Lin Murphy was one of the fifteen new beta testers. His slot was given by Ethan Carter.
Both of them were content creators on C Platform's gaming section, with similar subscriber counts.
However, Ethan played all kinds of games, while Lin leaned more toward management and construction games.
The two met during an offline gathering and found each other's personalities very compatible.
As a result, they often interacted on C Platform and occasionally hung out, gradually becoming close friends.
A couple of days ago, when Ethan was attacked by fans for reposting comments about the Pokémon world, Lin voiced his support.
Of course, support aside, Lin also didn't believe a true virtual reality game could exist.
He also thought Ethan was just doing sponsored content.
That was until this morning, when Ethan called him.
In the call, Ethan swore up and down that he wasn't lying, that the virtual reality game was real, and that he had even secured a precious beta slot for Lin.
Honestly, at the time, Lin thought Ethan had lost it and was about to take him to see a psychologist.
But right after hanging up, the game helmet arrived at his doorstep.
This made Lin start to believe Ethan's words.
At exactly 6 PM, Lin put on the game helmet.
As drowsiness washed over him, he slowly closed his eyes.
Then, a beam of light shone on his face.
Huh? I'm lying in my bedroom. Where's this light coming from?
Lin slowly opened his eyes and found himself suspended in midair.
"Am I dreaming? Did I just fall asleep?"
Before he could react, his body began moving on its own.
After traversing forests and towns, and going through character creation, Lin finally realized he had entered the game.
"Holy shit! Ethan wasn't lying! This really is a virtual reality game!"
When Lin's consciousness fully merged with his in-game body, he was even more stunned by the immersive sensory experience.
Sight and hearing were nothing new—he had already experienced them during the opening cutscene.
But he didn't expect touch and smell to be this realistic. He ran his fingers over the wooden floor, feeling its rough texture.
When he brought his fingers to his nose, he could even catch a faint woody scent.
This game is insane!!!
Lin was instantly won over.
He stood up and looked around, noticing many other players waking up.
Like him, they were shocked by the hyper-realistic game environment, cursing nonstop while groping everything in sight.
One guy even took a bite out of a table leg. After spitting out a mouthful of wood chips, he grinned in satisfaction.
"This game even has a taste system! Freaking amazing!"
Lin was dumbfounded. This guy was hardcore!
He checked the player's name floating above his head—[ChickenStewMushroom].
Yep, the name screamed "foodie." No wonder he cared so much about the taste system.
Just then, Lin noticed some words written on the wall behind Mushroom Guy.
Though he had never seen this script before, his mind somehow understood what it said.
[Please put on your clothes first!]
Uh…
Lin suddenly felt a draft around his lower body and hurriedly grabbed the clothes on the table to dress himself.
The other players noticed and followed suit, scrambling to get dressed.
When Leon walked in and saw the now-clothed players, he nodded in satisfaction.
Finally, no more eye-searing nudity!
He had deliberately written those words on the wall for a reason.
The languages and scripts of these two worlds were vastly different. Players from BlueStar couldn't speak or read Pokémon world languages at all.
So when Leon designed the players' avatars, he built in a translation function.
This feature automatically converted players' speech into the Pokémon world's language, while NPCs' dialogue was translated into the players' native tongues.
Text worked differently—players could only read Pokémon world text. If they wanted to write, they'd have to learn it themselves.
"Follow me!"
Leon led the players to the reception hall, where two female players were already waiting.
Once all fifteen players had gathered, they couldn't help but start chattering again.
"This game is next-level! It's practically indistinguishable from reality!"
"No kidding! If not for the names floating above your heads, I'd think I actually got isekai'd!"
"That handsome guy must be the NPC, right? He's got such a cool vibe!"
The hall quickly turned into a noisy marketplace.
"Quiet!"
Leon tried to shut them up.
But the players were too excited, talking loudly over each other and barely hearing him.
Fine. You wanna play the volume game?
Leon pulled out a Poké Ball from his waist and tossed it.
"Ursaring, give them a roar!"
"ROAR!!"
Ursaring let out an earth-shaking bellow the moment it appeared.
The sheer force of the soundwave instantly silenced the players.
All eyes locked onto Leon and Ursaring.
They hadn't been trying to be disruptive—they genuinely hadn't heard Leon earlier.
With the players finally quiet, Leon began reciting the opening monologue he'd memorized the night before.
"Honored guests from the divine realm, welcome to Ember Town. I am its lord, Baron Leon."
"In our world, magical creatures called 'Pokémon' live everywhere. They are intelligent, adorable, and possess all manner of wondrous abilities."
Leon patted Ursaring beside him.
That's… adorable?
The players stared at the terrifying bear.
Leon didn't see any issue with his words and continued his grand speech.
"...In the days to come, I hope we can work together to restore this world to its proper course."
Leon flawlessly delivered the same spiel from days prior.
He'd put a lot of thought into crafting it, so unless circumstances changed, this would remain the standard introduction.
"Additionally, there are several prohibited actions within the territory. For specifics, consult the earlier divine realm guests or Secretary Walter."
"Violators will be banished back to the divine realm and permanently barred from re-entry!"
Though these players were carefully vetted and generally well-behaved, they were still part of the "Fourth Catastrophe."
Better to set ground rules now before they inevitably did something unhinged.
The players, while startled by how much authority this NPC had, didn't show much resistance.
They understood—a game this realistic needed strict limits. Otherwise, chaos would ensue.
And even if they objected, so what? This was a seller's market. If they didn't like it, plenty of others would take their place.
After stressing the rules, Leon led the group outside the castle.
(Chapter end)