176: Chapter 176 An Excited Heart, Trembling Hands

For the past few days, Zhang Yu had been living in a daze, unable to eat or sleep, and he had been perfunctorily dealing with his daily work, even getting scolded by his supervisor several times.

But Zhang Yu didn't care about any of that; whenever he had a spare moment, he would refresh the logistics tracking. Logically speaking, at nearly thirty years old, he shouldn't be like this, but Zhang Yu just couldn't help himself.

Three days had passed since that spectacular press conference, and even now, just thinking about the scene at the conference made Zhang Yu's heart race.

The Zheng Tu 1.0 Consciousness Helmet had only been released in an initial batch of one million units, a quantity that was merely a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of millions of viewers.

What was even more infuriating was that at the press conference, that virtual girl Xiao Zhi explained that the first batch of closed beta qualifications for the game "journey" would only be drawn from helmet users, and there were only one hundred thousand spots. In other words, even if you managed to snag a Consciousness Helmet, you only had a one-in-ten chance of entering the "journey" game.

At that time, the live stream chat was filled with curses and overwhelming resentment.

Even the beautiful virtual girl was pelted with countless "rotten egg" gifts by the audience, and what was even more maddening was that the only gift available in this live stream cost five U.S. dollars each.

This company was absolutely crazy about making money!

Perhaps this was the reason why Third-Party Technology only held online press conferences.

But even so, the hands of global viewers were more honest than their mouths; the moment the purchase link appeared—it was hard to say if it even took a second, or less—the million Consciousness Helmets were sold out.

Zhang Yu was one of the lucky ones.

The payment window was only 24 hours, and at that time, Zhang Yu had decisively paid the price of nearly 80,000 zhongzhou currency—money that could have bought a civilian car.

This had used up nearly a third of Zhang Yu's savings. After paying, he felt a bit of regret, but he couldn't bring himself to request a refund.

Up until now.

The logistics tracking showed that it would be delivered today.

To ensure he received it as soon as possible, Zhang Yu had used his company address. He had been restless all morning, checking the logistics information on his phone every few minutes. When that delivery number called, Zhang Yu felt his heart skip a beat.

Zhang Yu went downstairs.

Excited heart, trembling hands.

Zhang Yu took the box from the courier and carried it back to his workstation.

The box design was the same as the one in the live stream; apart from the picture of the helmet, there was only the Planet-shaped logo of Third-Party Technology.

"Third Party Tech," Zhang Yu traced the raised silver lettering, carefully placing "this civilian car" on his desk.

"Yo, Brother Yu, what kind of treasure is that? The packaging is so cool!"

A colleague who had just returned with coffee curiously leaned over. When he saw the logo on the box, his eyes widened: "Holy... holy crap, Third-Party Technology? This box... is that the 'Zheng Tu Helmet'?!"

"Brother Yu, you actually bought it!"

This shout made it impossible for anyone not to notice, and the entire office's attention was instantly drawn, with everyone's gaze focused squarely on Zhang Yu and the box next to him.

"What? Zheng Tu Consciousness Helmet?"

"Really? Is that the eighty-thousand-dollar helmet?"

"Zhang Yu, you managed to snag one?!"

"Oh my god! Let me see!"

In an instant, Zhang Yu's workstation was surrounded by colleagues who had heard the news, with exclamations, questions, and envious clicking sounds rising one after another.

Zhang Yu was surrounded in the middle, feeling the intense gazes around him, and the slight regret he had felt earlier about spending the money suddenly dissipated.

It was replaced by an indescribable sense of satisfaction and vanity. Zhang Yu tried hard to appear calm, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

"Yeah, just got it," Zhang Yu said, trying to keep his tone flat.

"Open it! Brother Yu! Open it right now and let us have a look!" Little Li urged from the side, and other colleagues chimed in.

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment; although he wanted to take it home to open it, opening it now wouldn't be a big deal, so he tore open the outer packaging and opened the box.

Inside, there was molded black high-density cushioning material, perfectly cradling the helmet. When that black helmet, filled with a sense of futuristic technology, was fully exposed under the bright office lights, everyone around gasped.

The helmet looked even more exquisite than in the promotional videos, with smooth and powerful lines. It had no unnecessary decorations, yet it carried an aura that screamed, "I am awesome."

It was like a work of art.

"What is everyone doing here?" At that moment, the supervisor walked over and said sternly. When he saw the helmet on the desk, he was stunned and couldn't help but reach out and touch it.

Seeing this scene, it was as if his girlfriend was being violated, and Zhang Yu instantly turned red with anger.

"Ahem..." The middle-aged male supervisor, realizing what was happening, said in an awkward tone, "You kid are really willing to spend."

"Use this to film a few videos; the traffic will definitely be high. It'll help you recoup some costs, and I can make an exception and let you study it during work hours."

"Everyone else, get back to your workstations!" At the supervisor's command, the crowd immediately scattered like birds and beasts, but everyone couldn't help but cast glances toward Zhang Yu's direction as they returned to their seats.

Zhang Yu took the helmet out, feeling rather annoyed, but the excellent texture in his hands made him forget about what had just happened.

"This craftsmanship is amazing..." Zhang Yu couldn't help but exclaim.

The usage instructions in the manual were very simple; apart from precautions like turning it on and charging, there was only one thing left: put on the helmet.

After turning it on and activating it according to the instructions, Zhang Yu put it on with great anticipation. The moment the padding on the inside of the helmet touched Zhang Yu's scalp, it seemed to come alive, automatically adjusting its shape to perfectly fit his head. There was a slight cool sensation, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

Instead, it felt like being gently cradled by a pair of gentle hands.

Immediately after, a pleasant electronic female voice rang directly in his mind:

【Neural connection establishing... 10%... 50%... 100%】

【Connection successful, user identity confirmed】

【Mr. Zhang Yu, welcome to using the Zheng Tu 1.0 Consciousness Helmet, produced by Third-Party Biotechnology】

This voice was as clear as if someone were whispering in his ear, yet it wasn't heard through his ears at all. Zhang Yu shuddered; the feeling was too real, so much so that he subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch his ears, but instead, he touched the cool surface of the helmet.

The electronic female voice continued.

【Performing initial connection adaptability test】

【Test result normal】

Zhang Yu's vision went black for a moment, as if he had lost his visual senses, and then it instantly brightened again.

A glowing scroll slowly opened before his eyes, and the text on it looked very beautiful.

It was a long and tedious user agreement.

【Please confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to all the above terms. You may silently recite: Agree and continue, or Refuse and disconnect】

Zhang Yu patiently chose to agree.

The moment he made his choice, the glowing scroll before him turned into countless brilliant stardust, occupying his entire field of vision.