This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 235: Beast Tamer Gameplay! Has the Intelligence System been buffed again?

Chapter 235: Chapter 235: Beast Tamer Gameplay! Has the Intelligence System been buffed again?

While Chu Guang was busy inventorying his spoils of war, the official forum of "Wasteland OL" was bustling with excitement.

After a whole winter of silence,

the chaos from the north had been plaguing the southern border of River Valley Province.

And today, a thrilling, epic victory quickly dispersed all the dark clouds!

[Worldwide Announcement: "Operation Spring Thunder" has achieved victory.]

[The battle report has been published and sent to players’ personal mailboxes as well as the in-game VM.]

[As a large amount of supplies were captured during the battle, the food supply has returned to normal, "Wartime regulations" have been terminated early, and the resource purchase restrictions have been lifted. All players involved in the battle, in addition to Contribution Points and regional reputation, will receive an additional +5 favorability with NPCs like Guo Niu, Guo Ma, Luka, Wrench, etc.]

[New facilities added to Changjiu Farm: Two 100mm howitzers.]

[Light: Thank you all for your active participation. This battle has provided us with valuable data. The production of the Apha1.0 version is in its final stages and will be launched together with the new expansion pack, so stay tuned!]

Tail: "Wow!!"

Quit smoking: "Mosquito is awesome! Of course, the planners are too!"

Fang Chang: "It’s way too strong, no, I mean way too awesome!"

Night Ten: "Mosquito, with tears streaming down his face, said, ’Eight versions, from Bloodhand to Chew-Bone, finally an MVP.’ (Amused)"

WC real mosquito: "Goblin Technology presents the new product! An 88mm mortar! And the ’Hell Breath’ diesel-powered motorcycle! Consumes 15 kilograms per 100 kilometers, very handy!"

Elena: "Here’s someone advertising. Moderators, please ban him. (Amused)"

Yeah, I gotta go pee: "Damn it, am I not awesome? I blew up 7 vehicles! And even scared one to death!"

Edge Shoveling: "Our team blew up a tank. (Sidelong Smile)"

Canyon Escaping Mole: "Our team took out a Centurion!"

Midnight Chicken Killing: "I got 20 kills."

Spring Water Commander: "What’s the use? Kills don’t earn many points! Do you two together have more points than our team?"

Teng Teng: "Everyone is amazing, don’t fight, please. QAQ"

Night Ten: "You don’t understand, this is their way of bragging. (Amused)"

Crow: "Wait until I save enough for a power armor, and I’ll join you on the front line!"

I Max Black: "You’re more cautious than Spring Water. (Shocked)"

Spring Water Commander: "Where have I been cautious! (Angry)"

Not only were the players exhilarated, but also tens of thousands of backseat drivers lining up.

A two-minute video and twenty original drawings as well as in-game CGs.

And it was all actual demonstration shots!

Isn’t this way better than the pie-in-the-sky promised by EA?!

Riding a Donkey to Market: "Sigh, if the actual gameplay graphics were half as good as the promotional video, I’d die without regrets."

Elena: "Closed beta testers responsibly inform you, the promotional video only has half the actual gameplay graphics. (Amused)"

No can do with resignation: "Please stop testing it, it’s complete enough, I just want to play the beta, begging for a chance to be a tool."

Silver Hand: "Does the production team lack money? Have you considered crowdfunding?"

Silver Sword: "Need venture capital?"

Thunder Mage Professor Yang: "With such awesome technology, you should go public."

A Bag of Rice to the Upper Floor: "Speaking of which, isn’t it a problem if actual gameplay graphics are so thrilling?"

Siberia’s Potato: "Exactly, what if someone has a heart disease?"

Wild Wind: "It’s said that the helmet employs a sort of dream display technology, completely breaking away from traditional visual display technology. Simply put, what you see in the game is as much as you’d see in your dreams - there won’t be any significant sensory overload beyond your tolerance threshold, including pain and other physiological sensations... Although I’ve searched a while and couldn’t find any literature, they’ve just done it."

