That evening, members of the production team received a notification: “At 9:00 AM tomorrow morning, the first internal test will commence at the Gaming Pod Experience Center on the 20th floor of Building A. Everyone is welcome to participate.”

The employees were buzzing with excitement upon seeing the news. Because each team had been working in isolation, no one really knew the progress of the game as a whole. Intelligent NPCs were a novel attempt in the gaming industry; surely, they would take a long time to develop. Who would have thought that in just three months, such a massive intelligent AI system would already be completed?

Ye Xiang immediately posted in the copywriting team’s group chat: “Everyone saw the company notice, right? Suspend your current work tomorrow; everyone is going to participate in the internal test.”

Staff members in the group replied one after another: “Received!”

Similarly, the leads of the Art and Programming departments notified their respective teams. This internal test couldn’t rely solely on the testing team. The reactions of the intelligent NPCs when facing players were still an unknown variable; the larger the player sample size, the more refined the system could become.

At the same time, the employees at Qihang also received the testing notice.

At 9:00 AM the next day, the game experience center on the 20th floor of Building A in the Nanyang Park was packed with employees waiting to test, rows of hundreds of gaming pods standing ready. The two bosses were present in person.

Xie Yunfan said, “Everyone, find a gaming pod and start the game. The installation package is already downloaded.”

He and Luo Hang were the first to lie down in pods A1 and A2.

This was the beginner internal test version. The opening cinematic hadn’t loaded yet; opening the game led straight to the login interface. Everyone quickly entered their information to create accounts, and then they saw the six character options. Some chose the Crown Prince to engage in defensive court battles, some chose the palace maids, and others, driven by curiosity, chose the imperial concubines.

Luo Hang chose the court-line character, “Seventh Prince Qi Rui,” and entered the game.

Right at the start, a eunuch came to notify him: “His Majesty’s decree: All princes are requested to gather in front of Tai’an Hall at 7:00 AM on the sixth day of the third month to participate in the spring hunt.”

The system displayed a palace map with the location of “Tai’an Hall” marked—the newcomer tutorial was quite well done. Next came archery and horse-riding training; Luo Hang learned by following the system’s prompts.

One had to admit, the immersive experience of the holographic game was incredibly realistic, and the art and modeling were outstanding. The horses in the game were almost 100% recreations of real ones. Luo Hang had never ridden a horse before, so practicing riding and archery in the game was quite fun.

There were three days left before the first hunt. Luo Hang practiced his archery well and arrived at the destination on time. Eight princes, along with many officials and guards, marched in a mighty procession to the “West Suburb Hunting Grounds” outside the capital.

The Emperor loved riding and archery, and this hunting ground was a royal preserve he had specially fenced off; it was vast and teeming with wild animals. Once the hunting activity began, the Emperor declared, “In this hunt, whoever bags the most prey will receive a reward.”

The princes rushed into the forest in unison, and Luo Hang followed on horseback. He was riding through the forest, searching for prey, when suddenly, the sharp sound of a projectile breaking the air rang out from behind him. Before Luo Hang could react, he felt a sharp pain in his chest—

The screen in front of him suddenly went black.

Immediately after, two lines of system prompts popped up:

【You were inadvertently struck by an arrow and died.】

【Game Over】

Luo Hang: “…………”

No way. He hadn’t even survived the first chapter! He was dead just like that? Who fired the arrow??

Luo Zong, playing a plot-based role-playing game for the first time, lay in the gaming pod, utterly bewildered. A moment later, he couldn’t help but chuckle—this game Yunfan made was really intense!

Once the game ended, it returned to the login interface. Luo Hang chose to restart. Again. He didn’t believe it; he hadn’t done anything yet, so how could he have been mysteriously shot to death?

At the same time, Hu Fei from the testing team chose the high-difficulty “Consort De” route in the inner palace. This Consort De was once highly favored but was later framed, leading the Emperor to banish her to the Cold Palace.

Hu Fei excitedly muttered to himself: “I’ve been playing games for over ten years, and I’ve even been a professional booster for several years. For a hardcore gamer like me, no survival game is too difficult!”

Hu Fei: “Bring it on! Starting at the highest difficulty! I’m going to be the first one to beat the game.”

However, the moment he entered the game, he shivered from the gloomy, bone-chilling environment.

