Chapter 649: Where Should I Jump?
Arriving at the door, Old P originally wanted to open it and head out, but the system prompted: "To ensure your gaming experience, a round of 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' will begin promptly at 10:15. Please all players prepare and enter uniformly."
Clearly, opening this door meant entering the matchmaking queue, but since the game was currently in its testing phase, everyone still had to wait for a unified start.
Old P paced around the ruins a couple of times, picked up an AKM from the weapon rack, checked the magazine—it was fully loaded.
He moved a bit farther away, then fired a few bursts at the ruins' wall to get a feel for the weapon.
The AKM was an improved version of the AK-47 and a frequent guest in various shooting games. As a hardcore FPS player, Old P had specifically trained with the AK series of firearms.
Following the instructions in the operation manual, Old P familiarized himself with various character actions and the AKM's bullet trajectory.
The character actions were quite diverse, including hip fire, iron sights, left and right leans, seeking cover, blind fire, rolling, diving, and more. Moreover, the recoil from shooting differed depending on whether the character was crouching, standing, or prone.
"Hmm... the trajectory seems more realistic. Is it because of the physics engine?"
While shooting, Old P could feel the vibration of the firearm transmitted to his shoulder area. It wasn't a generic sensation but perfectly matched the weapon's recoil in the game.
At the same time, the weapon's shake visible in his field of view and the bullet holes on the wall were also more realistic, almost resembling real gunfire seen in many foreign videos.
The player character's body template was clearly modeled after the standard of an ordinary soldier. Rolls were very swift, and shooting accuracy was relatively high. Especially when using iron sights while prone, it was almost point-and-shoot.
Of course, this was also because Old P was a seasoned FPS player. For a newcomer, practice would still be needed to reach this level.
Additionally, there were some system settings that players could customize according to personal habits.
However, unlike a PC, the VR gaming pod didn't offer many adjustable settings. Old P glanced over them and found no major issues.
He wanted to look at the operation manual again, but at that moment, a system voice sounded.
"The 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' trial battle is about to begin. Please prepare. You will enter the battlefield in 30 seconds..."
Since it was about to start, Old P stopped wandering around and waited quietly.
Thirty seconds later, the screen before Old P went black, and he arrived in a different scene.
This was a large square with a very open view of the surroundings. Weeds grew thickly on the stone floor, and in the distance, there were shipping containers, caves, and various buildings.
It was clearly a tiny island, also an abandoned place. The lush trees and overgrown weeds indicated that no one had visited here for a long time.
In front of him was a large crowd of players. Most were wearing white vests and jeans—this seemed to be the default outfit. Others wore different clothes, like small suits, shorts, trench coats, etc., which were probably special outfits from the initial supply crates.
These players were male and female, with various appearances, scattered across the entire square. They were all curiously looking around.
"Hey, has the game started? What about the parachuting we were promised?"
"Where is this?"
"Huh? This island is so small. Are we fighting here? It seems like we don't take any damage."
"Hey, there are guns over here!"
This was the famous "Quality Square." It was called that because it really exposed people's quality...
Old P noticed that in the game, you could switch between different voice modes. You could use public voice chat, so all players within a certain range could hear you, or you could use squad voice chat, so only your squad members could hear you.
The players in front of him were running and jumping around in novelty, getting familiar with the game's controls. Some were tirelessly punching other players with their fists, watching them get beaten like punching bags.
The most outrageous thing was that some people were sneakily crouching next to female characters, trying to peek up their skirts...
Old P found that the manual was also carried with him and could be opened and read at any time. Moreover, the manual contained a map, which was the in-game map interface that could be viewed freely.
According to the manual's prompts, this was the preparation area before the game started. Players couldn't be injured here, and the weapons here couldn't be taken out.
A countdown appeared in the upper right corner of the view: 1 minute. Additionally, the in-game player count was displayed, which had already reached 79.
Clearly, all the players in the VR gaming experience area of the store had joined this battle.
However, precisely because it was the preparation phase, many players started causing trouble recklessly. There were various in-game weapons on the tables nearby. Some quick-handed players had already run over, picked up different guns, and started spraying at the crowd.
"This is so boring," Old P said, utterly speechless as he was chased by an idiot with a gun. It wasn't that he was afraid of getting hit; he just wanted to look at the surroundings. But the idiot behind him thought he was scared and got more excited the more he chased.
Old P briefly observed the environment around him.
This small island was in the upper right corner of the entire map and was probably only used as a beginner area. After comparing the area on the map, Old P sighed: The map is huge!
No wonder various vehicles were necessary. Trying to run from one end of the big island to the other would probably break your legs.
At that moment, the countdown in the upper right corner ended. The player count was still fixed at 79. Old P wondered why that one guy hadn't joined—maybe he was playing another VR game.
The scene shifted, and Old P entered the perspective of the airplane.
Everyone was defaulted to being inside the cabin, sitting neatly in two rows. They could freely flip through the instruction manual in their hands or check the map.
On the map, Old P saw that the plane was flying from south to north, but the specific flight path wasn't marked; players had to judge for themselves.
He could switch to third-person follow mode. At that point, the perspective would shift to above the plane, allowing him to observe every corner of the entire island from a bird's-eye view.
Just as marked on the map, this island was very large, and its elements were incredibly rich. There were various locations like an airport, lumberyard, prison, farm, school, hospital, town, shooting range, port, and more.
According to the instruction manual, the abundance of supplies varied by location. Clearly, the richer the resources, the more intense the fighting would be.
However, the manual didn't specify which places had more resources and which had fewer.
"Hmm... so that means no guns will appear in the wilderness. That means I have to go to a town, but I can't choose one with too many people, otherwise the early fights will be too frequent."
Old P was thinking. Although he was confident in his marksmanship, this was still the first round of the game, so it was better to play it safe. If he landed and someone else picked up a gun first, then no matter how good his aim was, it wouldn't matter.
"Where should I jump..." Old P looked at the map, frowning slightly.