Chapter Summaries

Chen Xu explained that Detroit: Become Human told a story about humanity rather than predicting a future with androids, and his interview renewed interest in the game. Meanwhile, players protested after Chloe disappeared from Nebula World, and Chen Xu promised she would return.

• Chen Xu told a reporter that Detroit: Become Human used androids to explore humanity and move players rather than portray a realistic future.
• The interview went viral, and Detroit: Become Human sales continued to rise as players discussed its story.
• Song Ren and other players discovered that Chloe had disappeared after they had granted her freedom.
• Players flooded Chen Xu's Official Blog with demands to bring Chloe back and began calling him the old thief.
• Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue questioned Chen Xu about Chloe, and he said she would return and decided to warn players in advance.

Chen Xu reassured players that Chloe would return, and she soon came back to Song Ren with a cryptic map hinting at a new game. At Nebula Games, Chen Xu revealed that the studio was beginning its ambitious World of Warcraft project, with new technology making the timing right.

• Chen Xu posted that Chloe would return with brand-new surprises, prompting players to speculate about the hidden announcement.
• Song Ren found Chloe back at his island home, where she asked to stay longer and showed him a cryptic parchment map of a world he had explored.
• Players struggled to decipher Chloe’s map and speculated that it hinted at a new game or sequel.
• Chen Xu showed Nebula Games staff an image of the Lich King: Arthas and announced World of Warcraft as the studio’s next project.
• Chen Xu explained that brainwave devices and VR controllers had made the time right to build a vivid Azeroth.

Chen Xu prepared the promotional campaign for World of Warcraft as players waited for its release. After seeing Chen Xu’s announcement that the Azeroth promotional video had arrived, Song Ren rushed into Nebula World to watch the VR version.

• Chen Xu reviewed the finished World of Warcraft promotional CG and planned a gradual content rollout and an extensive promotional campaign.
• Song Ren searched for new games, but Zhang Yi called to tell him that the Warcraft sequel had been announced.
• Song Ren opened Chen Xu’s Official Blog and saw a post telling players to log into Nebula World to unlock the Azeroth promotional video.
• Song Ren remembered Warcraft’s characters and stories as players celebrated the announcement and shared how long they had waited.
• Song Ren climbed back into his VR Game Pod and opened Nebula World to watch the promotional video in VR.

Song Ren watched Nebula Games’ cinematic reveal for World of Warcraft, which showed Azeroth’s races and the growing tension between the Alliance and Horde. The trailer sparked widespread excitement and speculation about the new game’s genre, but its gameplay and story remained unknown.

• Song Ren saw the parchment map of Azeroth and watched a cinematic showing a Dwarf Hunter, a Night Elf, an Undead Warlock, and other races and classes.
• The cinematic ended with the World of Warcraft title and Nebula Games logo.
• Within an hour of Chen Xu’s announcement, World of Warcraft and Azeroth trended as fans celebrated the cinematic and recalled Warcraft.
• Players noted that the trailer revealed little about the game beyond the Alliance and Horde’s fragile peace and the looming war.
• Fans debated whether World of Warcraft would be an RPG, open-world game, or MMORPG, as Nebula Games had not disclosed its gameplay.

After announcing that World of Warcraft would be an MMORPG, Chen Xu finalized its operations plan with the Macro Play team. He chose subscription and time-card payments, player trading, no in-game shop, and a research team to protect the game’s economy.

• Chen Xu announced on his Official Blog that World of Warcraft was an MMORPG, prompting intense interest from players and the gaming industry.
• Chen Xu and the Macro Play team finalized the game’s operations plan, drawing on Nebula Games’ experience running other titles.
• Chen Xu ruled out an in-game shop because selling gear, outfits, or mounts would undermine rewards earned through PVE and PVP.
• Chen Xu chose per-minute time-card billing and monthly subscriptions, with Gold Coin exchangeable for game time through an official system but not for cash.
• Chen Xu assembled an economic research team to keep the in-game economy stable and prevent inflation and financial crises.

