A Race to (Be) The Top

This is a forest, towering trees with luxuriant branches, trying hard to cover the sky, but still the sun is not to be outdone, squeezed in and sprinkled on the face of the boy lying on the ground.

The sunshine, tree shadows, breeze, insect chirping, and the smell of earth are so real, so real that it is hard to believe that this is just a virtual world.

Except for the flying bird that was stagnant in mid-air.

Ling Xiaolu had been staring at the flying bird for half a minute without moving, afraid that it would fall and hit his face.

But the bird didn't move, and neither did he.It's not that I don't want to, but I can't.

On the surface, it seems that he is just lying quietly, but the earth knows that he is restless. His violent and rapid heartbeat can still be conveyed to the soil through his thin back and thin sweat-soaked single clothes, not to mention the abnormality. Elevated body temperature.It was a good thing the earth could not see his face, or it would have been the same color as a ripe and fallen apple in autumn.

Although the narrator has described this scene as elegantly as possible, the listener may have guessed that Ling Xiaolu, this unlucky creature whose name sounds so pitiful, fell into heat at an inappropriate time and in an inappropriate place.

A handsome face appeared in his sight, covering Asuka, with a golden name on top of his head.

The instigator who caused Ling Xiaolu to be in heat, the golden name Shangyue named Ji Meng, cared for Ling Xiaolu without knowing anything:

"You are not in a good condition, your face is very red, is there something uncomfortable?"

If it wasn't that he couldn't move, Ling Xiaolu actually wanted to let the other party know that when he was "uncomfortable", he was prone to violence.

Just like now, he really, really wants to use his family's ancestral deer fist to smash Ji Meng's face that has undergone plastic surgery.

The cause of all this can be traced back to earlier today...

……

The game franchise store is deserted, and the only clerk is playing a virtual space architecture game boredly. This kind of casual game is very suitable to pass the time without missing the customers who may come to the door.

The induction door opened and closed gently, and a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old came in, his hair was dyed a striking golden yellow.

In this era of online shopping for all, customers only need to touch the terminal to enjoy door-to-door delivery service. There are fewer and fewer buyers who are willing to visit physical stores. Usually, only students with plenty of time or those who need technical assistance Customers will take the initiative to visit.

Based on the clerk's experience in reading people, the person who came should belong to the former, especially now that it is a holiday, he is more sure of his guess.

He flicked his fingers, and the light balls that had been constructed in front of him scattered one after another, like a miniature fireworks, gorgeous and dazzling. Ling Xiaolu, who had witnessed this scene as soon as he entered the door, whistled in amazement.

"cool."

"Welcome, may I help you?"

Ling Xiaolu jumped to the counter step by step, giving the impression of a lively young man.

"I just saw this at a traffic stop."

He showed a light and shadow photo, on which a silver-white giant loomed, handsome and striking.

"Do you know what game this is?"

It must not be an unpopular game that can be advertised at a traffic station, and the clerk can tell it at a glance.

"This is the holographic online game "Elf Contract" produced by Xinshan Company. What you saw should be the promotional advertisement for the new expansion pack "The Hidden Dragon Race."

"That's it! Do you have any for sale here?"

The clerk stretched out his hand and swiped casually in the air, and the ice-blue transparent ring-shaped counter in front of him rotated [-] degrees counterclockwise.This freely rotatable counter is made of actinic materials. When it rotates, the edge of the counter will glow with a technological sense of blue glare, and then stop slowly.

The clerk taps lightly on the counter, and the top layer slowly opens, rises, and moves back, not only presenting the internal furnishings in front of the guests without isolation, but also turning the erected actinic glass into a 3D LCD screen just right, and starting to play the three-dimensional display. promotional video for the game.

"That's right, that's it!" The dragon, exactly the same as in the photo, was circling and leaping on the screen, the silver-white scales reflected the dazzling light, and even the patterns on them were clearly displayed.

""Elf Contract" is a massively multiplayer online role-playing online game featuring pet battles. What you are seeing now is the upcoming top-level combat pet, the Windbreath Pterosaur, which belongs to the dragon family Flyosauridae."

Ling Xiaolu couldn't understand the terminology of any department or subject, he only knew the most direct ones.

"Is it great?"

"Judging from the current official data, no matter its strength or agility, Fenglong belongs to the best among pets, not to mention that the Feilong family itself has good blood volume and magic power. It can be said that it is a rare collection of force. An attacking battle pet that is integrated with mana, the value of all-round balanced development is simply impeccable."

