This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 337: The Unfathomable Ah Guang

Chapter 337: Chapter 337: The Unfathomable Ah Guang

The message was sent to the group chat.

The chat went silent for a moment.

Suddenly, everyone began to chime in.

Old White: "Yanqing’s Olympic bid was successful."

Fang Chang: "3G wings are too fast, huh?"

Wild Wind: "Are you a GG or an MM?"

Night Ten: "Damn! Are you guys even listening?"

MMP!

Seeing the chance to make a fortune, I thought of you guys first.

Ye Wei, clutching his mobile phone, was both frustrated and amused. Just as he was about to type an explanation, another message from Brother Fang Chang popped up.

Fang Chang: "No, it’s just that the group has been discussing for a while. Your sudden comment caught me off guard."

Ye Wei: ???

What?

Has there been a discussion for half a day?

Ye Wei paused and quickly slid his index finger up the screen, indeed seeing messages about the sudden spike in the price of silver coins.

Damn it.

Am I the only one out of the loop?

Ye Wei’s expression was somewhat subtle.

Originally wanted to show off to the brothers.

Now this is awkward.

Fang Chang: "Just give us the conclusion, these buyers popping up on the official website, they probably have significant backgrounds."

Quit smoking: "What do you mean, explain."

Fang Chang: "Do I need to explain? Would any normal person spend a billion to buy a bunch of numbers?"

And it’s not just one person.

It’s a group of people, as if they’ve agreed to pool together and buy!

Not to mention other currencies.

Just in the RMB trading area, there’s a tycoon throwing out a billion, breaking down 2 million silver coins into 20 orders, neatly filling the price range of 55~45.

Although the orders are anonymous, making it impossible to tell if they’re placed by the same person, the amounts don’t lie.

Placing an order on the silver coin trading platform isn’t just about entering a number.

You need to have the funds verified.

Pick up trash 99 level: "Have these people gone mad? (Confused)"

There are really mosquitoes in WC: "Damn, I’m starting to suspect these are game officials’ dummy accounts!"

Fang Chang: "We can’t rule out that possibility, but it’s unlikely. Normal, slightly larger companies with a decent number of players don’t bother with these micromanagement tactics, let alone a game company with millions of followers, cutting-edge technology, and devices you can use for free."

Quit smoking: "Then what do you think they’re up to?"

Fang Chang: "I guess it has something to do with that auction."

Ye Wei, staring at his mobile screen, paused before typing.

"...Auction?"

Fang Chang didn’t explain further but instead sent Ah Guang’s post to the group chat.

And, worried his good brother might miss it, he even highlighted it for him.

Looking at the text circled in red, Ye Wei was baffled.

Night Ten: "Holy... This is just Ah Guang’s usual bullshit, right?!"

Isn’t bullshitting in posts what Ah Guang always does?

The old players all know that, right?

How could there really be an auction...

And what would they auction?

An automatic banana feeder?

Fang Chang: "That’s true, but some might take it seriously."

Ye Wei poked the screen and typed back.

"This... how could anyone take it seriously?"

Fang Chang: "Like batteries, for example."

"Batteries?!"

Doesn’t Ah Guang work at the game company?

Ye Wei was puzzled.

Fang Chang: "Let me make an assumption, guys, how many years ahead do you think that helmet is compared to our current 5G smartphones?"

Wild Wind: "...There’s no comparison, right?"

Fang Chang: "Exactly! There is no comparison, it’s as if these two things belong to different eras. And this is precisely the issue! An organization with mysterious technology suddenly announces they intend to auction an unheard-of technology... If you happen to work in the related field, wouldn’t you be interested?"

Ye Wei, fixated on his mobile screen, was stunned.

Now that you mention it...

It kinda makes sense.

Although Ah Guang often teases about their company’s potato servers, how could this "completely immersive virtual reality game" that can hold thousands of players online at the same time run on a potato server?

Forget potato servers...

Even Tianhe-X might not be enough, right?

It might even be the legendary quantum computer.

And not the experimental one in labs, but a mature supercomputing array made of multiple quantum processors!

Ye Wei felt his head buzzing.

His imagination wasn’t enough.

Pick up trash 99 level: "Holy... the more you talk, the more I think our game was made by aliens. (shaking in fear.jpg)"

Quit smoking: "Should we just tag Ah Guang and ask? (Nervous)"

Old White: "Ah Guang won’t respond to questions about the game, and besides, his account hasn’t been online for a long time, it’s no use tagging him."

