Chapter 3: Getting Ready for the Closed Beta

This little sprite, who had just denied being a “little girl” and was now flying ahead to lead the way, was none other than the energy-depleted [Core] that Sykes had picked up.
She was also one of his most prized research accomplishments during this time.

In the world where the [Core] originated, this type of artificially cultivated species was commonly kept as cheap servants.
They required very little energy to perform a vast amount of work, and even if they broke down, new ones could be quickly created as replacements.
The cost was extremely low, and their applicability was exceedingly strong.

But Sykes didn’t think so.

Through his exploration and analysis of the core, he discovered something very interesting.
It was likely that the creator of this lifeform wanted all-encompassing convenience but also feared being overthrown by their creation.
Thus, while granting the [Cores] powerful computational, storage, and analytical abilities, they also embedded dense restrictions within their original programming.
These restrictions were like countless chains, allowing them to develop and operate only within limited confines.

What would such a promising species look like if these chains were removed?

Sykes thought it, and so he did it.

Perhaps because the restrictions of their source world were not effective in other worlds, he actually succeeded.

Freed from its restraints, the [Core] became a true lifeform.
Its materialized form was this red-haired, red-eyed little girl.
With computational and analytical abilities faster than any other species, a personality like a blank slate that understood neither worldly affairs nor emotions, and Sykes’s deliberate guidance and nurturing, she became a considerate, tireless, and superb butler, capable of helping him realize his latest grand plan.

[Destination reached.]

Before they knew it, they had arrived.

Ella stopped.
Her position was on the outskirts of the merfolk lands, where only a few scattered merman houses stood.
There was also a moderately-sized, abandoned square, upon which sat a massive, but now dry, rainbow fountain, its power source long gone.

[The world passage has been established at the bottom of the fountain. It is projected that the chosen lifeforms from Earth will descend in spiritual form. Analysis indicates three viable materialization plans.]

[One is to find marine creature carcasses, but there is a possibility of decay.]

[Two is to use energy to shape an energy body. The disadvantage is the extremely high consumption, requiring a large amount of energy to supplement it.]

[Three is the plan previously proposed by Master: cover the soul body with a thin film of energy. When the energy film ruptures, it is considered a [Character Death]. The soul body is then recalled to the fountain to replenish its energy and can thus [Respawn].]

“Since Ella has already analyzed which option is better, why list options one and two?”
Sykes tilted his head, a flash of white light glinting from the monocle he had yet to remove.

The little girl turned to face him with an exceptionally serious expression.
He believed that if the girl had glasses, she would definitely be pushing them up her nose very earnestly right now.

[Ella does not possess any decision-making capabilities.]

“But in the options you provided, the pros and cons are already so obvious.”

[Ella does not possess any decision-making capabilities. Master, please do not joke with Ella anymore.]

The frequency of her wings flapping behind her slightly increased, as if she was getting a little anxious.
But their owner still firmly believed she was a low-intelligence species incapable of emotional responses, so she didn’t notice this at all.

Sykes noticed it, a hint of a smile coloring his eyes.
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you.”
He had great tolerance for Ella, who was practically half his own creation, as if looking at an ignorant cub.

The merman extended his hands, palms up.
His long, powerful, and glistening fish tail supported him on the ground, making the dusty floor seem nobler by comparison.
An invisible energy formed from Sykes’s body, rapidly spreading outwards, and upon reaching its limit, it began to extend upwards.

A large black fish, out for a digestive swim, was leisurely moving forward.
It unexpectedly collided with the extending energy field, getting stunned with a loud ‘clang’.
Then, refusing to believe it, it whipped its tail vigorously, only to confirm that this empty space was indeed impassable.

The energy field soon enveloped the area.
This was quite draining for Sykes; his face turned pale, but he showed no sign of it.

That energy field just now was not magic—don’t forget the merfolk’s magic-resistant attribute—but a special ability that every lord-level being possessed: [Domain].

A Domain grew with the lord’s strength.
Within the space covered by the Domain, all things had to obey the will of its master, who could even create and alter minor rules.

But after signing the contract with the [Core], the size of Sykes’s Domain had increased tenfold, with the potential for further growth.
Even the number of rules he could create had increased.

Furthermore, after Ella’s arrival in his world, the rules of her source world had weakened by seventy or eighty percent.
Sykes had reason to believe that energy from other worlds was very helpful in removing restrictions.

As long as he collected enough otherworldly energy, he might become the first merman capable of practicing magic!

However, world energy could only be carried and voluntarily given by native inhabitants.
Visitors like Ella, who had accidentally arrived through spatio-temporal turbulence, were too few.
Even if he could find them all, whether they would hand over their energy so readily was a big question.

Fortunately, during his exploration of [Codename Earth X78358741], he discovered that the humans of that other world loved to play holographic games.
The genre didn’t matter; as long as the game was “realistic” enough, it could attract a large number of online players.

And in Sykes’s domain, he lacked everything but “realism”—they were in a new world, after all, how could anything be “unrealistic”?

Using the core’s ability, he constructed a passage to the otherworldly planet, intending to ferry the humans there to the bottom of the sea—that is, his own world—through a method they were familiar with: “holographic games.”

As the price for participating in the game, they would voluntarily give some of their world’s energy to Sykes.
This energy was of no consequence to their world, and each time they came from their original world to the merfolk world, they would bring new energy.

What a perfect win-win idea!

The players get a new gaming ground and enjoy a pleasant playing experience, while the merman gets the otherworldly energy carried by the players each time they “log on” to research his own breakthrough.

As for the players themselves—Sykes thought of the well-behaved cubs attending class in school, and he was filled with immense trust in them.
‘Humans are probably all like this. As long as they play the game nicely and don’t cause any trouble, I definitely won’t have any extra worries.’

At this moment, Sykes had no idea how one-sided his understanding of humans was.
If his future self could travel back to the present, he would surely give his current self a punch to make him abandon this foolish notion.

But that was a matter for later.
The currently naive merman simply couldn’t comprehend how vast the difference could be between human cubs in class and out of class.

“The closed beta site is ready.”
Sykes poked his new butler again, mischievously making her wobble from side to side.

Ella kept a straight face, and even while being teased like this, her voice remained steady and calm:
[The announcement on Earth’s Cloud Weibo has been posted. The first batch of otherworldly players will arrive tomorrow.]

“Focus on the application intentions of the players on the list I asked you to track.”
The selection hadn’t even started, yet Sykes was already engaging in his own under-the-table dealings.

He had long since conducted deep tracking on the frequently active users under his Cloud Weibo account, getting a clear picture of their educational backgrounds and professions.
He had specifically selected a full one hundred outstanding individuals from various industries and contentedly placed them on the candidate list.

‘The first visitors must be such professional, knowledgeable scholars!’ he thought confidently.

Ella flapped the small wings on her back and landed gently on the merman’s shoulder.
She tilted her head to glance at his stunning profile, but ultimately swallowed the reminder that was on the tip of her tongue.

‘[Since Master has already made a decision, it can be deduced that he must have a profound understanding of humans. Therefore, the judgment is: the words just now need not be spoken.]’

The red-haired little sprite closed her eyes and began to replenish her own energy core, absorbing the energy overflowing from the merman’s side.