The 20,000 slots were quickly drawn in a cheerful atmosphere among the players.
The first closed beta test started on July 15th and ended on the last day of July, at which time all player data would be deleted – that is, a "closed beta test with data wipe".
Of course, players will leave behind valuable game experience and receive a small red stamp from the official team representing test players.
By the way, there really was some shady dealing involved in the lottery for this closed beta test qualification.
The system only drew 19,998 slots.
As for where the other two went...
Xia Cheng said: Guess?
Chapter 107 First Encounter with the Hidden Village
The closed beta test of "Xia Ke Xing" had 20,000 players, who naturally needed to be divided into different starting villages.
Fortunately, the entire map covers a vast area of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, so there's no shortage of suitable starting villages.
To accommodate the potential influx of new players, there are at least three hundred starting villages across the map, each with its own complete set of functional buildings, but each also has its own unique characteristics.
Such a massive workload was not achieved by Blue Star employees creating the maps one by one, but rather by an artificial intelligence system generating them randomly.
Artificial intelligence in the interstellar era is already very advanced. It can not only replace human employees in some design-related tasks, but also has the ability to learn autonomously.
Speaking of the AI "Redstone No. 7" brought by Ling Lingqi, it is now fully capable of handling the task of randomly creating beginner villages.
All the engineers on Earth had to do was supervise and test the situation in the newbie village.
The players who participated in the first test in July were scattered across about a dozen newbie villages as soon as they entered the game.
Each village has about two thousand people, and it's still bustling and very congested.
These players were among the first to be able to create their own accounts, and many of them spent half an hour just creating their characters!
—Just kidding, being handsome is a lifelong thing!
—How could such an important matter be completed casually?
The characters in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" are all designed in a classic Chinese style, completely different from the facial styles that people in the interstellar world are familiar with, allowing them to instantly feel a strong exotic atmosphere.
"Wow, what cool long hair! It's so flowing, it looks like it's about to fly away."
"Isn't what you put on your face called battle markings? And you can even stick little flowers on your forehead? I want to stick a little flame on it!"
"I love this wide-sleeved dress!! It's so beautiful!!!"
"Wow, I'm amazed by the face I pinched! It's so delicate, the pores are so fine, can such perfect skin really exist?"
"I suspect my character isn't actually eighteen. He looks so young, almost like he's dripping with youthful energy. When I was eighteen, my face was covered in freckles..."
Racial differences have indeed always existed.
The people of the ancient civilization on Earth appeared noticeably younger than other human races.
Moreover, due to their genes, they naturally have fewer skin problems such as freckles, and their hair is smoother and shinier than others.
In terms of physique, there are very few muscles that protrude outwards; they appear more reserved, with a slender yet upright posture, like a strong bamboo.
Many StarCraft players are immediately captivated by their own "beauty" from the moment they are born.
In the beginner village, you can see many people gazing at their reflections by the water, just like Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection by the water.
They started discussing it happily:
"She looks so good, both heroic and beautiful!"
"I could spend an entire afternoon just creating characters. I feel like I could see thousands upon thousands of handsome faces, and cool newbie outfits!"
"My God, I suspect all the people of Earth are elves. Look how light they are, able to stand on leaves; their food and clothing are so exquisite, and they even use musical instruments to defend themselves; and this rhythmic script, the poems they write are so beautiful they bring tears to your eyes, it must be the legendary Elvish language—"
Shh! Look! The NPCs are here!
Near the Hidden Village, around dawn, some female NPC villagers came out chatting and laughing.
Holding wooden basins in their hands, they chatted and laughed as they walked to the stream to begin washing their clothes.
Then, led by one of them, they began to sing folk songs a cappella—
"The moon comes out, shining brightly~ shining brightly~"
The song echoed far and wide amidst the green hills and clear waters, and the cries of monkeys rose from the distant, misty mountains.
Bamboo rafts drift on the water, wild mandarin ducks call out under the willows, and wisps of smoke curl from the rooftops. Every household has its own simple people who work from sunrise to sunset.
The moment that clear, melodious singing voice came out, the players by the water were completely captivated.
"Oh my god, she can go straight to that golden stage! It sounds amazing, I've already recorded it."
"Is this a new style of bel canto singing? I've never heard it before, what a beautiful and melodious voice!"
"Goddess, sob sob..."
"I'm willing! I'm willing to live in this game until the end!"
Why are they beating their own clothes?
The chattering players were still making noise, and many had already headed towards the legendary little waterwheel.