My Players Are So Fierce

Professor Chen, who always refers to himself as Old Chen, is over 60 years old this year. He has a kind personality and possesses the integrity of the older generation of intellectuals. It is said that when he was young, he worked in several design institutes and once had the opportunity to pursue a career in politics, but ultimately did not take that path. In the end, after many twists and turns, he returned to his alma mater to serve as a mentor in the design department.

He doesn’t dislike the job of being a teacher.

Unfortunately, in a non-famous major at a well-known university, to be honest, it’s difficult to get any significant benefits. But perhaps it’s because there’s little financial gain that he gets along well with his students, without too many troublesome matters.

Grayman and Bricklayer are the last batch of graduate students he’s mentoring. After these two unreliable fellows graduate, Old Chen plans to go home and enjoy his retirement.

His wife passed away a few years ago, and his two sons have already established their own families and careers. Occasionally they bring the grandchildren back for a visit, making Old Chen’s elderly life quite fulfilling.

Generally speaking, people who have a fulfilling reality don’t tend to seek solace in virtual worlds. Of course, the main reason Old Chen plays few games is that he didn’t catch the right timing.

When he was the same age as Grayman, even arcade machines were still rare.

Therefore, when his two students said they wanted to invite him to play a game together, Old Chen refused.

On one hand, due to years of self-discipline, he really doesn’t like this kind of entertainment. With that time, wouldn’t it be better to play Go with some good friends or go fishing?

His expertise in hand-drawn blueprints seems somewhat out of place in this era where everything is done on computers. Although he can use mainstream software and his thinking as a designer is barely keeping up, his students have developed quite well after entering society and occasionally come back to see him. But his signature two-finger typing sometimes makes the young teachers in the department whisper among themselves.

He knows it all.

He just pretends not to know.

Ignorance is bliss, after all.

But before he could seriously refuse, just after filling out the test application and having a meal and taking a stroll downstairs, a delivery box quietly appeared at Old Chen’s doorstep.

This startled the old man.

Although he doesn’t live in a luxury community, it’s the first time he’s seen a delivery sent directly to his doorstep. Moreover, isn’t this shipping speed a bit too fast?

His students said it would take about 12 hours, but it’s been less than 5 hours.

“Is the shipping location very close to here?”

Old Chen picked up the delivery box and entered the house, examining it very carefully.

The sender only had one line “Alpha Company 《Reality Realm》 Test Group Invites You to Join the Grand Event”, with a virtual protected generated transfer number used as the contact number below, completely untraceable.

He mumbled something and opened the box, inside was a black motorcycle helmet-like game hardware.

No protective case, no support stand, not even the cheapest plastic foam.

This is really quite shabby!

“I heard them say, just put this thing on and that’s it?”

Old Chen is a professor after all, and the common sense of a senior intellectual tells him this thing is not very reliable.

Although he specializes in his own field of expertise, the academic circle is only so big, and he really hasn’t heard of virtual reality technology being implemented to the point where it can be used to develop games in recent years.

He doesn’t dare to put something without even a production mark on his head.

What if this unbranded product suddenly explodes?

He remembered his student Xiao Du mentioning there’s a forum he can visit, so he took the helmet to his study, turned on the new computer his eldest son had set up for him, logged onto the forum website, and found the official guidance post for the game helmet.

After reading through it roughly, he found that this thing’s functions are quite comprehensive. He exited the post and randomly clicked into a few of today’s hot water-army posts.

He didn’t really care about the content, he just wanted to find some details to prove that this wasn’t a prank.

As a result, he found that the hottest topic of discussion on the forum now is about the “gnoll” extermination action. Many people are discussing which team will top the points leaderboard, which team is more powerful, and there are even some prediction posts and betting pools set up by those who haven’t received the helmet yet and are trying to satisfy their curiosity.

“This doesn’t seem fake, Xiao Du wouldn’t hire over 300 people to play a joke on me, right?”

Old Chen spent about 10 minutes gathering enough information, and he began to believe that this game really exists, and that through the helmet in his hand, he could enter this so-called “brainwave-sensing” virtual reality world.

“Although I’m not an expert in this field, this theory doesn’t seem quite right, does it? I remember the technology related to brainwave sensing doesn’t work like this.”

Professor Chen mumbled as he sat in his computer chair, staring at the game helmet in his hand for nearly a minute before finally making up his mind.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to his good student, telling him to wait for him in the game, then put the helmet on his head.

Hey, you know what, this thing seems to be custom-made.

The size is just right.

The inner lining made of some unknown material feels quite comfortable against the scalp, and the view in front of the eyes turns into that unique semi-virtual feeling of VR devices when the helmet powers on.

