Chapter 38.2: Additional Value of Helmets
The official website didn't provide much information about the game's background, but the skills after the job advancement for each class were released after the completion of the worldview breakthrough quest. In the later stages of the mage class, there were two major branches for the second job advancement: Dark Prophet and Black Mage. Both had offensive and healing skills (black magic naturally possessed healing effects on the undead), although the emphasis differed.
While this bunch was idly chatting, Give Me Medicine had already rushed out of the ruins and onto the verdant grass outside. The players waiting in the town hurriedly called out to their surviving friends.
"Give Me Medicine made it out!"
"No need to aggro anymore!"
"Hurry and come back!"
The few remaining players desperately ran back. Even though they were compensated for their efforts, no one wanted to die and be kicked offline if they could avoid it.
The trio sneakily observing in the distance: "…"
Without saying a word, they silently retreated.
Fighting with blades at the slightest disagreement, laughing while chasing down fleeing comrades—the former bandits felt that they had a rather deep understanding of the internal workings of relationships amongst the undead.
Yet never in their wildest dreams did they expect that these undead creatures would be willing to sacrifice themselves so magnanimously to ensure safe passage for a fellow compatriot to leave the town.
Even though their "lives" held no value, as those who died to the demonized rat would soon be back in town, lively and energetic, the former bandit trio felt it was necessary to re-evaluate these undead.
Yang Qiu's daily rhythm followed that of Earth. When it was time to rest and sleep, he naturally returned to Earth to enjoy the conveniences of modern life.
Despite it not showing, Yang Qiu was already over 300 years old. Compared to the vigor and passion he had when he was in his 100s or 200s, for the present Yang Qiu, nothing was more important than peaceful sleep and a pleasant mood. Whatever those unscrupulous former bandits and relentless players did while he was offline, Yang Qiu would settle it when he came "online."
Before going to sleep, Yang Qiu logged into the game forum on his computer and sent an email to NeuroTech Center's Director Lu.
Personnel that Director Lu had arranged for was already taking care of the patient "NPC" in the game. In this situation where both parties understood each other's intentions, Yang Qiu felt that it was best to be open and honest—
While I would never admit that I have the ability to transport "game players" to another world, since you are here to be of research value, it's only natural for me to approach you guys when I have difficulties… I am not part of your department and do not have the right to request funding, but at the very least, I have supported your research. So, shouldn't you offer some benefits in return?
And so, early the next morning, when Lu Yiyun, who had just woken up, saw this shameless email:
In the email, the "target" proclaiming himself to be the game development team of "OtherWorld" candidly requested a long list of supplies and shamelessly expressed that he hoped the following arrangement could be made and delivered to a certain location in the suburbs of An City within three days.
But what left Lu Yiyun speechless was that this person had requested supplies without even providing a reason!
No reason was given, nor any excuses were made. This was simply stretching out a hand and shamelessly demanding!
Director Lu took a few deep breaths and carefully read through the email once more.
Well… Not only was there a lack of reason for requesting these supplies, there also wasn't a promise of how the development team would reciprocate after receiving them!
Lu Yiyun's current sentiments were indescribable…
As a top scientist in the field of AI in China who had worked as the director of coordination and planning at the NeuroTech Center for many years, Lu Yiyun had encountered her fair share of shameless individuals—even in the scientific world, there were people who appeared pure and sacred in the eyes of the world but were downright despicable.
For example, individuals with a high school education level at most, who somehow managed to hold sway in a particular field or a certain age group.
Or those academic scoundrels hiding in prestigious academic institutions or even in legitimate government departments…
These disgraces of the academic world were the fraudsters of the scientific community, achieving no genuine accomplishments but extremely skilled at deceiving for funding. There was no project they couldn't hype up, no nonsense they couldn't fabricate, and no major project they wouldn't dare subcontract to students or even amateurs.
Allocating 10 million in funding only for 50,000 to end up in the hands of those doing genuine work—this sort of joke wasn't just limited to a local scale.
Therefore, this was also why Lu Yiyun felt quite frustrated… What sort of dimension did this strange "target" come from to not bother to even come up with an excuse or offer an empty promise?
While she felt extremely frustrated, Lu Yiyun didn't immediately refuse and made a phone call to her superior.
"Give it to him. Of course, we'll provide it. Requests are a good thing to have. What we're most afraid of is the 'target' having no requests. We won't have any leverage, then!" Lu Yiyun's superior on the other end of the call gave a straightforth directive.
