Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

Earth, October 5, 2019, Saturday.

During the National Day holiday, netizens had more free time than usual.

When people have nothing to do, they tend to create unnecessary problems, capable of making a big fuss out of nothing, let alone when there are already existing issues.

Qin Guan got up early, slightly past seven in the morning. Before his eyes were even fully opened, he had already reached for his phone and unlocked the screen. All his social media apps were still showing the bright red 99+.

If this had happened a few days ago, Qin Guan would have been secretly delighted to see himself "trending" like this.

But now… he would rather not have attracted attention at all…

Three days ago, after discovering that he had become the target of nationwide ridicule, Qin Guan, in anger, uploaded an unedited six-hour gameplay recording (only censoring the part where three players exchanged real-life contact information) to the Internet.

This was undoubtedly a strong counter to the conspiracy theories that claimed "fake black technology game deceiving the feelings of Chinese people and exploiting foreign investors." However, despite that, public opinion didn't swing in reverse.

The reason was simple. Too many people are only willing to revel in the misfortune of others, but have no interest in themselves being proven wrong. The long video Qin Guan released afterward hardly gained any significant traction…

On the third day, "OtherWorld" shamelessly postponed its server opening, without offering any explanation or even bothering to come up with an excuse for unforeseen circumstances for the delay. The frantic influx of questioning, doubting, and insulting comments on the message board was completely ignored too…

The pressure Qin Guan felt during these past two days was beyond imaginable.

The lack of any response or feedback by the irresponsible development team to netizen's criticism for the delay was one reason; the second being that the other previously ignored 290 closed beta slots and login helmets only garnered attention and were bought out only after Qin Guan had released his first video.

In fact, on the second day of the game's delay, Qin Guan was called in for questioning due to reports made by several netizens. If it weren't for the fact that he hadn't done anything wrong and was just promoting an indie game without receiving any "suspicious" income, Qin Guan might have ended up spending a night in the detention center.

In any case, Qin Guan had already borne too much burden that someone his age shouldn't have to go through. A day after his "trip" to the local police station, he felt much calmer. With panda eyes, he sat up in bed, opened an app, briefly skimmed through the replies that insulted and mocked him, and then closed it. As part of his routine, he opened a browser and refreshed the official website.

The official site, which had been unresponsive for several days already, seemed like a lifeless corpse. It still displayed the same announcement, mocking everyone, especially him, the number one recommended—

"Huh?!"

Qin Guan snapped fully awake as he leaned closer to the phone screen and scrutinized it with bloodshot eyes.

It was a new launch announcement indeed, not the same announcement of delay that had been there for the past four and a half days.

"D-damn…" Qin Guan trembled all over, uncertain whether from the excitement of clearing his name or the accumulated frustration suddenly bursting out. He pressed the screen multiple times before finally managing to click the right spot and open the "Server Opening Announcement." 𝙗𝙚𝒅𝒏𝙤𝙫𝙚𝒍.𝒐𝙧𝙜

《Server Opening Announcement》

OtherWorld will begin its open beta on the 5th of October, 8:00 a.m.

Patch 1.02 will be applied simultaneously.

1. Class System Release:

Players who reach level one will have the option to transition into either a lifestyle class or a combat class.

a: Availability of lifestyle or combat classes will be dependent on advanced NPCs with relevant guidance functions.

b: The selection of a lifestyle or combat class is a permanent decision; players cannot change their class once chosen. Please decide carefully.

2. Introduction of the first batch of 20 advanced NPCs to Exile Town.

a: Each advanced NPC will have individual reputation systems. Completing tasks assigned by advanced NPCs will earn players reputation points with that particular NPC.

b: Engaging in "immersive role-playing" and portraying their character's role appropriately during interactions with advanced NPCs can earn players additional reputation points.

c: If a player fails in their role-playing or angers an advanced NPC, there is a possibility of being attacked by the NPC, resulting in consequences including but not limited to death.

d: Advanced NPCs are unique. If an advanced NPC dies, the reputation points with that particular NPC will be reset. If the NPC serves a functional role, all players in Exile Town will permanently lose access to the services provided by that NPC.

e: First batch of advanced NPCs:

Undead Race Resurrection Master: Yang

(If Yang dies, players will permanently lose the ability to create Undead characters, and Undead characters will not be able to be resurrected. They will also permanently lose the option to transition into Mage Apprentice).

Weapons Master: Charlie Rex

(If Charlie dies, players will permanently lose the Warrior class branch: Weapons Master job advancement as well as the lifestyle class: Hunter).

Wanderer Master: "Razor" Hal Maxwell

(If Hal dies, players will permanently lose the Wanderer class branch: Assassin job advancement).

Ranger: Tuttle Joe

(If Tuttle dies, players will permanently lose the Wanderer class branch: Ranger job advancement).

Butcher: Manan

(If Manan dies, players will permanently lose the lifestyle professions: Skinner and Butcher).

Treasure Expert...

After reading through this lengthy server opening and update announcement, Qin Guan was utterly stunned. "Offending an NPC can actually result in the NPC attacking… And that's not the worst part! If an NPC dies, the services they provide are permanently lost?