“Achoo!” Hu Fei rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. “Holy crap, the environmental effects are so realistic? I’m freezing to death! Is there anything to warm up with?”

Beside him, a maid said, “Your Ladyship, those slaves in the Internal Affairs Office with eyes higher than their heads not only cut off our charcoal supply, but the food they sent is also spoiled…” She started crying as she spoke: “Your Ladyship, you are still recovering from a serious illness. What are we going to do if this continues!”

Hu Fei: “…”

What to do? Hu Fei was just as lost. A plot-based survival game was indeed quite brain-burning. How was he supposed to get out of being locked in the Cold Palace? He looked everywhere, shouting, “Is anyone there? Is anyone there?”

But no one paid him any mind, no matter how much he screamed. The walls around him were too high to climb, and besides, he was still “sick.”

Time in the game passed quickly. Three days flashed by, and the system popped up a prompt:

【Starving and freezing in the Cold Palace, you eventually pass away from illness.】

【Game Over】

Hu Fei: “…”

How is this even playable?! The starting point was being locked in a freezing place like a prison, with no food, no charcoal for heat, and he was already sick. Was there even a way for the player to survive? Was this hell-level difficulty?

Hu Fei was unwilling to accept this and restarted to try again.

The morning passed in a flash. At exactly 12:00 PM, a prompt from “Little Sailboat” appeared in the game: “Dear colleagues, it’s lunchtime. Let’s pause for now and continue in the afternoon after eating.”

The colleagues who were immersed in the story were stunned. Boss, you suddenly popped up to send a notification and scared us! Time had passed so quickly without them realizing it? They hadn’t even played to their hearts’ content yet!

Everyone climbed out of the pods and went downstairs to eat. Luo Hang sat up, looked at Xie Yunfan—who was calm after sending the message with administrative rights—and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Yunfan, did you beat the game?”

Xie Yunfan said, “No. How about you? How long did you survive?”

Luo Hang sighed helplessly: “I tried all six characters… none of them survived the first chapter.”

Xie Yunfan touched his nose with a light chuckle: “Then I’m slightly better than you. I played the Crown Prince route and eliminated four princes who threatened me, but I didn’t expect to be secretly poisoned by a maid beside me.”

Luo Hang: “…”

A game that even the Chief Designer couldn’t beat was certainly challenging. Xie Yunfan gestured to him, “Let’s go, let’s eat first.”

In the restaurant downstairs, employees came in twos and threes after testing to have lunch. Everyone was excitedly discussing the game experience they had just had—

“This game is interesting, I didn’t survive a single day!”

“I froze to death in the Cold Palace. Damn, how do you break out of the Cold Palace line?”

“I played the palace maid line; these NPCs all have eight hundred hidden motives.”

“I played the princess and died repeatedly. I don’t know which bastard is trying to kill me; it’s too scary.”

“The Prince line is even more terrifying; everyone wants to kill me!”

Listening to everyone’s enthusiastic discussions, Xie Yunfan smiled slightly and said with satisfaction: “It seems the game’s immersive experience is doing well; everyone is quite drawn into the roles.”

Luo Hang said: “The sample size isn’t enough now. To be safe, we should test it a few more times.”

Xie Yunfan nodded: “Hmm. After the internal test, we’ll fix the obvious bugs. For the second test, we can recruit some players. I plan to find 1,000 players for a large-scale test.” Players had very active minds and would certainly have many unexpected “wild maneuvers.” Choosing 1,000 players to test again would make it easier to find some strange and bizarre bugs.

That afternoon, the employees entered the gaming pods to test again. Even Ye Xiang from the copywriting team, knowing the plot settings in advance, couldn’t beat the game in one go. He discovered that these intelligent NPCs, after learning, had terrifying thinking abilities and initiative. They would make unexpected moves based on the player’s favorability level. On the inner-palace line, he had already taken out the Empress and Consort Xiao and become the head of the six palaces, yet he was still tricked to death by an NPC. He was truly speechless.

After the test ended, Xie Yunfan asked the testing team to summarize everyone’s opinions and suggestions. Some brought up the issue of “time flowing too slowly.” If players wanted to achieve the goal of becoming Emperor or Empress in the game, it wouldn’t be done in two or three days—it required years of meticulous planning. The time flow in the game had to be accelerated; otherwise, playing one round was too exhausting.

