Chapter 82: Major Update! Brand New Map!
Zhao Rui logged off.
He slept for ten hours.
When he woke up, it was already the next morning.
There were eight more missed calls and dozens of unread messages on his phone.
And these were only from familiar friends; if he opened social platforms or the in-game forum mailbox, he would find that the number of private messages waiting to be read had easily reached over a thousand, all because Twisted Three Kingdoms was too popular in the gaming circle recently.
As a famous top-tier gaming streamer known as "Black-Eyed Rui Ge," and one of the first batch of players selected for the first internal test of Twisted Three Kingdoms, Zhao Rui’s few review posts had gone viral across the forum and even beyond, naturally attracting a large number of people curious for information.
He first dealt with the messages from familiar friends.
These people either wanted to verify the authenticity of Twisted Three Kingdoms, obtain more first-hand information and interviews, or asked if Rui Ge knew anyone on the development team and could help them secure a spot through backdoor deals.
Regarding this.
Zhao Rui could only roll his eyes.
He put down his phone and hurried to exercise for a bit.
After all, health was the foundation of revolution; although Twisted Three Kingdoms was extremely fun, health was still the most important.
He had played the game obsessively for ten days and nights, expecting his physical condition to deteriorate, but after running five kilometers on the treadmill, he found he wasn’t tired at all, feeling both energetic and full of stamina.
Could it be that Twisted Three Kingdoms contained some hidden black technology?
For example, a super-high level of realism deceiving the brain or nervous system, allowing in-game activities to actually enhance physical fitness.
Of course, he wasn’t a professional.
He couldn’t judge the authenticity of his guess.
Rui Ge didn’t dwell too much on it; he grabbed his helmet to log into the game, but before that, he habitually scanned the forum to check for any news worth noting.
As expected.
Twisted Three Kingdoms topics were once again dominating the charts.
Many familiar IDs were posting to share game content.
This recent battle had a huge impact on players; on one hand, it fully demonstrated the terrifying power of Abyss Commander-level entities, and on the other, it greatly elevated the majestic image of Lord Hang Yu.
"Latest photos of Lord Hang Yu leaked!"
"Wow, drooling, Lord Hang Yu is so handsome!"
"According to the situation shared by @Little Bell, Lord Hang Yu is not only immensely powerful but also a gentle and warm-hearted male god who has always taken great care of players. Who could not love such a game character?"
"Fan for life!"
"Yu God Support Group has been founded!"
"Everyone is welcome to join group XXXXX to share resources about our common male god and cheer him on together!"
"……"
Lord Hang Yu’s popularity on the forum soared.
Many female cloud players had already started forming fan groups.
However, this was understandable; Lord Hang Yu’s treatment of players was indeed impeccable!
He stepped up to boost morale when everyone was in a slump, turned the tide alone when all seemed lost, and even actively assisted players so they could earn more military merit.
Most crucially.
Not only was he powerful.
He was also tall and handsome.
If Zhao Rui were a woman, he would definitely also like such a perfect male god!
Zhao Rui didn’t pay much attention to this kind of content; he randomly clicked on another post, and the poster was an old acquaintance, Ye Li Meng, who shared the ups and downs of this territory defense battle in a very passionate recount.
"……" (Five thousand words omitted!)
"Finally, thanks to Lord Hang Yu’s protection!"
"The Calamity Army successfully overcame this difficult challenge!"
"But the world of Twisted Three Kingdoms is so vast; we cannot always rely on Lord Hang Yu’s shelter. Our Calamity Army is still too weak; we must strengthen ourselves as quickly as possible."
"The good news is!"
"The second round of internal testing has begun!"
"According to the official website’s information."
"This time, 400 spots will be issued at once."
"I believe the territory will soon become lively, and my Twisted Three Kingdoms studio has already been established. If you are lucky enough to win a spot, you are welcome to join my studio, with a starting no-liability monthly salary of 100,000!"
"……"
"Lastly, I want to thank the creators of Twisted Three Kingdoms!"
"I haven’t had so much fun playing a game in years."
"This game allowed me to rediscover the carefree self I had in my youth!"
"Back then, a single bottle of soda on the table was enough to fully immerse myself in an Legendary World, fighting and killing through the afternoon; back then, being dirt-poor, a plate of fried noodles from a night market was enough to stay up all night playing League of Legends with classmates in a smoky internet café."
"Though I later achieved success and wealth, I could never find that original happiness again."
"Until this game appeared!"
"I’m willing to spend my later years in this game!"
"I hope more brothers and sisters can join!"
"……"
After reading Ye Li Meng’s post, Zhao Rui fell into deep thought.
Ye Li Meng was clearly not an ordinary person in real life—most likely a bigwig who loved gaming in his youth and later achieved great success and wealth.
Normally, he rarely appeared on the forum.
Yet this time he not only appeared but also posted such a long message, which likely wasn’t just to share game content but also to lay the groundwork for recruiting for his studio.