Quit smoking: "But I still don’t get it, if they really needed money... why go through all this trouble, they’d make a killing just by going public, right?"

Pre-sales, then produce trash, isn’t that how the industry operates?

On the contrary, isn’t this secretive approach a bit weird?

Fang Chang: "Yeah, it is strange. My guess is... maybe all of what Ah Guang said is true, their server really can only handle a few thousand people online at the same time."

Scrambled Eggs with Tomato, who had been silent, suddenly chimed in.

"If what Ah Guang says is true, then those programmers who died..."

The group fell silent for a while.

Old White: "Cough, alright, you guys stop telling ghost stories... We’re discussing silver coin prices here, how did the subject change to Ah Guang. Let’s not talk about Ah Guang for now, tell me about your plans."

Dream on.

Ye Wei was most interested in this topic, typing with a grin he couldn’t hide.

"Buy a house! Isn’t that obvious?"

He had it all figured out.

Housing in Jiang City wasn’t expensive, and second-hand homes were even cheaper. Taking advantage of the high demand for silver coins, he intended to cash in two or three million first, buy a place near the school, and then purchase another for his parents.

Then he’d have one publicly and one privately. When someone asked him how much his property management fee was, he could just pull out two keys—"Which one are you asking about, junior sister?"

Though it was a bit tacky.

But that’s not important!

Showing off is all about feeling good yourself.

Noticing the weird looks from his buddy beside him, Ye Wei quickly realized he was getting carried away again, cleared his throat, and moderated his exaggerated smile.

Messages whizzed up the mobile phone screen.

Quit Smoking: "Tycoon!"

Pick up Trash 99 Level: "666!"

Fang Chang: "That’s a valid approach, improving one’s life is reasonable. However, when it comes to large-sum transfers, you must be very careful about security."

Looking at the messages on his screen, Ye Wei paused.

"Being careful means..."

Fang Chang: "A few hundred thousand, or even one or two million doesn’t matter, it’s small fry and no one will care about you. Some small business turnovers can reach this level, as long as you pay your taxes legally and aren’t involved in criminal cases, the bank would at most call to ask if you’re interested in their products."

"But once the amount reaches tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, you have to consider the transaction counterpart and method carefully."

Anonymity and safety are always relative concepts, not absolute.

Abnormal activity in a personal account will automatically raise the bank’s scrutiny. And if that incoming money is in foreign currency, then it’s not just an issue of taxes anymore.

And that’s not all.

What Fang Chang was most worried about wasn’t the money, but the identities behind those backers.

If it was just a normal company, that would be one thing.

But it would be problematic if it wasn’t just companies involved, and if the situation was more complicated.

Fang Chang even had a feeling.

That in some place out of sight, another "Game" was unfolding.

Perhaps this "Game" had already gone several rounds; the players had reached a preliminary consensus and were tacitly maintaining a seemingly stable balance.

There Really Are Mosquitoes WC: "Hey, if that thing’s really that great, why don’t we join forces and just gather up some silver coins to snag it?(smirk)"

Although it sounded somewhat far-fetched, it was actually feasible.

The owners of Bull Horse Brick Factory and Goblin Technology, as well as a bunch of early version players, were all in this group.

Million Silver Coins might be expensive, but everyone could chip in if they gritted their teeth.

Even forget 1 million, pulling in a few more people to gather 2 million wasn’t a problem.

The key was that there were only so many silver coins available on the trading platform; by turning off the tap, they could effectively "corner the market."

No matter how much outside capital there was, they could only watch helplessly on the trading platform. As long as the official website didn’t disclose the buyer’s identity, no one would know who ended up with the merchandise.

Fang Chang: "I know what the hell you’re thinking, and while I admit it’s one option, I sure as shit don’t want to be that target. Besides, even if someone gave me battery designs or whatever, I’d still be clueless. Playing the ’Game’ is my main gig, I don’t have the energy or time for anything else."

Old White: "Haha, what kind of loser talk is that... But I can’t really say much about you. My advice is the same as Fang Chang’s, just cash in a bit of silver to improve your life, Wasteland OL is just in beta testing now, cashing out early is a big loss."

There Really Are Mosquitoes WC: "Sheesh, you guys with no ambition... Starting a company doesn’t conflict with playing the game!"

Cornering the market isn’t something one person can do alone; it requires everyone working together to ensure all the chips are on their side.