Lu Yiyun silently hung up the phone and replied to the email without any expression, stating that the requested supplies were being coordinated…
Two hours later, Lu Yiyun received another email from the "target."
In this email, the "target" stated that there is consideration to add 20 closed beta accounts. These spots wouldn't be publicly announced and only be given to designated applicants via email.
Applicants for these accounts were required to have professional experience in fields including but not limited to chefs, doctors, nurses, teachers, and artists. After logging into the game, each applicant would be required to spend 5 hours in the game performing assigned tasks within each in-game day.
In other words, based on a full login of 12 hours of real-world time per day, 5 hours would be spent as a "tool player" in the game, leaving 7 hours for free activities.
These specific closed beta accounts would give priority to applicants with disabilities or elderly patients who were bedridden and required care.
At the end of the email, the "target" bluntly stated that the approval authority for these accounts would be handed over to the expert task force as a gesture of gratitude for the support in supplies.
Lu Yiyun's expression became extremely peculiar upon reading this…
The time flow in the game was only half that of the real-world time, and the task force had known this for some time already. This perplexing phenomenon had been discussed on multiple occasions.
During the days when Ji Tang entered the game, staff members dispatched to the military district hospital carefully recorded his physical condition every time he logged in. For the time being, spending double the time in the "game" than in the "real world" had no negative impact on Ji Tang's physical condition.
On the contrary, Ji Tang, who had been physically weakened due to injuries, experienced an improvement in his mental state, and even his appetite had gradually returned.
The chief physician at the military district hospital believed that Ji Tang would be able to be discharged after another six months of recuperation.
"It's not surprising that he could figure out Ji Tang is different from other players. Ji Tang's qualities are too obvious. But how could he know Ji Tang's condition and even that Ji Tang is recovering faster during the game?"
Lu Yiyun muttered in disbelief.
Ji Tang's identity was apparently confidential, and nothing could be found on the Internet.
The arrangement of the helmets by the expert task force was confidential and hadn't been disclosed as well. The allure of being able to freely move during deep sleep, essentially extending one's lifespan, had an undeniable appeal.
Upon realizing Ji Tang's gradual recovery in mental state after entering the game, even Lu Yiyun's superior demanded that the remaining seven helmets were closely monitored…
There were just too many patients that were bedridden for years. Even though wearing the helmet wouldn't cure their illnesses, it could temporarily help them forget the torment of their ailments during deep sleep and slowly recover their mental well-being.
These helmets were worth a fortune for families of such patients; after all, painkillers had side effects, and prolonged use led to drug resistance.
"How exactly did this fella figure it out?!"
Lu Yiyun suddenly understood why this person could so calmly extend a hand and ask for supplies, which made her even more suspicious.
Something that effectively extended lifespan and alleviated the suffering of critically ill patients was undoubtedly a good thing. But no matter how good something was, it could cause significant problems if something went wrong with its operation.
The expert task force had shifted to G Province right from the very start because they didn't want to stir up trouble.
The members of the expert task force, including Lu Yiyun, weren't particularly eager for the "target" to discover the additional value of the helmets as there was concern this person would exploit this "monopolized resource" and cause trouble.
After thinking it over, Lu Yiyun could only silently copy the contents of the email to a USB drive and delete the email.
She couldn't take matters into her own hands; this had to be dealt with by her superior.
"Good thing Sir is bold. Were it up to me, these supplies might be dragged for two days while waiting for the other party's response… If that were so, perhaps the 'target' wouldn't be so cooperative." Lu Yiyun sighed.
Director Lu had only logged in on the day when the helmets were clinically applied to patients with consciousness disorders. Had she logged in a few more times, she might have discovered the reason why the "target" noticed the changes in Ji Tang's mental state.
In the game, players could use an assessment technique to see each other's Potential value (mental strength). Ji Tang, who first logged in on October 12, had an initial Potential value of 53. And in just three short days, it had skyrocketed to 60…
Ordinary players who projected their souls into OtherWorld via the imprint matrix could enhance their mental state via "spiritual exercise," what more patients whose mental states declined due to physical reasons?
While there was no space for magic to exist on Earth, the upper limit of human prowess was relatively low. Humans couldn't enhance their mental prowess to the same extent as spellcasters in magic planes could, where spellcasters could rejuvenate their physical bodies and surpass the limits of lifespans. However, the ability to enhance mental prowess had no downsides for Earth humans.
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