novelraw Chapter 5 – Explosive First Beta, Top-tier Expansion Pack
Chapter 5 – Explosive First Beta, Top-tier Expansion Pack
"Finally off work..." The young man walked into the room and sighed, "I must say, that brother and sister today were really pitiful."
Lin Fan, male, average-looking, average height, 24 years old, has a big appetite and loves to sleep.
No car, no house, and on the surface, he is an orthopedic doctor. Today, he attended to a girl with paralyzed legs, whose leg blood vessels were completely necrotic, and amputation was recommended. Her brother, named Qi Wubai, cried his heart out.
Truly a pair of unfortunate souls.
Lin Fan's greatest wish every day is not to go to work.
Since there is a surface identity, naturally, there is a hidden one. Every day when he gets home, he takes off his white coat, sits in front of the computer, and transforms into a well-known game reviewer on a small streaming site.
For Lin Fan, gaming is a part of his life.
It's a passion that is hard to let go.
Now, artificial intelligence and network development technology have reached a peak. Everyone plays games using gaming pods, and Lin Fan can only hear from his dad about those antique games that could only be played on computers many years ago.
Today's games are called virtual reality technology, a top-tier technology developed from VR.
All current games are pursuing realism and open worlds, enhancing NPC intelligence, but none have achieved the ultimate level.
The second world of humans is still a distant luxury dream.
Lin Fan has never given up on his dream. Every time a new game comes out, he tries it, but those AAA titles boasting about how realistic their five-sense technology is and how lifelike their physics engines are always end in disappointment. He hopes to encounter a game in his lifetime that offers a truly realistic, immersive experience, rather than being all show and no substance.
Perhaps it's an occupational hazard of all doctors, but Lin Fan is meticulous in everything he does, a trait that extends to his game reviews, which are known for being absolutely unbiased and free from any "paid promotion" suspicions, quickly earning him a loyal fan base.
Every day, countless games go online.
And the task of discovering good games falls on his tens of thousands of fans.
Sitting in front of his personal electronic terminal, he opened the small streaming site. The intelligent machine butler brought over a box of instant noodles, thoughtfully adding a sausage to it.
"So many fan messages?"
Lin Fan's eyes lit up, thinking there must be quite a few good games recently launched. He hadn't logged into the site for three days, and there were already over a dozen fan messages.
"Brother Fan, I want to have your babies!"
The first message made Lin Fan's vision go dark.
"Brother Fan, can you give me an address? You haven't updated in three days, and my parents are wondering if you're sick and want to send you some local specialties. (smile)"
Damn local specialties.
Probably going to send razor blades instead!
Lin Fan pursed his lips, quickly skipping over some useless messages, leaving only the normal game recommendations.
"Let me see? A fantasy cultivation game... Over eighty sects, thousands of immortal skills, special effects rivaling movie effects... Flashy, garbage!"
"A horror puzzle game? Damn! Don't they know I'm afraid of ghosts? No matter how realistic, I'm not reviewing it, next..."
"‘Neighbor Girl's Sleepover’ this one's good! Hehehe, I'll save it for later..."
At the age of youthful vigor, even if it's just a girl in a game, he wants to save her!
After a bit of self-consolation, he continued scrolling down:"Huh? What's this?"
A gaudy, poorly made poster popped up.
"Alliance of Nine Nations creating a second world, Super Brain Queen serving as the computing core?"
"‘Kain Continent’ offering the most realistic gaming experience?"
Can't be true!
Lin Fan knew about the Super Brain Queen.
But a grand production by the Alliance of Nine Nations? This doesn't seem credible. If it were that impressive, why hasn't it made the news?
Though it seems unreliable, he couldn't deny that such an impressive description piqued his curiosity. Today, he wanted to see just how powerful a game claimed to be a grand production by the Alliance of Nine Nations really was.
He clicked on the link below the poster.
What appeared was a slightly more refined game poster, at least clear enough to see the figures, unlike the pixelated style outside...
It was a massive map sandbox, surrounded by orcs, humans, elves, and demons.
To be honest, this poster looked quite low-grade. At least put one or two pretty girls on it, right?
Just two big guys and two non-human creatures staring at a broken sandbox, how does that attract players?
