Whale Discussion Group.
This was a discussion group with only twelve people.
The group owner was Jun. The other eleven members were all players who had pre-ordered *Bloody Golden Triangle: Survivor*.
Freeload King: “Brothers, the beta’s about to start. Have you all received your virtual helmets?”
Newbie Player: “You already got yours?”
Ready to Quit: “I live in a remote area. You’ll probably be playing for three to five days before mine even arrives. (defeated)”
Sun-Moon Out of Sync: “I just checked. Mine will arrive tomorrow at noon. Let’s party up when it does.”
After some discussion, it seemed Wang Zixu was the only one in the group who had received the virtual helmet.
Freeload King: “@Jun, Brother Jun, I’m the only one who got a helmet? Does the game have any newbie guides or anything to preview in advance?”
The group went quiet for a moment.
Ready to Quit: “…I figure Brother Jun is getting a massage right now, so he doesn’t have time for you. (doge)”
Sun-Moon Out of Sync: “Agreed!”
Three Times a Day: “+1!”
The tone gradually shifted, and everyone began to riff on Brother Jun.
Sis Ying: “Your Brother Jun is busy with work.”
This member called Sis Ying was none other than the majority shareholder of Seal Studio, the boss of Chen Jiajun—Shen Yingying.
Freeload King: “You know Brother Jun? Did you get a helmet?”
Everyone glanced at this nickname. It was completely unfamiliar; apparently, she wasn’t a member of the Whale Club group.
Scrolling up to check the invitation records, they saw that Brother Jun had invited her.
Moreover, she was the discussion group’s only administrator, showing that their relationship was far from ordinary—most likely, they were friends in real life.
Sis Ying: “I know him, and I’ve already received the virtual helmet.”
Sun-Moon Out of Sync: “Speaking of which, that ‘friend’ Brother Jun always talks about—was he talking about himself? (derp)”
Freeload King: “Whether it’s Brother Jun or not doesn’t matter. What matters is, does the game have any guides? @Sis Ying, leak us some insider info! (candy)”
Newbie Player: “Now that you mention it, I just realized—aside from knowing this is a survival-escape type game, I don’t know anything else about it.”
Ready to Quit: “True, but personally, I trust Brother Jun’s taste. A game he recommends shouldn’t be bad.”
In truth, regardless of the genre, they were all quite interested in the immersive 4D game.
Even if it didn’t reach the advertised one-hundred-percent realism, it would still be fine.
Sis Ying: “There are no guides. I know as much as you do. You can enter the game in one minute. You’ll find out then.”
She wanted to see for herself just what kind of quality the game into which Chen Jiajun had poured all his heart and soul truly possessed.
Hopefully…it was really as good as he boasted.
But for now, that countdown had successfully piqued her interest.
Freeload King: “@Sis Ying, see you in game!”
Ready to Quit: “Remember to tell us about it after you play.”
Sun-Moon Out of Sync: “Don’t forget to turn on recording!”
……
……
Seven o’clock on the dot in the evening.
Wang Zixu picked up the virtual helmet and lay down on his bed to put it on.
[Welcome, player Wang Zixu. Wishing you a pleasant gaming experience.]
A familiar notification tone sounded.
He wasn’t in a hurry to enter the game. Instead, he first familiarized himself with the game settings.
He discovered that pain sensation could actually be adjusted.
Wang Zixu didn’t rashly change it, keeping the default setting at 100%.
He wanted to verify
whether Brother Jun’s claim of one-hundred-percent realism was actually just a gimmick.
He exited the settings interface.
Looking at the game icon named *Bloody Golden Triangle: Survivor*, Wang Zixu focused his mind and entered the game.
[Generating character…]
[Character generated!]
[Entering game!]
After a brief moment of disorientation.
Wang Zixu appeared in a dark room. Aside from the system messages that held a trace of light, everything before him was deep darkness.
[Your cousin has been contacting you frequently lately, saying he sells medicinal herbs in Myanmar. He recently landed a big order and wants you to come over to help.]
[After graduating, you’ve been idle at home for two months. Your parents are thoroughly displeased with you, and you want to break free from family constraints and achieve financial independence as soon as possible. After careful consideration, you agreed to your cousin’s offer.]
[Your cousin was incredibly enthusiastic, giving you travel expenses, meal money, and even paying you half a month’s salary in advance.]
[You were overjoyed, feeling that your cousin was the noble benefactor of your life, the mentor who recognized your worth. You secretly swore that once you reached Myanmar, you would definitely work hard alongside your cousin!]
[Your flight transited in Thailand. The moment you deplaned, you were seized by a group of armed personnel, and your phone and passport were confiscated.]
[…]
Was this a story prologue?
Being kidnapped?
Standing up from the ground, Wang Zixu was dumbstruck, his face written all over with astonishment.
This was the game world?
He focused on his senses, then suddenly widened his eyes.
Sight, smell, touch…all five senses were fully present!
“It’s actually really one-hundred-percent realistic!”
“Mind-blowing!”
“But, getting back to the point, what should I do now?”
“There’s not even a newbie tutorial.”
As Wang Zixu was pondering, a series of clacking footsteps sounded from outside.
They sounded like Oxfords stepping on a ship’s deck.
Listening to the footsteps drawing closer:
“The game starts like this—could it be trying to immerse players? Or is it trying to create a horror atmosphere?”
If this were the real world, Wang Zixu might have panicked.
But the problem was, he knew this was a game. He wouldn’t be in mortal danger, so he had nothing to fear.
He walked over in the dark and tried to open the door to see what was going on.
Before he could open it, the door was pushed open from the outside.
“Go!”
Three men came in. The tall, thin one pointed at the doorway and barked at Wang Zixu.
“Hm?”
Wang Zixu raised an eyebrow. What kind of bird language was that?
No, wait.
He suddenly remembered an elective language course from university.
A Germanic dialect?
After Jiuzhou was unified, hadn’t this ancient language been obsolete for several hundred years?
To think he could still hear it in a game—how strange.
Judging by the man’s appearance, he seemed to want Wang Zixu to follow him out.
“Hah!”
Wang Zixu let out a cold laugh. Originally, he had planned to go out, but that was on the premise that he did so of his own initiative.
Now this NPC before him was actually ordering him around. He instantly lost all desire to go out.
What gives an NPC like you the right to act so arrogant?
I ain’t going out!
What are you gonna do about it?
“Moron!”
The three men exchanged glances, stepped forward, grabbed Wang Zixu by the collar, and dragged him out.
His field of vision suddenly broadened.
As expected, he was on a ship.
The wooden ship was extremely dilapidated, with a very retro design.
In the real world, it would absolutely belong in a scrapyard.
Wang Zixu cursed under his breath. Right now, he was both nervous and excited.
But the next moment,
someone looped a rope around his neck.
Someone behind him kicked the back of his knee. Wang Zixu stumbled and fell to his knees on the deck.
The pain shooting through his thigh instantly made him behave.
Holy shit!
This pain…hurts so fucking good!
It’s like acting in a movie!
At this moment, not only did he feel no fear, but he was instead unusually excited.
The NPCs in this game were just like real people.
Their movements were fluid, and their facial expressions vivid.
If not for the fact that he could automatically distinguish NPC and player tags,
he would really have thought these were all living, breathing people before him.
To be able to play a game like this in his lifetime—
It was too damn interesting!