I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 675 - 675 674. Unboxing_1

Chapter 675: 674. Unboxing_1 Chapter 675: 674. Unboxing_1 January 1st, New Year’s Day,

After the previous night’s New Year’s Eve party, Zheng Li felt a bit weary.

He had dinner with his classmates in the evening, watched the school’s New Year’s Gala for a while upon returning, and finally joined thousands of others in the school’s central square around midnight to count down into the New Year. Afterwards, he was dragged to a KTV, and by the time he got back to the dorm, it was almost four in the morning.

He slept in a confused state for a while and didn’t get up until eleven in the noon, barely opened his eyes, groped for his phone, and then remembered, today was the launch day of the “Morning Star”!!!

Zheng Li had managed to pre-order one with great difficulty, thanks to Lu Ban arranging the pre-orders through lottery, making it difficult for scalpers to mark up the prices.

He figured, considering the delivery speed, he should receive it by afternoon.

Although the reviews for this device were currently a mixed bag, praises were met with skepticism, and criticisms from those who hadn’t played the games weren’t trustworthy either.

Zheng Li still decided to trust Lu Ban.

The price of a “Morning Star” was three thousand, which was already quite expensive for a gaming console, much more expensive than handheld consoles that could switch modes at will, and comparable in price to those high-performance new-generation consoles.

Luckily, Zheng Li had earned some money from a holiday internship and part-time jobs, so he could just about afford this device if he bit the bullet.

While waiting for the delivery, Zheng Li wanted to see some reviews online.

But after searching, he found few new reviews, with the internet still repeating the same old stories.

And clicking on new reviews, they were all simple unboxing posts, displaying just the exterior and packaging. The reviewers said they were going to try the games and then never replied again.

“What’s this all about?”

Zheng Li’s heart itched with impatience, like he was about to set off on a spring outing but unsure whether the destination was the over-visited city park or a newly opened, massive amusement park nearby, feeling an unsettling mix of anticipation and anxiety.

He went to the cafeteria for lunch, not even remembering what he had ordered. He was distracted and absent-minded all afternoon, sitting in front of his computer without knowing what to do.

By five in the afternoon, his roommates began calling him to join them for dinner at the cafeteria, Zheng Li responded distractedly, then glanced at his phone, which showed a message that his package was in transit. He followed them downstairs anyway, carelessly got a meat dish and a vegetarian one with a couple of scoops of rice. He had barely started when his phone rang.

He saw the incoming call was from the courier, his hand shook, nearly dropping the phone into the plate. Zheng Li hurriedly answered the call; the delivery guy told him to pick up the parcel at the south gate, and Zheng Li immediately stood up.

“What’s the matter, in such a hurry?”

One roommate, still wrestling with a piece of fried chicken from the cafeteria, noticed Zheng Li’s disoriented behavior and asked.

“I have a package.”

Zheng Li said, ready to leave the cafeteria.

“You’re not eating anymore?”

The roommate glanced at the sweet and sour ribs on Zheng Li’s plate.

“No need, you guys eat. Help me clear my plate later, will you?”

Zheng Li dashed off, leaving his roommates without any hesitation, who then unceremoniously divided up the meat dish left on his plate.

He hurried to the south gate and saw heaps of parcels piled up like a mountain.

All these parcels were square boxes, identical in size and upon a rough count, there were at least thirty or more.

Without a doubt, these were all Lu Ban’s “Morning Star”.

“What did you guys buy? This many similar orders in one place, haven’t seen that in a long time.”

Zheng Li seemed to be the first one to come pick up a parcel, and the delivery guy casually asked a question.

“…A gaming console.”

Zheng Li thought for a moment, not bothering with any rhetoric about VR headsets, virtual reality, but instead came up with the most easily understandable explanation.

“Oh, is it fun?”

The delivery guy asked a question.

“Haven’t gotten to play it yet.”

Zheng Li pointed at his parcel.

“Right.”

The delivery guy chuckled self-deprecatingly and continued.

“What brand is this gaming device? I’ll check it out later and maybe get one for my son.”

Zheng Li showed the delivery guy the description of “Morning Star” on his phone, which made the guy feel both impressed and clueless.

“Has technology gotten this advanced? Can this machine play Super Mary?”

His understanding of a gaming console seemed to still be in the era of simple home video game consoles.

“I’m not sure myself, best to try it out when I get home.”

Zheng Li said goodbye to the delivery guy, just as he saw other people coming to get their parcels.

Two burly men looked at each other sheepishly with boxes in their arms, as if they had been caught buying something embarrassing.

Zheng Li hurried back to his dormitory to find his roommates had not returned yet.

He opened the box and saw a pure black container.

The craftsmanship of the container was quite good, almost a perfect cube to the touch, its surface reflecting a cold light.

Zheng Li found the latch and opened it, revealing a piece of cardboard inside with a starry sky pattern he had never seen before, unsure of where the image was taken.

After lifting the cardboard, he saw the helmet lying inside.

Eager, Zheng Li took out the helmet and inspected it carefully.

The helmet looked like an ordinary motorcycle helmet with decent design. On one side of the helmet, there were hidden ports for plugging in common interface cables like USB or TYPE-C, but Zheng Li couldn’t even find the charging port.

Could this thing charge through a C port?

Zheng Li soon discovered that underneath the helmet there was something resembling a charging base—he quickly flipped through the manual and found it was a wireless charging station.

The helmet was charged wirelessly.

According to the manual, the design was to prevent players from becoming addicted to games by imposing a break after long play sessions.

When the helmet ran out of power, it had to be placed on the station to charge, during which time no gaming was possible.

Zheng Li thought the design was a bit dumb, as what gaming console manufacturers would ever want to prevent addiction? They’d prefer players to be turned on all the time, never shutting down, sitting in front of the TV forever playing games—not implementing addiction prevention measures themselves.

Without rushing to put on the helmet, Zheng Li read the manual thoroughly.

The manual was quite formal, explaining in detail how to use the device, how to connect to the network, enter the game, etc., but some of the content was quite absurd, which made Zheng Li want to laugh.

For instance, the manual stated that to prevent accidents, “Morning Star” had its impact on player perception set to [Common] as a default. Users who wanted a deeper experience had to be connected to the network to switch to [Deep Mode], and if they received tactile stimulation from the outside world or clear auditory signals, the game would revert to [Light Mode].

This all seemed so serious, as if one could truly immerse themselves in the game to the point of not being able to hear anything?

Zheng Li didn’t believe it at all.

Since the initial setup required internet connection, Zheng Li sat on the chair and put on the powered-up helmet.

Then, he voiced the command to start.

“Link, begin.”

A multitude of black, infused with vibrant colors, took over Zheng Li’s entire field of vision.