Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

The experimentation with the combat system was far from over.

Not only did the balance need finer adjustments and refinement, but these experts with different weapon skills also needed to be pitted against one another.

Just because these martial arts experts could put on an exciting fight didn’t mean the players could do the same.

Transforming these high-level skills into corresponding [Weapon Skills] that could be taught to players at the click of a button, even if only in the virtual world, was a complex engineering task.

These skills couldn’t be mastered by Lincoln just by watching and practicing for a few days.

At most, he could practice with these experts, learn some basics, and get a feel for it.

But he could only handle the sensory data, the actual skill data would probably take much more effort than what he spent today.

Technical staff would need to work with each expert to digitize their skills, and this process would inevitably require constant refinement to approach the desired effect as closely as possible.

Even after all this is done, it wouldn’t be complete – knowing how to use a skill and using it at the right time were two different things.

Just like Lincoln giving all players the ability to accurately shoot in “Assassins’ Alliance,” but the ability to seize opportunities in combat still allows experts and average players to have a huge gap in combat power.

If usability adjustments aren’t done well, cold weapons would only further widen and exaggerate this gap!

So before going live, balance issues must be taken into account.

In short, there was a heap of troubles ahead.

However, these issues could always be discussed later; today’s focus was on watching the high-level players’ fights!

Xu Chun made way, and an expert emerged from the crowd.

This expert was burly with a powerful appearance, holding an eyebrow stick, standing opposite to Lori.

However, just as the intense battle was about to begin, Randall whispered something into Little Chun’s ear and left first.

He had other urgent matters to attend to.

— The second Night City-related prelude task of “Assassins’ Alliance” Continental Hotel was about to be released today.

Ye Lang a bit big was originally playing in the world of “Paradise,” engaging in intense physical contact… no, “skin-covered” confrontations on the racetrack.

But at a certain moment, he suddenly noticed that the number of people in his live broadcast room quickly rose from over 80,000 to 150,000 and continued to climb.

In a moment of distraction, he was grabbed by the foot and thrown off the track.

After reviving, he lost interest in continuing the confrontation and looked at the steadily rising audience numbers in his live broadcast room, confusedly asking, “What’s going on?”

He looked around and saw players wearing all kinds of cute, weird, and imaginative outfits, rubbing shoulders and stumbling into each other as they ran on the track, in perfect harmony.

“There aren’t any exciting scenes, though?”

The comments in the live broadcast room shifted from chaos to unity and finally all became: “Continental Hotel! Night City quest line!”

Ye Lang a bit big’s heart jolted, and he immediately understood what was happening.

But there was no way out; he knew he couldn’t escape it.

He reluctantly exited “Paradise” and logged into “Assassins’ Alliance” again, heading to the Continental Hotel to accept the task.

The task name – [Wedding].

「Task Description: Even the fiercest beasts will carefully retract their fangs and claws when facing love. The legendary killer of Night City — John Wick — has finally encountered his love, and you will have the honor of participating in this wedding as an order maintainer.」

「Task Objective: Stand guard at the outskirts of the wedding, intercept any avenging enemies coming, and ensure the wedding’s orderly proceedings remain undisturbed.」

After accepting the task, Ye Lang a bit big’s eyes suddenly lit up!

“Look at that! What did I say! This must be a future mentor, no doubt!”

“He’s powerful, already retired, and we even helped him before! That’s the bond of friendship! With that bond, when we go to Night City in the future, will he not welcome us warmly?!”

The comments in the live broadcast room were indeed very supportive:

“It seems to be the case…”

“Does that mean we won’t see our anchor in a dead pool bathing suit?”

“Boring.”

Before even starting the task, Ye Lang a bit big couldn’t help but raise the stakes again: “If I’m wrong about this, not only will I wear a dead pool bathing suit, but I’ll also wear fake breasts!”

As soon as these words left his mouth, the audience members who were previously lamenting “boring” immediately perked up.

They left comments saying, “Already took a screenshot”, “Already recorded a video”, “Contract is sealed”!

Ye Lang a bit big stepped out of the Continental Hotel without any concern and opened the car door: “Let’s go!”

Following the Task Direction, Ye Lang a bit big sped all the way.

He couldn’t help it; he was worried that, like last time, the task would change due to his slow speed.

Although ultimately, it was proven that him being “one step behind” at the time was part of the original task design, not his mistake, but he still couldn’t help feeling anxious.

