Life is an adventure, and Debt Giant Eye has always taken this phrase to heart.

So—

Even if he occasionally hits a pitfall, it's not a big deal.

Actually, when he saw the list of agents, he already had a vague feeling of foreboding, but when he heard the agent swear confidently that they would definitely bring the original, authentic public beta version, he believed half-heartedly.

It turned out—

He was still too naive, believing whatever others told him, forgetting that not everyone is as trustworthy as Brother Guang.

When he saw the mosaic turn into a mosaic, and finally, he too turned into a mosaic, the starry domain imprinted in his pupils finally couldn't hold it anymore and turned into fear.

What the hell?!

Why can't he control his body!

Wait—

Damn!

"Don't come over here, ahhh!"

His soul was leaving his body.

Turning into something of another form.

Then not only his spirit, but he felt as if his existence was forcefully injected with harmony.

When everything settled, Debt Giant Eye looked wide-eyed at the disappeared balance in his account and the debuff "Stamina -10%, duration half an hour," losing the light in his eyes.

Just now…

What exactly happened?

Where did I come from and where am I going?

Why do humans hurt each other?

Also—

What exactly happened before the Big Bang?

He gradually began to ponder what the meaning of life was, like a true sage.

From now on, the Wasteland had one more person who turned over a new leaf… probably.

The issue is no longer whether it's realistic or not.

This is just too damn educational!

...

"Achoo!"

At the same time, Chu Guang, who had just returned from Leech Cave to the safe zone, sneezed and rubbed his nose while muttering.

"Who's praising me for being handsome behind my back again..."

Forget it.

There's not much point in guessing who it is, since he's heard similar things to the point of his ears developing calluses.

Just as Chu Guang was stretching and about to log off, he unexpectedly ran into a familiar face.

Why say familiar? Because that six-foot figure and hearty presence were like cast from the same mold.

Not just the modeling.

Even that silly and cute demeanor was exactly the same, looking not very smart.

Chu Guang jumped out of the mini-map and glanced at the ID, even the ID was the same type.

[Player ID: Crow 7778]

Hmm.

Seems like a lot of numbers were added before registering.

It's definitely her.

Seeing her looking around as if searching for something, Chu Guang thought for a moment and decided not to greet her.

Because force is mutual, and so is awkwardness.

However, just as he was about to bypass, those eyes searching around suddenly looked over.

"...Wait! Please wait a moment!"

Even though he felt this might be troublesome, since he was discovered, Chu Guang stopped his steps and casually threw a team invite over, speaking in the team channel.

"What's up?"

Crow stopped, her face flushed, stuttering for a long time, finally squeezing out a sentence.

"You are Ah Guang?"

Hearing this, Chu Guang didn't need to guess; it was definitely Night Ten exposing him.

Otherwise, even if she knew his nickname and knew the public beta server used his real face, it's impossible to find the exact region.

But then again, he didn't ask his good brother to keep a secret for him.

Getting back to the point.

Looking at Crow's apple-red face, Chu Guang was also momentarily unsure how to react.

What to say?

This guy is indeed a bit different from other players.

As the first player in the server to awaken the talent for identifying toxicity, she was certainly used plenty of times by him, especially when he couldn't decide if a mutated creature was edible.

In the Alliance's early days facing a food crisis, she and Old Na were of indispensable merit, greatly enriching the River Valley Province survivors' cuisine.

Later, when the Alliance had a Biological Institute, Crow was no longer needed to try each one, but whenever Chu Guang wanted to order takeaway without hassle, he'd still trouble her to run errands.

Though she was a casual player, it didn't interfere with her affairs, but deceiving her with "increase familiarity to unlock hidden quests" wasn't entirely good behavior.

Besides, he was also passively subjected to hearing her many secrets and real-life worries—even though he didn't want to hear them, and tried more than once to hint this girl to keep her privacy, not to share everything with NPCs.

In short, it's indeed a bit awkward.

But besides holding on, he really didn't have a better way.

"...It's me, what's wrong?"

"So you're indeed real..."

"Yes."

"Wh-why pretend to be an NPC..."

"This question is long. Due to various difficulties, though I don't expect you all to understand, it's fine if you hate me."

