Next morning.
Inside the tailor's shop, Vine_vine, who had just started working, peeled off a note from the wooden board.
"Quest... Make a set of clothes for the armory shopowner, reward 5-10 silver coins?" VV's eyes gradually lit up as she read the order from beginning to end.
In just a second, a perfect design plan had already taken shape in her mind.
"Great! Leave it to me!"
She stuffed the note into her pocket and immediately walked eagerly towards the direction of the armory shop.
On the other side.
Inside the sanctuary.
Light Chu was standing in the community hall, facing twenty newbies who had just crawled out of the cultivation chambers, and finished reciting the lines he had come up with painstakingly.
Perhaps it was because they had waited for too long, or maybe it was because there were more female gamers this time compared to the previous batch, but these newbies were much more well-behaved than the previous group, at least no one did anything as outrageous as publicly taking off their pants.
It seemed that gradually raising the reservation threshold, implementing strategic hunger marketing, increasing waiting time as a cost, and a series of operations such as selecting high-quality gamers had some effect.
Of course, it could also be because the game was incredibly realistic and didn't allow alternate accounts. Just the thought of a group of game planners observing them "covertly" from above made everyone consider their behavior.
After Qi and the newbies explained the gameplay, Light Chu led them onto the elevator that takes them to the surface, eagerly rushing them outside like herding ducks.
Standing on the land in front of the sanatorium, these newbies experienced the immersive shock for the first time.
"Oh my god... oh my god oh my god!"
"So, this is the world of Wasteland OL?!"
"The feeling of sunlight on my face is exactly the same as in the real world. The wind is kissing my cheeks. This place is like a dream! No, it is a dream!"
"I'm crying, the technology nowadays is too advanced!"
"Why isn't this in open beta yet? Damn it! What else does the development team want to test? Quickly release it for open beta and take my money!"
"One word: freaking awesome!"
The reactions of all the new players entering the game seemed to be almost the same.
Light Chu could understand this state of mind.
From the moment he received the helmet, the half-joking fun had turned into cautious skepticism. He had counted down the most difficult 72 hours, tossing and turning in anticipation. With the opening of his second pair of eyes, all the expectations turned into reality in an instant.
It was like being reborn.
The impact of this moment could not be summarized in words.
Stepping on the soil of a foreign world, inhaling the fragrance of dust, chasing butterflies in the grass, embarking on an adventure into an unknown future... how many gamers had dreamt of this?
Not to mention them, Light Chu himself had daydreamed like this more than once, hoping that one day he could step on the soil of a virtual world.
But unfortunately...
As someone who knew all the truths, he was destined not to enjoy the game like them. Perhaps, for him, the untouchable reality was the virtual one.
"Go forth, warriors."
"Change this decaying world!"
"With your own hands."
Amidst his emotional thoughts, Light Chu improvised three lines of dialogue for himself.
He didn't stay here but left the time to these gamers themselves. With Qi in his arms, he went to the third floor and placed her in front of the window with the best view... it was the first-class seat to overlook all the gamers.
Meanwhile, on the open space in front of the infirmary.
The newbies who had just entered the game world hadn't even had a chance to take a breath of air from the wasteland when they were surrounded by veteran gamers who had arrived early.
"Any gamers with special talents? Raise your hand... What? You have one? Holy cow, that's awesome! What talent is it... 'Calm and composed'? Why does that sound so useless?"
"Are there any strength-profession newbies? Let's chop trees and level up together! It's so much fun!"
"Boss, I'm strength-profession. How should I play this game?"
Seeing that someone finally paid attention to him, the veteran gamer was overjoyed.
"You're strength-profession? What's your name?"
"Construction_Boi_with_bricks!"
"Damn, brother, you've got this game figured out already! Listen to me, as a strength-profession gamer, you should chop trees and carry bricks more. Roll up your sleeves and get to work, chop down a hundred trees and skyrocket to level 1! With 7-8 points of strength, you'll be invincible in the wasteland. If you encounter any mutants, just swing your axe and that's it!"
"But what if I encounter someone with a gun?"
"Fight them and that's it!"
"???"
Standing in front of the window on the third floor of the sanatorium, Light Chu looked down and observed the gamers below.
Watching the newbies gradually grasp the tricks of playing this game under the guidance of the veterans, he nodded with satisfaction.
Very good.
Very reliable.
These closed beta gamers did not disappoint his expectations.
The only thing that slightly disappointed Light Chu was that this group of newcomers, although obedient, seemed to lack the special genetic sequence left behind by the first governor, called "Mutant Variant."
However, there were two special talents that caught his interest.