Twisted Three Kingdoms had enormous potential.
It wasn’t just an extremely fun game.
It was very likely to spark an enormous industrial chain in the future.
Ye Li Meng had already begun building a studio and cultivating his own small team; he was probably preparing for this... Zhao Rui believed Old Ye genuinely loved the game, but he also suspected Old Ye harbored significant ambitions!
Where there are people, there is a jianghu (community or struggle).
The gaming world was no exception.
As the number of players grew.
It was inevitable that various player factions would form.
Zhao Rui couldn’t help but wonder: "Should I also start preparing for this?"
Besides Ye Li Meng openly offering high salaries to recruit for his studio, another detail in that post drew Rui Ge’s keen attention: it seemed the official website had published the latest announcement regarding the second closed beta of Twisted Three Kingdoms.
"Recruiting 400 for the second beta?"
"That’s quite a number!"
"The server capacity must have improved a lot,"
"Looks like the territory will soon get lively!"
Thinking this, Zhao Rui immediately entered the official website of Twisted Three Kingdoms, and as expected, he quickly found the post titled "Announcement for the Start of the Second Closed Beta of Twisted Three Kingdoms" in the homepage notice board.
The announcement roughly read as follows:
【July 26th Major Update Announcement:】
【1. Twisted Three Kingdoms begins recruiting players for the second closed beta. There is no upper limit to the number of players in this test. The first batch will recruit 400 players. More players will be recruited in multiple batches according to the expansion and development of territories.】
【2. Major changes to the character information panel. Added friend list, chat window, and game map functions!】
【3. Launch and testing of the player currency feature.】
【4. Official opening of a brand-new map.】
【5. Release of various new items.】
【6. ……】
"Holy shit! Such a massive update?!"
Zhao Rui’s eyes widened in disbelief.
First and foremost was the first point!
Zhao Rui realized he had misunderstood while reading Ye Li Meng’s post earlier!
It wasn’t that the second beta planned to recruit only 400 players—it was that the first batch alone would have 400 players, meaning the total number of players recruited for the second beta would far exceed this figure.
Too shocking!
Adding so many people at once.
Could Twisted Three Kingdoms’ servers really handle it?
What was especially noteworthy was that the announcement didn’t specify an upper limit for the number of players!
It merely stated that the number and timing of recruitment batches would be related to territory expansion and development.
Did this imply that the number of players to be recruited was not up to the developers, but instead decided by the players’ own progress within the game?
Given the hardcore nature of Twisted Three Kingdoms.
This possibility absolutely existed, even likely!
Player participation in shaping the game’s construction, changes, and development was one of Twisted Three Kingdoms’ biggest features!
The second point was the addition of the friend list, chat window, and game map—functions most games already had—finally developed here too, greatly improving the user experience.
The third point about testing player currency—what was that about?
Rui Ge read carefully and suddenly understood.
The hard currency in the game was undoubtedly Contribution Points, but Contribution Points didn’t have transactional properties, or at most could only be used to purchase from NPCs, not for free trading among players.
This made player-to-player trading extremely troublesome.
After this update, the game would issue three denominations of currency in limited quantities: Territory Contribution Copper Coins, Silver Coins, and Gold Coins.
One copper coin equaled 1 Contribution Point, one silver coin equaled 100 Contribution Points, and one gold coin equaled 10,000 Contribution Points.
Territory currency came with binding features.
It wouldn’t drop upon death.
Players could exchange Contribution Points for Territory Coins, and vice versa, although a handling fee would be charged for the exchange.
It had to be said.
This was a very important update.
Previously, with few players and little resources, materials and Abyssal Magic Stones could substitute for currency.
In the future, as player numbers and transaction volumes increased, a real currency was exactly what was needed to meet the booming demand for player-to-player trade.
The fifth update was the addition of various new items, such as more advanced Photography Crystals, extremely expensive and almost extravagant, but capable of recording videos instead of just taking screenshots.
……
Of course.
Among all these updates.
The one Black-Eyed Rui Ge was most excited about was the fourth one.
This was the opening of a new game map, but when Rui Ge clicked in, he found that the announcement didn’t reveal much—only saying that the new map would officially open at noon on the 27th.
Rui Ge glanced at the time.
It was already 11:45.
In just about ten more minutes, the new map would open.
Zhao Rui was exhilarated when he saw this; he had originally planned to write a detailed analysis post about the update on the forum, but now that plan would have to be postponed.
"Log in!"
"Log in!"
Zhao Rui impatiently put on his helmet.
The ancient stone gate appeared before his eyes once again.
Soon, Black-Eyed Rui Ge woke up inside the territory’s barracks. After resting for ten hours, his Abyss Ranger body had completely swept away all fatigue and was now in peak condition, full of energy.
He was also surprised to find.
That after just half a day offline.
The game world had already undergone quite a few changes.