RBCT Chapter 100 [The Real Welcome Ceremony]
Chapter 100 [The Real Welcome Ceremony]
Xu Ye browsed the data on the screen; the response to "Disaster Plan 2.0" far exceeded his expectations.
The mouse hovered over the virtual screen, bringing up a questionnaire that the user had designed.
This is not an ordinary questionnaire; each question contains a tricky psychological profile.
"If you were asked to grind in a virtual world for a month straight, without any entertainment, but received a unique legendary item upon completion, would you be willing to do it?"
"In your opinion, what is the most fulfilling moment in the game? A: Defeating an unprecedentedly powerful BOSS. B: Watching the magnificent fortress you built with your own hands rise from the ground. C: Exploring every unknown corner of the map and collecting all the hidden items."
"When your team faces a desperate situation and only one person remains to escape, what would you choose? A: Give it to the strongest person on the team, so they can live with hope. B: Escape yourself; only by surviving can you have a chance for revenge. C: Have a fair duel; the winner lives."
with a clear purpose.
[Liver King], [Infrastructure Maniac], [Battle Maniac], [Hamster Collector].
There are professional streamers who work 12-hour days straight on live stream.
There are college students who have built virtual cities with a population of millions in simulation management games.
There are obsessive-compulsive people who can run the same dungeon thousands of times in a row in order to achieve a certain goal.
"List confirmed." Xu Ye snapped his fingers, and the [Order Weaver] system executed the command.
One hundred specially made packages were shipped from warehouses across the country, each containing a streamlined stealth helmet containing the core technology of the Kaz civilization.
At the same moment, one hundred young people from all over the world, filled with boundless curiosity and anticipation for the game that is touted as a "100% realistic virtual reality game," put on the futuristic-looking helmets.
Welcome to Asem Online.
Then, everyone's vision was enveloped by a pure white "light of guidance".
The world spun around.
College student Zhang Wei was the first to regain consciousness.
He found himself lying on a patch of damp, smelly thatch.
"This...this material is so realistic." He reached out and grabbed a handful of thatch, the rough texture surprising him.
Looking around, it was an extremely simple thatched hut, completely empty except for these people who had suddenly appeared.
He looked down at himself, wearing only a pair of animal skin shorts that barely covered his private parts.
"They won't even give out basic clothing for beginners? This game planner is ruthless." A young man with dyed blond hair sat up. His ID was "Lightning Blade," and he was a professional player who ranked in the top 100 of PVP matches.
"Where's the UI? Where's the menu? How do I bring up the system panel?" A girl wearing glasses, whose ID was "Hamster Tuntun," habitually swipes her fingers in the air, trying to bring up the game interface, but nothing happens.
One hundred people, men and women, were crammed into several connected thatched huts. All of them were naked from the waist up, wearing only animal skin shorts, and looked bewildered.
"There seems to be some noise outside." Lightning Blade stood up and was the first to step out of the thatched hut.
This is a primitive and impoverished tribe.
The air was thick with the smell of dirt and animal dung, and the distant sounds of children crying and women shouting could be heard.
The villagers, dressed in tattered animal skins or burlap, with blank stares, were busy at their respective posts.
A burly man, shirtless, is chopping wood with a stone axe, while a woman is mending a tattered animal hide.
None of the NPCs had names or quest symbols above their heads.
This doesn't feel like a beginner village in a game; it's more like a real, primitive village struggling to make ends meet.
"Is anyone there? Where do I pick up the newbie quests?" Hamster Tun Tun mustered up his courage and asked a passing woman.
The woman glanced at her warily, then at the group of equally "barely clothed" strange people behind her, her eyes revealing fear and a hint of disgust, and quickened her pace to walk away.
"What's going on? The NPCs aren't responding?" The players were discussing among themselves.
Lightning Blade frowned. His gaming experience told him that sometimes it was necessary to interact with NPCs in a special way.
He saw a hen leisurely strolling in a corner of the village.
In all games, chickens are the most harmless and suitable creatures for testing attacks in the starting area.
He strode over, aimed at the hen, and delivered a perfect straight punch.
The system notifications he expected, such as "HP -1" and "Received 1 chicken feather", did not appear.
A muffled "bang" followed by his own scream.
"Ouch! Damn it!" Lightning Blade clutched his hand, a piercing pain shooting through his knuckles.
The hen was sent tumbling by his punch, but quickly got back up, seemingly enraged, and pecked his calf hard.
A sharp pain shot through me instantly.
"Hiss—" Lightning Blade gasped in pain.
