I will never give in to Miss Death

“Then I should be the one with the lowest salary.”

Elodie beside him licked the jelly and said, "I just play dungeons and slack off here at night. There are almost no customers to give me commissions."

"Do you still know that you slack off every night?"

Ouyang Xue glared at her and said, "Eat less snacks, or you'll get fat."

“Get fat and then lose weight.”

Elodie yawned. “Is today’s meeting about wages?”

"No, wait a moment, some old friends will be here soon."

Ouyang Xue looked around the table: "Have you all had breakfast?"

I nodded: "I have eaten."

"Speaking of which, Noel."

Lan Jiajia, who was sitting next to me, came over and said, "Why do I feel like you're not in a good state today?"

"Not quite right?"

I was puzzled and asked, "What...what's wrong? Is your mental state not good?"

If I'm not in a good mood, it's normal, after all, I'm still on my menstrual period.

"No, I just feel...how should I put it."

Lan Jiajia looked at me, then looked at Yin Xiamo next to me: "You two seem a little different than usual."

I quietly let go of Yin Xiamo's hand: "What's the difference?"

"Yes, I found it too."

Elodie on the other side swallowed the jelly in one gulp: "Noer is very special today."

"How come even you are playing charades?"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "They teamed up to tease me, right?"

"This is not teasing, we are serious, I think Sister Ouyang can see it too."

Lan Jiajia gestured to Ouyang Xue beside her: "In the past, Nuo'er and Xia Mo were like a kitten and a tiger. The kitten was picked up by the tiger and kept struggling in anger, but it was no match for the tiger's powerful strength and had to accept its fate. This happened several times a day. As for the current Nuo'er, it's like..."

Elodie continued, "Just like the couple who have officially announced their relationship, Nuoer has gone from being a proud little kitten to a cute and cuddly little kitten."

"crooked?"

I slammed the table a few times. "I just have a stomachache today and I'm not in a good mood. What are you guys thinking?"

"Indeed it is."

Yin Xiamo, who was standing beside him, coughed dryly: "To be honest, Nuo'er has been completely eaten by me."

Lan Jiajia covered her mouth and asked: "To what extent?"

"To varying degrees."

"Sister Ouyang, look at them..."

I could only turn to the "store manager" for help: "They talked about this kind of thing in the meeting!"

"In fact, I also noticed that Nuo'er really looked like a little bird today. When you walked in just now, you were holding Xia Mo's hand."

Ouyang Xue raised her eyebrows: "When you two get married, I will give you a big red envelope."

Why did even Ouyang Xue say that...

"Yahoo!"

As they were chatting, the door of the coffee shop was pushed open, and Su Yunjin and Xiong Xiong...that is, Sikong Yue walked in from outside.

"Sorry for being late. There was a traffic jam in the central area."

As soon as Su Yunjin entered the room, she came up from the first floor with Xiong Xiong and waved over here: "Hello, all the little beauties and big beauties?"

"I'm not a beauty. Compared to Nuo'er, Xiaomo, and Filo, Xiao Ai and I are just supporting roles."

Lan Jiajia said in a joking tone: "Sister Ouyang said someone else was coming, and I knew it was you."

"Then I am really flattered that a beautiful lady cares about me so much."

Su Yunjin gestured to Si Kongyue, who was wearing a tights and a jacket, and had bright eyeshadow on her face. "Do you remember this person? The investor of our underground floor... a businessman, the daughter of the boss."

"Hello, everyone."

Xiong Xiong, who was carrying a large schoolbag, pulled a chair next to Ouyang Xue and sat down without hesitation, pointing at the eye shadow on his face: "Has anyone seen this? The makeup of the heroine in the PV of the game "Age of Aquarius" is so cool!"

"The game is going to be open for testing?"

I was a little surprised: “So fast!”

"It's just a promotional PV. The game is currently in the closed beta stage and will probably take another month or two."

Su Yunjin explained: "There is good news. This game has been recognized by the country. When the time comes, it will be jointly supervised by the country of Xiongxiong. The two countries will operate the public beta test and support PC, VR and consoles."

Elodie, who has always been the most sensitive about games, was stunned for a moment: "Dual-country supervision and public beta? What does that mean?"

