Hijacking the Timeline

In the following days, Feng Qi chose not to enter the Dream Realm.

The lingering effects of memory overlap hadn’t fully dissipated, and he needed time to process them.

During this period, he focused on studying battle group formations and teaching cultivation studies.

As for the Five-Star-rated Limitless cultivation technique, he decided against revealing it all at once, opting instead to teach the foundational chapters first.

This approach would give the outside world the impression that Cultivation Technique Research was progressing in a gradual, iterative manner.

He also finalized his plans for developing the virtual game.

After entering Star City Academy, he learned that Fang Zhiyou had already created the Future Virtual engine. The main challenge now lay in refining and improving the Virtual Engine, which remained Fang Zhiyou’s primary focus.

Three days later, at the Scarlet Research Institute:

A taxi slowly pulled up outside the institute’s metal perimeter wall.

As Feng Qi stepped out, his face lit up with a smile as he spotted Wei Wei standing at the base’s entrance.

Having confirmed the Scarlet Research Institute’s trustworthiness, he decided to collaborate with them in the real world, particularly on developing the super virtual game.

”What are you laughing at? Are we that well-acquainted?” Wei Wei asked, stepping closer to him, her expression exasperated.

”Coming here feels like coming home,” Feng Qi replied.

Wei Wei stared at him in astonishment. ”Were you some specimen in our lab in your past life? Did you come back to find your previous body?”

”Let’s get inside the base first. Some things are better discussed in private,” Feng Qi said, striding toward the perimeter wall.

Wei Wei immediately followed.

After passing through identity verification at the base’s main gate, they proceeded down a corridor into the base.

As they walked, Wei Wei’s mind swirled with questions.

She noticed Feng Qi’s familiarity with the place, as if he had been here before. He even knew which checkpoints required identity verification.

After walking a while longer, Wei Wei couldn’t resist asking, ”Why do you seem so familiar with the Scarlet Base? Have you actually been here before?”

”More than just visited—I lived here for several months,” Feng Qi replied with a grin.

”You seem to have many secrets,” Wei Wei said, her curiosity piqued.

”That’s right. I came here specifically to confess my secrets to you.”

”Weren’t you planning to discuss the development of the super virtual game with me?”

”There’s an even more important confession I need to make first.”

Amidst casual conversation, Wei Wei led him to the reception room.

Without hesitation, he began to reveal his secrets to Wei Wei in detail.

As she listened to his story, Wei Wei’s expression gradually shifted from detached to grave.

When she learned that they had traveled together across multiple Future Lines to save the world, Wei Wei finally understood why Feng Qi had said returning to Scarlet Base felt like coming home.

In previous timelines, Scarlet had also treated Feng Qi as family.

After understanding the reason, Wei Wei asked him to wait briefly before leaving the reception room.

Moments later, she returned and escorted him to the Scarlet High Council Chamber.

Following the same procedure he remembered, he underwent a series of physical examinations and changed into a new set of clothes before entering the Scarlet High Council Chamber.

Once he passed all the checks, he entered the Supreme Conference Room.

Taking a seat beside Wei Wei, he cut straight to the chase, recounting his experiences without preamble.

Compared to the previous Future Line, this timeline contained significantly more information about the previous timeline.

After Feng Qi finished recounting his experiences, the Scarlet high-ranking officials seated around the conference table remained silent for a long time before snapping out of their daze.

The sheer volume of information was overwhelming, leaving them struggling to process it all.

From this information, they realized Feng Qi wasn’t joking; he had truly lived through these events firsthand.

Stunned by the revelations, their gazes toward Feng Qi shifted.

They could scarcely imagine how this young man had stubbornly fought against despair time and again, overcoming his own cowardice and confusion to steadfastly stand with humanity, shedding his blood to save the world.

”Feng Qi, having you is the human race’s greatest fortune,” the Scarlet Institute Director, his hair now completely white, said sincerely as he stood up, bowing deeply to Feng Qi.

The other high-ranking officials also rose to their feet.

”Dean, it is the human race’s fortune to have you and all your fellow travelers,” Feng Qi replied, standing up and bowing to the Scarlet officials.

The Scarlet Research Institute’s contributions in every timeline were of immeasurable significance.

From the initial intelligence gathering and Talent Blind Boxes to the current Knowledge Implantation Technology, every Scarlet member has silently and steadfastly walked the path of saving the world.

