Chapter 19
Ever since Pei Sen made his appearance, he has become the most popular NPC among players, ranking No. 1 across the board. Especially among cloud gamers, enthusiasm for him has exploded to extraordinary heights.
Not only female players, but male players also held a favorable impression of him. As a player himself, Pei Sen understood their nature thoroughly; when dealing with players, he displayed far more patience than other NPCs, never scrutinizing them with strange glances, and his demeanor could only be described as gentle and kind.
This personality made him appear approachable and entirely free of any airs.
It should be noted that even Neil, a steward who had risen from being a footman within the manor, still carried an air of superiority when looking upon these ragged Bix Cube natives; such foreigners rarely earned much respect from them.
Only Pei Sen consistently regarded them with an equal gaze.
…This was perfectly natural; in Pei Sen’s mind, they were all equals, merely players.
Yet precisely because of this attitude, players found interacting with Pei Sen exceptionally comfortable.
After some players exchanged for weapons from Pei Sen, most flocked to the Starfall Plains. Previously beaten senseless by rabbits, they were now eager, with their new gear, to turn the tables on them.
Besides, having spent over half a month dismantling walls, they had grown somewhat weary; switching to hunting monsters was only logical.
Thus, only a minority of players remained in the city to continue dismantling the walls, causing efficiency to drop sharply.
Pei Sen actually didn’t mind what the players chose to do. He didn’t even need to lift a finger; simply taking a cut from their contribution points was enough to maintain a high contribution rating for himself. The real challenge lay in gaining experience points. Nevertheless, thanks to his construction blueprints and occasional suggestions on city-building offered to Eagle, his level still far surpassed that of ordinary players.
Nowadays, he devoted most of his time and effort to learning swordsmanship from Sardin. Pei Sen was confident that even if his level wasn’t particularly high, his sword skills alone would allow him to easily defeat players of the same level or even those slightly higher than him.
“They’ve all gone to the Starfall Plains?” Eagle frowned. “Doesn’t that mean there are hardly any people left here in Kayce City?”
“Wait a little longer, young master; more Bixians will appear soon.”
“More?”
“Yes, more.”
On the eve of Eagle’s birthday, Bix Cube would launch its second closed beta. In recent days, the forums had been surging with activity, already showing an explosive reaction.
Many users have already started flooding the forums with posts offering to buy closed beta accounts, as most of them fear they won’t be selected for the closed beta qualification.
In fact, Pei Sen had already seen that the number of players applying to participate in the second closed beta had reached a staggering thirty million. Each applicant was required to submit personal information such as their ID card and could not apply multiple times. Therefore, these thirty-plus million applications represented thirty-plus million unique players; creating multiple accounts to increase one’s chances of being selected was impossible. This demonstrated the immense appeal of the first holographic game, yet only two thousand players would actually receive internal test accounts.
This probability was actually very low, even lower than the chance of being selected for the first closed beta. After all, back then, fewer than ten thousand players had applied for the first test, from which only two hundred were chosen.
With two thousand players, they could probably flatten Caixi City completely in no time, Pei Sen thought. Thus, it was time to formulate the next phase of his construction plans.
He never expected that he would now be leveling up just like a lifestyle player, relying on this very method.
“But it’s fine; I really need this stable period right now. At the very least, I must master swordsmanship and learn more from Sardin. If I were to go out on missions and fight monsters now, where would I find the time to practice my sword skills?”
What he needs now are tasks that require little time yet offer generous rewards. If this faction main quest hadn’t been triggered by himself, granting a 100% bonus to gains, Pei Sen’s leveling speed would surely have been affected.
“The countdown to the second closed beta has begun! Oh please, oh please, let Lady Luck favor me!”
“Please, oh please, GM, pick me! I’ll get down on my knees and call you Dad!”
“Bix Cube: The Strongest in the World, Bix Cube: The Highest in History, Bix Cube: Forever Number One!”
“The second closed beta must include me, it absolutely must! Official devs, please notice me!”
“…”
Cloud players were engaging in a final frenzy, while those who participated in the first closed beta remained relatively calm; soon, someone wrote up a massive guide detailing exactly what new players should do upon entering the game.
“First off, there are no other quest lines available in Kaixi City at the moment. It is recommended that second closed beta players head straight for the Golden Rose Manor upon logging in. The location of the Golden Rose Manor is as follows…”
“I’ve confirmed that this game doesn’t present every player with identical CG cutscenes or storylines upon entry. It’s a completely free-form experience, meaning the game’s timeline progresses independently of player actions. So don’t expect to witness the Lich and his bone army like we did. Players aren’t the protagonists here; everyone must explore the game on their own.”
“Bix Cube is absolutely nothing like the RPGs you’ve played before. During the adaptation period, avoid trying to trigger hidden quests, as accepting certain ones could get you straight-up killed.”
“Don’t underestimate the NPCs’ intelligence. Every NPC in this game is incredibly smart—far smarter than you can possibly imagine.”
“I recommend joining the Thorny Rose faction first. Complete construction missions to safely navigate the newcomer phase, exchange contribution points for equipment, and only then head to the Starfall Plains to hunt monsters.”
“Even with your gear, you might not be able to defeat those terrifying rabbits.”
“…”
Pei Sen watched those conscientious suggestions and strategy guides with great relish, finding them quite entertaining.
However, he also felt he should warn the people in the manor; otherwise, when a massive horde of players arrived, it might frighten the residents. For instance, Neil, who was responsible for “receiving” these players, would likely be unable to cope all at once.