"Great, how much does this sell for?"

The clerk was embarrassed. It was quite difficult to obtain this rare pet.In order to maintain value, before the release of the next expansion, the number of releases will not exceed three, and only a very small number of elite players can obtain it. For beginners in the game, owning a dragon scale is a delusion.

But of course he wouldn't say that.

"Purchase the "Hidden Dragon" deluxe version client now, and you can get a chance to draw a wind-breathing pterosaur, and have a chance to win a rare battle pet. In addition, there are various rich prizes, and the winning rate is as high as 100%. "

Ling Xiaolu had the expression that Fenglong was in my pocket: "Okay, I'll buy the deluxe version you mentioned!"

"The price of the deluxe version is 888 Union coins."

"Not expensive."

"But before that, do you have any game peripherals produced by Xinshan Company?"

"what is that?"

"Is this your first experience with holographic online games produced by Xinshan Company?"

"That's right," the boy nodded, "Let's not talk about Xinshan, it's even the first time I've played a game."

"Every holographic online game produced by Xinshan requires dedicated peripherals to support it. It is impossible to experience the game by purchasing the client alone."

"Well, how much does the peripheral sell for?"

"Different styles have different prices. I suggest you choose this one, which is also a device with a high penetration rate among players."

He took out a bracelet from the counter, about two centimeters wide, metal texture, with the game company's LOGO engraved on it with a laser, and the appearance was quite pleasing to young people.

"This is a wristband-type peripheral, popular among young male players. The price is 8888 alliance coins. Now you can enjoy a [-]% discount if you buy it with the client as a package."

"It has doubled ten times!" Ling Xiaolu exclaimed.

"Although it seems expensive, the peripheral is a one-time consumer product, and it is free of maintenance and upgrades for life. It can be used for any game produced by Xinshan, just download the game data, and it can also be directly inserted into the chip for use."

Ling Xiaolu still hesitated: "Is there anything else?"

"There are also headbands, earrings, necklaces, etc. at the same price. There is no difference in function, but the wearing parts are different."

Ling Xiaolu shook his head again and again: "No, no, the headband is a little bit of middle school, and the rest is too girly."

The clerk smiled: "Necklaces and earrings are more purchased by female players, and they can also be changed into watches or even implanted communication devices according to customer needs, but then they need to be customized, the price will be higher, and it needs a production cycle."

"It's fine to order extra." Ling Xiaolu leaned over to look at the equipment in the counter, and one of them attracted his attention.

"Wow, and the ring! This one looks good!"

"That's not a real peripheral, it's just a model. The real ring is not in stock in our store and must be ordered from the official website."

"Why? Is it rare?"

"This is not an ordinary ring. This is a VIP peripheral specially developed at the request of a very small number of distinguished customers. Players who use this peripheral also enjoy VIP account treatment in the game. There is a special appellation, called the promiser."

"Accounts are divided into ordinary and VIP? Isn't that very unbalanced?"

"The design of no game is absolutely balanced. The appearance of bidders does affect the fairness in the game, but its price is also doomed that only a very small number of players can enjoy this preferential treatment."

The clerk continued to introduce: "When Xinshan Company first launched this peripheral, it also caused a frenzy of opposition from players, and even held strike demonstrations. But as time went by and the number of applicants was scarce, The vast majority of players have gradually accepted its existence, and the bidders have gradually evolved from being rejected and opposed at the beginning to being admired and sought after, and attracting attention no matter where they go in the game."

"Huh?" Ling Xiaolu listened with gusto, "You can even do this? Then how much does it sell for?"

"500."

Ling Xiaolu slipped and almost fell.

"Obviously, the cost of this ring is not worth that much, and the privileges that the applicants enjoy in the game are not worth that much. The reason why the sky-high price is set is purely to control the number and raise the threshold for applicants."

"I don't believe that anyone will spend 500 million on a game peripheral."

"Compared to the huge player base of "Elf Contract", the number of contract applicants only accounts for one ten-thousandth of all players. From its launch to the present, the total number of rings sold does not exceed a hundred."

Ling Xiaolu sighed and took a deep breath: "There are so many rich and idle local tyrants, you are right, if the price of this privilege is 500 million, I really don't mind the influence of these bullies. The fairness of the game is like saying... I will not be jealous that Wang Silian is richer than me, and I will not be jealous that Wu Yansun is more handsome than me."

