This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 729 Beta 0.7 Update! The Battle of Heaven Begins!

Chapter 729: Chapter 729 Beta 0.7 Update! The Battle of Heaven Begins!

At the summit of Blood Peak, the setting sun tilted to the west, and the branches laden with broken snow were swept by a biting cold wind.

A middle-aged man wearing a white robe stood on top of the mountain.

His frame was lean, with a high-bridged nose and a pair of rimless glasses resting on his brow. If it weren’t for the white robe on his shoulders, which clashed with his demeanor, he might have been mistaken for an ordinary teacher.

But that was just a feeling.

As for a name, he had none of that.

From the moment he entered the Holy Land and became a Pioneer, he discarded his worldly name and flesh.

However, if one were to speak of a code name, he did have one.

The Mutants of Ten Peaks Mountain called him "Beast King."

As for humans...

Those who were eliminated by the natural laws never had the chance to meet him.

He watched indifferently as the peaks of the mountains roared with gunfire, as cries filled the air, as blood-stained flags rose in the setting sun...

It was only when all that noise had subsided did he murmur thoughtfully.

"Faster than I imagined..."

The Stonehorn Clan was the barrier he had set at the gateway of Ten Peaks Mountain. He had thought they could hold out against the Alliance for at least a month, yet it had taken just one day for the Fushan to change hands.

Though there were still some leftover Mutants and short-statured individuals, they were unlikely to form an effective combat force, at best causing a bit of trouble for the Alliance.

At this thought, a hint of regret appeared on the face of the Beast King.

What a pity...

Gray was a creation he had carefully selected, its prosthetic body had even undergone surgery by his own hand — via the hands of a Mutant priest.

It seemed the strength was still insufficient, and the inherent power of the prosthetic had not been fully unleashed.

However, this did not discourage him; instead, the expression of interest on his face grew more intense.

Mutants were but tools for them, the entirety of Haiye Province was their nursery. Such things were available in abundance. Given enough time, they could even fill the entire Wasteland with these creatures.

Compared to that, experimental data was much more valuable.

They needed to test the results of laboratory research on the battlefield, improve their plans continuously based on the feedback data, and then select greater life forms until they finally completed what the people of the Era of Prosperity had failed to do — the "Perfect Life forms."

Only when humanity evolved into a greater species, could the Heaven they long for truly be realized.

And by then, he would transplant his consciousness back into a new body, and then take the inexhaustible time to think of a new name for himself.

Speaking of which, these Residents of the refuge had quite a knack for naming.

"...Goblin, huh? An interesting appellation."

Glancing at a short-statured individual who was thrown off the cliff, the man’s mouth curled into a faint smile.

He could hear the dying wails of the chosen ones, and naturally, he could also hear the syllables spoken by the mouths of the Residents of the refuge who killed those guys.

The most frequently heard syllables must be the term for those short green-skinned individuals.

He was not very adept at naming his creations; after crafting those short Mutants, he kept them mixed in with the Big Guys. Sometimes the Big Guys even threw them into the frying pan as a side dish.

Unexpectedly, it was their enemies who had solved this problem for him.

Since it was a name given by those Residents of the refuge, he would use it.

It had a rather nice ring to it.

Turning back to the short green-skinned individual who stood cringingly behind him, the Beast King casually left a remark.

"From now on, ’Goblin’ will be your name... Let both your enemies and companions remember it."

An incredulous expression surfaced in those humble amber pupils, which then shifted to excitement.

"Yes... Yes!"

The short green-skinned creature crawled on the ground, fervently knocking its head, gratefully cherishing the name given by the Beast King.

A name!

Tears streaming down its face with excitement.

From now on, they too had names!

The Beast King had vanished, seemingly blending into the snowy wind that day.

"Gob...lin!"

The short green-skinned priest, not yet fully able to speak, stammered as it tried to squeeze out the words, then suddenly turned to look behind at its similarly small brethren.

It shrieked, howled, and danced, communicating the divine sight it had witnessed to its kin and sharing the name given by the Beast King.

In those pairs of eyes initially filled with disbelief and fear, soon fervor and fanaticism took hold.

Those three syllables, like a spell imbued with magic, spread from one green head to another along with the miracles bestowed by the Beast King.

Thus, a tribe named Goblin was born amid the ferocious howls.

Although they had yet to invent their own script or language, they’d learned to call themselves.

This was their first culture.

Bestowed by the gods they worshipped and the enemies who slaughtered them...

...

[Wasteland OL Beta0.7 version update announcement!]

[Major updates:

1. The limit for closed beta qualifications has increased from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand!

2. The Mucor Research Community has been established!

Besides reaching a consensus on "jointly solving the mutated slime fungus issue," the contracting parties have also agreed on a series of specific cooperation methods.

