This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 189: Watch Closely, This Is How Players Should Be Used

Chapter 189: Chapter 189: Watch Closely, This Is How Players Should Be Used

In the southern part of Lakeside Wetland Park, a plane emitting pale blue arcs of fire flew over the abandoned urban area of the North suburbs.

It had been noticed early from heaven.

Wearing an exoskeleton, the deputy captain of the security team, Liuding, led five fully armed players from the south gate of the park to meet them.

Apart from these five players, more than ten other players led by another guard were ambushed in the forest not far from the park’s south entrance.

In case of any mishap, both groups would support each other and pour fire from both near and far distances. With so many rifles, suppressing an already landed plane was more than enough.

However, it seemed the other party had no intention of fighting?

After the plane landed, three people jumped out.

Two were wearing exoskeletons, holding X-2 Male Bee Assault Rifles, looking like they were armed bodyguards.

The person in the middle carried no weapons but wore a washed-out brown leather jacket, raised his hands to show he meant no harm, and walked towards the guards and players with a smile.

"Don’t be nervous, I’m just a messenger here to deliver a message. I wish to see your leader... or does he have another title?"

"You may call him Lord Manager."

Holding a Sickle Assault Rifle in his hands, Liuding slightly squinted his eyes, watching the man while using his peripheral vision to remain cautious of the two bodyguards standing beside him.

"State your purpose."

"Like I said, I’m here to deliver a message... by the way, your gun looks good, where did you buy it?"

Seeing that the man in the exoskeleton was growing increasingly upset, the man who claimed to be a messenger finally reined in his frivolous demeanor and coughed before saying,

"Alright, no jokes now. My employer wants to buy something from you... it’s about as tall as my knee, a box, black one, previously kept in the office of the 117 Shelter Administrator. If you agree, my employer is willing to pay fifty thousand chips—"

Before he could finish, a voice broadcast through the speaker carried over from afar.

"Roll back where you came from before I change my mind."

Dressed in power armor, Chu Guang, shouldering a Gauss Rifle, emerged from the south gate of Linghu Wetland Park.

Seeing his deep blue armor, the messenger showed no signs of nervousness or surprise, whereas the two bodyguards by his side tensed up, ready for confrontation.

A Gauss Rifle!

With its piercing power, if aimed right, it could take down a plane!

And the power armor he wore was needless to say; ordinary bullets and shrapnel hitting his breastplate were like scratching an itch.

"Fifty thousand chips is already a lot... alright, I’m leaving. Guys, let’s pull out, our trip here was in vain."

The man who claimed to be a messenger intended to make one last effort, but, sensing a dangerous aura from Chu Guang, he promptly abandoned the idea.

Chu Guang did not stop him.

Because his instincts told him that the plane probably belonged to this man—or rather, this man’s boss behind the scenes; shooting it down would be troublesome.

The City Lord of Giant Stone City, located around the third ring, had not yet considered him important; perhaps to them, a survivor force numbering hundreds to thousands was just skirmishing, with no industries or major businesses, akin to a worthless stone by the roadside, no different in essence from the Blood Hand Clan who previously lived near the highway leading out of the North suburbs.

With no interest from the neighbors, Chu Guang naturally did not plan to needlessly provoke those people.

The position of Shelter No.404 was awkward, stuck near the highway of the North suburb of Qingquan City, with limited developmental space.

Trouble already loomed from the north; provoking those to the south would force him into a two-front war.

Returning to the plane with his bodyguards, the man by the cabin door spoke louder, with a mix of seriousness and jest.

"Respected King of the North Suburbs, my master—a petty armed broker—has a piece of advice for you."

Chu Guang watched him.

"Speak."

The man continued with a smile,

"Your strength is immense, I heard you even involved yourself in disputes between armies and corporations. A hero like you should wrestle with big figures like the City Lord of Giant Stone City, pitting ourselves against you is beyond our line of work."

"My master says if you intend to keep that black box, then we must abandon this commission... I believe no mercenary, for those few hundred chips, would dare disturb you here; it would be purely pointless."

