Chapter 334: Chapter 330: This must be Lincolnâs work! No doubt about it!
Translator: 549690339
The next day came, and as Super Tomato had predicted, all 20 million [Mirage 2.0] units were sold out!
According to Mavisâs statistics, more than half of the sales came from old players who had purchased the first-generation console.
Out of all the first-generation console owners who bought the new console, over 90% of them used the trade-in method, paying only 500 dollars to upgrade their consoles.
So, even though Lincoln released 20 million consoles this week, the increase in new users was less than 10 million.
Lincoln noticed Super Tomatoâs live broadcast advocating for old players to upgrade their consoles.
To him, it felt almost like a betrayal!
But he knew that while Super Tomato did have a significant influence, it was not enough to make millions of people spend hundreds of dollars on a whim.
The current exaggerated sales phenomena were primarily due to the spontaneous actions of the old players.
So, Lincoln didnât get too upset about it.
However, this did help him make up his mind: next week, he would increase production capacity and go for 25 million units.
By today, many players had already received their new consoles.
They began to experience the novelty of wearing the headband and walking around their homes without the constraints of cords.
Today is also the day âLight Encounterâ unlocks its fourth seasonâs quest.
Camille Victoria opens her live broadcast room, wearing the headband, and gives her audience an alternative âunboxing experienceâ before logging into âLight Encounterâ early.
As a thank you to Xiaomei for helping her with the quest yesterday, she and Xiaomei decided to do the new quest together today.
Still finding the sea islands fresh on the new map, Camille Victoria flaps her wings freely among the islands before swiftly meeting up with Xiaomei.
Under Xiaomeiâs guidance, they head to the research ship to find the Ancestor and accept the latest task.
On their way over, they occasionally pass by Little Black Men, but upon stepping onto the research ship, itâs as if theyâve entered a mirrored map with no other players passing by.
The task seems straightforward: dive into a specific sea area and search for the missing Ancestor investigator.
All previous tasks in the seasonal map involved diving underwater to either find fragments, paintings, or people.
So, Camille Victoria and Xiaomei didnât think there was anything special about searching for the investigator this time. They ran to the target location without hesitation and began to dive.
Soon, they experienced the same monotonous, never-ending beacons stretching downward, just as the girls in the âLight Encounterâ development team had.
As they dive deeper, the dim ruins on both sides become increasingly dilapidated and dark. Below lies the impenetrable abyss, and above the ever-shrinking spots of light.
The deeper they dive, the more uneasy they become.
After diving deeper for a while, Xiaomei canât help but get cold feet: âHow about we just call it quits? Letâs go back and see how others complete the task before we try again.â
â In virtual reality games, underwater experiences arenât entirely realistic. You can not only talk underwater but also breathe underwater without a facemask.
At the same time, no matter how long you swim, your clothes will instantly dry upon emerging from the water, never sticking to your body.
In short, player experience is the top priority!
Camille Victoria is reluctant after hearing Xiaomeiâs words.
Ever since being scared in the haunted house a long time ago, itâs as if a switch has been flipped and her courage has grown.
Moreover, she feels that she cannot back down in front of the tens of millions of viewers watching her live stream.
âLetâs give it a shot; this is a game for all ages. Cloud Dream wouldnât put anything too scary,â she says.
âButâŠâ Xiaomei looks around at the increasingly dark environment, lacking confidence.
Camille Victoria holds Xiaomeiâs hand: âDonât worry, I am here, arenât I? Iâll protect you!â
Xiaomei finally musters up the courage and nods, with the two of them continuing to dive hand in hand.
The live streamâs comments section started quite normal, with viewers lamenting the difficulty of the task and feeling uneasy just by watching it on the computer screen.
But upon seeing Camille Victoria and Xiaomeiâs interaction, the comments quickly went off-topic:
âOhhh, what did I just see?!â
âCamille Victoria, the lily flowers in our hometown have bloomed!â
âCamille Victoria is such a manly big sister!â
âItâs a girlâs night! Beautiful girlâs night!â
âGive us more; we all love to watch this kind of thing!â
Camille Victoria appears unfazed, but sheâs actually quite nervous. Otherwise, she would definitely pick out a few of the most excited viewers and grant them a half-hour block from the stream.
Fortunately, they finally spot the floating Ancestor in the water.
They both breathe a sigh of relief and quickly swim over, each grabbing one of the Ancestorâs arms and start ascending without any pause.
They have no lingering attachment to this abyss-like environment, nor do they have the time to wonder why the Ancestor lost consciousness and floated here, needing their rescue.
But thatâs okay, Lincoln is gentle.
Even if the players do not carefully search for clues or figure out the reason behind the Ancestorâs unconscious state, the answer will come knocking on its own.
Just like at this very momentâ
A sudden current sweeps up from below, causing Camille Victoria and Shuihua, who are both struggling to ascend, to lose their balance. They almost let go of the Ancestor in the process.
Once theyâve regained their footing, they both look down at their feet.
Thatâs when they see it: the colossal, dark, and cold Abyssal Dragon, the King of the Abyss Dragon. Its sharp horns, pitch-black as night, contrast with its massive head covered in countless blood-red eyes, emitting an ominous red glow as it swims rapidly.
