The Great Thief

The Mid-Autumn events were primarily celebratory, so there wasn’t much fighting involved.

On this day, during the Shadow Cup break, the city was filled with bright colors which really gave off a

air of festivity.

In real life, such celebrations had long since been outdated. The old people would sit in their homes,

young people would go to work and the children would attend school. Family reunions were now just

talk and even the wide varieties of moon cake weren’t enough to entice people anymore.

However, some players who had thought that the Mid-Autumn Festival had lost its charm had their

minds changed by Dawn’s activities.

In the game world, there were shrines in every city and an old, grey-haired man worshiping the

ancestors. There were also ancient scholars writing with traditional Chinese ink. Players didn’t need to

travel far – all they needed to do was get a 3000-dollar helmet. Then, they would be able to enjoy the

full moon with their friends and family.

The game had also arranged for players to be able to watch the high tide. They had even recreated the

grand view of the Jiang Zhe Region under the glistening moonlight.

Here, players couldn’t even properly distinguish between what was real and what was virtual.

Everything felt so real. There was a noisy crowd, a surging tide and the bright moon above it all.

Even if you wanted to experience the Hu Guang region lanterns, the game company had also fully

accounted for that. They had created and hung them all for the players, and it didn’t even cost a single

copper coin to experience.

The game was celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival on a large scale to reproduce the grandness of

traditional culture. Other culture groups naturally didn’t want to be left behind. As such, led by the

Minister of Culture, various civil groups had launched various activities in response to this.

They held a trivia session which included knowledge of both the traditional and contemporary aspects of

the culture. A variety of puzzles were also written on lanterns and hung up.

As the game company attached a great amount of importance to this, players who correctly solved the

puzzles would receive a small amount of coins.

However, this small amount was not be underestimated. Statisticians calculated the total amount to be

almost a million gold coins by the end of the day.

It was said that a 14 year old girl had gone around guessing the answers without really caring about

whether she got them right. After the game company had rewarded her, she had received over 1600

gold, which equated to $100,000.

Additionally, there was also the burning tower, pounding moon cakes, duck hunting, sesame cake,

honey cake, sacrificing to the God of the land, re-enacting dramas, traditional dancing and so on.

As long as someone applied to the game company with evidence that it was a real event, Dawn’s

enormous design team would quickly make it happen in game.

However, the most important thing was that everything was free!

Even if you wanted to see the four ancient legendary beauties dance, it could be done for you.

In order to promote the game as a whole, the game company had put a great amount of effort into this

event.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was the first holiday Dawn had observed and it was a significant milestone.

Previous games had celebrated festivals too, but their rewards weren’t as good and their events were all

based around the players. Their intention was to foster the loyalty of those players.

On the other hand, Dawn’s version of the Mid-Autumn Festival did not only target players, but also

managed to attract a large number of non-players.

Why would a painter who had been painstakingly painting all day play some virtual game? Why would a

professor standing in an auditorium lie in bed with this game helmet?

Of course they wouldn’t!

But Dawn managed to do it. People as old as 80 and as young as 3 all joined the game and found their

own ways of having fun.

The painter went around collecting cultural material from historic sites and was dazzled by all the

different styles.

If they were to travel to these sites in real life, they would need to consider accommodation and

transport, which would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Moreover, they might not even get the

inspiration they wanted, especially given the pollution.

However, in the game, only a one-gold- coin transfer fee was required to travel wherever they wanted.

Dawn had a formidable design team that had been acquired from various industries. They had incredibly

imaginative people who were familiar with every country, religion, school of thought and folk song.

Together, they created a world which was even more realistic than the real world.

The painter noticed that the beauty here was unlike that in real life; this was something that only virtual

technology could do.

Even those who were so old that they couldn’t move had found a place in Dawn.

Others had even tried to negotiate with the game, requesting that the game construct some traditional

buildings to become a college of culture, where players could attend if they were interested.

A young mother who was raising a child had to find online work to sustain their livelihoods.

She had given her child a helmet and allowed him to play happily in the game’s playgrounds. It was safe

here and the system was far better than some aunties or nurseries.

The residential areas were spacious and many goods from real life were on display in the shops.

There were also beautiful houses here with fragrant flowers. These didn’t cost $60,000 or even $30,000.

With a few thousand dollars, you could have your own house. With a little bit more, you could even

have your own estate.

Now that virtual technology had been around for almost 200 years, the safety of the helmets was no

longer in doubt and the game was constantly being optimized.

Although you couldn’t really live in the game, there wasn’t any reason why you couldn’t work, travel and

enjoy everything in it.

In short, Dawn took advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival to show everyone the possibilities of this

infinite world.

The era of a universal game was truly upon them.

Lu Li didn’t spend all his time at the arena either. After completing the training with March Rain, they

disbanded the party.

He then brought Lu Xin to enjoy the festive atmosphere.

At that moment, Lu Li wasn’t a gaming expert. He was a brother taking his happy and curious sister out

to enjoy the variety of holiday festivities, just like the other ordinary people.

"Big bro, do I look good in this?" Lu Xin was wearing the ethnic clothing of the Dai people and her face

was flushed with excitement.

"You look really good." Lu Li knew his sister was beautiful, so his words of praise reflected exactly how

he felt.

"Can we get it? Can we?" Lu Xin was shaking her brother’s arm and her eyes were pleading. The aunt at

the stall had said that the clothes could be delivered free of charge.

"This..." Lu Li deliberately looked like he was contemplating it deeply.

"Big bro..." The spoiled Lu Xin was already infatuated with the item.

"Young man, you can’t be so mean to the little girl. My clothes are of a good quality and are made of the

finest fabrics. It’s not even that expensive; it’s only 100 dollars. You should get it for her."

"Alright, we’ll get it." Lu Li rubbed his sister’s hair with a helpless look on his face.