CHAPTER 7 – DON’T YOU WANT TO BE ALONE WITH ME?

 

This was the first day of the launch, so only a selected few were able to enter the game, all of whom were newbies.
Since none of them knew the workings of the game yet, they didn’t try to communicate with the other players and used what little time they had to familiarize themselves with the system.

However, the instance only started a short while later.
All the players in the room were transferred to an open space.

They were surrounded by a thick tropical forest so vast they couldn’t see the end of it.
Moreover, there were no man-made structures anywhere in the vicinity.

Soon, the system notice appeared before everyone present——

【Battle Zone: Fanatical Island】
【Difficulty: Low】
【Time Acceleration: 3 times1】
【Introduction: You are invited to participate in a one-day wilderness survival reality show.
The show begins now!】
【Quest Objective: Survive until the next day.】
【Tips: The Idol Safekeeping Association strongly denounces these kinds of wild activities, they will be here in 3 hours.
Please be prepared for it.2】

“……”

A short silence ensued.

In the end, it was that muscle man who spoke out, “Just what are they playing at? Idol Safekeeping Association? Are they singling me out?”

“Hahaha, who asked you to create such a heavyweight avatar, who else to blame but yourself?” One of the pretty boys among the group jeered at him.

The muscle man examined the pretty boy briefly before he harrumphed, “Hah! So you’re their target of safekeeping? A pretty boy whose balls can only secrete female hormones.”

Although the game allowed the players to change their appearances, it was impossible to change genders.
Thus, it prevented femboys from ever appearing.
As for female players pretending to be a man… the game allowed the players to view their status.
Although there wasn’t much information divulged to the public, at least their gender couldn’t be hidden.
A male player’s status board would be displayed in blue, while the female’s in pink.

After observing everyone for a bit, Shaelyn pulled Lamont’s hand, “Let’s go.”

Lamont asked in confusion, “Shouldn’t we wait here a while longer?”

“There’s nothing to see here even if we stayed,” Shaelyn blinked her eyes at him and coaxed him, “Don’t you want to be alone with me?”

“Ah…” Lamont became tongue-tied.

Looking at his stupid expression, Shaelyn couldn’t resist cursing at this doofus in her heart.

His mental resistance was too weak so she easily penetrated his defenses.

Either way, Shaelyn was gradually getting used to being a girl.

As the instance started, everyone was given a smartwatch.
Other than displaying the time, it also showed the map of the island, serving as a radar of sorts.

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Many supplies were scattered across the island, and they were all marked on the map.
As such, their first priority was to secure some of these supplies.
Only then would they be able to secure their livelihood.

“Time flows three times faster in this instance.
In other words, every second in the real world is three seconds here.
Three hours of preparation time refers to the time in the instance, that means we only have one hour of grace period.” While she jogged with a casual pace, Shaelyn explained about the game mechanics to Lamont.

Lamont was still a little confused, “Then does that mean each instance will take at least a few hours?”

Even if time went three times faster, spending one whole day in-game would be equivalent to eight hours in real life in this case.
That was much too long for a game.

“Not necessarily,” Shaelyn shook her head, “Once three hours pass in real life, no matter how much time you spend, it’ll still only be three hours.
It’s in accordance with the longest gaming curfew imposed by the government; isn’t that unreal?”

“For real? How does that work?”
“Who knows? Maybe it’s because we’re in the God’s realm.”

Lamont didn’t take her words too seriously.
Instead, he started to ruminate on the problem with the difference in time flow, “If what you said is true, then if we spent ten years in the instance and found that only one hour have passed in real life, will that not cause any time disparity?”

“No, the time limit for the instance is only up to 15 days at most.
Once the time limit is up and the objectives are still not cleared, it will be deemed as a failure and the players will be booted out.” Shaelyn smiled and explained, “Moreover, once you exit the game, the system will adjust your experiences in the instance to prevent the players from feeling a huge disparity in time.”

At least that was how it was in the early-game.

As for the so-called “adjusting”, it wasn’t to make the players forget about their experiences but to dampen their impression of the instance and think of it as though they were watching a movie from a first-person perspective.

This could ensure that the players wouldn’t suffer from any psychological issues.
After all, death was still a really terrifying experience for most people.

The disparity in time between reality and the game was also one of the main reasons why they had to do this.
By doing this, the players would feel as though they were too absorbed in gaming and forgot about the time.
It was the same as saying “one more round” but then you keep playing until the next morning.
Therefore, it wouldn’t have any serious impact on the players.

“Then, who are those Idol Safekeeping Association the system mentioned earlier?” Lamont frowned and continued with a serious look, “Enemies? Here to kill us?”

“It’s highly probable,” Shaelyn tilted her head and glanced at Lamont.

This guy… he’s starting to get serious… With those thoughts crossing her mind, Shaelyn couldn’t prevent a smile on her face.

A challenging game was a lot more appealing to a dense guy like him than pretty girls ever could.
Thus, it was hard for him to contain his urge even if he was playing with the opposite sex.

In an even more extreme case, if the girl was so bad at the game, he would probably curse at them in his heart, “Why the heck am I playing together with this noob? Oh please, why don’t you just quit the game?”

Naturally, Shaelyn understood Lamont’s line of thought, she was also once like this.

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……But that wasn’t a bad thing at all, especially when playing this game.

“Will the player’s appearance affect the quest?” Lamont continued his line of questioning, “Since they’re the Idol Safekeeping Association and all, quite a few players from before could easily pass as an idol.”

“Since they joined this wilderness survival game, they’re no longer considered as idols,” Shaelyn explained with a thin smile.

Although [The God’s Realm] was also known as the second world, it was still essentially a game.
Just as in any regular Role-Playing Game (RPG), even if the players created an avatar on par with the four beauties of ancient China, the Non-Player Characters (NPCs) still wouldn’t show any reaction towards them and would only follow the prearranged script.

From that perspective, this instance should follow the same rules.
That Safekeeping Association should be viewing the players as malicious beings.
Be that as it may, not everything was set in stone, the players could incite the NPC to do their bidding should they use the appropriate methods.
That won’t be an easy feat, however, as it all depended on how the system works.

Take this sloppily put together instance for example.
If the Safekeeping Association’s only purpose was to kill the players, there was no chance at all they could stir up the NPCs.

But then again, now wasn’t the time to worry about those.

The two unexpectedly reached a small stream while they were chatting.

The afternoon sun filtered through the leaves, creating dappled sunshine everywhere.
The splashing sound of the flowing water as the stream crashed against the rock created a harmonizing scene.
The critters drinking by the riverside scattered all over the place with the appearance of the two.
All of these scenic views were observed by the two.

The game world was not only realistic, but it also contained breathtaking scenery rarely seen in the real world.

For a moment, Lamont was mesmerized by this scene.

Shaelyn pulled his hand and stood by his side for a while before suggesting, “Why don’t we rest here for a bit?”

 

References

Silva: Hm???? What? The time flow three times faster in this dungeon? Silva: I am so very lost…
Fire: It might be me, but I don’t understand at all.
Silva: Yea don’t worry, just continue reading, it’s stupid.