Great, now we are dead!

After thinking for a moment, Ye Shou took out his phone and dialed a number...

Although it's a bit unbelievable, Ruri really enjoys going to school.

This is certainly not because she is thirsty for knowledge. In fact, she has long since skipped the "student" stage of her life and gone straight to the "corporate slave" level. The experience she has gained in practice is far more valuable than theoretical knowledge.

She simply liked the relatively closed environment of the school, because here she didn't have to worry about "where Lord Ye Shou went" or "why is there suddenly another girl?"

The only regret is that there is also Chika, which prevents Ruri from exclusively enjoying the identity of "campus heroine".

But Chika is not a threat!

If childhood friends haven't started dating by this age, they generally won't develop a romantic relationship—this is a universal theorem summarized from shoujo manga.

I wonder what Ye Shouda is doing right now?

Sitting in the back row by the window, Liuli appeared to be looking at her textbook, but her thoughts were actually wandering off somewhere else.

Just then, she glanced outside casually, and her gaze was instantly drawn to something. Her mood was as clear and bright as the sky that day.

It's Lord Ye Shou!

She recognized him at a glance, even though he was a little far away!

Ah, he's so handsome from every angle... Who is he waving to?

There aren't many people in this school that he would take the initiative to greet. Could it be one of the student council members?

Liuli peeked out slightly, and from her angle, she could only see a slender figure gradually receding into the distance.

Silver hair, junior high school uniform... Oh!

The student council president's sister

Liuli breathed a sigh of relief, a slight smile playing on her lips, and withdrew her probing gaze.

Lord Ye Shou is a hidden older woman enthusiast. He prefers mature women with long, straight black hair who can tolerate him, and he has never been interested in people younger than him.

This is why Ruri keeps her hair long and drinks high-quality milk every day, hoping to provide sufficient support for the development of a certain part of her body.

Silver Coin?

She's just a little girl who hasn't started puberty yet; she poses no threat.

Hehe, ignore her.

The maid thought to herself.

……

Back home, Gui changed into indoor shoes and hurried through the living room.

"Kei-chan?"

Shirogane Miyuki came home early today and was washing vegetables in the kitchen. He subconsciously leaned out and asked, "Is there something you need?"

"No, bro, you just focus on cooking!"

Back in his room, Baek Eung-kyu threw down his backpack and collapsed onto the bed, exhausted as he tried to regain his strength, his mind replaying the day's events.

Slowly, her face flushed, and she turned her head away, burying her face in the pillow.

I talked to Kuze-nii... I was so nervous I didn't pay attention to what I said, what a failure!

It's quite a strange coincidence that the Baiyin family was able to indirectly connect with Ye Shou.

Kei is Moeha's classmate and best friend, which is how she got to know Chika, and they are also very close. So it's only natural that she got to know Ye Shou.

Miyuki Shirogane is the student council president and (considers himself) to be Ye Shou's academic rival, while Chika is the student council secretary, and Ye Shou occasionally visits her.

Kei and Miyuki's father had failed in business years ago and had been working to pay off debts, which had always put a strain on the Shirogane family's finances. However, a year ago, when they tried their luck by submitting a resume, they were hired by a startup company, which slightly improved their financial situation. They moved into a larger apartment, and Kei finally had his own room—it was later discovered that the company was a subsidiary of Kuzeha Mori's company.

Adding to their previous experience at the archery tournament, it's fair to say that although the two didn't interact much in person, Kei heard about Yoruichi everywhere he went...

"I need to behave more gracefully next time... You won't think I'm a weirdo, will you?"

Gui carefully reviewed the events of the day and found nothing amiss, so it shouldn't have offended Ye Shou.

She shook her head and took out her phone to distract herself, but the class group chat was flooded with messages, which startled her.

"So lively?"

Because new messages kept popping up, Gui didn't read them one by one. Instead, she swiped through them a couple of times and randomly picked a few that looked informative... The information she gleaned made her eyes widen.

I heard that this can seamlessly port ALO data, and its performance is even better than NerveGear.

No, it should be said that this machine was originally designed to be used with ALO, but the SAO crash disrupted the plans.

I still prefer NerveGear; this type of glasses is too minimalist.

WW, a product that only lasted a few months, already had believers.

You guy...

I exclaimed "Ah!" and quickly went to the official website to verify, only to find a news link to a live broadcast:

...Wouldn't this have a huge impact on the secondhand market?

That's for sure. The price had already been inflated to an abnormal level, so now it's just a return to the intrinsic value of the gaming helmet.

Could you explain to everyone why we should release a new product at this particular time?

The NerveGear craze is still going strong, and there are no competitive similar products on the market yet. There is no need to rush to launch a new generation of game consoles. Isn't that just competing with itself?

Well... this must also be part of the Kuse Group's strategic plan, right?

—Has the Kuze Group released a new product?

Bai Yin Gui's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately started searching. The search engine interface was also being used with ads, and a line of large text with an image immediately jumped into her view:

[Clash Strikes! A Shocking Summer Assassin in Japan!]

ALO's exclusive platform – AmuSphere – has arrived with a bang!

Lightweight upgrade, perfect compatibility, and exceptional value!

[Let every player experience the thrill of soaring through the sky!]

AmuSphere! Your best choice!

"..."

Gui blinked, his mind not quite processing what was happening yet.

Ding Dong!

The doorbell rang outside. Judging from the noise, it seemed to be Shirogane Miyuki who went to open the door and exchanged a few words with the person who entered. After a moment, Shirogane Miyuki called her over and asked her to come and sign for the package.

"pack?"

Gui hurriedly came out, looking puzzled.

"I didn't buy anything?"

"Zhaijisong... I don't remember it either, could it be Dad?"