"To put it bluntly, this game is not commercial, and there will be no server suspension, unless there is a big problem in our country or in Xiongxiong's country."

Su Yunjin crossed his arms, "You have to know that almost all games are now produced by a certain company, and then they find a game company to be their agent, and the two parties sign a contract to split the profits. But this time, "Age of Aquarius" is amazing. This game production company has spent eleven years making this game, since the doomsday rumors became popular in 2011, and has been working on it until now. It can be said that it took eleven years to sharpen a sword, and all the company's investment was used up. I remember that the general manager of the company is still our Shenbin City Glory District."

"Didn't this movie come out recently and become extremely popular? Have you all seen it?"

"Just watched it."

I nodded: "The movie setting is amazing."

Anyway... the setting that the main body hibernates in the nutrient chamber and uses high technology to control its own "clone" to achieve the goal of "immortality" is really too advanced.

With such a setting, if it were made into a game, a lot of things could indeed be avoided.

For example, killing someone only kills the person's "substitute body". The person himself does not really die, but a new body is created.

The whole world is like a game. You can be resurrected after death and any physical problems can be cured instantly.

Similarly, if the technology in the game can really reach the quantum realm, and consciousness can be transmitted and controlled regardless of distance, then the "journey to outer space" only requires loading the corresponding embryos into the spacecraft and cloning them when they reach the destination.

Theoretically, the game "Age of Aquarius" has infinite possibilities and fully meets the currently popular concept of "metaverse".

Combined with the scene in the movie... the protagonist is first cloned into a male, and finally can use his own female body, which is a "pseudo-transformation". In the ending, the two girls are together. I can give it 100 points for both the plot and the background setting.

"So the current situation is that the movie has driven the craze for Age of Aquarius, and many companies want to be agents for this game, but those companies are unwilling to give up their attitude and are basically condescending, constantly asking the production company to modify the content and gameplay. As a result, the production company gave up and handed the game over to the state, preparing to let the state fund the construction of servers to operate the game."

Su Yunjin seemed particularly excited when he said this: "Everyone thinks this company is crazy, because there is no precedent in history for a country to represent a game. However, the result is... they agreed. And not only our country, but also Xiongxiong's country participated. The two countries jointly supervised the public beta test... Don't tell anyone yet. This matter has not been announced yet. Most people regard that production company as a joke."

"I... still don't quite understand."

Elodie was obviously attracted by Su Yunjin's words. She felt dizzy and sleepy after working all night, but she suddenly became energetic: "Is there any difference between being a national agent for games and being an agent for ordinary game companies?"

"You can refer to the current games. What is the situation of most online games now? The first type of online games allows you to quickly reach the maximum level, and then reaching the maximum level is the beginning. Only when you reach the maximum level can you do daily tasks. Those who don't have money can do daily tasks to save money and make money. Those who have money can spend money to buy equipment, and then participate in event lotteries to draw prizes."

Su Yunjin found a seat and sat down: "Because these companies are all commercial companies, they all have to make money, and their plans have KPIs. When they make a dungeon, organize an event, or release a new character, their only goal is to make money, which means forcing players to spend money and bring benefits to the company. This will make the entire game design and operation revolve around making money. Some people feel like they are working when playing games because they have to bring profits to the game company. In this way, the game itself becomes distorted."

"The second type of online games are those that charge for point cards or monthly cards. Although this type of online games is not as blatant as the first type, their purpose remains the same, which is to make money. Point card online games require money, and they either charge for both point cards and internal shopping malls, or force players to be online. No matter how they are planned, the mission remains the same, which is to make players spend money. Players' time is also money. Organizing activities, releasing new costumes and new dungeons are all to get players online and keep the online rate."

"But if this game company and the country reach an agreement, the game itself will not be for 'profit'. It is very likely that it will become the first game that is not operated for profit, and the entire game ecology and concept will undergo tremendous changes."

Su Yunjin looked at Elodie and said, "Of course, once this game is really released and put into public beta, it will have a devastating impact on almost all profitable online games on the market. I think this is also the reason why the country is willing to take over. Children are addicted to games? They spend money recklessly? The country should just make the best game and stop them from playing."

