Chapter 2 Shelter 404
Chu Guang, male, aged 26. His parents divorced when he was young and grew up with his grandfather.
In the second year after entering university, his grandfather passed away and he became alone.
Fortunately, he was born in a peaceful era, so he was able to finish his study with the money he earned from his part-time work. After graduation, he got a job in sales. Because of his outstanding work performance and the appreciation of his boss, it didn't take long for him to be promoted to be the supervisor.
Just when Chu Guang was optimistic that he could finally have a good life after surviving the toughest period of his life, God didn’t play by the book.
And this time, Destiny made a big joke with him.
About five months ago.
Chu Guang still remembered that when he was negotiating a contract that was worth 20 million yuan with a client, it just happened that his boss was in a great mood, so he drank too much.
When he came back to his senses, he was already lying in the wilderness.
Moreover, this was no ordinary wilderness.
After walking two miles in a row, he was shocked that he didn't see a single figure. In addition, he was almost chewed by a big dog with two heads.
Thanks also to the beast with two heads, Chu Guang broke out in a cold sweat in fear, and as soon as the sweat broke out, he became sober completely and ran away hurriedly.
Maybe it was because the two heads were too heavy and they didn't coordinate well while running, the dog chased him for a while and didn't catch up with him, so they gave up after barking at him a few times.
Even without seeing the beast, Chu Guang still didn't dare to go back, but he also didn’t know where he should go.
Only then did he realize that his wallet and mobile phone were gone, and even his clothes had been replaced with a blue jacket that he had never seen before.
He found a small puddle and looked down under the moonlight. Good god, not only was his outfit changed, but his head was also different.
He didn't know which crazy guy had drugged him, changed his face, and left him in this deserted place.
While Chu Guang was wandering in the wilderness aimlessly, the smoke from a distance attracted his attention.
Looking back now, Chu Guang still had some lingering fear.
At that time, he was thinking of calling the police, and desperately running toward the wisp of people. After thinking about it, it was fortunate that he came across a place where survivors lived.
If it were some predators who kill people without blinking their eyes, cannibals, or mutants, etc., he would have already been eaten by other people.
After contacting the survivors living here, Chu Guang learned from the fragmentary clues that this place was no longer country Hua, or even the earth he was familiar with!
In this parallel world, the war two hundred years ago destroyed all the achievements of civilization, leaving only a devastated wasteland, as well as survivors who lingered on the wasteland.
And now, it was 2340.
It was also the 211th year since human civilization entered the Wasteland Era in early 2129!
Dumbfounded.
Shock.
Unspeakable fear.
Fortunately, Chu Guang's receptive ability was fairly strong. After getting through the first days, he gradually began to adapt to life here.
He had struggled to live in the wasteland for five months, and every day, he had to worry about when the next meal would be. In addition, he had to fight against mutant creatures and malicious predators.
Just when Chu Guang thought pessimistically that this was how his life would end, the situation took a huge turn a few hours ago.
In the remains of an abandoned nursing home, he found the entrance to Shelter 404.
To be precise, it was not Chu Guang that found it, but that the facility named "Shelter 404" found Chu Guang.
The sound that rang from his mind guided him to the shelter.
But when Chu Guang approached the nursing home, he suddenly realized that this was the place where he first woke up in this world!
If I didn't run around at the beginning, or if the sky was a little brighter, he might have found it already!
In any case, the "cheat" that was five months late finally arrived.
At the same time, a brand new job was also placed in front of him.
This Shelter seemed to have been prepared for him, and it had been waiting for a long time.
From the moment he stepped into the door of the Shelter, his identity changed from a scavenger to the only resident and administrator of this Shelter 404.
And he had only one job.
That was to use the Internet on Earth to guide or fool a group of creatures named "players" to come to this world to work for him.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtYes, the incredible technology in this Shelter not only could connect to the Internet of the parallel world, but also had its own "official website"!
Players who applied would automatically get a number and register it in the [Shelter Resident Directory] of the administrator system.
As an administrator, Chu Guang could choose a specific number to issue a "game qualification".
The system would deliver the game helmet to the player in a special way. Players only needed to wear a helmet to connect to the culture chamber in the Shelter, and then they would wake up in a clone’s body.
Very considerate.
And also very convenient!
Although there would be no punishment for not taking this job, the reward for completing the mission was something that Chu Guang could not refuse anyway.
Such as that body armor.
After struggling to survive in the wasteland for five months, he knew too much how important this life-saving thing was.
In addition, the points of quest rewards were also good things. He could redeem the rewards named "Blind Box" on the [Administrator Allowance] page.
