Chapter 25

Official Website:

[Desolate Land OL Closed Beta Alpha 0.2 Version Update Announcement]

[Major Updates:

1. The number of closed beta players has increased to 30.

2. The expansion pack "Winter Is Coming" is now live: The game will enter winter within thirty days, and the temperature will drop to minus ten degrees within sixty days. If players successfully withstand the harsh cold, all closed beta players who meet the requirement of an average online duration of more than 4 hours per day will receive the limited title "Winter Warrior." If the challenge fails, the game server will be temporarily shut down, and the difficulty settings will be adjusted before the closed beta resumes.

]

[Optimizations:

1. A more realistic physics system.

2. A richer variety of mutated creatures.

3. Increased freedom.

4. Fixed a few bugs.

5. ...

]

[The player manual has been updated to version 2.0. Please check it promptly if you have received an invitation.]

[Current reservation count: 113 people]

Good grief.

Just a refresh, and two more people have reserved.

At this moment, Chu Guang was sitting in the residents' hall of the shelter, staring at the official website's backend on the computer screen, pondering.

"Where are all these people coming from?"

There aren't that many active people in the group...

Alt accounts?

Impossible.

No one can create alt accounts on the official website of Desolate Land OL.

Not to mention changing IPs; even changing heads won't work. The reservation qualification is bound to the person, not the computer.

Chu Guang opened the forum and saw many familiar IDs, as well as some he had never seen before.

Quit Smoking: [Why are there suddenly so many people on the forum??? Where are you all coming from!]

Future Goku: [King's Glory group? I saw someone post the link.]

Irena: [I'm different, I came from the car group. (Joke)]

Good Names Are All Taken by Dogs: [Bro, lend me a phone.]

A Flicker of Thought: [(Eating Melon)]

Teng Teng: [What kind of game is this, is it serious?]

Big Devil Every Day: [+1, same question.]

Quit Smoking: [No need to ask, it's obviously not serious. Look at those people above. Please, don't reserve! It's fake, all fake. (Frustrated)]

Teng Teng: [≡ω≡]

Big Devil Every Day: [Goodbye.]

Chu Guang: ...

Is there something wrong with this Quit Smoking???

The official forum finally had some activity, but now it's cooling down again because of him.

And it might not be just one person...

Chu Guang was speechless but didn't take it to heart too much.

He wasn't the type to hold grudges.

After browsing the forum, Chu Guang roughly understood why there were suddenly so many new users.

It seemed that some group member had shared a screenshot of the Bull and Horse Club group chat and the game's official website link to other game groups.

Then, this Desolate Land OL, which only had an official website, setting, and "big pie," inexplicably became popular in the gaming community.

Many new users came from other game groups, mostly asking questions like "What kind of game is this?" "When is the beta test?" and "Can you take off your pants?" "Is there censorship?"—these kinds of awkward questions that were hard to answer.

There were very few people seriously discussing the game content.

Chu Guang couldn't help but think that he should appoint a few moderators to help manage the forum.

Switching to the desktop and logging into his QQ, Chu Guang opened the "Bull and Horse Club" game group, which was currently very lively.

The topic of closed beta qualifications had been discussed earlier, but now the group's focus was entirely on the alpha 0.2 update and the "Winter Is Coming" expansion pack.

A game still in closed beta is releasing an expansion pack?

That's too ridiculous!

Trash Picker Level 99: [Damn, those without closed beta qualifications will miss out, right?]

④ Who Doesn't Understand Me: [That's ridiculous!]

Quit Smoking: [Who can tag the dog planner to recruit more people! I don't want money! No, I can pay!]

Trash Picker Level 99: [Guang, someone is calling you the dog planner.]

Quit Smoking: [Damn!]

(Quit Smoking retracted a message)

Chu Guang: "..."

Why is it always this guy.

Just as Chu Guang was thinking about whether to chime in, he suddenly noticed that Lai Ri Fang Chang had sent him a private message.

[Brother Guang, are you there? (Grinning)]

Curious about what this guy wanted to say, Chu Guang typed a reply.

[Just finished, what's up?]

