Chapter 1

"…How real is a 100% real fully immersive game?"

Earth, a university computer lab.

Looking at the group chat messages, the first image that popped into Ye Wei's mind was not a game, but rather a pair of white, smooth thighs and justice.

To be more specific, it was his modded version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with over 200 mods, where over 100 of his custom-created wives came to life from the save files.

He couldn't go into more detail, or he might get banned.

His nickname in the group was "Maiden's Enemy Night Ten Times." Due to its length and lack of elegance, the group members simply called him "Night Ten."

"It's real in the literal sense."

"Vision, hearing, smell, touch, taste... everything is the same as the real world. The time flow in the game world is 1:1 with the real world, with a time difference of about 12 hours. And since the technology works by interfering with dreams, playing the game is equivalent to sleeping."

The person who typed these lines was nicknamed "Light."

This serious single-character nickname seemed out of place in the "Cattle and Horse Club," so the group's silly members occasionally called this brother "Ultraman," "Gaia," or even "Bro" or "Awesome."

Level 8 Great Gale (Admin): "Is this some kind of fantasy setting? (laughs)"

Long Road Ahead (Admin): "And it sounds a bit outdated, like the early web novels about virtual reality games."

White Horse Passing (Group Owner): "Haha, are you talking about wearing a virtual helmet? I used to enjoy reading about that when I was in school."

Maiden's Enemy Night Ten Times (Admin): "To be honest, this setting doesn't make sense. The operators wouldn't just want to make money; they'd want to make the players happy. If it were 100% real, how would they show the nobility of RMB warriors? Everyone would be freeloading!"

Ye Wei didn't read these novels, but he felt that after nine years of compulsory education, he was different from others and should pursue reason over pleasure.

So he preferred to read fantasy and supernatural stories.

Long Road Ahead: "Bro, you're taking it too seriously. If we're talking about realism, isn't it more realistic to make the readers outside the novel happy rather than the fictional operators inside the novel?"

Level 8 Great Gale: "No meta-commenting."

The topic quickly veered off course.

Although the Cattle and Horse Club was a gaming group, it rarely had such serious discussions about games, especially a game that didn't exist and was purely imaginary.

However, even though the topic had strayed far, the initiator of the discussion—this brother called "Light"—stubbornly brought it back.

Light: "I'm talking about if."

Light: "If there really were such a game, would you play it?"

Looking at the group chat, Ye Wei shook his head with a smile.

Do I even need to ask?

Maiden's Enemy Night Ten Times: "Of course! Why wouldn't I? A 100% real game, why not give it a try, you know? (joking)"

Level 8 Great Gale: "+1, but I still have some questions about your setting. If game time equals sleep time... wouldn't it be more practical to apply this technology to work?"

White Horse Passing: "Holy crap, are you a devil???"

Long Road Ahead: "I'll stick to my regular sleep. (bitter laugh)"

Quit Smoking: "You guys are staying up late and dreaming in the group chat."

"Ha ha, you guys are killing me."

More and more people started to chime in in the group chat.

Some, though not sending messages, were still watching with interest.

In a 200-person gaming group, there were usually ten to twenty active members. Occasionally, a couple of unfamiliar faces would pop up, and upon asking, it turned out they had been lurking for over two years.

The brother called "Light" ignored them and continued to immerse himself in his own world.

"Actually, the company I recently joined is developing a fully immersive virtual reality online game."

The lively group chat fell silent for a moment.

But soon, as if on cue, a series of messages popped up.

"Holy crap?"

"Is this real or fake?!"

"Awesome, bro! I almost believed you. (joking)"

Ye Wei thought this guy was really overacting.

A fully immersive virtual reality online game?

100% real?

Pulling our leg, are we?

As Big Gale said, if this thing really existed, would they use it for games???

Of course, he didn't agree with using it directly in the office. In his imagination, if such an awesome technology existed, it would definitely be used in the military first.

How cool would it be to train special forces!

The brother called "Light" didn't say anything more, just threw out a URL.

Ye Wei casually clicked on it and found it was actually a game website.

The website's design was terrible, looking like they couldn't even afford a designer. The empty page had no content, only three stark lines of text.

[100% Real Virtual Reality Game — Wasteland Online]

[Current Pre-Registration: 0]

[Pre-Register: Yes/No]

Ye Wei laughed.

Well, after all that buildup, it turns out to be a joke.

Whether it's a gambling site or a scam, who knows.

But the pre-registration number was real enough, not some fabricated eight-digit online population, with a line saying even "Zha Zha Hui" is playing.

"Alright, let's see what you're all about."

He clicked "Yes" with his mouse.

To his surprise, the expected registration page didn't pop up. The only change was that the pre-registration number went from 0 to 1.

"Does this game not even require an account???"

This strange move left Ye Wei puzzled. He couldn't tell if it was a joke or not.

Could it be a virus?

Not likely.

What era are we in? Antivirus software is almost obsolete. Is there still a virus that can infect you just by clicking "Yes" or "No" on a website?

Not to mention, he wasn't even using his own computer.

…

[Pre-Registration: 11]

Wasteland, Resident Hall of Vault 404.

Looking at the numbers on the computer screen, Chu Guang, sitting in a small room, sighed in relief and released his tight grip on the mouse.

"Is this enough?"

The answer came in the form of two lines of text that appeared before his eyes.

[Task Completed.]

[Reward: Carbon Nanotube Bulletproof Vest, Reward Points +5.]

The wall on one side of the room vibrated slightly, and as the curved alloy door opened, a black vest lay on the platform behind the door.

The conveyor belt brought the vest out.

The alloy door closed again, and the room returned to its usual calm.

Chu Guang immediately got up from the computer and walked over to pick up the vest.

It was very light, with a texture like silk, soft and smooth to the touch, hard to imagine it could stop bullets.

[

Name: Carbon Nanotube Bulletproof Vest

Description: Effectively absorbs bullet kinetic energy, disperses impact force within the durability range, and resists a certain degree of piercing and cutting damage.

Durability: 100%

]

Rewards obtained from the Vault system are registered in the inventory, complete with product descriptions and usage instructions.

Chu Guang immediately took off his shirt and put on the vest.

It felt a bit cool at first, but he quickly adapted.

At this moment, a cylindrical metal object in the corner of the room emitted a flat electronic tone.

"Congratulations, Master, it seems you have completed the first task."

"Can you stop talking out of nowhere?"

"Sure, Master."

The robot, which looked like a wastebasket, was named Xiao Qi.

As an assistant to the Vault 404 manager, it technically didn't have a name, just a number: 777.

But Chu Guang found it troublesome, so he gave it a name.

As for who Chu Guang was and why he was in Vault 404, that story began on a dark and stormy night…