Chapter 114: Unpromising Prospects

Novel: Author: Three Hundred Jin's Smile

Amidst the clamor of players frantically demanding compensation, Xu Zhi's impromptu training sandbox, only ten square meters, was set up in a corner next to his clothesline, which was normally the living space for his orchard pets.

The time flow rate was one hundred years inside for every one day outside. This meant one hour in reality equated to four years inside the sandbox. The ten-minute trial period seemed short, but in reality, it was equivalent to eight months within the sandbox.

"Eight months for them to cultivate. This open beta test would show their endurance," Xu Zhi thought, despite knowing the likely outcome. He sat on a chair by the door, gazing into the distance with a sliver of hope.

At this moment, a swarm of super-small ants, five hundred of them, sat cross-legged around several large gravestones, practicing meditation and cultivation.

As expected, everyone was excited at first. After all, with the incredibly accelerated time flow, who wouldn't want to experience the thrill of wizard meditation?

"Holy cow, I can feel the spiritual energy in my body now! I have a very weak soul, capable of cultivating spiritual power. It took me three hours! What about you guys?"

"They say anyone who senses it in three hours is a wizard cultivation genius! They're recruited by major wizard academies! You're amazing, boss! (Voice cracking)"

"Hahahaha! I thought so too. If I were born in the wizarding world, I'd definitely be another Alchemy Emperor! (Happy)"

"Why haven't I sensed it yet?! I'm always top-ranked in other games. Can I pay to get spiritual energy? (Crying)"

"I sensed it too, took me four hours! (Excited)"

Immediately, a competitive atmosphere arose among them. They were comparing whose talent was more astonishing, secretly gritting their teeth in competition.

Gradually, after more than a day, about twenty hours passed. As the players meditated, they all felt the spiritual energy of the weak soul within their bodies. Except for a few, most could begin meditating. Soon after, just another day passed. Once the novelty wore off and they fell into repetitive labor, some began to feel bored.

"So boring. I've been meditating for two days now. How long will this cultivation take?"

"What is this even?"

"This is too stupid, I can't take it anymore!"

"Yeah, they said we'd experience the power of wizards, but what happened?"

"Let me review this new game mode: no fun, failure! No power-up, failure! Just repetitive cultivation, a total failure! Guys, I'm out! If I ever enter this game mode again, I'm a damn idiot! A big idiot! I'll live stream myself pooping upside down and then eating it!"

"Same, eating poop 1."

"Same, eating poop 2."

At first, everyone was very curious, but after sensing spiritual energy and silently meditating for another day, they started to feel disgusted. Some began to gradually leave the game. People have a herd mentality, and with someone leading the way, a massive exodus soon occurred.

Seeing this, Xu Zhi silently sighed. "It's still not working. These people are here to play games; they're not fools. After all, no one can endure this kind of repetitive and tedious cultivation, doing free labor for me. I'll have to think of another way."

He turned and left the chair in the courtyard, returning to his room. He couldn't be bothered to observe this impromptu small cultivation sandbox. Since he hadn't invested much effort, he wasn't too concerned about its failure. He planned to take a nap to replenish his depleted spiritual energy and then carve a few more Rubik's Cubes after waking up.

"Boring, I'm out!"

"Me too!"

"Bad review!!"

"Brothers, retreat!"

Bai Xiaojun, witnessing this scene, also felt a bit bored; there was no fun at all. In fact, he had sensed spiritual energy in just over an hour, which, according to 'Elementary Meditation and Introduction to Wizardry' compiled by the Three Witches, made him a super genius in this type of cultivation. Yet, he also found it incredibly difficult! Sitting cross-legged for over a day—who could endure that? Especially modern people?

But is the game designer really that brainless? "I don't think so; there must be a deeper meaning!"

In reality, Xu Zhi had genuinely set it up as a casual test and went for a nap when he saw no results. There was truly no deeper meaning, but some fervent fans couldn't help but overthink it.

"Maybe I should wait a bit longer? Just persevere a little more?" Bai Xiaojun looked at the almost entirely exited crowd, feeling a sense of reluctance. Trusting the development team was one aspect, but another was that he was different from the others: his talent was strong, and he had acquired a rare hidden profession, making him genuinely reluctant to give up.

Meanwhile, at this very moment, these first-batch players had been cultivating for two days inside, which was only a few seconds in reality. Outside, a group of players were still frantically clicking, trying to snatch a spot, and complaining.

"Infuriating, it hasn't even been half a second, how is the server full already?"

"I bet there are tens of thousands of players on the forums trying to get in. These five hundred slots are insane! Their hand speed is truly astonishing! They must be incredibly rare talents in the entire gaming world!"

"Speed-dueling masters, truly terrifying!"