"If this Yang dies, the whole Undead race becomes extinct?! Even Queen Sylvanas pales in comparison to you guys!!"

As he ranted, Qin Guan hurriedly got out of bed, rushing to the bathroom to relieve himself and freshen up. Then he hastily prepared boiled water to make oatmeal, all while anxiously keeping an eye on the time. It was already 7:30! 8 o'clock would be arriving real soon and he needed to log in as soon as he could!

Qin Guan, who had been crushed by online criticism over the past few days, was itching to log in, let alone those who had bought the helmet after watching the video. Despite the influence of public opinion, making them hesitate and feel anxious, they still held their ground in hopes that the game would launch.

Once the server opening announcement was released, the number of inquiries and rants on the official site's message board significantly decreased.

On the other hand, those that hadn't bought the helmets or sold them off were relentlessly flooding the comments section with doubts and mockery. They simply didn't believe that the game would actually launch and go live smoothly. Such people were convinced that the development team was merely employing tactics of delay and that unexpected issues and further delays would surely crop up.

Yang Qiu's sister, Yang Ying, never had much confidence regarding her little brother's running away from home to develop some lousy game even if Yang Qiu kept reassuring her that everything was fine via social media.

Every day, she would still send him a dozen messages, urging him to not act foolishly and to return home and resume his studies.

But in the end… Yang Ying never imagined that besides being tricked into "making games," her body would also be a part of a game development team ridiculed as scammers all over the Internet. She, who wasn't one to care about games, had even come across discussions about "OtherWorld" on her Weibo homepage!

Yang Ying was absolutely against her little brother dropping out of school to pursue game development. Had she seen Yang Qiu, she would have beaten him up at once and dragged him back home, forcing this unreliable brother to go back to school.

However, even if she didn't support him, a bunch of strangers who hadn't even played the game yet were accusing the development team her little brother was associated with of being a large scam, and she couldn't stand for it.

During the long National Day holiday, she didn't go anywhere and stayed at home every day, engaging in online arguments with netizens on the other end.

That morning, Yang Ying, who didn't even play mobile games, quickly took out the helmet from the cardboard box left in the hallway when she learned that the game's official website had actually been updated and the development team her younger brother was on had released a server opening announcement. She was ready to go online, take screenshots, and continue battling out with netizens on all those forums.

"It's true, it's true! The official site announced the server launch. It has to be real! I'm going to log on now! Why don't you come online and take a look!"

Tang Jia, a sophomore college student, hadn't sold her helmet. Despite the commotion online, she had confidence in streamer Vanilla Pudding and believed that this equally financially challenged streamer wouldn't deceive a poor student like her. Tang Jia tightly held onto her helmet and ordered one for her best friend, and even personally delivered it to her doorstop when it arrived.

Of course, the main reason Tang Jia didn't sell the helmet was that, besides the first day when people offered a premium for the helmets, demand quickly dropped after the public outcry and after Vanilla Pudding's reputation took a pounding. People willing to buy the helmets started to lower their offers, and last night, the highest price offered by someone was 88 yuan...

Losing 100 yuan without even playing the game was too much of a loss for Tang Jia, who carefully counted every penny, including her meal card balance!

At two minutes to eight, Tang Jia made her final trip to the washroom before reminding her roommate not to disturb her while playing the VR game. Then, she lay down on her bed, put on the helmet, connected the USB to her phone, and accessed the official site to activate her account.

At eight, the head of Tang Jia, who was lying down and scrolling her phone, tilted to the side.

Tang Jia's roommate across the room: "?!"

Just like Tang Jia, she too had stayed back in the dorms to save on transportation costs. Upon seeing Tang Jia's head slump to the side, she quickly jumped off her bed and ran over to observe her roommate, only to realize that Tang Jia was just asleep and snoring lightly. Upon ascertaining that Tang Jia was still alive, she quickly returned to her own bed.

Upon entering the game, Tang Jia discovered that this game was different from what she expected.

"Wasn't it said that you can freely choose a game character? It's not letting me choose…"

She spent quite a while trying to find the interface for changing character selection to no avail. Thus, Tang Jia could only grimace as she reluctantly chose the only available character.

This skeleton character… looked a bit dirty and had a fist-sized hole in its chest, which Tang Jia was rather dissatisfied with. However, there was no other choice. She couldn't just quit the game because of the character selection.

After selecting the character and experiencing the magical "perspective fusion," Tang Jia entered the game world.

.

And then… as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw a whole lot of densely packed skeletal frames all crowded around her.

In the places where she could slightly move her feet, skeleton frames were emerging straight up from the ground…

When she realized that she too had probably emerged from the ground in this manner, Tang Jia couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh my gosh!" Then, as she looked up, she noticed a dirtier skeleton standing right in front of her face and instinctively backed away with another "Oh my gosh!"

"What the hell! Stop squeezing!" A disgruntled voice came from behind Tang Jia. The displeased skeleton that had been bumped into her turned its "face" toward her and saw Tang Jia… before jumping backward and bumping into another skeleton.

"What the f*ck!"

"Ah—!"

"Stop f*cking squeezing!"

"Oh god! It's all skeletons!"

"Stop f*cking clamoring! We're all skeletons here! No need to despise one another!"