Others found issues like building clipping, character clipping, and plot lag. Some also discovered that certain intelligent NPCs would repeat some lines over and over, like “brain-damaged repeaters”—a phenomenon especially prominent among the maids and eunuchs in the inner palace.

Xie Yunfan collected all the feedback and asked the programming and modeling teams to hurry up and make changes. The AI for important characters had already been trained for a period of time, while roles with less screen time, like maids and guards, were not yet intelligent enough and needed to continue learning.

At the same time, the animation team’s promotional trailers and important plot animations were finally completed, and the voice acting for the different NPCs was underway. The voice acting for this game was also a massive undertaking. Each NPC had to have a different voice; skilled voice actors could change their timbre to play several roles, and the voices of important characters like Consort Xiao, the Empress, and the Prince had to fit their personalities. Xie Yunfan delegated this to Liang Anwei of the animation department to follow up, as he was more familiar with people in the voice-acting studios, and asked him to get it done as soon as possible.

On July 10th, Yangfan Studio’s official Weibo posted a message—

“Dear players, the new game jointly developed by Yangfan Studio and Qihang Group is about to launch a large-scale internal test. Those interested in participating can fill out the registration information on the Yangfan Studio official website interface. The deadline is July 11th at 8:00 PM. This test will include a total of 1,000 people and last for three days. It is limited to players over 18 years old; both gaming masters and novices can participate. Testers are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. After completing the test, submit bugs or suggestions for improvement via the test group email. Those whose suggestions are adopted will be given certain rewards. Everyone who participates in the test will receive a peripheral commemorative gift package from Yangfan Studio, which the studio will calculate and mail out within one week after the test ends. Thank you all for your support!”

As soon as this Weibo post was released, countless players left excited comments—

“Wow, internal test, I want to participate!”

“Already registered. Ten-year hardcore gamer here, you must pick me!”

“What kind of game is it? I’m dying of curiosity.”

“I want to be an internal tester; I’ve participated in many games’ internal tests~”

“A die-hard fan of ‘Monkey King’ reporting for duty. I’ll join ‘Little Sailboat’s’ game blindly; please, please pick me!”

In less than half an hour, the comments exceeded 100,000. The topic #YangfanStudioGameInternalTest# was once again pushed to the hot search list. For the previous game “Journey to the West,” Xie Yunfan had dropped it directly without any promotion, and peers thought he would do the same this time.

Surprisingly, Xie Yunfan didn’t play by the same rules as before—this time he was actually doing a public internal test, a large-scale internal test with 1,000 players? The momentum was so exaggerated? What exactly was the game? Not only were players curious, but peers were also particularly curious. Some peers even registered with fake accounts, wanting to go and see the internal test.

On July 13th, the Yangfan Studio official website selected 1,000 people from tens of thousands of registered players through a system screening and issued internal test qualifications. Players who obtained the qualifications could reserve the installation package via the Qihang gaming pod in advance.

On the morning of July 14th, the second large-scale internal test officially began. Players across the country who had obtained the qualifications brought their excitement, lay into their Qihang gaming pods, found the “Test Game” entrance from the main page, entered the test verification materials, signed the non-disclosure agreement online, and officially began the game.

It’s actually a holographic role-playing game? I’ve never played this before! Players followed the system’s guidance and chose their favorite characters. Some players looked at appearance and picked whoever was the best-looking; others, suffering from decision paralysis, hesitated for a long time before deciding to choose a character to enter the game.

Many players didn’t even figure out how to play the game before they encountered a black screen.

【You were inadvertently struck by an arrow and died.】

【You died from poison.】

【You were pushed into a well and drowned.】

【You committed treason and were executed by the Emperor.】

【You were burned to death in a fire.】

【His Majesty grants you a three-foot white silk, commanding you to end your own life.】

Players: “Ah????”

Holy crap, how exactly are you supposed to survive? You can’t even survive the first chapter! At first, players thought this was a fun “cosplay mini-game,” just like playing your favorite anime or game characters at a fan convention. They never expected that playing it would actually turn out to be a survival game?

No way, I want to survive! Players started to get serious, matching wits with the NPCs.

