Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Game? Welcome to the Yunzhou Continent
The world is full of people with way too much time on their hands.
It’s why a gimmick like *Starting with a Broken Sect* would still get clicks, no matter how trashy.
"These developers are out of their minds. They’ll slap up an ad for anything—now there’s even a ’virtual’ Immortal Cultivation Game. And it’s from a developer I’ve never heard of. It has to be a cash grab! How dare they promise a no-wipe beta before the game’s even online?"
Zhou Xiao was one of those people.
She was a veteran on this major gaming forum. Whenever a new game came out, she had to try it, whether it was a masterpiece or a piece of crap. She had to see for herself.
She clicked on the website link.
The first thing that greeted her was a background that was both quaintly traditional and ethereally otherworldly. A plaque, symbolizing a Sect, was half-hidden in swirling mist. It was written in a script Zhou Xiao had never seen before; she couldn’t make out the words.
The level of detail in the art looked legitimate. They probably spent a pretty penny on a professional artist.
’Right. How are you supposed to trick people into clicking if you don’t have a pretty storefront?’
The first thing that popped up was an [Important Notice].
[1. The game is set in a Cultivation World with no mandatory plot.]
[2. Main Quest: Help the Sect Master, Song Jiulai, strengthen her Sect and freely explore the Yunzhou Continent. If Song Jiulai dies, the game will be force-terminated.]
[3. There is no revival system. If you die, your character is considered dead, and your account ID will be temporarily banned. To play again, you must reapply during a new recruitment event.]
[HIGHLIGHT: Please treat Song Jiulai as you would the most important woman in your life!]
[Note: This game offers extreme freedom. Please do not offend any NPCs.]
"What the hell?"
Zhou Xiao was dumbfounded.
"Even if she’s the female lead, you’ve got to at least show me if she’s good-looking or not!"
Whether you’re trying to attract male or female gamers, you’ve got to put up a picture of a hot girl or a handsome guy, right?
This was a common tactic for cheap games on the market; they all had their own style to attract a specific player base.
But this game had nothing. The story that popped up was just absurd.
"No story, no plot, just a vague description... and that’s it?"
Zhou Xiao sneered. "If this isn’t a scam, I’ll eat my hat! Just wait until I get in there. I’m going to write a ten-thousand-word takedown of this game!"
She filled out the recruitment form. Since it was first-come, first-served, she immediately got a spot in the beta test.
She was surprised to find the game even had its own server port; all she had to do was connect any VR device and download the game locally.
However, the site indicated that the server port would only open in two days—or sooner, if all the recruitment spots were filled.
In other words, she couldn’t play yet, even after signing up.
But after she finished, another highlighted notice appeared: [Please note, the port for this game will open on October 1, 2024, from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM. After this time, the channel will close. Even with a spot, you will be unable to participate in the test and will have to wait for the next opportunity!]
"Are you kidding me? A time limit just to log in? It’s like you’re actively trying to stop people from playing your game!"
Zhou Xiao searched for information about the game’s developer online. ’Longevity Sect? They don’t even have a company website? This really might be a scam.’
Operating on the principle of "misery loves company," Zhou Xiao posted the recruitment link in her usual gaming group chat.
[Little Woman Power: Hey everyone, come sign up for this trash game and test the waters with me. It actually dares to call itself a ’full-dive virtual Immortal Cultivation Game.’ After I’m done with it, my ten-thousand-word review is going to shatter the developers’ dao hearts!]
[Qiao Shan Zhen Hu: Huh? What game is this?]
[Qiao Shan Zhen Hu: Holy shit, it dares to call itself a ’virtual game’? Which trashy developer is putting out another scam?!]
[Professional Game Reviewer: HAHAHAHAHA, developers these days have no shame. Slap together a shoddy VR game and dare to call it ’virtual,’ huh?]
[Jing Bao Tian: I’m bored anyway. I’ll go check it out.]
[Qiao Shan Zhen Hu: Huh? Hey, guru, aren’t you supposed to be reviewing the new V Family game?]
