This was the first time she had ever seen such a terrifying flood of comments.
After spacing out for a moment, Zhai Mao came back to her senses. She interacted with the comments while looking around.
Only then did she realize that the area around her had somehow filled with people. All the Players participating in the open beta had been gathered here.
Her ears were filled with chattering noise, like a hundred ducks discussing what the ultimate lunch choice should be.
When she casually looked up, she suddenly spotted a man and a woman standing beyond the fence in the distance. They seemed to be observing the Players.
Both of them were young.
The young woman wore a uniform and had horns on her head. Her expression was stern, her face rigid, and she looked downright fierce.
But when Zhai Mao looked at the young man standing beside the uniformed woman, her eyes suddenly lit up.
--So handsome!
Bai Ye, Where's Your Integrity?
There was an open stretch of land at the entrance to Lungmen District 5's port. It was near the edge of the city, and the ground was built from sturdy industrial foundation materials capable of supporting heavy vehicles.
When Bai Ye first arrived, the entrance was still operating normally, with small vehicles occasionally passing through the checkpoint into Lungmen.
Opening his game interface, Bai Ye sat on the guardrail at the edge of the Mobile City's port district, swinging his legs as he waited for the Players logging in at launch. (Dangerous action. Minors, please do not imitate.)
According to videos he had watched in his previous life, the open beta Players would descend onto an open area outside the entrance checkpoint to Lungmen District 5. They would gather at the massive elevator beneath the Mobile City, be registered as disaster refugees and issued temporary identification, then begin their twenty-four-hour open beta experience.
At 8 AM, Lungmen time on Terra, Bai Ye heard a crisp, pleasant notification.
Arknights Online open beta officially begins NPC template function unlocked Game forum officially opened
Bai Ye did not immediately open his game interface to inspect it. Instead, he lowered his head and looked below.
At first, there was no movement, nor was there the sight he had imagined of a huge crowd suddenly appearing in flashes of light.
However, a few minutes later, Bai Ye saw a vast crowd surging toward the entrance to the massive elevator. From his elevated position, those people—who were actually Players—looked like densely packed black dots.
A moment later, Bai Ye heard a piercing alarm sounding over Lungmen's port district.
He could not help but laugh.
Because next, the famous open beta "Door Stuck" incident would occur.
After the open beta Players entered the game and followed the tutorial to the outskirts of Lungmen, they found that they could not get in at all.
The Lungmen District 5 checkpoint had been completely shut down. The Players were stranded outside, unable to enter, and all four thousand open beta Players could only stand there in line and wait.
The game forum exploded at the time, as did the live chat. Everyone shouted, "Open the door! Open the door already!" while criticizing the game developers for being utterly incompetent.
In his previous life, Bai Ye had thought it was a game optimization issue that forced everyone to wait in place for the game to load.
Only after transmigrating did he realize that the "Door Stuck" incident really could not be blamed on OceanCat, the game developers.
Four thousand game Players! Even after excluding those who ignored the tutorial and wandered off on their own, as well as those who had not logged in on time, there were still over three thousand people.
When such a terrifying number of "refugees" suddenly appeared outside the entrance to Lungmen District 5, it would have been stranger if the authorities had not panicked!
The passage had been shut down in an emergency, and the port district had briefly fallen into a state of semi-paralysis. The person in charge could only contact their superiors for instructions—without prior preparation, a normal checkpoint simply lacked the capacity to process so many displaced people.
Bai Ye opened the game forum. Sure enough, just as he expected, it had already exploded.
The open beta Players were frantically making posts to complain, while those who had not gotten early access came over to watch the drama. It was incredibly lively.
Bai Ye opened the most popular post:
Xia Qiu is not Shrimp Ball: Open the door! Open the door already! Fish Cat Cat: Second floor! Selling sunflower seeds and soda up front! I will always like Sansi Lingse: @Official, a bug right at launch? Are your servers made of potatoes too? Uncle Lang: The guy above, my uncle is an insider. He said this game company is just a shell, and the servers are on the moon. Evil King True Eye is the Strongest: Get lost with that uncle nonsense. At least make it believable. There are no civilian servers on the moon, only the Federal Central AI. Ran Li Jun: Bros, I just walked straight outside. I'm already in the wilderness. Did I do the right thing? Melody: Right, absolutely right, bro. Wait for me. Let's see if we can run to the next city together.
Bai Ye had just wanted to like the last two incredibly brave guys' posts when he discovered that he only had browsing privileges and could not interact with the forum.
After closing the forum, Bai Ye saw that some people really had started walking outward. District 5's port was already on Lungmen's outer ring. Beyond that lay the desert. Even the most experienced messenger would not head straight into the wilderness without any preparation, because it was far too dangerous.
Those guys were probably going to become Originium Slug food.
The game system would only provide prompts. She was not the Players' nanny, and this world was not some simple game. It was highly free-form, and the system would not stop Players from courting death.
Bai Ye checked his NPC template function again. He could issue quests to Players through the game system, but since he only had an "ordinary" template, there were limits to both the number of daily quests and the experience rewards.