Electronic Pass System: The system is co-designed by the Academy, Camp 101, Endpoint Group, Triumph City Digital Research Institute, and other research units. Alliance players can apply through VM. Players holding an electronic pass can enter the actual control areas of the Sticky Community contracting parties (limited to public places and infection areas, excluding sensitive facilities) to engage in production, business, and exploration activities. The contracting parties promise to ensure the personal safety and basic legal rights of entrants (see details) and to scrutinize every pass they issue.

Foreign Information Service: The contracting parties of the Sticky Community will cooperate on information exchange, establishing signal relays, and laying cable as an alternative to satellite communication. At the same time, all parties agreed not to eavesdrop on the wired or wireless signals of the contracting parties. In short, VM can be connected to the internet outside the Alliance! (Provided that there is a connected signal base nearby.)

Electronic Account: Linked to the electronic pass system, players can use VM’s electronic money to withdraw and exchange currency at major banks of any Sticky Community contracting party, with transaction guarantees from the Alliance Bank. The free exchange limit is 1000 silver coins per day without application, exceeding this requires reporting on the official forum website! At the same time, players can receive local currency as compensation for activities in the controlling area of the contracting parties (currently temporarily open to Dinars, Cr, and non-Science Committee member exclusive G points), and the Alliance Bank will settle it into silver coins in the player’s account at the daily exchange rate.

3. War in Heaven!

All members of the Sticky Community have formally declared war on the Torch Church! Players can freely choose to join the south or north battlefield according to their personal situation or contribute to the production work in the rear to support the frontlines!

North Front: The main direction of the allied forces’ attack! The current frontline is around Ten Peaks Mountain in the southern part of Brocade River Province, with mutants and the Torch Church’s biotechnologically synthesized derivatives as the main enemy units. Troops from enterprises, the Academy, armies, Bugra Free State, and many other forces will arrive at the battlefield, either taking our trains or finding their own way.

South Front: The second battlefield opened by the Alliance in the south! Our allies are contending with the Northern Federation for control of the southern seas, and the Torch Church has intervened. We cannot let our allies struggle alone. By controlling the area, the ships of the South Sea Union will provide us cover! Let our tanks land on their beaches!

4. New maps: Jinjaron Harbor, Potato Harbor, South Sea Islands Alliance, Shelter No. 70, Weifu Wilderness, Weifu Military Base, Ten Peaks Mountain, Ice Sea City, Cloud Down City Settlement, and so forth...

5. Fixed several bugs.

...

]

The update announcement appeared suddenly, without any warning.

One second the forum was hotly discussing the blood battle at Ten Peaks Mountain, the next second the new version’s topics quickly surged to the top of the hot list!

Si Si: "giao! ∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ"

Quit smoking: "Damn! Beta0.7!"

Thunder Mage Professor Yang: "One hundred thousand beta qualifications! The public test is just around the corner! Excited!"

Night Ten: "Awesome! Sacrificed a garbage lord, and straight up summoned the new version!"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Grass! Are you polite?! (Angry)"

Makabazi: "Hahaha!"

Si Si: "Uh... I feel like it’s because I submitted the Administrator’s Log from Shelter No. 70? Never mind, a small matter, it doesn’t seem all that important."

Tail: "Oh! Maybe the surge in beta testing qualifications is actually because of Shelter No. 70!

Meat mountain big steamed bun: "Just a coincidence. (laugh cry)"

The server currently has just over forty thousand beta players.

Compared to the increasingly vast game world and the growing influence of the Alliance, this number indeed seems a bit sparse.

Especially since the last Beta 0.6 update, the game map has expanded out to five light-years away! Yet the server only has forty to fifty thousand players.

Although a surge in game qualifications won’t immediately convert to server online numbers, according to past patterns, every increase in the beta testing limit usually raises the number of beta qualifications issued daily.

And that’s what’s most crucial.

It’s also what countless pre-registered players are eagerly anticipating.

There are quite a few people who have actual businesses running in the game. Some have even invested in their own industries, yet they’re still queuing outside, which has to be said, is pretty damn frustrating.

Compared to the beta qualifications that are the focus of backseat players, the old players are more concerned about the content of the game updates.

The newly established Mucor Research Community has more than doubled the range of player activities, and now there are Alliance save points and communication stations on corporate and academy territories. Moreover, transactions, mission handovers, and receipt of mission rewards can all be done through VM. Not to mention that "Battle of Heaven"—it must be said that this update is quite sincere.

It’s just that the few "new" maps are sort of... not very generous.