[HP - 1]
Status: Bleeding (Slight)
Status: Risk of infection (extremely low)
Pain synchronization rate: 30%
Lightning Blade was completely stunned.
He was terrified by the real pain and the cold, impersonal system notification.
This is not one of the games he has ever played.
Most games use visual effects to convey pain for the sake of experience, but 30% of this real immersive game was enough to make him feel intense stinging and discomfort.
The other players gathered around, and everyone fell silent as they looked at the clear wound on his calf from which tiny beads of blood were seeping.
"I...I got fucked by a chicken and bled?" Lightning Blade exclaimed incredulously.
Now, no one dared to easily attempt to attack any living creature in the tribe.
Reality, in the cruelest and most direct way, gave these players a rude awakening.
The passage of time is also real.
Soon, hunger began to gnaw at everyone's stomach.
At first, they thought it was a debuff in the game, but as the stomach cramps and weakness in their limbs became more and more intense, they realized that they were really hungry.
"I'm about to die, I need to find something to eat." A player, pale-faced, sat down, leaning against the wall.
"What are we going to eat? There's nothing here!"
What are these villagers eating?
Everyone's eyes were drawn to the campfire in the center of the tribe, where a clay pot was set up, simmering some kind of grayish porridge that smelled strange.
The villagers lined up, scooped out their food into broken bowls, and then silently squatted down to eat it.
"Shall we go get some?" someone suggested.
Will they give it to me?
Several daring players stepped forward and tried to communicate with the tribal women in charge of distributing food, but were met only with more wary and dismissive looks.
In the eyes of these natives, this group of strangely behaving strangers who suddenly appeared were more terrifying than wild beasts.
The chaos is escalating.
One player, due to extreme hunger, suddenly went black and actually died.
But a few minutes later, he woke up again in the thatched hut, in good physical condition, though he was still hungry.
This discovery brought a sigh of relief to everyone; at least, the punishment of death didn't seem too severe.
Others set their sights on the wilderness outside the tribe.
A five-person team, who considered themselves expert gamers, confidently formed a group to challenge a seemingly harmless wild boar.
As a result, the wild boar displayed speed and strength completely disproportionate to its size, easily knocking them over and crushing them one by one with its tusks. The five-man squad was repeatedly sent back to the respawn point, and each time they respawned, the expressions on their faces became more desperate.
Just when most people were in a state of confusion and despair, college student Zhang Wei made a new discovery.
He saw an old woman struggling to carry two buckets of water, her steps unsteady.
Out of habit, Zhang Wei stepped forward and made the famous gesture to indicate that he could help.
The old woman was initially wary, but seeing that Zhang Wei meant no harm, she handed him the bucket.
Zhang Wei helped her carry the water to the designated stone vat.
The mission was accomplished, and a faint light flashed across his body.
You helped the tribe members and gained recognition.
[River Valley Tribe Contribution +0.1]
[Received: Moldy Bread x1]
Looking at the dry, hard bread with green specks in his hand, and then at the negligible contribution, Zhang Wei's eyes widened.
The first day was spent in such chaos, struggle, and small discoveries.
As these players logged off, exhausted, and removed their helmets, the official external forum for the world of Ashem officially opened.
Almost instantly, the newly established forum was flooded with posts like snowflakes.
[Pinned] Feedback Thread for Bugs and Suggestions in the First Closed Beta Test of "Asem Online"
[Trending Post]: "[Holy crap! This game is for real!] Guys, I got pecked by a chicken, and it's bleeding! Pictures don't lie!"
[Hot Post]: "Where's the beginner's tutorial? Those lousy developers should come out and get their comeuppance! They promised 100% realism, but they never said it was a realistic primitive society simulator! They didn't even give us underwear!"
[Trending Post]: "[Anyone want to team up to hunt that rabbit? I've died eight times already!] That rabbit is as fast as Usain Bolt, it can break bones with two kicks! Is that even possible?"
[Discussion]: "An initial guess about the contribution system—could this be a farming game?"
[Help Needed]: "Does anyone know how to start a fire? We're starving, and we can't eat the wild rabbit we hunted!"
[Information]: "I think I triggered a quest! I spent half an hour sewing animal hides for an old lady, and it gave me 0.05 contribution points..."
[Comment]: "This death experience is too realistic! The moment I was gored to death by a wild boar, I felt like my kidneys were shattered, and I'm still experiencing phantom pain. Could you please lower the pain reduction setting a bit more?"
The forum was filled with a mix of lamentation and excitement.