Chapter 165: The game shuts down, meet Hathaway again

Probably Lin Tuo's attitude was too calm, and the contrast with the surrounding environment was huge. It took a few seconds for the owner of the Internet cafe to finally react and gave him a curious look.
Smiled: "Congratulations."
According to the rules, since Lin Tuo is the first to clear the game, then the challenge will have a champion.
Well, as for the second and third places, they still need to continue to compete. There are rewards, but that's not what he cares about.
After roaring for a while, amidst the shouts of the owner of the Internet cafe, the others returned to their seats, and Lin Tuo was taken to the second floor to receive the prize.
Only then did he see the situation on the second floor...
Individual compartments, with cables hanging from the roof.
Without a screen, some people are standing in the cubicle at the moment, wearing helmet-like brains, with sensor equipment fixed on their bodies, and making all kinds of weird movements with their eyes closed...
Walking on the spot, hacking, tumbling, or something... When Lin Tuo entered the door, he saw a player sitting on the ground tumbling, pouting his ass, yelling, calling for mercy...
It looks like a sand sculpture...
"This is the newly opened virtual game zone," the owner of the Internet cafe laughed and asked for words, "We are still too biased here, otherwise the machine would have been equipped.
Had it not been for the "Third Continent" to be too hot this time, it had not been decorated so quickly. "
The Third Continent... This is the Nth time that this name has been heard, and it is also the first stop of his investigation.
Lin Tuo looked around with interest, and tentatively asked:
"I read the advertisement saying that this game is online by tens of thousands of people..."
"Hey, how can there be so many people... well, but I'm really not sure in these two days," the owner of the Internet cafe smacked his lips.
Anyone who can afford basic equipment has at least registered.
Especially this game is so sticky that people who have almost played it cannot do without..."
"What's the netizen?"
"That's not enough, don't listen to the nonsense on the news, how can you be unwell without going online? If this game has this magic power, the government has been shut down early."
In defense, the middle-aged man pointed to No. 1 in the VIP area on the second floor, took out a card from his pocket, and smiled:
"This is the one. It's very valuable with the card on the machine. I am willing to buy one. It is much better than the one outside. Just lie down."
"Okay." Lin Tuo took it and greeted him again. When the owner of the Internet cafe went downstairs, he opened the box door.
...
The lights are automatically turned on, and there is only a sofa-like game room inside, and usage tips are posted on the wall next to it.
Lin Tuo didn't hesitate. He immediately lay down and closed the parts. Not to mention, lying down was quite comfortable.
At this time, he was a little more curious about the so-called "virtual space".
Closed his eyes, fumbled for the switch, pressed it, and the green light turned on. In the next second, a slight ether fluctuation emerged, and Lin Tuo felt that a line of small characters suddenly lit up in the consciousness space:
"The device is starting..."
"The organism is sensed, it has been automatically connected, and the connection is complete."
Immediately, a system interface suddenly appeared in his vision.
Very crude.
Only an Internet cafe system and a "browser" are installed.
Ignoring the former, Lin Tuo skillfully opened the "browser" icon with his mind, and an input box popped up:
"Please enter the link address."
When the library was looking up materials before, Lin Tuo focused on understanding that the so-called "virtual space" was not a real virtual world.
The technology of this era has not yet developed to that level.
It is a small space.
Each space has an independent "address", which can be accessed through a browser.
For example, some large companies will rent a server, set up a separate virtual meeting room, and then inform employees of the address and password to allow them to access.
So that you can have a meeting after get off work happily...
Similar applications are widespread.
The game "Third Continent" is also built based on similar principles, but it goes deeper. Players need to log in to the "Main City" space first.
Then based on the teleportation array distributed in the "main city", enter other small copy spaces, do quests, clear monsters, player pk, etc., to earn experience and game currency.
In thinking, Lin Tuo has entered a line of "URL" through his thoughts and clicked to confirm.
"Logging in..."
"sign in suceesfully!"
As the words surfaced, Lin Tuo saw a cloud of light suddenly appeared in the darkness, which flooded his entire consciousness.
After a few seconds, the light slowly dissipated, and Lin Tuo found himself in a blank world full of fluttering clouds.
Well, it feels similar to "phantom space".
As he entered, an interface similar to a "virtual panel" suddenly appeared in front of him, as well as a messy campaign advertisement page, and the login interface on the right.
I chose to create a new account... There is no real-name verification thing here. It took two minutes to complete a series of steps and skip the animation.
I was too lazy to adjust the character's image, so I directly chose the "original appearance", and I didn't bother to get the nickname, so I directly clicked the system generated... Anyway, he just came in and took a look.
Finally, I chose a new area that has not been "full".
The next second, the clouds rolled up, and a small door appeared in front of them.
Follow the prompts to walk over, hold the door handle, slowly push away, and walk in.
In an instant, Lin Tuo appeared in a bustling city.
...
...
"Huh~"
The breeze blew across the face, and everything around it became clear. This is a slightly magical city, full of exaggerated and splendid buildings.
At the foot is a landing entrance that looks like a magic circle.
At this moment, turning his head and looking around, you can see people in different clothes appear out of thin air, and then each busy walking towards the distance.
There are also some "new players" who are just like themselves, wearing novice outfits, looking around blankly. In the sky, a colorful floating boat flies by.