Night Ten: "Bunker technology is terrifying. (Amused)"

Thunder Mage Professor Yang: "Asking for a friend, can you do bad things in the game?"

Old White: "Currently, the only available factions for players are law-abiding ones, so it’s a standard MMORPG. However, playability and freedom far exceed those mass-produced, cookie-cutter games out there. You can tell that the NPCs are ’alive,’ with their unique moral compass and preferences. You can do anything you like as long as it doesn’t affect the experience of others."

Lord Arrogant Brother: "What’s the fun in that? I love besieging the royal city, using cheats, blowing up servers. Trash games, not even a dog would pre-register!"

Wild Wind: "Hot take: there’s no such thing as a game that could be liked by seven billion people, not even Dou Di Zhu. (Side Eye)"

Night Ten: "Patting Lord Arrogant Brother’s dog head, come back, we’re missing half the fun without you. (Amused)"

This time, Lord Arrogant Brother’s antics weren’t celebrated, and everyone commented on his weak combat prowess, quickly drowning him out in the response posts.

But that was normal.

Even forum favorites can’t be on top every day.

After tallying his spoils, Chu Guang took a glance at the forum and found that 90% of the posts in the casual chat section were discussing the two-minute PV.

From the launch of rockets to the whistle-blown charge, the camera switched between drone and player perspectives, the heart-stopping light and shadow effects were like those of an actual battlefield.

For some of the more thrilling scenes, Xiao Qi’s drone even gave a few close-ups.

Like a Strength-type player, awoken like Rambo, carrying a machine gun and shooting his way out through the billowing smoke.

Or the machine gun on the charging caterpillar vehicle harvesting Looter’s armored pickups.

By the way.

Xiao Qi edited the video following the style of Chu Guang’s last promotional PV.

As for the BGM, it was copied from the radio by itself.

Although "Voice of Giant Stone City" spends 20 hours of the day talking nonsense, occasionally there are some useful bits of information and good music.

The current BGM has been added to the official original soundtrack, available for online listening and downloading, receiving rave reviews from many internet users who are eager to know the composer.

However.

What does all this have to do with the planners?

Ah Guang was just a junior game planner, you should look for the music director.

...

The next day.

Before dawn fully broke, over two hundred prisoners of war formed a long line at the entrance of Changjiu Farm.

They wore dirty, old fur clothes, shackles around their ankles, and faces marked by depression or panic.

Or numbness and despair.

Two tracked trucks with fixed machine guns welded atop were driving beside the column.

In addition, there were 20 guards carrying Arbitrator’s Rifles and hanging PU-9 Submachine Guns at their waists, standing around the column.

Leading the column, a guard with a full beard and a mature look surveyed the prisoners of war with one glance and spoke up with a loud voice.

"The crimes you committed in River Valley Province are enough to have you hanged ten times."

"But the kind-hearted Manager believes killing prisoners of war is unjust, that your blood would stain this land, so you have been spared like dogs."

"You will be sent to the penal labor camp, where you will undergo labor reform, reclaiming the wilderness to the north of Rhombus Lake, constructing irrigation canals, and any other work useful to society... until you have offset your crimes with labor."

"The fifty-year sentence is long, but good behavior can lead to a reduced term."

"Now, set off."

Fifty years.

The vast majority could not live long enough to see that day.

In the Wasteland, being forty was already considered long-lived.

Only residents living in shelters or affluent survivor settlements stood a chance of living somewhat longer.

Yet, the statement "good behavior can lead to a reduced term" still brought a glimmer of hope, or at least the motivation to survive, to many who had already fallen into despair.

Even if no one had told them what standard qualified as good behavior, or how much sentence could be reduced.

The column began its march.

They needed to cut enough wood before nightfall to construct the POW camp.