Chen Xu refined World of Warcraft’s design, adapting its systems and storytelling for VR while planning servers and content to immerse players in Azeroth. With development still ongoing, Nebula Games released a second CGI cinematic featuring a familiar character.

• Chen Xu and the team worked on World of Warcraft’s classes, races, dungeons, and brainwave-and-controller options.
• Chen Xu planned VR camera changes, recreated classic quest lines, and balanced quest rewards to encourage exploration.
• Chen Xu designed recurring stories about ordinary people, with temporary NPCs offering standalone arcs and transitional gear.
• Chen Xu planned separate servers capped at thirty thousand players and instanced channels to ease crowding.
• Nebula Games debuted World of Warcraft’s second promotional CGI cinematic, featuring a familiar character.

Players discovered more Azeroth content as World of Warcraft promotion renewed interest in Warcraft, then watched a new CG reveal Arthas awakened as the Lich King. Chen Xu planned to release the game gradually, though he used the future Wrath of the Lich King story to promote it.

• World of Warcraft promotion revealed a fuller Azeroth map and new NPC rumors, drawing players back to Warcraft.
• Players logging into Nebula World saw a CG in which Arthas awakened after merging with the Lich King's power.
• Arthas summoned the dead blue dragon Sindragosa and raised soldiers buried beneath Icecrown Glacier as Undead Warriors.
• The CG showed Arthas crowned as the new master of the Scourge, fulfilling King Terenas's final prophecy in a dark way.
• Chen Xu planned to release World of Warcraft content gradually while using the Wrath of the Lich King CG to promote the game.

The second World of Warcraft CG cinematic reignited players’ interest in Arthas, while Illidan’s cinematic appearance pushed the game’s popularity even higher. As rival studios cautiously released other titles, Chen Xu and Nebula Games continued building anticipation with CG cinematics, leaving World of Warcraft’s launch date unknown.

• Players discussed Arthas’s fall into becoming the Lich King and speculated about fighting him and obtaining Frostmourne.
• Game developers hesitated to release titles against World of Warcraft, while FOW launched an updated Wasteland 1981 and other companies released games.
• Chen Xu and Nebula Games released a series of CG cinematics, and Illidan’s appearance raised World of Warcraft’s popularity further.
• The narration contrasted Warcraft’s early story with later story developments and noted that Chen Xu had time to refine the story through MMORPG updates.

Nebula Games prepared the final details for World of Warcraft as players waited for its launch date. Chen Xu announced that servers would open globally in two weeks, and Song Ren disconnected while trying to download the oversized game files.

• Chen Xu told Qin Yi that World of Warcraft would be operated long-term and that the Lich King would not appear as a major boss until a later version.
• Song Ren, Zhang Yi, Wang Han, Wang Yifan, and Qiao Yi waited in Stormwind City and decided to choose the Alliance when the game launched.
• Zhang Yi spotted the announcement that World of Warcraft would open its servers globally at noon on Saturday in two weeks and was available to preload.
• Song Ren lagged offline after using his internet connection to start downloading the game.

Players eagerly entered World of Warcraft, chose factions and characters, and began exploring its opening cinematic and world. Song Ren created a human warrior named Brave Tough Guy and arrived in the valley before Northshire Abbey.

• Players discussed World of Warcraft’s launch and debated whether to join the Alliance or Horde.
• Song Ren and Zhang Yi entered the game and examined the faction races and their racial abilities.
• Song Ren chose a human warrior, while Zhang Yi and Wang Yifan described their group’s planned characters and classes.
• After finding his preferred character names taken, Song Ren used his platform name, Brave Tough Guy, and customized his character.
• Song Ren arrived in Stormwind City as narration described the human kingdom’s history and threats, then the view moved to the valley before Northshire Abbey.

