Chapter 37: A Game Destined to Explode in Popularity

After settling the delivery time for the *Collection of Heavenly Flaws* with Lin Bai, the group of scholars hurried away, not even sparing a thought for their encounter with the ghost.

How could a ghost be more interesting than a poetry collection?

If the matter of the poetry collection was handled well, to put it grandly, it would benefit the world's literary scene.

To put it simply, it could allow their family businesses to take a step forward.

Those close to the water get the moonlight first; if they were lucky enough to fill in even one or two poems, they would be the ones to become world-renowned. They knew how to weigh the importance of things.

After the scholars left.

Deng Li Buduo, who had been playing the role of a wallflower on the side, turned his suspicious gaze toward Lin Bai: "Master, those poems really weren't written by you?"

"You wouldn't actually think I have that kind of talent, would you!" Lin Bai turned around, pointing at the poetry drafts pasted on the wall behind him, "I can't even write characters well."

I wouldn't believe a single word you say, Deng Li Buduo thought in Belly-Defamation.

If before, Lin Bai was just a special plot NPC in his heart.

Now.

He had upgraded to an epic-level NPC, important enough to run through the entire game.

He was an existence as mysterious as a riddle.

Moreover, the birth of the poetry collection made that doubt arise in Deng Li Buduo's heart once again: Is this really a game world?

"Master, why did you send out the poetry collection?" Deng Li Buduo asked again, "You are clearly a person of the Jianghu..."

"Little Deng, that's a prejudice." Lin Bai smiled, "Must people of the Jianghu only engage in killing? Can't they play at something elegant and contribute to the spread of culture?"

Spreading culture?

Deng Li Buduo felt his intelligence had been insulted. Recalling Lin Bai's consistent behavior, he lowered his voice: "Master, you are doing this for a layout, aren't you!"

"Hmm?" Lin Bai looked at Deng Li Buduo in surprise, also lowering his voice, "Don't tell anyone else."

"Master, is there some secret hidden in the incomplete poetry drafts?" Deng Li Buduo pressed, feeling that he had once again grasped a head start.

"Searching for those fated to find them." Lin Bai looked up at the sky, his gaze profound, a faint, elusive smile hanging on the corners of his mouth.

That's right.

While completing the quest, Lin Bai was truly searching for those fated to find them; he liked to maximize the utility of everything he did.

Whoever could complete the poetry collection must be a fellow traveler from Earth.

Jiamu City was merely a newbie village; in such a vast Xianxia World, what if there were other people from Earth!

Finding a fellow traveler meant he wouldn't be struggling alone, and it would also better allow him to determine his own Positioning.

……

Looking at Lin Bai's profound gaze, Deng Li Buduo's eyes sparkled: "Master, do the missing characters connect to form a Martial Art manual? Or a treasure map?"

"Once you complete the poetry collection, you will naturally know the secret within." Lin Bai looked at Deng Li Buduo, reminding him, "Little Deng, keep it up; perhaps you are the one fated to find them!"

Who said that if you can't log off, you can't pass on information? Since he had to search for those fated to find them, of course he would search both online and offline...

"Master, I want to go out for a trip." Deng Li Buduo said, "Didn't you say before that I should tell my fellow villagers about the City Lord's Mansion recruiting Dark Guards? I think I should go; I can't delay their future."

Lin Bai looked at Deng Li Buduo, praising him: "Remembering my instructions and constantly thinking about completing them is keeping one's word, it is Faith; risking the danger of being dismissed while still thinking about seeking a good future for your fellow villagers is Righteousness. Little Deng, you have done very well; you have initially grasped the essentials of a Gentleman's Virtue."

Damn it!

Deng Li Buduo was shocked, stunned. I just made up an excuse to log off, and you can still dig out so many principles from it?

So this is how your Gentleman's Virtue comes about?

It's just finding an absolutely righteous excuse for everything you do yourself!

Recalling Lin Bai's consistent behavior, Deng Li Buduo was lost in thought, as if he had gained some enlightenment.

Lin Bai looked at Deng Li Buduo with anticipation. Little brother, I've hinted at it this much; if you still don't understand, our master-disciple fate will truly be at an end.

He had no other choice.