There are only three initial icons in it.

A forum entrance, a built-in browser, and finally the icon for 《Reality Realm》.

The icon is very exquisite, like a miniature woodcut, depicting a city under starlight. Seeing this extremely technological minimalist design, Old Chen’s worries were largely put to rest.

His grandson has a VR device, which he has also played with, and the operation is basically the same.

“It seems there’s really something to this.”

The old professor adjusted his chair to a comfortable position, then reached out to click on the game icon.

In the next instant, a ball of light flashed before his eyes, not glaring but very gentle. The light rendered the entire view before turning into a dim nebula drifting, then produced a slight feeling of weightlessness under the illumination of the starry sky.

It was as if the spirit was entering some kind of container.

The last glimpse Old Chen saw was a sky full of stars.

Then, he opened his eyes.

Perhaps due to the special habits of the elderly, he didn’t immediately get up, but first felt his body and sense of touch, then observed his surroundings.

The view swayed along with the movement of his eyes and head, so real as if he was lying on his own bed at home.

He smelled the unique damp and cold scent of a dark place, reminding him of the basement he had rented for a while when he first started working as a young man, that was a memory from long ago.

Hmm?

Not right!

His mind seemed to clear up a lot all of a sudden, no longer having that fatigue brought on by age as in the past, and even his body seemed to have returned to its prime years.

This is not an illusion.

Old Chen turned over and got up from the stone platform he was lying on. He could feel the power called “youth” contained in his new body.

He seemed to have suddenly returned to his peak at twenty-something!

Then, his gaze turned forward, and the environment of the midnight chamber came into view.

The light from the gas lamp overhead cast shadows on the pillars and floor. There were platforms standing around but not a single person, only a figure walking out of the shadows could be seen at the far end of his vision.

He could hear the footsteps of shoes colliding with the ground, getting closer and closer.

The person’s cloak was still swaying behind him, his shadow casting an ominous silhouette on the ground, as if just looking at him directly would give a sense of dissonance.

“My warrior.”

Murphy’s magnetic voice in the darkness had just begun when the old professor suddenly took a step back.

It’s too real!

Old Chen heard that voice.

But he suddenly felt a kind of fear from the bottom of his heart, had he really come to another world?

This doesn’t seem like playing a game at all!

Damn it!

He still has family on the other side.

Driven by this sudden emotion, Professor Chen sat up from his computer chair in one motion, taking the game helmet off his head with both hands. He looked at the familiar study in front of him, panting, along with the glowing computer screen and the various professional books arranged on the bookshelf behind it.

Four or five of the books among them were authored by himself.

A pot of pothos was placed on the edge of the desk.

It’s said that this thing can reduce radiation from computers. Well, the professor knows that’s impossible, but old people seek psychological comfort.

“This thing”

He sat in the computer chair, holding the game helmet in his arms, and after taking a deep breath, he shook his head and said:

“It’s incredible, no wonder those two young people are so addicted. Even an old man like me almost lost control.”

He calmed himself down, got up to make a cup of tea, and then put the helmet on his head again.

This time he wasn’t as cautious as before.

However, a note popped up in front of him, saying that because his emotions were too intense earlier, it triggered a forced disconnection, and he needs to wait 15 minutes before logging in again. The helmet’s built-in AI suggested that he activate the helmet’s physiological monitoring first.

Before Old Chen could figure out where that switch was, his phone rang. After answering, Heaven’s Chosen Grayman’s panting voice came from the other end:

“Old Chen, are you alright? Brother Alpha just messaged me saying that the test personnel support team at Alpha Company detected very intense emotional fluctuations from you in the backend, triggering a safety alarm. He asked me to confirm your physical condition and get back to him.

I thought you didn’t have heart problems before?

Do you want me and Brother Sun to come over now?”

“It’s nothing, I was just startled.”

The old professor felt more at ease when he heard that Alpha Company really had a test group monitoring players’ mental states in real-time.

He chuckled and said:

“This game is too realistic, you know, I felt like I really went to another world, and I was thinking that these vampires’ ‘netherworld style’ aesthetic is quite unique.”

“You can still make such jokes, seems like you’re really fine.”

Grayman on the other end also breathed a sigh of relief, and only hung up the phone after confirming that Professor Chen was truly alright.

“Almost made a fool of myself.”

Old Chen was also amused by himself.

He shook his head and clicked on the game helmet operation guide on the forum again, turned on the built-in physiological monitoring program, and successfully logged in again.

It was the same process as before, the same spiritual connection, the same reopening of eyes.

But this time, Old Chen was no longer afraid.

He could leave this game world at any time.

As long as the logout function is still there, as long as he can return to the real world at any time, isn’t this just an overly realistic game?

