes of the players.

Truly, fate plays tricks on us.

Sighing, Bai Ye could no longer sleep. He got up and walked to his desk, starting to write and draw.

In just over a day, he would have to face players from Earth. These newcomers, who were still green and cute now, might not be very noticeable at the moment, but after several versions, they would grow and become an unignorable force on the land of Terra.

Bai Ye wanted to make a sufficiently deep impression on the players right from the start.

For him, this was like a meticulously prepared performance. After all, Bai Ye considered himself to possess a distinct advantage over the native inhabitants of Terra—no one understood players better than he did!

At 4 PM, Bai Ye received notification from Rhodes Island's Lungmen liaison office that the Rhodes Island dispatched operators would arrive in Lungmen tomorrow.

"Mr. Bai Ye, please come to the liaison office tomorrow morning. Our dispatched operators will be arriving tomorrow," came the gentle voice of the receptionist from the terminal. She was speaking Universal Tongue, but with a slight Lungmen accent, which was quite cute.

"I understand." Bai Ye put down the terminal. He was currently sitting at his workbench, maintaining the light crossbow he had "borrowed" from the Penguin Logistics safehouse.

The Emperor seemed to have tacitly allowed him to keep these items "zero yuan purchased" from the stronghold, not demanding their return.

Bai Ye thus didn't bring up the matter, as he was truly lacking equipment right now.

In his past life, the weapon he finally used was exchanged for combat merits—a large amount of combat merits allowed him to enlist the help of people from the Heavenly Mechanism Tower to find a certain beast-kin avatar to forge a sword for him.

He had also obtained a set of "forbidden-level" special weapons from Rhine Lab's weapon research and development department.

"By the way, Mr. Bai Ye, although I believe you should already be aware of our company's unique nature, before we proceed, I would still like to ask for your views on Infected individuals." On the phone, the young lady's tone became serious.

Upon hearing this, Bai Ye replied without hesitation, "I don't have any particular views. In my opinion, they are no different from us. It's just that some of them need our help because they are sick."

On the other end of the terminal, after a moment of silence, the receptionist spoke, "Please be prepared. The operator who will arrive in Lungmen tomorrow and act with you is an Infected."

"Since you haven't officially joined Rhodes Island yet, this isn't considered a joint operation. However, our office supervisor is very pleased that a warm-hearted citizen of Lungmen is willing to help us. We will communicate with the operator after she arrives."

"Okay, I understand. By the way, can you tell me the operator's arrival time?" Bai Ye asked.

"Around 8 AM, Lungmen District 5."

After confirming the time, Bai Ye closed the terminal communication. Looking at the terminal in his hand, he fell into thought.

This timing was quite coincidental.

At the same time, 8 AM, it seemed he could directly go to the port area to pick her up.

Because this operator was Infected, she needed to go through the quarantine area at the Lungmen port entry checkpoint.

And the login location for the open beta players was Lungmen District 5's port.

It seemed tomorrow would be very interesting.

Chapter Twenty: Players!!!

The next morning, Bai Ye couldn't sleep again.

He originally thought that as a veteran player like himself, having experienced so much and been tempered by all sorts of situations, his mindset should be very stable.

But he never expected that he now seemed to be like those new players at launch, his heart filled with anticipation.

Actually, Bai Ye himself couldn't understand this strange emotion.

He originally thought he was anticipating the public beta event itself, which would allow him to test his NPC template.

But he now realized that what he was actually anticipating was meeting players. He longed to meet his "own kind."

Even though he had obtained a legal identity in this world, and even though his 6-year gaming career allowed Bai Ye to survive on the real Terra without any difficulty, deep down, he still viewed this world from a player's perspective and height.

This was the arrogance of a transmigrator, or rather, a game player.

Bai Ye's heart was conflicted. On one hand, he knew this world was real and that the so-called NPCs were living, breathing beings. On the other hand, his excessively long gaming experience had created a disconnect between him and this world.

Therefore, at the start, he would instinctively choose the most dangerous and lawless action plans—whether it was the Zero Yuan Purchase or forcing his way into the Lungmen Guard Department, these were player thought processes. Too risky, and too crazy.