Even while subsisting on nutrient paste daily, they prioritized allocating resources to crucial research and development.

Wei Wei, in particular, a notorious foodie, willingly endured this monotonous diet for centuries, all for the sake of her research.

The sacrifices of each member deserve recognition.

Without the unwavering support of his Scarlet Research Institute comrades, who cleared countless obstacles in his path, his progress would have been fraught with setbacks, and he would have stumbled and fallen repeatedly.

He would forever cherish this camaraderie.

In the following discussions, Feng Qi shared his vision for creating an all-encompassing research institute and developing a super virtual game.

His plan was simple: involve the Scarlet Research Institute in the game’s development and share the profits generated upon its release.

The institute’s senior leaders showed great interest in this proposal, each offering their insights.

Several suggestions particularly caught Feng Qi’s attention.

For example, Director Li of the Scarlet Domain Creature Research Department suggested expanding the game’s content to include domain instances.

However, developing dungeons required an immense amount of work, necessitating the ”borrowing” of advanced technologies from the future.

This meant planting the seeds now and then retrieving the fully developed products from the future.

But this approach had its flaws.

Current Knowledge Implantation Technology had a limited capacity, and the future’s super virtual technology might be several generations ahead, leading to compatibility issues.

Relying solely on copying content from the future database to create virtual dungeons would be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and ultimately inefficient.

To address this, Wei Wei proposed a more effective method:

Allow players to collect data themselves and create domain instances. Once certified by the Dungeon Review Department, these instances could be published within the game, allowing players to earn revenue shares from their creations.

Their role would be to provide players with the ”Dungeon World Editor,” empowering them to create their own worlds.

This approach might lead to the emergence of numerous exceptional dungeons that would not only entertain players but also enhance their combat skills.

During the discussion, six core directions for the super virtual game were finalized:

First, the core: multiplayer-matched competitive matches.

This was the heart of the super virtual game and the original purpose behind its development. Everything would be designed to enhance cultivators’ combat awareness and techniques.

The second direction was the creation of domain instances.

In addition to the domain instances Feng Qi envisioned, which simulated real-world Domain Fields, they could also add virtual domain instances created by players using the game’s built-in editor, similar to the Warcraft Map Editor from before the Cataclysm.

During their discussions, they added several restrictions to player-created instances.

For example, instances approved for publication could not be purely for entertainment.

Instances featuring explicit content, purely casual farming simulations, or similar themes would be prohibited.

Such content would violate the super virtual game’s original purpose, waste cultivators’ time and energy, and hinder the overall development of human strength rather than advance it.

This wasn’t an era of entertainment-driven decadence. Entertainment was acceptable, but it had to be integrated with practical content.

The goal was to create an environment that fostered cultivators’ progress while also providing enjoyment.

Therefore, all purely entertainment-focused content had to be strictly prohibited.

Detailed planning for this aspect would be delegated to the Dungeon Review Department, established by the Scarlet Research Group.

The third direction was virtual research and experimentation.

Many virtual research projects only required simulating corresponding scenarios and materials within the virtual game environment, allowing experiments to be conducted in a virtual setting.

While the results of virtual experiments may not perfectly replicate real-world conditions, they still provide significant reference value.

This approach can effectively improve resource utilization and reduce unnecessary waste.

Regarding virtual research and development, Feng Qi and the Scarlet leadership decided to keep this area internal for now, confining it to the Scarlet Research Institute.

After all, there are currently no other fully reliable research institutes for collaboration, and further investigation is needed.

Only when a truly trustworthy ”fellow traveler” research institute emerges will they share the virtual experimental scenarios used internally.

The fourth area of focus is the revenue planning for the virtual game.

Maintaining a super virtual game is an extremely costly endeavor.

The game requires a massive online server to support a huge number of concurrent players.

Other expenses include the daily maintenance team’s operational costs and other expenditures.

The Scarlet Research Institute’s funds are also needed for other research projects, making it impossible to allocate all resources to the super virtual game.

Feng Qi’s original intention in creating the virtual game was to simultaneously advance Human Civilization and generate revenue to offset future expenses.

During discussions with the Scarlet Research Institute’s leadership, they decided to adopt a free-to-play model with optional paid features for the super virtual game.

The specific approach is to allow players to download and experience the game’s core content for free.