Falling Feather: "Wait a second, Jin Galun Harbor, Potato Harbor, South Sea Islands Alliance, the military base of the Wei Mansion, Ice Sea City, Cloud Down City Settlement... Holy crap! Aren’t all the maps added in this update actually maps that have been developed already?!"

Green Lantern Old Wine: "And a few are ones we made up ourselves!"

Eleriya: "Congratulations, you’ve discovered the essence of sandbox games. (amused)"

Gnome King Riches: "Dog plan’s laziness confirmed. (amused)"

Fang Chang: "You can’t say that, though. Pass rights to Ice Sea City and the settlement in Cloud Down City are the results of the Sticky Community meeting... But yeah, places like Potato Harbor and Jin Galun Harbor were definitely developed by us, and our allies in the South Sea Union were also brought over by our efforts. (smirk)"

Fool Turtle: "Big guys, forget about the new maps for now. Which battlefront is better to start on? It’s the first time this newbie has ever joined an army, I’m a bit nervous. QAQ"

Fang Chang: "That’s up to you. If you’ve joined an army, just follow your leader’s orders. If not, it’s up to what you prefer. Right now, there may be more tasks on the northern front, and the south is still contesting for island control, where both main competitors are playing it safe. Also, most of the battles at sea are beyond visual range, and if you’re locked on, it’s just a few torpedoes or missiles away, so if you can’t fly or sail a ship, just wait to see what happens after landing."

Midnight Chicken Killing: "Yeah, without sea control, there’s no air supremacy. It would be great if we could build an aircraft carrier using the production facilities on Coral City and Anle Island, but those places are submersible factories. The Federation’s largest shipyard is right in Charles’s hands, and in a couple of months, they might be able to launch another destroyer."

Backseat Driver With a Mosquito: "Have you considered a submarine carrier? (amused)"

Midnight Chicken Killing: "What is that? (confused)"

Star River Not Entering Dreams: "Submersible Aircraft Carrier, right? It’s an antique from the First World War era. It was discussed after the Iraq War in the ’90s, but the technical difficulties in implementation are high. After all, jet planes and piston planes are totally different concepts, requiring different features on the flight deck... I doubt it’s feasible."

Spring Water Commander: "Well, if we analyze it rationally, it’s not necessarily impossible, considering the game isn’t reality and blindly copying might not work. Looking at the cargo space of the Dolphin, I reckon it’s not so different from an aircraft carrier. In reality, creating a non-submersible equivalent would be tricky."

"If the cargo bay could be redesigned with an upward-sloping runway or catapult launcher, and the top deck turned into a runway, you might not even need to change the blueprints too much. Even if it serves just as a moveable deployment and missile-evading sea airfield, where planes can reload and recharge, that would be great... If I’m not mistaken, that submarine uses fusion power, right?"

Star River Not Entering Dreams: "Damn, that’s awesome..."

Fang Chang: "Hmm, this sounds interesting... I’ll go consult with some professionals in the game. (smirk)"

...

"Talent indeed... These guys are getting more and more creative!"

In Shelter No. 404, Chu Guang, who had just posted the update announcement, couldn’t help but feel moved and gave a thumbs up to the posts below.

To be fair, his little players’ instincts are quite accurate; they’ve nearly guessed the truth a few times.

Yes, the distribution of the Wasteland OL beta qualifications is indeed tied to the unlocking of shelters.

But really, there’s nothing much to hide.

After all, even though it’s a bit weird, it can be treated as part of the game’s setup—only by unlocking more "Novice Villages" can more new players enter the game.

For old players, it’s beneficial to explore more shelters if they don’t want to pal around with the usual names on the list all day.

Ever since the B7 Floor processing center was unlocked, the shelter system had actually given him a lot of authority.

Including the Cultivation chamber and Sleep Cabin, which used to be produced through a Black Box or received by completing tasks, now they can not only be produced on Floor B7 but also have some of their low-tech structural components outsourced to the factories in Dawn City, saving the precious "high-quality production capacity" of B7.

In addition to triggering emergency missions when specific conditions are met, the system no longer guides him like a nanny on how to be a good Manager, nor does it assign him daily tasks like chopping wood, moving bricks, and farming like it used to do in the early days.

Recovering the Administrator’s Log can unlock a varying number of Gene Sequences.

Apart from completing sudden missions, this is almost the only way to obtain Gene Sequences, which, from the players’ perspective, is naturally equivalent to closed beta qualifications.

Previously, Pioneer City managed to recover some abandoned shelters in the Wasteland. The Gene Sequences exchanged through the Administrator’s Logs amounted to approximately 20,000.