Otherwise, they would have to sleep in the snow tonight.

Vedes and Kevin stood by the road, blankly watching the column as it embarked.

Having been incorporated into the column and having already given up hope for their future lives, they were unexpectedly pulled out by a guard pointing a gun at them.

Kevin asked in a nervous whisper,

"What do they want to do?"

"I don’t know..." Vedes had just responded when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar face approaching them.

Vedes’ expression first froze, then shock spread across his face,

"Vanus?"

A touch of sentiment crossed Vanus’s face.

"I didn’t expect to see you here."

The two had graduated from the same military academy and had known each other since their student days.

After graduation, thanks to his outstanding grades and performance at the academy, Vanus went directly to the front as a Centurion, serving as a junior officer, while Vedes joined the youth army corps as a new recruit to start his military career.

Due to the Army’s eastward strategy, both had joined the Expeditionary Army and served under General Kras to fight against the people of the Grand Canyon. Later, with Vedes’ unit suffering a terrible defeat and his whereabouts unknown, Vanus thought he had died, only to find him still alive.

What surprised him even more was that their reunion would come in such a dramatic way.

After hearing about Vanus’ experiences over the past few months, Vedes gave a bitter smile.

"No wonder... so you’re here, it seems Black Snake’s loss wasn’t so unjust."

These people not only strategically predicted their movements but also tactically avoided their vanguard and ambushed their rear at an unexpected location, creating unbelievable results.

Even in defeat, Vedes could not help but admire their skill.

But after seeing Vanus, he understood.

Everyone graduated from the same classroom, even taught by the same professor.

Whatever tactics he knew, so did Vanus, and nearly every move he could think of, Vanus could as well. It was indeed a difficult battle to win.

Vanus said, "I didn’t command that battle, and it wasn’t me who defeated you. I only made some suggestions about deployment. But you’re right, you really didn’t stand much of a chance. Six hundred-man squads thrown forward to scout, supply trains following armored units, and dragging out the battle line so long... what were you even thinking?"

Seeing Vanus’s puzzled look, Vedes replied in frustration,

"Do you think I wanted it this way?"

"I risked being thrown into boiling oil, more than once, to remind that fool that marching in winter was a mistake, but no one listened."

Kevin, standing beside him, nodded in agreement, his expression constipated as he said,

"And that’s not the worst of it. We were informed of the advancement on Qingquan City on the morning of the first, and before we even had a chance to understand the plan, the vanguard had already departed. We didn’t have a single battle meeting during that time, Black Snake seemed to just slap his head and decided to go all in with all our chips, even the route we took was decided after the supplies were packed."

The main force departed at noon on the first, the war ended on the evening of the second, the POW camp began construction on the third, and by tonight, they should be able to put together some sort of shelter.

Kevin had never fought such a frustrating battle.

He’d rather have died on the northern front.

At least in losing to a powerful opponent, his own death might have seemed more dignified.

After hearing the two’s stories, a hint of sympathy emerged on Vanus’s face.

He tried to put himself in their shoes and realized that the battle was truly unwinnable.

With such a foolish commander, even if he himself had been the strategist, the outcome would likely have been the same.

"I’ve got the gist of it now... But did you two run into the Looter’s tribe?"

Vedes and Kevin looked at each other and shook their heads.

"I don’t know, we encountered those Looters when we were retreating south, and our chief decided to join them, so we followed suit."

Kevin continued.

"I heard... they seem to be planning to establish a nation of Looters in River Valley Province. I’m not clear on the details."

A nation of Looters?

What in the world is that?

A vast tribe?

Vanus couldn’t imagine such an odd picture, let alone how they planned to realize this outrageous-seeming plan.

"Speaking of which, what about you?" Vedes looked at Vanus and continued asking, "Are you now their strategist? Or?"

Vanus paused for a moment and said,

"Me? I’m also one of their captives, but they’ve allowed me to train new recruits in lieu of paying a ransom."