"That's the reason, and the territory of "Elf Contract" is quite large. If you don't specially go to watch important events, the probability of seeing the bidder in the game is very low."

Ling Xiaolu nodded to express his understanding, and moved his eyes to the next device, which had the same shape as a metal ring, several times larger than the bracelet.

"Where is this worn?"

"neck."

"neck?"

"That's right, it's a collar."

"A what?"

"The collar." The clerk repeated, "It is made of exactly the same material as the ring, and the cost is quite expensive. It can be said to be an enlarged version of the ring."

Ling Xiaolu opened his mouth wide: "A ring of such a small size costs 500 million, so wouldn't this one cost [-] million?"

"No, this collar is free, to be precise, it is provided to the user himself for free."

Nothing can describe Ling Xiaolu's surprise at this moment.

"are you kidding me?"

"It is similar to the function of the ring. Players who wear the ring and enter the game will automatically obtain the identity of the applicant, and players who wear the collar and enter the game will also obtain another identity."

"What is it?"

"That's what you just learned about, the battle pet."

"...Windbreathing Wyvern?"

"That's right, the Windbreather Wyvern is a representative of AI-type battle pets. The so-called AI is a game body with artificial intelligence. To put it bluntly, its essence is a data stream."

Ling Xiaolu listened intently: "And then?"

"But no matter how intelligent AI is, it can only follow the artificially designed battle mode and make fixed responses according to changes in the battle situation. Although Xinshan has reached the level of proficiency in the development of AI intelligence, the wisdom of AI, It can never surpass humans, and it doesn't even have the ability to think subjectively."

"It would be terrible if you have it!"

"So, after having the ring peripherals that represent privileges, in order to meet the needs of the applicants who want to have a non-AI smart pet, there is a ring corresponding product. Players who wear the collar to play the game can be The player who wears the ring is accepted as a battle pet, and the actual cost of purchasing the collar is paid by the other party after the wearer signs a contract with the contractor."

"My God! Rich people really know how to play!"

"Unexpectedly, the development of intelligent battle pets has encountered great difficulties."

"What's the problem?"

"It's a collar that a lot of people can't fit."

"what?"

"Indeed. This question sounds absurd, but with the efforts of all the programmers in Xinshan Company, and even sending out hero posts to recruit folk experts, it is rumored that even the most mysterious hacker organization has been involved, but it still cannot solve this technical problem."

"What's so difficult about it, I know."

The clerk asked in surprise: "You know?"

"The collar is too small, and the player has a thick neck, so naturally he can't wear it."

"..."

The clerk coughed in embarrassment: "That's not the reason."

He simply took out the entity inside the counter, allowing Ling Xiaolu to observe it more closely.

"This collar is made of materials imported from the Milky Way, and it can automatically adjust its size according to the size of the wearer's neck. All the rings produced by Xinshan Company are one-size-fits-all, but they can be worn just right by anyone. The same principle applies to the collar. "

"In this case, why can't you wear it?"

"I can demonstrate it to you." After the clerk finished speaking, he put the collar flat on his left hand, touched the collar with his right index finger, and drew a circular arc along the edge.Ling Xiaolu was surprised to see that the original silver collar, which had no gaps, was opened a gap along the trajectory of his fingertips, as if it had been erased abruptly.

"It's amazing!" Ling Xiaolu couldn't help admiring.

The gap was big enough to go through the clerk's neck, and what he now held in his hand could barely be called an arc.

Under Ling Xiaolu's watchful eye, the clerk stuck the arc on his neck, stretched out his index finger in the same way as before, and stroked from one end of the arc to the other along the neck, and the part that was erased just now was regenerated , once again into a flawless collar that connects and fits seamlessly.

Ling Xiaolu was taken aback: "Isn't this on?"

The clerk didn't answer him directly, but put his hands on both ends of the collar: "Three, two, one."

At the end of the countdown, the collar snapped off and turned into two semicircles, which were held in his hands, one on the left and one on the right.

"How could this be?"

"This is also a problem that has plagued Xinshan Company for a year." The clerk connected the two collars together, and soon they were seamlessly integrated.

"It's unscientific. Logically speaking, a ring can be worn, but how can a collar with the same material and principles not be worn?"

"Probably the main difference is that the wearer's game identity is different. According to relevant sources, the reason why it will be disconnected is mainly because of the conflict with the program settings of the battle pet."

"What do you mean?"

