Heroes' Prison

Chapter 957 - 905: Back to 2006

However, times are always advancing. Nothing can remain unchanged forever, and network games are no exception. New generations of games constantly emerge, challenging the status of old ones, such as League of Legends.

Later, Era of Corporation emerged, and virtual technology became all the rage worldwide. However, network games gradually became obsolete because the more powerful Virtual World replaced all network games.

As for the number of users, statistics no longer have any significance because everyone in the world is a user of the Virtual World. If one were to truly attempt an estimate, the number of users of the Virtual World is equal to the global population.

Progress often accompanies milestones, and these milestones are etched into the annals of history. Huang Yi, a person from over a hundred years later, knows about games like World of Warcraft and League of Legends because they were once milestones in history.

Seeing the four big words "World of Warcraft" on that poster, Huang Yi finally understood his current time and place—this was Chenzhou City, more than a hundred years ago, but it was virtually created by Era of Corporation’s system.

Huang Yi became even more puzzled. Why did Mr. Huang Sha teleport him into such a special Virtual World? He clearly needed to undergo the Third-tier Trial of The Second World, but everything before him seemed completely unrelated to The Second World.

This is truly an SSS-level trial!

In previous trials, Huang Yi had at least some basic clues, but this trial left him completely clueless, not even knowing where to begin.

"Our boss said we must conquer Sabak tonight!"

"It’s already 2006, and you’re still playing Legendary! Come play World of Warcraft with me, it’s great, just like a real Second World. You should try it!"

"I can’t understand World of Warcraft. 3D games make me dizzy. I still find Legendary fun!"

At this time, Huang Yi heard the sounds of two young men talking nearby as they walked towards the Urban E Station internet café.

The mention stirred Huang Yi’s heart, and he also started to walk towards the Urban E Station internet café.

In such an era, if anything could be tenuously connected to The Second World, it would be the internet cafés. The Second World is the future’s Virtual World, and computer games are equivalent to this era’s Second World.

The season was blazing summer; it was noon, very hot. Huang Yi, who had been on the street below for a brief time, was already sweating profusely. The cool wind from the open glass doors of the internet café felt very comforting as it blew over him.

On the glass door, there were four yellowish words: "Fiber Optic Internet, Air Conditioning Open." The internet café was filled with smoke and noise, already packed. Many were students just out of school, sitting in front of computers, intently using the mouse and keyboard, displaying various network games on the monitors. There were also many people without seats, standing behind others’ chairs, enviously watching them play.

"So this is what an internet café is like." The "transmigrator" Huang Yi traversed back and forth in the internet café, curiously observing everything. Over a hundred years later, internet cafés had long disappeared, and computers had been replaced by more advanced optical brains. Computers were seen only in museums and antique markets.

Huang Yi wandered around the internet café and obtained more useful information. The most popular network games of this era were Popkart, World of Warcraft, QQ Fantasy, Audition, Fantasy Westward Journey, and others. The internet access fees varied; the cheapest was the hall area at two yuan per hour, the cubicle at three yuan per hour, and the private room at five yuan per hour.

However, whether hall, cubicle, or private room, they were all overcrowded. As soon as a computer became free, it would be instantly grabbed by waiting people.

Touching his pocket, Huang Yi suddenly felt a red banknote—it was a hundred yuan RMB of this era!

The trial seemingly had no time limit, but was actually restricted in another way. Life requires money, and if he spent up this hundred yuan without completing this strange trial, he would probably be deemed to have failed!

Seeing the packed internet café, Huang Yi couldn’t find a computer right away, so he simply logged off, returned to the Rose Prison to have some food, and exercised a bit.

Two hours later, he logged back on. He still appeared in that internet café, where everyone was online, nobody noticed his arrival.

The café had emptied quite a bit, those students had returned to school, leaving computers vacant.

Following others’ actions, Huang Yi first went to the cashier and spent twenty yuan to get a membership card. It was 2006 when browsing the internet didn’t require an ID card.

In the cheapest hall area, he casually found a corner spot against the wall and started a computer.

It was afternoon, the internet café was quiet except for occasional keyboard sounds. The café’s public speaker was playing music.

"I play Chopin’s nocturne for you, commemorating my dead love. I hide my name for you and play under the moonlight..." At this time, a young man nearby suddenly began singing along with the music, but he was tone-deaf and clearly off-key.

This young man with a buzz cut, wearing a white vest and big shorts, smoking a cigarette, appeared to be about twenty years old. He was gripping the mouse tightly, fingers typing non-stop, eyes glued to the screen, playing a network game.

The game graphics were crude, as he controlled a wizard-like character repeatedly casting Lightning, interacting with a sword-wielding Samurai.

Suddenly, the wizard character he was controlling fell to the ground, seemingly having been killed by the Samurai.

"Darn, died again!" The young man took a drag of smoke, cursing, "This warrior is so tough, with Dragon-slaying sword, Paralysis ring; who knows how much money he spent to get such equipment! Distraught spending money on a private server, brain issues."

Upon hearing terms like "Dragon-slaying sword" and "Paralysis ring," Huang Yi could roughly guess they were referring to powerful equipment, akin to his Epic Equipment in The Second World which made one formidable, capable of casually defeating others. As for the term "private server," he was perplexed, not knowing what it meant.

By then, Huang Yi’s machine had also booted up. The desktop flashed a few times, displaying various game icons, densely packed, mostly network games.

However, none of these games had Huang Yi played before, and he didn’t know how to complete this trial. He could only browse aimlessly, seeming listless.

"Boss, get me a pack of Soft White Sand!" At this point, the young man who was playing Legendary suddenly waved his hand towards the cashier, shouting.

The café owner quickly brought a pack of white cigarettes over, and the young man familiarly handed over four yuan.

The young man eagerly tore open the cigarette pack, pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth, lighting it with a lighter and taking a deep drag with a look of contentment. He glanced at Huang Yi’s computer screen, noticing Huang Yi browsing game icons aimlessly, chuckled, took a cigarette from his pack, tossed it onto Huang Yi’s table, and said, "Bro, you must be looking for a game to play! Try Legendary, I’ll help you level up!"

Startled, Huang Yi quickly realized the young man was talking to him. He picked up the cigarette from the table, put it in his mouth, and mumbled, "I’ve never played Legendary, don’t know how to play it!"