Chapter 328: Chapter 325 [Virtual Chang’an], Progress 2%
Translator: 549690339
Soon, Lincoln announced that the [Rehabilitation Plan] would gradually be made available to all players, and he announced a timetable.
The first batch will include ten million slots, with the second batch coming a week later.
As for how this first batch of ten million slots will be allocated?
Well, let’s draw lots?
No, it’s not exactly drawing lots, a more accurate term should be —
Lottery draw!
The rewards that should be given are also fully paid, without any discounts.
But in reality, this part of the reward quota is not high, even less than a fifth of what Journey Prosthetics Company provides for retired disabled soldiers.
He has to control himself.
Otherwise, being generous all the time, might result in inflation…
Once this announcement was made, the players enthusiastically registered to participate in the lottery, while also showing disbelief that they had to draw lots for a volunteer program!
But Lincoln had no choice.
If everything were to follow the principle of maximizing benefits, then these ten million slots should be distributed according to the players’ online time, from longest to shortest.
In that way, the collected data could be maximized.
But that would be too discouraging for the casual players.
And the number of casual players always exceeds the number of core players, whether in traditional gaming or virtual reality gaming.
So let’s stick to the lottery draw!
After the announcement, Lincoln and Xiaomeng hid together on a small sofa in the virtual world, watching the broadcast of the “Assassins’ Alliance” tournament.
They were not picky, they just went into the official live room of the tournament to watch whatever was being broadcast.
*
While they were slacking off, the other employees of Cloud Dream were still working hard.
Jerome had already booked his plane ticket and would set off for Xiajing tonight.
He needs to urgently join Quentina’s recruitment team and participate in the interview process for the Cloud Dream International Affairs Department.
It’s important to establish the department as soon as possible, to replace subordinates who are still on overseas assignments.
Of course, before being replaced, they have to hand over some of their duties.
Anyway, these marketing elites will unavoidably have to stay overseas for a while…
Luckily, all countries have visa-free access to Daxia, so staying there for two months would not be a problem, and the hand-over would take at most half a month.
Not only Jerome has to come back, but Xu Chun also embarked on his return journey.
He kept his promise perfectly: in half a month, he brought together 10 cold weapon experts and formed a 10-member team.
This half month, he had been flying all over the place, using the connections of his father and former peers, and constantly meeting real experts.
He visited them one by one, stated his intentions, sparred, entered the virtual world to spar again.
Finally, he sincerely talked about the present and future, remuneration and vision.
——Key words: “Moneybags,” “Ancient Heroes,” “Popularizing Martial Arts Globally.”
The entire process had an exaggerated success rate.
Only three experts denied him throughout the journey.
But that’s okay, his goal has been smoothly achieved.
In fact, through the fierce fights in the virtual world, several experts already had some inspirations that were completely different from those in reality.
This speed is much faster than when Xu Chun developed his own knife style.
Although Xu Chun started from scratch, unlike these experts who have the aid of the virtual world for practice and challenges, and Xu Chun’s knife style for reference.
But no matter what, it’s already a good start.
Xu Chun felt no pressure and was even very happy.
he never thought he was a genius. If he is ever surpassed, he thinks it’s quite normal.
In the circles of boxing and cold weapons, how strong a genius is, can be clearly seen by fighting a few rounds face to face.
Even if your mind doesn’t accept it, your body will tell you the difference.
Therefore, in Daxia, in a frequent competitive environment, those who practice martial arts have a clear understanding of their own talent and strength.
There basically would not be any instances of people who lack self-awareness and overestimate their ability after learning a little.
Thus, Xu Chun was only delighted by everyone’s progress.
He enthusiastically took several cold weapon experts on a high-speed train, returning to Xiajing.
A small episode happened during this period:
After buying the high-speed train tickets, while waiting at the station, two police officers came over for a casual chat.
They just wanted to know where they were going and what they were going to do.
Xu Chun and the others took no exception to this.
After all, people like them, who had trained their martial arts to a certain level, were potential “dangerous persons”, even without the use of weapons.
One of his elder brothers had practiced the Eagle Claw technique for a lifetime. He wasn’t any stronger than a regular athlete, and could be easily subdued if ambushed.
However, given the power of his right hand and the grappling technique – developed through years of incessant training – he could effortlessly tear apart a bamboo stick the diameter of an arm.
If he wanted, he could rip someone’s windpipe out in an instant.
——Although he had never employed this technique before, no one doubted his ability to execute it.
This was something his master had told him personally.
And his master, during his time on the battlefield, had been forced to do this…
In Daxia, where even locksmiths have to be officially registered due to security considerations, these people who have developed certain parts of their bodies into “deadly weapons”, even more so.
This led to an interesting phenomenon: whether registration was needed or not became a measure of a martial artist’s abilities—
“You don’t have to register? I envy you, I was dragged to registration by my dad when I was in my early twenties.”
“You registered at the age of 32? Ah, I must be slightly stronger than you, I registered at 27.”
Such conversations were commonly heard in Daxia’s martial arts circles.
Xu Chun, as well as all the other experts he had recruited, were all registered!
Asking about their itinerary was a small matter.
This was because some of the experts had already set off for Xiajing City in advance, and only four of them were traveling together.
If all eleven of them had been together, they would have probably attracted more than just two police officers.
*
When Xu Chun and the three others boarded the high-speed train, construction for their simulated battleground, the [Virtual Chang’an], had just completed a small corner.
Lincoln’s requirement for the virtual Chang’an was to balance an adequate level of authenticity with ample room for imagination.
It should not only have a sufficiently large horizontal space but also considerable vertical disparities.
He needed a three-dimensional Chang’an, not a model, and the key was to make it “fun”, not just “real”.
Real historical cities were being reproduced by Randolph and several other professional scholars.
The Chang’an in the game, reflecting the real architecture of Chang’an during the Tang Dynasty, would be about 90% accurate.
The remaining portion might be filled with structures from other cities, other dynasties, or even buildings that never existed.
Even those 90% real buildings would not be distributed strictly according to the regulations of Chang’an at that time. Some placements might be changed for the sake of the player’s gaming experience.
In short, the construction of [Virtual Chang’an] had to consider the game’s playability in many aspects.
Due to these specific requirements, the construction team for this city was not assembled swiftly.
With the help of Old Man Leonard, several students who didn’t plan to continue in the field of antiquated buildings were chosen, along with some researchers that had left due to financial constraints and the rigor of the field. Then some of Cloud Dream’s game designers were added.
This mixed group formed the “[Virtual Chang’an] Construction Team”.
Given this complex composition, it took quite some time to blend together and adapt, so the part that was built as of now only comprised three to five markets.
However, the environment and architecture within those areas were diverse, featuring temples, Daoist temples, shops, markets, restaurants, and entertainment venues…
With flying eaves and dougong brackets in staggered order.
It created a bustling atmosphere, especially during the night.
In the context of the whole [Virtual Chang’an] project, their progress couldn’t be more than one to two percent.
However, it was just enough to utilize for the experimental confrontations with Xu Chun’s eleven-man group.
Moreover, as they built more and more buildings, and their collaboration became more tacit, they were bound to speed up gradually.
Not to mention that the number of this “construction team” would gradually increase.
The battle zone for Xu Chun and the others would only get bigger.
Lincoln planned to fly back to Xiajing City overnight after watching the concert. This was because he was looking forward to observing their confrontations.
Although the battle scenes would definitely become more impressive once the game was officially released, with players leveling up, the skill system supporting, and flashy weapon movements. But, when it came to the value of combat, these experts’ confrontations were definitely top-level!
Lincoln anticipated this confrontation as much as he did for Alex’s concert rehearsal.