Chapter 677: The Vastest Game World!

Inside the old shop, there was no longer just a single grand screen available for watching livestreams; instead, every few adjacent sub-zones now shared a communal lounge, complete with a shared broadcast screen.

As far as the Cultivation Continent was concerned, it was clearly ready for the addition of other regional subordinate branches, yet none had been established thus far, leaving only the space-folded, territory-level sub-zones within the main shop.

Meanwhile, in the new establishment, Boss Fang had expanded the capacity to twenty thousand computers in a single stroke this time, a feat that had evidently drained an immense amount of the system's energy.

Mirroring the folded space of the old shop, it was divided into ten sub-zones, but because most were currently unnecessary, Boss Fang had not yet opened them to the public, keeping the active computers in the new shop at the steady level of two thousand.

And at this particular hour, the shop was just barely reaching full capacity.

...

On another front, far away in the Yuanwang City shop.

"Should we report this to the higher-ups... how is it that the mystic realm of this forgotten continent... appears even more formidable than those back in our realm?!" Two emissaries, draped in imposing black cloaks that lent them an air of commanding presence, hailed precisely from that distant place... the fabled realm where the ancient sects had "ascended."

"Let us first see what this 'World of Warcraft' is all about!" the portly emissary remarked. "If it matches the grandeur of the other mystic realms... we must naturally send word back!"

...

The following day at noon.

Across both the new and old shops, whether they were currently engrossed in their games or still waiting for an available terminal, everyone had gathered within the lounge areas.

In the Canglan City branch, some had gone so far as to rent out the magical projection spaces in White Pigeon Square to avoid any obstruction to their view, broadcasting the entire event live.

"It is close!" Elder Thork of the dwarves glanced at the time. "Ten seconds remaining."

By now, a vast crowd had swarmed before the massive screens of the new shop.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

"..."

Bolstered by their unwavering faith born from *Assassin's Creed* and *The Legend of Sword and Fairy*, these veteran players of the new shop were clearly brimming with anticipation for this new title, their voices joining together in a resounding countdown.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"It has begun, it has begun!"

"Look, quickly!"

Sudden exclamations rang out as imagery swiftly manifested upon the grand screens.

It was an ancient, somewhat yellowed map.

Drawn upon the parchment were two colossal continents, and at the absolute center of these landmasses lay a swirling maelstrom that seemed to engulf the entirety of the ocean.

"Four years have passed since the mortal races stood together and bound their fates against the might of the Burning Legion." As the voice narrated with deliberate cadence, it felt as though a magnificent chapter of history was slowly unfurling its curtains. "Though Azeroth was saved, the fragile pact between the Horde and the Alliance has all but evaporated. The drums of war thunder once again."

The prologue of *World of Warcraft* naturally did not commence directly with the war against the Burning Legion; though grand campaigns had preceded it, the narrative now began with the friction between the Alliance and the Horde, progressing steadily from the surface into the depths.

As that immense map faded away, the peak of a snow-clad mountain revealed the face of a dwarf.

"Oh! Why is that man's nose so remarkably large?!" The patrons of the old shop had clearly never laid eyes upon such a person before.

The camera slowly pulled back, revealing a dwarf indeed, his long brown beard woven into tight braids, his muscles knotted like gnarled wood, clad in leather armor, and holding a rifle that stood nearly taller than himself.

"Is this the dwarven race?!" Elder Thork bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Oh! I could never mistake it, this is surely one of our kinsmen! Though he appears a trifle too short! Yet, he is immensely strong!"

Beside the dwarf paced a brown bear, roaring fiercely as it accompanied him step by step through the driving blizzard.

Nestled between the distant mountains, a colossal fortress could still be discerned.

"This mystic realm... could it be tailored specifically for us dwarves?" Elder Thork roared with laughter. "There are dwarves! I must certainly try this mystic realm!"

The scene shifted abruptly to a dense woodland, where a night elf clad in exquisite light armor, her skin a striking blue-gray, cast her gaze left and right. With an agility that made it seem as though she had detected the vast crowd of onlookers watching her, she dashed away.

"Is that an elf?!" The elven maiden, Xera, murmured in bewilderment. "Why is her skin a shade of blue-gray?"

