Chapter 6: The first batch Beta-gamers

"I am an NPC."

Taking a deep breath, Light Chu looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his collar, trying to make his appearance look dignified enough.

And expressionless.

Three days had passed since that day.

In a few minutes, it would be time for the gamers to log in.

As for the blue coat he was wearing, it was the outfit he had been wearing when he first transmigrated to this world a long time ago.

Old Charlie from Bette Street had told him that the residents who came out of the sanctuary seemed to wear the same thing.

"I am an NPC."

Light Chu practiced again in front of the mirror he had picked up from outside.

The nature of this "new job" was completely different from his previous sales job. The smiling face and courteous attitude, as if bathed in the spring breeze, should not appear on a sanctuary governor.

After all, this was a wasteland that followed the law of the jungle.

To survive in this wasteland, his image didn't necessarily have to be that of a tough guy, but it had to give people enough confidence and a sense of security.

Touching the lines on his cheek, Light Chu contemplated in his mind whether he should have a scar on his forehead.

Or maybe he should style his hair into a punk-style mohawk?

After all, this was a wasteland that followed the law of the jungle.

If being too handsome.

It would affect gamers' sense of immersion.

"Master."

Light Chu, who was styling himself in front of the mirror, raised his chin expressionlessly.

"What's the matter?"

Qi said softly.

"According to the information I found, NPCs in the game usually don't refer to themselves as NPCs."

His expression froze slightly, and Light Chu coughed lightly.

"Of course, I know..."

He muttered to himself in front of the mirror.

"...I am the manager of Sanctuary 404."

It was almost time.

Three hours ago, the cultivation chambers had already completed the synthesis of the clones.

He had also made an agreement with four "lucky" players who had obtained the closed beta qualification on Penguin. They were supposed to put on their helmets before 9 p.m. Beijing time, find a comfortable position lying down or reclining, and log into the game promptly at 9 o'clock.

While Light Chu was contemplating how to make his entrance in front of the players, a sound of "ding" suddenly echoed in his mind.

Immediately after, a line of text appeared in front of him.

[Quest Completed!]

Chu Guang's heart tightened slightly.

Here it comes!

...

"Damn! Unbelievable!"

In a plain room next to the residents' hall, four cultivation chambers simultaneously released their locks and opened their semi-transparent doors.

Sitting up from the open tanks, Ye Wei was stunned. He looked around, his face filled with surprise and even bewilderment.

This...

Is the game world?!

Just a minute ago, he had been wondering if this could be an elaborate prank.

But when he put on the fully charged helmet, lying on the bed, about to fall asleep, a light pierced through the darkness and shot towards him.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in an unfamiliar room.

He felt wet.

As if he had just been pulled out of a pool.

The wind blowing from the vent above his head fell on his shoulders, and he could clearly feel the liquid gradually evaporating, taking away the heat from his body.

There was also a faint unpleasant smell.

Ye Wei suddenly realized, widening his eyes.

Vision!

Smell!

Touch!

Taste!

Hearing!

All five senses were present!

Amazing!!!

The immersive sensation made tears well up in his eyes.

"I never thought that in my lifetime, I would actually witness fully immersive virtual reality technology!"

This can no longer be described as amazing!

And it wasn't just him.

The other three gamers who had just emerged from the cultivation chambers also had expressions of shock on their faces.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn."

"...I thought it was a joke."

"MTFK, it's really fully immersive!"

"Has technology really advanced this much? Why haven't I seen it in the news?!"

"Hiss... I can even feel pain." One player pinched himself.

"Who the hell are you? An NPC?"

"A ghostly NPC? I'm White! White_horse_crossing_the_gap! And who the hell are you?"

"Damn it? Gappy?! I'm Hurricane! Eight-level_hurricane! Why do you look like this? Hahaha, you cracked me up."

"Get lost! Call me Gappy again, and I'll show you what Grumpy means... Hey, this game is interesting. Is the appearance already set? I wonder if we can customize our characters in the public version."

[White] pinched himself as well, even though it hurt, his face was filled with joy.