To be honest, Mosquito was quite interested in what Ah Guang was auctioning off.

Not because he expected it to be "valuable," but because he was... a bit mischievous.

What if it turned out to be something good?

Buying it to take a look wouldn’t be too much, would it?

If it proved useless, he could always add a zero and sell it off.

The auction was still three days away, and people on the official website were already offering a billion for silver coins,

If they wanted it that bad, they could take a billion, saving Ah Guang the transaction fee.

But, upon second thought, Mosquito realized Fang Chang had a point.

Recklessly getting involved in unfamiliar situations was indeed not a wise choice.

"...Never mind, never mind, you make sense. The more I think about it, the more complicated it seems, better to observe first."

Fang Chang: "I’m glad you’re thinking this way. By the way, I have a proposal."

Quit Smoking: "What proposal?"

Fang Chang: "Night Ten just mentioned buying a property and it reminded me, we’ll probably have more opportunities to cash out silver coins in the future, and frequent personal transactions are still risky. Why don’t we just register a company, transfer from personal to business, and then from business back to personal? This adds a step, but makes paying taxes and staying within regulations much smoother."

Seeing the message on the screen, Ye Wei’s eyes lit up and he quickly agreed by typing.

"That’s a brilliant idea!"

Being a landlord has none of the cachet of being a shareholder!

Of course, he wasn’t just trying to show off.

He simply thought that explaining income as an individual and dealing with the tax service was too much of a hassle.

He still had to attend school, make bricks in Wasteland, and maintain his own social life and activities in reality.

Just like Fang Chang said, it was better to register a company and have professionals take care of these matters for them.

Pick up Trash 99 Level: "But what kind of company do we register?"

Fang Chang: "Actually, that’s easy to figure out, just fill in the template based on typical power-leveling services and game studios. There’s Information Technology services, E-commerce, many options."

Quit Smoking: "Damn, we can do that?"

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "Eh... won’t that be a problem in terms of business scope?"

Fang Chang: "It depends on the location, the same regulation can be applied differently in different places, it’s pretty relaxed where we are."

"If you guys think it’s fine, I can take care of it, that’s OK too!"

Compared to discussing how to spend money, it seemed that a shared venture sparked more enthusiasm for discussion.

The group started earnestly discussing, with a mix of serious and less serious topics.

The topic quickly went from the company’s business scope to the amorous affairs portrayed in the old online gaming narratives.

Looking at the messages on his mobile phone, Ye Wei suddenly thought of something and typed.

"Speaking of which, what shall we call our company?"

Surely it won’t still be Bull Horse, right...

I still want to show off with a business card.

The group fell silent for a moment.

Fang Chang: "Is that even a question? (sidelong glance)"

Wild Wind: "Indeed."

Old White: "Has this guy’s account been hacked?"

Quit Smoking: "Hahahaha!"

Ye Wei: ’...’

Chu!

...

Camp 101.

Aven was flipping through the materials in his hands.

As the archive manager of the camp, his main task was to organize and classify the knowledge given to them by the "mentors," and to select the appropriate parts to be handed over to the production department or the education department, to serve as guidance for production materials or teaching materials.

This job was not easy.

The so-called science and technology was not just a few sheets of paper, nor was it a string of data.

It was an entire "system."

In the distant era of the Human Alliance, hundreds of millions of researchers and related professionals jointly supported the scientific research system of the Alliance.

Some were responsible for gathering, some for analysis, some for proof, some for pointing out the direction, some for questioning, some for summarizing, some for managing...

That was blood and flesh made up of hundreds of millions of cells.

And so-called technology was but the hair that grew from this flesh.

What about now?

All they could do was to collect the giant’s sweat hairs and wrap them around themselves for warmth.

Not to mention him...

Even that legendary "Academy"— what about it?

Many of them were bona fide old popsicles from that era.

But even so, the legacy of the Alliance was still vanishing every second, and all they could do was to save as much as possible within their capacity.

Aven believed his work was meaningful; after all, as long as one was alive, there was hope.

It was okay not to make starships; they could start from the most basic screws.

However, as he aged, this work became more and more difficult for him.

In fact, this work was not supposed to be done by him alone.

But given Camp 101’s small population, many people had to take on multiple roles.

Like himself.

He was both the archive manager and a school professor, and occasionally when the production department encountered insoluble problems, they had to bother him, someone who knew a little about everything, for help.

