"I'm an NPC."
Saying this to the mirror, Chu Guang took a deep breath, adjusted his collar, and tried to make his image look as imposing as possible.
His expression remained neutral.
It had been three days since that day.
In just a few minutes, it would be time for the players to log into the game.
As for the blue jacket he was wearing, it was the same one he had worn when he first arrived in this world a long time ago.
Old Charlie from Bette Street had told him that it seemed like all the residents who came out of the shelters wore this kind of jacket.
"I'm an NPC."
Chu Guang 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 work. The warm smile and polite attitude that had once been his trademark should never be seen on a manager's face.
After all, this was a wasteland governed by the law of the jungle.
To survive here, his image didn't have to be that of a cold, tough guy, but at least it needed to inspire enough confidence and security in others.
Touching the lines of his face, Chu Guang wondered if he should add a scar to his forehead.
Or perhaps he should style his hair into a punk Mohawk?
After all, this was a wasteland governed by the law of the jungle.
Too handsome.
It would affect the immersion.
"Master."
While Chu Guang was adjusting his appearance in front of the mirror, he expressionlessly raised his chin.
"What is it?"
Xiao Qi said softly.
"According to the information I've found, NPCs in the game usually don't refer to themselves as NPCs."
His expression froze slightly, and Chu Guang coughed before replying.
"I know that, of course…"
He mumbled again in front of the mirror.
"…I'm the manager of Shelter 404."
It was almost time.
Three hours ago, the cloning pods had finished synthesizing the clones.
He had also arranged with the four "lucky" players who received the closed beta test keys on Penguin to log into the game by 9 PM Beijing time. They were to wear their helmets, lie back in a comfortable position, and log in right on time when the clock struck nine.
Just as Chu Guang was considering what kind of appearance he should present to the players, he suddenly heard a "ding" sound in his mind.
Then, a line of text appeared before him.
[Mission Completed!]
Chu Guang's heart skipped a beat.
It was happening!
...
"Holy shit! This is insane!"
In the residential area next door to the lobby, in a nondescript room, four cultivation pods simultaneously unlocked, and the semi-transparent hatches opened.
Sitting up from the open cultivation pod, Ye Wei blinked in disbelief, looking around with a face full of astonishment, even dazedness.
Is this… the game world?!
Just a minute ago, he had been wondering if this was some elaborate prank.
But as he lay back on his bed with his charged helmet on, just about to fall asleep, a beam of light pierced through the darkness and struck him.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in an unfamiliar room.
His body was wet and sticky.
It felt as if he had just been pulled out of a pool.
The airflow from the ceiling vent blew onto his shoulder, and he could clearly feel the liquid evaporating and taking away his body heat.
There was also a faint, unpleasant smell in the air.
Ye Wei suddenly realized, his eyes widening.
Vision!
Smell!
Touch!
Taste!
Hearing!
All five senses!
Amazing!!!
The immersive experience made his eyes fill with tears.
He never thought that in his lifetime, he would experience such a fully immersive virtual reality technology!
This was beyond amazing!
He wasn't the only one.
The other three players who had also sat up from their cultivation pods looked equally stunned.
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit."
"...I thought this was a joke."
"Damn! This is really full immersion!"
"Has technology really advanced this far?? I've never seen this in the news before?!"
"Ugh… even pain sensation is there." One player pinched himself.
"Who are you? NPC?"
"NPC my ass, I'm Lao Bai! Bai Ju Guo Xi! Who the hell are you?"
"Wait, Lao Xi?! I'm Kuangfeng! Level 8 Kuangfeng! Why do you look like that? Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter."
"Shut up! If you call me Lao Xi again, I'll show you what it means to be rough… hey, does this game already have preset appearances? I wonder if the public version will allow character creation."
Lao Bai pinched himself too, wincing in pain but smiling with excitement.
Excited!
Thrilled!
In disbelief!
A dream come true!
Next to him, Ye Wei stared with wide eyes, motionless, trying to digest the shock in his heart.
Besides him, another guy remained seated without moving, likely the guy named "Looking Toward the Future" from their group chat.
This guy was staring thoughtfully between his legs, seemingly contemplating something.
"Default character setting is male? There's no character creation option. I mean… can we create a female character?"
"Damn, you're so perverted! Are you Night Ten?"
"I'm Fang Chang…"
"Wait, what?! Fang Chang?! Good bro… you know what I mean?"
"Shut up, I was just saying it randomly. Is this guy next to me Night Ten... have you all come?"
When the three others turned to look at him, Ye Wei finally snapped back to reality.
Realizing he was still naked, he quickly grabbed the uniform hanging by the cultivation pod and threw it over himself, casually asking,
"Yeah, just got here… how do we play this game? Is there a tutorial?"
"No idea, we just got here too."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the room opened.
A man in a blue jacket walked in.
Behind him, a robot shaped like a trash can followed. Its cylindrical body looked somewhat silly, but its streamlined shell and polished silver paint gave it a futuristic feel.
All four players stared wide-eyed.
"NPC!"
"It looks just like a real person!"
"Is this really the game world?"
"This is so real!"
"Quiet," Chu Guang interrupted the chatter, scanning the room and slowly speaking, "Welcome to Shelter 404."
"I am the manager here."
"Codename — Dawn."
There was an instant of silence.
The four players unexpectedly became quiet, holding their breath as they stared at him, afraid of missing any plot details.
It seemed that his imposing presence had successfully established control over the room.
Chu Guang relaxed inwardly and continued according to the prepared script.
"First, I have some good news. The war is over."
"But the bad news is that our world has been irreparably altered. If you expect to pack your bags and go home to find your mother, that's clearly not possible."
"It's the two-hundredth year after the apocalypse. The good news is that we've managed to survive the toughest years. You're already luckier than 12 billion people, and now I need you to quickly understand the current situation and fulfill the declaration you made under the United Nations flag — to rebuild our homeland!"
"This is my assistant, Xiao Qi. If you have any questions about the shelter or anything you don't understand, you can ask it."
This was the opening speech.
When the next group of players arrived, Chu Guang would say it again.
After all, it was hard-earned.
And Xiao Qi already knew what it could and could not say, so there was no need to worry about it letting something slip.
Actually, even if it did slip up, it didn't matter.
Any unsolvable questions could be deflected with the phrase "It's game design." There's no such thing as a perfect design, and if you're going to nitpick, even the news broadcasts would have bugs.
After Chu Guang finished speaking, a player named "Night Ten" immediately asked,
"Where's Light Brother? I mean, the game designer who gave us the helmets."
"I don't understand what you're saying," Chu Guang answered expressionlessly.
"How do we log out of the game?" Lao Bai asked.
"Lie back in the cultivation pod to log out normally."
There's also another way — coma, sleep, death, or other abnormal states can cause the connection to be interrupted, but Chu Guang didn't want them experimenting with that.
Lying in the cultivation pod was more energy-efficient. Lying around dead in random places would cause too much trouble.
"Where's the level system? I can't find the player system interface." Kuangfeng asked as he just finished asking, Fang Chang chimed in.
"Where's the character creation system? Can't change the character's settings? What about gender—"
"Enough, you can ask the designers about those questions… cough, it's not your turn to ask yet."
Chu Guang interrupted the endless questions with a stern face, using an official tone to toss four small booklets to them without explanation.
"I will guide you through the environment here and tell you what to pay attention to."
"Especially what you can do, and what you should never think about doing."