There are also weirdly dressed NPCs pulling the violin by the pool nearby. The sound of the piano is melodious.
"It's online, I just got off work."
"Hey, hey, I'm here, I'll go to the main city to meet up with the big statue, and I have to gather all the materials for what I said today.
"I forgot to claim my level gift pack!"
Around, some players wearing various equipment, carrying big swords or carrying staffs, are walking and talking to the air. They should be contacting teammates in Kaimai.
I didn't see the blood bar magic power bar or something... It was probably hidden by default in the main city, after all, fighting was forbidden here.
As a whiteboard account, Lin Tuo is still level zero, and he only has a set of whiteboard clothes and a novice sword: "Familiarize yourself with the environment first? Why didn't I see a novice guide or something..."
Although it was initially locked that the "crisis" might be related to this game, Lin Tuo had no idea of ​​investigating when he first entered here.
Withdrawing his gaze, being puzzled, he suddenly heard a familiar and unfamiliar voice behind him:
"Dear player,'Code is too difficult'... Welcome to the Third Continent. I am your exclusive advisor, Anne Hathaway, and I am very happy to serve you."
Lin Tuo suddenly turned around and saw a female figure floating behind him:
She has the typical features of the Northern Continent, wearing a crimson robe, a crown of pure white flowers and branches,... she holds a delicate staff in her hand and a magic halo on her body.
At this moment, he was staring at him with smiling eyes.
Almost the same as the Grand Master Winton back then...Except...The body is only the size of a palm, there are two pairs of round wings struggling to flutter behind, and the face and body are obviously cute...
"Um..." Lin Tuo was silent for a while.
Finally, she looked at the blood-sprouting Hathaway with weird eyes, and she was at a loss:
"what's going on?"
...
...
Just a little earlier when Lin Tuo entered the game.
Shelter.
In the inner ring, to be precise, in a certain area where the second ring is located, a huge building full of design beauty shines under the virtual sun.
As the headquarters building of the "Third Continent" game developer, here you can always enjoy the best light during the full 12 hours of daylight.
So that internal employees are always in a state of excitement.
However, at this moment, the building is full of solemn atmosphere.
On the tenth floor, in a large conference room.
On both sides of the long table, almost all the leaders of the various departments of the "Third Continent" project were present, and the screen in front of everyone displayed the same document.
It was sent by the Central Committee, demanding that the game operation must be shut down as of tonight. The scarlet seal on it was particularly dazzling.
"...Is there really no way?
Our game has just surpassed the peak of online users, and the daily flow is the highest ever...
The promotional funds have been returned, but the game development costs have not been smoothed out. At this time, the loss of the shutdown will be incalculable..."
One person said palely.
But he was forced back by the murderous look of the company boss:
"Do you think I would like to see this result?
What can I do?
What can I do if the problem that you have created by yourself cannot be solved? !
I asked you to self-check when the problem came out. What happened? How did you tell me? Later, there was a big trouble and it alarmed the Central Committee. I fought for two weeks. What happened?
Has the problem been solved?
What the is the "Internet abuse syndrome"?
What else can you talk about besides ‘technical issues’? Two weeks later, the situation is getting worse, and the number of people unable to leave the virtual network is increasing!
All clues point to the "Third Continent", don't you wait for the government to arrest people? ! "
The middle-aged man sitting at the head almost roared.
The voice echoed in the meeting room, but no one dared to look at each other.
Everyone understands that things cannot be reversed.
The number of people affected by "Internet abuse" is increasing, and all patients point to the company's entire sanctuary history, the hottest game.
At first, it could be explained by "Internet addiction", but later, the situation became more and more wrong. The technical department worked overtime and tried various methods to detect the problem, but the problem was never found.
With the gradual spread of public opinion, the company finally couldn't stand the pressure. Even if it faced huge losses, even if the efforts of thousands of people in the entire department were wasted, they could only choose to shut down the server.
In the silent atmosphere, the middle-aged man leaned back in his seat dejectedly, sighed, and said:
"Go, there are still a few hours before the deadline, we have to hurry up."
As the hottest game in the entire shelter, the currency, equipment, accounts, etc. in it are not worthless. Sudden closure will definitely cause trouble.
Must do a good job of data backup preservation, and to deal with subsequent wrangling.
"……Yes."
In silence, a famous department leader got up and left with a heavy heart. After a while, only middle-aged people were left in the entire office.
Sitting quietly in the chair, looking at the brilliant sun outside the window.
...
five minutes later.
In the development center of the building, the engineers who received the final order returned to the workstation with a heavy heart, and began to follow the plan that had been made.
Open the background to perform data migration and save.
And send a prepared "mail" to each player's mailbox through the system backend.
That is due to technical issues and maintenance, an announcement to notify the offline time in advance.
However, what no one knows is that when a large number of online players in the game opened their mailbox and clicked on the "little red dot", they only saw a blank space.
...
...
At the same time, the new district, inside the main city.
When Lin Tuo closed the blank email suspiciously and looked at the "Hathaway" who was next to him again, he found that the chubby face of this cute "consultant" had a momentary stutter. .
"What's the matter?" Lin Tuo asked.
"Nothing, ah, do you need me to continue to explain the game content for you?"