After seeing the cover, Lin Fan didn't hold much hope for this game, assuming it was just a pretentious trash game.
However, he patiently clicked on the video portal below the poster.
It was the game's promotional video and reservation window. To Lin Fan's surprise, the comments below the promotional video were scrolling non-stop, with new people joining the discussion every second.
To be honest, this kind of situation was only seen with flagship games from big companies.
Could it be that this game called ‘Kain Continent’ is really that impressive?
With curiosity, Lin Fan clicked on the game video. His expression went from calm to astonished, then slowly to shocked, all in less than a minute.
***
In the Huaxia region, a player with the online name "Lazy Fish True Lord" also clicked on the video link.
He didn't rush to watch the video.
He was first attracted by the colorful comments below the video.
[Round-faced Fat Hen] Shocked! A special effects company not making movies but games?
[Pick Your Chicken Baby] Western fantasy game, forget it. Although the trailer looks great, I just can't get into it.
[Not Doing Human Things] Heartfelt CG, foot-made game? (Penguin emoji)
***
Lazy Fish True Lord regretfully shook his head.
Western fantasy games were quite popular in the early years, with games from the Kimchi Country leading the pack.
The shiny, big headlights sisters in those games were very appealing to players, but now most players are aesthetically fatigued and prefer fresh and clean fantasy cultivation games.
He continued to browse through the comments, and then a special effect of a game emperor pulling a coffin with nine dragons popped up:
[Lin Fan Extraordinary] To be fair, being able to produce such special effects means the game developer has at least reached the top level in special effects application. I'm looking forward to the game content.
[Sunpiercer] I swear, if this game becomes popular, I'll eat my way from Zhejiang to Sichuan!
[Delai Smell My Feet]... Good guy, from mild to spicy, brother, you have quite the appetite.
[E Forward Without Hesitation Torso] Achieving 100% sensory restoration and NPC intelligence through the Super Brain Queen, can any expert explain if this is really possible?"
***
100% sensory restoration?
So boastful?
Seeing this, Lazy Fish laughed.
No virtual reality game on the market dares to claim 100% sensory restoration. Achieving 20-30% is already an outstanding masterpiece.
While other games are stuck at the 30% sensory threshold, you're claiming 100%?
Which game company is so boastful?
He scrolled to the bottom of the page and saw the game's developer.
"Blue Planet Nine-Nation Federation? What the hell?"
Lazy Fish's vision went dark. He's an old player on major gaming platforms, familiar with various famous game companies.
But he had never heard of this game company, as if it appeared out of nowhere.
Could it be newly established?
He switched to another page, entered Blue Planet Nine-Nation Federation, and clicked search.
An information page about the Blue Planet Nine-Nation Federation popped up, but it only had a couple of lines:
Established on April 29, 2088
Representative work: ‘Kain Continent’
Lazy Fish exclaimed, damn.
It really was just established, and just yesterday.
Yesterday?!
Lazy Fish was dumbfounded. The game and trailer were made in a day, fooling ghosts?
Now Lazy Fish didn't even know where to start complaining, so he simply clicked the play button to start watching the trailer made by this game company in a day...
The opening scene was a black screen, but the serene and warm background music gradually began to play.
The screen slowly brightened from black.
***
This was a beautiful Demi-human Town, with Gothic houses with red roofs and pointed spires nestled among green trees. Children chased and played in the town, their bell-like laughter echoing in the sky. Notably, they had furry ears on their heads and various animal tails, each one lively and exceptionally cute.
Demi-human women wearing flower crowns were hanging clothes at their doorsteps, vendors opened their shops and shouted, pedestrians smiled and walked together, chatting and whispering indistinctly through the screen.
The camera zoomed out, and the town gradually became a distant view.
Surrounded by golden wheat fields and curling smoke.
This was a depiction of peaceful and harmonious life in a Demi-human Town in a Western fantasy world.
The scene shifted.
The background music became stern and tense.
A cold-faced Human King sat high on an icy steel throne, flanked by twelve Knights. They wore bright silver plate armor, with crimson capes trailing behind them. The crystals on their helmets reflected the chandelier's light, and the tower shields in their hands were engraved with a flame-spewing dragon with glaring eyes.
