Since its inception, Galaxy has garnered widespread attention. Despite minimal advertising and only basic information available on its official website, its popularity has steadily increased. Various unsubstantiated rumors have shrouded Galaxy in mystery, further fueling players' anticipation and curiosity.
On the day of the public beta, the pent-up enthusiasm of the players who had been eagerly anticipating it erupted like Volcano. The first batch of game pods was limited in quantity and was subject to purchase restrictions. Even so, they sold out within half an hour. Those who failed to get a game pod were filled with regret, while those who did manage to buy one couldn't wait to enter the game.
On the first day of the open beta, the first batch of eager open beta players flooded into the game. In the vast universe, in the different birthplaces of more than a dozen novice planets, batches of the earliest players were born.
That evening, in the forest outside the Big Horn Mountain Settlement, one after another, players who had just created their characters for the public beta appeared out of nowhere, looking around curiously.
"It feels so real." Someone was controlling the body, jumping around.
"Look at the sky! There are several moons!" someone exclaimed, admiring the view.
"Tsk, can't you take your pants off?" Someone seemed to be doing something wrong.
"Doesn't this game have a starting area?" someone asked, looking around in confusion.
More and more players appeared, and as far as the eye could see, there was a sea of people. As the saying goes, "a thousand people is boundless," and there were at least several thousand players who had arrived here. After the initial period of confusion, some sharp-eyed players soon spotted the lights of the Big Horn Mountain Settlement in the distance, and they all assumed that it was the newbie village, so they rushed over in droves.
The lookouts at the Big Horn Mountain Settlement spotted the group of ragged people and were taken aback. They quickly blew their whistles to signal their companions to lock the gate tightly, not daring to let so many strangers into the settlement.
Players were kept out and complained bitterly.
"What's going on? Why isn't the starting area open?"
"My hunger level is dropping fast, I'm going to die if I don't eat something soon."
"These NPCs have such expressive faces."
Inside the Big Horn Mountain Settlement, all the residents came out of their houses, carrying torches and weapons, and stood solemnly guarding the gates to prevent a large crowd from storming the settlement. The village chief Sandrew, urgently summoned several important figures from the settlement for a meeting.
"Where did this group of people come from? There must be nearly ten thousand of them!" Sandrew exclaimed in surprise.
"Could they be a group of migrating wanderers?"
"Just ask directly."
Sandrew reached the lookout tower, looked down at the sea of players, and asked loudly, "Friends who have come from afar, where do you come from?"
The players looked at each other, unsure how to answer, and whispered among themselves, a commotion breaking out in the crowd.
Seeing this, Sandrew shook his head and said, "If you don't state your origins, I cannot let you into the settlement."
The players in the open beta were completely baffled. They were all newbies who hadn't even figured out the map yet, so how were they supposed to answer about their origins? Were you kidding me?
Inside the settlement, the beta testers found it all quite novel and watched the spectacle unfold. They had arrived directly inside the settlement without experiencing this process. Suddenly, they received a notification that a new quest had been triggered. The quest was to persuade Sandrew to accept the open beta testers, with substantial rewards and a hint that the wording should be appropriate for the current world setting.
"Interesting, this level of immersion is unmatched."
The beta testers were amazed, finding the game very diverse and the ability to influence NPCs' choices with their own eloquence only fueling their interest.
After exchanging a few words, the beta testers approached Sandrew to explain.
After listening for a while, Sandrew finally understood and asked in surprise, "You know those people outside?"
A beta tester, without batting an eye (https://m. hetushu. com. com), blurted out, "Yes, we were once residents of a settlement called Earth Village. Later, a disaster struck, the settlement was destroyed, and we were scattered. Those people outside are just as hardworking as we are. Village Chief Sandrew, we hope you will accept them."
"Earth Village? I've never heard of this large settlement before?"
Sandrew muttered, somewhat persuaded, and hesitated, "But there are too many people; we can't let them all in."