"Because the concept of a dater is added later, it still belongs to the player user. The initial setting of the battle pet is an NPC with no vital signs, and it is forcibly replaced by a player with independent intelligence, which leads to the in-game The data is chaotic and the terminal cannot handle it, so the system automatically rejects these players to log in."

"So that's how it is." Ling Xiaolu roughly understood.

"But the strange thing is that here, after long-term testing, the server terminal does not exclude every user who logs in as a battle pet, and there are still very few people who can overcome this barrier and successfully realize the original design intention of Xinshan Company .”

"You mean, there are some players, even if they wear it, the collar won't crack?"

"Yes, although the number is extremely rare. So far, only [-] players have passed the test, which is not enough to satisfy one-third of the applicants."

"Since this is the case, why didn't the game company conduct further research on these [-] players, maybe they can find the reason?"

"Xinshan Company has never stopped tracking and researching this group of special players. Not only that, they have also conducted a national survey. As long as they can successfully wear the collar without falling off, they will give away a general-purpose game peripheral for free."

"Including the bracelets that sold four and eight just now?"

"Yes." The clerk clicked a few times on the screen that played the promotional video just now, and called up the hero post issued by Xinshan Company.

The reward is good, Ling Xiaolu is a little excited.

"Does that mean that as long as you wear it, you must wear it to play?"

"Of course not. Regardless of the fact that the success rate of this survey is less than [-] per thousand, even if it succeeds, Xinshan Company only needs to extract your body data once for research purposes. As for what kind of The way to play is your freedom, you can use the gift bracelet to enter the game.”

"In that case, I don't mind giving it a try."

"No problem," the clerk opened the collar in his hand again, "I will wear it for you now."

The collar made of metal was pressed against the skin of Ling Xiaolu's neck, but it didn't have the cold and hard touch as imagined.

"It really is a very magical material."

"Yes, you can wear it to eat, sleep and do anything without any abnormal feeling."

"Ha, even if you say so, I don't want to."

The clerk's fingers scratched half a circle around Ling Xiaolu's neck, and the collar closed.

"how do you feel?"

Ling Xiaolu didn't answer him, instead he imitated his appearance and put his hands on the left and right sides.

"Three, two, one."

"……one."

"one."

He counted three ones in a row, and the collar remained motionless. He raised his head in surprise, and the clerk in front of him was no less surprised than him.

"Am I successful?"

"Yes, this is the first time I have witnessed someone successfully wearing this. Congratulations, you have obtained a game peripheral worth 8888 alliance coins."

"It's great!" Ling Xiaolu, who is a student party, couldn't be happier for saving more than 8000 so easily.

"Once someone wears it successfully, the game terminal will automatically detect it, and the technical department will soon be able to read your body data. You only need to sign an authorization agreement."

"no problem."

Ling Xiaolu signed his name on the light screen, and the progress bar showed that the data was being uploaded.

"Aren't you really going to experience the game content of battle pets? Since the number is rarer than those who signed up, the popularity of human battle pets in the game can be said to be quite high, and the unsigned human battle pets are even more The object that the bidders are chasing after each other."

"Don't be kidding, I play games to catch pets, not to be pets."

A silver light flickered on the edge of the light screen, which was a signal that the data upload was successful.

"Thank you for your support and cooperation. Your personal data has been collected, and I will remove it for you now."

"Thank you." Ling Xiaolu raised his chin to make it easier for him to operate.

One second passed, two seconds, three seconds... half a minute passed, and the collar was still not taken off.

"What's the matter?" Ling Xiaolu asked, according to the speed at which he put it on, it wouldn't take so long to take it off.

The clerk looked up, confused.

"I don't know what happened, this... can't be opened..."

The author has something to say: Warning 1: The author's full-level Cave Dog can only guarantee that he will not be cheated, and cannot guarantee daily updates.Active liver xie game lun helps to get through the author's Ren and Du's two veins, and clears the debuff of Kawen.

Warning 2: Mary Su is popular, those who are unwell, avoid it (but there is still no Mary Sue next door, and those who are unwell, please avoid two articles in a row).

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Added demining: The title of this article is "A group of males chasing a deer", the main line is a group of males chasing a deer, and the plot is a group of males chasing a deer. The introduction in one sentence is "A group of males chasing a deer" (you can see it on a specific page).

If you only want to read an article about a pair of CPs falling in love, please avoid this article, the heroes will not give up, and the competition will continue.