He needed 1 bonus point to buy the primary blind box, 10 points for the intermediate blind box, and 100 points for the advanced blind box.
According to the explanation of the function of [Administrator Allowance] by the "Shelter 404 Administrator System", the type and quantity of the items drawn in the blind box vary, but he would still get something in the end, which meant that there was no such thing as "Thank you for your patronage".
Different levels of blind boxes determined the guaranteed rewards.
For example, the primary blind box could be used for food and supplies the last time, the intermediate blind box was guaranteed to get medicines, and the advanced blind box could get weapons.
As for whether the primary blind box could give out the prize of the intermediate blind box, it was not stated in the description of the system, but even if they could, the probability was estimated to be low.
Just as Chu Guang wondered whether all the 5 points in his hand should be used to open the primary blind box, or if he saved enough for 100 points to draw a weapon, the "bin" squatting in the corner spoke again.
"Master, the new mission has been updated in your administrator log. Please check it in time."
"I see." Chu Guang replied annoyingly.
‘Damn it.’
‘Who is the master here?!’
Rolling his eyes towards the corner, Chu Guang put the blind box aside for the time being, and called out the administrator system in his mind.
Soon, a light blue holographic screen was projected on his retina.
——Administrator's Log——
[mission: Shelter 404 activation conditions have been met, the first batch of "containment items" are confirmed to be delivered, and it is required to ensure that at least one player logs in to the game.
Type: Main mission.
Reward: Active substance extractor.]
[mission: Prepare a generator with a power greater than 10kw.
Type: side mission.
Reward: Reward points +100.]
Huh?
100 bonus points? !
After reading the missions updated in the administrator's log, Chu Guang's eyes lit up.
But what made him even more concerned was the reward for that main mission.
"The active substance extractor… What is this thing used for?"
Little Seven replied.
"The active substance is the raw material for making clones. As for how to use it, there should be something like instructions?"
As an AI assistant, in fact Little Seven didn't know much information.
At present, Chu Guang only had the authority to reach the B1 floor of the Shelter, and the authority of other floors needed to be unlocked through the main mission.
By the way, if he forcibly destroyed the wall structure of the shelter and tried to illegally invade other floors, it would cause the shelter's electrical facilities and air exchange facilities to be interrupted.
When he first entered the shelter, the "Shelter System" loaded into his brain had already informed him.
But even without this reminder, Chu Guang felt that he would not do the stupid thing about demolishing his own house.
After all, if he demolished this place, where would he live in the future?
Moreover, this kind of shelter was designed to withstand strategic-level nuclear strikes, it was not easy to destroy it.
Let alone the nuclear bomb, he did not even have a gun.
"Okay, I pretty much understand it now."
In other words, active substances were similar to "resurrection coins", which were resources that players needed to consume to re-synthesize clones.
At present, there were 100 culture chambers stored on the B1 floor, all of which were in an activatable state. Chu Guang believed that there should be 1 unit of active substance inside, which could supply the consumption of the first synthetic clone.
According to the system's "one machine, one number" setting, Chu Guang could now summon up to 100 "players" to descend into the world in the form of clones.
Of course, Chu Guang knew in his heart that things were not so simple.
First of all, there was currently no traffic on the official website of Wasteland Online.
After most people hear the "100% real immersive virtual reality game", their first reaction was that it was a lie.
After all, this kind of technology did not exist in reality, and even the mainstream media would make such obvious lies.
Secondly, even if there were 11 players who were fooled by him to apply for a place, he couldn't be sure that these 11 players would listen to him.
Players had the initiative to enter and log out of the game.
And his own power could only "kick out", "ban login rights", and "confiscate game qualifications" of the troubled players, but he could not force them to wear helmets and go online to work for him.
Therefore, who he needed to give the qualification to—especially the first batch of “closed beta” players must be cautiously selected.
It was better to be less than messy.
Otherwise, it would be very troublesome for him!
Then, there was a most critical problem.
The conditions on the wasteland were also determined. At this time, more people did not mean better.
One more person meant one more mouth.
He could hardly support himself, let alone feed a hundred people.
Even if he had the conditions now and opened all the 100 culture chambers, they would be food for mutants and predators.
Other than that, it was pointless.
Chu Guang went back to the computer and sat down again.
After calmly thinking about it for a long time, his thinking gradually became clear.
Login to his penguin chat account, Chu Guang then opened the game group called "Bull and Horse Club" and opened a discussion group for the group owner and the three administrators.
Then, he sent a message.
