「The Real World.」
The comment section for a video titled "[Starting as a Swamp Lizard, Playing a Deity, and Cultivating a Knight Clan]" in the True Game video collection was also buzzing with activity.
Ah Zha Zha Zha Zha: "This video's pretty interesting! Is this a Lord-style, kingdom-building game? A Lizard is actually playing the charlatan, haha."
Lord Soul of the Kurosaki Family: "Not bad. I've seen a lot of videos from non-human Players, but this one is pretty interesting. Right from the start, this guy didn't kill the Knight and build his own Demon Beast army for the non-human faction. Instead, he went his own way and chose the Human Race faction? A monster leading humans? How fascinating."
343Evilspark: "Definitely. If it were me, I would've killed that Knight right at the start. It's just a game, right? Since I'm already a monster, I'd totally go on a rampage and slaughter all those human noobs. After all, if they're not our kind, they can't be trusted. Don't people understand that simple principle?"
The Doujin Dude: "The poster above is wrong. The humans in this game aren't noobs. Just look at that Knight named York—in the modern world, he'd be considered a Superman. Playing a monster and slaughtering humans? You're dreaming. A lot of the idiot Players in the non-human faction had the same idea as you and got a 'Game Over' right at the start."
Ruined Dream: "True, you can't just act recklessly in this game. I actually really approve of what this Player is doing. By now, many Players have started live streaming, so I'm sure everyone knows about the mysterious nature of this game. It might be called a game, but in reality... In short, the moment I consider that these game NPCs could be real people in a real world, I think that as fellow humans, Players ought to be a little more rational and kind."
Life Is A Dream: "Rational? Kind? Humans killing their own kind is what's truly ruthless, okay? What good is kindness? Profit is king. Whoever harms your interests, you kill them—that's the way! So what if the NPCs in this game are real people from a real world? We Players from Blue Star don't owe them anything."
"...."
The discussion under the video had derailed, with many comments straying into a debate on human nature.
However, most were still focused on discussing the video's plot and setting.
Gheros: "I have to say, this Player struck gold. That Knight, York, is from the Nobility, so he can get his hands on a ton of resources. And look at how he handled the first hundred days of the plot. He wasn't a genius, but he acted with measured caution. He didn't even reveal the so-called 'Miracle' in the end. His father merely thinks the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard is a Demon Beast with a Sub-dragon Bloodline."
A Few Chives and an Egg: "The poster above is right. This Player's start is really good. I've watched several non-human faction guys, and even if they successfully completed their first hundred days, their situations are way worse than this Player's. There was one who started as a Little Lich in a graveyard; I bet his plot will lead to him getting surrounded and wiped out in the next phase. High chance he won't survive tomorrow."
First-Grade Flute White-Clothed Scholar Hero: "You're telling me! This Player in the video is clearly an Emperor of Luck! Started as a freaking Tier Two Extraordinary Life, and then hit Tier Three right after the tutorial plot. That starting point isn't low at all, okay! It's ridiculously high. I speed-watched about sixty videos tonight of Players who made it through the 'first hundred days,' and I only saw one other Player successfully reach Tier Two."
Miku Xiaochaoshao: "No kidding. Considering this game's elimination rate of roughly three out of every ten Players on the first day, I think this Player's start is way too lucky. They might actually survive to the end! What's more, it's a kingdom-building playstyle, which seems really rare. I should probably keep an eye on this one. Maybe I'll have a chance to ride their coattails if I manage to get into the game next time."
Xuan Yinglongyun: "Ride their coattails? Heh, what are you thinking, bro? I spent tonight specifically researching the background worlds from a bunch of Player videos. I found out that the world map in this game is unbelievably huge. Take this Silver Lion Duchy, for example—I've never even heard of it!"
Brother Yijian of Hongxing: "The poster above is right. The game map is pretty damn big. I saw some Players who even started on islands. And let's not forget the seas in this Game World have the Sea Race. Some Players even start as Sea Beasts. I think it'll be difficult for Players to interact with each other at this stage."
Qiqi66_IsTheCutest: "The two posters above made great points. So, does anyone know when the second round of closed beta access for this game will be released?"
"...."
There were over three hundred comments, and the number of people watching Lince's Giant Lizard video live was still climbing.
You have to remember, it was almost three in the morning.
And the viewer count on the Giant Lizard video had already surpassed a thousand.
To be honest, this also indirectly proved that the release of the True Game videos had already caused a huge stir and generated a lot of buzz across the entire internet.
After Lince finished watching his hundred-day plot progression and saw everything York had done, he felt pretty good, but when he discovered the public outcry caused by the True Game, he was truly shocked.
He was especially speechless when he searched online and found various platforms denouncing a supposed hacker invasion and whatnot.
'This damn game isn't even trying to be subtle. It's so blatantly advertising its own uniqueness.'
'No wonder so many people are still watching my video at this hour.'
After all, the entire Human Alliance had a population of ten billion. It was also the weekend, so with so many night owls around, it was inevitable that a large number of them would come across his video.
"Well, this is getting interesting. I wonder how the authorities will react."
Lince sighed.
What's more, Lince discovered that many Players who had failed in the game had started live streaming.
What was worse, some Players were openly admitting on their streams that they had once possessed the Extraordinary Power from a Character Card. This left Lince speechless.
The reason why these particular Players were coming out and claiming they'd once had a Character Card was actually quite simple.
Their Character Cards had disappeared after they failed during the first hundred days of the plot.
So, Lince could easily understand the mentality of these failures.
These guys were acting out of jealousy and resentment, stirring up trouble with the mentality of "if I'm not having a good time, I'll make sure nobody else does either."
And with these failures stirring up trouble, some of the Players who had successfully passed the first hundred days—and whose resolve was wavering—also began to voluntarily come forward and demonstrate the Extraordinary Power of their Character Cards.
One could only imagine what a chaotic scene the internet had become.
At this very moment, many big-name influencers, streamers, and experts who knew the inside story were already starting to appeal to the authorities.
They argued that to maintain social stability, the authorities should intervene immediately and place the Extraordinary Power of the Players under strict control. They even urged qualified Players to proactively cooperate with the authorities on future arrangements.
In short, the appearance of these people had, to some extent, successfully messed with the minds of other Players.
Regarding this, Lince felt the urge to "cordially greet" these people, but he was also helpless.
After all, moral blackmail has always been effective.
'With a global population of nearly ten billion, there were only one hundred thousand Players. No, now there were probably only thirty thousand who still had the Extraordinary Power from a Character Card. What were the ordinary people of Blue Star supposed to think? What was the ruling class of the Human Alliance supposed to think?'
'It's not scarcity that people resent, but unfair distribution. The ancestors were not wrong about that at all.'
But this also raised another question in Lince's mind.
'The commotion caused by the True Game is already this huge, so how could the authorities not know? Why hasn't there been any news at all?'
'And don't give me any excuses about it being the middle of the night and the authorities still being in discussion.'
'After all, with the kind of public frenzy the True Game has caused, the authorities should be the first ones to step out and reassure the public.'
'Even if the authorities really were still in discussions, they should have at least issued a simple emergency announcement.'
'But there was nothing!'
'Not a single one!'
It was like this on the Eastern Continent, and it was the same in the other major continents and regions of the Human Alliance.
This was very unusual. Lince even felt an odd sensation, like the calm before a storm.
And Lince wasn't the only one who felt this way; many people online had already started discussing it.