The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 678 Shame is something to be overcome!
The launch of "Animal Kingdom" the following day was met with tremendous fanfare.

Aside from a large influx of British players logging into "Sail the Blue Seas" and hastily setting sail to London to protect their queen, players from almost every other country are waiting for the gates of "Animal Kingdom" to open.

There are also two login methods—

One option is to log in to the game directly from home.

Another option is to arrive at the finish line of the [Animal Kingdom Racing Race], which is the place where the portal under the World Tree once opened.

If you want to log in to the game as soon as possible, the first option is obviously the best choice.

But in reality, more players chose the second option.

Everyone gathered enthusiastically under the shade of the World Tree, waiting for the gate to open.

Because of the World Tree, there is a gentle breeze blowing here at all times, and the temperature and humidity are always just right, making people feel relaxed and comfortable.

Even though this place is packed with people and bustling with noise right now, there is still no discomfort in being here.

At 8:00 a.m. sharp, the World Tree slowly lowered its branches, weaving a tall door frame, with soft green energy illuminating the frame.

The portal to "Animal Kingdom" has been opened.

Animal Kingdom is a free game that doesn't even require any purchases.

As soon as the portal opened, a huge crowd surged into the world that Xiaomeng had created for them.

However, after logging into the game, everyone was a little confused.

Especially players who use the Dream Machine game kit – such as Zhong Yaoyao, who had to come to the earliest experience center to play the game because the Dream Machine experience store was full.
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As the first game experience center in Zhumeng, it still focuses on fantasy game kits and is always bustling with activity.

Because of this bustling atmosphere, this place is not suitable for the dream-making machine, which requires a quiet environment.

Zhu Meng also separated the dream-making machine to another experience hall not far away.

With the launch of Animal Kingdom, there are naturally special events here—

The top-performing players will each receive a brand-new Dream Machine!
The holographic equipment in the lobby was activated early, and lucky players put on their motion-sensing synchronization suits and stood on the omnidirectional treadmills on both sides of the lobby.

Zhong Yaoyao is one of these lucky users.

She wasn't really comfortable in this outfit.

If it's too tight or too form-fitting, it will make her feel ashamed of wearing sexy clothes in public.

Although she knew perfectly well that this was to ensure the abundance of sensors in the motion-sensing suit while maximizing breathability and flexibility, she couldn't change how she felt.

Just like the origin and meaning of her name—[the distant sound of bells in the evening]—she is a somewhat introverted girl.

Therefore, she rarely wears motion-sensing synchronized suits and tries to experience the dream-building game using the dream machine as much as possible.

She's just started college and can't bring herself to ask her family for money to buy the 3 yuan Dream Machine, so she can only come to the experience center to play, and she tries to come to the Dream Building self-operated experience center as much as possible—because it's cheaper.

If she can't book a spot at the Dream Machine Experience Center on weekdays, she'll give up and stay in her dorm reading or watching short videos.

But today is very special.

She, Zhong Yaoyao, is Xiaomeng's biggest fan!

Not wanting to miss Xiaomeng's "debut work," they continued to look for opportunities and finally got the chance through this small event that randomly selected participants.

Even though it meant she had to play the game in front of a large number of local players while wearing a super-tight motion-sensing suit, she endured the embarrassment.

The wait for the server to open was extremely difficult.

Before the game even started, the players in the lobby chatted idly while curiously watching these lucky ones who had earned the chance to participate.

Zhong Yaoyao has garnered a lot of attention due to her youthful appearance and outstanding figure.

Male guests are also mindful of their manners; after a moment of surprise, they quickly look away—the Dream Zero Experience Center has a very mature local player community, and regular customers are very familiar with each other, so everyone subconsciously pays attention to their behavior and image.

But the female customers were different.

Especially the senior female investigators of "Project Frost and Snow"—there are quite a few "female hooligans" in this group. Not only do they keep staring at her, but two girls also come to her from time to time to ask for her account, add her as a friend, or even want to exchange fitness experiences.

Good heavens, Zhong Yaoyao has never even been to a gym!
After a long and arduous wait, the doors to "Animal Kingdom" finally opened.

She thought the worst was over and everyone's attention would shift to the game, and they wouldn't look at her anymore.

But she was wrong.

And it's completely wrong—

As the game starts, the holographic device also starts.

A thick fog rose within a two-meter radius around her, blocking the view of others and bringing her the opening animation of "Animal Kingdom".

At the beginning of the animation, Yao Yao's perspective appears in the air, overlooking a vibrant land.