A group of people were distraught but still refused to give up, frantically clicking 'Enter Game' hoping for a miracle. However, after a few seconds of the 'full server' message, they suddenly heard a notification: "Successfully entered the game."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Instantly, in Bai Xiaojun's eyes, on the vast yellow dirt plaza, the hundreds of characters who had just exited the game and collapsed to the ground suddenly stood up, fully revived. And they looked around in astonishment, shouting excitedly.

"Holy cow! I actually got in!"

"Hahaha, I really am the European Emperor!"

A group of people stood up, excitedly surveying their surroundings, overjoyed that they had managed to snag one of the five hundred slots for the ten-minute super-welfare trial.

"Wait, your character's appearance... why is it Sister Feng?!" someone suddenly shrieked.

"Me? Sister Feng? How is that possible?! I'm a man!" Someone went crazy, repeatedly touching their face, and immediately screamed, "Ah!!!"

People nearby quickly looked over. It was true, and incredibly lifelike. Scanning around, they even saw many familiar faces. Among the five hundred characters, quite a few were recognizable.

"Holy cow, I didn't even notice until you said it! My character's wearing a red cloud robe and a forehead protector—I'm Uchiha Itachi! (Cool)"

"My character looks like Kunkun! Who is it?! Who is so malicious?! Is it the game designer?"

"Haha! Bro, put on a show, basketball from your two and a half years of training!"

Around them, people constantly shouted and exclaimed. Bai Xiaojun thought for a moment and whispered, "These appearances were left by the previous generation of players. It seems only the first batch of players could create and customize their characters. Subsequent players can only take over the bodies they left behind."

Bai Xiaojun, at this time, had created an ordinary face for himself. Unlike those 'silly' netizens who came up with such character designs, he had been shocked when he first entered and saw their faces, marveling at their wild imaginations! All sorts of celebrities appeared; they were truly creative.

"However, they've also started cultivating. I bet they'll find it boring and leave in a day or two, just like the previous batch," Bai Xiaojun whispered to himself. He thought about it and decided to persevere.

Sure enough, another two days passed. Again, some people couldn't resist and started leaving gradually. And in just a few more real-world seconds, the third batch of players surged in, shouting excitedly.

"Holy cow! Weren't the spots full?"

"How did I get in too?"

"Wow! My character looks like Thanos! Watch me snap my fingers!"

Batch after batch, continuously cycling.

"It's a cycle, a new batch every few real-world seconds," Bai Xiaojun whispered to himself, calming his mind and continuing to sit cross-legged, meditating. Gradually, he found that when meditation became a habit, time passed quickly. It was boring, but it didn't feel prolonged because he would enter a profound, ethereal state where a single deep meditation could span several days.

"Otherwise, how could those wizards endure being in seclusion for so long every day?" Bai Xiaojun considered it himself. "However, this period of cultivation is indeed very monotonous. Did the powerful figures of the wizarding world and the Alchemy Emperors all persevere through this? I never imagined that behind becoming powerful lies such a arduous and lonely path of cultivation."

He sighed, "So, this is the lesson the game designers wanted to teach us? No one gets something for nothing! Behind every hero and powerful individual lies a path of solitude. What a truly conscientious development team! This game team isn't like those flashy, money-grabbing hacks; they focus on education, making people love learning biology, physics, pharmacology, linguistics... improving various social customs!"

On the fourth day, Bai Xiaojun felt hungry. After all, with accelerated body functions, his lifespan was rapidly depleting, accompanied by a tremendous energy drain, and hunger set in very quickly.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Suddenly, a large rain of rice fell from the sky, with grains larger than their bodies, hitting the ground. It was dropped by the orchard's small pet. It had five hundred body parts scattered here, so it naturally wouldn't let a part of itself starve.

"We just have to sit cross-legged, meditate, and cultivate, and they even provide us with food?" He was surprised for a moment, then ate, and continued meditating with closed eyes. "This game is too realistic; there's even hunger. The development team is truly conscientious. It seems that while this place appears simple and boring, there must be hidden aspects we haven't discovered yet, which is why we all mistakenly labeled it a failure!"

A week, two weeks passed, with new batches entering and leaving. Bai Xiaojun continued to sit cross-legged. Then, after one month and seven days, Bai Xiaojun felt a sudden qualitative change within his weak soul; it instantly grew stronger. The weak soul he controlled within his body suddenly emitted a crisp sound.

"I endured for over a month and broke through to Level One Wizard!"

Hahahaha! Bai Xiaojun burst into laughter.

This declaration caught the attention of countless new batches of players who had just entered to cultivate and were still competing to be the first to 'master meditation.' They stared in shock at this 'boss.' "Someone actually broke through to Level One Wizard here? No way!"