56: Chapter 56 Tang Yao and Her Pet

Niao Huateng tossed and turned on his bed for who knows how long, until a wave of drowsiness finally hit him, and he drifted off into a hazy sleep.

[Name:]

A naming phase?

Could this be Fantasy Jianghu?

Unlike the previous two players.

Before entering the game, Niao Huateng had more or less prepared himself mentally.

So, upon hearing that soft, glutinous electronic voice, he didn't subconsciously blurt out his own name like Tang Yao and Hu Gualing did; instead, he habitually chose a gaming nickname.

"Xiao Niao."

Immediately following that came two consecutive System notification sounds—

[Welcome to "Fantasy Jianghu", we wish you a pleasant game!]

[Daily login achieved, received fantasy points +1]

It really is Fantasy Jianghu?

Xiao Niao had already searched the internet for the four characters "Fantasy Jianghu" and naturally wouldn't ignore them now, immediately noting the key point.

He turned his head to observe his surroundings, took a breath of air, and even pinched his own arm hard.

Accompanied by the pain in his arm, Xiao Niao saw a "-1" float out from the health bar on his status bar.

The holographic game the group owner spoke of, it's actually real?

If it weren't for the backpack and health bar elements in his line of sight that only exist in games, he would have thought he had undergone Transmigration to another world!

However, without any gaming equipment, how was his consciousness connected to the game server just by sleeping?

Xiao Niao couldn't figure it out, so he could only set it aside for now and began to ponder the contents of the user agreement.

The ascension gift pack mentioned in the agreement for logging in was already lying in his backpack. He opened it casually, and a few items appeared in his inventory slots.

[Yellow-Rank EXP Pill * 1]: Use to gain 1000 skill experience points.

[Copper Coins * 1000]: The currency used in the Fantasy Jianghu world.

[Steamed Buns * 5]: Steamed Buns made from wheat flour; restores 15 stamina points when consumed.

[Bucket of Fresh Water]: A wooden bucket filled with fresh water; the fresh water can be drunk directly.

Xiao Niao casually took out a Steamed Bun and took a bite. It was a bit different from the soft, sweet Steamed Buns he usually ate; this one was chewy and had a good texture, and the taste was quite good, filling his mouth with the fragrance of wheat.

Sight, pain, smell, taste—all these sensations were present. Was this really a holographic game in the true sense?

Xiao Niao put the half-eaten Steamed Bun back into his backpack and sized up the NPC standing in front of him with [Old Village Chief] above his head.

This Old Village Chief had white hair and a white beard, his gaze was kind and spirited, and he looked no different from an Immortal Master.

However, he didn't know what stage its artificial intelligence had reached.

Out of professional habit, Xiao Niao asked with an inquisitive mindset: "Hello, elder. Could you introduce the basic situation here to me?"

The Old Village Chief nodded: "Hello, Dreamer. This is Xiao Huang Village. You can find a job suitable for you in the village."

"I see," Xiao Niao asked again: "Hello, may I ask where this is?"

This time, the Old Village Chief delayed for a few seconds before answering: "This is Xiao Huang Village."

Is this an answer hardcoded into the database? Xiao Niao thought, then asked again: "Hello, elder. I'm lost. Could you tell me where this is?"

The Old Village Chief seemed a bit unhappy: "Didn't I already tell you? This is Xiao Huang Village."

Does it also have simple emotion simulation added? Xiao Niao nodded inwardly. He walked outside for a distance, turned a corner to leave the Old Village Chief's line of sight, then walked back and stood in front of the Old Village Chief, persistently asking again: "Hello, elder..."

"Enough!" The Old Village Chief's face darkened. He pointed in a direction and said in a voice that tried to be as kind as possible: "Hello, Dreamer, I suggest you go see the doctor first."

Xiao Niao, who was testing the AI level of the NPCs, suddenly felt like he was interacting with an Immortal Master upon hearing this. He couldn't help but feel a bit awkward, so he had to change his target and chatted with a few inconspicuous NPCs nearby.

After some testing, Xiao Niao found that the AI of these NPCs was absurdly high. Especially a child with a braid named [Xie Xiaotian]; in other games, he would definitely be just background filler, with no complex behavioral patterns set.

However, after interacting with him for a while, Xiao Niao discovered that Xie Xiaotian, who seemed like mere background filler, didn't seem to have a lower intelligence level than the Old Village Chief. Of course, this didn't mean Xie Xiaotian was clever, but rather that his behavioral patterns were incredibly close to real-life children.

If it were just the Old Village Chief with high intelligence, that would be one thing; after all, the Old Village Chief is an important NPC, and investing more computing resources could barely simulate an Immortal Master's behavioral patterns.

But after Xiao Niao tested them, he found that every NPC was like this, which was somewhat terrifying.

His subconscious thought upon entering this Fantasy game was to learn some tricks of the trade, acquire some relevant technology from the game, and apply it in reality.

But so far, what this game had displayed completely exceeded his imagination.

It could even be said that it completely exceeded current technological standards!

It made him unable to help but sprout a thought: Could this be alien technology?

This discovery also made him temporarily abandon the idea of learning tricks of the trade, because there was simply no way to start! It seemed he could only wait until he logged off to private message the group owner to seek a favor and see if the group owner could reveal the origins of this game...

As for the present, since he was fortunate enough to enter this epoch-making game before the open beta, he should cherish this opportunity and find a way to lock in the maximum benefits.

Xiao Niao began to think seriously.

Leveling up and fighting monsters were naturally the first things he ruled out.

Because no matter how hard an individual tries, they are just exchanging labor for rewards.

Just like his own personal experience today, he worked hard to make two games he thought were of good quality, but because of a minor supervisor, all his hard work went down the drain.

Yet the other party, with just a few simple words, sold two game slots for over a million.

This is the gap between an individual and a platform that controls the discourse; it is simply a world of difference.

So Xiao Niao understood ever more clearly what kind of path he should take.

That is, to create a near-monopolistic platform.

In reality, the market share of all industries has already been divided, making this goal very difficult to achieve.

But here, in this epoch-making holographic game, it is a blue ocean with great potential.

Having figured out the direction, Xiao Niao felt clear-headed. He subconsciously reached out to push up his glasses, but forgot he was in the game, pushed into empty air, and couldn't help but smile.

Xiao Niao lowered his hand and noticed a young girl walking over from afar, with a special white name above her head: Tang Yao.

Beside her followed a pinkish-white little piglet, which looked quite cute, but its name was "Sharp Tooth".

Looks like a player, and a high-level player with a pet?

However, Xiao Niao wasn't very sure, so he continued to observe for a while.

He saw Tang Yao walk up to the Old Village Chief, take out a pile of silver, and say something. Then he saw the Old Village Chief write on the nearby bulletin board for a while. After he finished writing, the bulletin board suddenly lit up with a golden exclamation mark.