Heaven have mercy.
For Fire Knife, a true "old-timer" in the Xia Country gaming scene, keeping up with the trends of the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) community and avoiding a generation gap with the anime/manga-loving players was already quite impressive.
But encountering someone like Xu Meng, whose mind jumped around and dared to say anything, was truly a bit too much to handle.
However, while he couldn't keep up, the young players could easily understand Xu Meng's ideas.
Large swathes of comments appeared on the screen:
"What is game understanding? This is game understanding!"
"You're so right, aren't all the characters who don't hit your XP (experience points/personal preferences) just bootlickers?"
"What do you mean by cyber matchmaking? That's too euphemistic. Your company is basically a cyber harem selection!"
"Elaborate on [Physical Contact]!"
...
Even Huan Yue, who hadn't left Cologne yet, continuously posted two eye-catching messages in the Brave Sniper's live stream:
[The term cyber matchmaking is very accurate! I met my wives in 'Frost Snow Project,' and now I have a first wife, second wife, third wife, fourth wife, fifth wife...]
[I wish everyone can meet their wife who hits their XP soon!]
"You son of a..." Brave Sniper was speechless on the spot, "Others are just selecting a concubine, but you've directly opened a harem?!"
"Your XP system is way too diverse!"
...
In the interview video, because of Fire Knife's embarrassment, Xu Meng had no choice but to continue:
"Only after successful matchmaking can intimate relationships be established, allowing players to truly feel the flow of emotions through companionship."
"And that is what 'Frost Snow Project' truly wants to offer players."
"We will also continuously improve our technology and production capacity to achieve this goal to the extreme!"
Fire Knife was speechless again.
Because what Xu Meng said sounded like a "company vision" or something similar.
But the content he said didn't sound like a game company's "vision" at all, but rather like... some kind of high-tech companion chat software?
He felt that the interview had already been led astray by Xu Meng.
So, taking advantage of Xu Meng's topic, he shifted the interview to technology: "You said improve technology and production capacity, does that mean the current technology can continue to be upgraded?"
"Of course," Xu Meng nodded.
"Can you talk about that?"
"Sure," Xu Meng readily agreed, "But talking about technology is too abstract. Why don't you change into a somatosensory suit, and I'll give you a demonstration."
So Fire Knife left the camera to change into a somatosensory synchronization suit.
Only Xu Meng was left on the screen, leisurely picking up his water glass and quietly waiting while looking at the night view outside the window.
Taking advantage of this waiting scene, the players expressed their opinions one after another:
"Indeed, I really need this companionship."
"Wuwuwu, he's so real, I'm crying!"
"Dream Builder, please, please give me a safe-birth loli mama character to accompany me, I'll really do anything!"
"Mecha Musume! I want a Mecha Musume! 'Frost Snow Project' is clearly a sci-fi setting, how can there be no Mecha Musume!"
"A cat-eared chef who can cook, doesn't like to wear clothes and only likes to wear aprons, please!"
...
A group of people began to make wishes in the comments.
But this wasn't a live broadcast, so Xu Meng certainly couldn't see it.
— —
After the camera switched, the two came from the floor-to-ceiling window to the living room TV and sat cross-legged on the thick carpet.
Fire Knife was wearing a somatosensory synchronization suit, but he wasn't wearing VR glasses.
He looked at the VR glasses that Xu Meng had thrown aside, a little confused.
Xu Meng signaled him to look at the TV.
On the TV, a fluffy golden retriever was sniffing around a simple human figure.
Rubbing against his legs, pawing at his body.
Fire Knife raised his eyebrows in surprise. He lowered his head, looking at his legs and waist.
There was nothing there but air.
But when he tried to reach out his hand, he could really feel the smooth fur of the golden retriever!
It was as if at this moment, there really was an invisible, super-powered golden retriever lying on him, rubbing against him to show his affection.
"This is?" Fire Knife asked in surprise.
"Some necessary technical exploration," Xu Meng said calmly.
"So, in addition to games, Dream Builder also plans to create more usage scenarios?"
"Of course," Xu Meng affirmed, "Virtual chat rooms, remote telepathy, collaborative office work, virtual pets, lifestyle partners..."
"This technology has unlimited possibilities."
"But to achieve these functions, we face many problems—"
"For example, full-coverage VR glasses are relatively heavy, and it's uncomfortable to wear them for a long time. We are trying to optimize them, aiming to make them as light as glasses."
"Another example is the somatosensory synchronization suit. It's easy to sweat after wearing it for a long time, and it's not suitable for daily wear, so it also needs to be lightweight."
"The current optimization direction is to sacrifice some fine sensations in exchange for improved wearing convenience and greatly reduced production costs."
"And this... is one of the results," Xu Meng raised his hands, revealing a pair of gloves.
Then he put on the VR glasses, clasped his hands together, and clapped.
The picture on the TV changed.