Currently, he had five systems, and the three that relied on himself were all advancing by leaps and bounds.

But the two that needed to rely on others were both stagnant.

The big brother was hiding in the City Lord's Mansion, neglecting his proper work;

The disciple was stubbornly failing to get the hint.

If he didn't teach them how to find bugs step-by-step.

The two systems would not only fail to be his help, but would very likely drag him down.

How could this be allowed?

Lin Bai was a man who wanted to develop into a hexagonal warrior; in this cruel world, he had to ensure his martial power could keep up with his ability to stir up trouble.

"Many thanks for the guidance, Master." Deng Li Buduo bowed deeply to Lin Bai, "Master, rest assured, I will return as soon as possible and will never delay the shop's business."

……

Finding a corner where no one was around, Deng Li Buduo reluctantly logged off.

Although this game had a very high difficulty, and even leveling up and gaining experience was a difficult task, after spending just two days in the game, he was already completely addicted; the feeling was like embarking on a new journey in life.

Moreover, in this new life, he felt like a favorite of fate, accompanied by all kinds of miraculous encounters.

This feeling was very peculiar.

Immersion, interaction, the plot that could change at any time because of your intervention... this was probably the charm of this game.

The initial thoughts about the Game Company abusing players and being inhumane had long since vanished.

Deng Li Buduo had become a loyal fan of the game; he believed he could accompany this game all the way until the servers shut down.

……

New posts appeared on the *Xianxia World* forum almost every second, some from closed-beta players, and others from prospective players eagerly waiting for the open beta.

Excluding the nutritionless posts made by prospective players.

Almost every post made by a closed-beta player would quickly be pushed to the hot topics.

Compared to the complaints at the very beginning of the game.

At this moment, the posts on the forum are all one-sided praise.

……

"The game's interactivity is extremely strong; when facing an NPC, every sentence you say could trigger a completely different consequence. You might even get different responses for saying the same thing to the same NPC, simply because of the time and location.

Your professional knowledge might move a professional NPC, money can bribe an NPC, and you can even gain an NPC's friendship by buttering them up……

In such interactions, you will inadvertently forget that you are playing a game and instead feel as if you have truly traveled to a different world……"

……

"Thanks to the Game Company, it has created a real world.

I have made friends with a noble NPC, and for the past two days, I haven't done anything but read the books in his collection at his home.

You surely won't believe it, but he has thousands of books, and every single one of them has content, and the content is different in each one.

If it were just that, it would be one thing, but terrifyingly, the books are permeated with a unified ideology from the authors, and inside the books, there are even annotations from scholars throughout the ages.

Details precise to the extreme.

Furthermore, after reading through their history books.

I discovered that the world in the game actually follows the basic laws of social development.

It is as if this group of NPCs has truly developed for tens of thousands of years……

It is hard to imagine that this could really be a game.

Most of the time, I think I have entered a real world where every NPC is flesh and blood; thanks to the Game Company for giving me a second life……"

"……Although we have experience bars, and practicing the Martial Art in the game will make the experience bar grow.

But as a combat expert, I guarantee that the movements and practice methods of the Martial Art in the game completely conform to human mechanics.

It is no exaggeration to say that if you can memorize the formulas and essentials of the cultivation technique and persist in practicing them in reality, you can also acquire a powerful Martial Art.

Of course, it might not grow as fast as it does in the game……"

……

A wide variety of posts expounded on the reality of the game world from every angle.

There were screenshots and text.

The enthusiasm of the closed beta players for the game was at an unprecedented high, and one could basically no longer find any voices predicting its failure.

Beneath those screenshots and texts, there were even many pseudo-experts analyzing things in a logical-sounding way, as if those things could really be achieved in reality.

From the start of the closed beta until now, in just a few short days, the game "Xianxia World" has already created such high popularity.

The only thing missing is a response from the Game Company.

It is hard to imagine that, faced with a game that can be foreseen to be a hit, the game officials can really remain so calm and proceed entirely at their own pace.

After browsing several popular posts, Deng Li Buduo took a deep breath and wrote his post on the forum: "A breakthrough in intelligent AI; you would absolutely not believe that an NPC could write a poem like this……"

(End of this chapter)