Suddenly, the King raised his longsword and swung it forward. His mouth opened and closed, seemingly saying something, with killing intent in his eyes almost materializing.
It was an order to attack.
The army surged out of the Royal Capital like a flood of steel, the black dragon flag fluttering in the wind.
A war with destruction and invasion as its main theme began.
On the Fortress, countless armored Demi-human soldiers were fighting desperately, resisting the attacking enemies. But with a flash of magical brilliance, the world lost its color, and a massive meteor descended from the sky, smashing a city wall...
In the Open Fields, a dark mass of heavy cavalry charged at the Demi-human infantry. Weapons clashed, armor collided, horses neighed, and soldiers from both sides fell and died, staining the land with blood.
In the center of the scene, a Demi-human general with bloodshot eyes, her body swelling several times, transformed into a silver-gray giant wolf with wings on its back. Looking back at the shattered defensive line, she charged into the human army with a determination to die and hatred.
In the once peaceful town, squads of cavalry stormed in, slaughtering indiscriminately, leaving no survivors. Their cold visors hid their faces, revealing only their grim eyes. The dragon flag flapped in the wind, and the blood-dripping longsword was terrifying.
***
These magnificent scenes, without visible special effects traces, were like movie scenes that made Lazy Fish True Lord exclaim in excitement.
The horror and brutality of war made his heart tremble.
The tragic and heroic music made his blood boil.
He couldn't help but want to become one of the Demi-human soldiers in the scene, fighting to protect his homeland.
Who wouldn't love the cute ones with beast ears and tails?
Moreover, they were the invaded side.
At the war's end, the defeated Demi-human Royal Capital was captured, and the heroic-looking Demi-human King was nailed to the throne. This peaceful and prosperous country turned into scorched earth amidst the horn's sound.
The young fox-eared Saintess wept in the Cathedral, in front of the statue of the Goddess of the Fields, which had been toppled by soldiers. The Pope's headless body lay nearby, blood staining the pure white walls.
In the palace's secret chamber, the youngest Demi-human Princess was handed to a plainly dressed woman, quietly taken out of the palace...
The scene shifted again, and over a decade had passed. The Demi-human Royal Capital had become an Earldom of the invading nation, with eagle flags planted everywhere.
The surviving Demi-humans were struggling to survive between the Human Empire and the Orc Empire.
Sorrowful background music played, and the scene showed the Demi-humans being enslaved, whipped, bullied, and sold.
They no longer had a home and could only wander.
In a dark corner of Eaglehold, the now-grown beautiful Saintess wore a patched, washed-out priestess robe, kneeling in front of the Goddess's statue, praying with tears.
In the desolate forest, the scarred Demi-human Princess was honing her Combat Technique, gritting her teeth, wielding a sword taller than herself, fighting a fierce demon wolf.
The background music gradually intensified, the Saintess's prayers grew more sorrowful, and the Demi-human Princess's battle became more perilous. The two scenes gradually merged.
Suddenly, the background music stopped abruptly, and all sounds fell silent. In the distance, the Cathedral's bell rang, and the two scenes pulled apart, with a third scene appearing in the center.
Outside the town, a Human Youth wearing a straw hat looked at the sky.
Around his neck, a necklace emitted a faint, gentle glow, and golden phantoms appeared around him, each with a different expression, full of curiosity, seemingly from another world.
Clearly, it was a precursor image of players arriving.
Many virtual reality games do this in trailers to enhance immersion.
The scene fell into darkness again, and after a few breaths, lines of text appeared on the screen, gradually enlarging:
"Super Brain Queen core computing, 100% sensory experience brings you the most realistic gaming sensation.
Alliance of Nine Nations grand production, passionately creating humanity's second home.
The disputes of nations, the mysteries of sword and magic, the fate of the Demi-humans, await your revelation.
May 1st, the fantasy masterpiece ‘Kain Continent’ first beta launch! Welcome to reserve!"
The trailer ended here.
***
Lazy Fish True Lord's hand holding the mouse trembled slightly, his eyes still fixed on the now black trailer window, seemingly not yet recovered.
Suddenly, he slammed the table and stood up, unable to contain his excitement, shouting: "Damn! If this game is like the trailer, I'll blow it up!"
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan