Dark Magician Isekai: Return and make Fantasy World into a VR Game

"F*ckkkkk!!!" Qin Guan cried out in agony as he sat up.

He took off his helmet, intending to smash it but couldn't bring himself to do so. He turned to the computer screen, but couldn't bring himself to do it either.

Thus, he jumped off the bed, grabbed a pillow, and furiously slammed it against the wardrobe door…

After venting his anger at being killed by a boar-sized rat, incurring the death penalty, and being forcibly logged off, the frustrated Qin Guan finally calmed down and sat back in front of his computer.

The first thing he did, of course, was to open the official site and send an angry email to the game developer. His character hadn't been able to use skills, and just a quest in the beginner village had caused a team wipe! Even if it was a closed beta with bugs yet to be ironed down, this was too much!

As he clicked into the official website, a new announcement was coincidentally pinned there.

"Patch Update 1.01"

Fixed a bug where level 0 players could accept Zombie General Lancelot Edgar's challenge quest [Eliminate Rats]. Added clarification that game characters cannot be deleted or restarted after a player's selection and can only evolve through gameplay progression or due to new version updates. Added clarification that Potential value is not fixed and will grow as players progress in the game.

Closed beta of "OtherWorld" is currently in full swing. Welcome to players visiting this ancient land!

—— OtherWorld Development Team.

Qin Guan. "…"

The development team's response had been prompt, and they valued the players' gaming experience. Problems had been identified and immediate changes were made. This was a good thing for players… but Qin Guan hadn't even gotten a chance to criticize the game developer yet!! He still had a bellyful of anger that needed directing!

That's not right! Could my low Potential be due to an issue with my choice of game character?!

Isn't such a randomized method discriminating beginners? What the hell is wrong with them?

Having found a target to vent, Qin Guan immediately opened his email and typed several hundred words complaining about this unreasonable random setting. After clicking send, he finally felt a sense of relief.

Next… after venting, content still had to be made. Qin Guan followed the official instructions for downloading screenshots and videos using the USB connection on his helmet. He logged into his account on the official site and downloaded the video that was about an hour long.

"…Huh?"

The internet speed seemed to increase several times, and several gigabytes of data was downloaded in just a few minutes. After downloading the 67-minute-long video, Qin Guan realized something was off.

I entered the game around 9.20 a.m., played for over an hour in the game, and recorded the whole session as proof… But the question is, why isn't it even 10 yet?!

A shocked Qin Guan checked the time displayed on his computer screen several times before verifying it with the time on his phone. Fearing that his electronic devices might be malfunctioning, he even checked the time displayed on the thermostat.

The f*ck! There's a time difference between the game and reality? Is the flow of time in the game twice as fast as in reality?!

Qin Guan was bamboozled. What sort of black technology is this?!

A VR helmet with a material cost of 188 yuan allows the experience of a full-immersive game that's just like the real world, where the time inside is twice as fast…

Could this be alien technology? F*ck, that's bullsh*t! Aliens my *ss!

Forget it. What do I, a mere gamer, care about how they make the game? It's none of my business!

Qin Guan found his own speculation amusing and shook his head, dismissing these thoughts. Then, he immediately started editing the video with software.

A death meant that he could only log back in after half an hour. Several minutes had already elapsed, and he needed to rush and edit the video.

Qin Guan quickly recorded two voice-over commentaries and removed the less interesting parts such as traveling, seeking out NPCs, and casual chatting, to make the video more concise.

Just the exceptional quality of "OtherWorld" would crush 99.99% of games on the market, and Qin Guan was certain that viewer engagement would skyrocket even if he didn't make any cuts and just uploaded the original footage!

With a level of focus far surpassing the usual, Qin Guan finished editing the sample. Upon checking the time and realizing that he could log back in, Qin Guan quickly added an intro, wrote a description, and uploaded the edited video to Bilibili.

Then he grabbed his phone and rushed to the toilet solving his physiological needs while calling a few of his good buddies, urging them to register on the official site and grab a helmet.

Once he had taken care of his friends, Qin Guan didn't forget to notify his long-time gold farming group either. He dropped a video link in the group chat, then added a message that said, "Brothers, I can only help you guys up to this point."

With that, he switched his phone to silent, placed it aside, put on the headset, and laid down with a smile on his face.