Revenue will be generated through optional premium features.

However, these premium features must not compromise the fairness of the game’s core content or affect its fundamental gameplay.

The tentatively planned premium features are as follows:

1. Cosmetic items such as clothing and accessories will require in-game currency to purchase.

2. Player-created entertainment dungeons will be available for paid download (after approval by the Dungeon Review Department), with 1-20% of the revenue shared with the dungeon creator (the exact revenue split will depend on the quality of the player-created dungeon).

3. Specific avatar icons will be available for purchase.

4. A 5% transaction fee will be charged on player-initiated trades, such as trading accessories or clothing.

5. Commemorative merchandise derived from the game will be sold.

The fifth direction is the release of virtual game pods.

The development of the super virtual game is nearly complete, and the Virtual Engine has already been created, though it still requires refinement and optimization.

The Scarlet Research Institute would assist Fang Zhiyou with subsequent development, including recruiting and training talent in art and design.

However, one critical issue remained unresolved:

Super virtual games required game pods for distribution. Without them, even the most brilliantly designed game would be useless. After all, neural interfacing was another core aspect of virtual gaming.

Fortunately, a ready-made partner existed for this aspect.

The Scarlet Research Institute Director immediately declared his intention to contact Li Xingchen soon to initiate a collaboration on virtual game pod distribution and accelerate their production.

The sixth area was game promotion.

While the Scarlet Research Institute had its own promotional channels, these might not be suitable for promoting a game.

The institute’s unique status as an independent entity meant its research findings primarily served domain combat teams rather than academic institutions.

Therefore, the Scarlet Research Institute would need to engage with senior administrators at various academies to promote the super virtual game.

The promotion costs for this aspect could be completely disregarded.

Although the Scarlet Research Institute was an independent special institution, it had full authority to directly arrange for research projects beneficial to human development to be implemented in various academies through the Ministry of Education.

For example, they could require academies to purchase and install a certain number of game pods, then promote the super virtual game project to players, and so on.

Therefore, the most costly promotional aspect for other games was the easiest problem for the Scarlet Research Institute to solve.

As for promoting the game to non-cultivators, that would be considered later.

However, there were exceptions, such as middle school students who hadn’t yet been exposed to cultivation studies but were preparing to begin.

After all, the game’s primary target audience remained cultivators.

In the future, research scholars might also be included.

Other ordinary players—non-cultivators and non-researchers—were entirely optional targets.

Even if significant profits could be earned from them, making money was never the core objective of this game.

In addition to these six major areas, there were many supplementary details to consider.

For example, during the initial testing phase of the super virtual game, they needed to determine which target groups to recruit, how many internal beta test codes to distribute, and so on.

The discussion stretched on, time slipping away unnoticed.

When it was time for dinner, Feng Qi and the senior executives of the Scarlet Research Institute adjourned to the dining hall.

After a hearty meal, they returned to the Supreme Conference Room and continued their deliberations late into the night.

It was clear that the senior executives of the Scarlet Research Institute were deeply invested in developing the super virtual game and willing to dedicate significant resources to making it even better.

This wasn’t about profit; like Feng Qi, they believed that the emergence of this super virtual game could greatly accelerate the progress of Human Civilization.

Moreover, the super virtual game they were planning was an advanced version of the future iteration.

In the Future Line, the super virtual game had focused purely on player-versus-player combat, aiming to enhance combat consciousness, combat skills, and proficiency in casting art magic.

It could also be called a duel simulator.

However, in the vision of the Scarlet Research Institute’s top leadership, the super virtual game was envisioned as a comprehensive second world. Building upon its original foundation, it would incorporate domain field knowledge dissemination, domain field simulation exploration, experimental research simulations, and combat simulations against domain creatures, among other features.

If this super virtual game could be realized, humanity’s developmental potential across all fields would be greatly enhanced.

In the eyes of the Scarlet Research Institute’s top leaders, the game’s value rivaled that of a god-tier cultivation technique—a concept that existed only in theory.

Feng Qi fully understood why they were so enthusiastic about developing the super virtual game.

As night deepened, the lights remained lit in the Supreme Conference Room.

Feng Qi and his fellow collaborators worked through the night, sketching out blueprints for the future development of Human Civilization.

When they discussed the promising prospects, they couldn’t help but feel their blood boil with excitement.

(End of the Chapter)

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