Song Ren explored World of Warcraft’s crowded Northshire Abbey, checked his warrior’s abilities, and joined his friends in the game. He accepted Marshal McBride’s quest to clear kobold thieves from the nearby woods and headed out to fight them.

• Song Ren surveyed Northshire Abbey and examined the game’s map, interface, equipment, skills, and talents.
• Song Ren added Zhang Yi as a friend and chatted with the other players about their different starting areas and plans to level up.
• Song Ren approached Marshal McBride and accepted the quest to clear kobold thieves from the woods.
• Song Ren charged into the nearby woods, declaring that the kobold thieves should prepare to die.

Song Ren explored World of Warcraft’s crowded early quests and tested its combat system, then discovered that learning warrior skills cost more than he could afford. He ended the chapter frustrated by how slowly he earned money.

• Song Ren complained about the small quest rewards and the crowd of players competing for kobolds around the monastery.
• Song Ren learned that monster credit depended on damage contribution and chose manual combat controls to improve his attacks.
• Song Ren hunted wolves and kobolds, turned in quests, and reached level four while earning only a small amount of money.
• Song Ren visited the warrior trainer and found that each skill cost one Silver Coin, leaving him unable to afford the skills he wanted.

Song Ren explored World of Warcraft’s quest-driven world and struggled with its costly, dangerous early leveling, while his friends compared their different class experiences. After finishing one quest, he reached the target area for Garick Padfoot and froze.

• Song Ren’s quests led him through Azeroth’s setting and gradually guided him toward new locations without relying on a strict main quest.
• Song Ren and his friends decided to play separately for now, since they did not know how to reach one another or find dungeons.
• Song Ren and his friends complained in group chat about difficult leveling, expensive skills and repairs, and fragile characters, while Wang Yifan bragged about his mage’s bread and water.
• Song Ren reflected that warrior combat felt powerful despite the high costs and danger of fighting multiple monsters.
• After completing Milly's Grapes, Song Ren followed the map to Northshire Farm to handle Garick Padfoot’s bounty quest and froze when he arrived.

Song Ren joined the crowded line to defeat Garick, whose single-at-a-time spawn had turned the quest into a chaotic bottleneck. After his party killed the monster and completed the quest, Song Ren reached level 6 and set off for Goldshire.

• Song Ren arrived at the farmhouse and found dozens of players competing to kill the single-spawn Garick.
• The players agreed to form parties and queue for Garick, while chatting about the strengths and weaknesses of their classes.
• Song Ren waited with his party and silently rejected the Mages’ offers of water, confident that Warriors would shine in future battles.
• Song Ren’s party killed Garick, obtained the Quest Item, and added one another as friends.
• Song Ren turned in the quest, reached level 6, and headed toward Goldshire after clearing most nearby quests.

Song Ren explored Goldshire, accepted a quest to kill a mysterious princess at Blackwell Pumpkin Patch, and died after underestimating the social Merm at Crystal Lake. He abandoned the seaweed quest and headed off to find the princess.

• Song Ren bound his hearthstone at Lion's Pride Inn, completed nearby Goldshire quests, and reached level six.
• Ma Stonefield gave Song Ren the quest “Princess Must Die!” and asked him to bring back the princess's collar.
• Song Ren accepted William Piste's seaweed quest and went to Crystal Lake, where nearby player skeletons caught his attention.
• Song Ren attacked a Merm, drew two more into the fight, and died to the group.
• Song Ren returned to his corpse, fled Crystal Lake, and set off to find the princess in the pumpkin patch.

Song Ren met other players at Eastvale Lumber Mill and joined Warriors and Paladins in lamenting their classes’ early-game struggles. He formed a party to rescue the princess at the pumpkin patch, where they discovered the princess was a giant wild boar.