The siblings, without prior agreement, both thought of their unreliable middle-aged husband... that person might actually have some good news at work and then buy some expensive ingredients for the children to celebrate.

"Doesn't that guy ever think about making a living?"

Gui said that, but he was actually quite happy. However, he found the package to be unexpectedly heavy after receiving it.

If this weight is from beef or something similar... does that mean I'll have to live on instant noodles for the rest of the month?

"Excuse me, what's in the package?"

"Um, it's an electromechanical device, there's a record of it being delivered... Oh, a game console, I think it's one of those really popular ones."

"!"

Shirogane Kei held his breath, his clear, large eyes seeming to have forgotten how to blink.

Miyuki Shirogane scratched his head: "A game console? Is it NerveGear?"

"……Do not."

Gui bit her lip, a feeling that was hard to describe—whether it was joy or emotion, or something else that made her dizzy—tightened in her chest.

"This must be... something Kuze-nii promised to give me... it's the [AmuSphere]!"

Gui's fingertips turned white as he excitedly returned to his room with the package, leaving Shirogane Miyuki there bewildered.

"Kuze-nii? Huh? Nii?"

Is this the same Kuze? When did you two become so close?

Why Kuze? I've never heard of you having a new older brother!

boom!

He slammed the door shut, leaned back against it, and stared at the note on the delivery slip:

Flying in the sky feels amazing, you'll definitely love it—someone who fulfilled their promise.

"Well……"

He slowly slid down and sat on the floor, clutching the package.

She covered her mouth, as if she was about to let out a terrible scream. Even though she wasn't looking in a mirror, the expression on her face must have looked very strange.

"No, Kuse-nii, this kind of thing..."

Her little feet couldn't help but tremble. Whether it was shyness or something else, she showed excitement and joy befitting her age.

"I've only ever seen this kind of thing in comics!"

Chapter 54 is filled with a powerful burst of music!

Although this month was not without its share of unforeseen events, it was quite stable, with everything proceeding smoothly according to Ye Shou's plan.

As a new generation of "gaming headset," the AmuSphere actually resembles VR glasses in appearance, with a simple, lightweight, and convenient structure. The size of the host server has also been reduced accordingly. Remarkably, despite these lightweight modifications, the virtual reality effect hasn't been significantly compromised. While it may not match the full-power NERvGear, it far surpasses other similar products.

There were no major breakthroughs in hardware; achieving this solely through algorithm optimization seemed incredible to Ye Shou. However, when Kayaba Akihiko offered an explanation based on "quantum physics," Ye Shou had no choice but to accept it.

In Ye Shou's view, that thing was no different from metaphysics and there was no need to delve too deeply into it.

He has more faith in the chips he brought back from the dungeon. He is now selectively unsealing them one by one, allowing Kayaba and others to digest them step by step. Only after the research team of the Jiushi Group has thoroughly understood the "basics" will Ye Shou release something even more explosive.

If we combine it with Kayaba's quantum physics, we might be able to create even more advanced black technology than Cyberpunk. After all, Kayaba is also a genius in AI and virtual reality, and later he might even be able to touch on the analysis of the "soul," while Cyberpunk is relatively weak in this regard.

In terms of game operations, ALO and the new devices are unsurprisingly incredibly popular!

Its affordable price and portable size have made it more popular than helmets. Now, some people even bring their servers to internet cafes, bars, and other similar places to play online games.

—Even though they could have just connected to the internet, they still chose to meet offline.

The main reason for this situation, besides the small circle of enthusiasts, is the "Electric" game platform recently launched by the Kuze Group, and its built-in development module [TheSeed].

"Electric," now commonly known as the Electricity Platform, is a platform where players can buy, download, discuss, upload, and share games and software.

Just like encouraging independent creators, the platform provides a free development module, which is Kayaba Akihiko's intelligent engine. As long as you use this module and the materials in it, even university clubs can develop their own small virtual games.

The "Power Platform" welcomes this initiative and will not charge patent or copyright fees. It only requires compliance with certain agreement terms, such as games developed using "Seed" can only be sold on the platform and must accept the platform's cloud storage technology support, etc.

Generally speaking, large corporations will exploit private developers to the bone, or wait for the right opportunity to reap the rewards. Countless aspiring talents have fallen victim to corporate "angel investment."

(But if you don't accept angel investment, you might not even be given the chance to go on stage and get ripped off.)

The terms of the "power platform" are, well... they're all about fairness, practically a public good!

Is this still a capitalist? This is fucking unbelievable!

It wasn't until the platform started extending olive branches to independent game developers, inviting them and their teams to join that everyone suddenly realized and thought they understood the "true intentions" of the Jiuze Group.

Small workshops and independent teams cannot compete with corporations in terms of productivity and funding. The large-scale online games under the Jiushi Group are not in the same niche as them and do not constitute a competitive relationship.

Creators who can make a name for themselves are undoubtedly outstanding, and recruiting such people can actually enhance the group's technological reserves—that's how the strong get stronger!

Those independent creators are very happy, after all, the platform terms are not mandatory, and even if you refuse, they will not suppress your game revenue. Joining a large company as a technical backbone is a good outcome for most people.

It's important to understand that many people have ideas but lack the resources, making it impossible for them to demonstrate their value. They may end up wasting their entire lives.

Now, the Jiushi Group provides the platform and basic tools. All you need is a little more initiative to turn your ideas into reality and then compete fairly based on your abilities—it's practically charity!

At first, some people suspected it was some kind of trap, that the Kuse Group was setting up a network to monopolize the industry's leading position. But gradually, some people actually made money with independent games, and some people actually got corporate contracts. Those who insisted on maintaining their independence were not suppressed in any way...

The nature of the matter began to change!

Of course, it's currently limited to Japan—the Kuseke family can protect it, and there's no intention to expand overseas for the time being.