Elodie was dumbfounded, and after a while she murmured, "This is too crazy. I saw this rumor on the Internet a long time ago, and I also thought it was a joke. I didn't expect...Are you sure we are in 2022 and not 2077?"

"Haha, it's 2022, so today we came here not only to discuss the issue of those people causing trouble earlier, but also... this!"

Xiong Xiong, dressed in a futuristic outfit and wearing beautiful eyeshadow, took out a large box from the backpack on her back and said, "Our company... hey, this is a great gift for this game!"

I leaned over curiously and glanced at the Chinese characters in both languages ​​printed on the big box: "Apocalypse... 3000 series? What is this?"

"TQ3000 is a graphics card made with our company's latest chip. Its current performance should be comparable to the 4090 produced by the yellow-skinned man. We have been working with the production company of "Age of Aquarius" for a long time, and the optimization is basically complete."

Xiongxiong looked proud.

“Whether Age of Aquarius can save the game, and whether the new game ecosystem can save our chips, depends on this wave!”

"..."

……

No. 241 Angel's Gift

Xiongxiong's introduction gave me a deeper understanding of this underground "e-sports entertainment" or "cyberpunk style" room that the coffee shop is about to open.

I originally thought that they were just setting up a combination of a "bar and an internet cafe", but now it seems that I didn't understand it well enough. Although the basement floor of the coffee shop does have the functions of an internet cafe and a bar, it seems to be more of a promotional purpose, and the person who designed this "internet cafe" has a very distant vision.

Whether it is the coffee shop and the commercial street around it, or the ten-year plan for Kamihama City, or the futuristic technology-style room in the basement of the coffee shop and the cooperation with Xiongxiong's national chip, it tells me directly that they are all a whole.

These things all seem to point to the same goal that I cannot yet see clearly.

Clear, mysterious, and full of the future.

Promoting the Metaverse, promoting the upcoming game "Age of Aquarius", and the tenth district of Kamihama City, "Mianyun District", this is a very big chess game.

No wonder the Zhao family, who represent old-fashioned ideas, were so eager to come to the coffee shop to cause damage. It turns out that the situation here is far more complicated than I thought.

I have heard people talking about the concept of the metaverse a long time ago, and it is still the same now, with all kinds of publicity everywhere. However, because I have been too busy in recent years and don’t have much understanding of digitalization and online games, I have never been very clear about what this thing is specifically.

My general impression of the "metaverse" is... a digital world that is separated from reality but connected to reality.

Or it could be similar to the virtual online games described by many novelists on the Internet.

People can communicate and trade with others in this world and purchase various virtual goods.

I remember that there seem to be several celebrities who have purchased their own exclusive avatars and properties in the metaverse.

Perhaps the difference between the metaverse and real online games is that in that world, spending money will not bring very direct improvements to your character.

I had similar thoughts when I watched anime or movies related to online games before. Whether it was a game-related anime, such as "Sword Art Online", or a game-related movie, such as "Ready Player One", the settings were too idealistic.

As if the company running this game doesn't have to make money.

Taking "Sword Art Online" as an example, Kirito in it was able to obtain the qualification for the internal test, and with the help of the male protagonist's charm and hardcore strength, he was able to complete the dungeon, improve his own attributes, and beat all kinds of rich second-generations and powerful second-generations. This in itself is a very magical thing, which is inconsistent with the core concept of "profit" in game operation.

Game companies want to make money, so will they really allow a "skilled player" like Kirito to exist? What would it look like if such a scene were put into a real online game today?

Even if they allow it, will they let a player who doesn't recharge and has no money to be exploited be omnipotent and even drive away the rich?

Let's take a step back and say that even if this company really makes profits from game peripherals, such as advertising, if there are super rich players who join the game and spend tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars, asking the game company to customize a set of magical equipment for them, or promise to buy the company outright, will the rich have no gaming experience?

