Chapter 34 We are a Proper Company

Post Content:

[I admit it! I really did have an itchy finger! But I couldn't help it; blame it on that "Toxin Intuition" talent. Anything poisonous just glows green in my eyes; it's like an OCD nightmare!]

What the fuck?

Chu Guang was first stunned, then completely taken aback.

"You can identify it with the naked eye? That's so niubi."

But what exactly are the criteria for something to be considered "poisonous"? Is there a dosage limit? And what about the activation mechanism of this talent?

I don't get it…

Chu Guang decided to put aside the things he couldn't understand for the moment and continued reading.

The post went on to say.

[...According to the task given by the Manager, I started off picking mushrooms and raspberries in the forest. Thanks to the effects of my character's talent, I could identify almost all the poisonous berries and mushrooms, so it was pretty efficient. I picked several plastic buckets full in a short while.]

[I figured I'd gathered everything near the sanatorium and decided to walk further to see. While walking, I came across a place that looked like a parking lot with plenty of mushrooms. I picked quite a lot, and just as I was about to go back, I suddenly saw a large, tall concrete pipe, kind of like a sewer entrance, with a big patch of green light coming out of it!]

[At the time I didn't think too much and just figured with so many mushrooms inside, why not check it out. I could identify the poisonous ones anyway, so I thought I'd just avoid them and that would be that.]

[Plus, I didn't see any dangerous monsters around, so I went over, stuck my head in to take a look... I swear, I really just glanced inside!]

[And then the horrifying thing happened!]

[A lump of flesh... I don't know what kind of flesh, but it smashed right onto my face. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe, couldn't open my eyes, and soon I couldn't even move; it felt like I was swallowed by something?]

[In any case, although there was no pain, the experience was truly awful! Almost in the instant I lost consciousness, I suddenly woke up in reality, and everything that had just happened felt like a nightmare.]

[At first, I thought I had been disconnected, so I quickly put the helmet back on to reconnect, but then I saw the words "Connection Interrupted" inside the helmet, which then changed to "Restricted Login." No matter what I did, I couldn't log back in. Wuu wuu wuu.]

Niubi!

Just giving it away for free, huh...

After reading the post, Chu Guang was dumbfounded.

This player was truly brave, literally sticking their face into the bushes. He definitely wouldn't dare to do something like that.

The netizens below the post were not very friendly either.

Some had already gotten the closed beta test qualification and were simply there for the show, but even more were those who couldn't reserve a spot at all, unanimously condemning this shameful waste of opportunity.

You know, the resurrection CD is at least three days!

Such a giveaway means a direct loss of three days of game time!

What else good could have been done in that time?

Night Ten: [Your head is gone, but you're still okay? Headless Sister? (Funny)]

Quit Smoking: [What the fuck?! That's it? That's it? If you really can't play, please donate your gaming spot to someone who needs it! Damn! T.T]

Debt Giant Eye: [That's pretty itchy hands, isn't it just a giveaway? Why not leave it to me!]

Elena: [Keep updating! Can you talk about what it felt like to be eaten? (Funny)]

All the good names were taken by dogs: [After you said that, my mind wandered, bro, let me have a word with you. (Funny)]

The thread probably started to go south from there.

A nice request for help, and no one really cared if her problem got resolved or not.

In the end, maybe because the officials didn't engage, and the netizens had filthy mouths, the post gradually turned into the original poster alone, angrily clashing with everybody in the thread.

This little player was quite venomous as well, obviously a seasoned troll.

Chu Guang couldn't watch any longer, so he locked her post and popped a private message to her.

"Hello, I am the game designer for Wasteland OL, we have received your feedback. According to the game's death penalty settings, you need to wait 72 hours to be resurrected. Please be patient and wait for the resurrection CD to end, and then you can log back into the game."

Crow: "Ah? I have to wait three days... can't it be changed to one day? I can recharge, just tell me how much."

Chu Guang: "It's not a question of money."

Crow: "Can't we make an exception? Please, I beg you, planner bro, I really didn't mean to do it—just help me out. Oh, and what's your QQ number? Can I add you? Typing here is such a hassle, let's chat on QQ. (pitiful)"

Chu Guang: "Rules are rules, and I can't help you with this."

Crow: "Really, no exceptions at all? (pitiful)"

Chu Guang, unmoved, continued to pick at the details.

"My words aren't finished; besides the resurrection cooldown, dying for the first time in the Game will also deduct 500 Contribution Points from a player."

Crow: "My Contribution Points will be deducted too?! But, but I don't have that many..."

Chu Guang: "The troublesome part lies here: you currently have only 30 Contribution Points, earned from gathering tasks, and these points are far from enough to cover the death penalty."

Crow: "What if it's not enough? (nervous)"

Chu Guang: "The current setting will affect the NPC's evaluation of that player; in other words, you'll lose favorability."

Crow: "Lose favorability?! No! QAQ"

Scared now?

What were you doing earlier?

