302: Chapter 302 The New Year's Gala of the Virtual Year One: The Whole World Was Stunned

Lu Jianguo was startled and took half a step back.

As it turned out, the dragon's head just gave a gentle shake and spat out a golden "Fu" character.

Chen Wanqing's eyes lit up as she watched.

She had always thought that the Virtual Helmet was something for young people to play with.

But at this moment, she suddenly understood why so many people liked this thing.

Because it could truly recreate some of the liveliness that was hard to find in reality.

Lu Li led his family through the Spring Festival Long Street.

Soon, they arrived at the core area of the Spring Festival Gala Town.

There was a main stage that was exaggeratedly large.

Below the stage were countless seats.

Looking out, it was a sea of people.

Every user was in their own virtual avatar.

Some wore suits.

Some wore Hanfu.

Some wore ancient costumes.

Some had turned directly into pandas, little dragons, Robots, or game characters.

There were even people who had molded themselves into a walking red envelope.

The entire venue was incredibly lively.

High in the air, giant virtual screens were suspended.

These screens had no support structures and just floated quietly in the air.

No matter which angle a user sat at, they could clearly see the Spring Festival Gala live broadcast.

The super-large stage in the very center was a virtual replica of the physical CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage.

Lighting.

Stage design.

Large screens.

Audience seating.

Host positions.

Everything had been restored as realistically as possible.

But in the virtual world, it was magnified even more.

The suspended light arrays, which could not exist in reality, rotated around the stage here like a galaxy of stars.

The fireworks that could only be seen from a distance in reality could shoot up into the sky from both sides of the stage here, finally exploding into golden "Fu" characters above the audience's heads.

Lu Jianguo and Chen Wanqing were completely stunned.

When they watched the Spring Festival Gala before, the most they could do was sit in front of the TV.

Even if the large screen was big, it was still separated by a layer of screen.

But now, it was as if they were really standing in the Spring Festival Gala venue.

They could even look up at the camera footage in the sky.

They could change seats.

They could walk to the side of the stage.

They could fly to the high-altitude viewing area.

They could also enter the comfortable viewing area reserved for elders.

This kind of experience was too much of a shock for the older generation.

And it wasn't just Lu Li's family who were shocked.

At this moment, almost all users who had entered the Virtual Helmet Spring Festival Gala venue across the entire network were stunned.

Countless barrage comments floated across the sky.

"Holy crap! I just came in to watch a live stream, and you ended up giving me a virtual Spring Festival Gala scene?"

"Isn't this too outrageous?"

"My mom just said that from now on, we'll watch the Spring Festival Gala like this, no more TV."

"Guanghui Technology, you really didn't release any trailers at all, you were secretly holding back a big move, right?"

"Can this Spring Festival Gala Town not be closed? I want to spend the New Year here!"

"I declare that this is the Spring Festival Gala with the most 'New Year' atmosphere I have ever seen in my life."

"TV: What did I do wrong?"

Besides the barrage comments, a large number of virtual fireworks were constantly rising into the sky.

Users could claim free firework props or purchase more advanced fireworks.

Ordinary fireworks were free.

Advanced fireworks were divided into different themes.

Some fireworks exploded into "Happy New Year".

Some were zodiac patterns.

Some were dragon-shaped light shadows.

There were also couple-style fireworks that would form the virtual avatars of two users in the sky.

Guanghui Technology had originally only made a few props temporarily, but they didn't expect the sales to explode immediately after launch.

Especially the limited-edition fireworks and high-altitude seats, which were sold out in seconds as soon as they were opened.

High-altitude seats were a paid feature that Guanghui Technology added temporarily.

Users could pay money to purchase special viewing spots.

Such as cloud boxes.

Dragon boat observation decks.

Suspended lantern seats.

Flying sword VIP seats.

star wing m1 aerial viewing spots.

These seats would not affect ordinary users watching the Spring Festival Gala, they just had better viewing angles and more unique locations.

Just this part of the revenue started to pour in continuously.