The man’s tone suddenly shifted,

"However, the boss who commissioned us to retrieve the box is not someone to be trifled with. Even someone as prominent as the City Lord would need to weigh the consequences of offending him. If he’s willing to pay 50,000 chips for your black box, I believe it holds a much higher value to him than merely 50,000 chips."

"100,000? Or 200,000? No matter the amount, he surely won’t give up easily. Perhaps when this winter passes, he’ll come to fetch it himself. If I were you, I definitely wouldn’t want to keep this hot potato in hand. But I’m just a small fry; perhaps you have other ideas?"

"If you decide to change your mind, you can come to the Pirate Bay Tavern in Giant Stone City. You are a respected strongman, and if there’s an opportunity, my master would like to treat you to a drink."

"By the way, his name is White Shark... though I’m sure you already knew."

The vertical takeoff and landing aircraft gradually ascended, returning to the south towards Giant Stone City.

Watching the plane flying away, Chu Guang chuckled.

Fifty thousand chips?

Heh.

Old man could earn dozens of chips even just picking up trash for five months; and that’s under Old Leech’s exploitation.

Yin Fang was researching how to use that thing to make implanted prosthetic devices, and his little player was still waiting to use it to get stronger.

Want to take it from me?

Only over my dead body!

However, in the end, the man who claimed to be a postman didn’t say who exactly wanted the Black Box.

Just then, Chu Guang felt a slight stir in his heart.

"Could it be... the Torch?"

Those survivors who took away many Black Boxes from Shelter No.117!

It seemed that they had been doing well these years, having become big shots among the Wasteland Wanderers thanks to the black tech Props produced by the Black Boxes.

However, Chu Guang wasn’t panicked at all, as those Black Boxes were at most used for bionic organs and implants, not some kind of mass-destructive weapons.

If they really came knocking, that would be perfect.

It would save him the trouble of looking for them.

Watching the plane disappear into the horizon, Liuding put down his rifle and walked over to Chu Guang’s side, speaking earnestly.

"Boss, their plane is too arrogant. We lack effective air defense means, which could be very dangerous."

"I know."

Not having air defense weapons was indeed a problem.

When the people from Giant Stone City went to negotiate with the Pioneer, they had to park their plane several kilometers away, but here they flew right up to our doorstep.

Chu Guang pondered for a moment, then stretched out his right hand and lightly tapped the side of his power armor helmet.

An orange visual window projected onto the helmet’s tactical goggles.

The power armor was built-in with a vital signs monitor, similar in function to VM, and the difficulty of data exchange wasn’t much. Any program that could run on the VM could naturally run here as well.

Flicking his index finger in the air a few times, Chu Guang quickly edited a mission and posted it in the "Weapon Crafting" section of the public channel.

The players who would take on this mission were the severest old timers in the server.

Watch and learn, Liuding. This is how players do it!

[Mission: Air Threat]

[Brief: The Deputy Captain of the Outpost Security Team seems to be in trouble. Go have a chat with him.]

[Deputy Captain Liuding: The opponents’ planes come and go above our heads at will. We need an air defense weapon that can shoot them down when necessary, or at least scare them off before they drop bombs!]

[Reward: 500 Silver, 500 Contribution.]

Done!

Afterwards, Chu Guang looked towards Liuding and said.

"In a few days, someone will come to you with some strange things. Just pick the one that is both cheap and functional and mark it on the VM’s mission page."

Liuding was stunned for a moment.

Though he didn’t quite understand, he still nodded.

"Okay... Boss."

...

Meanwhile, at Outpost Base.

Seeing that the Manager of Shelter No. 404 had been gone for a long time and had not returned, an anxious Heya walked out of the reception room.

Just as she reached the main entrance of the nursing home, she coincidentally passed by some players who instantly recognized her in the blue jacket, their faces lighting up as if they had discovered a New Continent.

"White hair!!"

"Holy shit! You can customize hair color in this game?"

"Who didn’t tell me this!"

"Miss, what’s your nickname?"

Heya looked puzzled, not understanding what these refuge residents were talking about.

