Chapter 3: Is This Guy Serious?

Alright.

As it turned out, I had misunderstood.

The Blind Box indeed had "five" rewards.

The System didn't do anything as despicable as "swallowing equipment," nor was there such a thing as "thanks for your patronage."

However, the fifth reward from the Blind Box was overshadowed by the other four…

Now, laid out before Chu Guang, were a vacuum-sealed, 100g compressed biscuit and three 25g lollipops—apple, banana, and mango flavored.

And a note.

The packaging of the compressed biscuit was intact, showing no bulges, and though the expiration date and production date were a mystery, it likely wouldn't kill anyone.

This thing was a good find.

The nutritional label claimed it had 500 calories, which could fill a stomach whether eaten dry or cooked into a porridge.

As for the lollipops, despite their not insignificant caloric content, they couldn't provide a sense of fullness.

Nevertheless, to the nearly desperate Chu Guang, they were quite a treat.

Speaking of which, this System was really stingy; was it so worried he'd eat too much or what, that it just palmed off these few items to him?

Standing next to the exit point, Chu Guang stuffed the food into his backpack then picked up the note that had come through on the conveyor belt and unfolded it for a look.

It was written in the language of this world:

[…Is there any creature better suited to be sheared than players?

Not only are they brimming with curiosity, but they are also endlessly enthusiastic, facing challenges head-on without succumbing to the dire straits they find themselves in. Of course, the key point is, they even consider issues from the operator's perspective, helping the operator to shear them!

Packaging this device as a Game, I am simply a genius!

— Manager of Shelter No. 404; (Please place this note in the fifth basic Blind Box, it's an Easter egg for my successor!)]

Chu Guang: "…"

Honestly, he felt not a hint of the surprise one might find from discovering an Easter egg, but rather, he found it somewhat absurd.

But…

What did it mean by "device"?

"Xiao Qi."

"What is it, Master?"

"Do you know the First Generation Manager?"

"I do not recognize them; my main program was only activated when you entered Shelter No. 404. According to the data records in the Shelter's database, the transition of operational rights from the last Manager occurred over a century ago."

Chu Guang continued to inquire.

"Which year specifically?"

Xiao Qi answered.

"January 1, 2157."

The War ended in 2129, and humanity entered the Wasteland Era; 2157 marked its 28th year.

From now…

183 years!

Chu Guang had always been sensitive to numbers, especially such crucial details; once he committed them to memory, he rarely forgot.

"So, you mean to say that 183 years ago, the First Generation Manager invented this device capable of projecting the consciousness from a parallel world into clones and packaged it as a Game, but for some reasons it was never used, correct?"

Perhaps it was because of nuclear winter.

Or maybe another reason that the Shelter had failed to meet the activation conditions.

In any case, those from a hundred years ago were probably long dead.

Xiao Qi said.

"That seems likely."

"What was his name? The First Generation Manager?"

Chu Guang suddenly became curious about his identity.

The person who had come up with such a whimsical setup might not be a genius, but anyone who could invent such an incredible technology amidst the decline of civilization was beyond a mere descriptor of "genius."

Projecting the consciousness from a parallel world into this plane and into clone containers.

Chu Guang couldn't even begin to understand how that was possible.

Technology beyond comprehension was, to him, no different from magic.

"I also do not know; there is no detailed information about him in the available database, maybe it was deleted?"

"Forget it… asking you is as good as asking no one."

Chu Guang was slightly disappointed but not discouraged.

Currently, only Level B1 of the Shelter had been unlocked.

As he progressed with the missions, the secrets buried in this Shelter would eventually be fully revealed before him.

Stuffing the note carelessly into the computer desk's drawer, Chu Guang tightened the straps of his backpack.

Noticing his actions, Xiao Qi, who was squatting in the corner, asked.

"Master, are you leaving?"

That flat, somewhat pitiful voice.

"Yes, players won't log in until three days from now, and there's no point in me just waiting here; better to go back and get prepared."

This place called a shelter lacked even basic sustenance.

Chu Guang had only half a square biscuit and half a bottle of water left on him, as well as the newly acquired compressed biscuit and lollipops from the reward points.

This supply wouldn't last until three days later.

Nearby, in the Survivor Settlement, he had a rudimentary shelter stocked with some supplies and useful tools.

Chu Guang planned to go back, organize a bit, and bring over anything he could carry.

This would be his new base from now on.

"By the way, Xiao Qi."

"What is it, Master?"

"I need your help with something."

After a pause, Chu Guang continued.

"Our official website is too basic, I need you to add a forum feature and a directory and bestiary; can you do that?"

Simply put, he wanted players to understand this "Game" better.

Convincing people to join just with words was a bit tough—some groundwork had to be laid.

"Of course, you have editing rights for the website. Aside from the game reservation page, you can add subpages or modify existing pages."

"Good, I'll leave it to you then."

"I've got it covered!"

Xiao Qi seemed pleased with the task assigned by his master, even raising his speaker volume by half a decibel.

Of course, that might just be Chu Guang's misunderstanding.

"Master, when will you return?"

Chu Guang thought for a moment and said.

"Three days at the latest."

"If everything goes well, maybe even before tomorrow night."