Vedes looked at him eagerly.

"Ransom? How much?"

Vanus replied with an ambiguous expression.

"One million dinar, and that was last year’s price. I don’t know how much it is now; I’d advise you to give up the idea."

Both men took in a sharp breath of air.

One million!

That’s an amount they couldn’t amass even if they sold all their possessions!

"...Is the job of training new recruits still hiring?"

"Brother, please help us out."

Faced with two pairs of pleading eyes, Vanus said hesitantly,

"I’ll ask for you... but I can’t make any promises, I can only try my best."

Vedes said excitedly,

"Thank you!"

Vanus advised earnestly,

"Those Blue Jackets didn’t send you to labor camps, likely because they want to ask you something. Cooperate well, speak everything you know, don’t hide anything, and don’t make up stories; they won’t make things too difficult for you."

Both immediately assured him,

"Don’t worry!"

"We’ll tell everything we know!"

Vanus nodded in relief.

"That’s good."

Cooperate well, show the right attitude, seriously repent, and even if they still had to undergo labor rehabilitation, the place they ended up at might be a bit better.

After all, whether working in a brick factory playing with mud or digging potatoes in the snow, the chances of survival were vastly different.

The former could even hope to eat meat if they did well.

The latter, though, that was a life-threatening task...

...

The next morning, bright and early.

Outside the weapon shop.

A throng of players surrounded it.

As they looked at the empty shelves, a collective sigh of disappointment and lamentation arose.

"Damn, I was just one step too late!"

"Shit! They really did sell out!"

The battle from yesterday allowed not just 32 players to reach Level 10, but also 57 players had their Contribution Points finally surpass ten thousand, honorably upgrading to Intermediate Citizens.

And they each earned an income of over 400 silver, with the highest even reaching 600 silver!

For them, who were making a mere 10 silver coins a day just a few months ago, this was truly an enormous sum!

The conditions for purchasing the Miner I Exoskeleton were Level 10 and Intermediate Citizen status. The price hadn’t changed, it was still a very reasonable 2000 silver.

However, there were only 8 sets of equipment on the shelf.

Almost the moment the battle reward was settled, the 8 sets of exoskeletons were snatched up in an instant.

This moment, everyone finally realized that having too many mission rewards wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

It was predictable that the price of ramen tonight would definitely rise...

Looking at the frustrated crowd, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group chuckled to themselves. They had already put on the orange-painted exoskeleton, clenched their fists, and moved their limbs around.

"Is this the power of technology? Not bad at all."

When they’d discussed it yesterday, he had guessed that something like the current situation might happen.

So, he logged into the Game before dawn, standing in line at the weapon shop’s door before it even opened.

The instant the battle reward was settled, his account was nearly 600 silver richer, pushing his savings just over 2000 silver, and he decisively bought the "Miner I" exoskeleton.

This proved to be an incredibly wise decision.

Looking at those little players who regretted not coming earlier, he finally got to partake in the experience of the "lord" of Qingquan City.

This feeling was awesome!

Edge Shoveling glanced at him.

"Tch, I wouldn’t be caught dead using that thing."

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group chuckled.

"Brother, if you’re jealous of me, just say it outright. No need to beat around the bush. Want to try it on? I’ll lend it to you for a bit."

Edge Shoveling retorted, "Jealous my ass. Once you put that thing on, resurrection costs soar to 2000. If your equipment explodes just once, you’re back to square one."

Even with an exoskeleton, and even if you reinforce it with steel plates, it only means you can take a few more bullets.

Why bother?

Isn’t it better not to get shot in the first place?

Putting on that gear only makes you a bigger target for focused fire. Even with the thickest steel plates, it’s impossible to tank a shot that penetrates over a hundred like power armor.

Cheap and easy-to-use equipment is the best kind. He couldn’t be bothered with all the fancy, flashy stuff.

