Chapter 3: Is This Asshole For Real?

Oh...

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

As it turned out, Chu Guang blamed the system a little too early. He was accurately given five treasures from the loot boxes he bought. The system didn’t notify him of anything being withheld, and no "Thank you for your patronage" message popped up on his interface. It was just that the other four rewards were covering the one in the fifth loot box...

In front of Chu Guang was a bunch of rewards consisting of compressed, vacuum-packed biscuits with a net weight of a hundred grams and three lollipops with a net weight of twenty-five grams. They were apple, banana, and mango-flavored respectively. There was also a note...

The packaging of the compressed biscuits looked alright. Air couldn’t seep in through the vacuum seal. Even though its shelf life and production date were a mystery, no harm should come from eating them. Whatever it was, compressed biscuits were a godsend. The nutritional information stated that each serving was five hundred calories. Whether he ate them as they were or boiled them into mush, they would be able to fill his stomach.

As for the lollipops... They might be pretty dense in calories, but they wouldn’t be able to satisfy his hunger. However, for someone like Chu Guang, who was desperate enough to eat tree bark, the food couldn’t have come at a better time.

Then again... The rewards seemed a little too stingy.

Is it afraid that I’m going to stuff myself or something?! Why is there so little food? Talk about a stingy system...

Standing next to the delivery port, Chu Guang stuffed the food into his backpack before picking up the note. There were words written on it, but they were in the language of the world that he was in.

[... Are there any better creatures in this world to exploit other than players?]

[They’re not just very curious but are also always enthusiastic. When they face hardship, they do not despair. Above all, they can look at issues from the publisher’s perspective and even help us to exploit themselves!]

[I'm such a genius for turning this device into a game!]

[The first administrator of Shelter 404.]

[Please put this note in the fifth loot box. This is an easter egg I’m leaving for my successor!]

Chu Guang was at a loss for words. Honestly, he did not even feel the slightest surprise at harvesting easter eggs. However, he

was

curious about one thing... What did the first administrator mean by turning a device into a game?

"Little Seven."

"What's wrong, Master?"

"Did you know the first administrator?"

"No, my main program was only activated when you entered the shelter. According to the data in the shelter database, it has been more than a century since the previous administrator transferred the operation authority."

"What was the exact year the authority was transferred?"

Little Seven answered, "January 1st, 2157."

When the war ended in 2129, human civilization entered what was called the Wasteland Era. Since 2157 was the twenty-eighth year of the Wasteland Era, that would mean... that it happened one hundred eighty-three years ago!

Chu Guang had been good with numbers ever since he was a child, especially when it concerned key information like that. He also had an amazing memory.

"In other words, one hundred eighty-three years ago, the first administrator invented a set of devices that’s capable of projecting parallel world consciousness into clones. He packaged them into a game, but never used them for some reason. Is that right?"

Maybe it was because of the nuclear winter or some other reason.

Perhaps the shelter hadn’t met the right conditions to be activated. In any case, anyone from a hundred years ago should have already passed away.

"Probably," the little bin-like creature replied, its mechanical voice filling the room.

Chu Guang suddenly grew curious about this mysterious person’s identity. "What's the first administrator’s name?"

A person who could come up with strange ideas might not necessarily be a genius, but the word “genius” wasn’t nearly enough to describe someone who could invent such incredible technology after the complete fall of civilization. Projecting a human consciousness from a parallel world and putting it into a clone... Chu Guang couldn't even imagine how anything like that could be done. Such technology had already surpassed his scope of understanding and was no different from magic.

"I don't know. There is no detailed information about him in the known database. Maybe it was deleted?"

"Forget it... I might as well just talk to a wall than ask you any questions...”

Chu Guang was slightly disappointed, but not discouraged. Although he had only unlocked Level B1, as his mission progressed, the secrets buried would eventually be revealed.

After placing the note into the drawer of the computer desk, Chu Guang tightened his backpack.

Noticing his movements, Little Seven, who was squatting in the corner, asked, "Master, are you leaving?"

There was no emotion in its voice, but it sounded really pitiful.

"Mhm, the players won't log in for another three days. It makes no sense for me to keep watch here. It's better for me to go back and get things ready."

The damn place was supposed to be a shelter, but there was nothing to eat or drink! Chu Guang only had a piece of biscuit half the size of his palm and half a bottle of water left.

Oh right, he also had the rewards that he had obtained from the loot boxes. Even so, his supplies still wouldn’t be able to last three days.

In the nearby survivor settlement, he had a simple shack with some supplies and useful tools. Chu Guang intended to go back and bring everything he needed bit by bit. From now on, this would be his new base.

"Right, Little Seven."

"What's the matter, Master?"

"I need you to do me a favor." After a pause, Chu Guang continued, "Our official website is too rudimentary. I need you to add a forum, an information page, and an illustrated handbook. Can you do that?”

Simply put, he wanted potential players to learn more about the game he was baiting them into. It was too damn difficult to scam someone into playing with words alone. At the very least, he needed the visual impact.

"Of course. You have the authority to edit the webpage, after all. Aside from accepting game invitations, you can also add sub-pages or make changes to already existing ones...” Little Seven explained.

"Great. I’ll leave it to you then."

"I will take care of it!"

Little Seven seemed ecstatic about the task it had been given. Its volume even increased by half a decibel. Of course, Chu Guang could also just be hearing things.