"Furthermore, this elf's ears are so long and pointed!" Irina, observing closely from the rear, meticulously recalled the ears of all the elves she knew, yet she had never encountered any so elongated and sharp. "How can there be such elves?"

The night elf bounded gracefully through the forest before leaping forward, transforming remarkably into a fierce tiger.

"Ah! Could it be that this elf was originally a tiger?!"

How could I be unaware that our elven race possesses kinsfolk with such blue-gray skin?!

A gathering of elves watched on, their faces filled with sheer astonishment.

Upon a progressively withering landscape, a decaying, corpse-like foot stepped onto the soil. Flames seemed to ignite gradually across the ground, and the earth, which had previously retained a vestige of green, immediately rotted away, turning into a desolate, ash-black expanse of death.

Looking upward, one beheld a skeletal countenance, backed by an infernal that loomed like a small mountain, burning with radiant green flames and unleashing a sky-shaking roar.

"What in the world is that?!" The crowd had clearly never witnessed the undead race before.

"Ah! Look quickly!" Upon the screen, a creature clad in full armor, possessing the body of a man but the head of a bull, slowly stretched its frame.

In the distance, the sun rose as usual. Peering down from the precipice beneath those massive hooves lay a magnificent vista of mountains and rivers, painted in shades of purple by the morning glow. The valleys rolled and the rivers meandered, offering a landscape of truly unparalleled beauty.

"This one feels somewhat resembling..."

"Is this the orc race?!"

"Hahaha, this orc must surely be considered hideous even among his own kind!"

"Hey! Look, a mage!" Adolf, possessed of sharp vision, spotted a human mage upon the screen. With roaring flames dancing in his palms, he engaged the towering infernal in combat, frost gathering across his hands as a howling blizzard raged alongside the furious winds.

To think that every single race was represented?!

And yet...

This trailer seemed merely to introduce that various races could find their corresponding identities within this mystic realm... but...

Wherein lay the superiority of this mystic realm compared to the others?

Could its sole advantage reside in the freedom to choose different races?

A good number of people remained quite perplexed.

Right at that moment...

"Come and look! There is a game introduction on the official website here!" Someone quickly noticed that an official website for *World of Warcraft* had appeared within the shop and hastily clicked it open.

"*World of Warcraft* is a virtually complete world. Here, you can accomplish nearly most of the deeds you could perform in real life (though not all), whether it be journeying across the entire continent, exploring the unknown, or living out a life as a chosen race of this world."

As was universally acknowledged, whether it was *The Legend of Sword and Fairy* or other titles, even if the sword-riding technique allowed one to traverse thousands of miles in an instant, the game would absolutely never permit you to circumnavigate the entire globe; restrictions existed in that regard.

*Dungeon & Fighter* required no further mention.

But *World of Warcraft* was different; if one possessed sufficient patience, they could literally walk across the entire planet!

Judging from the map, the entire globe held two unimaginably vast continents, which meant that this mystic realm would be expansive beyond anyone's wildest dreams! The territory available for player activity could potentially equal that of an actual planet—at the very least, a minor one.

Furthermore, this game world was inhabited by entities... existing far above the realm of mortals.

Simultaneously, the official website announced that the maximum daily gaming allowance had been extended by two hours, introducing a "daily time limit overdraft" mechanism. Following this extension, if a player found their ten-hour limit insufficient for the day, they could overdraft time from the subsequent day.

Naturally, this was intended solely for exceptional circumstances; utilizing the next day's time on a perpetual, daily basis was an absolute impossibility.

Concurrently, the shop's operating hours were to be adjusted, effectively shortening the daily non-business period.

The new information in the shop merely unveiled a vast, boundless game—a mystic realm—and the existence of diverse races; it was as though...

Another nearly complete world lay waiting, yet undiscovered by mankind.

As for what could be gained within the game, or what secrets remained concealed...

That was for the players to explore on their own.

"This is..." Everyone shared a sense of sheer disbelief.

A mystic realm... could it truly achieve something of this magnitude?!

"Inconceivable..."

"If it really is possible..." Sera, the young elven maiden, could not help but gasp. "Does that mean during the day I turn into one of those blue-grey skinned elves inside the realm, and at night, when I step out of the shop, I change back...?

"Then which kind of elf am I supposed to be?!"

.