"Hate... not to that extent."

Crow's face was as red as a lantern, like a kettle at boiling point.

Her lips twitched for a long while, finally saying something she'd held in her heart for ages.

"What I said before..."

Chu Guang looked aside with a subtle expression.

"I didn't tell anyone."

So he indeed heard it!!!

At that moment, Crow seemed to have put on a mask of pain, hugging her head and crouching down on the ground.

Those eyes lost their dreams.

Just like Big Eyes losing its dream.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Having lost touch with the outside world, crouching on the ground, she murmured in an empty voice.

"It's over... my life... is already finished..."

Chu Guang sighed and said.

"It doesn't have to be like that. I'm from the Alpha Universe, you can treat everything over there as a dream. Even if people in the dream know your secret, it won't have any impact on your real life."

He's not very good at comforting people.

After all, for the past 200 years, he hasn't had anyone to comfort him, nor even time to catch his breath; closing his eyes and opening them again signals a new beginning.

The only one who has always been by his side is Xiao Qi, who has experienced 777 reincarnations with him.

Sometimes he himself can't quite figure out how much of him remains human.

Or perhaps as a Perfect Life form from the beginning, he was never fully human.

But rather, a god created by some human.

Just as Chu Guang was pondering what to do, Crow, who had been squatting on the ground for quite a while, suddenly stood up with a flushed face as if having vented everything out.

Much to Chu Guang's surprise, her pupils didn't reflect resentment or other negative emotions; instead, they showed an unexpected sincerity.

"Um... thank you."

"Hmm?"

Facing Chu Guang's questioning gaze, Crow smiled shyly and after hesitating for a while, finally confessed her almost unspeakable feelings.

"Actually, at first, I thought it was just a relatively realistic game, but then someone suddenly told me it wasn't a game but another world..."

"To be honest, I was really shocked, but when I calmed down, I felt unexpectedly... happy? I didn't expect the people I helped were real, nor did I expect I, an ordinary person in the real world, could help so many people. Perhaps it's not appropriate for me to say this, but that's truly what I think in my heart..."

"There's nothing inappropriate about that. I'm glad you think that way," Chu Guang smiled and continued in a tone of appreciation, "Also, this kindness is not ordinary. Many people live their whole lives filled with hostility towards themselves, others, and the world. I hope you continue to share this kindness with those around you... in both your world and ours."

"Thank you..." Crow smiled bashfully and continued, "Actually, you too, aren't you? You could have said nothing, right? And then secretly like before..."

Not knowing how to describe that feeling, she gestured with a scissor-cutting motion.

If it wasn't for her quick thinking, adding "… like harvesting leeks," Chu Guang almost thought of the emoticons Teng Teng often posted on the forum.

Looking at the overly naive Crow, he gave a faint smile and said.

"Maybe. Perhaps I went public just to make harvesting leeks easier, after all, I've never claimed to be a good person."

To his surprise, Crow listened to these words seriously.

"I know you are! You are actually... gentle and kind, not as scheming as everyone says."

"Sometimes you could have been more ruthless, or say less humane, but in the end, you try to find the best of both worlds... it's what you always call win-win? Hehe, although I don't quite understand it, but I'm a Sixth Sense-sensitive Perception type, I can feel it!"

"Anyway, thank you for making the game!"

Crow bowed deeply.

As she raised her head, she seemed somewhat embarrassed again, scratching her cheek with her index finger, hurriedly logged out of the system interface.

In the public test version, it's more convenient; in the safe zone, you can disappear into thin air instead of leaving a clone like in the closed beta.

Thanks...

Unexpectedly, she wasn't here to "bring me to account."

Looking toward the direction Crow disappeared and at the bustling crowd, Chu Guang's mouth curled into a slight smile and softly said.

"You're welcome."

It all seems worth it.

...

Days passed by, as the calendar flipped from the start to the end of December, the two parallel universes each embraced a new year.

Beta Universe, 2027.

The public test of Wasteland OL has been operating smoothly for a month, with global player numbers easily surpassing hundreds of millions, and a peak concurrent online users reaching 40 million, successfully setting a new world record and constantly refreshing the old one.

