A Big Celebrity

Earth Online? Xiao Yu was speechless upon hearing this; he hadn't expected that someone would actually turn this idea into a game.

However, he was also somewhat curious: would anyone actually play such a game?

Does this game have anything to do with you?

"Hehe, strictly speaking, it should be based on my idea, but I didn't participate in its production." Although Li Mingfei said this, there was a hint of pride in his tone.

"Is this game fun?" Xiao Yu continued to ask.

"It's a lot of fun," Li Mingfei replied decisively.

"Well, then tell us what kind of fun activities you'd like to have later."

Li Mingfei coughed first, and then began to explain in an advertising tone, "First of all, this game is set on Earth in the early 21st century, and it basically perfectly replicates everything about Earth in that era. Moreover, all the Earthlings living in Earth Online are intelligent NPCs, which is a great innovation. You know, in previous games, only key characters were usually intelligent NPCs."

In this Earth Online, most people are unaware that they live in a game and treat themselves as real people, making the game incredibly realistic.

The entire game is almost identical to the real world, the only difference being the addition of us players. Because we players can create our own characters, we have a very high starting point and can easily become Fengyun in that world.

"Wait a minute," Xiao Yu suddenly interrupted Li Mingfei, "Based on what you've said, I think I can roughly understand the selling point of this game."

In fact, the selling point of this game is quite obvious: the combination of a sense of disparity and a sense of realism.

By leveraging the realism of the game, players can experience the same sense of accomplishment that only exists in real life.

For example, unattractive men and women in real life can play the role of an extremely handsome man or an extremely beautiful woman in a game, and be admired and worshipped by the world.

In real life, weaklings and nerds can play the role of a professional athlete or fighting master in the game and experience a level of power that doesn't exist in reality.

A poor person in real life can become a tycoon in the game and experience the thrill of spending money like water.

Basically, the core concept of this game is to allow players to have a different life and experience a life that cannot be experienced in reality.

However, there was one thing that Xiao Yu couldn't understand.

Why the early 21st century? Why not just make it a 22nd-century game setting?

Li Mingfei explained, "One aspect is the technical problem; some technologies in the 22nd century are difficult to simulate in a quantum computer—such as quantum computer technology."

Xiao Yu could understand this. The optical computer itself was the most advanced technology of their time. Its principle was said to be very sci-fi and most people could not understand it. Moreover, the power of the optical computer was simply terrifying. If an optical computer could be constructed within another optical computer, and another optical computer could be constructed within another optical computer, wouldn't that be an endless cycle?

Li Mingfei continued, "Secondly, the 21st century is a golden age, offering the conveniences of modern technology without completely overlapping with reality. Therefore, it's set against that historical backdrop."

"How about it, interested in playing this game? If you want to play, I can get you a free VIP account."

"No interest!" Xiao Yu said without hesitation.

"Damn, seriously? I've made it so obvious, what do you even mean?"

"It sounds somewhat interesting, but it's not my cup of tea. Tycoons, handsome men, powerful figures—none of that appeals to me. Nothing beats the exhilarating feeling of becoming a god."

Li Mingfei was still unwilling to give up, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Maybe I'll go up and hang out sometime later. But for now, forget it. But speaking of which, why are you so insistent on hanging out with me? Why are you so eager to do this?" Xiao Yu asked, puzzled.

Seemingly realizing that Xiao Yu really wasn't going to give up, Li Mingfei spoke frankly, "Hehe, well, don't you know you're a celebrity now? The hero who saved millions of players, your fame is extraordinary. Excellence Technology Game Company asked me to contact you, hoping you'd play this game. They'll use this to promote it and make it popular. If you play this game, I can get some benefits."

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "Holy crap, is this even possible? Am I that famous already? That a game company would go to such lengths to win me over? Giving away a free VIP account and then asking me to pay them back?"

He really couldn't figure it out.

In fact, Xiao Yu was rather slow to realize things. Subconsciously, he always felt that things in the game wouldn't have a significant impact on reality. Even when he became the Destroyer and got an advertising endorsement, he Wuming. On the one hand, the influence of virtual idols wasn't that great at that time, and Azathoth was the real virtual idol, while Xiao Yu himself didn't have many followers. On the other hand, his social circle was too closed off; he was basically a homebody and naturally hadn't encountered any fans.

However, after the previous virtual world crisis, his fame skyrocketed. This was a huge case that affected millions of people. Many participants revealed what happened at the time. Just imagine, someone was willing to give up the chance to become a god in order to save millions of players. What an explosive news story!

Furthermore, the footage of Xiao Yu appearing in court during the sentencing was also leaked, causing him to become an instant sensation. He's practically guaranteed a spot in the top three of the year's top ten most Fengyun.

He's been staying home playing games these days, not checking forums or social media, so I haven't found out anything.

After listening to Li Mingfei's reminder, Xiao Yu hurriedly browsed various online forums and immediately discovered that he was indeed a celebrity, and seemingly a super popular one at that. On many forums, Xiao Yu saw many beautiful women posting photos and love letters, saying things like "Handsome Xiao Yu, I want to have your babies," and they were all very high-quality beauties who left a lot of contact information, which completely baffled Xiao Yu.

He even almost considered contacting these beautiful women who were courting him; it wouldn't be bad to hook up with them occasionally.

However, he managed to hold back in the end, mainly because while browsing these forums, he also saw news reports of several fans who, after their fantasies were shattered upon meeting their idols, resorted to violence against them.

For safety's sake, he decided to keep a low profile.

However, things didn't stay peaceful. Somehow, his contact information was leaked (Xiao Yu strongly suspected that Li Mingfei sold it to those people). In the following days, Xiao Yu was bombarded with all sorts of outside information.

First, a film company approached him, wanting to make a movie based on his true story.

Then another writer approached him, saying he could ghostwrite his autobiography, with the copyright fees split 90/100 after publication, and the writer only receiving one-tenth.

Then someone said they wanted to film a documentary with him, and many companies asked him to endorse their products. This really annoyed Xiao Yu.

In this incident, Shen Yuan and Li Mingfei were undoubtedly losers. If we really have to say who the winner was, then it would have to be Xiao Yu.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yu didn't appreciate it. He was content with a little wealth and felt that having tens of millions was enough to live on, so he declined all the invitations and eventually changed his contact address.

On this day, Xiao Yu suddenly received another communication request.

"Hey, I've already said I don't make movies, I don't do commercials, and I don't write autobiographies. Anyone who wants to discuss these issues with me is not welcome."

"So you're not even welcoming an old friend?" A very familiar voice came from the other end of the communicator.

"Esmehalda?" Xiao Yu asked in surprise, "How did you find me?"

Esmehalda: "Who else could it be but me? Never mind how I found you, turn on the TV, channel 46, 'The Great Hero of Humanity'!"