The experiment was short; after connecting the devices, all players entered the new simulation environment in just over ten minutes.
However, the time spent waiting for players to die unexpectedly inside is exceptionally long, like watching a boring movie where you're eagerly anticipating the ending, but the prelude is so long that it's unbearably frustrating.
"What's the difference between this and the first version?" In the conference room, watching the updates of several players, the anxious group couldn't help but ask.
"We incorporated the benefits for paying players from the latest online version, and we copied some code into it, trying not to make too many changes, but it significantly reduced the difficulty."
The person in charge smiled and said, "We can arrange for those of you who enter to have distinguished backgrounds, or even distinguished bloodlines, making it easier for you to gain power and grow stronger."
"Pay-to-win." Some Westerners chuckled upon hearing this. Most Westerners had played games as children and were familiar with the term. If one's life in the game had a cheat code, it would indeed be much easier. Although it was far from the best-case scenario, it was still not bad.
After watching for nearly four hours, which translates to about thirty days in the game, two players finally met with an accident. Their homes were attacked by demons, resulting in their sudden deaths.
The next instant, the scene changed, and the two players only stayed in that dark scene for less than ten seconds before respawning again.
"Wait a minute," the elderly Western man named Smith frowned, "What were those dark scenes before the reincarnation?"
"Oh, that's the Yin-Yang Road according to the setting!" the person in charge hurriedly said, "In the game, all creatures are forcibly dragged to the Yin-Yang Road after death, becoming one of the vengeful spirits. In the Yin-Yang Road, the strong prey on the weak, and big ghosts eat little ghosts, making it even more cruel. But players are different. After players die, they directly enter the Yin-Yang Road for Samsara. According to the dungeon, there are four Samsara points in the Yin-Yang Road, each temporarily occupied by one of the four great ghost lords, who are powerful demons in the third version."
"If those demons can control Samsara, can they also control the players?" Smith asked, voicing his biggest concern.
"According to the settings, it's not possible." The person in charge hurriedly said, "Controlling one of the Samsara points only allows you to choose whether or not to open that Samsara point. Your Majesty can create spies in the mortal realm by reincarnating your subordinates, but you can't control the direction of Samsara. Players are marked by the Samsara point when they enter Samsara and are not affected by the Ghost Lord. Unless someone can control all four Samsara points, they can control the reincarnation of evil spirits on the Yin-Yang Road at will, but even then, they cannot stop players from Samsara."
"I see," the group nodded, feeling slightly relieved. Otherwise, their lives would be in the hands of a few NPCs, which would be a laughing stock.
"Everyone, as you saw in the demonstration, the new simulation environment is the same as the old version; it can indeed successfully reincarnate and retain consciousness. Should this version be further streamlined? Or should we just use it as is for now?"
Upon hearing this, the group of behind-the-scenes financiers looked at each other hesitantly. In fact, the best simulation environment would naturally be to redesign a virtual world according to their ideas. However, according to current research, only highly realistic games can make memory habits recognize the game. And to make a highly realistic game, even at the fastest efficiency, it would take at least two to three years. Many of them could not afford to wait that long.
Especially that female judge, her critical condition notice has already been issued, and she must participate in that surgery with a very low success rate within a month at the latest. Many people don't have the time!
"My suggestion is to use this one for now, what do you think?" the female judge said. "Before coming here, everyone should have prepared everything they needed, right? According to the agreement, how about we all go in together?"
The others looked at each other.
Everyone here is a powerful figure, and none of them really trust each other. According to the original agreement, once the experiment is successful, everyone must enter together and become data lifeforms in order to be bound together. No one is allowed to control everything from the outside.
Everyone values their lives. Once they're inside, the outside agents won't dare to act recklessly, since they're also inside. If they make a mistake, they could easily get themselves into trouble.
This way, everyone will exercise some restraint, and even if there are calculations between them, at least they won't go too far.
"Alright!" Elder Long stood up and made the decision. "Let's stick to the previous agreement, everyone go in together!"
--
Five days ago:
"Are you sure everyone will go inside?" Pu Yunchuan looked at the confident Elder Liu with some doubt.
"That's a must," Elder Liu laughed. "Who among those people can be trusted? Who would feel comfortable leaving anyone out there? If we're going in, we're all going in together. No matter how many backup plans you have outside, as long as you're inside, you have to be careful not to harm anyone. This is a mutual guarantee."
"I see." Chen Qing nodded. "If that's the case, then there is a chance."
"What do you plan to do?" Elder Liu asked.
"Within five days, even minor changes would be easily noticed. In fact, many people don't know that the game's patch contains the initial framework code for the fourth version that I designed. However, it was still just a framework and hadn't been implemented yet. In addition, I had different opinions from the planner at the time, so it was eventually shelved. But because I resigned from my job, the programmers behind that framework code didn't touch it to avoid any unexpected problems."
"Fourth version?"
"Yes. The fourth version!" Chen Qing laughed. "In my fourth version, once the Outer Heaven Demon Statue invades the world, the Samsara will collapse, and the players inside will truly die because they cannot Samsara!"
How long will that take?
"It needs to be triggered manually. I can help. Originally, version four was supposed to arrive a long time ago, but in order to kill those old fogies as soon as possible, I can design some loopholes to let those golems infiltrate first. As long as it's triggered early, version four can arrive ahead of schedule!"
"Alright," Elder Liu nodded upon hearing this, "Then I'll leave it to you. Not a single one of these people can be let out, otherwise the consequences will be very serious. You must resolve this before they escape this simulated environment!"
"I understand, but if that happens, you... you'll probably die inside too."
"That's alright." Elder Liu laughed immediately. "These old bones of mine weren't going to live much longer anyway. According to some national champions, even with proper care, I only have a little over a year left. Now that my son is married and my grandson has been admitted to Imperial Capital University, I have no more expectations. I'm too old to continue being a burden to my descendants."
"Is that so?" Chen Qing looked at the other person with some complicated feelings.
If the other party is not lying, then he is indeed a person with a strong sense of justice. Although the method of directly killing innocent people is somewhat contrary to his own values, he can still be called a hero.
"I did it, Elder Liu. I think they'll restrict my movements before they go in, so the key to launching version four lies with you."
What should I do?
"Listen to me, you must."
When the plan was brought up, Chen Qing suddenly paused for a moment.
He suddenly remembered something.
It seems that the game world I'm in also has a fourth version that allows recruitment. Could it be that the world I'm in is...?