98: Global open beta! Millions flood into the newbie village!

Three days.

For the entire world, these were seventy-two hours that felt incredibly long, yet were filled with subversion and fanaticism.

The end of Virtual World V2.0 and the update announcement regarding the "increase in reality synchronization rate" were like a nuclear bomb detonating global public opinion.

At first, people were just sharing the incredible changes happening to their bodies on the internet.

"Brothers! I'm not joking! I can actually lift our family's refrigerator with one hand!"

"What's a strength-type brute like the guy above? I was just thinking about things, and the truckload of watermelons my mom just bought split open right in front of me! I think I can move things with my mind!"

"Help! My girlfriend is an Ice Mage. We had a fight, she got angry, and our air conditioner froze solid! Now she's using Fireball Spell to defrost it for me. I feel like the house is about to be gone!"

When countless similar videos, pictures, and posts went from being questioned and mocked to being confirmed by more and more evidence, the entire world went crazy.

Transcendent power was no longer just data in a game.

It had truly descended into reality.

Virtual World, a game accompanied by countless controversies and miracles since its birth, was thoroughly pushed onto the altar at this moment. It was no longer just a game; it was hailed as the "stairway for human evolution" and the "only ticket to the Divine Realm."

When the countdown for version V3.0—the first global unlimited open beta—began, the operation of the entire Blue Star seemed to come to a standstill.

In New York's Times Square, the giant electronic screens no longer played luxury goods advertisements, but rather the cold, metallic countdown numbers of Virtual World. Below, thousands of people looked up, their faces filled with fanatical expectation.

In Europe, Asia, South America... across all time zones and every country, countless people put down their work and waited in front of computers and holographic projections, refreshing the official website page over and over, for fear of missing this life-changing opportunity.

On major live-streaming platforms, every channel was broadcasting the same event—the Virtual World Global Open Beta Countdown Gala. Famous streamers, socialites, and even some members of the Academy of Sciences were analyzing the impact this game might bring to human civilization in voices that were either excited or solemn.

"...It is foreseeable that when millions, even tens of millions, of new players flood in, the social structure we are familiar with will be completely subverted. This is not just a carnival of entertainment, but a leap for civilization!" a white-haired sociologist said excitedly to the camera.

The whole world was waiting.

Waiting for that door to the new world to be pushed wide open.

The moment the countdown hit zero.

"Beep—"

A soft sound, like the first sliver of sound at the beginning of the Universe, echoed throughout the entire network.

[Virtual World V3.0: Call of the Abyss, now open.]

[Welcome to your second life.]

In the next second, on Su Mu's private central backend, the green numbers representing the number of online players soared vertically at a terrifying speed!

One hundred thousand... five hundred thousand... one million!

In just the first second of the server opening, one million players flooded into the game simultaneously! This number was still growing crazily at a rate of hundreds of thousands per second.

"Warning! Novice Village Server No. 0 load has reached 99%!"

"Warning! Novice Village Server No. 1 load has reached 99%!"

Su Mu looked at the red warnings scrolling across his screen, but a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He skillfully tapped on the console and waved his hand.

"Emergency plan activated, opening temporary Novice Village sequences."

"Serial 003: Wasteland style, 'Scavenger Camp'."

"Serial 004: Magic style, 'Apprentice Grove'."

"Serial 005: Cyberpunk style, 'Neon Dark Alley'."

"..."

In an instant, over a dozen giant Novice Village maps of various styles were opened simultaneously, diverting the terrifying tide of players like a floodgate... The white light dissipated.

Zhang Wei, an ordinary college student, finally successfully entered the world of Virtual World after three long days of fighting for an account and waiting.

He carefully opened his eyes and then was completely stunned.

He found himself standing in a vast, desolate camp filled with the smell of rust and radioactive dust. In the distance were the ruins of a dilapidated city, above was a murky yellow sky, and the air was thick with... a realistic smell of engine oil.

"This... these are game graphics?"

Zhang Wei raised his hand in disbelief; he could clearly see every line on his palm and feel the slight resistance of the air as his fingertips moved through it.