As more and more players gathered, someone figured out that although she wore a blue jacket, she wasn’t a player.

If that confused expression is an act, then she’s quite the actress!

"She doesn’t seem to understand our language, nor our memes."

"She doesn’t seem very bright... Is she a new NPC?"

"But she’s wearing a blue jacket..."

"What’s so strange about that? Players are not the only ones with blue jackets, there are a few in the storage room of Shelter No. 117, right? But it seems we’ve never met people from other shelters before."

This comment received a lot of nods from the players.

Indeed, the game never specified that the blue jacket was exclusive to players, just that the characters they played were residents of the shelter.

Just then, a young player who had just completed a mission at Shelter No. 117 approached.

"I know! She’s an NPC that Crow and Teng Teng found in the hidden room of Shelter No. 117!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding crowd let out a murmur of surprise.

"Holy shit! Has the hidden room already been found?!"

"And it was found by Crow Boss!"

"Damn, that’s not fair! Tail has almost scraped off the wall paint and still couldn’t find it!"

"Just asking, does it have something to do with mushrooms in the room?"

"Don’t underestimate Crow Boss. She was the server-first player who died from a monster and triggered a penalty mission, hilariously."

"I don’t care about the hidden room, I just want to know where to find the same white-haired NPC?"

"Count me in!"

Surrounded by these enthusiastic and hospitable residents, Heya’s expression slowly changed from bewildered to confused, then fearful, unsure of what to do.

At that moment, a power armor approached from the direction of the southern gate, and a loud voice drifted out from the speakers.

"Everyone disperse, don’t scare the newcomer."

"Let me introduce you. This is our new doctor of biological engineering arriving at our shelter. From tomorrow on, she will officially start working... Miss Heya, please follow me."

Heya quickly nodded her head, hiding behind Chu Guang.

After giving a yellow card warning to several overly excited players, Chu Guang took her to the elevator and pressed the down button.

Watching the elevator doors close, Heya finally breathed a sigh of relief, her heart still pounding.

"Are they all residents of Shelter No. 404?"

Chu Guang took off his face mask and stretched his neck, casually responding.

"My ’players’ are a bit enthusiastic, please don’t take it personally... By the way, ’wanjia’ means resident, specifically residents of the shelter."

"Why don’t I understand what they’re saying? Aren’t you all using the language of the United Human?"

It had been the same in the emergency shelter earlier.

Heya couldn’t understand what the two ladies who had woken her from the sleep cabin were saying.

However, Chu Guang didn’t intend to delve deeper into this issue.

"The United Human have been gone for more than 200 years. Is evolving a new language really that strange? But don’t worry, I speak both languages."

Heya silently repeated the strange pronunciation of "wanjia" a few times, committing the word to memory.

After leaving the power armor in the equipment room, Chu Guang led her through two gates of the airlock directly to level B2, where Zone B still had a hundred empty rooms.

They randomly picked a room.

After assigning the rights to her VM, Chu Guang continued.

"From now on, this will be your new home. Instructions for using the facilities and the Resident Handbook of Shelter No. 404 will be sent to your VM. Starting tomorrow, you will be a biological engineering expert, and I’ll have some tasks for you."

Heya glanced around the room, which contained only a single bed and a table, almost smaller than the confinement room in Shelter No. 117.

"Your rooms... they’re quite compact. Do you always live in places like this?"

Chu Guang had heard complaints about his shelter being poor before, so he really didn’t mind.

"Yes, but our spiritual world is very rich. Those players... um, they go to other places when they sleep."

"It’s a bit rough at the start-up phase, but it will get better. I hope you can adapt."

Start-up? What’s that?

Even though she had only slept for twenty years, Heya felt as if she were in another world.

Is there such a big generation gap between shelters?

She couldn’t understand any of the words or concepts...

After settling Heya, Chu Guang returned to the central square of B2.

Just as he was about to go check out the newly unlocked B3 to see what the First Generation Manager had left him, he saw Boss Xia holding Xiao Qi waiting at the elevator door.

