This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 65 alpha0.4 version update! Night System launched! (3/4)

Chapter 65: Chapter 65 alpha0.4 version update! Night System launched! (3/4)

Official Website:

[Wasteland OL Closed Beta Server Alpha 0.4 Version Update Announcement.]

[Major Updates:

1. The number of players in the closed beta increased to 90.

2. The "Night" system is officially launched.

]

[Optimization:

1. Enrich NPC facial expressions.

2. Optimize the details of snowflake textures.

3. Fixed a few bugs.

...

]

As usual,

after the announcement was released, Chu Guang, as a planner, clicked to send the edited post.

"Developer’s Diary: Alpha 0.4 Version"

"Hello everyone, I am your dearest planner! After sacrificing a programmer, we finally completed the development of the alpha 0.4 version!"

"Before, some buddies complained that they could only enter the game after six in the evening, and could only chat on the official website during the day."

"Now, this ’BUG’ has finally been fixed. Even during the day, everyone can clock in normally. Surprised? Unexpected? Happy?"

"If you’re happy, then I must congratulate you for being happy too early!"

"Because in the setting of Wasteland OL, characters controlled by players not only have physiological needs such as eating and drinking but also have a hidden fatigue value setting. In other words, your character in the game also needs to sleep!"

"High fatigue can lead to a 1-33% reduction in attributes, and excessive fatigue can cause characters to become delirious, hallucinate, or even pass out, triggering a forced logout. If you want to step into the Wasteland in the best condition, please ensure more than 8 hours of offline rest time per day, and stay with your family and friends."

"This setting is not just for hard-core elements but also out of concern for players’ health. You can think of it as a type of addiction prevention system."

"The night online function will start today at 12:00 PM, and it will be exactly 0:00 in Wasteland time. By the way, since Wasteland OL is set at night full of dangers, even if you log in, you can only move within the base. Please be very careful."

"Here again, to reiterate, we are a serious company, and Wasteland OL is a game that focuses on light and casual gameplay."

"We do not advocate overworking or being competitive."

"Enjoy moderately, maintain good daily routines, plan your game time reasonably, and I wish you a pleasant life!"

As soon as the post was sent, the comment section exploded, as expected.

Makabazi: "Wait, casual?!"

Construction Teen with a Brick: "Not grinding?!"

Crow: "Wait, Demon Demon Spirit, someone here is suspected of false advertising!"

Pick Up Trash 99 Level: "?? Wait, now everyone can work night shifts? Damn it! What advantage is there for the Lizard people now!"

Spare People Under the Knife: "Hahahaha, Trash brother, epic nerf! Version bro confirmed!"

Pick Up Trash 99 Level: "Crying here!"

Quit Smoking: "Damn, that’s too much! You all can stay online all day, and I haven’t even got the internal test qualification! T.T"

Irina: "I just checked, and the number of reservations has already exceeded six hundred. This time releasing 40 places, which means... your chance of winning is less than 6% (funny emoticon)."

Quit Smoking: "Damn (flipping off emoji)!"

Grandpa Ao: "Laugh, only fools would make reservations!"

Chu Guang burst into laughter when he saw this line and nearly couldn’t resist giving him a beta qualification.

That was close.

Must hold back!

Early tickets are valuable, and one must not be wasteful, especially on forum pets. Candidates must be chosen with extreme care, and it’s not yet time to start being generous.

Chu Guang sent an internal message to the chosen children, closed the forum, got up from his chair, and went to the corner to nudge Xia Yan’s arm.

"Hey, wake up."

Maybe these days had been too comfortable because he’d let his guard down, and this guy actually fell asleep memorizing his lines.

Moreover, he was muttering in his sleep about things like "chocolate," "wine," "I can’t eat anymore."

Awoken from a sweet dream, Xia Yan, still groggy, opened her eyes.

When she clearly saw Chu Guang in front of her, she got startled like a frightened hamster, instantly wide awake, and nervously huddled her knees and arms.

"What?"

Chu Guang pointed with his chin to the next room.

