Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Even though Lincoln had made up his mind to teach these people a lesson, he refused Mavis’s suggestion.

He had breakfast and briefly tidied up his room before calling Lorin after 9 o’clock, chatting for over 20 minutes.

Then, Lincoln put the matter aside and went back to the virtual world, watching the closed beta progress of the 100 players on the second day alongside Mavis.

This was also the last day of the closed beta.

Considering the scale of “Assassins’ Alliance” and the high degree of freedom for players, if the closed beta was only one day, many people might not be able to complete the already opened main storyline by the end of the closed beta.

So at the beginning, Lincoln scheduled the closed beta for a weekend, two days.

This was confirmed yesterday – only 10 professional gamers and 22 heavy game players completed the opened main storyline.

The other players were distracted by the huge virtual city and made slow progress.

After today’s test started, interesting things happened: the identities of the two groups of people completely switched.

Those who were focused on the main plot yesterday were now relaxed and began to explore the city at random.

On the other hand, players who were strolling around without focusing on the main quest began to concentrate on it.

This led to a lot of interesting situations.

For example, those who were progressing the fastest had already understood the mechanics of the game and had a targeted approach when exploring the streets.

Lance, for one, went to various gun shops in hopes of discovering some good weapons.

Although he didn’t have much money and couldn’t afford good guns, and many guns were very ineffective when used without sufficient skill level,

He still couldn’t help but enter gun shops, learning and seeking advice from shopkeepers while holding various guns one after another.

After his “Shooting Mastery” skill was upgraded from Level 1 to Level 2 yesterday, he could clearly feel the improvement in his shooting ability.

It wasn’t the kind of skill that came with long-term practice, but it was like he had suddenly grasped something and instantly felt a deep sense of familiarity with the firearms in his hands.

After testing, he also found that his shooting proficiency and accuracy had significantly improved!

This made him eager to upgrade his “Shooting Mastery” level again.

Unfortunately, the main storyline was interrupted.

Although he had successfully arrived at the assassins’ lair, after the storyline ended, these NPCs no longer interacted with him.

Even if he actively approached them, he could only trigger idle chats without any real content.

Naturally, the weapons and equipment there would not be available to him.

Given his poor background, he couldn’t afford new guns either.

So, what else could he do besides practicing with guns? Grind driving skill proficiency?

Although he had triggered the “Driving Mastery Level 1” skill during a mission yesterday when he experienced an exciting “upskirt driving,” he still had no car and couldn’t practice.

In the end, he could only go to gun shops in the city to familiarize himself with the characteristics of different firearms.

Of course, not all of the players who completed the main mission yesterday were like Lance, who always maintained a “lawful good” stance.

One player tried to steal weapons from a textile factory, but the seemingly unremarkable weapon modifier suddenly became violent, knocking down the player with his bare hands. He then shot the player in the head, killing him right away.

So, that player decided to rob a gun shop instead – and this time, he succeeded.

However, he soon faced the pursuit of local gangs.

The most outrageous part was that these gangs were driving armored vehicles!

As a result, this player became the first closed beta tester to die in a car accident.

Moreover, it was a miserable death.

Speaking of deaths, these players really had creative ways to die.

One player, who might have been a rock-climbing enthusiast in real life, decided to climb a 32-story building without safety equipment.

Personally, Lincoln loved extreme sports – loving to watch, not participate in them.

So, as soon as this player started climbing, Lincoln immediately put his lens in the middle and paid close attention to this brave warrior without blinking.

Then, he watched as the warrior climbed to the 24th floor, either due to exhaustion or a mistake, failed to grab onto the window ledge and fell straight down from the high altitude, leaving a puddle of blood on the ground.

Thankfully, he quickly covered Mavis’s eyes in time.

Lincoln, watching through the screen, was a bit traumatized by the whole thing.

But what astonished him was that, this guy came right back to the building after he respawned.

The bloodstains on the ground had already been cleared.

He just sat cross-legged where he fell, occasionally looking up at the building.

It took him just 5 minutes to rebuild his mentality, roll up his sleeves, and start climbing again!

Lincoln wished it was being live-streamed, so he could send the guy some rockets!

This isn’t “Traveler of the Wind”, this is the ultra-realistic world of “Assassins’ Alliance”.

The falling experience was almost indistinguishable from reality!

Being able to bounce back and try again after such a terrifying sky-high fall, what a strong heart he must have!

Lincoln glanced at this brave man’s ID – “Climb King”.

Goodness, not humble at all.

He pulled up the player’s registration info, planning to mark it down, and send this guy an invitation for future game tests.

It turned out the guy’s real name was Wang Pan…

His real name was Wang Pan, his screen name was “Climb King” and his favorite activity was “climbing”…

Well… that’s quite subtle.

Some players tried to rob the bank.

But as soon as they took out their guns and fired a shot at the ceiling, they were peppered by the security guards’ shotguns.

Turned into a sieve on the spot.

Some players wanted to bring justice to the streets and stop crime.

But they were caught off guard when a thug stabbed them in the waist, causing heavy bleeding.

The thug ran away, and the NPC they had saved also ran away.

The player bled out and died on the street, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground during the struggle, which looked quite disturbing.

One player pursued the thrill by hopping on the roller coaster the second it took off, attempting an unprotected adrenaline ride.

As a result, the eight players in the amusement park saw with their own eyes the roller coaster throw its passenger off at the highest point of the loop.

The screams echoed in the distance.

It scared them so much they didn’t dare to ride the roller coaster anymore.

—During the entire closed beta phase, only the amusement park was an online area. Players who entered the amusement park were automatically merged into the same mirror server.

However, this kind of online mode was too natural for players to even notice they had switched from single-player mode to online instances.

This design would also be used after the game was released. The amusement park would be designated as a safe zone, prohibiting all violent and aggressive actions.

Once inside, all weapons would temporarily disappear and only reappear when the player left.

This place would be a purely recreational area, a haven for casual gamers.

Of course, it seems that simply banning weapons and attacks might not be enough.

On one hand, if players insist on getting themselves killed, that’s one thing. But it’s a different story when it affects other players who are having a good time.

Seeing someone suddenly die right in front of you could undoubtedly deal a massive psychological blow!

Not to mention, if you wanted to harm someone, firearms aren’t a must.

Remember what the first episode of Conan was about?

The roller coaster murder case!

It seems there are many ways to hurt someone in a theme park full of thrilling attractions…

Lincoln frowned, “The current security measures are far from sufficient!”