Global Game: Developing a Knight Clan-Chapter 86 - 85: Qualification Draw, Heaven-Defying Luck

Chapter 86: Chapter 85: Qualification Draw, Heaven-Defying Luck

[All Hands on Deck: The True Game’s Second Round of Testing Qualifications Will Soon Be Up for Grabs]

[Western States Alliance Statement: Ordinary Citizens Should Not Participate in the Lottery; Let Official Personnel Go First.]

[Central Continent Alliance Statement: The Elderly Should Not Participate. Young People Are Encouraged to Join, with Priority Given to Those with Gaming Experience.]

[Eastern Continent Alliance Statement: Proceed with Caution and Cherish the Opportunity. Let Fate Decide.]

[South Continent Alliance Statement: The Elderly Also Have Rights. We Encourage Them to Find a New Lease on Life by Participating in the Qualification Lottery.]

[Northern Continent Alliance Statement: Stop Messing Around. Nothing You Say Will Work. Shutting Down the Internet Won’t Work. Unless You Confiscate All Electronics—but That Probably Won’t Work Either, in Case It Projects Directly into the Brain.]

"And that was my detailed, concise breakdown of the five major Human Alliance divisions’ recommendations for their citizens."

Downstairs in his residential complex, well-rested after a good night’s sleep, Lince watched a cheerful streamer on a livestream speaking with endless passion. It was like watching a stand-up comedy routine.

Inside a "hole-in-the-wall" eatery, Lince was eating a plate of twice-cooked pork with green peppers and a side of bok choy, engrossed in scrolling through videos.

’A game account worth one and a half billion, yet here I am eating at a hole-in-the-wall. Life is tough!’

It was now after work, just past five-thirty.

The residential complex was near a commercial street across the way, so the foot traffic was still quite heavy.

Many young renters were either gathered in small groups over bowls of rice with toppings or, like Lince, had ordered a few dishes. Some had even ordered drinks, all of them excitedly discussing the True Game’s second round of qualification testing.

"Damn it, those old ladies from the neighborhood committee are shameless! They’re handing out eggs to get the elderly to enter the lottery too! I can’t believe it. Even if an old person wins, isn’t that just a waste of a spot? Can they even play games? I’m speechless."

A young man at the next table was speaking loudly, worked up over the ridiculous situation.

"Huh? Is that really happening? You saw it?!"

"Of course I did! The intersection was freaking packed when I passed by on my way home from work! They even had a banner up! Something like ’One person wins a spot, the whole family benefits.’ They really know how to stir things up!"

"What’s so surprising about that? My crappy company told us to work overtime together to enter the lottery, saying whoever gets a spot can become a manager. To hell with their stupid manager position! Do I care about that? If I get a spot, I could go anywhere and be better off! The worst-case scenario is joining the Countermeasures Bureau!"

"Forget me, nobody in the whole company gives a damn about that idiot boss!"

"Haha, that’s right. This is about our personal futures, after all. Even the execs at our company don’t listen to the boss. They secretly tell us to scram the second the workday is over."

"Looks like it’s the same everywhere! At a time like this, it doesn’t matter who’s talking. That’s just human nature, haha."

The six young men all burst out laughing at this.

Lince couldn’t help but laugh as he listened.

It was true. There was still a community banner posted at the entrance to his residential complex.

The Eastern Continent Alliance was completely hands-off now, not even bothering to issue announcements anymore. They were leaving it all up to local, spontaneous initiatives.

After all, something like this was a huge test of human nature, and any announcement could easily be misinterpreted.

If the Human Alliance issued an announcement, the people below would take it as a carte blanche to do whatever they wanted, and who knew how much chaos that would cause. It was better to say nothing at all.

Therefore, it was the Human Union Headquarters, representing all five continents, that made a statement on the matter.

It stated that all citizens of the Human Alliance have the right to privacy and personal freedom, and no one may be forced to participate in the True Game’s qualification lottery.

The Human Alliance would also accept complaints regarding this. In short, during this special period, anyone who dared to feign compliance while acting otherwise would be severely punished.

Additionally, the Human Union Headquarters announced that Players who won a qualification were welcome to join their regional Countermeasures Bureau. Each regional Bureau would equip every Player who joined with a Wisdom Brain Group to assist them in the game.

Furthermore, it mentioned that in the face of the rise of the Extraordinary, the Human Alliance needed the Power of every citizen to overcome these difficult times, and so on.

Simple, and formulaic.

But you had to admit, a lot of young people today actually bought into it.

Responding to the carrot but not the stick was a common trait among most people.

After all, the Human Alliance hadn’t issued any compulsory measures this time, which gave the general public a strong sense of approval.

When it came to winning hearts and minds, the Human Alliance had actually done a pretty good job this time.

Lince listened to the conversations around him for amusement.

Just then, the restaurant owner suddenly stood at the door and shouted.

"Hey, handsome guys and beautiful ladies! It’s five-fifty now, so our kitchen is closed! We’re not taking any more orders! Come back in twenty minutes. Anyway, you all know what’s up! Hope you understand! Sorry, sorry."

The owner said this with a smile, and everyone in the restaurant—those already eating and even those about to order—all laughed.

"We get it, we get it, haha!"

"Haha, Boss, aren’t you going to lose a few hundred by not selling anything for twenty minutes? If you don’t win a spot either, you’ll really be at a loss."

"..."

The crowd was teasing him.

In response, the owner just laughed and offered a few retorts before running to the back kitchen. No doubt he was going to be glued to his phone.

Seeing this, Lince felt inexplicably good.

The ripple effects of the True Game hadn’t caused much of a disturbance in reality at this moment.