Shelter No. 70 also rewarded more than 20,000, amounting to just over 50,000 in total.

Considering the ever-expanding area of the Alliance, as well as the ongoing "War of Heaven," Chu Guang simply issued all the closed beta qualifications and set the daily allocation to three times the base value.

This way, in three months’ time, the server should be able to add 30,000 newcomers, and the ongoing war would be a good way to absorb this "sudden" increase in population.

Whether they choose to work in production at the rear or fight on the front lines, there are plenty of "positions" for them to find gameplay that suits them.

Also, with the guidance of experienced players, there’s no worry these newcomers will mess things up; once they follow the game’s process and obtain their VM, they essentially become one of us.

Moreover, the idea of developing Submersible Aircraft Carriers for the second battlefield opened up by the Alliance in the south, that is, on the southern front, is a very good one.

When he met with Captain Chen Jianhong, they had discussed this issue—the cargo space of the Dolphin was absurdly large, and he wondered whether it could be converted into an aircraft runway or something similar.

Influenced by the experience inertia from the parallel world, Chu Guang felt that not only his players, even including himself, had always had a special affection for the development of aviation equipment.

And in practice, airplanes indeed proved to be very effective.

Especially when operated by the Alliance’s ace pilots, they could not only drop bombs precisely on the enemy’s heads but also turn themselves into human bombs for a precision-guided impact with a 72-hour cooldown.

Unfortunately, at the time, Chen Jianhong only gave him an ambiguous answer since, after all, he was just a captain and not a shipbuilding expert, and it was difficult to make a judgment about something he had never seen before. The experts at Camp 101 had no experience in shipbuilding, so the matter was dropped.

The submarine experts of the South Sea Union were all on Anle Island, and now Commander Li Minghui had agreed to a joint government with Shelter No. 70 members, so borrowing some equipment and talent should not be a problem.

Chu Guang was quite confident in the players he had personally guided, believing that they had already mastered the communication skills of "not being annoying."

"...It looks like I don’t need to worry too much about the southern front. Before the South Sea Union captures control of the Southern sea area, we can focus more energy on the northern front. Xiao Qi, what about those people from Vellante? Where have they gone?"

Seeing Chu Guang looking towards her, Xiao Qi, who was seated on the edge of the pencil holder swinging her legs, immediately sat upright, crisply reporting,

"Reporting to Master, the Army’s troops arrived at Bister Town yesterday! According to the local mayor’s report, Glory Army, composed of 50,000 Clones, is queuing up to board the train. They’ll be taking the special train we’ve prepared for them direct to Brocade River Province."

Pausing for a moment, Xiao Qi continued,

"Also, the Citizens’ Self-Government Committee of Falcon City has sent a message. The 31st Ten-Thousand-Troop contingent directly under the Eastern Legion has embarked on the ’Loyal’ airship. In addition to Tanks and Self-propelled guns, they have also brought an ’Wild Bull’ All-terrain Armored Walking Machine and are expected to reach the front lines within three days!"

Chu Guang, intrigued, asked, "Is it the one we’ve seen in Falcon City?"

Xiao Qi nodded solemnly,

"It seems so."

Chu Guang, of course, had a clear memory of the "Wild Bull."

He had seen it once outside Falcon City; the Academy’s evaluation was that the thing was a hybrid monster born from diesel and nuclear fusion power, but he saw it more as a four-legged walking train cannon.

A 200mm cannon with an automatic loader, capable of unleashing firepower equivalent to an artillery battalion in a short time, plus Deflection Shields and steel armor...

It was evident that the Marshal of Triumph City took the Torch very seriously.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of transporting so much heavy equipment from the West Coast thousands of kilometers away despite the enormous logistical pressure.

Watching Chu Guang fall into thought, Xiao Qi paused before continuing,

"Additionally, troops from enterprises and the Academy are also nearly here. The report from Yi Chuan says that Mechanized Mountain Division No. 100 and the 7th Air Squadron are moving from Yue Ma Province into Brocade River Province, totaling more than ten thousand. The news from the Academy side is that the ’Alpha’ Mobile Task Force under the Committee of Science has applied for passes and will arrive at the north airspace base of Dawn City the day after tomorrow, around a thousand or more people."

"Besides these, forces from Bugra Free State, Lion Kingdom, Honey Badger Kingdom, Falcon Kingdom, West Winds Empire, and Garbage City, as well as other Survivor Forces, have also dispatched troops to the front lines and are expected to arrive one after the other within half a month."

Hearing this, Chu Guang’s thoughtful expression couldn’t help but reveal a hint of a smile.

The stage was set.

The actors were starting to take their places.

"It looks like we’re in for a good show."