He looked down at himself, wearing only a pair of grey boxers provided by the System, with nothing else on his body.

However, what shocked him was not himself, but the surrounding environment.

People.

Densely packed, covering the ground and sky, an endless sea of people!

In the entire "Scavenger Camp," the ground was completely invisible at this moment. As far as the eye could see, there were "naked men" in boxers, all with faces as shocked as his.

A mountain of people, a sea of humans, shoulder to shoulder.

"Holy crap! Stop pushing! My feet are off the ground!"

"Brothers in front, make some room! Let me take a breath!"

"This game is too realistic! I can smell the sweat on the big guy next to me!"

"My god... are these really graphics a game can produce? This physics engine... this lighting... I feel like I've transmigrated!"

After the brief shock came a mountain-shaking wave of wild joy and excitement.

"Quests! Where are the quests?!"

"I want to get stronger! I want to punch through walls like those veteran players!"

A million newbies, like grasshoppers thrown into boiling water, instantly made the entire Novice Village boil with activity.

In the center of the camp, a wrinkled NPC old man responsible for issuing novice quests had just spawned. Before he could even say his first line of dialogue, he was surrounded by tens of thousands of players, layer upon layer.

"Grandpa! Give me a quest! I want to carry bricks!"

"Choose me! I carry bricks fast and well! I've worked on construction sites for ten years!"

"Ignore them! Grandpa! Look into my sincere eyes! I am the chosen one!"

The NPC old man was so frightened by this display that his lips trembled, and the System-set lines were stuck in his throat, unable to utter a single word.

Meanwhile, in the monster spawn area of the Novice Village, a tragic "slaughter" was taking place.

[Wasteland Cockroach LV.1], a palm-sized novice monster that looked completely non-threatening, had just crawled out of a crack in the ground and hadn't even had time to appreciate the beauty of the world.

In the next second, it was simultaneously locked onto by at least three hundred pairs of blood-shot eyes.

"A mob! It's a mob! It'll drop gear!"

"It's mine! Don't fight me for it!"

"Charge!"

Over three hundred shirtless men swarmed forward like wild dogs that hadn't eaten for three days.

That poor Wasteland Cockroach didn't even have time to let out a scream before it was crushed into meat paste by countless feet. Over three hundred players almost started fighting on the spot to grab the only piece of loot it dropped—[Cockroach Antenna (Grey, Junk)].

The entire Novice Village fell into a carnival of chaos and comedy. Players squeezed until they were bruised and bleeding just to grab a [Novice Wooden Club] sold for 1 copper coin in the System shop, or to be the first to accept the novice quest "Collect Ten Bottle Caps," yet they never tired of it.

In their eyes, this was the beginning of becoming stronger, the first step toward the transcendent.

However, they did not know that true "transcendence" was a completely different concept from what they imagined.

Just as Zhang Wei finally managed to squeeze out of the crowd, having spent fifteen minutes to finally snatch a piece of [Tattered Cloth Armor] with the attribute [Defense +1] from a wandering merchant NPC, and was excitedly preparing to put it on.

"Rumble—Rumble—Rumble!!!"

A low, powerful roar, as if coming from the end of the sky, echoed through the entire camp without warning.

The sound was so loud that the entire ground trembled slightly.

All the players who were scrambling, playing around, or howling with excitement involuntarily stopped their actions and subconsciously looked up.

Then, they saw a scene they would never forget in their lives.

On the murky yellow horizon, streaks of light like lightning tearing through the sky were whistling toward the Novice Village at an incredible speed.

Leading the charge was a vanguard composed of a dozen ferocious-looking hovering motorcycles. Those motorcycles had been modified beyond recognition, with giant battering rams mounted on the front and exhaust pipes spewing blue flames, emitting deafening roars.

And behind the motorcycle squad was a massive mechanical pterosaur with a wingspan of over fifty meters! Its wings were pieced together from countless feather-like metal plates shimmering with holy light—a product of celestial technology. Crimson electronic light burned in its eye sockets, and every flap of its wings brought a gust of wild wind, blowing the players on the ground off balance.

