Game of the World Tree

On August 31st, the massive virtual online game ‘Elven Kingdom’ is having its fourth non-deletion closed beta test screening.

You are welcomed to join!

The announcement rippled across the gaming community like a stone breaking the surface of a tranquil lake, instantly captivating the attention of all sorts of players far and wide.

At the same time, netizens who had been vigilantly monitoring Elven Kingdom’s official website immediately got thrilled upon discovering the announcement.

“Damn, this game is finally accepting beta-participants again! It’s been so popular that the game section of many video sharing websites has been dominated by ElvKing for months now.”

Looking around the internet, there are all kinds of videos being uploaded by concurrent beta testers everywhere, and some people even got creative and actually filmed a movie inside the game.

With its incredibly realistic and beautiful landscape, boundless gameplay, and most important of all, the otherworldly alien-like black technology of “thought acceleration,” which can practically almost extends one’s game time as if they were given an extension of their life, how could such a game not drive people crazy?

It can be said that from every aspect, Elven Kingdom has just become an unbeatable myth within the gaming sphere, leaving other online games completely behind…

It even got to a point wherein many professional content creators and streamers have reduced the frequency of their uploads after they started to play Elven Kingdom, which demonstrates the the game’s strong appeal and addictiveness.

As such, there is no doubt that the news of Elven Kingdom’s fourth round of beta testing will once again dominate the front pages of major gaming forums.

Related discussions concerning the game continued to be a hot topic to the point where it seemed to be turning into a gaming carnival, with even fake news like buying and selling Elven Kingdom accounts becoming trending amongst various social media sites.

Of course, by now, most closed beta players already knew that each account and beta slot cannot be bought nor sold to someone else, as they are exclusively tied to the individual that has been initially granted access to it.

In fact, many netizens have been complaining, stating that with the massive popularity it already garnered, why do the developers of the game even bother persisting with the closed beta?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to transition directly to the open beta instead?

Surely, wouldn’t this approach yield higher financial returns?

Practically, there are limitless netizens who are willing and desperate enough to spend cash just to play the game!

Yet unfortunately, it seemed that the devs have still no plans in proceeding with the open beta…

However, it still excited everyone when the number of fourth beta slots was announced…

Fifty thousand available slots!

This time, the chances of being selected have been further expanded!

The registration for the closed beta of the game followed in the same manner just like the previous rounds, wherein chosen applicants will be selected randomly.

However, when the final number of users who registered was tallied, it once again shocked everyone.

During the third closed beta, the number of people who signed up eventually reached over twenty million, but this time, it nearly doubled, reaching nearly fifty million!

It’s worth noting that since the invention of the virtual gaming pod, there have only been seventy million registered pods in China…

Which means that four out of seven owners of each virtual pods have actually decided to sign up for the Fourth beta!

Well, the probability of being selected has indeed increased due to the increased slots, but for ordinary players, a 0.04% chance versus a 0.001% chance still doesn’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things.

In the end, being chosen still boils down to whether one is lucky or not.

At least… that’s how the netizens see it.

“So… am I considered one of these few lucky players?”

Su Yuan tilted her head as she looked at the invitation code sent a few days ago on her smartphone.

“Of course! Don’t you know how popular this game is? Many people are crying and shouting because they can’t get a slot! Even big influencers on Weibo are saying they’d pay astronomical amounts for an account if it could be traded!”

“Yuanjuan, you’re really lucky this time! Even I had to sign up twice before finally being selected, you know!”

“Hehe, with this, we can finally play together! Hurry up and log in, I’ll show you around! I’m already level 31, and I’ve even found a very powerful elven blacksmith as my mentor. I’ll be able to advance soon and become a high-level player in this game!”

The excited voice of her best friend, Zhou Menghan, came through Su Yuan’s earphones.

Her excited chatter made Su Yuan wonder if this overly excited person on the other side was still the very same gentle and quiet little fairy friend she knew from childhood…

“Doesn’t this sound too good to be true?”

Su Yuan murmured.

Actually, her registering was done on a whim, and in fact, it was completely Zhou Menghan’s insistence that made her do it.

While there’s a virtual pod at her home, Su Yuan leans more towards nurturing-type of virtual online games, like the kind of game where she can personally raise and customize characters to her own preferences…

As such, the games she usually play often involves either managing a restaurant, talent agency, or music idols…and she has little interest in this kind of MMORPG games.

Although she had vaguely heard that this game has a high degree of freedom, Su Yuan firmly believes that any game, no matter how great or popular it is, still has its own limitations.