"Reminding you to go back to your room, don’t sleep here."

Xia Yan sighed with relief, mumbling as she leaned on her cane and staggered back to her room.

Clearly, she was still not fully awake.

Thinking that he couldn’t count on her for a while anyway, Chu Guang didn’t bother with her and turned to Xiao Qi, instructing,

"Xiao Qi, I’m going to take a nap, remember to wake me up at 11:55 PM."

The camera on top slightly nodded, and Xiao Qi energetically responded,

"Okay, Master!"

...

Wasteland time, 0:00.

It should be noon, 12:00 PM in reality.

With Chu Guang lifting the login restriction through the system, a total of 27 players logged into the game.

Honestly, Chu Guang was quite surprised.

Didn’t expect there to be so many slackers who don’t work during the day?

Of course, it could also just be today.

Facing the players with faces full of excitement, eagerly wanting to go out and see the stars and the moon, Chu Guang used a stern look to quiet them down.

Next, were some lines he made up in his dream.

"Winter is coming, danger is approaching."

"Our recent explorations and hunting have alerted our neighbors. For us, this is both an opportunity and a sign of danger."

"Now, I need 8 brave warriors to step forward—"

Chu Guang hadn’t finished speaking when the sound of shuffling feet arose, twenty-seven pairs of legs moved forward in unison, and he was completely overwhelmed.

"Cough, wait for me to finish first."

After a light cough, Chu Guang readjusted his composure and faced the eager gazes, speeding up his speech,

"I need 8 brave warriors to take on the heavy responsibility of night duty, to serve as guards at the Outpost Base."

"During your duty, your equipment will be provided by the shelter, and you will receive 15 Copper coins and 10 Contribution points per hour as a reward."

"The maximum duty time each night is 8 hours, with a shift occurring after 6 hours. If someone dies in the line of duty, the death penalty other than the resurrection cooldown will be waived, and depending on the situation, a compensation of 1 to 10 Silver Coins will be awarded."

Chu Guang paused for a moment, then continued.

"You have 20 seconds to think about whether you really need this job..."

"Now, those who need it, please raise your hands."

The last sentence was obviously unnecessary.

For those obsessed with staying online 24 hours, this lucrative offer was incredibly tempting!

From midnight to six in the morning, there are 6 hours. At 1.5 silver and 10 contribution points per hour, that totals 9 silver and 60 contribution points!

Apart from the slightly lower contribution of the night shift, the monetary gain for six hours nearly matched what the layabouts earned during the whole day!

Almost as soon as Chu Guang finished speaking, twenty-seven hands were raised in the residents’ hall without hesitation, resembling a collective surrender.

Indeed, it was also Chu Guang’s fault for not clarifying that raising two hands was the same as raising one.

However, such trivial details were not important.

Chu Guang asked Xiao Qi to register the first eight players who raised their hands, then went to the storage locker in the buffer room, and took out the locked weapons to distribute to them.

Eight people shared four 7mm revolving rifles, forming four pairs. Each pair was responsible for one side of the enclosing wall, one person handling the gun and the other handling the ammunition.

In addition, each person was also carrying a wooden bow, nine arrows, a Molotov Cocktail, and a homemade grenade made with black powder and a can.

Chu Guang specifically instructed them that if Variants approached, they could shoot or chase them away with arrows. They were not to fire near the enclosing wall, nor throw any incendiary or explosive devices.

If they encountered an unidentified survivor, they should chase them away with arrows from thirty meters away. If the person continued to approach without understanding or showed hostile intentions, they were allowed to open fire freely.

If it was a Mutant, they should fire without hesitation.

After all, they would surely do just that...

...

Under the envious gaze of other players, the eight guards proudly stepped onto the elevator and returned to the surface as the first batch.

As the four groups each reached their positions along the enclosing wall, the remaining players also came to the surface under Chu Guang’s lead.

Outside the sanatorium, the Star River was brilliantly ablaze.

Having never seen such a clear night sky, the players widened their eyes, hoping to imprint the sight they were seeing forever in their minds.