Even though they were still far away, both of their ears were filled with a roar that sounded like the Abyssal Dragon, yet a terrifying ten times louder.
For an instant, both of them held their breath, tightening their limbs, and had a hard time calming down.
But seeing this terrifying behemoth approaching rapidly with its wide-open bloody mouth, Camille Victoria and Xiaomei forced themselves to act quickly!
Ascend! Ascend! Ascend!
No matter what, ascend with all their might!
Xiaomei was gentle and kind-hearted, focusing solely on ascending.
But Camille Victoria, who had been streaming for a long time, had not only seen a lot but had also become quite ruthless. Looking at the terrifying monster approaching closer, she couldnât help but yell at Xiaomei: âHow about we throw away this Ancestor!â
âHuh?â Xiaomei was shocked.
The audience in the live broadcast room was also initially startled, almost everyone holding their breath, watching anxiously as Camille Victoria and Xiaomeiâs lives hung in the balance.
But when they heard Camille Victoria suddenly blurt out those words, they immediately burst into laughter:
âNo wonder sheâs the big boss, she instantly grasped the key!â
âThrow it, throw it! Just throw it away!â
âWhen a hot air balloon is overweight, it has to drop passengers, and now that weâre about to die, why not just throw it away instead of waiting till New Year?!â
âSo right! Whatâs the point of this task, just throw it away and itâs done!â
However, Xiaomei couldnât bring herself to do it.
â Not only Xiaomei, but according to later statistics, more than 90% of the regular players of âLight Encounterâ still persisted in dragging the unconscious Ancestor with them as they fled in the face of this terrifying scene.
It can be seen that most players are still very kind-hearted.
Of course, this also means that: more than a million players, upon seeing the King of the Abyss Dragon for the first time, decisively dropped the obstructive Ancestor in their hands and ran for their livesâŠ
But in fact, regardless of whether they chose to abandon the Ancestor and run or insist on dragging the Ancestor to escape together, the outcome was the same â-
Camille Victoria and Xiaomei swam upwards desperately, and after quickly exhausting their wingâs energy, they swam desperately.
But the colossal body of the Abyssal Dragon King still closed in rapidly. Its enormous bloody mouth slowly opened, revealing densely packed and sharp teeth like a stone forest. With a terrifying pressure, it chased behind the two of them, and then â-
Swallowed them in one bite!
The audience in the live streaming room almost unconsciously leaned back.
And then immediately followed up by a barrage of complaints:
âWhatâs the meaning of this? Were they really swallowed?â
âFailed to escape? Outrageous!â
âWhat kind of game is this?â
âThis must be Lincolnâs doing! No doubt about it!â
âOnly he would treat people like this!â
Fortunately, just six seconds after the screen went black, three people appeared in the darkness.
Camille Victoria, Xiaomei, and the unmoving Ancestor.
The audience was a little confused: waking up in complete darkness seemed much like the familiar Realm of Rebirth they encountered once a week.
However, Camille Victoria and Xiaomei both woke up fully dressed instead of as little black figures.
Obviously, this meant they hadnât died, and therefore didnât need to be resurrected.
Under the confused eyes of the audience, Camille Victoria and Xiaomei groped their way forward together, igniting a giant black plant not far away.
With the help of the faint light, they replenished some of their wingâs energy and then used Resonance together, awakening a Distant Fish completely made of light, pure and flawless.
The Distant Fish soared through the darkness, flapping its wings as its Resonance sent out colorful ripples, causing the dark surroundings to tremble slightly.
Finally, the Distant Fish approached Camille Victoria and Xiaomei, resonating again.
This Resonance affected both of them, followed by countless points of light in the darkness resonating together!
The Resonance rang out in an endless chorus.
So, the trembling became more intense until everything in this dark world was shaking violently!
The next moment, Camille Victoria, Xiaomei, the Ancestor, the Distant Fish, and many more far-flung Distant Fish and dazzling swimming fish were swept away by a torrential current, moving rapidly.
It was only a matter of an instant, as the torrent broke through the darkness, and entered the illuminated depths of the sea.
Camille Victoria and Xiaomei looked back, only to see a monstrous maw behind them.
They had just escaped from the belly of this abyssal creature!
And coincidentally, the still-unconscious Ancestor returned in front of them.
Fearing that the terrifying behemoth would catch up again, they quickly grabbed the Ancestor and continued their ascent.
Clusters of beautiful red-headed, white-bodied fish emitted a soft glow, automatically forming a ring, swimming in formation around them, following them as they ascended.
The Distant Fish led the way above, with its Resonance echoing through the water, causing a huge and splendid array of colors to appear.
For a moment, Camille Victoria and Xiaomei swam through the fish swarm, their eyes filled with beautiful fish and colorful lights.
Both in the game and in the live streaming room, everyone fell silent at this moment, staring blankly at the beautiful scene.
All of them widened their eyes, not even wanting to blink, for fear of missing even a single moment.
But as Camille Victoria and Xiaomei ascended, with the sunlight of the blue sky shining down from above, the sea level was just before their eyes.
The swimming fish and the Distant Fish slowly dispersed.
The task was over.
At the same time, outside the game, the crusade against Lincoln began.