OtherWorld, I'm coming! Exile Town, here I come!

Undead compatriots, wait for me!

With an incredibly quick login speed, faster than opening an app, Qin Guan opened his eyes, and before he knew it, blue skies, white clouds, lush distant mountains, and the ruined Exile Town appeared before him… as well as a bare skeleton.

After examining the aged patina on the bare skeleton, Qin Guan asked, "You… Give Me Medicine? Where are your clothes?"

"Don't mention it. I lost my clothes," said Give Me Medicine, his voice filled with sadness. "You and Blossoming Strokes were sent flying and disconnected in mid-air while still intact. I crashed into a wall and shattered to pieces. When I came back online, my shirt and pants were gone!"

"Seriously? You can still lose items when you die?!" Qin Guan couldn't help feeling his own clothes out of lingering fear.

"Well… Since there aren't any other players in the game other than us, why don't we go back and take a look? Perhaps we can still retrieve them?"

Give Me Medicine nodded. "That's what I thought too. I was just waiting for you guys to come online."

"Wasn't Blossoming Strokes the first to die? Hasn't she logged in yet?" asked Qin Guan.

"Not yet… Ah, she's on." Give Me Medicine pointed behind Qin Guan.

Qin Guan instinctively turned his head. And then… he witnessed the earth atop the spawn point platform squirming as a skeleton wearing a T-shirt and shorts rose up.

Qin Guan. "…"

So, those that return from the dead are actually buried under the spawn point…

Earth, server room.

As the three initial beta testers logged back in in succession, some of Yang Qiu's worries were finally put to rest.

Players from Earth who came to the magic plane via the Mind Imprint Matrix could be monitored by Yang Qiu via the matrix when they were "online." However, if a player "disconnected" and their soul lost contact with the matrix, their mental "back door" would be closed and Yang Qiu wouldn't be able to know anything about their condition.

The trio had been wiped out shortly after the game's start and Yang Qiu was somewhat worried that they might give up playing.

Now, as he observed the three individuals heading back to the southern ruins to retrieve the dropped clothes, it became apparent to him that as long as the game was hardcore enough, with challenging and enjoyable content, players actually enjoyed being tortured…

"What's most important is the game's quality. As long as the quality is solid, there's no need to worry about a lack of anchor points!"

Yang Qiu punched the air, then opened a document on his computer and began diligently writing quest logs…

The early-stage work was spent on creating game characters and better disguising Exile Town as a beginner village, without paying much attention to the game's main storyline.

From the earlier conversation between Vanilla Pudding and Blossoming Strokes, it seemed that not everyone was just after mindless gameplay. There were many that appreciated a captivating storyline that would give them a sense of belonging.

Since players had expectations, Yang Qiu would do his best to meet them.

No backstory of Exile Town? Make one up!

No epic historical tale of the Taranthan Wastelands? Make one up!

Just the zombie general having a name wasn't enough. The background and personal histories of other zombie NPCs ought to be developed too.

What was a game's humanistic sentiment? Invest time and effort to create a story with sufficient depth, a touch of melancholy, and sufficient twists and turns. And that's where the sentiment came from!

As for source material? That wasn't too big a problem for Yang Qiu. Before being chased by the lunatics of Inquisition, Yang Qiu had roamed the continent for more than a hundred years.

He had visited numerous places and encountered tons of diverse characters. He could just borrow some of those experiences and apply them to the zombie NPCs.

While independent game developer Yang Qiu carefully fleshed out backgrounds to be integrated, elsewhere, Qin Guan's video had passed the upload review and appeared on the latest uploads page of the gaming section.

Tang Jia, a college sophomore, woke up close to 10.30 a.m. on the first day of the National Day holiday.

And then… Getting out of bed and washing up was out of the question. She laid in bed playing games for another half an hour till she felt that she had no more energy to get out of bed…

Many people had a misconception that all that existed in a female college student's mind were boyfriends, dating, idolizing celebrities, watching brainless dramas, and squealing at pretty boys on small screens.

As a perfectly typical female college student, Tang Jia has only one thing to say about such stereotypes. Rubbish!