Excitement!

Thrill!

Unbelievable!

Their dreams had become a reality!

The player in the neighboring bed, Ye Wei, stared with wide eyes, motionless, trying to digest the shock in his heart.

Apart from him, there was another companion who sat still, probably someone from the group called [See_you_tomrrow].

This person was staring at the area between his legs, deep in thought, pondering something.

"The default character setting is male? No character customization? I mean... Can I create a female character?"

"Damn, you're so lewd! You must be [Nighten]."

"I'm [Tomorrow]..."

"Damn it?! Tomorrow?! Good buddy... You know what I mean, right?"

"Get lost, I was just joking. And this guy next to me is Nighten, right? You all made it?"

Seeing the three people looking at him, Ye Wei finally came back to his senses.

Realizing that he was still naked, he quickly picked up the uniform hanging next to the cultivation chamber and put it on his head, casually responding.

"Yeah, just arrived... How do we play this game? Is there a newbie tutorial?"

"I don't know, we just arrived too."

Just as the words fell, the door to the room opened.

A man in a blue coat walked in from outside.

Behind him was a robot shaped like a waste paper basket, with a cylindrical body that looked somewhat silly, but its streamlined shell and polished silver paint gave it a futuristic feel.

The eyes of the four players widened.

"NPC!"

"It looks exactly like a real person!"

"Is this really the game world?"

"It's so realistic!"

"Quiet," interrupting the chattering, Light Chu glanced at the four players in the room, and slowly spoke, "Welcome to Sanctuary No. 404."

"I am the governor here."

"Codename - Dawn."

A moment of silence filled the air.

The four players unexpectedly became quiet and stared at him intently, afraid to miss any plot details.

It seemed that his imposing presence successfully controlled the situation.

Light Chu breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and continued according to the prepared script.

"First, I have to tell you some good news: the war is over."

"But the bad news is, our world has been completely transformed, and it's highly unlikely that you can just pack your bags and go home to find your mommy."

"Now it's the 200th year after the apocalypse, and fortunately, we have successfully endured the most difficult times. You are already luckier than the 12 billion people who didn't make it here. Now, I need you to quickly understand the current situation and fulfill your declaration under the banner of the Humanity Alliance - to rebuild our homeland!"

"This is my assistant, its name is Qi. You can ask it any questions about the sanctuary or anything you don't understand."

That was the opening statement.

Light Chu would repeat it when the next batch of players arrived.

After all, it was not easy to come up with.

As for what Qi could say or couldn't say, Light Chu had already informed it in advance, so there was no need to worry about leaking information.

Even if something slipped, it didn't matter.

Any unexplainable issues could be brushed off with the sentence, "It's a game setting." Nowadays, there is no perfect and flawless setting. If someone wanted to nitpick, even the news broadcast could find bugs.

Seeing Light Chu finally finish speaking, the player nicknamed Nighten hurriedly asked.

"Where is Bro Light? I mean, the game planner who gave us the helmets."

"I don't understand what you're saying," Light Chu replied emotionlessly.

"How do we log out of the game?" White followed up.

"Lie back in the cultivation chamber, and you can log out normally."

In fact, there was another method; abnormal states like unconsciousness, sleep, or death would also cause the connection to be interrupted, but Light Chu didn't want them to try it casually.

It was more energy-efficient to lie in the cultivation chamber, whereas leaving corpses everywhere would be troublesome.

"What about levels? Where is the gamer system interface? I can't find it!" Hurricane asked just as he uttered the words. Light Chu hadn't had a chance to answer when Tomorrow quickly chimed in.

"What about character customization? Can't we change the character's appearance? And regarding the character's gender..."

"That's enough! You can ask these questions to the strat... cough, it's not your turn to ask questions right now."

Interrupting their endless questions with a vein throbbing on his forehead, Light Chu maintained a stern face and, with an official tone, threw four booklets at them without hesitation.

"I will familiarize you with the environment here and inform you of the things you need to pay attention to."

"Especially what you can and cannot do. Don't even think about certain things."