CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 20: NEW WORLD CIVILIZATION

One week later.

In a certain group chat.

"Brothers, the person in charge said that the beta testing slots are limited, first come, first served. You can invite people, but the IP address must be in Mountain City, as it’s currently only designated for testing in our Mountain City."

Logging in is only possible in Mountain City, and the reason is simple.

Because Zhu Zhengwei’s "Mobile Dream Net" currently barely covers this area.

"Could it be that our city’s company developed it? Then our city is on the rise! What kind of game is this?"

"It’s a game about contemplating life, called ’The World’, where you become a plant. It’s a very tranquil game for watching scenery, and the company reportedly aims to assist with sleep."

"Huh? So it’s basically looking at scenery from a plant’s perspective in the game interface, making you wear a VR headset and fall asleep watching?"

"Damn! This game sounds boring; you can’t even move, it’s such a drag!"

"Well, it’s not a major company’s game, so they’re probably leaning towards a beautifully thematic VR scenery game, quite suitable for scenery and casual enthusiasts."

"I’m in the gaming industry, and from the description, it clearly lacks competitiveness. ’Elderly Sleep Aid 3D Desktop’ is of the same category, a beautiful game where you view scenery. The simulation of scenery took a grand production, ambitious with multi-million-dollar investment, movie-level virtual effects, soothing audio, and a beautiful fairy-tale setting... It was targeted mainly at the elderly urban crowd, marketed as a ’City Nature Sleep Journey’. They thought of implementing a monthly subscription, considering how large the elderly market is, it should rake in the cash. But most elderly are frugal and do not have this habit, resulting in catastrophic losses."

Many people are skeptical.

There was a previous failed case, your company isn’t one to easily give up.

Moreover, who are you underestimating?

You made another game in the ’Elderly Sleep Aid 3D Desktop’ category, starting us on a wellness journey?

But still, some people entered the game.

Ding!

"Welcome to ’The World’"

"Beta version 0.2"

"Current Version Expansion Pack: Leek Rebirth."

"Current online login count: 514 people."

...

"Leek?"

Many people were immediately stunned.

Goodness, truly astonishing!

This game is really straightforward!

Very quickly, people began playing the game, and the responses were exactly as Zhu Zhengwei imagined.

The reactions were "astonishing," yet also "mediocre."

Zhu Zhengwei casually clicked open a game review.

"Major production! Super major production, brothers, giving it a shot is absolutely worth it! The visuals are shockingly incredible! This is absolutely extraordinary!"

"Damn, compared to other VR virtual games, it’s like comparing 480p to ultra-high definition!"

"Every frame is wallpaper, money-burning on animation! You can see how dedicated this game company was to making this elderly sleep aid game! (crying and laughing)"

At the moment of entry, countless people were stunned.

The graphics are simply outrageous.

Outrageous to the point of being terrifying.

The previous dynamic beautiful scenery game with a dozen dynamic scenes cost tens of millions to produce, claiming to feature high-definition visual wonderlands, recreating real-life Huashan, Mount Shu, Zhangjiajie... But this game’s scenes already completely overshadow it, must have cost billions? With top domestic and international technical teams?

Which foolish company splurged all that money?

But if we don’t mention the money aspect, the game quality is reassuringly excellent.

Handsome Nanren: "Ahem, now officially entering a simple review, starting with the expansion pack ’Leek Rebirth’, which is very quirky. The game content: we are born as a plant, leek, dandelion, wild grass, wheat, randomly growing in various places, living the life of a plant, and then randomly reborn as a plant again."

"The gameplay is very simple, I am currently born in a plain, with some building remnants in the distance."

"Wow! The scenery is truly stunning! The dynamic scenes are incredibly real! Sunsets and sunrises, just like a fairy tale!"

"And what’s more noteworthy is that our visual scenes are not just in one place, I casually interacted with the group, and we all have different birth scenes - coastline, cliffs, hills, desert!"

"There’s even a lucky one who, as a wild grass, was born by a cobblestone path occasionally seeing specially dressed travelers! My gosh, there are actually ’hidden beautiful scenes’ with characters, I have no idea how many of these ’sleep scenes’ the game company has prepared, but it’s really dedicated, wealthy dog tycoon!"

