123: Chapter 123 The New Chaldea Hall
Seeing the reminder from the bullet chat, Chu He finally remembered his actual business.
With a hint of anticipation, he walked to the metal sensor door of his Personal Room.
Taking a deep breath, Chu He pressed his hand on the access switch.
"Pshhh—"
Accompanied by the soft sound of airlock pressure release, the metal door slid open to both sides.
The moment the door opened, a noisy, lively, and even somewhat fanatical wave of sound hit him like a tsunami, pinning Chu He to the spot!
In his original single-player memories, outside the door should have been a quiet and cold metal corridor where only a few fixed NPCs occasionally passed by.
But now...
Presented before Chu He was a grandly structured, super-large composite hall that looked like a hub of a futuristic sci-fi city!
The dome towered into the clouds, with auroras shimmering outside the transparent reinforced glass; dozens of wide conveyor belts and floating stairs crisscrossed the hall.
But what shocked Chu He the most were the people.
A sea of people that stretched as far as the eye could see!
Thousands, even hundreds of thousands of real players wearing various Master uniforms, were running, talking, and hanging out in this grand hall like a colony of ants!
"Holy cow..."
Standing at the door, Chu He sincerely exclaimed, "This is actually a seamless hall? With so many people on the same screen, there isn't even a hint of frame drops or lag? The low-level optimization capability of Chaldea Studio is just too terrifying!"
He tentatively stepped out of the room. Just as he went out, a Black player with a Mohawk ran past him in a hurry, accidentally brushing against his shoulder.
"Holy shit! The tactile sensation of this physical collision is simply amazing! What's up homie, did you also just come up from that hellish Temple of Time?"
That Black brother turned back and excitedly gave Chu He a very street-style gesture. A pure West Coast rap accent reached Chu He's ears through the engine's built-in real-time translation.
Chu He subconsciously touched the shoulder that had just been bumped. That near-real physical feedback made even an old player like him shout "Holy crap."
Just then, a deafening clamor and gasps of surprise suddenly came from the plaza in the center of the hall.
Curious, Chu He pushed through the crowd to get closer.
He saw a wealthy player with the ID "King of P2W" standing proudly by the fountain in the center of the plaza.
Beside him, a holographic projection showed an extremely solid-looking blond Heroic Spirit in golden armor with a defiant expression.
That proud Hero King stood with his arms crossed, looking down at the crowd in the hall from a height, his eyes filled with his signature arrogance that viewed all living beings as "mongrels."
"Hahaha! Let me show you guys the Max NP Hero King I pulled after spending ten packs!"
Instead of feeling that there was anything wrong with being looked down upon by his Servant, the wealthy player showed off to the surrounding crowd like a fanatic, "Being able to materialize a Servant in the hall to accompany you, this new system is just too damn awesome! Praise my King!"
The surrounding players immediately turned into "Lemons," their sourness reaching the sky:
"Damn! Accursed lucksack! Take my Salted Fish Thrust!"
"This is too much! Not only does he post seal pictures on various platforms, but now he actually dares to invite Gilgamesh out to flex on us in person!"
"Brothers, surround him! Even if we can't absorb this rich guy's luck, it's good to go pay homage to the Hero King!"
Seeing a large group of players surrounding the rich guy and Gilgamesh like they were watching a monkey, taking screenshots and photos frantically, Chu He also laughed out loud in the livestream:
"Good grief, avatar displays plus the competitive psychology of the wealthy—Gu Yi has really figured out the social appeal of online games."
As players continued to explore the Chaldea hall, this group of Masters who had been cooped up for too long completely let themselves go. Various silly and hilarious scenes began to play out frantically in every corner.
Outside the door of the Summoning Room, it had unexpectedly turned into a large-scale "cult scene."
A large group of Unlucky Players knelt on the ground, using the system's built-in marking paint to draw abstract summoning circles all over the corridor floor.
The most ridiculous thing was that in the middle, there was actually a guy washing his hair while doing a handstand, playing the song "Good Luck Comes" on a loop. A sign stood in front of him: "Ritual summoning service, miracles happen upside down, full refund if you don't pull it."
The Chaldea cafeteria stalls were an even heavier disaster area.
Someone looked at the incredibly realistic "Special Mapo Tofu" on the menu and fell into deep thought. After spending QP to buy a portion, they were so spicy that they rolled around on the ground, frantically looking for water;
In a corner not far away, there was even a big shot who spent a fortune of QP to buy out all the burgers and fried chicken in the cafeteria. He was frantically feeding Saber Artoria with a face full of happiness, making the surrounding hungry players drool and denounce this shameless act of "using food to abduct my King."
At the other end of the corridor, a shrill scream suddenly rang out.
Chu He turned his head and saw a player wearing a low-quality Barbatos onesie being chased and beaten by dozens of red-eyed, wolf-like hardcore Masters.
"Barbatos, don't run! Hand over your heart!"
"You died too fast in the Temple of Time before so I didn't get to grab any. Today in the Chaldea hall, I must pluck you bald!"
Seeing that Barbatos being pinned to the ground and beaten in the crowd, the entire livestream was suddenly filled with a happy atmosphere.
After all, in that heavy and tragic final battle, the entire server's players collectively scrambling for this Demon God Pillar that dropped top-tier materials was arguably the only touch of comedy.
Every player was enjoying this extreme thrill of breaking the fourth wall in their own unique way.
Of course, behind this noise and silliness, there was also a touch of nose-stinging tenderness.
Many old players traveling together would, when passing a certain vacant room in the Chaldea Medical Wing, stop their steps in unison, put away their usual joking, and silently place a bouquet of virtual white flowers or a small piece of strawberry cake just bought from the cafeteria in front of the door, to commemorate the man who stayed forever in the Temple of Time.
Chaldea, which had originally become lifeless because the main story ended, instantly came alive under the injection of the new engine and millions of old players, turning into a real world with a unique ecology, filled with laughter and warmth.
And just as the carnival in the hall reached its climax...
To the north of the hall, a huge virtual light door that was originally tightly closed and emitted faint black flames suddenly opened slowly.
A row of large characters emitting a dangerous aura appeared on the door:
[Simulation Control Room · Integrated Strategy Mode (Permanent): The Prison of Grudges and the Deep, now open.]
Almost in an instant, all the players in the hall who were looking for new excitement to fill the void of the content drought were like sharks smelling blood; their eyes lit up instantly.
Chu He didn't hesitate at all and took the lead in rushing toward that black-flamed door.
"Brothers! Meetup time is over, let's get to work!"
He rubbed his hands in the livestream, returning to his Hardcore Grinder persona: "If I don't clear this Prison of Grudges thing today, I'm not going to sleep!"
In this new era of Chaldea full of infinite possibilities, a hardcore grinding carnival called "One More Round" officially began.