…

After the three-day test ended, the testing team collected a massive amount of player feedback and suggestions. Many players posted on their personal Weibo: “Played for three days of internal testing and still couldn’t beat the game, but I want to say, is Yangfan Studio’s new game too fun? The immersive experience is incredibly well done!”

“Signed a non-disclosure agreement, so I can’t talk about the game’s content for now. But I guarantee with my personality, this game is still incredibly fun! The gameplay is particularly novel and is a type that hasn’t been seen at all on the current market.”

“Immersive experience, I was almost scared to death.”

“Told you all long ago—you can always believe in ‘Little Sailboat’.”

“The NPCs are super awesome; I don’t even know how I died.”

“Hahaha, experiencing all kinds of ways to die is super addictive!”

“I encountered some bugs during the test and have already submitted them to the testing team. I hope the game can be more refined when it officially launches. Looking forward to the release.”

“I must play this game after it hits the market! The game’s completion level isn’t at 100% yet; you can tell some animations and plots aren’t fully loaded, so I look forward to even more surprises after the release.”

More and more “internal test reviews” appeared online. Looking at these heartfelt recommendations, peers immediately became nervous—it’s over, could this game be another hit?

Players who didn’t get an internal test spot looked at the various comments from internal testers and were dying of anxiety, rushing to leave comments: “That makes me itch! What kind of game is it?”

“One minute it’s fun, the next minute it’s scary; is it another horror game?”

“‘Little Sailboat’, hurry up and launch! Stop keeping us hanging; I didn’t get an internal test spot and it’s so sad!”

“Who are you looking down on with only 1,000 internal test spots? At least put out 100,000.”

On live streaming platforms, many streamers also didn’t get an internal test spot this time. After seeing the comments from internal testers, they all prepared to try the game as soon as it hit the market. A well-known streamer, Liu-ge, analyzed: “I probed the internal testers’ tone, and it seems to be a survival game this time! Interesting! Let’s see how long we can survive when the time comes.”

Meanwhile, Yangfan Studio and Qihang Games were working hard to speed up production. This large-scale three-day test collected many bugs. For example, a funny player actually snuck out of the imperial palace at night; the palace walls were so high, so how did he get out? He claimed he dug a hole and crawled out.

Xie Yunfan rubbed his forehead helplessly. Must strengthen the palace guards; can’t let inner-palace players sneak out.

For example, a player didn’t want to sleep during sleeping hours and pestered two maids to chat. The maids’ AI NPCs were directly talked until they crashed by the chatterbox player, kneeling on the ground and refusing to get up.

Some players even came up with the weird idea of “setting fire to the palace and escaping,” burning the entire palace down and causing the Emperor and Empress to be burned to death, directly destroying the country…

Various bizarre players tested many bugs that Xie Yunfan had never even thought of. The production team rushed to make modifications. The buildings inside the palace couldn’t be connected, lest players set fire to burn the entire palace and play “mutual destruction.” Of course, setting fire to one’s own living quarters to get the Emperor’s attention was a decent strategy.

Also, when an intelligent NPC is pestered by a chatterbox player, they can actively interrupt the conversation and escape; they can’t just let players act willfully just because the favorability is high.

There were many areas that needed modification.

By the end of July, the game’s completion level had improved further, and the intelligence of the NPCs had significantly increased after learning from a massive amount of sample data. All animations and plotlines were loaded, and the voice acting for all NPCs was finally completed. Each NPC had its specific timbre; the system collected the voiceprints of these voice actors and generated an intelligent voice library. During the game, it would call up the corresponding NPC voices to converse with players.

Conversations with voices were much more realistic.

In addition, Xie Yunfan designed a “voice isolation button” that could be toggled at any time. After players turned it on, they could freely vent, and during this period, NPCs couldn’t hear the player’s voice. This design was primarily for streamers. In this game, once you entered the palace, you had to be cautious in your words and actions; speaking recklessly could lead to being executed. If streamers weren’t allowed to talk, the live stream effect would be greatly diminished.

At the end of July, Yangfan Studio’s official Weibo officially released the scheduled promotional trailer.

“The new game ‘Palace Storm,’ jointly developed by Yangfan Studio and Qihang Group, is about to be released nationwide on August 5th at 12:00 PM. This is an immersive holographic role-playing game where players will come to an imaginary dynasty with strict hierarchies, play a role within it, and strive to survive.