The next moment, Little Seven asked, "Master, when will you come back?"

Chu Guang thought for a while before replying, "Three days at the latest. If everything goes well, maybe before tomorrow night."

...

Back on Earth, in the Bull and Horse Club group chat.

Their old friend Light had disappeared after giving them the link. No one knew whether he had simply gone offline or was secretly watching everything unfold.

The original topic about a fully immersive virtual reality game had almost been forgotten, but a few minutes earlier, Light had suddenly pulled the admins into a side chat, catching everyone’s attention.

Quit_smoking: Damn, is that guy serious?

Quit_smoking was an active member of the group, but he wasn’t a group admin.

White_horse_passing_a_crevice: Mhm, after you applied, he created a separate chat room and invited us over... (Scratching head)

White_horse_passing_a_crevice was the owner of the group, so he was naturally involved in the conversation.

The chat blew up right away.

- WTF! This is scandalous!

- Do you know the name of his company? I want to report his unethical practices! (?° ?? ?°)

- Fuck off. Company my ass! Last year, there was a company doing VR development. Not only did they lose the entire investment, but their boss also went to prison! No one is interested in doing VR anymore!

- Don’t you want to talk about this privately? Light might be reading the chat right now. (?° ?? ?°)

- Do you know why he’s doing this? Is he trolling us?

- Who knows? He’s probably promoting a gambling site or something.

- I think he is just a troll! Kick him out.

The discussion was getting so heated that they were starting to throw personal attacks around.

A frown appeared on Ye Wei’s face. However, just as he was about to say something, the owner of the group stepped in.

- The group has been muted.

White_horse_passing_a_crevice: Guys, come on. Our new members might not know Light, but he’s a really nice guy. Well... he might be an ass of a shot and might be half-blind... Well, his skills are pretty shit too, but overall, he’s not a bad person.

There_will_be_ample_time: I don’t believe that Light would try to bait us into gambling online. We’re not sure if his account has been hacked, but if it has, our management team will take care of it. After I lift the restriction, please change the subject. ?

- The group has been unmuted.

Since the owner and the admins had spoken, everyone dropped the previous topic and quickly started talking about the European Cup.

Ye Wei didn’t watch sports. At least, he didn’t watch football. Looking at the time in the lower right corner of his screen, the numbers showed that it was already 18:00. It was time for him to get some dinner.

After uploading his unfinished homework to the cloud drive, Ye Wei pushed aside his chair and got up. He went downstairs to the cafeteria and ordered a spicy chicken fried rice, which he happily devoured.

When he wandered back to the dormitory, he saw a cardboard box on his desk.

Is that a delivery?

"Hey man, what the hell did you buy? Why is it so damn big?!” one of his roommates asked curiously, causing the other two to lean over to take a look as well. Although they were curious, they all respected each other’s privacy. Hence, even while Ye Wei was gone, they didn’t touch his stuff. However, now that he was back, they were eager to find out what he had bought.

"I didn't buy anything... Who sent this?"

His roommates looked at each other.

"I didn't see..."

"I didn't notice, either."

"I don't know, I just went to get takeaway."

Huh? This is creepy...

Usually, deliveries would be sent to the pickup station on the first floor of the dormitory. This box had been delivered directly to his room. What was even creepier was the fact that he had never indicated which room number he was staying in on any online shopping sites that he had visited.

Are delivery drivers really so amazing these days?!

He opened the cardboard box and saw a helmet inside. It was shaped like a motorcycle helmet and painted completely black. The only special thing about it was that it didn’t have a visor; his whole head would be covered if he wore it. At first glance, Ye Wei almost thought it was a giant pot.

"What is that?" the guy at the next table asked. He then picked up the helmet and fiddled with it. He put it on his head, took it off, and then returned it to Ye Wei, confused.

"How would I know?" Ye Wei answered.

Is it really a pot?

With a dazed expression, Ye Wei also tried putting it on his head. It was completely dark, but just as he was about to take it off, a pale blue light suddenly penetrated the darkness and shone onto his retina.

[Time until game activation: 71 hours and 19 minutes]

This... Is this a gaming helmet?! Holy shit! How did it get here so fast?

Ye Wei was stunned. Taking off the helmet, he looked at his roommate who had tried it on earlier. “Didn’t you see it?”

The only response he received was a stunned gaze.

“What am I supposed to be looking at?”

"The countdown! It says ‘waiting for game activation!’" Ye Wei quickly said.

"Huh? That’s a game console?”

"Hey, pass it over and let me have a look! Liu has bad eyesight." Another roommate took the helmet and put it on. After a while, just like the other roommate, he took it off.

Confused, he said, "I didn’t see shit...."

"Let me try."

All three of Ye Wei’s roommates took turns trying it, but each one reported not being able to see anything! After glancing at each other, they simultaneously looked at Ye Wei with strange expressions.

"My man..."

Ye Wei raised an eyebrow. “... Yeah?”

"Do you... want to get yourself checked out in the hospital?”

"Fuck off!” Ye Wei exclaimed as he snatched the helmet angrily and put it on again. Like the first time he had worn it, a small light blue print showed up again.

[Time until game activation: 71 hours and 17 minutes]

The countdown had gone down by two minutes. That wasn’t all. He realized that no matter which way he turned his head, the countdown remained at the center of his field of vision. Even if he closed his eyes, he could still see it!

Disbelief filled his expression.

The fuck? Am I seeing things?