Teacher Li returned that night since he had classes to teach the next day.
Although being a PE teacher in a high school is probably the “easiest” job in this world, and if he wanted to, he could even slack off within “reasonable” bounds without being disliked by colleagues.
But after all, there are still these mysterious creatures called “student athletes” in this world, and a large part of Teacher Li’s daily work involves training and supervising them.
In any case, he couldn’t be completely idle, but as long as he had time to sleep, it was enough to satisfy the gaming needs of 《Reality Realm》. For a middle-aged single man with no attachments, nights are always hard to endure anyway, so he might as well “play hero” in another world.
As for his “wheelchair-bound” friend, he got his share of “surprise” the next morning. He had stayed up late last night hoping to sleep in, but was woken up by dog barking just as the sun came up.
Former excellent lawyer Mr. Wang Xiao got up with some difficulty but quite smoothly, put on his clothes and pushed his wheelchair into the courtyard, where he saw the square delivery box placed at the doorway.
“???”
The wheelchair-bound Wang Xiao widened his eyes, so shocked that he even took off his glasses and rubbed them hard, suspecting he might be seeing things.
He had only filled out the test application two hours ago.
It took so long because he had read through the application notes and legal clauses from beginning to end, finally concluding that this was an invalid “disclaimer”.That Alpha company had pushed almost all responsibility onto the testers through clever wording, meaning that according to this test contract, if anything happened in the game, Alpha company wouldn’t have to bear any responsibility.
To ordinary people this might just seem overly harsh, but to professionals, the content of these clauses and declarations was almost like a joke.
He now seriously doubted what Alpha company’s legal department was doing.
Anyone who could pass the bar exam wouldn’t produce such a flawed set of documents, or perhaps an even more horrifying conclusion:
That company doesn’t have a legal department at all!
Even if you randomly found a law school graduate to modify some template from the internet, they would write better than this.
But this wasn’t the key issue.
The key was how could such a company that seemed strange in every aspect still openly operate their only product without being investigated by relevant departments?
Wang Xiao spent some time last night searching online for news about 《Reality Realm》, but couldn’t find any credible sources, as if this thing was like an “urban legend”.
Discussions about it were very active in some social groups, and there was a supposedly promotional CG film being continuously spread privately, everyone who had seen it praised it, with many people seeking the mysterious codes.
But in the public information domain, this tag had almost no trace at all.
This was obviously not normal!
As a professional, he knew that such situations often meant relevant departments had already intervened and implemented widespread information control. Combined with what Old Li said during his visit last night, the wheelchair-bound man realized he seemed to have inadvertently entered a realm that made one shudder upon deeper thought.
“However, is Alpha company’s logistics efficiency really this high?”
He pushed his wheelchair forward to disperse the two alert good dogs, then took the delivery box still covered in morning dew in his hands and carefully examined it.
There was no traceable information, not even any valid information at all.
Opening the package revealed only a helmet with Alpha company’s logo, without even a user manual. But he had visited the forum last night, which had detailed tutorials on using the helmet.
This meant that the current “lucky ones” in this “urban legend” had established a self-consistent internal system, like a micro-society that could maintain normal operations without contacting the outside world.
This matter was subtle in every aspect.
But Wang Xiao also understood clearly that if he wanted to find some clues, he would have to put on this “uncertified” helmet in front of him and truly enter that game world claimed to be “100% real”.
Although not a scientist and without much in-depth understanding of virtual reality technology, Wang Xiao still felt a hint of distrust and resistance when seeing this helmet.
Not out of consideration for his own safety, but just as he said last night, even though his own part of reality had become terrible, he still didn’t want to let himself run off to a false world to seek some sense of existence and satisfaction.
That would mean a “class decline” at the level of will and life, someone who needs imaginary things to support their progress forward can hardly be called “firm”.
At least that’s what he believed.
“Old Li, you really know how to give me trouble.”
He said softly in his wheelchair, then returned to the inner room and lay back on his bed, took several deep breaths before putting that helmet on his head.
Then
《Reality Realm》, Start!
————————
“Old Eugene has finally calmed down now, his state of being ready to perish together with the Winter Wolf Church followers really scared me these past few days.”
On the way to the Blood Vulture Halls in Transia in the afternoon, Scout Amber munched on some expensive fruit candy sent by a student athlete while complaining to Guildmaster Natalie beside her:
“I had only heard about these zealots before, this is the first time I’ve personally seen someone who keeps the ‘holy war’ string wound so tight.
No wonder Old Eugene always says we young people’s faith in the gods is not sincere enough.
I thought he was just being picky, but by his standards, probably everyone on this Transia land except him and Sister Jules would be considered insincere.
However, even Sister Jules isn’t as fanatical as him.”
“Old Eugene is a special case.”
