CHAPTER 502: CHAPTER 160: CAN YOU MAKE MY EMPLOYEES ADDICTED TO WORK?

Lin Miao’s new version preview post got pinned and reached hundreds of replies within minutes, with forum players cheering in front of their screens like minions every time they read a line.

Their expressions easily make one imagine them as Bob, Kevin, Stuart...

Although the stuff they’re doing and how crazy they are is pretty much like the minions.

Some were shocked that it’s only the beta testing stage, but there’s already a city map of dozens of square kilometers in the game, not to mention the millions of randomly generated high-intelligence NPCs inside.

It’s possibly more than all the NPCs in currently known games combined, and they have thinking logic very close to real humans.

Now you’re telling me there’s going to be a Big Sur map added to the game?

Isn’t this completely absurd?

[Brother Dao: Is this game planning on including the whole of California?]

[Shui Yue: Maybe one day I’ll be able to play GTA 5 in this game and deliver food in Los Santos]

[Brother Ni: I think you guys might be focusing on the wrong thing. R Star is at least a U.S. company; they built a city model after onsite research in Los Angeles. Big Sur, that’s a California scenic spot. If someone actually builds it, that’s a pretty scary thing indeed, BRO]

An actual one-to-one map model might get anyone caught as foreign spies, and they wouldn’t be wronged.

[Brother Ni: bro, we are players, not developers. Who cares where the map comes from? Maybe this is a new technology developed by the United Nations (slippery)]

[And it probably isn’t even a real map. Didn’t you see how barren Big Sur looks in the pictures? There must be some fabrications; there’s no Night City in reality either, right? Plus, even if the Americans want to send a lawyer, they need to find where the company’s headquarters is first, right? If they find it, I should be thanking them.]

The location of this mysterious game company is still completely unknown to players, like it sprouted out of the ground, everything is a mystery.

But that’s a hassle for the people above; they’re just players, being able to play the game is enough.

However, compared to the seven-digit reservation count, the 1,500 slots really aren’t enough, countless cloud players are (darkly crawling) (screaming) (writhing) (sliding) under the post.

[madao: With 1,500 reservation slots, shouldn’t it be my turn already? I have been on the reservation list for two whole months!]

[Super Balloon Democracy Official: What? Just 1,500 slots, and they want to distribute them in three waves? The frozen meat that dies in an hour on Super Earth is more than this number! Quickly let me in!!!]

Under the new version event, some people went mad too

[Red Bucket: Hehehe, my version has finally arrived! But I must first warn you not to celebrate too soon.]

[Once you wear this red safety hat, you’ll no longer be a mere mortal, no holidays of the earthly realm will touch you anymore. If you want to slack off, this hat will lock your soul, keeping you forever at the dusting site]

[Before you put on this safety hat, is there anything you want to say?]

[Tutu: Me, me, me... cough cough...]

[Tower-pusher: There once was a security job offered to me, but I didn’t cherish it. Only after I lost it did I regret it deeply. The most painful thing in the earthly realm is this. If Heaven could give me another chance, I would say three words to the delivery guy... You’re not the owner, get outta here]

[Red Bucket: Hard to hold, first of all, that’s eight words. If I were the owner, I’d punch you dead first]

[Brother Ni: What did I say! What did I say! I friggin’ started the version event, found the entrance to the old net, isn’t it awesome? From now on, this place is called Mizuki Square!]

[Wildman: Speaking of Mizuki, I heard Brother Ni, did you just leak out that Ah Shi really has been cheated on, and Shibata Katsuie got cuckolded by you?]

[Brother Ni: Ahem... I must admit that Ubisoft did something fierce this time. As for what you mentioned, I can prove it’s true; I am Mizuki, I just woke up from Ah Shi’s bed, that chick looks... hey...]

[Natural Curl: At this moment, Hideyoshi Toyotomi should be begging you lightly at the door, Ah Shi is afraid of pain~~]

[Brother Ni: Friendly reminder, remember not to exceed two hours of game time, because your gaming experience for the next forty hours is the same as the first two hours, and it’s hard to get a refund, hahaha]

The players burst out in lewd laughter.

But don’t be fooled by their harmonious appearance now; they were actually ready to start an internal competition behind the scenes.

Notice how none of them collectively talked about investment matters.

...

Because of the incident in the Watson District two days ago, Arturo lost his job.

He was originally a dream maintenance technician at DMS, which by right shouldn’t have anything to do with the Watson District blaze. But the sudden drop in the number of customers led the company planning department to decide that there was no need for so many staff. They laid off employees right away. Quite a few people who showed up to work received a termination notice as their first email of the day.

Of course, there’s no severance pay here, and even if you leave, you still have to continue repaying the implant loan given by the company.

Arturo carries a whopping 230,000 euro gold loan, and if he doesn’t want to be sent to a scavenger’s operation table by a debt collector, he must find a new job before the next repayment date arrives.

But in Night City, DMS is no longer the entertainment giant that spanned music, film, news, and dominated the globe in the 2020 era. Its operating scope has been simplified to just dream services, and its reputation is far from what it used to be, considered by its old rival, News 54, as nothing more than roadside trash.