Lai Ri Fang Chang: [There's something I've been confused about and wanted to ask you... Is the NPC known as the Manager played by one of your company's employees, or is it AI?]

Worried that this guy might find it inconvenient to answer, he quickly added another sentence.

[Just a casual question, if it involves company secrets or something, just ignore it.]

Guang: [No problem, it's not a secret, and I, a mere planner, don't have access to such secrets anyway.]

Fang Chang, delighted, quickly typed.

[Okay! Please go on!]

Chu Guang thought for a moment and, with a bit of embarrassment, typed.

[To put it simply, its existence is very special.]

Special!

Good grief.

This NPC is indeed not simple!

Catching the two key words, Lai Ri Fang Chang became excited, his thumb flying over the phone screen.

[Can you be more specific!]

Guang: [He is the first-generation fully artificial intelligence developed by our company.]

[Fully artificial intelligence??]

Fang Chang was bewildered.

This was beyond his knowledge.

However—

It sounds amazing!

Sitting in front of the computer, Fang Chang's eyes sparkled, wishing this "insider" would reveal more.

And this Brother Guang did not disappoint, continuing to type on the screen.

Guang: [Yes, fully human-like artificial intelligence!]

Guang: [He has his own personality, memory, thinking patterns, and value orientations and motivations, so we have given him the authority to regulate players and the responsibility to guide them into the game.]

Indeed!

I'm a freaking genius!

Fang Chang, so excited that he almost dropped his phone, continued to type with his trembling thumb.

Lai Ri Fang Chang: [I get it! No wonder his decisions can affect your testing progress! I've already noticed that the game's content is already quite well-developed, and the immersive feeling is like a real world! To be honest, even someone as picky as me can't find any obvious bugs!]

Lai Ri Fang Chang: [If I have to say what's lacking, it might be that there are too few NPCs! So, I thought, is it possible that what you're testing is not the game itself, but the game's AI? Even the "Winter Is Coming" expansion pack in the alpha 0.2 update might be for this purpose... Am I right?]

To the point!

Straight to the heart of the matter!

This was Lai Ri Fang Chang's evaluation of his own statement.

Combining all the clues, he felt he had completely understood the game developer's intentions.

While the group members were discussing why Desolate Land OL was releasing the "Winter Is Coming" expansion during the closed beta, their fragmented conclusions and guesses seemed superficial to him.

They only saw the surface, or even less.

Only he stood at the stratosphere!

The mysterious company developing Desolate Land OL, on the surface, was testing the game, but in reality, they were testing the "fully artificial intelligence" running on the game framework!

And the "Winter Is Coming" expansion pack was precisely the test for the "first-generation fully artificial intelligence"!

Silence ensued.

Seeing that Brother "Guang" didn't respond, Fang Chang already had his answer, his lips curling up involuntarily.

I am indeed a genius!

Guang: [You are very smart.]

Guang: [Indeed, as you said, the "Winter Is Coming" expansion pack is to test the performance of the first-generation fully artificial intelligence, and this is also a necessary procedure to start the next round of testing.]

While typing these words, Chu Guang silently deleted the prepared statement he had just edited in the document.

Because he felt that this guy's wild guess sounded more convincing.

No exaggeration, this guy was indeed a talent.

Just in terms of imagination...

Lai Ri Fang Chang: [I understand what you mean, so the testing progress is indeed influenced by the game's plot progression, right?]

Guang: [Yes.]

Lai Ri Fang Chang: [And the only one who can advance the plot at this stage is the Manager of Shelter 404, right?]

Guang: [Right.]

Lai Ri Fang Chang: [Thank you! I understand! I'm sorry for the trouble, revealing so much insider information to me. But don't worry, I will keep it a secret! (Grinning) (Grinning)]

Guang: [Actually, it's not really insider information, so you don't have to keep it a secret.]

Lai Ri Fang Chang: [No, no, no, I will definitely keep it a secret, you can trust me! Everyone who knows me knows I'm very reliable! (Grinning) (Grinning)]

Chu Guang: "..."

Is this what they call corporate-level understanding?

I've learned something new.