The end of the world is approaching, I'm handing myself over to the country.

Online, the tide has completely turned.

Those who tried to stir up trouble and spread rumors either deleted their comments and ran away, or were drowned in a sea of ​​angry words by netizens.

Just as everyone was immersed in the joy of this miracle of life and the new life.

Unexpected news, without warning, burst into everyone's view with an overwhelming force.

Initially, it was just a post on some gaming forums.

"Holy crap? Wasteland Era has an official website?!"

This title did not attract much attention at the time.

After all, the entire internet is focused on the panacea.

But soon, a second and a third post appeared.

"No! You guys need to check! The official website is real! You can even verify the registration number!"

[Breaking News] Wasteland Era is giving away 2000 closed beta test slots! All closed beta tests will be non-wipe!

"2000?!"

"No data wipe?"

When these two words are put together and associated with the name "Wasteland Era," a chemical reaction occurs.

The message, like a virus, instantly spread from a niche forum in the gaming community to the entire internet!

On Weibo's trending topics list, a brand new term is shooting up at rocket speed.

#Wasteland Era Closed Beta#

Countless netizens who were just moved to tears by the miracle drug were completely bewildered when they clicked on this entry.

What is that?

Wasteland Era?

Are they really going to start issuing beta test qualifications?

Is this a scam?

Everyone thought they had misread it.

They clicked on the official website link that was at the very top.

A page filled with a post-apocalyptic wasteland theme slowly loaded.

Cold metal, shattered city ruins, and a line of large, blood-red characters.

Wasteland Era – The final simulation of human civilization.

The first round of the "Spark" program has begun, with 2000 beta testing slots to be released soon.

[Note: You only have one chance.]

The entire internet was in an uproar.

......

If the panacea ignited a flame of hope, then the appearance of the official website of Wasteland Era was like pouring a whole barrel of high-purity aviation fuel directly onto this pile of dry tinder.

After a brief period of silence, the entire internet erupted in a frenzy.

However, when countless excited netizens clicked on the official website link, everyone was stunned.

The loaded page was shockingly rudimentary.

A gray-black background, a few low-resolution concept images of ruins, and in the middle, several large, blood-red characters; nothing else.

"Huh? This...that's it?"

"Seeing this broken thing makes me feel powerless, like I can't even put my hand into the screen."

"I clicked three times, checked three times, and I even started to wonder if Douyin's technical staff had made a mistake—"

But the truth is, this really is the official website for "Wasteland Era". Do you know how many strokes are in the Chinese character for "speechless"? Let me tell you, it has 13 strokes! 13! Damn it!

"Is this the official website for Wasteland Era? Is today April Fool's Day?"

"This crappy website is the official website for Wasteland Era? I can't accept that!"

"I'm really good at this! Give me 100 yuan, and I can make you one ten times more luxurious than this!"

After a brief moment of surprise, a deluge of complaints followed.

"Fine, fine, you put your heart into making the game, but your feet into making the official website, huh?"

"This official website, if you didn't know better, you'd think it was dumped by the pesticide company next door. Seriously, I'm devastated."

"It's hard to believe that this thing is a modern invention. I feel like if I printed it out and hung it on the door, it could ward off evil spirits. Seriously, I'm not kidding."

Making jokes is one thing, and criticizing is another.

But when everyone's eyes fell on the button that read "[First Round of 'Spark' Program Qualification Reservation]", their bodies reacted faster than their brains.

The mouse was pressed down hard!

[Ding! Reservation successful. Your queue number is 173456.]

"Holy crap! I just refreshed the page and I'm already outside the top 300,000?"

"Stop talking, I was stuck for a few seconds, and when I got in, there were 1.2 million people..."

The online memes and jokes did not dampen netizens' enthusiasm for making reservations.

On the contrary, this huge contrast has become a unique form of publicity.

......

office.

Chi Zhengyang sat quietly behind his desk, the screen in front of him displaying real-time data from the backend of the Wasteland Era official website.

The number in the reservation column is jumping wildly at an alarming rate.

It took 53 seconds to go from 0 to one million.

It took three minutes and seven seconds to go from one million to ten million.

Half an hour later, the number had firmly broken through the 100 million mark and was still climbing at an astonishing rate.

Chi Zhengyang picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

A faint smile played on his face.

He clicked on the comments section at the bottom of the official website and looked with great interest at the top-rated comments that had already been pushed to the top.

"Excuse me, I'll be honest, I was one of the first users to try out Wasteland Era. Seriously, this game is really bad, incredibly difficult. So please, don't cancel the pre-registrations! We're only giving out 2000 slots this time, not 2000 million!"

A reply immediately followed.

"Okay, so you didn't try to blackmail me, right?"

Another popular comment was even more direct.

"Okay, okay, no one's going to explain, huh? Well then, I'm going to start spreading rumors."

The closed beta test qualifications for "Wasteland Era" have already been pre-selected! My second uncle's dog's neighbor is an insider! Message me privately if you're V50, and I'll teach you how to bypass the system and get your qualification!

Seeing these comments from people who were spouting nonsense because they couldn't get a spot, Chi Zhengyang's smile widened.

It's hard to imagine that this man, who appears as calm and composed as a mountain to outsiders, has this side to him.

After taking another sip of tea, Chi Zhengyang nodded in satisfaction.

Young people today are indeed much more psychologically resilient than he imagined...

Much bigger, much bigger still!

Having witnessed firsthand the harsh living conditions in Wasteland and the painful process of using gene-enhancing drugs, it's astonishing that so many people still volunteered.

but......

This is what he wanted to see.

A vibrant, hopeful, and even somewhat noisy world.

Just then.

A sharp, urgent ringtone abruptly shattered the office's tranquility.

It wasn't his personal phone on his desk, nor was it an internal communication device.

Instead, it was that deep red emergency communicator with the highest level of encryption.

Chi Zhengyang's smile vanished instantly.

He quickly put down his teacup, reached out, and pressed the call button.

"Speaking."

On the other end of the phone came a voice distorted by extreme terror, with piercing alarms and chaotic shouts in the background.

"Elder Chi, something terrible has happened!"

"H City, Otamura, our research institute has been attacked by an unknown monster..."

"I've never seen a monster like this before, even guns can't kill it... Ahhh... Help... Help me..."

(Don't worry, it's not over yet, there's one more chapter, hehe.)