After closing the game panel, Bai Ye went to the training grounds to practice sword fighting.

Mechanical training was beneficial for venting emotions and adjusting his mindset. In the past, when he encountered unpleasant things, he would simply grind monsters for a whole day, even wiping out Originium Slugs in an entire region.

After half an hour, he gradually calmed down. After returning to his room to wash up, he set off for the port in Lungmen District 5.

This day was destined to be remembered by history.

At 8 AM Terra time, the already unstable fate of Terra would deviate towards an unpredictable direction. The entire worldline would undergo a shift.

Players from another world descended upon this land that had suffered so much.

They could not be killed.

They were difficult to understand.

They were inherently driven to pursue strength and crave power.

Perhaps they were still very weak now, but they possessed a certain power. This power would eventually change this land.

Sometimes, they referred to themselves as the "Fourth Catastrophe," and indeed, they were as unpredictable as a natural disaster.

Well, no matter how you put it, it couldn't hide the fact that these people were silly and ridiculous.

This group seemed to be somewhat abnormal, feeling incredibly "sick."

For example, they liked to be unconventional and would walk on the streets openly wearing very strange clothes. These bizarre outfits, surpassing fashion trends and leading modern art by hundreds of years, would be considered odd even during the Night of the Reversal, yet they completely disregarded the gazes of others.

Furthermore, most of their names were very strange—some were chuunibyou and arrogant, some were particularly long, some were particularly stupid, and some were borderline, filled with strange profanity and sexual innuendos. Even the more "ordinary" ones didn't sound like names normal parents would give.

Sometimes, they appeared foolish—squandering Lungmen Dollars on meaningless things, and they also liked to work for free, meddling everywhere just for a minuscule reward.

These guys would appear at irregular intervals and disappear suddenly, appearing and disappearing like ghosts. They enjoyed adventure and were passionate about combat, yet during both combat and adventure, most of them would chatter incessantly, speaking words that no one understood.

In short, they were a group of oddballs.

And the nations of Terra, the major powers, never anticipated the great trouble these oddballs' appearance would cause them...

[Psychological Test Passed]

[Earth Federation Reminds You: The game is not beyond the law. Please play in a civilized, green, and healthy manner.]

[Welcome to Arknights Online, Current Version: Beta Test Version]

[Attempting to establish mental connection with Terra]

[0%--60%--100%]

[Welcome!]

"Arknights!"

As the last strangely cute low Gothic phrase drifted into her ears, the girl with the ID "Zhai Mao Bu Ge" on her head opened her eyes and found herself in an open space.

"Am I in the game?"

[Zhai Mao Bu Ge] looked at her hands, stunned for a moment, then reached up to touch the ears on top of her head.

They were fluffy.

Good heavens, I have four ears!

[Zhai Mao Bu Ge] was extremely shocked. This game could absolutely crush those fully immersive stealth games that claimed to be 100% realistic in the past!

This virtual character's body felt completely natural to control, just like a real physical body.

If it weren't for the game menu and live broadcast interface hovering beside her, [Zhai Mao Bu Ge] might have actually had trouble distinguishing between the game and reality.

Zhai Mao stood frozen in place, but the bullet comments exploded.

[MC is the best: Whoa, this sky, this ground, this city... it smells like a graphics card.]

[Trash can no space: User above, go kill yourself. What era are we in, still talking about graphics cards? Don't embarrass yourself.]

[Bai Mo Bai: Are these cat ears real? I'm curious what the tail's structure is like.]

[Grandma Xun Xing: Four ears is too realistic.]

[Luo Tianyi Catches Ghosts: Is the cat stupid? By the way, can you take off your skirt... change clothes in this game?]

[Shui Shui Shui Yue: Pants-off party, get a grip. Do you know what a healthy and green game is?]

The bullet comments scrolled wildly, with various reward effects flying all over the screen. Only SC messages could stay in front of the streamer's eyes for a while.

That's right, Zhai Mao was a streamer on Bilibili (full name Bika Bika) live streaming platform. She used to be a small streamer, but because she was lucky enough to get a spot in the open beta, her stream was instantly flooded with a large number of viewers.