In the game, we have taken the lead in introducing a large database and intelligent NPCs. Every player can use their imagination to match wits with over a hundred intelligent AIs. The ending of the story is decided by the players themselves. August 5th at 12:00 PM, see you there!”

The Weibo post was accompanied by a promotional video. The animation was exquisitely produced, and the art style was completely different from the previous “Journey to the West.”

Against the backdrop of grand background music, Jingzhou, the capital of the Great Qi Dynasty, was presented to the audience. There were many merchants hawking their wares in the market, and people coming and going on the streets—it was very lively.

Just then, the music changed suddenly, and the camera pushed from the lively streets outside the city deep into the palace. The palace buildings were magnificent and grand, with carved beams, painted rafters, pavilions, and towers that were all incomparably exquisite. However, compared to the lively market, everyone here was cautious; walking with their heads down, not daring to speak loudly—it felt a bit oppressive. Especially late at night, surrounded by the high palace walls, it felt like a giant prison.

“From the moment I stepped through the palace gates, I knew I would never be able to leave this deep palace again in my life. I don’t ask for His Majesty’s grand favor, only to preserve my integrity and live out my life in peace.” The NPC, sitting alone in her room doing needlework, had a voice full of sadness.

“I often wonder, if I hadn’t entered the palace back then, would the outcome have been different?” This time, it was a gentle woman speaking, staring lovingly at a pot of orchids in front of her, as if remembering a story from long ago.

“Hahaha, I should be the mistress of these six palaces! None of them have the qualifications to compete with me!” This time it was the arrogant voice of a woman, disheveled and completely insane.

“Countless pairs of eyes are staring at me; I cannot make a single mistake with every step I take.” The young, handsome man lit a letter with a candle, watched it burn to ash, and said softly, “For the sake of the Empress Dowager, and for my own sake, I must keep this Crown Prince position.”

“The rules left by the ancestors?” This time it was the voice of a young girl, clutching the sword in her hand tightly, “Are all the rules necessarily correct?”

“Ah—”

A shrill scream came from deep within the inner palace; a woman was strangled by a white silk, her eyes wide open as she stared in one direction. The sight of her tragic death could only be seen by the moon above.

Morning came, and the sun rose. Warm golden sunlight spilled over the entire palace; everything from the night seemed to have been washed away, and the woman’s body had long since vanished.

In the majestic court, countless officials knelt to the Emperor: “Long live His Majesty, long live, long live.” The person sitting on the dragon throne said lightly: “Ministers, rise.”

When the plot played to this point, the players were all shocked. The barrage area was swiping with comments.

【Holy crap, a bit intense!】

【What kind of kingdom is this? It looks quite twisted.】

【The NPC modeling is quite exquisite.】

【The art style is different from usual again; ‘Little Sailboat’ really knows how to give us surprises!】

After the short opening animation ended, a gameplay introduction appeared in the trailer.

“Holographic role-playing game, players can choose from 6 characters. Strategy directions are divided into the court line and the inner-palace line. In the Great Qi Dynasty with its strict rules, whether in court or the inner palace, danger lurks everywhere! If you were brought to this world—how many days could you survive?”

Players, seeing this slogan, swiped the barrage.

【How many days could I survive? Don’t tease me, I can live at least ten years~】

【It’s not that scary; looks simpler than ‘Ghost Realm’.】

【Is this an intelligent NPC? Doesn’t look as smart as me.】

【What’s hard about role-playing survival? Just don’t cause trouble and don’t be afraid of trouble.】

【A bunch of NPCs, I don’t believe they can do anything to me!】

A group of unyielding players began to flex their muscles, preparing to go into the game after the public beta to teach these NPCs a lesson. They didn’t really believe how powerful intelligent NPCs could be. They had never seen an NPC smarter than a player!

There were also some people making sarcastic remarks toward the trailer—

【Role-playing? Isn’t that just child’s play, really boring.】

【Yanhang Studio spent over half a year and only came up with this crap?】

【Went to all this trouble just to let players play house with NPCs? Not as challenging as fighting zombies!】

The internal test players, watching these comments, expressed: “You’ll be slapped in the face!” Live to 70 or 80 years old? Don’t tease me. I’ll bet you can’t even survive the first chapter.