Guildmaster Natalie also sighed and said to her good friend:
“I don’t know much about his past either, but I heard Grandma Marianne mention once that he was an islander from the Misty Coast.
It’s said he was one of the orphans brought back to the Glamo headquarters by the Gray Knights during a church operation. Something terrible happened in his homeland, and he was the last survivor.
Since childhood, Old Eugene has believed that the Avalon God is the only true faith that can save the world. His fanaticism and sincerity were considered quite extreme even in the holy land of Glamo.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Old Eugene would be a Gray Knight now, but the Ten-Year War messed up everyone’s fate.
He’s actually doing well.
After experiencing abandonment by the gods, many people with similar experiences have gone mad, but Eugene managed to keep his sanity through his sincere devotion to the gods and survived through the cruel war until now.
The reconstruction of the Avalon Church in Transia has completely different meanings for us and for him. I have no doubt that Eugene would give everything unreservedly for his faith.
But as you said, his stubbornness and vigilance often make people feel uncomfortable. However, you and I both know that for a system like the church, the existence of people like Eugene is necessary.”
“He doesn’t know yet how those warriors who converted to the Avalon God are ‘preaching’.”
Amber said quietly:
“I followed Niuniu before to listen to a sermon by that improper ‘priest’ from the so-called ‘Big Bird Spin Spin Spin Group’. No exaggeration, if Old Eugene heard how those guys randomly interpret the doctrines, I estimate he might draw his sword and start chopping people on the spot.
Those guys have their own interpretation of the subspace, using the simplest and most crude good-versus-evil dualism to make up some so-called subspace god, and even say that the enemy of the Avalon God is an evil god called ‘Nurgle’.
The latter intends to destroy the world with filthy plagues, and only those who persist in nature faith can purify themselves and others when the great plague descends.
It sounds like a bizarre story.
But oddly enough, their descriptions have a set of easy-to-understand logic, and many believers who came from the Cato region these days are spreading such little stories.
Natalie, we really need to deal with this. If this continues, they’ll create a new doctrine branch.
And that’s not even the scariest part!
Those audacious fellows aren’t just making up stuff about the Avalon God, they’re also giving other gods strange backgrounds, saying the North Wind God opposes Khorne with courage, the Earth Mother resists Tzeentch called the ‘Lord of Change’ with steadfastness and immutability, and saying that wonderful power will be born from machinery.
And that power will ultimately stand in opposition to Slaanesh.
It’s really too outrageous!”
Amber spoke with great animation, but she soon noticed Natalie was giving her a strange look, which made Amber uncomfortably ask:
“Is there something dirty on my face?”
“No, I’m just curious, if you really think those guys are making things up, why do you know their outrageous stories so well?”
Natalie said quietly:
“It seems there’s quite a remarkable ‘heretic’ by my side, and looking at how much you’re enjoying it, listening to those warrior priests’ stories must be much more interesting than listening to Old Eugene’s sermons, right?”
“Uh, I won’t deny that point.”
Amber shrugged and said:
“You know, I wasn’t really a sincere believer before either. If I hadn’t been caught up in the Ten-Year War, I’d probably be back in my hometown married with kids by now.
The Antani Region is one of the few peaceful places on the Continent of Strife.”
“Maybe you’d even take your warrior Niuniu back with you, right?”
Natalie slipped in a subtle jab:
“These past few days, besides daily training and helping at the cathedral, you’ve been spending all your other time with him. Amber! You’re being a bit too forward.
You’re a young lady, you should be more reserved.”
“Ah, I’m about to go scout the Foul Swamp anyway, might not be back for over a month. I’ll think about it carefully, stop talking about it, my head hurts.”
Amber covered her face and ran out, making Natalie sigh.
She was carrying information about refugee settlement collected by the Adventurer Guild these past few days and was about to enter the Blood Vulture Halls when she looked back and saw Amber happily running off to be with Niuniu who had just logged in. That tall warrior even carried his adjutant on his back like children playing around.
Who knows if he’s really that naive or just pretending?
These otherworlders… they all have way too many tricks up their sleeves. With Amber’s personality, she’ll really have trouble escaping from their grasp.
Perhaps she should have a chat with Helu?
Helu is a Spirit Mage after all, much more rational than Amber.
With these thoughts in mind, Lady Natalie turned and walked into the shadows of the halls. She needed to report her work to Murphy, and also discuss the increasingly “rampant” activities of players in the Cato region.
Logically speaking, the little players are free to go wherever they want, even Murphy doesn’t really control them much, but the problem is that those guys are recruiting refugees in the Cato region in the name of the Avalon Church.
If this isn’t handled well, it might bring terrible consequences to the reputation of the newly established church.
Amber told the “god stories” made up by the little players to Natalie as jokes, but the Black-Hearted Witch Hunter knew very well that if the little players were allowed to continue developing these stories, if this information spread through their oral accounts was widely disseminated, it would likely cause many unnecessary ripples.