The human figure and the golden retriever disappeared together, replaced by a city.
But this was clearly a city that was still under construction, and the construction process was very careless—
Brave Sniper and the others instantly recognized that this was the city outline of Silver City.
But because it was roughly enlarged and transformed into a VR map, it looked a bit strangely proportioned, and some details were distorted.
The streets were even emptier, without a single NPC.
But Xu Meng didn't care.
He wasn't trying to show off this crude city framework.
He raised his hands and gestured to Fire Knife: "The left hand controls movement, and the right hand performs operations."
"That way, you can do this—"
Xu Meng was still sitting motionless on the carpet, but as his left hand stretched forward, the perspective on the TV screen also moved forward.
As his left hand swung left, the perspective also turned left.
Then he raised his right hand, and a hand appeared on the screen.
His right hand clenched, and the hand on the screen also grabbed the doorknob and pushed open the door.
Then he followed suit, entered the tavern, and sat down at the bar.
Then Xu Meng clapped again.
"Repeat clapping to pause the left hand's movement and free your hands."
So two hands appeared on the screen. Xu Meng reached out to take the beer and wine glass from the bar, intending to pour himself a glass of wine.
But suddenly—
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A little guy with a pink head jumped out from behind the bar.
She was wearing a bow tie, a white shirt, and a small vest, a typical bartender's outfit.
Unfortunately, she was too short, her head not even reaching the height of the bar.
So she dragged a stool over, stood on the stool, stretched out her arms, snatched the beer from Xu Meng's hand, and poured him a glass of wine while holding the bottle with both hands.
Xu Meng was immediately stunned.
In a simple city model full of flaws, a super-high-precision pink-haired loli suddenly jumped out...
It was too incongruous and too beautiful!
His daze made Xiao Meng think he didn't want to drink, so she took the glass away, took out bartending tools from under the counter, and began to perform flair bartending.
Xu Meng had even more question marks on his head—
When did you learn bartending?
Why is a child learning bartending??
Not only was Xu Meng stunned, but Fire Knife was also stunned.
The viewers watching the interview at this time were also stunned.
However, everyone thought that this was arranged by Xu Meng, and they were all surprised by the incompatibility of this little girl and the city environment, and didn't think much about it.
Many people even thought that this was a new character from the future of "Frost Snow Project."
Xu Meng helplessly reached out and rubbed her little head.
— — Under this seemingly simple interaction, the subtle changes in Xiao Meng's hair and ears under his palm could make discerning animators and modelers' scalps tingle!
Xiao Meng was super "beauty-loving," and after there was surplus computing power, she didn't hesitate to spend it on herself.
Much of her time outside of learning was also spent on herself.
Unfortunately, Fire Knife didn't understand these things, and the screen's display was slightly distorted, so he didn't notice this detail.
He just asked in surprise: "Dream Builder, is this... planning to build a virtual city?"
"And without the need for a heavy omnidirectional treadmill and an expensive full set of somatosensory suits, just a pair of gloves and a pair of VR glasses can allow you to roam in this virtual city?"
The more Fire Knife spoke, the more surprised he became.
He had never imagined that the sci-fi concept of "entering a virtual world" would suddenly rush into reality!
Admittedly, what Xu Meng showed was just a technical framework, a city prototype that wasn't even a demo.
But with this, Xu Meng had already proven that:
The three technical thresholds of "building a virtual city," "entering a virtual city," and "freely interacting with a virtual city" had all been broken through by him.
Especially the most critical "free interaction" was a groundbreaking two-way interaction!
"So..."
Fire Knife's voice even trembled slightly—
"You have the technology, you have the hardware, you don't lack funds, and you have the ability to continuously create new content..."
Xu Meng took off his VR glasses and looked at Fire Knife with a smile.
"The only thing you lack from a real virtual city..."
"Is time," Xu Meng and Fire Knife said at the same time.
At this moment, Fire Knife was stunned.
Now, several days later, the viewers watching this interview across the screen were also stunned.
A picture even appeared in Brave Sniper's mind—
Freely strolling in the magnificent Silver City, brushing shoulders with characters and players.
In this virtual city, everyone drinks, sings, dances, shops, duels...
Overlooking the entire city from the highest building, feeling the fierce wind blowing.
Also, in the most ordinary houses, obtaining a place to live.
Pushing open the door, a virtual partner welcomes him and hugs him, welcoming him home.
...
At this moment, imagination was given wings, and countless images flew through his mind.
He suddenly developed a strong longing for the virtual city that Xu Meng spoke of!
His longing, together with the longing of countless people, converged into a surging tide, quickly rushing in all directions...
Completed, this month updated 205,000 words, burned out.
Asking for monthly tickets on the last day of this month!
— —
Thanks to [大瓷商] for the 1000 points reward.
Thanks to [LLP] for the 666 points reward.
Thanks to [秋之红羽] for the 100 points reward.
Thanks for the support!