Twenty-year-old Tang Jia had no interest in real-life men, and of course, she wasn't interested in paper-cut pretty boys either. She simply enjoyed playing games, especially ones where she could beat up other players till they lost confidence and swore angrily…

In short, Tang Jia, was a competitive girl who hated losing, particularly in games. She had recently lost interest in the most popular battle royale game after achieving the highest rank and had been searching various gaming forums for a challenging new game.

While browsing Bilibili's gaming section, she realized that the "transvestite boss" Vanilla Pudding, whom she followed, had posted a video recommending a new game. Without much hesitation, Tang Jia clicked on it.

"Trans Boss Vanilla" wasn't considered popular on Bilibili, but he had a fair bit of reputation among niche games. This was because of his down-to-earth personality and his often unabashed jokes about his own state of poverty. Thus, he had decent likability among poor students like Tang Jia, who never played pay-to-win games.

Of course, the main reason was that the games recommended by "Trans Boss Vanilla" were usually enjoyable without the need for in-game purchases. The recent game that Tang Jia "graduated" from after achieving the highest rank was one that "Trans Boss Vanilla" had recommended in a video four months ago.

"OtherWorld? RPG? And a VR game?" When Tang Jia saw the written introduction of the video, she started contemplating about closing it.

As a poor female college student with a meager monthly allowance of only 1500 yuan, Tang Jia couldn't afford to play a VR game.

However… considering that the financially struggling "Trans Boss Vanilla" probably wouldn't recommend games that required substantial financial commitment. After mulling for a bit, Tang Jia decided to click play.

The first scene showed two skeletons sweeping the floor with brooms.

Tang Jia. "??"

In the second scene, a gruesome zombie handed a neatly folded T-shirt toward the camera.

Tang Jia. "???"

The third scene showed a zombie clad in worn-out armor but still looking mighty fierce. With a hideous face that could give one nightmares, it looked toward the camera and said sinisterly, "Hey, compatriots. It seems like you all have just awakened from eternal slumber. Would you be willing to help me with something?"

Tang Jia. "????"

Tang Jia minimized the video, and with squinting eyes, carefully read the video description…

That's right, the description by the content creator, Vanilla Pudding, made it very clear that he was sharing a gaming experience video of an extremely accessible and low-entry VR game and not a movie clip.

With head filled with question marks, Tang Jia opened the video once again.

"Hello everyone, it's me, Vanilla Pudding. Recently, I obtained a closed beta slot for a newly released VR indie game called 'OtherWorld.' Today's video will be showing you guys my first-hand experience of this game…"

"Here's the character selection interface. The voice-over was added later on, so I selected the character rather quickly. If you're a newcomer to the game, please don't randomly close your eyes and choose like I did. Otherwise, you'll definitely regret it if you have bad luck and end up with a weak character. That would mean you have to put in more effort compared to others because of the character's weak initial Potential…"

After a brief introduction, Vanilla Pudding stopped providing voice commentary and directly showcased his first-person perspective gameplay footage.

The video displayed backgrounds reminiscent of blockbuster movie scenes and an impressive physics engine. Even the dust particles kicked up while walking had incredibly realistic trajectories… The more Tang Jia watched, the more amazed she became.

Especially when two other beta players appeared on the screen with their skeleton characters. The astonishing realism, lifelike movements, and the clattering sound of their teeth when they spoke…

If Tang Jia didn't know that those two skeletons were controlled by players, she would have thought that Vanilla Pudding had gone to a film set and resurrected actual skeletons for the purpose of deceiving people.

"Is this the world of RPGs?! This is the world of VR gaming!!"

Still lying on her dorm room bed, holding her phone with both hands, Tang Jia exclaimed in awe, startling her roommate who was watching a drama on the other side.

Then, without any hesitation, Tang Jia clicked on the link in the video description for the game's official site and added money to her account in the name of faith…

Many people were accustomed to sleeping in during the holidays, and, combined with Vanilla Pudding not being a particularly famous content creator, there hadn't been too many views so far. As Tang Jia made her top-up, there were still over a hundred closed beta slots available out of the 300 posted on the official website.

After entering her address, Tang Jia thought of her best friend and resolutely paid for her as well.

Tang Jia definitely wouldn't have been able to imagine how much trouble her decisiveness would save her and her best friend. Once this batch of closed beta slots offered on the website was snatched up, it wouldn't be easy for Earth's players to enter the magical land of "OtherWorld" anymore.