The Legendary Mechanic

Ever since Galaxy was in the research and development stage, the game had received wide attention with minimal marketing. Only basic information was provided on the official website. Even so, its popularity was continuously rising. Due to the many groundless rumors, Galaxy was shrouded with an air of mystery, fueling the players' anticipation and curiosity.

On the day of public beta, the enthusiasm of the players was exploding like the eruption of a volcano. Although the number of VR capsules in the first batch was limited and there was also a restriction on the number of purchases, the game was sold out in half an hour. Those who did not manage to grab hold of the game were utterly disappointed, whereas those who did get it could not wait to enter the game.

…

The day that the game was released, enthusiastic players rushed into the game. In Galaxy, there were dozens of players who came from different birthplaces, and this formed the first batch of players.

In the evening, more and more public beta players who had created their characters appeared out of thin air in the forest outside the settlement of Big Horn Village, looking around curiously.

"It feels so real!" exclaimed a player as he jumped around with ease.

"Quick! Look at the sky, there is actually more than one moon!" a player shouted out in excitement as he admired the scenery.

"Woah, can I take off my pants?" asked a muddle-headed player.

"Is there no novice village in this game?" Another player scratched his head, not knowing what to do.

As more and more players appeared, a huge crowd began to form. With more than a thousand people gathered, one could hardly see an end to the mass of players. There were thousands of players who had gathered. After some confusion, some observant players spotted the lights in the distance from Big Horn Village. Thinking that it was the novice village, the players rushed over en masse.

The guards at the settlement of Big Horn Village were shocked to see the group of ragged men and immediately blew the whistle to inform the rest of the population to lock their doors and stop this huge group of foreigners from entering their settlement.

The players were all stopped at the gate, and they started shouting out against the guards.

"What is going on? Why isn't the novice village open?"

"My hunger level is dropping; I will die if I don't eat something."

"The expressions of these NPCs are so lively."

Within the settlement of Big Horn Village, all the residents walked out of their house holding torches and weapons, and stood guarding the main door solemnly, preventing the mass of people from attacking the place. The village chief, Xander, gathered the few key personnel urgently.

"Where did this group of people come from? It's almost 10,000 people!" Xander exclaimed.

"Is it a group of migratory vagrants?"

"Let's just ask directly."

Xander climbed to the watchtower and asked loudly as he looked down at the huge crowd of players, "Friends from afar, why have you come to us?"

The players looked at one another with confused faces, not knowing how to respond.

Xander then shook his head. "If you all do not state where you are from, I cannot let you enter the settlement."

The public beta players were baffled. They were all new players who could not even understand the map. How would they be able to tell him their origin? Was that a joke?

Inside the settlement, the closed beta players found the whole situation amusing. It was like a show for them as they watched the situation unfold from the side. They had landed directly inside the settlement when they first arrived and did not have to go through the trouble that the public beta players who had landed outside the settlement had to face now.

Just then, they received a notification. It was a mission where they had to convince Xander to allow the public beta players to enter the settlement, and the prize was rather significant. There was a note that specified they had to make sure that their use of words would match the current game context.

"Interesting, there are no other games like this."

The players inside the settlement were surprised by the creativity in this game. They could actually use their convincing skills to influence the NPC in this game. That was new to them.

After a few discussions, the closed beta players went up to Xander to start a discussion.

After what seemed like a long time, Xander finally understood. "Do you all know the group of people outside?"

One of the closed beta players answered with a straight face. "Yes, we used to be residents in the same settlement, called Earth Village. There was a disaster, and we lost all contact. This group of people outside are all as hardworking as us. Chief Xander, please accept them."

"Earth Village? Why haven't I heard of this settlement?" After some thought, Xander seemed slightly convinced. "There are too many of them. It is impossible to accept all of them."

"That is simple. All they need is a job, some food, and basic supplies. You can think of them as cheap labor, and it is also an opportunity to expand the settlement."

The closed beta players snickered, as they could not wait for the public players to be scammed.

Xander's eyes lit up. "You are right."

Soon enough, Xander explained the situation to the public beta players, and they all received a task each.

_____________________

[The First Job]: You should earn some money through labor. Do not let yourself starve to death. Try to build a better relationship with our settlement so that you can be trusted.

_____________________

With guidance, the public beta players started their tasks. Residents of Big Horn Village settlement eagerly provided different job opportunities, and the merchants also opened up their stores to the players, allowing them to use their own money to buy some food.

With a clear goal to work toward, the public beta players started to have a good impression of Big Horn Village. The public beta players formed a ring of tents on the boundary of the settlement, adding on to the construction of the settlement.

The same scene was happening for the newcomers at other settlements on Planet Aquamarine.

On the first day of the public beta, all the players were very excited, and they soon found out that there were camera and video functions, which added on to their excitement. The number of posts on social media exploded with players posting about the most miniscule of events. The following were some of the posts.

"Poor review! How can there be no excretion function!" The owner of this post obvious had ulterior motives, and he was obviously not really complaining about excretion.

"Taking on an alien body is so fun." Another post showed a picture of a Taurus male player shaking his tail.

"Almost got killed by a wild boar. It's so fun!" The post showed a picture of a female player making a peace sign with a wild boar chasing right behind her.

…

On the first day of the launch of the public beta, millions of players joined the game, and they were assigned to different planets, with at least around 100,000 players on each planet. As the news spread, the numbers rose at a rapid rate. With the next half a year, the numbers would likely snowball into tens of millions.

The public beta players were overjoyed with the game while some of the closed beta players were not having it so well.

…

In Dark Crow Valley, Jupiter and the other members of the guild looked at their surrounding forests with a blank look.

All around them, the woods were green, the evening wind lightly caressed their skin, and the calm atmosphere was like a gentle palm, warming their hearts and making everything seem so harmonious.

The view was amazing and pleasing to the eye.

But where did the base go‽

Jupiter hesitated before he asked, "The place we are going to… should be the base, right?"

Everyone nodded in unison.

"There is no longer a connection with the camp!" Poseidon exclaimed.

Everyone then checked their interface and realized that their original [Dark Crow Valley Base Connection] was gone! Everyone was flabbergasted.

What is this situation‽

"Quick! Check the tasks!"

Waking up from the trance, Jupiter checked his interface immediately, before heaving a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, the mission is still there. Oh sh*t!"

In the next moment, everyone was shocked.

_____________________

[Search for Zero (Level A)]: Zero, a mysterious traitor. He has caused the organization to suffer many losses. Find Zero, and you will become a great friend to the organization.

_____________________

The level of difficulty had changed from B to A!

The task instructions had also changed; the location of Zero was no longer required as it was like finding a needle in a haystack. The Guild of Gods had made a lot of preparations, and the results of the discussion could fill up an entire blackboard. This change had caused all the preparation in the past few days to go to waste.

"What have we missed‽"

Jupiter then thought of the official introduction of Galaxy and lost his voice.

"Don't tell me Zero is the main character on this planet!"