Their own god is merciful enough not to mind the followers’ delusions, but for the Winter Wolf Church northerners, they wouldn’t allow outsiders to freely make up weird little stories about the North Wind God.
If not handled properly, it could really trigger a faith conflict or even a holy war.
“Hmm? Who’s there!”
Just as Natalie walked into the intersection of the Blood Vulture Halls, she suddenly stopped and turned, throwing a flying knife.
The thing cut through the air with a ding as it hit the wall, almost grazing the nose of the person in the shadows, giving that sneaky fellow quite a fright.
“I didn’t mean to spy, I just wanted to ask for directions.”
【Raven】Wang Xiao, who had just come up after receiving a task from Lord Murphy in the Midnight Chamber, raised his hands very compliantly and said loudly:
“My lady! I mean no harm.”
However, Natalie couldn’t understand the “otherworld language” he spoke, but the Black-Hearted Witch Hunter wasn’t new to dealing with players. She could tell from this guy’s attire that he was an “otherworlder” who had just arrived in Transia.
To be honest, except for some players with distinctive features, Natalie always had trouble distinguishing the faces of these otherworld warriors.
This was probably similar to how all Seris people look the same to foreigners, and foreigners look the same to Seris people. In any case, as a witch hunter, she mostly identified their identities through different auras.
This method worked well before when there were fewer players.
But now it’s becoming less applicable.
The number of these guys keeps increasing and many have learned to disguise their auras. Murphy said he plans to recruit even more otherworlders to Transia soon.
However, this guy in front of her left a very “deep” first impression on Natalie, because his walking posture was quite awkward.
Just like a baby who had just learned to walk, he could barely maintain balance and had to hold onto the wall to slowly shuffle forward.
Natalie had seen similar situations before, people whose legs were injured in the war walked like this when they first stood up again after long periods of healing.
So, was this otherworlder injured in their world? And from the looks of it, it must have been a very serious injury. Why would Murphy want to recruit a disabled person here?
These doubts kept accumulating in the witch hunter’s mind, but she didn’t show them. Instead, she took out a computation bead and spirit dog tags from her spirit bag and handed them over.
As president of the Adventurer Guild, issuing identity credentials to these warriors was part of her job.
Except for those players with special status who needed to get special beads from the administrative office, the first stop for other players in Transia was the Adventurer Guild camp.
Wang Xiao already knew the use of computation beads from posts on the forum, so he quickly bound and activated his bead, then apologized and thanked Natalie through the bead’s built-in translator before stumbling away on his own.
Natalie didn’t think much of it.
She went to report to Murphy, handed over some of the troubles from her hands to her governor, then returned to the camp with a pleasant mood.
But as soon as she got back, she saw that “Raven” she had just met wandering around the camp.
But he wasn’t lost, he was carefully observing his surroundings, even crouching down to dig up roots from the ground to examine them. That meticulous observation made Natalie realize this guy’s identity might not be ordinary.
“Do you have nothing to do?”
Natalie approached and asked:
“Don’t you have any quests?”
“I’ve already registered at the administrative office and am preparing to become an administrator, and I’m not interested in fighting.”
Raven looked up, trying hard to give Natalie a friendly smile.
He already had the Mind Microphone plugin inserted in his computation bead, but ordinary players who just entered the game wouldn’t have this startup capital, clearly this guy had bought gold coins on the forum before entering the game.
He obviously had his own complete gaming plan.
Natalie became increasingly interested in this special player in front of her, so she said:
“The Adventurer Guild needs someone to do odd jobs, interested in making some extra money?”
“Of course, thank you for offering the position.”
Raven threw away the roots in his hand, stood up and patted the dirt off his hands, saying:
“I also urgently need a channel to understand this land. But you seem to be a church? So do I need faith to work here?”
“Do you have any?”
The witch hunter asked, and Raven shook his head, saying very seriously:
“No, I don’t.
There was a time when I prayed to every god I knew but none responded. I walked out of life’s low point by myself, which made me realize I’m not a weak person.
And I think…
You don’t seem like a person of faith either, at least compared to Master Eugene who just tried to preach to me earlier, you’re unusually peaceful.”
“Yet I am the person in charge of this rebuilding church before your eyes. Sir, these words of yours seem very excessive to me!
Why would you doubt the sincerity of a witch hunter leader’s faith?”
“Oh? Now that’s really interesting”
Raven looked at Guildmaster Natalie before him with great interest and said softly:
“I could use many words to describe the relationship between gods and believers as I see it, and I could also explain to you that I’m not questioning you. But I realize I know nothing about your faith, so before I make explanations, could you spare some time to introduce me to the majesty of the Avalon God?
Perhaps you might even gain a believer for your god today.”