Of course, part of the reason was that he hadn’t managed to buy any.

"Damn it..."

After hearing what Brother Edge had said, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group was taken aback.

He glanced at his own gear and suddenly felt less enchanted by it.

How was he supposed to charge into battle wearing that stuff?

Dying once would be financially heartbreaking!

Although plenty who had bought the gear regretted it later, those who hadn’t managed to buy were still envious of the quick-handed brothers.

Sadly, equipment was bound to players and couldn’t be purchased from others.

But even if it were tradable, no one would sell.

People who could afford it had similar amounts of silver coins in their pockets. Aside from a few wealthy players, it was unlikely that anyone could offer an outrageous price.

As for off-the-record RMB transactions...

Not to mention the officials had clearly stated they wouldn’t guarantee the security of such transactions, leaving scammed players to deal with the consequences themselves. Even with third-party guarantees, it was impossible to set a price for such gear.

How do you price beta test equipment?

100,000?

1,000,000?

By the time the open beta rolls around, ’god gear’ might become trash, causing immediate regret.

Beta is called beta because the game rules aren’t perfected yet.

Not charging any fee and not wiping progress is far kinder compared to those games that took money and still played their players for fools!

However, this didn’t stop the players who missed out on the equipment from cursing their bad luck.

"F*ck, can’t the devs fix the bug with the NPC shops not restocking? When will this get fixed?"

"When will the Commercial Team come again? The blizzard has stopped!"

"I quietly asked the devs, and they told me to buzz off — even told me if I want equipment, I have to earn it by fighting."

"I can testify that Brother Guang definitely didn’t say that. With his high EQ, he’d never tell you to buzz off. He’d most likely play dumb and pass the buck to the art or development team."

"I’m feeling the pain of having money but nowhere to spend it."

"Hey, it looks like there’s another exoskeleton over there!"

"Type 5 ’Light Cavalry’ Exoskeleton, damn, that looks so cool!"

"The price... 20,000?! I’m out."

"Damn it! It requires being an Advanced Citizen! 50,000 Contribution Points?! I just barely made it to Intermediate!"

"I reckon you need 100,000 Contribution Points to upgrade to ’Knight’ in order to get power armor. Sounds reasonable, manually chuckling."

In Wasteland OL, equipment has no level requirement. As long as you can handle the attributes, you can use it, though using something beyond your capabilities is forced.

Certain rare equipment that restocks randomly does require Contribution Points to purchase.

In the context of the game, these items are considered essential assets of the shelters, hard to secure and limited in quantity, thus available on priority to residents who have made significant contributions to the community.

At the counter,

Boss Xia, with arms crossed, expressionless, patiently repeated her line over and over to the dejected players.

"No more stock. Stop asking."

"Wait for the next Commercial Team to arrive."

The only consolation for the players was that Boss Xia’s Mandarin was becoming more and more standard.

Just then, Heya, with her long silvery hair, approached from the direction of the sanatorium, holding a wooden crate.

She placed the crate on the weapon shop’s counter and said something to Boss Xia.

Boss Xia seemed to comprehend and nodded, then pulled out a pen from the desk, found a piece of wood, and vigorously wrote a line before hanging it on the shelf.

["Torch" Mind Interference Instrument]

Then, Boss Xia picked out something resembling headphones from the crate and casually placed it on the shelf.

Simultaneously.

The player VM’s wiki page was updated with the description of the item.

[Effect: Low-intelligence Variants obey commands after a simple surgical procedure. Applicable to creatures like Claws of Death, Mutant Brown Bears, etc. Not suitable for mindless life forms (e.g. Mucor species).]

[Requirement: Contribution Level must be Citizen, Intelligence attribute above 10.]

[Price: 2000 silver coins (surgery fee not included)]

After reading the description,

The atmosphere around the weapon shop instantly boiled with excitement.

-

(Sorry, only 6K today... I fell asleep qAq)