Of course, according to the cooperation agreement, CCTV would also get a share.

But for Guanghui Technology, this was not the point.

The point was that all users realized one thing.

So, the Spring Festival Gala could also be watched like this.

Soon, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala officially began.

And for this Virtual Helmet Spring Festival Gala live broadcast, CCTV had specially arranged for two hosts to enter the virtual venue.

Sa Bening and Dong Qing.

Their virtual avatars appeared at the main entrance of the Spring Festival Gala Town.

They were not here to host the entire program.

CCTV did not have the capacity to create a whole set of special programs exclusively for the Virtual Helmet.

The programs actually broadcast were the same ones being broadcast simultaneously on TV.

But they would do opening interactions, guided tours, and simple transitions in the Virtual Helmet venue.

This was already enough to surprise the users.

As soon as Sa Bening appeared, the barrage comments exploded instantly.

"Teacher Sa!"

"CCTV is really too good at this!"

"Did they really enter the virtual world?"

"My dad just asked me if this Sa Bening is a real person inside."

"This virtual avatar is too similar, even the expressions are restored."

Sa Bening stood at the entrance of the Long Street, with fireworks filling the sky behind him, and said with a smile:

"Dear audience friends, what you are seeing now is not movie special effects, nor is it a game promotional video."

"This is the special venue for the first time CCTV Spring Festival Gala has entered the Virtual Helmet world."

"To be honest, when I first came in, I almost thought I had time-traveled."

Beside him, Dong Qing was wearing a dignified red dress, and her virtual avatar had more light and shadow texture than in the real live broadcast camera.

She looked forward, her voice gentle and full of a sense of ritual.

"No matter where you are at this moment."

"Whether you are with your family or far away in a foreign land."

"Tonight, I hope everyone can feel the reunion, feel the 'New Year' atmosphere, and feel the New Year blessings belonging to this era in this special virtual venue."

As she finished speaking.

The lanterns along the entire Spring Festival Long Street lit up at the same time.

In the distance, a golden light dragon spiraled through the high sky, scattering large numbers of "Fu" characters behind it.

This segment was recorded and forwarded by countless users.

Because the visual was too impactful.

Traditional CCTV hosts.

Spring Festival Long Street.

Virtual fireworks.

Sci-fi city.

Hundreds of millions of users online simultaneously.

These elements mixed together, yet there was no sense of dissonance; instead, it made people feel that the era had truly changed.

After the program started, users could choose different viewing modes.

Normal mode, which was sitting in the venue seats watching the stage and the high-altitude screens.

Immersive mode, which would make the user's perspective follow the CCTV live broadcast camera switching.

High-altitude mode, where one could fly into mid-air to overlook the entire stage.

Family mode, which would automatically arrange members of the same family account together, so even if they were in different cities, they could sit in the same virtual box to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

After this feature was launched, it directly struck an emotional chord with many people.

Many people working away from home who couldn't return for the holidays sat with their parents for the first time in the Virtual Helmet.

Even though they were thousands of kilometers apart in reality.

But in the virtual world, they could watch the same fireworks together, grab red envelopes together, and listen to the hosts count down together.

Many users flooded the barrage comments.

"I am in Shenzhen, my parents are in our hometown, and we are now sitting in a box watching the Spring Festival Gala."

"Guanghui Technology's family mode is truly amazing."

"Before, video calls always felt like they were separated by a screen, but now it feels like we are really sitting together."

"My mom just touched my head in the virtual world, and I suddenly felt like crying."

"I didn't get a ticket to go home this year, and I was feeling quite sad, but now I'm really emotionally touched."

This emotional aspect quickly pushed the popularity of the virtual Spring Festival Gala even higher.

And for Lu Li, his family also chose a family box.

The location of the box was very good.

It faced the stage directly.

They could also see the entire Spring Festival Gala Town outside.

Chen Wanqing sat on the virtual sofa, looking at the lively scene outside, and couldn't help but say:

"This is much livelier than watching it in the living room."