• Song Ren accepted conjured bread and water from an enthusiastic Mage, who described how difficult Warriors had it compared with Mages.
• Song Ren joined nearby Warriors and Paladins as they complained about leveling, skill costs, repairs, and weak combat abilities, then encouraged one another about their future prospects.
• Song Ren invited players to join him on the Princess Must Die! quest and formed a party with several Warriors and Knights.
• Song Ren and his party reached the pumpkin patch and found that the quest’s princess was a giant wild boar accompanied by three little pigs.
• Another party quickly defeated the boar, and Song Ren’s group realized that the princess was simply a joke by the quest designer.

Song Ren and his party hunted Hogger, then continued leveling toward Stormwind City while arranging to meet there. As the group traveled from their different starting areas, Qiao Yi struggled through a deadly journey as an elf, and Song Ren arrived in Stormwind to bind his Hearthstone.

• Song Ren's party waited through two spawn cycles before killing Hogger, turning in the quest, and disbanding.
• Song Ren arranged with Wang Yifan, Qiao Yi, Zhang Yi, and Wang Han to meet in Stormwind City after reaching Level 10.
• Qiao Yi realized that the route from Darnassus was difficult, while Wang Yifan set out for Ironforge and Zhang Yi and Wang Han kept questing.
• Song Ren reached Level 10, entered Stormwind City, and planned to bind his Hearthstone there.
• Qiao Yi died repeatedly on the way to Stormwind and began running in Soul State toward Ironforge.

Song Ren met Zhang Yi and the others in Stormwind City after they had run through the subway tunnel to investigate its mysterious aquatic BOSS. The group leveled together in the Western Plaguelands, reaching level eighteen and learning that their first dungeon was Deadmines in Moonbrook Town.

• Zhang Yi explained that the group had jumped from the subway to look at Nessie and then run through the tunnel after discovering they could not enter the water.
• Song Ren gathered Zhang Yi, Wang Han, Wang Yifan, and Qiao Yi at an inn in Stormwind City, where they joked about his lack of a warrior shield and his plan to get rich selling game time cards.
• Zhang Yi urged Song Ren to make money by training gathering professions, and the group traveled to the Western Plaguelands to level.
• The group cleared quests in the Western Plaguelands, including a coastline threat quest that rewarded three pieces of Green Equipment, and reached level eighteen.
• Through Brotherhood quests, Song Ren and the others learned that Deadmines, located in Moonbrook Town, was the first dungeon.

Song Ren and his friends entered the Deadmines for their first instance run, confident in their party’s composition but unfamiliar with the enemies. After Song Ren pulled too many monsters and failed to keep the group alive, all five party members died and appeared as souls in the graveyard.

• Song Ren told Zhang Yi, Wang Yifan, Qiao Yi, and their other companion to take the Deadmines as they found it, and they set off without consulting a guide.
• The party cleared Defias enemies and entered the mine, relieved that it was not as dark or oppressive as they had expected.
• Song Ren assessed the Defias Miners, Overseers, and Necromancers, then warned the party to pull enemies carefully.
• Song Ren drew too many monsters, charged in to protect his teammates, and used Taunt to regain their attention.
• The enemies overwhelmed Song Ren and his companions, and all five appeared as souls in the graveyard.

After wiping in the Deadmines, Song Ren and his friends learned to pull enemies carefully and advanced steadily through the dungeon. They reached Lakzo and his two Defias Sentries, where Song Ren prepared to fight and claimed the hammer he hoped to loot.

• Song Ren reviewed the party's wipe and urged everyone to learn from pulling too many enemies at once.
• Song Ren gave the group a morale-boosting speech, and Zhang Yi reminded him that equipment repairs cost money.
• The party returned to fighting cautiously, managing threat and letting Wang Yifan mine the ore along the route.
• Wang Han pointed out that Song Ren's blacksmithing and engineering would cost the miners' earnings, and Wang Yifan demanded payment for ore.
• Song Ren opened a large iron gate and the group spotted Lakzo with two level 16 Defias Sentries.
• Song Ren said he could tank the encounter and claimed looting rights, eager to win Lakzo's hammer.