Nothing significant happened on Earth.

Topics like "how to avoid entering the Wasteland Era" seamlessly replaced earlier disputes about "how to coexist with extraterrestrial civilizations."

Someone suggested adding a seat for the Alpha Universe Alliance at the United Nations, but it didn't receive any response from relevant persons, and thus it concluded fruitlessly.

Strictly speaking, Morphogenesis Field is the operation of Shelter No. 404, and the Alliance isn't an organization that manages everything and indeed has no such business.

Only the closed beta players who truly set foot on Alliance land are considered actual residents of the Alpha Universe.

Other matters, let's discuss them later.

Meanwhile, with the operation of the public test version of Wasteland OL, an interesting little episode occurred.

The online population of a small island in Southern Ocean with a population of less than ten thousand exceeded ten million, all because the island allegedly played an unaltered version of Wasteland OL.

Due to the vastly different laws and regulations across regions, the content pruning varies vastly, making more and more people curious about what the complete version of Wasteland OL looks like.

Although the headsets can't be hacked, this world never lacks smart people, and soon someone targeted the routers.

Just routers alone aren't enough; server nodes are also needed.

Thanks to this, the scenic holiday island became extraordinarily popular overnight, with its territory of less than ten thousand people even receiving data center investments totaling billions.

Due to the surge in demand, the area attracted a large number of IT professionals and even digital nomads.

Although the United Human in the Alpha Universe is still a long shot, countless grassroots cross-regional cooperation organizations aimed at eliminating information boundaries are born within the player community.

Some are there to realize self-worth, while others just to have fun with their virtual companions.

Not only eliminating information boundaries, but they also strive to prevent epoch-making technologies from being used for evil, and in their capable range establish order that matches technology, avoiding the Beta Universe from moving towards a dystopian outcome.

After all, it's not truly extraterrestrial civilizations that granted advanced technologies to human civilization in the Beta Universe, but another "them" from the future, hoping those people "descend" out of pity is impractical.

One must establish their own order themselves; eternal awaiters will forever be waiting.

"They" can only give a push.

The path beneath their feet must ultimately be walked by themselves, because only they know where they want to go...

On the other side, the Alpha Universe also welcomed the second year of the new epoch.

Although Chu Guang's "retirement" prompted spontaneous remembrance and retention from numerous Alliance citizens, fortunately, it didn't affect the order of the Alliance.

What they didn't know is that their respected Manager hadn't gone anywhere, but merely played games in the shelter for a month, leveling from 0 to 30.

In fact, from the day the Alliance was founded, Chu Guang has been preparing for this day.

Before the expedition to Luo Xia Province, he had already discussed this issue with Xiao Qi...

Rhombus Lake lakeside.

The once rampant Crack Claw Crab has been eaten to extinction by players, and the reed-dotted lakeshore has become a popular spot for nearby residents to walk and a playground for children.

Unlike the public test version, everything here is a completely different scene.

Walking along the secluded pedestrian pathway, Chu Guang smiled as he observed the thriving scenery, speaking to Xiao Qi, who sat on his shoulder.

"Do you remember when I said it long ago? The greatest hidden danger to the Alliance isn't the threats on the wasteland, but if one day I die or am gone, it would leave a River Valley Province divided by military factions, where each Army fights in my name..."

"But now, I have one hundred percent confidence that this final weakness no longer exists."

Even the most stubborn Lu Bei, under his constant grooming, finally understood the true mission of the Guards Corps—

The true thing needing their defense isn't the Manager's dignity but the dignity of the law.

The Alliance's Army comes from the Alliance's citizens, and from now on will only pledge allegiance to the Alliance's citizens.

"Yes! I remember! At that time, Xiao Qi thought you were going to some far far place again... although Xiao Qi didn't know where you were going."

Sitting on Chu Guang's shoulder, enjoying the lakeside evening breeze, Xiao Qi squinted its eyes contently, like a truly living little elf.

It's undeniably alive.

Even with a machine body.

He knows better than anyone what this little being has silently endured behind the scenes.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Chu Guang smiled, raising his index finger to touch its forehead, speaking softly.

"No matter how far I go in the future, I'll bring you along."