Xiao Qi, seeing Chu Guang from afar, called out.

"Master!"

Chu Guang glanced at Xia Yan and Xiao Qi in her arms and asked with a peculiar expression.

"Why did you bring Xiao Qi down?"

"He asked me to carry him down... By the way, who was that white-haired woman?" Xia Yan put Xiao Qi down and sneakily glanced behind Chu Guang, only to find no one there.

Chu Guang casually replied.

"The only resident left in Shelter No. 117, my players brought her back."

"Wow," Xia Yan nodded slowly, his expression slightly questioning as he whispered, "But is it really okay to just let her move in? What if she’s a bad person?"

Chu Guang smiled.

"Don’t worry, Xiao Qi will keep an eye on her 24/7. If there’s any suspicious behavior, I’ll know immediately."

Xiao Qi said in a somewhat helpless tone, "Although that’s true, I still don’t recommend bringing people of unknown origin here, especially that guy whose right hand is a machine. I always feel his gaze on me is kind of creepy."

That’s a thing?!

"It’s precisely because I’m not at ease that I need to keep a close eye on them... The one you mentioned with the mechanical right hand, is that Yin Fang? I’ll have him be careful."

Chu Guang paused, then continued.

"Let’s put that aside, I have some things to handle, and since you’re here, you can join me."

Xia Yan was stunned for a moment, "Join? What kind of ’join’..."

A faint smile formed on Chu Guang’s lips.

"Let’s take a look at our B3 level."

Saying this, he walked into the elevator and lightly swiped his index finger across the touch screen, quickly bringing up the words "B3 access unlocked."

Following by Chu Guang’s side, Xiao Qi let out an excited noise.

"Wow, Master, you got access to the B3 level?"

Chu Guang nodded.

"Yeah, just got it."

The elevator doors closed, and it began descending slightly.

When the doors opened again, they were greeted by dry, fresh air, reminiscent of Chu Guang’s initial entry into level B2.

"It feels like it’s just been cleaned..." Xia Yan scanned his surroundings, following Chu Guang out of the elevator.

The layout here was identical to B2. Whether it was the circular arrangement of four fan-shaped sectors, the central elevator tower, or even the total of 600 rooms, as well as the public dining hall and sanitary facilities located in Zone A.

Even the corridor between Zone A and Zone B was the exact same!

Chu Guang’s gaze settled on that corridor; he considered the floorplan sign next to the elevator.

From the floorplan, one could see that behind the corridor was a rectangular space, divided into four rectangular sections of varying sizes.

This appeared to be the "functional area."

"Power room, planting area, medical laboratory, storage... and a buffer room? Wait, why is there a buffer room behind the storage?" A hint of surprise crossed Chu Guang’s face.

Buffer rooms, used to equalize the inside and outside air pressure of shelters, contain two gates and a corridor with an air shower function capable of removing dust and most contaminants from clothing, with the possibility of spraying acid for sterilization.

Such facilities are typically located at the entrance of shelters, but on the B3 level?

Following beside Chu Guang, Xiao Qi raised his camera, his voice filled with doubt.

"Perhaps... Shelter No. 404 has more than one entrance?"

Chu Guang stroked his chin, pondering momentarily, then nodded lightly.

"I wouldn’t rule out that possibility."

Xia Yan looked toward him, slightly tense.

"Shall we go check it out?"

"Of course, why else would I be here?"

However, before that, Chu Guang had something else to do.

Saying so, Chu Guang activated the VM on his arm and pulled up a pre-edited document.

"Alpha0.9 Version Update Announcement"

"Alpha0.9 Developer’s Log"

With two clicks, he sent it!

Upload complete!

After finishing this task, Chu Guang then turned to Xiao Qi.

"Xiao Qi, sync this to the official website."

The signal light atop his head flickered slightly, and Xiao Qi said energetically.

"Right away! Master!"

The two, plus one machine, made their way deeper into B3 level.

Almost simultaneously, in another world, the "Wasteland OL" official website erupted with the release of the update announcement!

-

(Cough cough, as usual... before eleven o’clock.)

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