…

Present day, Cow Horse Club group chat.

That guy named "Light" in the group chat, after dropping a website link, had disappeared. It was unclear whether he had gone offline or was just lurking.

Initially, the topic of "fully immersive Virtual Reality Game" was nearly over, but a few minutes ago, this guy's flurry in the small group chat had jerked the topic back to attention in the main chat.

Quit smoking: [Damn, is this guy serious?]

Quit smoking was also an active member who often popped up in the group, though not a manager.

White Horse Passing a Gap: [Yeah, after you guys made the reservation, he created a small group and dragged us few group managers into it. (scratches head)]

White Horse Passing a Gap was the group owner, naturally also in that small group.

Upon hearing this, the group members instantly boiled over.

[Darn it! It's a conspiracy!]

[Do you guys know the name of the company Brother Guang joined? I'm gonna report him for P2P trading! (funny)]

[Nonsense, a company? Last year a VR company went bust, and it took the boss down with it! VR is not the trend anymore!]

[Keep your voices down, Ah Guang might be peeping at our screens. (funny)]

[What's he really up to? Just for a joke?]

[Who knows, maybe he's directing you brothers to a gambling site, waiting to harvest you all when there's enough traffic!]

[I knew this guy was no good! Just kick him out.]

The conversation gradually lost its appeal.

It even escalated into personal attacks.

Ye Wei watched, frowning. He was about to say something when he saw the group owner step in to put the brakes on.

(Group silenced)

White Horse Passing a Gap: [Guys, let's not be like this. The new members might not know Ah Guang, but he's a decent person, just lacking in marksmanship, a bit blind, a bit lacking skills, everything else is fine.]

Long Days Ahead: [Indeed, I believe Ah Guang isn't veering off onto the wrong path into gambling. We're just not sure if his account was hacked. If so, our manager team will handle it. I'm going to retract this message in a bit, let's change the topic, ha. (smile)]

(Group silence lifted)

With the owner and managers having spoken, everyone respectfully dropped the topic and quickly shifted to discussing the Euro Cup.

Ye Wei didn't watch soccer, at least not football.

Glancing at the time on the lower right corner of the screen, it was already 18:00, just in time for dinner.

Having uploaded his unfinished major assignment to the cloud, Ye Wei pushed back his chair, went downstairs, ordered a spicy chicken fried rice, and savored it deliciously.

When he leisurely returned to his dorm, he saw a cardboard box on the table and suddenly froze.

A delivery?

"Ah Wei, what did you buy? Such a big thing?"

His dorm-mate approached, and the other two also turned their attention this way.

Everyone was decent people.

Ye Wei wasn't in the dorm earlier, so it wasn't right to touch his stuff. Now that he had returned, it didn't matter anymore.

They were all curious about what he had bought.

"I didn't buy anything... Who sent this over?"

The three roommates looked at each other.

"I didn't notice..."

"Me neither."

"I don't know, I just went to get takeout."

Weird!

Usually, deliveries were left at the delivery station downstairs at the dorm, but today it was delivered directly to their door.

Even weirder, Ye Wei pondered that he had never written in the delivery address which seat he was in.

Are delivery guys this awesome now?

Opening the cardboard box, inside lay a helmet.

The design looked quite like a motorcycle helmet, painted black inside and out, nothing special to look at.

If anything was special, it was that it had no front. Putting it on would cover the whole head, and he could see absolutely nothing.

At first glance, Ye Wei thought it was a pot.

"What the heck is this."

The guy at the next table played with the helmet a bit, put it on his head, then took it off again, confusedly handing it back to Ye Wei.

"You're asking me, but who am I to ask?"

Could it really be a pot?

Ye Wei also tried it baffledly, putting it on his head.

His vision was pitch black.

However, just as he was about to take it off, a pale blue light suddenly pierced the darkness, into his retina.

[Waiting for Game activation: 71 hours 19 minutes]

This...

Could it be that Game Helmet?!

Dammit.

Was it shipped this fast?

Ye Wei was completely dumbfounded.

"None of you saw it?"

He took off the helmet and looked at his roommate who had just worn the helmet.

However, that roommate, just as baffled, looked back at him.

"Saw what?"

Ye Wei hurriedly said, "That countdown! It said 'waiting for Game activation!'"

"What? Can this thing even be a gaming console?"

"Move aside, Brother Liu's eyesight is bad, let me have a look."

Another roommate took the helmet, tried it on, but after a while, like the first, confusedly took it off.

"Nothing."

"Let me try."

Each of the three roommates tried it on in turn, and without exception, none saw anything.

They looked at each other and collectively turned to Ye Wei, expressions odd.

"Bro."

Ye Wei: "…What?"

"Maybe… you should go see a doctor?"

"Get lost!"

Ye Wei cursed and snatched back the helmet, wearing it again in disbelief.

The pale blue text arrived as expected.

[Waiting for Game activation: 71 hours 17 minutes]

The countdown had advanced by 2 minutes.

Not just that...

Right then, he suddenly discovered that no matter how he turned the helmet, that line of countdown always appeared right in the center of his field of vision.

Even if he closed his eyes.

Ye Wei took off the helmet, his face ghostly.

Damn.

Had he really seen a ghost?!