3 Dear Handsome Men And Beautiful Women, Yes That’s You

As his name suggested, Sun Shuai was indeed a handsome guy. 

The only thing that the majority of males despised more than a handsome lad was that if he was also born rich. 

However, although he was born of second-generation wealth, he did not enjoy the usual flamboyant lifestyle nor was he a diligent young man who worked hard to earn a living. Sun Shuai's true passion was gaming.

Although it was not as if he sponsored gaming teams like some of the other young masters, he was still one of the top players when it came to spending on in-game packages. 

Sun Shuai and a few of his friends had just finished a few rounds while they voice chatted, and just as he was exiting the game, he noticed the pop-up window on the computer interface. 

"The latest virtual reality masterpiece, Journey To The Other World, is currently recruiting players for a beta version trial. The number of available spaces is limited so sign up as soon as possible (PS: Dear handsome men and beautiful women, yes that's you!)." 

"I don't need you to remind me that I'm handsome!" Sun Shuai rolled his eyes at the pop-up window, not having the slightest interest in it. 

"What stupid marketing!" 

Several online VR games had been launched during the past two years and Sun Shuai had tried them all. He was not very impressed by them as many of the movements felt detached and the game did not give him the satisfaction of truly being present in virtual reality. 

Just when he was about to close the pop-up window, he suddenly saw something flash across the window that seemed like a GIF. 

It was a pig-headed monster tearing apart a bloody corpse with broken limbs. In addition to the dim lighting, it set the tone of the scene and perfected the gloomy and gruesome atmosphere. For a fan of CG effects, this scene successfully piqued his curiosity. 

This animation was much better than the other crappy pop-up advertisements he was used to seeing. The key was that the pig-headed monster looked extremely realistic with its sharp fangs and rough skin, even the small details like the few strands of hair at the back of its head. In fact, it looked even more realistic than the swine in a game he had played once based on a film. 

"Well, it's not easy developing a game. If the game has at least one-tenth of the CG effects, I'll gladly be the first to pay for the in-game purchases." 

… 

"Bro, you're doing so great! You're the MVP again!" 

In a small district, a fat young man who looked like he weighed over 200 catties was sitting in front of his computer speaking into his microphone in a coquettish tone, "Come on, brother, are you going off so soon? Can't you accompany me for a while more? Remember to add me to your team again! I'll be waiting for you online! Remember to show up!" 

When the person on the other end hung up, the fat young man removed his headset and let out a sigh of relief. "Idiot!" He cursed out, in his normal rugged voice. 

The seat beneath him let out a squeak as he adjusted his fat body. 

A pop-up window appeared on his computer screen ——"The latest virtual reality masterpiece, Journey To The Other World, is currently recruiting players for a beta version trial (PS: Dear handsome men and beautiful women, yes that's you!)." 

"Bah, another trick to get me to download a new game…" 

… 

In an internet cafe, a young lad with long hair who was waiting in line spotted a familiar short figure in front of a computer and immediately rushed forward. 

"You're a primary school student, what are you doing here? Time to go home!"

The young man with long hair kicked the boy's chair in an attempt to chase him out.

Caught by surprise, the primary school student who was about to finish off a double-kill shot wide and missed a good opening. He immediately turned around to glare at the man. 

Unbothered by the boy's angry glare, the long-haired man tugged the student out of his seat and pointed at the sign placed at the entrance of the internet cafe. "Did you not see that sign? Minors are not allowed. Do you understand?"

The student remained silent, his hands clenching tightly in fists. 

"Oh, are you upset?" The long-haired man sneered as he noticed the little boy's actions. "Are you planning how to get someone to beat me up? Or are you thinking of smashing my head on the keyboard dakfjladjadfjdcgbyt…" (TN: The author inserted a word salad in this sentence, it is unclear whether it's a typo or the author's writing style.)

At that moment, a pop-up window appeared on the computer screen. 

… 

"Hello boys, remember to share and like the Rocket Yacht 666!" 