Sure, it might excel in one aspect, but it’s impossible to cover everything and do everything well.

Moreover, this game Elven Kingdom at its core still remains an MMORPG, with its primary objective inevitably shifting more towards leveling up and engaging in battles against monsters.

No matter how high the degree of freedom this game offers, can its character nurturing aspect really be executed well?

Su Yuan was entirely skeptical about this.

Perhaps it surpassed online games of the past, but in the current era wherein many types of virtual online games keep popping up one after another, Su Yuan doesn’t believe that this Elven Kingdom, which has taken half of the gaming world by storm, can surpass the highly acclaimed nurturing games she enjoys playing!

Of course…her aversion to combat even if it’s done in virtual online games is also a factor contributing to her personal biases.

Even though the videos related to Elven Kingdom on various video-sharing sites usually garner astronomical views and are hailed as masterpieces by many netizens, since they mostly showcase bloody battles, it’s actually something Su Yuan is not interested in.

Ah well, forget it…I’ll just go along with her since Menghan is so excited about it. Besides, ‘Dream Idol’ happens to be undergoing maintenance updates at the moment. It wouldn’t hurt to explore other games now and then for a change of pace.

Su Yuan thought to herself.

Lately, she has been engrossed in playing “Dream Idol,” a highly popular virtual game centered around nurturing idols. The game requires significant dedication and also involves dipping into microtransactions.

Nonetheless, Su Yuan is fascinated by the character designs and outfit combinations offered by this game, which suit her tastes quite well.

“Come to think of it… didn’t Menghan also mention that the designs of the NPCs in Elven Kingdom are pretty good too?”

She wasn’t really sure if it’s actually true since her knowledge of the Elven Kingdom primarily stems from her friends rather than from watching videos directly about it.

Yawning, she changed into her pajamas and lay down in her own gaming pod.

“The timing of this beta-testing is really toxic… They specifically chose the opening day right before school starts, which is crazy.”

She glanced at the date and grumbled for a bit.

Then, she put on her helmet and reluctantly opened the game Elven Kingdom under her friend’s repeated urging.

【❗ 】

【Game connection successful…】

【New update discovered, “Elven Kingdom ver. 1.6″】

【Version updating…1%…2%…3%….】

【100%——Update successful】

【Loading the game…】

【Loading successful.】

With the system’s soft notification chime-like sound, Su Yuan’s vision suddenly darkened.

Seconds later, a melodious and pleasant music gradually filled the air, its wonderful melody lifting some of Su Yuan’s skepticism.

Well, putting aside everything else, the music is pretty good I guess, at least it’s not inferior to the songs in the rhythm games I usually play!

And—

Su Yuan suddenly widened her eyes.

“Oh, isn’t the tune playing in the background the song, Elven Wind?”

Recently, there’s been a growing trend in mainstream music known as the Elven Style Genre.

It seemed to be created by unfamiliar instruments but many have speculated that it might be a result from using a computer synthesizer.

Its distinctive style is primarily characterized by its melodious, ethereal, and captivating qualities, which can effortlessly draw any listener into its enchanting lull, making it ideal for relaxation and sleep.

In fact, Su Yuan herself has also collected a few songs of this style, but she didn’t expect their source to be actually here in this virtual MMO.

“I guess there’s something about this game, after all.”

She now felt a bit interested in playing it.

Soon, her vision suddenly brightened once more, and a whirlwind sensation enveloped her.

The initial sensation of lying down vanished and was replaced by a palpable feeling of being sucked into a black hole, as if she had traversed time and space in that instance.

This otherworldly experience only lasted for a brief moment, and before she realized what had just happened, Su Yuan already found herself in the character creation interface.

A vast expanse of endless white space surrounds her and there was only a huge mirror in front of her that could reflect her own image.

Following that, a system interface appeared in front of her, presenting a variety of character creation settings typically found in first-time game logins in online games.

In China, it’s commonly referred to as the ‘face-pinching system.’

As Su Yuan looked at the beautiful elf girl in the mirror, who seemed to have stepped out of a fairy tale, she couldn’t help but be stunned.

In fairness, this character creation system is very well done. It offers customization for almost everything, ranging from hairstyle to facial features, skin tone to body type—it’s practically everything I could imagined!

Moreover, this face and this figure…

Su Yuan’s breath caught sharply.

Well done, I’m actually impressed.

“Hmm? What’s this…there’s even a character creation score rating?”

— 334 —

【 I GUESS THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT THIS GAME AFTER ALL 】

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