Those guys just walked away without a care, but he still had to live in this world.
At least Linte Isaac had never claimed he could travel back to Earth.
However, the thought of him soon taking up a position in the Demon King Territory immediately calmed Luo Yan down.
His Demon King Territory was quite far from Demon City, and it was said that without using a teleportation gate, it would take one or two months in the underworld.
Moreover, there were only 100 closed beta qualifications, so even if there were risks, the overall risk should still be controllable.
The closed beta qualifications were soon distributed.
Those who didn't win cried foul, while those who won boasted.
There were also some who speculated conspiratorially that the so-called closed beta was just a scam and those who won were all robots or whatever.
But these opinions were ultimately in the minority.
The majority, after watching the promotional PV, were still looking forward to the DEMO of "Cataclysm OL"!
These days, conscientious manufacturers bold enough to offer online trials before the official game launch were few, and many scammy games had paid trials without offering anything hot.
Just try it.
After all, trying it is free.
If it weren't for the fact that not every household had VR glasses, perhaps the number of people reserving for the test would have been much greater, far exceeding the current mere thousand.
Luo Yan browsed the forum to see what was going on with those players who got the closed beta qualification and went online, but suddenly he noticed that the number of logged-in users had changed from 0 to 99.
Wait a minute —
Had these people already started playing?!
Just as Luo Yan was bewildered, complaints had already appeared on the forum.
Little Wan Shibu Full: "What's happening???"
Supreme Ying Bear: "Why is there no character creation screen?"
Pig-headed Knight: "Damn! Why can't I move."
Minotaur Warrior: "Is there a bug?"
Village Chief Old Man: "Everyone, calm down! I just got offline, it seems like you can't move from this viewpoint, but there's actually a trick to it!"
Roasted Lamb Skewers: "???"
Candy-Coated Hawthorn: "%￥#@! Stop keeping us in suspense, will you? Spill it!"
Yiye Zhiqu: "What trick is there to see, it's all quite clear, isn't it? The DEMO players are playing as that Mage's Crystal Ball. The Mage is sitting right beside it, anyone who's seen the promotional PV could guess that!"
Village Chief Old Man: "Damn! I hadn't finished typing! I was just about to say that!"
Damn?
Seeing this, Luo Yan was suddenly shocked.
Had these guys traveled into his own Crystal Ball?!
Posts kept refreshing.
Yiye Zhiqu: "Blame your slow typing... But no matter, I'm more shocked by how this game starts; I don't know if you've noticed, but the gameplay visuals aren't presented through the embedded screen of VR glasses!"
Roasted Lamb Skewers: "Hiss... now that you mention it, I kind of felt that too!"
Candy-Coated Hawthorn: "+1, my neck turned 360°, I was stunned for a moment, thinking it was an illusion."
Traceless Time: "Yeah, the quality is also freakishly high-definition, it's not just 4K or 8K that can describe it, the texture is just like... real? Think about it, the 800 RMB second-hand VR glasses I bought couldn't possibly be this high-def. (bitter smile)"
Village Chief Old Man: "What's happening? Hearing you guys... I feel a chill running down my spine. (nervous)"
Yiye Zhiqu: "A hypothesis, this game might be using some sort of experimental technology, like remote hypnosis or something."
Little Wan Shibu Full: "Hypnosis???"
Yiye Zhiqu: "Yeah, you think you're seeing the game through your eyes, but in fact, during the time after you entered the game, you were asleep. The content you hear and see in the game is being generated in real-time in your brain's 'GPU'... It feels like dreaming, a lucid dream."
Yiye Zhiqu: "By the way, just to be safe, I looked it up online, and I haven't heard of this technology on the market, so the safety of this technology is also a mystery. Considering that this website itself is full of suspicions, we might have become guinea pigs for some mysterious organization. If anyone has concerns about personal safety, I advise not to try it casually."
Heaven-defying Dragon Emperor: "Quit your bullshit! There's no way such technology exists!"
Defiant Lifetime: "Exactly! Unless they give me a pair of glasses!"