In a live broadcast chat room, a beautiful young girl who was dressed in sequins had just finished a dance and was laughing flirtatiously into the microphone set before the computer on the table. 

The live broadcast session's chatroom at the bottom of the screen was filled with comments such as "Missy, I want to have kids with you", "Missy, you have such long legs and such a small waist, and your skin is so beautifully smooth, "Missy, you're like a Maserati". 

"Alright, that's all for today. Muah, I love all of you!!" 

After a series of interactions, the scantily clad girl blew kisses toward her computer screen, and amongst many of comments begging her to stay and mournful complaints, she ended the livestream. The first thing she did was blow her nose before adjusting the uncomfortable underwear that was stuck between her butt cheeks after her dancing. Then, she reclined lazily into the seat, the alluring goddess image that she had spent hours creating was nowhere to be seen. 

"A trip that you can go anytime, transmigration for any time and anywhere. The latest online virtual reality game Journey To The Other World offers you 100% freedom and accurate simulation, and hereby invites you to join us on this journey! (PS: Dear handsome men and beautiful women, yes that's you!)" 

A dark-themed pop-up window appeared on the computer screen immediately right after she closed the live broadcast app. 

…

"It's time to AFK!" Xu Zhe sighed softly while sitting before his computer. 

Looking at the game character in the computer screen before him, he suddenly moved his mouse across the screen to click on the hearthstone backpack icon to return to the city. The interface read the command quickly and soon, his character returned to an inn. 

Xu Zhe pressed the ESC key and selected the option to exit the game in the menu box. The scene changed and the game returned to the login interface, then he closed the game interface before proceeding to uninstall the game. 

As he waited for the game to uninstall, Xu Zhe quietly lit a cigarette. He had been playing this game for more than ten years now, it was filled with memories of his youth. 

However, he felt indifferent now. 

Perhaps he had already passed the stage of nostalgia, hence why he viewed online games differently. 

"A beta version of the first online virtual reality masterpiece in the world, Journey To The Other World, is being launched. The ultimate combination of the pinnacle of simulation technology as well as interactive technology, we hereby invite you to join us on this journey!" 

While Xu Zhe waited for the game to uninstall, a pop-up window appeared and caught his attention.

"Online virtual reality?" 

Xu Zhe was usually disinterested in pop-up window advertisements. Online chat rooms were the worst, but even search engines like Sogou and ShowDoc had pop-up advertisements in every few clicks. Therefore, it was expected that advertisements would appear while he uninstalled the game. 

However, the words 'virtual reality' piqued his interest. 

Back in college when he was obsessed with MMO game-based novels, he and a few of his friends had concluded that if they were able to try a virtual reality MMO game at least once in their lives, they would be content and would declare that they lived a good life. 

He had tried VR games before. It began by watching the sales attendants promoting the equipment in departmental stores, then he caved in and bought one for himself. Well, it was interesting, to say the least, but it was still far from his idea of entering a virtual reality experience. Not even a little bit. 

In fact, the best experience he had was on a trip with his family and they tried a VR roller coaster at a theme park. That was the closest he had felt to his ideal, and although it felt so real, there was no interaction. It was merely an immersive experience. 

Xu Zhe also noticed the special effects animation in the pop-up window. Judging with his many years of experience playing online games and watching films, he noted that the CG effect was as good as the special effects rendering in blockbuster movies. 

Xu Zhe expanded the window and read a few more lines of the brief introduction to The Journey To The Other World, one of which mentioned that they were recruiting players to try out the beta version. 

"Beta test players? This kind of thing…" 

Xu Zhe bit his lip as he shook his head slowly. His enthusiasm for games was not as great as before, and beta tests were no longer appropriate for a middle-aged man like him anymore. 

However, just as Xu Zhe was about to close the page, he saw the selection box including the options to participate and simply click on the OK button. 

"Oh well, I don't need to pay money to register. Besides, I'm not going to play it anyway…" 

…