They had thought about hiring more people, but ordinary Waste Land Wanderers were simply not adequate, at most capable of helping them cook, clean, or collect some rubbish...

After pondering for a moment, Aven stuffed the last stack of printed papers into the folder.

Just then, a knocking sound came from outside the door.

He knew who it was from the sound and spoke.

"Come in."

The door opened.

A pleasant voice drifted in with the wind.

"Master, were you looking for me?"

Standing at the door was Pai.

She was not particularly tall, wearing a blue-striped white jacket, her light golden hair hanging past her chin, and her nose and eyebrows had a touch of heroism; her eyes were the blue of the sea... even though Aven had never seen the sea.

Maybe because her eyes and the Blue Jacket were the same color, she had been doted on by the forerunners of the shelter since she was very young. They even gave her a precious bionic chip, which endowed her with a memory and computing abilities far beyond ordinary people.

It was said that even the Black Box could not produce such a thing, and even before the war, it was valuable, with one less each time it was used.

Thanks to this, at just 16 years of age, she had mastered multiple professional skills such as mechanical engineering, microelectronics engineering, and astrophysics.

According to the standards of the Academy, her professional level was already sufficient to qualify as a Class D researcher or prospector, and the gap between her and higher-level researchers was merely experience.

After all, experience could not be simply acquired through learning.

Listening to that lively voice, Aven sighed softly and looked at the girl at the door, correcting her formally.

"It’s ’Teacher.’"

Pai pouted.

"Alright, Teacher!"

Why so serious?

But remembering what the educational affairs officer had said to her earlier, she still tried to be patient.

This would make her seem a bit more prudent, cute, mature—especially more reliable!

Looking at Pai at the door, Aven’s expression was complicated.

This child was his most proud student, not only smart but also diligent.

However, she had many shortcomings.

Like being restless, lacking a sense of awe, and unable to endure tedious work...

The "treasure" bestowed on her by the forerunners had spared her from the troubles of contemplation, but many qualities, including patience, were to be attained amidst those troubles.

Aven really could not imagine her sitting quietly at a table, sorting through materials like he did.

It looked like he would have to postpone his retirement age again...

"The school should have told you that starting from tomorrow, you will represent the visiting group and go on a visit to the City of Dawn, the capital of the New Alliance."

Pai stood up straight, full of enthusiasm.

"Don’t worry, Teacher! I will definitely bring back a beautiful agreement!"

Aven smiled and said.

"That won’t be necessary; your main task is to show friendliness and then to inspect the local cultural landscape and social environment... When you return, I need you to write an investigation report."

"Ah? Isn’t that just being a mascot..." Pai looked a bit disappointed.

When the educational affairs officer talked to her about this, she thought she was being sent as a diplomat to represent everyone in Camp 101 and the forerunners of Shelter 101 to sign an equal and friendly cooperation agreement with the New Alliance and Shelter No. 404.

That’s it?

Although it’s nice to take a trip, she wanted to do more for everyone.

Especially something more meaningful.

Anticipating what his student would say, Aven explained gently.

"Before communication, the first thing to do is to understand; don’t underestimate this work. Your survey report will help us more accurately assess our neighbors, which is crucial."

This statement lightened Pai’s mood somewhat.

Especially the last part, "crucial."

"Don’t worry, Teacher! I promise I’ll count every screw in their settlement!"

Seeing Pai regain her spirits, Aven nodded in approval.

"You don’t need to go to that extent, just have polite conversations with them... Go and prepare, we leave early tomorrow."

"Sir yes, sir!" Pai happily saluted with her index finger, hopping and skipping away.

Listening to the joyful sounds coming from outside the door, Aven shook his head with a smile and stuffed the folder of documents into the drawer.

He believed that Hoene wouldn’t place all his hopes on just one person.

There were others accompanying her.

Compared to the inspection itself, showing respect and courtesy was actually more important.

In plain terms, the only expectation he had of her was for her to be an industrious mascot.

Everyone had their own work to do.

Doing one’s own job well was enough.

...

The next morning.

In the camp of Dawn City.

Where the land had once been barren, now sat square shipping container dormitories.

By the standards of City of Dawn, the living conditions here were undoubtedly modest, but they were much better than the shanties most survivors built for themselves.

With the combined efforts of the aid construction team and the local survivors, the nearby land had almost been completely leveled.

Having addressed the issue of temporary accommodation, the construction team’s leader, Rudi, didn’t rush to build houses but instead started digging tunnels in the ground.

