The first people to notice Lincoln's video were those who were infuriated by having their accounts' comment features blocked.
They logged into their alternate accounts and searched for Lincoln again, preparing to go on another verbal rampage.
Even at the risk of getting their alternate accounts banned, they felt the need to vent!
But the first post shown in the search results was not the previous "declaration of war" video, but a new one.
Naturally, they clicked on the new video, curious about what mischief Lincoln had managed this time.
Yet after a mere ten or so seconds, they all had the same shocked expressions, dumbfounded.
"Holy shit! What the hell is this?! Who can explain to me? What the fuck is this?!"
"My mind is in chaos, I don't know what to say, but I suggest you apply for world heritage status first."
"It's already 2030! And you haven't applied for world heritage status yet!"
"Don't ask me, I don't know anything! I'm now a fool!"
"I don't understand it! But I am immensely shocked!"
"Teacher, I got this! This is a 'genuine, epoch-making, man-machine interaction technology!'"
"I am a cultured and polite person. But seriously, can you explain to me, how the hell is this considered science, teleporting just by wearing a band around your head?! Are you making fun of me for not understanding magic?!"
Perhaps it was because they were some of the most voracious online critics, the earliest wave of comments was full of vulgar language.
But soon, passers-by who had no interest in Lincoln or NetDragon also noticed the video, shocked, they shared it with their friends, asking whether it was real or fake.
Like a dam being breached, traffic began to surge rapidly, the video's popularity climbing higher and higher, until it was like a flood bursting its banks!
On his way home, Gary, the head of NetDragon's PR Department, received another phone call.
He didn't have time to think, he just stopped his car at the side of the road, ready to open Spiritual Rhinoceros to check Lincoln's post.
But— Spiritual Rhinoceros was down.
The servers of Spiritual Rhinoceros were overwhelmed by the rapid influx of traffic in a short amount of time.
The maintenance team of Spiritual Rhinoceros was caught off guard by the sudden attack, throwing the office into chaos.
"What's going on? Did some King or Queen of Heaven get married? Or have an affair? Or get caught in the act? Or died unexpectedly?"
"Was there a breakout of war?"
"Lincoln released a new video! He has really created a super big news!"
"What big news?"
"Quit yapping! If we delay any longer, there goes our quarterly bonus!
Quickly add more capacity to the server! Hurry up! Hurry up!"
Three minutes later, Spiritual Rhinoceros servers were back to normal.
Lincoln's video, which had stopped at 27 million views, once again started to surge.
In the Spiritual Rhinoceros operation office, the supervisor monitoring the data, sprang up and shouted loudly, "Add more! Add more! It's rising too fast! Move quickly! If things collapse again, say goodbye to our annual bonus!"
Finally, Gary, head of the NetDragon PR Department, was able to open Lincoln's new video.
At the start of the video, Lincoln was sitting in a chair, holding a white headband in his hands, against a background of a desk with a computer, the display screen showing a screensaver of a desert landscape.
He was staring at the camera and unlike in his previous videos, he wasn't saying anything in an excited manner.
He simply calmly picked up the headband, demonstrated it in front of the camera, then put it on his head, and pressed the switch.
The next moment, Lincoln closed his eyes, his arms drooping, as if he had entered a dreamland.
But then the camera focus suddenly shifted to the display screen, where a figure had suddenly appeared in the screensaver of the desert landscape.
Then the video became a picture-in-picture.
The shot of Lincoln sitting in the chair with his eyes closed was relegated to the left bottom corner, and the image on the display screen took up most of the space in the video.
Only then did the audience realize that the desert was not a screensaver, but some program in execution.
In the desert, Lincoln, wearing clothes identical to those in reality, finally spoke: "By now, some of you must have guessed what I've done."
"The cumbersome helmet, the first to go."
"The three meter wide and one and a half meter long Omnidirectional Treadmill, the second to go."
"The device that could only simply decipher brainwave signals, the third to go."
"Implement real-time translation of neuro-signals from brainwaves into binary code, enter the virtual world in a state of consciousness, and unlock restricted senses."
He squatted down, picked up a handful of sand unhurriedly, then let it sift through his fingers.
"You can clearly feel how fine sand is slowly squeezed into a lump, how your nose tickles slightly when the wind blows across your face, how your calf muscles tense up one by one when you run, how the power transfers from your body to your forearm, and then gathers into your fist when you throw a punch. It's no different than reality."
"This is what I call—a 'real, epoch-making, human-machine interactive technology'."
"Professional gamers wearing heavy helmets, holding controllers, vigorously exercising on the Omnidirectional Treadmill, training for 6 hours a day—I respect that, but I must be frank, I believe this strays from the true essence of gaming."
"It's time to shake off these cumbersome fetters and experience the purest joy of gaming again."
Lincoln began to speak as he made his way step by step towards the sand dune.
At the same time, amidst the flowing lights, a red silk cloak appeared on him and a mask covered his face.
The sound of the wind and the music gradually increased in volume.
Following the music, he climbed onto the dune, then merrily slid down.
The scene switched and he touched the runes gaining a scarf, his cloak waved in the air.
The scene switched again, two people in red cloaks were riding the quicksand and weaving through the stone gates.
Occasionally, they took flight, resonating with each other in the air. Accompanied by soothing music, the brilliant and golden sand sea shone like gold under the setting sun—astoundingly beautiful!
Next moment, the screen went black and the video ended.
Hundreds of millions of viewers were dumbfounded watching this scene.
Overwhelmed by the flood of information, they didn't know which part to be shocked by or which part to go wild about.
Regardless of the ordinary audience's reactions, gamers had already begun to rejoice!
They could never have dreamed that they could one day enter a real virtual world and play fully immersive virtual games!
"That's it? Where's the release date? Where's the price? Where's the payment link?"
"This isn't happening in my lifetime, is it?"
"Absolutely not! It's highly unlikely that we won't be able to play it soon! They've already developed the game!"
"Shut up! Just take my money!"
"Speaking of which, he's just a college student, right? His tuition is earned through part-time jobs. He wouldn't be unable to produce it due to lack of funds, would he?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I'd donate money to him to make it happen! If anyone tried to stop this from happening, I'll go find them with my mud truck tomorrow!"
"Exactly! Even if we have to crowdfund, we must have it on the market! If they have any difficulties, they just have to tell me and I'll get netizens to help!"
"Damn it, getting netizens to help! What the hell are you doing?"
"Sorry, I'm not good at anything. I just have money."
"...damn."
...
Ignoring the riled-up netizens and excited gamers for a moment,
Everyone in the NetDragon PR Department from the supervisors to the interns, was dumbstruck, at a loss for what to do next.
Especially Supervisor Gary, who was devastated.
He didn't even hear the traffic police knocking on his car window.