[Jing Bao Tian: Already did. Lasted ten minutes and quit. Complete trash. The controls are garbage, the story is a pile of shit. I don’t know how V Family can serve up such garbage in the year 9042. It’s going to be dead on arrival. Mark my words.]
[V Family Diehard Fan: ...Maybe I should change my username?]
...
The group chat was buzzing with activity. Before long, the number of beta testers quietly ticked past ten.
Zhou Xiao was very satisfied. She never expected a guru like Jing Bao Tian to join her in eating shit—ahem, join her in the review.
Jing Bao Tian was a major figure in the gaming world. After he played a game, his predictions on whether it would be a hit or a flop were almost always spot on. He was also a famous influencer on Weibo with a great reputation, and he almost never accepted sponsored content.
He mostly trashed games he posted about, rarely praising them.
The only two games he had ever praised were now smash hits in the industry.
Many developers would approach him to test their games before the beta, but he didn’t accept just any offer.
Normally, you could get the download link as soon as you signed up for a beta test. But this "Broken Sect" game actually made you wait until recruitment was full.
After watching the counter get stuck at 15 for a long time, Zhou Xiao found it pathetic. She casually spammed the game info in a few more group chats, determined to get a whole crowd to experience this with her.
Then she went downstairs to get something to eat.
「On the Yunzhou Continent,」 Song Jiulai was also staring intently at the recruitment number.
The System said, "You can stop staring. It’s not full yet."
Song Jiulai fretted, "I’m not worried about the future, but I can’t fail to recruit 50 people for the first wave of testing. That would be a waste of my quota."
The System’s channel could only be opened once to link the qualifying consciousnesses, and there was only a one-hour window to do it.
The next time she wanted to open the channel, she would have to wait until she had developed her operation to a scale large enough to recruit new people. Otherwise, it would be an inefficient waste of energy.
Song Jiulai definitely wanted to recruit the full 50 people.
She had wanted to ask the System to cheat and use a backdoor to advertise on Weibo, but the System said it didn’t have enough energy and that she should avoid any unnecessary actions.
All she could do was leave it to fate.
"Sect Master!"
The crisp voice of A Wu, the Medicine Gathering Child, pulled Song Jiulai back to reality. "Senior Sister Su from the Feique Sect is here to deliver something. She said the things you wanted are ready."
Song Jiulai sprang to her feet. She looked at A Wu, the only other living soul in the Sect besides herself, and said earnestly, "A Wu, starting tomorrow night, I have an important task for you. Some people will be coming to our Sect. From now on, you will be their Eldest Senior Brother... Now, listen closely as I explain everything!"
After explaining everything to A Wu, Song Jiulai received fifty brand-new puppets from Su Huanli.
The puppets could help her with work, but they required a continuous supply of Spiritual Energy. Without it, they would quickly rot.
This was why the players who ’crossed over’ would be able to experience normal bodily functions like eating and drinking in these bodies.
「Two days later.」
Fortunately, and just as Song Jiulai had hoped, Zhou Xiao’s bored idea to get a group of people to "taste the saltiness" with her managed to pull in the full fifty people.
If Song Jiulai had known about Zhou Xiao’s actions, she would have unhesitatingly offered her the position of the Sect’s Eldest Senior Sister.
She was a genius!
Meanwhile, seeing that the server was set to open at 8:00 PM, a fully prepared Zhou Xiao put on her VR headset at home, ready to begin her "malicious" review.
The moment she put on the headset, the time on her phone jumped to 8:00 PM—a standard launch time perfect for night owls.
Zhou Xiao’s vision went black. Suddenly, she heard a strange, mechanical voice.
"Do you voluntarily wish to enter the game, experience life on the Yunzhou Continent, and follow the arrangements of Sect Master Song Jiulai?"
It seemed like some sort of pre-game warning, but no controller prompt to select ’Agree’ appeared before her.
So, Zhou Xiao tentatively said, "Agree?"
"Agreement confirmed. Welcome to the Yunzhou Continent. You are about to begin... a new life!"
Comments