Yiye Zhiqu: "Can't you just buy a second-hand one yourself! (eye roll)"
"..."
The views of [Yiye Zhiqu] quickly sparked a heated discussion among everyone.
Many players who had hastily complained on the official website without thoroughly exploring put on their VR glasses again, returned to the game to try, and indeed discovered unusual aspects.
The realism of the graphics aside, the immersive experience felt much more profound than any clunky VR headset could provide.
And there's more!
More and more beta testers began to discover, they could perform all sorts of unimaginable operations in the game, such as rotating the viewpoint by 360 degrees and inverting top and bottom —
But when they exited the game, their physical bodies in the real world remained exactly in the position they were in when they entered the game, untouched!
This is simply magical!
Just as Yiye Zhiqu stated, they seemed to be sleeping in the real world with only their consciousness entering the game world.
As to how this was achieved simply through a VR device and a mere DEMO program remains a mystery.
Not only did gamers find it outrageous, Luo Yan, peering secretly, also found this system unbelievably absurd; it had somehow encased Earth's players within his Recording Crystal!
With his current knowledge, he couldn't understand how Linte Isaac had managed it.
Maybe this was the realm of gods!
He could only guess, based on intuition, that the consciousnesses stored in the Crystal Ball were some kind of man-made "soul mirror image."
Players triggered a certain ritual after putting on the VR glasses, establishing a connection through a special medium with the soul mirror image in the Otherworld.
This medium is likely the stele in his Sea of Consciousness.
In addition, these "soul mirror image" are very weak, akin to ghosts such as "Lady Susan," consisting only of pure consciousness, unable even to move freely, only dwelling in specific vessels.
But unlike Lady Susan, Luo Yan saw potential for growth in those soul mirror images controlled by the players.
They are weak, but they are complete!
Creating souls from nothing...
This is unbelievable!
"…If the Recording Crystal were replaced with skeleton soldiers, could the players obtain freely movable bodies?"
As Luo Yan pondered this, new text appeared on the stele standing deep within his Sea of Consciousness.
[Mission: Prepare freely movable bodies for players (0/100)]
[Reward: Ten thousand faith points]
Elevating the soul level from Bronze (II) to Refined Steel (III) precisely required ten thousand faith points, making it hard not to suspect that the reward was tailor-made for him.
"Summoning a few skeleton soldiers isn't much of a challenge," he reasoned.
However, to avoid unnecessary trouble, it would be best to undertake this task when in the Demon King Territory...
...
Ending his meditation, Luo Yan, who had risen from the dormitory floor, walked over to the magic circle and picked up the Crystal Ball at the center of the circle.
What was once a clear and transparent Crystal Ball had now become opaque and muddled, as if filled with filthy fog.
Clearly, its internal magic program had been rewritten, completely losing its original function.
Drawing his face closer, Luo Yan could even hear whispers of conversation from within the Crystal Ball.
'He's looking at me!!' (screaming)
'A bit closer! Just a bit closer!'
'So realistic!'
'Shocked! I can even see the NPC's nose hairs!'
'Let me out! I need to get out!!!' (screaming)
'Male NPC, get lost! Bring on the Enchanting Demon! I want that one from the end of the trailer!!!' (screaming)
'...'
Even without movable bodies, these players were still thoroughly enjoying themselves, apparently treating this Crystal Ball as their chat room.
"That 2000 Kela is definitely a loss."
Thinking of the three college years he had spent with this Crystal Ball, Luo Yan felt a slight pang of regret as he casually wrapped it in a piece of clothing and tossed it into his suitcase.
Although he could disconnect all the players through the Sea of Consciousness, it seemed unnecessary to do so at the moment.
Luo Yan opened his wardrobe, changed into everyday clothes in front of the mirror, and then stuffed the letter that Priest Geoffrey had sent him into his pocket.
His living expenses were nearly depleted.
It was time to take some cash from Lord Demon God's bank.
-
(Thanks to "Cloud Pigeon" for the generous reward!!!)