▪️CHOSEN ONE, ARE YOU READY?
“Haha! I’ve been selected!”
Back on Earth, along the second ring road within the imperial capital, inside an ordinary residential building.
An excited-looking teenage boy around seventeen or eighteen years of age stared disbelievingly at the text ssage he just received on his smartphone.
After double checking it if its truly genuine and not a scam text, his face then filled with expression of utmost joy.
His na was Ji Dong, a high school graduate who had just finished his college entrance exam and was awaiting for his admission.
Currently, he was holed up at ho.
As a reward for getting into the Imperial University, his father and mother had gifted him the most popular Virtual Pod.
Therefore, nowadays, he is completely engrossed in VR gas and can’t tear himself away from playing them…
Holding his smartphone, he couldn’t contain his happiness as he rolled around on the bed.
The contents of the text ssage were simple and concise:
“Congratulations! You have been selected as a player for the third round of closed beta testing for ‘Elven Kingdom.’ Your invitation code is: 130-114-504.”
Imagine him being chosen as a player for the third round of ‘Elven Kingdom’ closed beta testing!
Naturally, he was wholly astonished.
Elven Kingdom was a cutting-edge VR-MMORPG that had gained imnse popularity within the last few months, sweeping through the entire internet like storm.
With its futuristic technology, unbelievable mind acceleration, close-to-real ga modeling and physics engine, lifelike NPC system, with unprecedented freedom and engagent, ElvKing had easily left its competitors far behind, becoming the hottest topic of the gaming world…
Heck, so even joked that it was not actually a ga but were in fact just masquerading as one and is actually a program that aliens built to let one’s brainwaves traverse into a different world and so crack-head conspiracy enthusiast and alien believers had truly believed such rumors.
Early on, even before his college entrance exam had concluded, Ji Dong had seen many videos about the ga on various video sharing websites, which had piqued his interest in this ga called ‘Elven Kingdom.’
However, it was unfortunate that he was busy studying for his entrance exams when the first round of beta testing applications opened.
In any case, even if he had signed up during the first round of beta-testing, he likely would not have been selected for the initial batch of closed beta testers. This is because the number of slots for the first closed beta-test was extrely limited, and nurous strears and professional gars were also competing for these slots.
For instance, the first beta-test had only accepted 300 applicants, while nearly 800,000 people had applied!
The odds of being chosen back then were incredibly slim and those who were selected were truly fortunate.
Afterwards, the second round of closed beta-testing had expanded the playerbase further up to 900 slots.
At that ti, Ji Dong promptly reapplied once more since he had just finished his college entrance exam.
However, the second application process was even more brutal, with three million applicants vying for re 900 slots!
As a result, the probability of being selected beca even smaller…
And as expected, Ji Dong once again didn’t make the cut.
After a period of ti, the official announcent for the third closed beta had finally ca and on this round, ‘Elven Kingdom’ had opened up additional 9,000 slots!
This news thrilled many people including him.
These days, many users would constantly refresh the official website of ‘Elven Kingdom’ as the first thing they did in the morning. Almost all VR gars in the country had been eagerly waiting for a new round of closed beta testing with bated breath.
Excitedly, Ji Dong had also decided to apply for a third ti yet again!
However, when he saw the ssage; “You are the 14,346,755th player to apply for ‘Elven Kingdom.’ Thank you for your participation,” his heart imdiately sank…
Although there were indeed more slots available, the sad thing was that the number of applicants had also even further drastically increased!
What the hell—14 million applicants!?
It was truly mind-boggling.
Despite the Virtual Pod’s creation and the advent of the neural network ushering in a new gaming age, and in spite of virtual online gas already amassing tens of millions of simultaneous players a year before, the occurrence of a VR ga attracting over ten million participants while still on its initial beta testing phase was truly unprecedented!
It’s a remarkable feat considering that Ji Dong hadn’t even applied on the last day of registration.
By the actual deadline, it is estimated the total number of applicants for this third closed beta would already exceeded 20 million!
Moreover, it is rumored that there were even many foreigners amongst them…
They too have watched ElvKing videos that the chinese players posted online and gone to great lengths just to participate as well.
A good ga was indeed appreciated everywhere.
Not to ntion that the quality displayed in ‘ElvKing’ videos was so impressive that it easily overshadowed any other virtual online gas currently out in the market.
With its fantasy the, it naturally appealed to many foreign gars, stirring their intense curiosity and enthusiasm…
There were even a few foreign gaming experts who strongly urged the ‘Elven Kingdom’ developers to open an international test server.
Unfortunately, the typically reserved developers of ‘Elven Kingdom’ never responded to such requests.
Ultimately, the number of applicants for the third closed beta had reached a staggering 22 million upon its closing date!
Although the odds were better compared to the second closed beta, such numbers was still quite terrifying.
Fortunately, this ti, Ji Dong’s luck had finally co around.
Just when he thought that all hope was lost, he promptly received a text ssage confirming his selection, making him one of the lucky 9,000 applicants selected!
July 25th, exactly 12:00 pm.
After having thoroughly studied various strategy posts on the ga’s official forum, Ji Dong, who had diligently done his howork, finally welcod the third closed beta of “Elven Kingdom” amidst his eager anticipation.
He checked the ti, unable to contain his excitent, and imdiately entered his virtual pod. He then launched “Elven Kingdom” that he had already downloaded.
“Initiating… Elven Kingdom!”
【❗】
Ga connection successful…
New version discovered, ‘Elf Kingdom’ 1.3.
Updating version…0%…01%…02%…
—Update successful.
