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Chapter 33: New Version Opened
January 9th, the day before the version update.
Matthias Engel had just returned from grocery shopping; they were having hotpot tonight to prepare for tomorrow's version update. Internal testing had been done through several rounds these past few days, and no issues had been found yet. Outside, it was snowing heavily. In a German winter, eating a warm, bubbling hotpot in a cozy apartment was perfect.
"Are you having hotpot?" Sophie Morgen asked in surprise, a smile on her face as she walked in.
"Yes, do you want some?"
"Yes, then I don't need to order takeout."
So Matthias started to heat water in the pot, while Sophie helped prepare the vegetables. After dozens of minutes of bustling, the two finally sat down to eat.
"How has Lena been recently?" Matthias asked.
"She's still filming on set. Director Kevin has very high standards, and she doesn't want to disappoint him, so she practices her lines diligently in her free time every day. I really hope this movie sells well; I feel like my agency is about to collapse."
"Is the situation that bad?"
"The artists under contract are all lukewarm, so no one is willing to sign with us. Many people have left in the past few days, and it's hard to keep going. When you were a top executive, you could still introduce some jobs to our company, but now it's all up to fate."
"You should have said so earlier."
"Hmm?" Sophie looked at him with a suspicious gaze, "You, in your current state, can still introduce jobs to our company?"
Matthias smiled, "Although I am no longer in the center of the industry, my legend still circulates. Although I'm not a CEO right now, I still have some connections. Lukas Weber, the boss of Unreal Company—we've cooperated before, and we're old friends. It'll definitely be no problem for him to introduce some work."
"Really?"
"Really, I'll make a call and ask him in a bit."
Matthias went to the bedroom, called Lukas, and discussed the matter. Soon after, he walked out of the room, and Sophie looked at him with anticipation.
"How is it, Matthias~~"
"Don't use such a mushy tone. It's settled. The new Pirates of the Caribbean update will have many offline events across Germany, all requiring female artists for promotional performances. While taking on this job, your artists can also do live streams."
"Wow!!! That's great, as expected of Matthias~~"
"Uh... don't use reduplicative words. This is Lukas's phone number; you can contact him to discuss the event details."
"OK!"
Upon hearing this good news, the gloom in Sophie's heart was swept away, and her face was beaming with happiness. After eating, Matthias returned to his bedroom and turned on his computer. Today, the new Pirates of the Caribbean version was already available for pre-download, a total of 20GB. He started the download using his Game Producer System modules to monitor the global traffic.
An hour later, the download was complete. The game would begin update maintenance at midnight, expected to last ten hours, and officially open at 10 AM! At the same time, Unreal Company released an update blue post containing the specific content.
Currently, many streamers were live-streaming and interpreting the content. Lena Morgen, or Leni as her fans knew her, was no exception. She opened the post and saw a part that interested her.
"The Necromancer class is good; it comes with a fear removal skill, which gives it a big advantage in PVP."
"The second-tier professions are: Necromancer Warrior, Necromancer, Necromancer Mage, Necromancer Rogue."
"Wow, it's getting more and more fantasy-like, haha, I like it."
At this point, a bullet comment asked: "Leni, are you going to create a new Necromancer character?"
Leni shook her head, "I'll still use my original Pirate Duelist. I'll level a Necromancer character when I have time. The main thing is that with the new version, players from other regions are joining, and resource competition will be very fierce, so my idea is to experience the content of this expansion pack first."
"Leni, the Treasure Vault is out. How much would your legendary equipment be worth if you sold it?"
"A few thousand Euros, I guess, but I don't plan to sell it for now; it's still useful during the pioneering stage."
During this period, the Unreal Treasure Vault, the officially designated offline trading app, was launched. Many players who played for profit flocked into the game, hoping to get rich. After her stream, Leni said, "That's all for today. We'll start pioneering together at 10 AM tomorrow. See you all there!"
That night, Matthias was busy with the Game Producer System's docking and debugging work to ensure that there would be no problems with the server launch. After a busy night, it was finally past nine in the morning. There were ten minutes until the server opened.
Christian Li was one such player. As a casual player in Hamburg, he started playing Pirates of the Caribbean relatively late. The first time he saw someone playing in a gaming café, he was deeply attracted. As a dropout, he had no academic qualifications, but his gaming skills were decent, and he could support himself by being a companion player. After getting into the game, he became obsessed. He chose the Adventurer class and specialized as a Treasure Hunter, earning a lot of money. Especially after the Treasure Vault app was launched, his income increased significantly.
He glanced at the time. "It's 9:59. The server will open in one minute."
"Is that so? I'll go check it out too," someone nearby said. Almost half of the café was playing Pirates of the Caribbean.
"Brothers, get ready to enter the game!" "Pirates of the Caribbean, launch!"
As soon as ten o'clock arrived, players clicked login. There was no queue; the server was incredibly powerful. After Christian logged in, the interface displayed his character.
Character name: Christian, Level 40 Treasure Hunter.
He owned a precious two-masted sailboat, with 16 cannons. The ship was named Love Heart. He acquired it during an adventure after completing a hidden quest. This ship was his most expensive piece of equipment. Someone once offered him 12,000 Euros for the account and ship, but he didn't sell it.
Christian entered the game world and appeared on a deserted island where he had logged off. Opening the world map, a large shaded area appeared; the entire Caribbean Sea only occupied one-ninth of the map.
"This map expansion is too terrifying. As a Treasure Hunter, the first thing to do is fully uncover the map."
Opening World Channel 998, he saw texts in various languages.
"Hello!" "Guten Tag!" "F*ck!"
It was full of chaos, so he switched to the regional channel. Next to Christian stood a high-quality hound named Bello. Capturing wild beasts was a unique characteristic of Treasure Hunters. He hoped that with this new version, he would be able to catch some legendary pets.
He sailed his ship towards Royal Port. Today, the port was bustling with people. Christian went to the Port Administrator.
"Hello, can I travel to other sea areas now?"
"Yes, our Royal Port has opened two new shipping routes: the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Here are the maps; take them."
Ultimately, he chose the closest: the Atlantic Ocean. After buying supplies at Royal Port, he set off. Along the way, he encountered other ships choosing the same route. However, ahead, a large three-masted sailboat leading a fleet was blocking the path. The sailboat bore the emblem of the KT Pirate Alliance.
A huge banner hung from the hull: "The Atlantic Ocean is temporarily closed for passage. Please proceed to other areas! If you trespass without permission, we will open fire!"