Ch 140: The World’s Number One Resort

“This is the forty standard editions and ten rainbow editions that you requested.” Sun Dahe waited for a short while in the experience store before a Sora store clerk kindly brought out the fifty Great Tang VR glasses.

He had ordered a mix of standard and rainbow versions, totaling $32,400, approximately 190,000 yuan. That amount wasn’t small. Sun Dahe didn’t have enough funds and had to make two calls to his friends to scrape together the amount.

“This is impulsive,” Sun Dahe sighed as he looked at the two stacks of VR glasses piled high.

He had been working as an agent for overseas purchases for three years, usually buying goods with the customers’ money. This was the first time he was using his own money to stock up on products.

“Hope to see you again,” the clerk said. Sun Dahe’s order was quite large, so after he paid a certain fee, employees from Great Tang helped transport the goods to Sora Port. After nearly a year of development, the port now had a sizable warehouse next to the beach.

The warehouse stored Great Tang fruits, supermarket goods, and various luxury items. The staff loaded Sun Dahe’s products into a sky-blue container, specifically reserved for the Great Tang No. 1 ship. Sun Dahe’s vacation would end in three days, just in time to leave with the ship.

“Fifty units… Could this be a promotional stunt?”

“No way, it looks fun enough to be worth it.”

From the moment Sun Dahe made his purchase to when he took his goods, everything happened in a whirlwind. Thirty minutes later, Sun Dahe left, leaving the other tourists stunned. $190,000 was not a trivial amount, and buying so many at once was extremely shocking.

“Uh, can we still try them out?” A few curious tourists approached the Sora AI. After the commotion, their interest in the VR glasses grew stronger.

“You’re welcome to try,” the AI responded patiently. With that, many more tourists lined up for a trial.

An eerie old mansion, a cemetery in the town, an ancient bed with a decaying smell… Over the next three hours, tourists experienced a variety of spooky storylines. This was only a fraction of the [Haunted Town] game, barely 1% of all the content.

“Pack three for me.”

“Do you have any rainbow editions left? I’ll take two…”

“Is there a warranty? If it breaks, do we send it back to Great Tang?”

It was 5 a.m. in Sora, and after trying [Haunted Town], the tourists were completely won over.

Compared to the cost of travel, spending a few hundred or a thousand dollars wasn’t much. The tourists placed their orders, and even the more timid ones decided to buy a pair. Though they might be too scared to play, they could always gift it to a friend.

Thus, following the popularity of Great Tang fruits, the VR glasses became one of the best-selling souvenirs from Great Tang Resort.

“Manager Tang, last night we sold a total of 1,023 glasses in the physical store, 95% of which were purchased by Chinese tourists. This morning, several European Union tourists also arrived at the store…” The next morning, in Sora’s office building, Tang Huai was reviewing the recent financial reports while the AI secretary reported.

A total of 35,708 units had been pre-ordered. The shipment had left yesterday and was now entering Hawaiian waters. The glasses were expected to arrive at the port around 3 p.m., after which they would be sorted and shipped by the airline, making the entire process efficient and convenient.

The production at the Great Tang factory was efficient, but due to limited space and the high maintenance costs of the equipment, only 10,000 pairs of glasses could be produced each day.

“Should we impose a purchase limit?” Xie Yunshu, who was preparing a development report nearby, asked Tang Huai upon hearing the secretary’s report. While 10,000 units sounded like a lot, it was still just a drop in the bucket when compared to the global market.

To keep the market stable, they might have to implement limits, similar to what they did with Great Tang fruits.

“No need for now,” Tang Huai replied after a brief thought, closing the report.

Great Tang fruits were limited because of their low production and slow harvesting speed. As for the VR glasses… there would certainly be a need to limit purchases eventually, but for now, it was better to focus on promoting the fruits.

“How is the situation with Inda Airlines?” Tang Huai made a few annotations, then asked.

Chris and his team had left early in the morning, accompanied by five aircraft inspectors sent by Tang Huai. According to the schedule, they should have arrived by now.

“QA has undergone basic inspection; there are no visible exterior issues. Further testing will take seven days… Inda is currently negotiating with various airports. According to their communications, securing contracts with the airports shouldn’t be a problem,” the secretary reported dutifully.

“Thank you,” Tang Huai nodded earnestly. Sora’s secretary, an AI assistant, had proven to be highly competent.

With the partnership with Inda Airlines on track and the Sora Dungeon under construction, the main task now was to focus on the Great Tang VR glasses.

As for the glasses’ market success, it would all depend on the reviews from the first batch of pre-order customers…

…

“You’re downstairs? Okay, I’ll come down to get it now.” In the midst of the frantic construction at the Great Tang Resort, a young man in his twenties with dyed yellow hair was on the phone while heading downstairs from his apartment in the Spring Community in Hangzhou.

The yellow-haired man lived in Unit 7, Apartment A on the third floor. Unlike typical residential buildings, the walls in Apartment A were only plastered with putty; there was no living room or bedroom. What should have been the living room was filled with seven computer desks. A banner reading “Heaven rewards diligence” hung on the upper right wall.

At the desks, a few unkempt men were munching on chips while gaming away with their hands.

This was a small gaming studio that mainly focused on game-boosting services. Including the yellow-haired guy, there were seven people working in this studio.

The yellow-haired man went downstairs and soon returned, carrying seven tablet-sized boxes.