After all, even seasoned warriors like Kemis could be startled by players. Once the number of players increased tenfold, the situation would become far more terrifying.
Just as only a handful of players remained dismantling the city, Wallis breathed a sigh of relief. At this rate, he had at least gained some breathing room; fewer and fewer people were tearing down the walls. It seemed that even with another two or three months, they might not be able to completely demolish this city. Wallis looked heartbrokenly at Kaixi City, now mostly reduced to rubble, hoping that this scene of broken walls and ruins would help cool the young master’s temper.
“The gift must be prepared with great care.” Wallis had already resolved to win Eagle’s favor through this birthday celebration, thereby securing his city of Kaise.
Yet, merely two days later, countless ragged figures clad in dusty gray garments and wielding wooden swords flooded into Kaise City. Upon seeing their familiar appearance, Wallis felt as though someone had struck the back of his head with a heavy hammer.
“These are… the Bixes.”
It was not a question, but a statement of fact.
Unlike the first-test players who entered the game clueless about what to do and could only wander around bothering the city’s residents in confusion, these second-test players had all read the guides. They knew that receiving quests from the city dwellers was nearly impossible. Moreover, with more than half of Kaiwest City already demolished and many residents relocated outside the city by Valis, the players couldn’t even find them if they wanted to.
Furthermore… the residents’ favorability toward the Bix race was definitely negative at this point. They had been harassed by these Bix beings, had their houses torn down by them, not to mention the countless frights they’d suffered at their hands. Basically, upon seeing any Bix now, all they wanted to do was run away.
Thus, as soon as the second-test players entered the city, just like those from the first test, they were stunned by the game’s realism, frantically taking screenshots and recording short videos while laughing and chatting with fellow players beside them. Some others, with clear purpose in mind, headed straight for the manor without taking any detours.
“I’m so lucky; I never thought I’d actually win the draw.”
“A second-beta account can fetch a huge price now; some wealthy player even offered to buy mine, but I refused.”
“Once I logged in, I realized it’s absolutely worth it—damn, truly worth every penny.”
“With a game like this, all other games are just trash.”
“We’ve truly entered the era of full-dive gaming…”
“Actually, no. A friend of mine works at a game company and said the technology behind this game is currently impossible to achieve.”
“That’s right. Even during this second closed beta, some accounts were bought at high prices by various game companies… including those major domestic ones you all know.”
“…”
Indeed, among this crowd of second-test players who seemed to have plunged into a frenzy, some were clearly in a different state from the rest. Yet after glancing around, crouching down to scrutinize the ground and walls for detail precision, they even felt an urge to grab an NPC just to study their modeling and level of artificial intelligence. When it came to game development, they were highly “professional,” yet now they too found themselves utterly stunned.
“It’s simply impossible. With current technology, not only is reaching this level out of the question, but even meeting the most basic requirements for a true holographic game remains entirely unfeasible.”
“But this game is real; it’s not merely the marketing stunt we initially suspected.”
“Which company actually developed this game? To this day, no one has managed to find out. That’s far too unusual.”
“Could it be…”
“Are you referring to the officials?”
“Yes.”
“No, our boss knows someone up high; this has nothing to do with the officials.”
A group of professionals desperately wanted to analyze the scene before them, yet in the end, they remained utterly baffled.
This was especially true for a player whose ID was “Designer.” He was a heavyweight in game design, a name familiar to countless players across China. Having previously worked for a world-renowned game company abroad, he had created several hugely popular titles after returning home. He knew the current technological limits of the global gaming industry better than anyone.
“Where do we go now?” asked a player named TuTuHuaHua, standing beside the Designer. Clearly, she was a professional game artist.
The designer looked ahead at the other players who had already set off for the Golden Rose Manor. “Let’s try to capture an ordinary NPC.”
“Aren’t we going to the manor?” This player, named Architect, actually worked in game modeling.
Their company had collectively applied for access to the second closed beta, but only one person from the entire company got selected—the one who spent their time doodling. Both the Designer’s and Architect’s accounts were purchased.
The designer thought for a moment. “There’s no rush to join a faction. Perhaps we can try capturing that human trafficker, Kui Lang.”
“This NPC won’t be easy to capture; his level is surely higher than that of ordinary NPCs, and he has underlings.”
“There might still be a way to catch him,” the designer said meaningfully. “Remember, this is a game with extremely high freedom; we don’t necessarily have to rely on brute force.”
Tu Tu Hua Hua, a girl with delicate features, pondered for a moment before saying, “After capturing him, we should thoroughly study him first. Once we’ve recorded the data and completed the intelligence tests, we could perhaps hand him over to Golden Rose Manor in exchange for contribution points. After all, the player named Claude already tested this approach, and this Kui Lang belongs to an opposing faction.”
“I think you just want to go see that handsome merchant from the faction.”
“So what? I heard he looks even more handsome in person than in the screenshots and videos!”
At that moment, Kui Lang, who was hiding in one of the few houses left standing within the city and preparing to flee Caixi City, suddenly let out a loud sneeze. For an instant, a chill ran down his spine.
“I can’t drag this out any longer; I really have a terrible premonition right now.”
Pei Sen, at this point, had no idea what kind of living hell awaited the first enemy he would encounter after entering this world—and that this very person would soon be delivered right before him.
He only knew that among the players who entered the second closed beta, there seemed to be… quite a few big shots.