One was "Calm and Composed," which enhanced the base resistance against negative mental states such as "fear" and "despair" by 50% and allowed for faster alleviation of negative influences from the mental aspect.
At first glance, this talent seemed useless, but those who had experienced real battles knew how important this quality was in combat.
The other talent was "Thermal Vision," possessed by a gamer named [Elf_king_Richard_Wang], an agile genetic sequence.
Based on the system's description alone, this talent was simply magical for night skirmishes! When in a focused state, activating this talent would make the retinas more sensitive to infrared light.
The specific manifestation was the ability to see heat sources in darkness within a certain range!
Of course, this talent was basically ineffective against "cold-blooded animals."
Light Chu silently noted down this [Elf_king]. If there was a need for night battles in the future, he would team up with this guy.
In addition, there were several peculiar talents.
For example, "Temperature Intuition" allowed the perception of temperature without physical contact, "Plant Speaker" enabled insight into the growth status of plants, and "Insect Hunter" could detect insect pheromones through smell, and so on.
These talents had limited practical significance in combat, but they could play a significant role in production and exploration.
Light Chu believed that there was no need for him to provide guidance; these gamers would figure out the most suitable gameplay on their own.
...
Northwest of the Wetland Park, in the apartment area.
A four-person team cautiously approached their prey.
The terrain in the city area was very complex, as evidenced by the ruins of the tower-like greenhouse. The people of the pre-war era must have lived quite comfortably.
Hurricane: "People from the pre-war era knew how to enjoy life... Let me come up with a wild idea. The residents living in the community cultivated vegetables and fruits in the tower during the closed beta. This place was their market and garden."
White: "Who maintained it?"
"There should be property management, right? Outsourcing the area to specialized companies would be good. This ecological community is quite worthy of reference. The game designer is skilled." Hurricane gave a high evaluation and showed a lot of interest in the design here.
"You'd better focus on our prey. I feel like we're very close to it."
Nighten immersed his senses in the surroundings, and from the flowing aura, he seemed to hear the heartbeat of the animal... one strong and one weak.
Wait, two?
"It's up ahead."
Tomorrow had already spotted the downed reindeer with an arrow in its body. However, just as he was about to move forward, he suddenly noticed another arrow lodged in the neck of the game.
The neck?
He was taken aback.
Didn't he remember hitting its butt?
While he was still puzzled, he locked eyes with the teenager in front of him.
Both of them were momentarily stunned, and the next second, they moved instinctively, drawing their bows and aiming at each other.
"Who are you?"
"NPC?"
The two of them blabbered to each other, unable to understand what the other was saying.
Hurricane and White reacted quickly. They noticed Tomorrow's situation and immediately flanked from both sides, circling to the teenager's side.
The young man nervously retreated backward, his back against the concrete wall, concealing his rear.
Tomorrow could sense the killing intent emanating from that arrowhead, but he wasn't afraid. Step by step, he approached.
After all, if he stayed too far away, he wouldn't be able to hit him.
"Don't come any closer."
"Drop your weapon, you're already surrounded."
What was this person saying?
Raider?!
The young man looked at the three people approaching him and thought about how those caught by raiders died. Suddenly, he made up his mind and released the bowstring.
Swoosh—
A sound cut through the air.
Tomorrow instinctively leaned to the side, avoiding the arrow that grazed past his cheek, the feathers almost brushing against his nose.
If he hadn't dodged, then they could see him again at the fountain!
"Damn it! Get him!"
Uttering an elegant curse, Tomorrow threw down his wood bow in a hurry and pulled out a steel bar, charging forward together with White and Hurricane.
The young man drew the short knife from his waist, resolute on fighting to the death.
However, a stone flew through the air, hitting him in the forehead and causing his consciousness to briefly blur.
"Take him!"
Nighten, holding a slingshot, called out. Immediately, the three of them surrounded the young man, knocking the knife out of his hand and pinning him to the ground.
"Let go of me!"
The young man roared angrily, struggling with all his might, but White was not to be trifled with when it came to strength.
"Stay still! Damn, this guy is quite strong! Tomorrow, what do we do now?"
Seeing the struggling young man on the ground, White looked towards Tomorrow.
In Wasteland OL, simply killing or defeating monsters did not grant experience. Experience for genetic sequences was naturally gained through combat or training.
In other words, the experience gained from capturing a person was the same as killing them.
Hurricane checked the young man's package and found only a piece of bread, a few arrows, and a finely crafted small knife.
Shaking his head, he stood up and said, "Very poor."
As Tomorrow looked at the young man glaring at him from the ground, he fell into contemplation.
"I can't understand what he's saying either."
"Anyway, let's tie him up and take him back to exchange for money."