"It’s so beautiful..."

"Is this really the Wasteland?"

"So you can actually see clouds at night!"

"You believe in in-game effects too?"

"It would be nice to live in this world permanently."

"Haha, keep dreaming. If you actually ended up in this forsaken place, do you think you could survive two episodes?"

"Uh, maybe not then."

"..."

The ban on using high-heat facilities like cement kilns and blast furnaces at night was lifted.

As the players’ activity area expanded, the need for secrecy lost its meaning, and continuing to hide was just fooling oneself.

Besides, the dozen or so guns in the base weren’t just for show.

Chu Guang needed these production facilities to be operational, preferably around the clock, to maximize output and produce weapons, protective gear, tools, parts, and construction materials needed for the Outpost Base.

Besides, these obsessed players finally had the chance to come online at night, and surely they couldn’t just be left idle to play in the mud, could they?

For them, having nothing to do was far more unbearable than having work to do!

On the three-meter high concrete enclosing wall,

Elf King Fortune and Irina were in charge of guarding the southern section of the wall.

According to the distribution of powers surrounding the shelter, the south and west should be the safest, one being near a scavenger settlement and the other near a lake, so there wasn’t too much concern.

If any Variants, Mutants, or Looters were to attack, they would come from the east or the north.

Unless they tactically went around to the back.

But was that really necessary?

The two players stood behind a barrier made of old car doors, looking out into the dark forest twenty meters away, passing time with idle chatter.

Irina said, "It’d be great if the game had a built-in browser, where we could at least watch some series while we’re afk on guard duty—it’s ridiculous to have to stay in the game!"

Elf King Fortune replied, "A built-in browser? Ha, I’d be satisfied just to have a visual attribute panel before the beta! But speaking of which, Mole, the expert, has once again accurately predicted our current version, alpha0.4, implementing the concept of defense. I just don’t know when those muscle-bound greenskins will show up."

Irina said, "How do you know it wasn’t just the dog planners seeing the post and making last-minute changes? Comically manual."

Elf King Fortune said, "How on earth do you make last-minute changes? Do you even understand how game development works, bro? Do you think they can alter a project worth billions just by erasing something on paper? Didn’t the planners say it took them meetings around the clock for three days just to sort out the money system?"

Irina replied, "I know, of course. They even sacrificed a programmer just to get us online at night. But you being so serious just makes you look silly—"

"Shush!" Elf King Fortune suddenly became alert and gestured for silence. "Quiet... there’s something outside."

"Holy crap... Really?!"

Just as they were talking about it?

The two players nervously pressed against their cover, carefully watching outside while their hands firmly gripped the bowstrings, arrows ready.

Was it a person?

Or a Variant?

An eerie feeling lingered in their hearts.

However, it was pitch black outside, and they couldn’t see anything.

Elf King Fortune’s eyes were almost bursting with blood as his "Thermodynamic Vision" swept along the edge of the forest. It was his first time using this skill that needed manual activation, and he wasn’t proficient, ultimately finding nothing.

Irina couldn’t help urging him.

"Did you see anything or not, brother?"

"How could I see a damn thing? You think my eyes are telescopes?" Elf King Fortune cursed, wishing he had better Perception talents.

Unfortunately, he had Agility.

What a waste of a talent, he thought.

Irina comforted herself, thinking at least they had this junk as cover, and their opponents couldn’t see them either.

In fact, she was right.

Their opponent couldn’t indeed see them, and thus refrained from rash actions.

In the forest, a pair of sharp eyes firmly fixed on the enclosing wall, moving along its outline, as if weighing the pros and cons.

Faintly, sounds of metal being forged and bustling voices could be heard from within the wall.

Ten people?

No, it had to be a settlement of at least twenty or thirty people.

The conversation on the wall had abruptly stopped, probably because they had noticed him.

It showed that the people guarding here were quite vigilant!

A hint of wariness shone in those eyes as they silently slipped back into the darkness, concluding this round of probing...

He was only tasked with escorting offerings back; it was best not to stir up additional trouble.