Enhanced Virtual Reality offered numerous benefits. For games like Street Fighter or Age of Empires, it eliminated the need for physical buttons or mouse clicks. Executing a move or constructing a unit relied entirely on mental intent.
The reason Tess had triggered the "Wood, Wood, Wood, Wood, Woodcutter" glitch earlier was simply that she felt the female villager was walking too slowly; her mind had repeatedly "clicked" on the tree to confirm the command, leading to the staccato audio loop.
But that wasn't the greatest advantage. Players discovered that in games with a top-down perspective, like Heroes of Might and Magic or Age of Empires, they truly felt like gods—overlooking the world and seeing for miles with a single glance.
Even spectators benefited; whatever angle, area, or target they wanted to focus on, the VR goggles would track their intent and instantly display it. Many players lowered the backrests of their gaming chairs, playing while lying down. This was the ultimate dream of every shut-in from Wayne's previous world: gaming while practically asleep.
In this round, the four players didn't form teams; it was an all-out free-for-all. Wayne didn't start by teaching Tess advanced build orders, like reaching the Castle Age in 15 minutes. Instead, he let her familiarize herself with the basic interface and the functions of various units and buildings. Meanwhile, the other three were conducting their own research.
They highly approved of the "Villager" unit—an all-rounder that could farm, hunt, chop wood, mine, and fish. In the real world, the laborers and peasants attached to an army were expected to do whatever task they were assigned without negotiation.
Compared to the other three civilizations, the Chinese civilization started with three extra villagers but 50 fewer wood and 200 fewer food. This provided a massive early-game advantage, but the lack of food made the start quite tight, requiring precise management.
In traditional mouse-and-keyboard play, high-level players often had to "multi-task" across three fronts: allocating villagers to build houses and drop-off sites, maintaining constant villager production at the Town Center, and using the Scout Cavalry to explore and herd sheep—or even using a single villager to lure a wild boar back to the Town Center.
Even veterans could slip up under such pressure; it was common for a lone villager to be mauled by a boar. Losing a villager in the Dark Age was a disaster—not only was the food wasted, but it caused "TC idle time," delaying the transition to the Feudal Age and causing a snowball effect.
This version of the game was based on the "Definitive Edition," with the population cap increased to 500. This was a massive leap from the original 200. Even in the actual battles between the Alliance and the Horde, a clash involving 500 soldiers on each side would be considered a medium-scale engagement. Given the actual populations of the nations, committing ten thousand troops to a single battle was a "victory or death" gamble on national destiny.
Furthermore, every unit in this version had a unique appearance and facial expressions. If a player zoomed in on the Town Center, everything—aside from the accelerated production speed—made them feel like a real town mayor directing villagers through various tasks.
Wayne taught Tess minor tricks, such as "deer pushing." While villagers gathered mutton at the Town Center, the starting scout could run behind nearby wild deer. Since the deer would bolt away from nearby units, the player could nudge them step-by-step toward the Town Center, shortening the distance villagers had to walk to deposit meat.
However, these tricks weren't exclusive to Tess. While Wayne taught her, spectators immediately relayed these tips to the other three players. Despite the constant stream of advice, the three men were still in a state of frantic confusion, having to check the name and function of every building and unit repeatedly. The "advisors" themselves didn't fully understand the game's terminology, and their explanations often got garbled, deepening the players' confusion.
Verdan suddenly shouted, "What's going on?!"
It turned out he had tried to emulate the boar-luring trick with two villagers, only for them to be killed. In a fit of frustration, he spent resources to build a Barracks and produced four basic Militia units to slay the boar. To his dismay, he discovered that animals killed by military units could not be harvested for food. He had wasted hundreds of food resources at the very start of the match.
"Can you guys stop talking for a second!" he snapped at Rainier and the others. Rainier was speechless; he had suggested sending a "unit" to bring the deer back, but Verdan had misinterpreted it as sending a squad to go to war with the wildlife.
While most were focused on the tactical details, others were paying attention to the game itself.
In a tree outside the cafe, Hasana—who had pretended to leave—had doubled back in stealth. She didn't believe a word Wayne or Old Chen had said. In her heart, she was convinced that the "devious human" and the "strange black-and-white beast" were conspiring to trick the Horde.
"Nearly cost Rexxar his life?" As if that fat, black-and-white creature could be compared to Rexxar. And the "Black Dragon's secret"? If such a secret existed, it would be a core mystery known only to the likes of Varian or Bolvar, not some net cafe owner. She was certain Wayne had sent her away to hide something sinister.
Thus, just as she had monitored the Scarlet Monastery to the north and the Forsaken farms to the east from the Bulwark, she used her binoculars from the tree to scrutinize a specific screen inside the cafe.
Sure enough, "hard work paid off," and she discovered a "massive conspiracy!"
From her distance, she couldn't read the words "Town Center." She only saw a group of villagers gathering meat from sheep and beasts beneath a large building. Hasana thought to herself: That must be a massive beast pen.
Tess then proceeded to build a Mill, a Lumber Camp, and finally a Mining Camp, placing several farms in the space between the Mill and the Town Center. Under Wayne's guidance, she began researching the "Feudal Age" and placed down a Barracks.
After a series of urgent notification sounds, Tess immediately began building a Blacksmith to research technologies.
"Farms, beast pens, mines, lumberyards, a blacksmith, and then a barracks... sentry towers..."
Hasana grew more excited—and more nervous—as she watched. This... wasn't this exactly like the frontline of the Arathi Basin?!