"Clearly, you haven't grasped the severity of the problem. Imagine this: the character you're playing is shouldering the mission to save civilization. Yet, as a human elite sent to the surface to support the construction, not only have you failed to create any value, you've caused such a huge nuisance for everyone. Don't you feel the slightest bit guilty?"

Haven't even earned 500 freeloading coins and just wasted a whole can of active substance on you.

Shameful, isn't it!

Crow: "But, but this is just a game..."

"Yes, a game, but it's not just your game," Chu Guang typed righteously, "You must have played murder mystery games before."

Crow: "Played, I've played them..."

Chu Guang: "This is like a game for 30 people, where 29 players are taking it seriously, but there's one who is fooling around—and with a role card at that. You'd know how detrimental such behavior is to other players."

Actually, it's not so exaggerated—he's just a newbie, after all; dying is just dying. But Chu Guang felt they wouldn't learn their lesson if he didn't react at all.

They needed some education!

But perhaps he had been too harsh, and this little player had too thin a skin, or maybe they had been truly burnt by a murder mystery game in real life.

Sitting in front of the computer, Crow was nearly crying, typing apologies desperately.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's my fault! It's all on me! QAQ"

A string of messages flooded the chat window, making Chu Guang, ready to continue typing, feel a bit embarrassed.

It almost felt like he was gaslighting her.

Forget it...

It's not important.

Chu Guang: "No need to apologize to me, I am just explaining the game's penalty system to you and why such settings were made. Later, you can post in your thread about this too, I'll unlock the thread."

Chu Guang: "Also, I must emphasize again that Wasteland OL is positioned as a hardcore game. At least in the early stages of the game, there won't be many casual elements. This was decided when we designed the entire game framework. If you really can't accept the setting, we suggest you switch to another game or wait for the open beta version to play when the content is richer."

Crow: "No, I want to play! I'd die without my helmet! QAQ"

Crow: "Um, planner bro, I have no more concerns about the death penalty, what can I do to regain lost favorability? Would it help if I admitted my mistakes proactively after resurrection? QAQ"

Chu Guang: "It might help, but it won't be very significant. The Manager's AI personality and behavior logic are set to be neutrally lawful; their evaluation is mainly based on whether a player's actions align with the shelter's overall interest. So to make amends, just show them your efforts and don't do those brainless things."

Crow: "I got it, um... may I make a small suggestion?"

Chu Guang: "Speak."

Crow: "Could you guys introduce some sort of in-game monetization? Like gift purchases that can increase favorability? I've seen other games like Big-Nosed Mole Manor... I can pay money to buy them!"

Chu Guang, with a head full of black lines, typed his response.

"My friend, you shouldn't always think about solving problems with money. We are a serious company!"

The person is gone, what's the use of money.

Can you burn it to spend?

Crow sat in front of the computer, startled; her hand paused on the keyboard, unable to wrap her head around what was happening.

A legitimate company...

Isn't that just a money pit?

It has to be disreputable if it's not asking for money...

Closing the web page, Chu Guang set aside the little gamer's issue for the moment and logged into his Penguin account.

Interestingly, the Ox and Horse Club group was just discussing that post on the official website.

Seems like everyone's pretty concerned about the death penalties in the Game.

Spare people under the knife: [Played it, I gotta be honest, this Game is niubi, I take back what I said, I am convinced!]

Grandpa Ao: [Holy crap, even you with the bushy eyebrows have been bought by Dog Management???]

("Grandpa Ao" has been muted by the admin for 1 hour.)

Night Ten: [Dog barking again?]

Old White: [Cut the crap, did you guys see that post on the official website? The one about the person who died today.]

Night Ten: [Saw it, the ID is Crow, the one with the 180cm long legs! Admin, hurry and figure out a way to add her to the group. (Amused)]

Old White: [Get lost, go do it yourself.]

Fang Chang: [Finished reading the post, I've summarized three points: 1. Losing consciousness or dying in the game causes a forced disconnection. 2. They did remove the excessive pain, which matches my previous tests; gotta say, the game officials are pretty astute! It doesn't feel unreal at all if there's no sensation, and too much pain might drive players away, the balance is just right now! But I still say, it'd be nice if we could adjust it ourselves. (Grinning teeth)]

Night Ten: [And the third point??]

Wild Wind: [Let me add that, don't do stupid stuff, and you won't die.]

Fang Chang: [Correct.]

Quit Smoking: [I vomit, why can't I make it through the appointment process, I really want to play the Game! T.T]

Old White: [Err, why don't you butter up Brother Guang?]

Quit Smoking: [I tried, he told me to wait. T.T]

Night Ten: [Condolences.]

Old White: [Eh? That bad, huh? Did you secretly diss him? That old chap does hold grudges, I heard he's a Scorpio.]

Quit Smoking: [No way, where would I dare to diss him! I'm Brother Guang's most loyal bootlicker!!! T.T]

Old White: [That's strange then, I'll ask about it for you one of these days.]

Fang Chang: [By the way, has Pick up Trash 99 Level logged on yet?]

Night Ten: [Not sure, shall I @ him for you?]

Old White: [@[Pick up Trash 99 Level].]

