Ashen Dragon

Chapter 67 Beta Test (I)

[Beta testing was about to begin, retrieving data...]

[Data retrieval complete, beta testing duration: 365 days]

[Countdown to beta start: 3 days]

"Beta testing."

"Finally, it's coming."

Cassius watched the information on his panel, expectantly spewing a mouthful of flame.

He vaguely remembered that there had been a beta testing event in his previous life, but he was unclear about the exact time since he wasn't one of the lucky ones to get a beta account.

Furthermore, "Erezer" was initially not well-known at all. The developers didn't do any commercial publicity, only uploading the purchase link for the gaming pod on the official website. Later, because of the game's quality, it went viral globally.

This beta version was also called [Starfall Origin], with only a thousand slots available. Players started in a Tiefling refugee camp with no mainline quests, allowing them to freely choose their faction: help the Tieflings, join the Rackman Family, or go to other countries in the North.

The ultimate conclusion would be players uncovering Duke Brad's conspiracy, and the Tieflings returning to Northwind Castle under Mezulash's leadership.

This was also the reason Cassius deliberately took in the Tieflings. Find exclusive stories on empire

In Cassius's view, Mezulash was a thorough utilitarian, very much to Cassius's liking. In the previous life, after the players appeared, he quickly realized this new force's power and utilized it to expand his own strength, opposing the thriving Rackham Family.

But Cassius clearly remembered that a few months after this beta test ended, "Erezer" began the public test, which was not the time written on his NPC panel at all.

"Erezer's time and Earth's time are not equivalent."

"Only when players enter will the time on both sides synchronize, and Erezer's time flow is four times faster than Earth's."

"When players returned after the first major update in the previous life, more than ten years had already passed in Erezer."

Thought Cassius to himself.

But that's fine; otherwise, if as a dragon he slept for decades, only to wake up and find players already legendary, fully geared waiting for dragon slaying, wouldn't that be awkward?

[Retrieving data... Data retrieval complete]

[Unlocking player interaction template]

Obviously, this was the template for interacting and communicating with players. Though now, with no players yet, the functions couldn't be used, Cassius could issue quests, sell goods, teach skills, grant occupations, and even adjust favorability towards players.

Cassius deeply understood this.

In the previous life, facing those capricious NPCs, one moment they were full of favor, but after a wrong word, the favorability dropped to zero, and sometimes even turned hostile. That was quite normal.

[Unlocking faction template]

[Unlocking player forum]

"This thing is open to me too?"

Cassius was a bit surprised; the player forum was for players to communicate and entertain in the past life.

Players often chose to surf the forum while waiting to revive, saying nonsense like, "Getting hit by a rock doesn't count as death," or, "What do you mean killed in one hit? I'm just tanking damage," or seriously discussing occupation builds and equipment selection.

In the forum, you could watch for fun, or step out to become the fun. Some even made clown posts to confess their love in-game, drawing a lot of mocking and spectators.

Cassius entered the forum, finding it indeed empty, nothing inside.

"Sure enough, it must wait for players to come."

"But before that, I should talk to them..."

Thinking of this, the Red Dragon left the cavern, ready to instruct his retainers, passing on some techniques to tame players.

The main strategy was "enticement with benefits and coercion with threats."

Commonly known as the carrot and stick tactic.

As for "reasoning with them and convincing them emotionally"?

Don't even think about it. That's impossible, and it would even trigger some players' rebellious psychology.

The first entry of players would definitely cause a lot of unpleasantness. Cassius knew this group of lawless guys too well. After all, in his previous life, he was like that too, poking here, slashing there, unintentionally maxing out hatred.

Afterwards, he'd put on an innocent face on the forum, asking, "I did nothing, why are all the town NPCs chasing me," which was really infuriating.

...

[Nickname: I'm Going to Eat Mantou]

Mantou was an up-and-coming game district streamer whose video content mainly consisted of live experiences of new games.

He was a semi-wealthy second-generation, without worries about food and shelter, having more than a dozen of the latest gaming pods at home. His daily work was finding new games to experience online, be it My Virtual Girlfriend, Lord of the Rings: Gollum, King Kong vs. Qin Qiong, or Trash Picking Simulator...

Regardless of the game's quality, as long as it drew traffic.

"Ah, an era of material desires."

In this age where fully immersive games were prevalent, games of all kinds emerged in an endless stream, but Mantou already felt a bit of electronic impotence.

Even with an interactive beauty in front of him, he remained unmoved, unable to find the thrill he had from tapping on his phone in childhood.

By chance, he stumbled upon a promo video for "Erezer," or rather, a gameplay video. It had no extraneous dialogue, only clearly showcasing a real world of swords and magic: "Dragons soaring in the sky, knights raising their swords."

This couldn't help but remind Mantou of his original intent of playing games—fantasy.

Everyone wanted to be a hero saving the world.

So he didn't hesitate to place an order, happily receiving a brand new gaming pod and an account balance of -8000.

"Ah, can't customize the face?"

"Turns out it's a face-scanning mechanism. This will turn away many face-customization-loving players."

"Maybe even some players who like to use gender-bender accounts for online dating. Uh... don't ask me how I know."

In this era of fully immersive games, online dating was a deep pit.

Actions, voices, and appearances couldn't determine gender. Mantou knew this well, involuntarily recalling some unknown tearful experience.

"Since it's a face-scanning game, I can't customize an Ancient God Physique either."

[Connecting to the neural system...]

[Scanning your body data...]

[Constructing your character...]

[Character construction complete]

[I'm Going to Eat Mantou]

(Note: Standard human attribute points are 10)

Strength — 10

Agility — 10

Constitution — 11

Intelligence — 12

Perception — 10

Charisma — 9

"Although I appreciate your recognition of my wisdom..."

"Why is my charisma only 9——"

Mantou in the gaming pod wept again, remembering a certain online dating experience where he was blocked after sharing his photo. Maybe the gaming pod wasn't wrong; it was his fault.

"Now there's no sense of immersion."

Mantou dutifully complained.

[Confirming your birthplace... Confirmation complete!]

[Beta starting location, coordinates 17834.4524.455, Barto City]

[Preparing for arrival...]

[Hello, welcome to Erezer!]