"It's simple. All they need are jobs and a little food and supplies. You can use them as cheap labor, which is a perfect opportunity to establish settlements."
The beta testers chuckled to themselves, secretly hoping the open beta testers would be tricked.
Sandrew's eyes lit up. "You're right."
Soon, Sandrew explained the situation to the public beta testers, and they all received a quest.
"[First Job]: You'd better earn some money through labor so you don't starve. Try to improve the relationship with the Big Horn Mountain Settlement to neutral; only then will you be trusted and accepted."
With guidance, players in the open beta enthusiastically began completing tasks. Through the fence, residents of the Big Horn Mountain Settlement offered various job opportunities, and merchants were also available to players, who could buy food with their own money.
With a clear goal in mind, the players in the open beta began to actively increase their favorability with Big Horn Mountain. The residents of Big Horn Mountain provided simple tents, and the open beta players formed a new camp outside the settlement, contributing to the socialist construction of Big Horn Mountain.
The same scene was also happening in other newbie landing sites on Planet Aquamarine.
On the first day of the open beta, all players were enthusiastic and excited. They quickly discovered the photo and video recording functions, which made them even more enthusiastic. They posted about everything, even the most trivial things, on the forum. The number of posts exploded, showing a trend of becoming a social networking site. Below are a few representative posts:
"Terrible! It doesn't even have an excretion function!" The poster of this post clearly had ulterior motives and wasn't really interested in the excretion function.
"The feeling of controlling the body of an alien race is so unique." Another post included a picture of a male minotaur player from a magical planet whipping his tail.
"I'm going to get gored to death by a wild boar, so happy." The accompanying picture shows a female player making a V-sign at the camera, with a wild boar running wildly behind her.
On the first day of the open beta, millions of players flooded in, spreading across various newbie planets, with each planet having around 100,000 players. As the game's influence grows, this number will rise rapidly, reaching tens of millions within six months of the game's release, growing like a snowball.
While players in the open beta were having a blast, some in the closed beta were feeling like they'd been plunged into an ice cave.
Dark Raven Valley.
Jupiter and the rest of the Gods Guild members looked around at the surrounding mountains and forests with blank expressions.
Looking out, the forests below are lush and green, and the evening breeze rustles through the trees. The natural atmosphere is like a gentle hand, caressing one's heart, making everything seem natural and harmonious. The lights of the Crow Forest Town are faintly visible in the woods.
The scenery is beautiful, a feast for the eyes...
But where did the base go?!
Jupiter hesitated before asking, "We logged off... shouldn't we be at the base?"
Everyone nodded in unison, their movements identical.
"The factional relationship is gone!" Poseidon exclaimed.
Everyone hurriedly checked the panel, only to find that the "Dark Crow Valley Base Affinity" with the _Illustrated Book had disappeared! Everyone stood there, stunned and bewildered.
What's going on here?!
"Check the mission quickly!"
Jupiter snapped out of his daze, quickly glanced at the panel, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness, the mission is still ongoing... Holy crap!"
The next moment, almost everyone cursed simultaneously, dumbfounded.
"[Search for Zero (Grade A)]: Zero, a mysterious traitor to the Germinal, has stirred up a turbulent situation, causing the organization to suffer huge losses. Zero's whereabouts are a mystery. Find him, and you will become a friend of the Germinal Organization."
The difficulty level has actually increased from Grade B to Grade A!
The mission prompts have changed. Zero's location is no longer West Capital; they're now being asked to find a needle in a haystack on a planet! The Gods Guild had made extensive preparations for this mission, with their discussions and key points filling an entire blackboard. They even planned to mobilize many peripheral members to search for the mission target in West Capital as soon as they entered the game. This change has rendered all their discussions and preparations in vain.
What exactly did we miss?!
Jupiter suddenly remembered the official description of "Galaxy" and exclaimed, "Could that Zero be the main character of this planet?!"