[After you applied, please send me the updated number on the official website. ]
[There are only four qualifications for close-beta testing at the moment, so if you want, I will ask my company and see if I can give you the qualifications and the game helmet directly. ]
They often played games together, so it was not that obtrusive to give them this kind of benefit.
The most important thing was that Chu Guang couldn’t think of any acquaintances he could ask in reality, and he could only rely on these netizens who had never seen him in reality, but had known each other for quite some time.
Relative?
After his grandpa left, he hadn't talked to them for many years. If the police didn't notify them, they might not know that he was no longer in this world.
landlord?
At the moment, he probably only cared about where the rent was.
Classmate?
He hadn't contacted them after graduation.
Colleagues?
Haha, very funny.
Presumably because of bad luck, Chu Guang found that they had deleted him already.
Moreover, even if they didn't delete him, Chu Guang would not send them a message. After all, he probably died at the dinner table.
Messages from the dead to the living were scary, even just thinking about it.
In contrast, these netizens were undoubtedly the best choice.
They didn't know him in reality, and even if he hadn't been online for five months, they wouldn't think too much about that.
White_horse_passing_a_crevice: [Boss you are awesome! ]
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLevel_8_Gale: [Super! Awesome! ]
There_will_be_ample_time: [666! ]
Girls_public_enemy_ten_times_a_night: [OK! The old brother is invincible! Waiting for your game helmet! (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]
Chu Guang continued typing his instructions.
[But there is one thing I have to declare, the equipment can only be used by you, don’t lose it, let alone dismantle it; otherwise, I can’t explain it to the company. ]
[In addition, the device will be bound to the user’s identity information. In principle, a device can only register one account, and it can only be used by one person. ]
Although he reminded them that, he didn't worry that the players would not follow it.
According to the system, the helmet would recognize the player's identity information, and the non-player couldn't use it at all.
As for the equipment...
He did not need to worry about this.
Since the system could deliver the helmet to the player, there must be a way to solve the "after-sales service" problem, which was not something he needed to care about.
There_will_be_ample_time: [Are there any charges? ]
Chu Guang: [No fees during the close beta testing phase, but because of the tight budget, there is no reward for players. ]
There_will_be_ample_time: [Noice, I’ve sent you my number privately. ]
White_horse_passing_a_crevice: [Awesome, hahaha, give me one too. If it is really completely immersive virtual reality like you said, I will live stream your game to promote your game for free! ]
Level_8_Gale: [Haha, in that case, count me in as well. ]
Girls_public_enemy_ten_times_a_night: [(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]
Although these four old brothers obviously didn't believe what he said, let alone that kind of fully immersive virtual reality game actually existed in this world, they still sent him the number he asked.
After all, it was just a number generated by the official website.
It was not the bank card number and password.
Besides, they were also very curious about what he was doing...
After receiving the number, Chu Guang did not hesitate, and immediately called the administrator system, found [Shelter Resident List], and checked "Issued Game Qualification" after the four numbers.
It would take three days to synthesize clones in the culture chamber.
During these three days, the system would use special means to deliver the game helmet to the player… they didn’t even need to fill in the delivery address.
As for the specific method used, whether it would attract the attention of some organization, or whether it would be suspected of illegal operation by the government, Chu Guang was even lazier to worry about it.
He hoped that more people would notice his official website, and it would be best if it would cause a sensation.
In this way, he would have more options.
"Master, didn’t 11 players apply on our official website? Why are you only giving out 4 qualifications?"
Perhaps noticing the activated culture chambers in the next room, Little Seven, who was squatting in the corner, expressed doubts.
"Because I don’t need that much for the time being."
Turning off [Shelter Resident List], Chu Guang then opened the [Administrator Allowance] page in the system and spent all five bonus points on the "primary blind box".
It was pointless to save and buy advance blind boxes.
The reward for mission 2 was 100 points, so he didn’t need to save these 5 points.
Fluorescence flickered in the light blue holographic screen, and the wall on one side of the room gently vibrated again. With a light click, the alloy door of the "outlet port" opened.
Looking at the things lying on the platform, Chu Guang was slightly stunned.
"This... is the blind box?"
Little Seven replied.
"Probably."
Chu Guang collected himself and said.
"I thought the prizes would at least be packed in boxes."
Little Seven tried to explain.
"Perhaps the blind box is just a setting?"
But what was the point of a blind box that did not need to be unpacked?
Why not just call the lucky draw?
Staring at the reward in front of the conveyor belt, Chu Guang was silent for a while.
"I know it is a setting."
"But there are only four that came up? I spent five points."