Pick up Trash 99 Level: [Ahem, what's up? I'm in the group.]

Watering the group chat isn't as interesting as lurking.

Besides, in a group with acquaintances, a newbie who has just joined the group a few days ago rarely finds an opportunity to butt in.

Fang Chang: [I noticed your character is a Lizard Man, when you take off the headset and return to reality, do you feel anything off? Like something out of sync?]

Chu Guang, similarly lurking, became interested upon seeing this.

He was curious too, what it felt like for the players who entered the game as Lizard Men.

Especially with the switch from a small tail to a big one, he wondered if they got used to it.

Pick up Trash 99 Level: [Uhh...doesn't seem like it? Feels pretty good actually, the athletic abilities in the game are crazy strong and the reactions too, nothing seems off after logging out. But there is one thing I'm not quite used to, in the game I always want to eat raw meat, and seeing blood makes me feel all pumped up, but once the headset comes off, it's all gone, truly amazing.]

Fang Chang: [Damn! Why are they allowed to choose non-human characters, and I can't even make a female account!]

Wild Wind: [Ahem, stay rational, brother.]

Old White: [That kind of talk is a bit frightening.]

Fang Chang: "Scram! I just wanted to see what it feels like, purely curious, you know what I mean."

Night Ten: "No, no, no, we don't get it."

Wild Wind: "Speaking of which, Night Ten still has to pick up trash today. When you two went hunting with the Manager, did you run into any Looters?"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Yes! There were two Looters and a tamed mutated hyena. They were executing a Scavenger when we found them, and that guy had already been killed in the plot! After that, we killed the two Looters and took their gear."

Fang Chang: "Tamed? So, Variants can be tamed. I wonder if players will be able to have pets in the future... I guess this is probably a hint from the developers. (strokes chin)"

Wild Wind: "You killed an NPC?"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Well, it was the Manager who ordered the attack... That shouldn't count as a violation of the Resident handbook, right? I even checked afterwards; it only stipulates that attacking neutral or friendly NPCs is prohibited."

Night Ten: "Uh, I think those were spawn monsters, not NPCs? But man, the bleeding effect was... kinda realistic. I almost thought someone really died."

Chu Guang fell into thought upon reading this.

He had previously speculated whether the world the players saw was through some kind of filter, and now it seemed quite possible.

However, this filter was not necessarily one from a beauty camera app, but more likely a sort of conceptual blurring.

It was similar to how the system handled pain.

The brain would block out pain that exceeded certain limits, and sensory overload beyond the tolerance level would likely also undergo "emotional dampening" treatment.

Otherwise, if it triggered the brain's "meltdown mechanism," wouldn't the player just wake up from the "nightmare" and the connection be interrupted?

Clearly, the designers of the system had thought of these details.

Having analyzed this, Chu Guang suddenly felt a hint of envy.

Back when he first came to the Wasteland, it had taken him a long time to overcome these psychological barriers.

Wild Wind: "Were they speaking Mandarin?"

Pick up trash 99 level: "They were talking weirdly, kind of like Chinese but not quite. I couldn't understand, so it must have been randomly generated by the program."

In films and games depicting alien planets or different worlds, similar settings often existed, creating a "foreign language" by jumbling up the normal word order of a sentence, or in some cases, completely made-up language.

Like the Simlish in The Sims with their "hmm and aha."

Pick up trash 99 level thought that Wasteland OL probably used a similar design.

From just this aspect, the game seemed pretty legit.

Fang Chang: "Well, the way they set up this plot is quite interesting. I feel like it's a reminder of the hidden dangers in this Wasteland. It's like the Mutant tribe we discovered earlier; it's all about creating a sense of crisis."

Night Ten: "Wait, you mean the plot isn't randomly generated?"

Fang Chang: "Everything you see has been programmed. There's no such thing as true randomness."

Old White: "I kind of agree with Fang Chang. It's just a coincidence that this happened on the day new players come online... feels a bit like intentional arrangement."

Fang Chang: "It's just a theory! But I think this plot can be seen as a sign that, as the scale of the Outpost expands and the overall strength of the players increases, the conflicts with other forces and Variants on the Wasteland will also intensify. Competing for survival resources and space could be the main theme of the next phase of the game."

Fang Chang: "We can actually start preparing for war now! I reckon, if things move quickly, after the 'Winter is Coming' expansion pack ends, the next one will be 'Stronghold Conflict'."

Wild Wind: "Niubi..."

Pick up trash 99 level: "6666, that analysis is spot on."

Night Ten: "Awesome, Brother Fang is really thinking on a stratospheric level!"

Quit smoking: "Damn! I really want to play! T.T"

Then the chat group members started discussing the primitive method of smelting and making gunpowder, while Chu Guang in front of the screen was gobsmacked.

Goodness, a place even he, the planner, had not considered, and this guy had it all figured out.

What a talent!

Chu Guang felt emotional, and he promptly copied and pasted the analysis made by this guy into a document to save it.

You guys are all right.

All Old Brother Dong indeed.

If anyone asked in the future, Chu Guang decided he'd just explain it this way.