It was a bit like being bitten by a snake once and being afraid of well ropes for ten years.

It was only when he followed the task’s guidance, getting closer and closer to the edge of the metropolis, even seeing the Red Gate Bridge with his naked eyes that he finally realized—

“We’re going.. to attend a wedding in Night City?!” The last two words were practically screamed by Ye Lang a bit big!

The comments section was in chaos, as everyone seemed to grasp the situation at the same time, shocked that Cloud Dream had pulled off such a big move without making a sound!?

After realizing this, Ye Lang a bit big had already driven onto the Red Gate Bridge, and in a moment, Night City was in sight.

His first reaction was—

“A wedding? What a load of crap!”

“Sorry, Mr. Wick! You’ll have to figure out the wedding on your own! I’m going to explore Night City hahaha!!!”

Ye Lang a bit big said as he did, crossing the Red Gate Bridge without even paying attention to the task’s prompt, and steering the wheel directly towards the city center’s tallest building.

“An opportunity not to be missed! Let’s go to the highest place first and have a look at the panoramic view of Night City!”

Ye Lang a bit big had a beautiful vision.

But obviously, this was not possible.

This was just a prelude to a vanguard mission, of course, they couldn’t directly open the entire Night City.

The moment Ye Lang a bit big deviated from the mission’s planned road, he entered a street scene with infinite repetition, but he would never see the end.

He and the audience soon noticed this situation at the same time.

This kind of technology, which was first discovered by Super Tomato and now widely known among the players, was already familiar to them in handling map boundaries.

Ye Lang a bit big understood at a glance that the city was not meant to be explored.

“Stingy!” With a sigh, he had no choice but to turn the car around and get back onto the right road.

However, the “right road” looked like it wasn’t all that interesting, with somewhat boring and monotonous buildings lining both sides of the street, and stretching all the way to the edge of Night City.

Following the task’s guidance, Ye Lang a bit big arrived at the task location on time.

However, this place was not where the wedding was held.

He could only watch the wedding from a distance through the crowd.

For safety’s sake, he even shook off some people and filled his team to the full.

While waiting for the enemy to appear, he watched the people at the wedding from afar through the sight.

At first glance, he saw that the melancholic face that impressed him during the brief appearance, it was—John Wick!

Only at this moment, his icy expression dissipated, not only no longer putting off others, but instead his eyes were full of deep love.

Across from him stood a beautiful woman in a white wedding dress with a gentle smile.

Ye Lang a bit big looked at the bride, who had almost driven the beauticians crazy and took a month and a half to finish, and couldn’t help but sigh, “It must be such a gentle woman that can make this unmatched muscular man and invincible killer willingly put down his gun and become an ordinary home man.”

The subsequent combat section turned out to be unexpectedly easy.

Only a few scattered enemies tried to sneak in, and even then, they didn’t appear simultaneously.

They didn’t even use their rifles; one or two people took silenced pistols, and the enemy was resolved.

Later, they even gathered at the wedding site, sitting in the neatly arranged chairs in the front row to watch the excitement.

They watched the newlyweds walk hand-in-hand down the red carpet, stepping onto the altar.

Under the witness of the priest, they swore to each other and officially became husband and wife.

They exchanged diamond rings and kissed gently.

Ye Lang a bit big and his teammates, as well as hundreds of thousands of audiences in the live streaming room, witnessed this happy wedding up close.

After watching the entire wedding, however, the task was automatically completed, leaving Ye Lang a bit big somewhat perplexed.

Throughout the entire questline, all he could remember was how gentle and beautiful the bride was, especially when she smiled.

There wasn’t much else.

John Wick, who was full of killing intent and unparalleled in combat power in the previous tasks, was even less noticeable than his wife.

Ye Lang a bit big couldn’t help but wonder: What is Cloud Dream trying to imply?

It wasn’t just he who felt confused.

Many more players, anchors, and audiences had witnessed the wedding with their own eyes.

In the end, there were almost certainly more than ten million people who would witness this wedding!

Yet, all the players couldn’t quite understand.

Why did Cloud Dream bring everyone to the unopened Night City and arrange a task with generous rewards but very low difficulty, just to let them witness such a simple, even slightly shabby, small wedding?

What’s the deal with Cloud Dream and the gourd?

What exactly does this mission mean?