In my understanding, if "Sword Art Online" really appears, Kirito's weapon Elucidator cannot be the only one. Even if it can be dropped by the Boss on the 2th floor of Aincrad, the game planner will add it to the lottery at that time - the Elucidator weapon pool UP, the probability of drawing from this pool is greatly improved, and the Elucidator + Edgeless Sword dual weapon pool lottery activity is opened. If the player draws Edgeless Swords in a row, then the third golden weapon will definitely be the Elucidator.

After opening this weapon pool to make some money, if you are still short of money, the planner will launch a new dungeon [Aincrad Floor 50 Boss PRO] in a few days, increase the difficulty, to the point where even the rich can't pass it, and then announce that the PRO BOSS will drop a new weapon "Dark Repulser", which can form a set effect with "Elucidator", with the effect of "damage +30% when attacking BOSS and players, critical damage +%."

When this new copy is opened, a new weapon pool will be released: the probability of extracting two five-star weapons, Dark Repulser and Edgeless Sword, will be greatly increased. In this way, wealthy bosses and local tyrant anchors can draw new weapons first and then go to the new copy to "open up the wasteland".

In this way, technical players can spend a lot of time and lives without rest for several months to get the latest weapons without spending any money. Rich players can also spend hundreds of thousands of dollars or ask for a coach to get their equipment. Then both sides can PVP back and forth, and everyone is happy.

Similarly, under the premise of "everything for profit", it is almost impossible for Maple, the protagonist of "Because I'm Too Afraid of Pain, I Put All My Points in Defense", to defeat the entire server without spending any money. Under the design of 985 planners and actuaries, the game itself will not have such an obvious "invincible" loophole.

But if this "virtual world" is not an online game but a "metaverse" and is managed and operated by the state, then it seems possible that the ecology will not be as bad as that in online games, provided that the game does not need to rely on internal props to make a profit, and the operation policy is not entirely for making money, but for the "ecology". Only in this way can planners shift their focus from "how to get players to spend money" to "how to make the game well" and realize the true concept of the "metaverse". Otherwise, the "metaverse" that everyone has been talking about is just a thing that changes its skin to make money.

"Apocalypse 3000... that is, this TQ3000, is the latest graphics card product from my family. It has been almost integrated with "Age of Aquarius" and the optimization has been basically completed. When you configure your computer, you can use this directly. I have already discussed it with Tongmeng.com."

At the table on the second floor of the coffee shop, Xiongxiong Sikongyue opened the large box on the table, then carefully took out the inner packaging box and picked up a graphics card with a strange color scheme from it: "It's considered our investment."

“Is this the TQ3000?”

Even Su Yunjin was interested at this time: "Recently, the graphics card market has been flourishing. The most powerful graphics card 4090 from Huangpi people has just been released, and you followed suit. Intel's new graphics card has also been released, as well as AMD... How does yours compare to the 4090? What are the advantages?"

"We made optimizations for Age of Aquarius. Because Age of Aquarius is a game that focuses on realism, it has very high requirements for image quality and immersion. If all effects are turned on, ours can be almost as good as 4090."

Xiong Xiong smiled and said: "But if we only pursue frame rate and smoothness, the Apocalypse 3000 is a little better than the 4090. Considering that they should have a 4090ti in the future, there is no way to compare the technical strength of our graphics card with theirs for the time being."

"Your color combination is amazing, yellow and black."

Elodie poked her head out: "I feel like I've seen this color scheme somewhere before, cyberpunk?"

"Well, it was made specifically for Age of Aquarius, so the color scheme and design also maintain the style of a future city."

Sikong Yue took the graphics card out of the packaging film and turned the three fans on it a few times: "In fact, our family also makes CPUs. You can consider using our whole family bucket when the time comes. It has a corresponding cyberpunk style."

This graphics card on the desktop... the main color is yellow, a very pure yellow that is slightly darker, and the secondary color is black. Moreover, both the lines around the graphics card and the patterns around the fan are very simple and clear, which is completely different from our daily life.

This is the cyberpunk style. Typical examples include the previously popular games "Let's Do Bad Things Together, Dona Dona" and "Cyberpunk 2077", especially Dona Dona. It is a two-dimensional game itself. The loading interface is large sections of yellow, and then yellow, purple and pink interweave with each other. The sense of lines and paragraphs is very clear, giving people a completely different gaming experience.