“I’m back,” he called out, using his foot to nudge the door open before placing the packages on the floor, panting slightly.

“Whoa, Old Huang, you’re pretty quick!”

“Lunch is on me today.”

“So these are the Great Tang VR glasses? It’s really popular online. Maybe we can save up for a few months and visit the resort during the National Day holiday.”

The other six, like cats catching a whiff of fish, put down their work and gathered around, curiosity piqued. They were a ragtag group, mainly offering boosting services for mobile games like Cultivation World and Battle Dynasty, two of the most popular games on the market.

As game boosters, they were keenly aware of market trends. After Haunted Town was released, they discussed it among themselves and felt that the game had potential. Without hesitation, they placed an order to buy the glasses.

Of course, that was just the official excuse they gave.

The real reason was that they just wanted to play… Great Tang Resort had become a hit on social media platforms like Douyin. They couldn’t visit the resort in person, but buying a gaming device was certainly doable.

“This is a single-player online game. If it plays well, we could consider offering boosting services,” one of them said as they began to unbox the glasses, falling back into their professional habits.

“It’s really a VR headset, and the material feels nice.”

“Here’s the manual, available in both Chinese and English. The seller is pretty thoughtful.”

“Let me see, it supports up to seven players in co-op mode… How about we try the multiplayer mode?”

As they continued chatting, they opened the boxes. When the boxes were finally open, the group paused for a moment, then started discussing. The Great Tang glasses came in simple packaging, containing just a paper manual and the glasses themselves.

They had bought the $388 standard edition.

The Great Tang glasses looked just as advertised—sleek lines and a clean, sophisticated design. The seven of them had tried numerous VR gaming devices before, but this one seemed to carry a distinct sense of elegance.

“Not bad! Looks better than my $5000 one,” said the yellow-haired man as he inspected the glasses, giving a thumbs-up. A hardcore gaming enthusiast, he had bought a VR headset for home use earlier that year. It had looked nice, but after prolonged use, the visuals became distorted. He felt like he had wasted his $5000…

“How about a round?” Yellow Hair suggested as the other six finished reading the instructions. Haunted Town used illustrated guides, and according to the instructions, they just needed to put on the VR glasses and press the operation button.

The entire setup was very simple.

“Sure.”

“I’ve got a Cultivation World job coming up, so I can only play for half an hour.”

“Let’s give it a try first.”

After the suggestion was made, the others nodded in agreement. They took a couple of bites of their chips, sat down, and put on the glasses. Yellow Hair found a spot near the window, adjusted himself a bit, and then pressed the start button.

“Ding! Welcome to Haunted Town.”

As soon as Yellow Hair pressed the button, a pleasant female voice echoed. Suddenly, it felt like he was floating, appearing in a fog-covered square.

“This special effect… Is Great Tang’s game really this amazing?”

Yellow Hair steadied himself. He had seen Douyin videos of the Great Tang Resort during his free time. According to the explanations from tourists, besides real-world attractions like Blue Sea Lake and Sky Forest, virtual reality was also used in places like Sora Cinema and Stroke of the brush. Although he hadn’t personally experienced these, he had a general understanding of the game mode from others’ reviews.

“Iris scan completed. Welcome, formal player.”

“Please enter your in-game nickname.”

As Yellow Hair looked around, a 3D interface as tall as a person appeared in front of him. It displayed an introduction to Haunted Town and the game’s tutorial.

Yellow Hair typed: “Big Foxy Huang.”

“Ding! Input invalid. Limit to five characters.”

Yellow Hair shrugged and re-entered: “Huang Xiaoming.”

“Entry successful. Initial gift of 100 coins granted. Enjoy your game.” After his input, the system prompted again. In an instant, the interface in front of Yellow Hair refreshed.

Player Nickname: Huang Xiaoming.

Age Check: 19

Game Mode: Formal

Backpack: 0

Account Balance: 100 Coins (Exchange Rate: 1 USD = 1 Coin)

Game Friends: None

The interface resembled the personal screen in Cultivation World.

“Detected within 500m range: Dabai Bai, Sun Buer, Tiaoliang, and three other players. Invite to team up?”

Yellow Hair examined the options, and then the system notification popped up again. Dabai Bai and Sun Buer were some of his friends. He clicked to invite all of them.

“Enter game?”

“Yes.”

Once all the setup was complete, a selection box appeared. Without hesitation, Yellow Hair chose “Yes.”

“In Qingze Town, Jiangnan City, China, there was once a peaceful and beautiful place called Yunsong Town…”

“In the summer of 20xx, Huang Xiaoming, Sun Buer, and others boarded the K872 train to Jinghai. Due to a mid-route failure, the train was forced to halt for repairs. Driven by immense curiosity, Huang Xiaoming, Sun Buer, and the others disregarded the conductor’s warnings and jumped off the K872. Thus began a mysterious adventure for the group.”

“Hoo hoo—”

In an instant, a deep, ominous narration sounded. Simultaneously, Yellow Hair and his six friends found themselves standing beside an aged train station. The group was dressed in flamboyant short-sleeved shirts, carrying military-green shoulder bags. No matter how they looked at it, there was an undeniable “country bumpkin” vibe…

“Did we just time travel?” The group scanned their surroundings and then glanced at each other, bewildered expressions on their faces.

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