These tunnels weren’t trenches but the future sewage system of Dawn City.

With June’s rainy season approaching, it would pose many challenges to construction, so the sooner the drainage problem was addressed, the better.

What comforted Chu Guang was that deep friendships had formed between the workers of the aid construction team and the local survivors through their labor.

To put it in the words of Company P’s players — [Mainstream Attractiveness +50%, Stability +10].

Although much remained uncertain in the days to come, this was undoubtedly a good start.

Standing at the entrance of the tent,

Chu Guang was directing Xiao Qi, operating a drone in the sky from their screens.

At that moment, Yin Fang came by.

"Here are the documents you asked for."

He pulled out a storage card, the size of a thumb, from his pocket and handed it to Chu Guang.

Most of the carbon-based electronic materials in the New Alliance were made from parts taken off from VMs.

This storage card was no exception.

Chu Guang took the card and casually slipped it into his pocket.

"Thank you."

"Don’t mention it, but may I ask what you need this for? We haven’t used lithium batteries for a long time," Yin Fang asked with interest, his curiosity piqued.

He remembered that it was before the northern campaign, in the browsing room on Floor B4, when Chu Guang had a long heart-to-heart talk with him, and they ended up discussing lithium batteries.

He found it odd at the time.

Although lithium was in demand during the Prosperity Epoch, it was rarely used in batteries.

After all, compared to the "pure" and environmentally-friendly hydrogen batteries, the old-fashioned kind had virtually no advantage. They were just the most appropriate choice for that era.

As their conversation went on, he mentioned a membrane material used at the time to restrict the growth of lithium dendrites, and Chu Guang became interested, insisting that he arrange for him the related literature and production processes.

But afterward, the matter was dropped.

So much time had passed that he had almost forgotten about it.

Hearing Yin Fang’s curious question, Chu Guang didn’t go into detail, merely smiling lightly.

"It has its proper use in the right place; just consider it a personal interest of mine."

Faced with this evasive explanation, Yin Fang showed a helpless look on his face.

What difference does such an explanation make from saying nothing at all?

However, he wasn’t really that concerned.

Prosperity Epoch materials might be niche, but they weren’t complex.

If he had been asked to arrange related materials for a Class C technology like solid hydrogen batteries—even though the New Alliance could already produce them—the process would have still taken 100 man-hours or more.

But an old relic from history...

Even non-professional science books could provide some clues; one just had to follow the trail and find them.

In any case, the expedition had plenty of "warriors" who dared to charge into any ruins.

He himself was never so brash when he worked as a prospector.

Training a professional researcher was indeed difficult...

"If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I was just asking casually. But speaking of which, how did Camp 101 respond to you? Did you make any progress with the reactor issue?"

"Repairing the reactor is a systemic project, they need to understand me before we can deepen our cooperation."

"That makes sense," Yin Fang nodded thoughtfully, "once it’s repaired, maintaining the stable operation of the reactor... those Waste Land Wanderers you found are not up for that work."

Chu Guang laughed and said,

"That’s for sure; everyone has their limits to their abilities. Take me, for example... If you asked me to research that thing, I would probably be at a total loss."

Yin Fang: "Really? I thought you had a talent for it."

"Is that so?" Chu Guang said with interest.

This was the first he’d heard of that talent for himself.

Yin Fang spoke with certainty: "Of course, it’s true! Not everyone at the Academy is engaged in research. There is a severe lack of managers who respect knowledge and researchers there. I heard it wasn’t like this in the past."

As he spoke, he sighed sorrowfully, seemingly reminiscing about a dismal past.

Chu Guang joked to comfort him,

"Maybe it’s because your place has too many talents. So come over to my side soon. We don’t have many people here, and even fewer smart ones, so it’s easy to fool them."

Yin Fang laughed out loud.

"I almost believed you!"

Few smart people?

Easy to fool?

That was the funniest joke he’d heard all day.

While they were speaking, Chu Guang’s VM on his arm vibrated lightly; it was a message from Xiao Qi.

Chu Guang looked at his arm and his eyebrows rose slightly.

"They’re almost here."

That was quicker than expected.

He heard that the personnel accompanying included engineers as well as bodyguards from Shelter 101.

Yin Fang asked,

"They? Who?"

"The delegation from Camp 101."

Turning off the screen, Chu Guang looked at Yin Fang and said casually,

"Since you’re here anyway, let’s go together."

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