It was a vast and breathtaking panoramic view:

On the vast land, forests stretch like emeralds, rivers flow like shimmering silver ribbons, and grasslands resemble an endless green ocean.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, giving everything a dazzling golden edge, a truly breathtaking sight.

The camera then pans downwards.

Yao Yao felt as if she were flying down from the sky, brushing past a soaring eagle, and then skimming over a ibex leaping on a cliff.

As we drew closer to the earth, we saw more and more animals.

Flocks of birds danced in large swaths in the treetops.

Herds of wild horses gallop across the grassland, raising clouds of dust.

On both sides of the river, elephants, bison, rabbits, foxes, hedgehogs... all sorts of animals lived peacefully and drank water without worry.

But Yao Yao only flew over the river and did not stop for them.

They only slowed down when they were deep in the forest and came to a patch of lush green grass bathed in golden sunlight.

Then Yao Yao discovered that the world was starting to get bigger—or that she was getting smaller.

This change in perspective allowed him to see a nest hidden at the base of the grass.

Inside the nest lived a creature that was pure white and instantly endearing.

Yao Yao wasn't quite sure what kind of animal it was.

But as the camera zoomed in, she immediately realized that the real protagonist was not the pure white animal.

Rather, it was the tiny life beneath her that had just arrived in this world—

The little one, who had just been born, was staring at her, this uninvited guest, with its innocent, bewildered eyes.

Upon seeing the little creature's head, she could roughly tell that it was probably a weasel.

Yao Yao and the newborn weasel stared at each other for two seconds.

Then, vision blurred and the perspective jumped—

The world she saw transformed into a view of the green grass and the fragmented sky between the blades of grass outside the nest, nestled against the massive body of her mother weasel.

She became that weasel.

She could feel the soft touch of grass on her stomach and palms, while on her right side came the warm body and furry touch of her "mother".

This feels somewhat novel.

But more than anything, there's a lack of harmony.

The reason is simple—she is still standing, but the little weasel is lying in its nest, so the sensation transmitted by the motion-sensing suit is naturally that it is in a "lying" position.

This creates a misalignment.

The solution is quite simple—

Just lie down.

The system also gave her this message:

[Players are advised to adjust their posture to match the current state of their game character.]
Zhong Yaoyao, a self-proclaimed introverted and conservative young female college student, froze on the spot, unable to move.

Although, although, she looked around and saw only a dry and cool nest and her sleeping "weasel mother".

But she knew perfectly well that she was in the spacious lobby of the Dream Building Game Experience Center!
Players waiting for their seats, watching the game, or simply joining in the fun are all paying close attention to these competitors.

Although you can't see her directly through the hologram, these small matches use POV cameras to capture the players' real-time operation perspective, posture, and facial expressions.

Wearing a tight-fitting outfit is embarrassing enough, but now you have to crawl around on all fours (on a treadmill) in a tight-fitting outfit... Oh my god!

The little weasel covered its face in despair.

……

"Hahahahahaha!"

Loud laughter erupted in the lobby of the experience center.

But this isn't about laughing at the little weasel covering its face; it's about laughing at a baby elephant slipping and falling into the river while drinking water, then desperately thrashing around in the water.

Meanwhile, in the contestant's camera footage, the guy was also panicking, frantically backing away on all fours.

You can "climb" on an omnidirectional treadmill, but it takes an adaptation period.

The more the older elephant struggled, the deeper the baby elephant sank into the water.

This caused the guy to scream in pain, and he even lost his coordination and fell flat on his backside on the treadmill.

The program is very effective.

There was another girl in a similar situation; she transformed into a squirrel and started out in a tree.

Without any hesitation, she quickly lay down to observe how the squirrel moved.

As a result, he couldn't control his crawling speed and fell from the top of the tree after only a few steps, screaming in fright.

……

The audience in the hall immediately noticed that the beginning of "Animal Kingdom" was not a fixed animal, but a random one.

All animals appearing in the opening animation have a certain probability of being randomly selected.

Of course, for the sake of consistency with the plot, all the selected animals were recently born young.

Their first task was to learn how to "walk".

Next comes "eating" and "drinking".

Only after these steps are completed will the story officially begin.

For PC gamers, this tutorial is incredibly easy—just move the mouse and press some keys.

However, it's not so simple for players of the Illusion Game Kit and Dream Machine.

If you've participated in the monthly [Animal Kingdom Speed ​​Race] and won a prize, that's good, because you've at least tried transforming into an animal and experienced how animals move.

If not, this one step alone will take some getting used to.

In the lobby of the experience center, the little weasel covered its face and hesitated for a while before finally suppressing its shame and crawling on the omnidirectional treadmill.

