As a professional gamer, ever since the release of "Apocalypse Game," a game that could be called a second world, XB had been closely following it.
He not only gained popularity on the forums with a professional review post but also, with his incredible luck, secured one of the 200 globally limited closed beta slots.
And the game did not disappoint him.
When he entered the game world through the official gaming equipment, he was astonished by the incredibly realistic experience.
It felt as if he was truly on a medieval European street, with an engineering shop behind him and a bustling wet market nearby.
The air was filled with the smell of fish, and hawkers constantly passed by, shouting their wares.
Just a few steps away was a vibrant city street, where crowds moved slowly like ants.
Although it was raining, the visibility was quite high; even the facial contours of the Three Heroes statue, over twenty meters tall in the distance, were clearly visible.
What surprised XB the most was that, just like in the promotional video, the other end of the street was currently covered in heavy snowfall, separated from the light drizzle a few steps away by a black and white dividing line—a truly magnificent spectacle.
It was a complete contrast to the texture-based scenery of other virtual online games.
When did Blue Star's technology advance to this level? Wait, I didn't transmigrate, did I?
XB suddenly remembered something and anxiously reached down to touch himself... *Phew*, thank goodness, the little animal was still there.
He squeezed it again, and the little animal felt pain! That's incredible!
He just wondered if he could use it. He heard there were red-light districts in the game; he'd have to check them out once he had money.
Seeing a man with his hand in his crotch, muttering to himself, passersby looked horrified and quickly moved away.
XB's old face flushed, and he shamelessly pulled his hand out, bringing it to his nose to sniff.
Tsk, it smelled.
It smelled exactly like what he usually smelled.
This was so damn real.
He'd rave about it!
Then, following the Beginner's Guide from character creation, he brought up his panel.
Name: XB
Race: Human
Age: 24
Level: 1
Profession: Engineer Apprentice
Natural Force Affinity: 42
Arcane Affinity: 25
Talent: None
Personal Attributes: Strength 12, Agility 9, Stamina 10, Will 12, Spirit 12, Charm 45
Health: 10
Willpower: 12 / 12
Mana: 0
Skills: None
Personal Specialization: None
Clan Training: None
Influence: None
Legendary Status: 0
The panel attributes were quite good.
Not only did he start with the profession of Engineer Apprentice, but his Natural Affinity also reached 42.
XB felt that his Apocalypse Game career had a brilliant future.
Before playing the game, XB had checked the official material.
Players would either be assigned to a few fixed novice starting points and begin from scratch, or they would have a random start, with both profession and initial identity being completely random.
It seemed he was the latter.
With a Natural Affinity of 42, according to the official material, playing a warrior should be quite good.
However, the ambitious XB disdained this: "What's a warrior? Even dogs don't play it.
If I'm going to play, I'll play a gunslinger!"
XB clenched his fist, looking ambitious.
"This closed beta only lasts for 3 days.
During these 3 days, I must fully explore all kinds of quests in this world, accumulate enough experience, and strive to latch onto my husband—*cough*, latch onto Wayne Strowell's thigh.
The official publicity said this is a breathing world, and any gains from the internal test won't be reset in the open beta.
NPCs' memories and favorability towards you will also be fully preserved.
But a game is just a game.
Breathing world, my ass, really..."
XB complained inwardly, full of ambition.
Just as he was about to embark on his journey, an angry roar came from the engineering shop behind him...
"XB! If you want your salary, get in here and work!
My engineering shop doesn't keep idlers!"
"Aye, coming, coming!" XB instinctively responded and hurried into the shop.
A few hours later, XB, finally off work, looked at the money he had received and his Engineer Apprentice level, which had already risen to 3.
He felt both wronged and emotional:
This game... is so damn fun!
The same day.
The entire Apocalypse Game world was in chaos.
Many places saw the appearance of vagrants without identity, who didn't seem quite like normal people.
Some flirted with ladies on the street, some talked to the air, some even took off their pants in public... Of course, such silly players were few.
In other countries, other cities, or novice gathering points in the Apocalypse Game world, most other players who arrived were diligently leveling up, just like XB.
These players either inherited the identities of NPCs or gathered in groups at novice gathering points, running around enthusiastically doing quests according to their preferences.
The game's starting scenarios were extremely varied, offering both immersion and challenge, full of fun.
The completely realistic game world made players unknowingly immerse themselves...
Meanwhile, Zhou Ning also lay on his bed, continuing to browse posts on the forum.
The Apocalypse Game forum was bustling.
The closed beta had been going on for about 10 hours, and many game-related posts had gradually appeared on the forum, most of them lacking substance.
However, all players had experienced the true charm of Apocalypse Game.
That was realism.
This was a completely real world; players could personally feel the sense of reality in every aspect, which other games lacked.
Is anyone else finding leveling up too slow? Only level 3 after 10 hours!
This game is truly addictive.
I originally planned to log off at 10 PM, but before I knew it, I was playing until deep into the night.
