169: Chapter 169 Battle of Iwo Jima

Three days after the closed beta recruitment results were released, the beta officially began.

Wang Ye downloaded the beta game pack immediately. At the same time, he started a livestream and sat at the game's initial interface, waiting for the server to open.

At this moment, the livestream room was incredibly lively.

"Brother Wang, I heard Old Thief's new game is an online multiplayer game, not a single-player story-focused mode like eastern meat grinder."

"Then will this be the same as the big world mode?"

"Probably not. Although the big world mode is okay, too much freedom isn't necessarily a good thing. It feels like you don't know what to do, and there's no game objective."

"Exactly. If I hadn't seen Brother Wang's stream, I wouldn't have even thought about buying this DLC."

"I hope the new game brings some different tricks to the table."

"It's fine, I'm a story fan. I just don't know when Old Thief will release the plot."

Wang Ye looked at the livestream room's bullet chat but didn't say anything.

Today, he had actually suspended his Great World streams specifically to broadcast the closed beta.

This game beta allowed them to stream, and the officials had even provided them with some traffic promotion.

Of course, there wasn't much left to broadcast in the Great World anyway.

Even without them, it could continue to operate just the same now.

Besides, the lion's share of the traffic for Great World streams was currently in the livestream rooms of the Four Major Military Regions.

They had started streaming, broadcasting the combat scenes in real-time.

Most viewers had basically flocked to watch the military's streams.

The traffic for streamers like Wang Ye, who focused on infrastructure and tech trees in the rear, was just average.

This was because streams about building infrastructure and leveling up tech trees in the rear weren't very exciting to watch.

Most viewers didn't have the patience for such dry and tedious content.

It was better to watch the Chinese Soldiers fighting on the front lines, where the battlefield situation was tense and thrilling.

In particular, viewers wanted to see if the soldiers, now equipped with a new set of gear, could give the Little Devils a sound thrashing.

After a while, Wang Ye saw that it was almost ten o'clock; the server was about to open.

So, he said cheerfully, "Brothers, there are only two minutes until the server opens. I'm actually looking forward to it!"

"I wonder what content this beta will open up for us to play."

The viewers in the livestream room were equally curious upon hearing Wang Ye's words.

Two minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

As soon as it struck ten, Wang Ye immediately clicked to enter the game.

Without the slightest lag, Wang Ye successfully entered the game.

The moment he entered, a CG cinematic began.

This was the same CG Wang Ye had seen on the game's official website before.

Watching it again, Wang Ye felt it had a different vibe.

After watching for about twenty seconds, Wang Ye discovered that he could skip the CG.

"Brothers, this CG can be skipped? Should we skip it? There shouldn't be anyone in the livestream room who hasn't seen this CG yet, right?"

Wang Ye asked specifically.

He then glanced at the bullet chat; most viewers indicated they had already seen it.

"Since most of you have seen it, let's skip it. Those who haven't can go to the official website to check it out."

After saying that, Wang Ye skipped the CG directly.

After skipping the CG, he entered the game lobby.

As soon as he entered the lobby, Wang Ye saw that the game interface was very clean and simple.

Then a window popped up, asking Wang Ye to choose a game nickname.

Wang Ye thought for a moment and simply filled in his own name.

After setting his name, Wang Ye checked out the game lobby interface.

After studying the lobby for a bit, Wang Ye found that most functions couldn't be clicked.

Only the multiplayer mode could be opened.

Inside, the Battle of Iwo Jima was highlighted.

Everything else was blacked out, with no information visible.

Besides that, he also discovered a game ranking system.

Seeing this system, Wang Ye's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "Wow, look at that!"

"Holy crap, it really is being made into a multiplayer game?"

The viewers in the livestream room also started shouting in excitement upon seeing this.

"It's over, I really want to play this."

"There's even a ranking system? How are the ranks calculated?"

"This closed beta must be testing these things."

"Definitely. Brother Wang, hurry up and start a match to see."

"Yeah, there's nothing else to study. Start a match first."

Seeing this, Wang Ye smiled and nodded.

"Alright, since you all say so, I'll start a match first."

With some anticipation, Wang Ye clicked on the Battle of Iwo Jima.

As soon as he clicked, three options appeared: Ranked Match, Quick Match, and Story Mode.

Both Ranked and Quick matches showed they would be unlocked after experiencing Story Mode.

Seeing this, Wang Ye could only click on Story Mode.

Entering the Story Mode game room, Wang Ye found that he could choose between solo or multiplayer matchmaking.

If he chose multiplayer, it would match him with four teammates.

"Brother Wang, choose multiplayer matchmaking."

"Yeah, don't pick solo. Solo is boring."

Wang Ye decisively followed the viewers' advice and chose multiplayer matchmaking.

He clicked 'Start Game,' and in less than a second, he was matched into a game.

As soon as he entered, a CG cinematic appeared before Wang Ye.

This game CG couldn't be skipped.

Seeing this, Wang Ye could only watch the CG obediently.

In the scene, there was a vast, open ocean.

Countless ships were sailing in formation across the sea.

It was a massive naval fleet.

Witnessing this, Wang Ye couldn't help but gape, his heart filled with shock.

He had never seen a fleet of this scale.

At this moment, these ships were loaded with many soldiers.

An American flag hung from the bow of a ship.

The scene shifted, and countless amphibious landing craft reached the beach.

Iwo Jima, appearing as a dark gray and black image, emerged before them.

Densely packed American soldiers disembarked from the landing craft and ran toward the beachhead.

Not long after these American soldiers stepped onto the beach, they were met with fierce artillery and machine-gun fire.

The CG wasn't very long; it ended right there.

Wang Ye thought he would have to watch for a long time, but it was over in a minute.

At that moment, a line of text appeared before him.

“'The Volcanic Island of Hell' — One of the bloodiest amphibious landings of the Pacific War. The US military captured this 8-square-kilometer volcanic island at a massive cost to provide an emergency landing field for the bombing of the Japanese mainland.”

Then, before Wang Ye could finish reading, his vision went black.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already on a landing craft.

The craft was moving at high speed, and the fresh sea breeze, carrying the scent of the ocean, slapped against his face.

Wang Ye looked around in a daze; there were many people beside him.

One look at their faces showed they were all typically Western.

Wang Ye immediately understood; he was an American soldier on the attacking side.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness I'm not on the Little Devils' side. If I were a Little Devil, this game would be unplayable." A voice filled with relief suddenly rang out beside him.

No matter how you heard it, this voice had a thick Chinese accent.

Wang Ye looked at the person, and the person noticed him too.

The two looked at each other.

Suddenly, that person asked, "Are you a player too?"