In fact, because the Human Alliance had handled this wave of events so well, many people didn’t even bother to hide their intentions.

Needless to say, many people were now openly waiting to grab a qualification. As soon as they got one, they would almost certainly turn around and report to the Human Alliance Countermeasures Bureau.

Of course, there were surely some lone-wolf Players as well.

Maybe it was a fifty-fifty split!

But the people who were still eating out at this time, or even gathered together, were definitely not in that category.

These people clearly trusted the Human Alliance and had no desire to be ’rats hiding in the shadows’.

In the end, it was all thanks to the effective propaganda from the vast number of streamers, video creators, and even official videos online!

Both overtly and covertly, they had indeed influenced a large portion of the populace.

Clearly, the Human Alliance had been exerting its influence in ways most people couldn’t see!

But compared to the potential scene of deserted streets when the game qualifications were released, what Lince really wanted to see was the current reality: this scene of a relaxed environment, same as always.

This was his home planet, after all, and these were his fellow people.

He really didn’t want to see them experience the same chaos as the Game World, or scenes where many people died.

People’s hearts are made of flesh, and Lince didn’t have much malice in his own, which was probably why he felt this way.

Someone else might not have felt the same.

And so, with a smile, Lince continued eating while quietly opening the game’s official website.

Soon, only a few seconds remained on the countdown.

At that moment, Lince noticed the entire restaurant had fallen silent.

Even on the street, no one was walking anymore. It was as if the entire world had come to a complete standstill.

The next moment!!!

"Fuck!!! They were gone in a second!!! Was it even a second?"

"Only three hundred thousand spots! How is that enough for everyone?!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"I got one!!!"

"I got one!!!"

"Awesome!!! Dude, you’re awesome!!!"

"What?! You got one?!!! Let’s see, let us see?!!!"

"..."

The restaurant first erupted in a wave of complaints, followed by a huge, cracking shout.

In an instant, everyone in the restaurant was stirred!

They all crowded around, their gazes a mixture of envy and jealousy!

"Back off! Don’t get so close to my bro! Who knows if you’ll get jealous and try to hurt him!"

"Back! Everyone back up! Let’s maintain a safe distance!"

"That’s right, fellas. Don’t blame us for being unfriendly, but this is about my bro’s future! Keep your distance, thanks for your cooperation."

"..."

The one who had yelled about winning was now surrounded by the other five young men, who had jumped to their feet and quickly formed a circle around their close friend!

They were protecting him completely.

Apparently, the young men had discussed this scenario privately beforehand. Their guard was up.

"What’s with that? Are they guarding against thieves? As if we’re dying to see it."

"Yeah, seriously. It’s three hundred thousand spots every five days. Who knows how many hundred thousand there’ll be next time? It’s not like nobody else will get a chance."

"Sour grapes. You guys can be as salty as you want!"

"Let’s go, guys. Surround ’Haozi’. We’re going straight to the community office. They’ll definitely protect Haozi there."

The group came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

They didn’t even finish their food!

Watching the young men leave, along with the crowd that followed them to see the spectacle,

Lince felt his head fill with question marks.

’Tens of billions of people... maybe not all of them entered the lottery, but at least seven or eight billion, right?’

’And out of three hundred thousand spots, the guy at the table next to me won one?’

’Is my luck really that strong?’

’To the point that it’s starting to affect the people around me?’

Yes, Lince’s first thought wasn’t about how lucky the young man was, but whether he himself was the cause.

Don’t ask why he thought that; Lince’s experiences over the past few days had forced him to think this way.

After all, how else could you explain it?

Out of tens of billions of people, the young man just one table away had been the lucky winner!

Lince felt a sense of helplessness about it.

’Whether it’s true or not, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just one qualification spot; the impact probably isn’t that big.’

Besides, watching the group of young men leave, Lince felt truly envious.

He wasn’t envious of the luck it took to win a spot, but of the camaraderie, that pure sense of loyalty.

Regardless of whether their friendship was mixed with self-interest, judging solely by the way those guys instantly moved to protect their friend the moment the crowd gathered,

in that instant, most of them probably weren’t thinking about personal gain.

’A promise? Loyalty?’

’I just wonder how long it will last.’

’Human nature...’

Moreover, these young men clearly had a relationship like that of classmates, having arranged to meet at this restaurant to enter the qualification lottery together.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been talking about "my company" and "your company" just now.

’The bonds of classmates? Or a sworn brotherhood?’

Lince smiled, sincerely hoping that they could maintain this friendship.

During this time, the restaurant owner was also very excited.

He declared that he had to put up a banner saying something like, "Congratulations to a Customer of This Establishment for Winning a Game Qualification."

You had to hand it to him; the restaurant owner was a real character.

Finally, Lince finished his meal, paid, and started walking back toward his complex, rather than joining the crowd that had gathered to gossip about how lucky those young men were.

There were now only two days left until the game launched.

Lince needed to rest well and train his body.

So, for the next two days, Lince ignored the commotion of the outside world.

He spent his time training his reaction speed for using Character Cards, while also enjoying a few of his favorite games.

It was purely for recreation and also to relieve stress.

And so, on the day the game was about to launch, Lince woke up early at six o’clock.

What Lince didn’t know was that on the previous day, the Human Alliance had discovered a massive, ring-shaped, seven-colored halo in the sky above the Arctic Circle, with a diameter of over fifty kilometers.

The seven-colored halo resembled a projection—it was very faint and unstable, yet it hung steadily in the sky over the Eastern Arctic, less than five hundred meters from the ground.

The Human Alliance had already dispatched a large number of personnel to be stationed there for research and analysis, even mobilizing the military. However, the Human Alliance had not publicized this matter and had deliberately suppressed the news.