I feel like I'm becoming a masochist; I'm secretly enjoying it even while being scolded by NPCs.
Haven't you noticed how much this game resembles the real world?
I chatted with many NPCs and found that each of them has their own background and experiences.
Goodness gracious.
After browsing the forum for a while, Zhou Ning saw an interesting post.
The poster's name was XB, an old acquaintance of his and a celebrity on the forum.
The post was short and, like his personality, full of smugness.
"Hello, esteemed audience.
Today is the first day of the closed beta.
I was born on Daklan Street, not far from the game's protagonist, Wayne Strowell.
And I had a stable job and a way to gain experience right from birth.
Now I've already reached level 4.
The realism of this game is truly shocking.
Take my boss in the game, for example; the old man's hands and feet weren't keeping up, which led to him scolding me all afternoon, but there wasn't a single repeated line.
What the hell.
I even suspect he's a real person.
Hahaha, I plan to go to Vik University tomorrow morning to get up close with the protagonist and see if I can trigger any quests.
Also, I'm looking for any other Buddy who were born in Daklan; we can team up and go together tomorrow."
Zhou Ning couldn't help but laugh.
After all that, the person closest to him turned out to be this guy.
Below XB's post.
Quite a few people had already replied by then.
"XB, get lost!
Go back to being a professional gamer.
Not only did you get a closed beta slot, but your starting location is also so good.
Can you please not come out and provoke us?"
"Passing by with tears, born in Ruins."
"I'm even worse off.
Born in Morter, north of the continent.
It takes more than half a month to walk to Blystone Kingdom."
"XB, can you livestream after you meet Wayne?
Give us who can't get into the game something to feast our eyes on."
Following this was XB's own reply: "Rest assured, esteemed audience, the livestream room is ready.
Room number: XXXXX."
After reading the discussions of these silly players on the forum, Zhou Ning had a clear idea.
There shouldn't be many people in Daklan, so it wouldn't cause much commotion, but there probably wasn't much profit either.
He just needed to do his quests normally.
However, there was one more thing: if XB really started a livestream, it would be another opportunity for him to gain more followers...
The next morning, Zhou Ning woke up early.
He went to the washroom to wash his face, chose the most presentable white shirt, black vest, and black jacket, and even tied a tie, which was rare for him.
Looking in the mirror, Zhou Ning felt that his reflection had an even better appearance, with a bit more scholarly air than before.
When he walked out of his room, John was already awake, sitting in a full suit on a chair, teasing Polly.
Zhou Ning wasn't surprised that he was up so early.
Today was the day for new students to register, and as a self-proclaimed playboy, he naturally had to join the excitement and see if there were any pretty junior students—in fact, most boys had this idea.
Seeing Zhou Ning, he couldn't help but whistle: "Looking sharp!"
"Thank you," Zhou Ning said with a smile, putting on his black semi-top hat.
Step, step, step.
The two went downstairs together and walked slowly towards the school gate.
It was only 7 AM, but the atmosphere was different from yesterday.
If yesterday was a warm-up, today was already a festive atmosphere.
A welcome banner for new students hung at the school gate, and the welcome points for each department were already set up.
Many tables had long queues in front of them, and many students were walking around, distributing flyers and other materials.
Zhou Ning scanned the surroundings and first spotted Cherry.
This girl was tall, curvaceous, and very noticeable in the crowd.
Then he found Ian, who was actually quite hard to recognize.
Compared to yesterday, he was wearing a wig today, which perfectly concealed his receding hairline.
At this moment, they were wearing Vik University student uniforms and were actually sitting at the Alchemy Department's recruitment desk.
They were truly bold.
John whispered to Zhou Ning with some confusion, "Is this beauty from the Alchemy Department?
Why haven't I seen her before?"
"Since she's sitting there, she must be," Zhou Ning replied helplessly, tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Because he knew John's next sentence would definitely be, "Come on, let's go check her out."
Indeed.
"Come on, let's go check her out." John pulled Zhou Ning and squeezed over there.
After their eyes met, Zhou Ning smiled and nodded at Cherry.
He followed John over.
Polly wasn't there at the moment, and the two seats next to Cherry were empty.
John directly sat next to Cherry and started chatting her up.
Cherry was a bit startled, but with a task at hand, she could only receive new students while having an intermittent conversation with John.
Even worse, Cherry didn't notice that John's dog son was bored and scurrying under the table, eventually lifting his leg and urinating on the hem of her skirt.
Zhou Ning:... Silently looked up at the sky.
Seriously marking the vehicle?
He still couldn't bring himself to remind her and didn't sit down with John.
Instead, he stood and surveyed the surroundings.
By this time, more new students had arrived to register.
According to custom, around 9 o'clock, the programs of each department would begin.
According to Sherlock, the Alchemy bomb's diameter would definitely not be small.
Zhou Ning scanned the area but didn't find any suspicious individuals.
However, he did see a familiar, shifty-looking figure in the distance, with an ID floating above his head.
Zhou Ning blinked in surprise.
Isn't that XB?