Name: Bai Ye Current Renown: 1 (3) Detailed list: "Penguin Logistics Collaborator": Renown +1 Penguin Logistics has gained a new collaborator, and many people are speculating about your identity. "Outlaw": Renown +2 (currently unavailable) The first mysterious person to break into the Guards Bureau and leave unscathed. Legends of you spread through the underworld; those who know your secret have chosen to keep it for you.
Bai Ye had not expected that he already possessed one point of Renown. It seemed that raising his NPC template level would require sufficient Renown.
As for the two points of unusable Renown, that was easy enough to understand. Other than Emperor from Penguin Logistics and Ifrit, no one knew that he was the one who had broken into the Guards Bureau. Unless Bai Ye got drunk on fake liquor one day and chose to reveal the secret himself, those two points of Renown would never fall on his head.
Bai Ye definitely would not be reckless enough to reveal it. Otherwise, Chen would come straight to his doorstep and kill him.
"Bai Ye!"
At that moment, a young woman's voice suddenly rang out behind Bai Ye. He turned around and found that it was Chen. Quite a few Guards Bureau officers followed behind her.
To be honest, Bai Ye really was startled. He hurriedly closed his game interface. "Sir Chen, I didn't expect you to come personally."
"I was worried something might happen here, so I brought the Special Inspectorate Team over... Why are you here?" Chen spoke as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was obvious that rushing here from the Guards Bureau had not been easy.
Bai Ye held his terminal. "I'm here to pick someone up. Someone from Rhodes Island."
"Then you'll have to wait for a while. The entrance has been temporarily sealed." Chen pointed at the chaotic Players below. "We'll immediately arrange for personnel to conduct Oripathy screenings, register them, and issue temporary identification."
The moment Bai Ye heard that, his eyes lit up.
He hurriedly stepped forward and volunteered. "Sir, let me go with you. As a prospective Rhodes Island member, I can help handle any infected-related incidents."
As he spoke, he stared straight into Chen's eyes.
"No..."
Chen had just wanted to refuse. After all, every Guards Bureau officer had their own duties. How could she let an unrelated civilian join them...
But...
Bai Ye: Stare—∩ω∩
"Cough..." Chen became increasingly uncomfortable under his gaze. She could not help looking away from Bai Ye, her face faintly flushing.
She was embarrassed!
Bai Ye immediately knew there was a chance. He continued his cute-acting offensive.
As a Player, so long as he could accomplish his goal, he could use any means necessary. In his previous life, he had even cross-dressed to complete quests. He had long since thrown away all his integrity.
What was a little cuteness now? Could a Player's business even be called acting cute? This was called making reasonable use of his Charisma stat!
Such a Handsome NPC
Chen was ultimately defeated by Bai Ye's absurdly high Charisma stat.
"Fine. Come down with us, but don't act on your own later. Listen to my commands, understand?"
Chen looked away and forced herself not to look at Bai Ye. This guy was practically poisonous. Maliciously acting cute could kill people!
Even Chen could not resist Bai Ye's high-Charisma aura.
This stat was not reflected only in appearance. It also manifested in a person's temperament and traits, making others instinctively trust him and feel favorably toward him from the start.
After all, any normal person would find it pleasing to look at someone attractive.
Bai Ye nodded and returned to his usual serious expression. The speed at which he changed faces left Chen somewhat dumbfounded.
Good grief, he was not even going to pretend?
Hah, men.
Curling her lips, Chen led Bai Ye and the Guards Bureau officers toward the massive elevator.
The nearby Guards Bureau officers were all dumbstruck.
There was such a move?
It was their first time seeing their superior yield.
Dear heavens, was the world finally ending?
This was Chen! Sir Chen!
She was the Guards Bureau superintendent with the most refined and fierce swordsmanship, and her personality was as rigid as her sword.
The leader of the Special Inspectorate Team had the strictest attitude in the Guards Bureau. Extremely forceful, impartial toward everyone. She seemed utterly inflexible and always wore a fierce expression.
The officers exchanged looks. If they had not seen wrong just now, their superior seemed to have blushed!
What the hell. From now on, do not tell them that Sir Chen did not understand people or know how to adapt.
For some reason, the way they looked at Bai Ye carried thirty percent gossip, thirty percent admiration, twenty percent ingratiation, and twenty percent curiosity—the classic pie chart.
Just who was this person capable of making Chen yield?
Could he be the man behind Sir Chen?
"Hiss—"
Bai Ye's body tensed, and his hairs stood on end.
He felt countless burning, glaring gazes focused on his back. Those eyes behind helmets and masks felt almost tangible, making his skin crawl.
He knew the gazes came from the Guards Bureau officers.
Unfortunately, he could not figure out why those people cared so much about him.
Was it because he was too handsome?
That felt a little dangerous. Bai Ye had no desire to fence.
So he felt somewhat uncomfortable the entire way.
Chen, on the other hand, quickly adjusted her emotions and returned to normal. In the words of a certain Miss Shi who did not wish to be named, she was always wearing "that fucking face of hers."
(Swire: My surname isn't Shi!)
After stepping off the elevator, Bai Ye took a deep breath.
Standing before him were the Players.
These people were easy to distinguish because IDs floated above all their heads.
They came in every variety: normal, edgy, bizarre...
Bai Ye could not help laughing. This was so nostalgic.
But gradually, the smile on his face froze.
Before you continue