——

In the midnight chamber, Murphy was also startled.

He knew Professor Chen was coming to Transia and had planned to personally welcome him to express his respect for senior intellectuals and professional talents. But just as he opened his mouth, Professor Chen’s body in front of him dispersed into a ball of light.

Huh?

Is he so terrifying in Old Chen’s eyes?

Made him disconnect out of fear?

It can’t be that bad.

Such a handsome vampire like himself should theoretically be attractive to both men and women.

After waiting for several minutes, Murphy sensed Old Chen reconnecting, so he cast the summoning spell again, going through the same process of simulating a physical projection with spirit energy, after which Old Chen nimbly climbed up from the stone platform.

“Hello, my warrior.”

This time, Murphy made his expression more gentle, extending his hand with full affability to the professor whose game ID was “Construction Site Old Man”, saying:

“My two architects have recommended you to me. They praised you as a first-class architectural master from another world. My territory and I warmly welcome your arrival, and your wisdom and knowledge will surely move Transia.”

“Ah, you flatter me.”

Professor Chen felt that this NPC in front of him was really good at speaking, and his demeanor was truly elegant, his face handsome enough. If his little grandson could grow up to look like this, it would be very reassuring.

However, when their fingers touched, the unique coldness of vampire skin made Old Chen instinctively curl his fingers.

He felt like he was touching a block of ice.

It was only then that he saw the blood-red glow deep in Murphy’s eyes and his overly pale skin.

“You’re… a vampire?”

“Yes, for an atheist like you, a creature like me is indeed difficult to understand. But I believe you’ll soon realize that I’m different from other vampires.”

Murphy smiled and replied, saying:

“Your students are already waiting for you outside the secret chamber.”

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh”

As Murphy was speaking, the group of six led by Meow King, who had accidentally disconnected earlier, also revived at this time. As soon as they came online, they hurriedly got up and rushed out of the secret chamber.

They needed to quickly report their “Big Bird Spin Spin Spin” team to the administrative office and then participate in the extermination of the gnolls.

They were already far behind.

“Oh! A newcomer has arrived!”

Little Hand, who had the sharpest eyes, looked back and exclaimed:

“How come it’s an old grandpa? Damn, the test group is treating us young and strong people as laborers, and they’re not even sparing old grandpas?”

“Huh?”

Meow King, who was running in front, immediately slammed on the brakes when he heard this. With his Black Iron Body’s super agility, he smoothly turned a corner and took a big jump, spinning in the air and landing steadily and precisely next to Old Chen.

The cunning socialite extended his hand with a beaming smile, saying to the old man:

“You must be Professor Chen, Grayman’s mentor, right? Hey, that kid mentioned on the forum earlier that he was going to invite you to Transia to guide our work! Oh my, we young people are just not reliable enough in our work, we still need experienced seniors like you to help us check things over. We’re really troubling you.”

This speech amused Old Chen.

He squinted his eyes and said:

“Young man, you must often do reception work, right? You speak official language so fluently, one after another. My two students have also been taken care of by you all.”

“Hehe, we all support each other. Well, you go ahead with your business, we have things to do. We’ll visit you another day when we have time, I still have a few boxes of good tea.

Lord Murphy, please rest assured!

We will definitely eradicate those damn gnolls and protect the order of Transia!”

Meow King quickly excused himself and ran out with his brothers.

Murphy, in his NPC role, also gave Old Chen a few words of advice, suggesting he become an administrative personnel in the territory before turning and leaving the midnight chamber.

Old Chen strolled out, enjoying the feeling of being young again, leaving the midnight chamber with a smile on his face. As a result, he immediately saw his two students waiting outside the door.

“Professor, you’re finally here! Come quickly and take a look at our planning drawings.”

Grayman stepped forward and unfolded the drawings for his mentor to see. Old Chen didn’t stand on ceremony, took them over and glanced at them, then said in a strange tone:

“The drawing is okay, but there’s one very important issue… did you calculate the feng shui before drawing?”

“What? We’re in a game now, are we still talking about that stuff?”

“Nonsense, even urban legends like vampires exist here, the importance of feng shui, which in reality is just for peace of mind, goes without saying here. Who knows what other supernatural things exist here?

You two!

You talked about applying what you’ve learned, but you haven’t even understood the four words ‘combine with reality’. Materialism doesn’t mean you should deny these things, it means you should accept them while making necessary modifications according to actual situations.

Take it back and redraw. Before you start drawing, first ask a local master to calculate the fortune and auspiciousness according to their methods.

This is a new city!

I saw on the post that this city has just suffered a disaster, and some evil spirits haven’t been cleaned up yet, so we can’t be careless about this aspect.”