【Update Log V1: Optimized the ga resurrection feature. The “Perfect Resurrection Attempts” have been replaced with a resurrection coin system, where perfect resurrection requires the use of resurrection coins. Resurrection coins can be exchanged in the Contribution Store. The higher a player’s level, the more resurrection coins are consud during revival.】
【Update Log V2: Optimized the exchange and jobclass systems. “World Tree” has been set as a redemption point. Players can now directly pray to the World Tree in the Chosen City, to access the exchange store and jobclass interface without needing to go to the Temple to find the Goddess statue.】
【Update Log V3: Optimized the punishnt chanism. The severity of punishnt is now linked to a player’s level. The higher the level, the more severe the punishnt a player will receive.】
【Update Log V4: Optimized the face creation chanism. When creating a character, a score is given to the character’s appearance. The system’s base score for a character is 60 points, and characters with scores below 50 points cannot be created.】
Resurrection coins? Exchange system? Punishnt chanism? Face customization?
Ji Dong raised an eyebrow.
Since he had done so research beforehand, these terms sounded sowhat familiar to him. However, with him being a newcor, he still found them a bit unfamiliar…
Nonetheless, he didn’t pay much attention to it.
Accompanied by a soothing background music, Ji Dong’s surroundings briefly dimd before brightening once again.
He suddenly felt a wave of dizziness which then accompanied by a rapid shift as if he was being pulled into a black hole. This sensation lasted for a couple of seconds and before he could even realized what was happening, Ji Dong already found himself in the character creation interface.
“I’m in!”
Ji Dong’s heart rejoiced.
In Elven Kingdom the only available race to choose from was the elves, but their appearances could be intricately customized.
However, Ji Dong was a bit puzzled.
Why did the developers decide to implent a scoring system for one’s appearance during character creation? And why wouldn’t they let soone create a character if their avatar’s score was too low?
“Is it to prevent people from making ugly avatars? ElvKing’s developers are really a bunch of perfectionists, huh? Hey, it’s just an appearance, it’s not a big deal…”
Ji Dong ntally quipped.
Of course, he was definitely going to put effort into creating his avatar’s appearance.
After all, who wouldn’t want their in-ga character to look handso? After all, it’s almost like raising your own daughter or son.
…Well maybe except for so weird eccentric players.
After spending half an hour crafting a handso face that he was extrely satisfied with, and after the system scored his avatar’s appearance at 65 points, Ji Dong finally clicked “Confirm.”
Afterwards, he set his in-ga userna as: “Deformation Ji Gang”
The screen then briefly dimd, and Ji Dong finally entered the ga!
With a sudden blur and an indescribable sense of weightlessness washing over him, the cinematic opening of Elven Kingdom began playing before Ji Dong’s eyes.
Actually he had seen this particular opening cutscene countless tis on video sharing websites, so he initially intended to skip it.
But due to so inexplicable impulse, he restrained his impatience and decided to rewatch it all over again…
Accompanied by familiar yet captivating music, one breathtaking scene unfolded one after another before Ji Dong’s eyes.
The imposing World Tree, the picturesque elven city, the grandeur of the Silver Civilization, and the unfortunate conflict known as the War of the Gods…
This in-ga storyplot had beco ingrained in Ji Dong’s mory from watching it countless tis.
However, Ji Dong noticed that this version seed to be trimd down compared to the one circulating online; it had been shortened sowhat.
“They cut down the opening scenes?”
Ji Dong was a little bit curious as to why the devs did that.
Yet, just as the War of the Gods concluded, with the World Tree withering away and Ji Dong thinking that the opening sequence was about to end…
The cutscene then took a drastic turn!
The opening movie surprisingly didn’t end here like he expected.
The background music suddenly grew intense, and the visuals presented an unprecedented never before seen scenes—
The prayer of the Saintess, as light flicker atop the towering World Tree!
In an instant, three hundred Chosen Ones descended one after another!
They battled creatures in the forest, fought goblins in ruins, defeated the incarnations of deities, and reclaid the Holy City of Florence. They laid the foundations, brick by brick, for the City of the Chosen Ones!
Then… nine hundred Chosen Ones descended for a second ti!
They defeated several orc hunting parties, rescued the captive elven race, fought alongside a black dragon, and battled hordes of orcs…
The Elven Forest was reclaid, the incarnation of the goddess descended, the World Tree revived, and all living beings paid homage to the goddess…
Then the Chosen Ones embarked on their journey out of the forest!
They explored Rivendell, subdued the Spider Queen in the catacombs…
They delved into the world underground, befriending the dark-dwarves…
As Ji Dong watched those magnificent scenes and thrilling cutscenes unfold, accompanied by the heart-pounding background music, he was left utterly flabbergasted.
Being a gaming enthusiast who frequently watches ElvKing videos, Ji Dong naturally recognized these segnts… this familiar scenes…
They were, without a doubt, the ga events experienced by the players of the first and second closed beta-tests!
The developers had actually transford players’ gaming experiences into the opening movie for the third closed beta-test!
What’s more, these edited cutscenes were seamlessly integrated with the earlier opening cutscene, fitting them together perfectly, as though they were truly a segnt of an epic legendary tale!
It could even be said that it was a story drawn by the players, a fantasy movie starring the players themselves!
In an instant, Ji Dong felt a profound sense of epic grandeur and a sense of belongingness…
And at the end of the cinematic scene, his field of vision then suddenly went dark once more.
Then…a string of golden characters entered his peripheral vision:
—O’ Chosen One, are you ready?
In that mont, Ji Dong felt his blood utterly boil.
— —
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