She hadn't climbed more than two steps when she felt her face start to burn, and her head felt like it was about to smoke.

Yao Yao thought this was too erotic!
Just as she was caught in another internal struggle, she suddenly felt a tightness at the back of her neck, and her field of vision rapidly rose.

Looking back, she saw that it was the mother weasel who had grabbed her by the neck and dragged her back to the nest.

She then realized that she had almost left the nest.

The weasel mother placed her directly in front of the food—Xiao Meng thoughtfully beautified the food, making it look like translucent slices of meat instead of a bloody carcass.

Yao Yao lowered her body and leaned in to make chewing motions.

So the little weasel immediately began to eat.

After she finished eating, she was picked up again by the weasel mother and thrown onto her back, and then she darted out of the nest with her on her back.

The little weasel burst out of its den without warning, darting through the lush green grass like it was flying.

Blue sky, white clouds, earth, green grass, birdsong, and animal roars.

This unique perspective and feeling left Yao Yao mesmerized.

The sudden change in scenery successfully made Yao Yao temporarily forget the situation in reality and immerse herself in the world carefully built by Xiao Meng and the player assistants.

There is an abundance of animals here—that goes without saying.

But strangely, it is extremely rare to see animals hunting each other.

Yao Yao followed the tutorial all the way and felt like she was the only one learning to hunt from the weasel mother; she got along very well with the other animals.

I saw a bright red fox chasing a rabbit. After a fierce chase, the fox pounced on the rabbit, but instead of killing and eating it, it pretended to bite the rabbit lightly a couple of times and then let it go.

It's more like a game than a hunt.

Of course, she didn't receive that treatment.

She participates in hunting, so other animals also hunt her and the weasel mother.

They might be trampled to death by an elephant while drinking water, fall to their death or be bitten to death by a venomous snake while climbing a tree, or be snatched away by an eagle while walking in an open area.

It was truly fraught with danger.

Fortunately, the weasel mother was very experienced and always took good care of her and taught her how to survive with patience and care.

As Yao Yao played, she forgot all about shame.

I even feel that running like an animal allows many muscles and joints that are not usually used to be fully activated, and although my body sweats, I feel exceptionally refreshed!
The only remaining effect of crawling in tight clothes on her was that she started to feel tired.

The more I climb, the more tired I get!

Especially the wrists, which are the first to start feeling sore.

At this point, she began to understand: what exactly did the competition's requirement of "performing well" mean?

So it's all about who has the best stamina and can run like an animal for the longest time?

Just as she was thinking this, the teaching session ended.

Everything before her eyes began to accelerate—the lush grasslands gradually withered, the shady forests were filled with falling leaves, there were fewer and fewer animals at the river's watering points, the weasel mothers were finding it increasingly difficult to hunt, and their food was becoming increasingly scarce.

By the time the acceleration ended, the cave entrance was completely withered and yellow, covered with a thin layer of frost.

The main quest then appears:

[Escaping the harsh winter: Heading south along the river to catch up with the migrating herd]
Although Yao Yao was a little tired, she dared not waste any time, for fear that if she wasted even a little time, her mother weasel would freeze or starve to death.

The mother weasel was initially unwilling to leave the nest, but she was dragged away by her fur with force before finally leaving.

She tossed the now larger Yao Yao onto her back and, still carrying her child, quickly headed south.

At first, the journey was quiet, as if the lively scenes before were just an illusion.

But as they crossed the bridge formed by the collapsed giant tree in the river and came to the other side of the river, it was as if they had passed through an invisible barrier, instantly going from extreme stillness to extreme movement.

A large number of sounds entered the ears at the same time:

"Awoo~ Awoo!"

"Chi chi chi chi!"

"Ho! Ho! Ho!"

"Meow~~"

……

Yao Yao was startled, and the weasel mother also shuddered, almost throwing her off.

Yao Yao looked at it carefully again:

The baby elephant's long trunk seemed to be swinging back and forth uncontrollably; the kitten, being held by the scruff of its neck by its mother, still meowed incessantly at the lamb beside it; and the baby rhinoceros kept twisting its neck, as if it was uncomfortable because its horns were blocking its view...

These subtle movements quickly made her realize what was happening:
These might all be players!
Everyone completed the teaching phase and was systematically grouped into the same migrating team.

The only question is: why isn't anyone talking?
Yao Yao called out loudly, "Anyone want to team up?"

As she moved, the little weasel in the game also raised its head and shouted:
"Squeak-squeak-squeak!!"

Yao Yao: "???"

Loud laughter erupted in the hall again.

(End of this chapter)