Further back was a giant "flying carpet" woven from countless magical threads. A group of players in magnificent mage robes stood on the carpet, led by Lin Xiaowan. She was surrounded by ice-blue cold Qi, appearing noble and lethal.

But that wasn't all.

When everyone's gaze moved past these flying machines to see the mountain-like behemoth slowly approaching behind them, the entire Novice Village, a million players, lost their voices collectively.

It was a dragon.

A dragon more massive and more ferocious than any dragon they had ever imagined.

Its body was already covered in solid black iron armor, with densely packed turrets and anti-aircraft fire points added to its back. On the giant dragon head, the two characters for "Pangu" sprayed in eye-catching red paint declared its identity.

It was the very creature modified by the painstaking efforts of Wang Wei and countless players—the [Mechanical Stitched Dragon: pangu vessel]!

At this moment, it was like an invincible battleship cruising the sky, slowly passing over all the Novice Villages.

Li Qiang stood upon the pangu vessel's massive head. He wasn't riding a motorcycle, nor was he wearing a helmet. The "Hundred Battles God Set" on his body, pieced together from the equipment of the Dwarf King and the Archangel, flowed with dark gold light under the murky yellow sun. The wild wind blew his signature buzz cut. He simply carried that famous power hammer casually on his shoulder, his eyes looking down disdainfully at the dense swarm of new players below like they were ants.

Wang Wei sat on the back of the mechanical pterosaur, holding a pair of binoculars, observing the new players' "ghost-seeing" expressions with great interest, muttering to himself: "Sample size sufficient, expression data recorded, shock response model for first-generation players successfully established..."

This "aerial parade formation" composed of veteran players, in a standard "V" shape, like gods inspecting their territory, whistled over the heads of millions of new players slowly and with a full sense of showing off.

The entire world, at this moment, seemed to have its mute button pressed.

In the Scavenger Camp, the [Tattered Cloth Armor] in Zhang Wei's hand fell to the ground with a "thud," but he was completely unaware.

In the Apprentice Grove, a mage apprentice who had just conjured a small flame forgot to maintain his mana; the flame extinguished instantly, burning his finger.

In the Neon Dark Alley, a player preparing to experience the life of a cyberpunk assassin dropped his dagger, which made a crisp clinking sound on the alloy floor.

A million new players, over a million faces, were all looking up with open mouths, their faces written with the same expression.

It was the ultimate... shock and blankness after their three views were completely subverted and their worldviews were forcibly crushed.

The wooden clubs in their hands, the cloth armor they had just snatched, the cockroaches they had killed with all their might... in front of that god-like fleet in the sky, they seemed so laughable, so tiny, so insignificant.

"Are... are those... also players?" a newbie asked with a trembling voice, voicing the question in everyone's heart.

No one answered him.

But in everyone's heart, an unprecedented fire named "aspiration" ignited.

This scene was recorded by countless people.

Within a short minute, the official forum of Virtual World completely exploded.

[[Sticky][HOT] Crazy! All crazy! In the first minute of the server opening, gods descend! Full video of the veteran players' parade!]

[[Featured] Newbie Question: Is that big shot riding the fire-breathing motorcycle in the sky Li Qiang? Can I join his guild right now?]

[[Featured] Data Emperor Analysis: Looking at the current version's tech tree ceiling from the armament configuration of the 'pangu vessel'!]

[[Help] Does anyone know how to get that kind of flying mechanical dragon? Waiting online, very urgent! I'm willing to trade ten years of my life for it!]

The veteran players' "parade" was like the most potent aphrodisiac, violently injected into the heart of every new player. In the most direct, crude, and shocking way, it showed all the newbies the ceiling of this game—here, you really can become a god!

The players who were just smug about snatching a wooden club now threw away the "junk" in their hands. They looked up toward the direction where the veteran fleet had disappeared, their eyes burning with unprecedented fanaticism and determination.

"I want to get stronger!"

"I want to ride a dragon!"

"I also want to... become someone like them!"

An unprecedented wave of hardcore grinding sweeping the globe officially kicked off at this moment.