"Honestly, to what extent is it detailed? A breeze blows, and we can see ourselves swaying, it’s just so beautiful! If we could move in it, it would be a cross-century super game world, a real ’Elder Scrolls World’, but unfortunately, we all know we can’t, it’s just a scenery-viewing game, sacrificing gameplay for pure visuals, being a plant and enjoying the view."

"At first, I thought it was dull, but in reality, once you have the patience, it’s quite interesting, allowing me to experience a plant’s life, very calming, akin to meditation, cleansing the mind and soul, really a super healing game!"

"Currently, the official says it’s still in the testing stage, but it’s already polished to an impressive degree, with no flaws that I have discovered until now."

"That’s the preliminary review."

"Summary: The gameplay is simplistic, as expected from the start, it’s a niche beautiful scenery game, sleep-oriented, aimed at the ’elder care’ and ’scenery party sisters’ crowd, mainly for sleep. Just imagine, wearing a VR headset, listening to the wind, rain sounds, watching day and night cycle, isn’t it beautiful? Relief from modern stress, falling asleep peacefully. Although the scenery is very beautiful, I already foresee that watching it for too long will likely become boring."

"Recommendation Index: Five stars, a niche hidden gem! (I’ve already introduced this sleep desktop scenery to my grandparents, they loved it, saying it’s otherworldly beautiful.)"

...

Zhu Zhengwei scrolled down.

The comments had overwhelmingly positive reactions.

Someone commented: "Ah, I absolutely love it! It’s really great for sleep, I’ve been suffering from insomnia lately and managed to fall asleep instantly."

How could you not sleep?

A new type of second-generation remote hypnosis technology.

Although the hypnotic strength isn’t enough, it’s suitable for aiding sleep and can draw people into the Mobile Dream Net.

Someone commented: "Yay! It’s truly a sleep divine artifact, super healthy, I’ve been using it these past few days and really feel at peace, like meditation, my mind has cleared a lot, study efficiency has increased! I’m going to recommend it to my girlfriends!"

Exercising your brain every night.

How could this brain-training equipment not be effective?

Zhu Zhengwei looked at the increasingly satisfactory feedback:

"Very good, just as I expected, a niche hypnosis scene game, similar to Minesweeper in its simplicity and honesty, without arousing suspicion, nothing bizarre, only co-workers in the industry might wonder: which idiot spent so much money on a scenery-viewing game? And still call it leek rebirth? I think this colleague itself is a big leek."

Which is quite wonderful.

Everyone thinks I’m a philanthropist, allowing myself to remain perfectly hidden.

Even if the truth is discovered, I can retreat safely, as no one can trace back to my origins and background.

Zhu Zhengwei observed the login numbers, adding to the previously existing 400 servers, the numbers have reached the limit: 1000

Although it’s niche, given the population base, this number is still easily reached.

And the carrying capacity of "Mobile Dream Net" is gradually getting stronger, but beyond the 1000 mark, Zhu Zhengwei felt he couldn’t currently sustain more.

So he stopped allowing more entries.

There were also many complaints:

"Why can’t I get in?"

"Filled up? What about my noon nap? I’m addicted! I need to hear the sounds of nature! Begging for a slot!"

"Well, I understand, the graphics are exaggerated, even for a scenery game, too many people can’t get in, the server can’t handle it."

...

"So young, you are the server." Zhu Zhengwei glanced once and ignored it.

His main goal was to bring people in, nothing more mattered.

The method indeed proved viable!

Adding another six hundred servers, the computing power across the world rose once more, so his plan could officially begin.

"With the surge in computing power, go to some kingdoms and scatter some seeds of civilization." Zhu Zhengwei lightly stepped, entering the entire world.

In a barren desert.

Zhu Zhengwei walked on dry leaves, after a hundred years, once again entering this world.

"The old era is finally over, and the world has long since changed beyond recognition." A man with a tear mole and an elegant appearance, exuding a mysterious aura, stood in the desert, looking up at a gigantic stone city formed by a towering megalithic circle, with yellow sand gently blowing.

Thud thud thud.

Elephants carried travelers on the yellow stone road.

Along the desert, wind and sand, shattered stone, a profound sense of desolation approached.

Zhu Zhengwei remembered the countless mentions in the long-life diary of that colossal city and softly said, "That’s the Hundred-Stone City of the Slave Dynasty, each megalith stained with elephant’s blood and human tears."