Chapter 1136: A Joyous Gathering (Second Update)
This invitation instantly caused a huge uproar, mainly because nobody was prepared for it at all!
The World of Warcraft was in an uproar. The guild channel, general channel, and world channel were all buzzing with discussions about this event. Players who tried using the invitation found themselves teleported straight to Mount Hyjal!
Some raid groups were in the middle of intense progression, with raid leaders patiently explaining boss mechanics, only to see the guild channel flooded with messages. They immediately decided to abandon the raid and collectively used their Hearthstones to return and collect the invitations!
A large group of players suddenly appeared next to the Battlemasters, all sporting the "Deserter" debuff, abandoning the battlegrounds entirely.
Out in the wild, low-level characters whose Hearthstones were still on cooldown were desperately running toward towns. The main issue was that this version didn't have a portable mailbox yet, making it quite inconvenient to receive mail.
Many players who weren't currently logged into World of Warcraft heard the news and quickly exited other games, logging into WoW to check their mailboxes for the invitation.
Those who weren't using the Matrix Game Pod to play were mostly still awake anyway, because today was Double 11. Just past midnight, everyone was busy browsing the Thunder Game Platform, hunting for various "buy one get one free" deals.
Then they noticed a new livestream entry on the Thunder Game Platform. Clicking it open, they were greeted with the scene of Mount Hyjal.
The streamers were also stunned. The top-ranked streams on streaming sites instantly turned into Mount Hyjal scenes, all perfectly uniform, giving the feeling of switching channels at 7 PM and finding nothing but the evening news.
Opening any livestream room on the streaming sites, it was all Mount Hyjal.
...
Zou Zhuo teleported to Mount Hyjal and found it already packed with people.
There were no players from other servers. Although Mount Hyjal was a large zone, it was already overflowing with players from a single server. Some exceptionally large servers might even need a bit of load balancing.
Not only that, but more and more players were continuously teleporting in. With each flash of light, more bewildered players looked around with fresh, curious eyes at the scene before them.
A massive crowd of Orcs, Trolls, Undead, and Tauren gathered together, examining this world like curious children.
"Isn't this a wedding? Where's the wedding?"
"Holy crap, so many people! Hey, over there are some Alliance dogs! Get them! Oh, we can't attack."
"Excuse me, let me through, I want to check out that hillside over there..."
"Hey, this is an Orc base originally. Too many people, the vendors are blocked... There's someone selling booze? Excuse me, I want to get through for a drink..."
Zou Zhuo and the others were in an Orc base, but there was no tense atmosphere. Even the Orc guards had flowers pinned to their chests, and when they spoke, they'd flash their tusks in a smile, creating a very harmonious vibe.
Players had never been to Mount Hyjal before, because in the vanilla 60-era, Mount Hyjal was an unopened zone.
However, everyone was very familiar with the name. In the lore, Illidan had taken a vial of water from the Well of Eternity and created another "Well of Eternity." The World Tree grew in the lake at the summit of Mount Hyjal.
The World Tree, Nordrassil, grew continuously and played a crucial role in saving Azeroth centuries later: during the Burning Legion's invasion and the Battle of Mount Hyjal, they targeted the World Tree. However, the tree, infused with the combined energies of all Azeroth's mortal races, ultimately exploded and killed the demon lord Archimonde, saving the world from the demonic threat.
It could be said that Mount Hyjal held an extremely important historical position in the entire history of Azeroth.
At that moment, Zou Zhuo and the others only had to look up to see the towering canopy of the World Tree, Nordrassil, in the distance.
"Is that the World Tree? It's really tall." Zou Zhuo's Tauren was craning his neck with effort.
"Little Fatty!"
Zou Zhuo turned his head and saw Lin Xue and several other guild friends arriving as well. In such a lively scene, it wasn't easy to accurately find a friend, but luckily the minimap had markers.
"I heard there's a human camp and a night elf village over there. Want to go check them out?" Lin Xue suggested.
Many people who had just arrived at Mount Hyjal were running around looking for the wedding, but couldn't find it. When they asked the NPCs, they learned it hadn't started yet and wouldn't begin until 1 o'clock. This was clearly to give players who were still running dungeons or doing quests enough time to catch the grand event.
But even without a wedding to watch, it didn't mean the players had nothing to do. They could happily enjoy a day trip to Mount Hyjal.
Mount Hyjal simultaneously housed an Alliance camp, a Horde camp, and a night elf village, serving as landing points for different players. Besides the regular NPC guards, each camp also had faction leaders like Jaina, Thrall, Tyrande, Malfurion, and so on.
Normally, players from opposing factions would find it very difficult to see these leaders.
However, within Mount Hyjal, Alliance and Horde players could move around freely, with a default peace state that prevented any fighting. A bunch of Horde players were already crowding around Tyrande and Jaina for screenshots. The only pity was that Sylvanas didn't seem to have arrived yet, so there couldn't be a peak showdown of beauty.
Zou Zhuo and the others also wandered curiously around the human camp, watching farmers chop wood, observing Alliance soldiers patrol, and even going into the human inn for a drink.
It was quite a spectacle. In the human inn, a group of Dwarves and a group of Tauren were competing in drinking, neither side willing to back down.
Of course, the language barrier was still an unsolvable problem. Players couldn't enjoy the cross-racial communication treatment that Thrall and Jaina had. So when Zou Zhuo was drinking with a Dwarf player, he could only moo "Moo moo moo" while gesturing vigorously. Luckily, having only three fingers didn't stop him from playing Rock, Paper, Scissors.
But drinking and playing finger games was out of the question. That was a natural disability. Shouting things like "Five champions!" "Six-six-six!" or "Brothers together!" was useless due to the language barrier, and finger games were even worse. Zou Zhuo was at a huge disadvantage.
Besides these, there were all sorts of entertainment activities in the open spaces, making Lin Xue and the others' eyes spin.
The sky above the fireworks display area was pitch black, with brilliant fireworks blooming continuously in the air.
The Darkmoon Faire had cordoned off a special area for circus performances. Players could freely participate and even experience many bizarre activities, like the human cannonball.
There were many vendors selling roses. If you bought one and gave it to a girl, and she accepted it, both would receive a Heart buff.
A large crowd of players had gathered near the pet battle area. Although players couldn't battle, they could watch NPC pet battles and even bet gold coins, though the maximum bet was 10 gold, and they could only guess the winner or loser.
In the distance, a vendor was selling Frost Shock Guns. Players could buy one for 50 silver coins and use it for snowball fights.
There was also a vendor who clearly didn't know the meaning of "consequences," selling "Ex-Boyfriend/Ex-Girlfriend Dummies." Using one would spawn a training dummy for players to practice their DPS. Zou Zhuo watched helplessly as this vendor was dragged into a small, dark room by two guards less than ten minutes after starting sales, his fate unknown...