I Want to Play a Game With You [Modified]

Infinite Network Entertainment, as the publisher, had a very wide and substantial distribution network.

On the second day after "21 Points" was finished development, the executive office received the game. After half a day of playtesting, they directly issued an urgent notice to the marketing department.

Temporarily replace all promotions for "Dark Forest" with "21 Points"!

This included the Danmu Network, gaming media aggregator sites, entertainment portals, and so on—all of them were swapped out, and a striking headline was put up.

[Domestic high-quality VR game "21 Points" launches shockingly online! Download for free, not a single cent! Crafted personally by Shuo Guang, the creator of "Dark Forest," quality guaranteed—it will not let you down!]

This headline was promoted across major websites, immediately catching people's attention.

At that moment, players remembered that a month ago, that horror game developer had indeed said something like this.

They had originally thought he was just someone who hadn't been humbled yet, or a small-time success with an inflated ego.

They never expected the game to actually come out?

And for free?

Players instantly lost their composure.

No one can turn down something for free.

Especially when it comes to games.

Almost every player has had the experience of adding a free game to their library.

And now, here was another chance—and it was a VR game!

So players followed the links on the promotional sites to Infinite Network Entertainment's gaming platform, only to find the game was on IGame.

Those who already had the platform saw "21 Points" directly on the homepage carousel, without even needing to search!

Clicking on it, they saw it was 6 GB in size!

By current standards, that was considered a small-scale game.

So players started downloading it one after another.

This included major streamers.

For them, a new game meant popularity—streaming it was a sure bet.

Especially since it was a VR game developed by Shuo Guang, a creator who had gained some fame in the industry recently.

So everyone downloaded it to give it a try and see what it was like.

As for the quality, even though the promotional headline called it high-quality, almost no players believed it.

After all, the cautionary tales from big studios hadn't been forgotten yet.

Zai Zong finished downloading almost immediately. With his gigabit internet speed, grabbing a 6 GB game was no trouble at all.

At that moment, he started his stream, ready to play the game.

"Brothers, let me tell you, the first time I played 'Dark Forest,' I predicted it would be a total piece of crap, but it ended up slapping me right in the face—and it hurt."

"Now that '21 Points' is downloaded but not played yet, I'm going to make another prediction. Let's not talk about anything else—everyone knows 'VR StarCraft,' right? Made by a big foreign studio, and everyone saw how terrible it was. I'll just say this: if '21 Points' is even half as bad as 'VR StarCraft,' I'd call it a success. What do you think?"

Hearing Zai Zong say this, the stream chat immediately filled with comments.

"Hahahaha, that big foreign studio took three years to make a rough piece of work like 'VR StarCraft,' how could Shuo Guang possibly compare to them?"

"Honestly, if Shuo Guang spent a month making a small game, I think it could be a gem. But a month to make a VR game? The quality is obviously impossible—you can tell with your feet!"

"The screenshots on IGame look decent, but the graphics clearly don't look like a VR game, because VR can't have that kind of quality."

"Ah, it's a shame. Shuo Guang's idea of breaking into VR is right, but he doesn't seem to realize if he can actually pull it off."

"By the way, what does '21 Points' mean? Is it 9 PM?"

"I think it's a card game. Haven't you guys played 21 Points?"

"If it's a poker game, the quality probably won't be too bad, right? That's a completely different genre from 'VR StarCraft.'"

Zai Zong watched the chat while waiting for the game to install.

When he saw the title "21 Points," his first thought was also a card game.

After all, with only a month of development, there was no way to make a large-scale game like "VR StarCraft."

But if it was a card game, that made sense—within such a short time, it seemed like it could only be a puzzle-type game.

Still, he'd have to get into the game to see for sure.

With the installation complete notification, "21 Points" was ready!

Without a second thought, Zai Zong picked up his VR headset and put it on, holding the controllers in both hands, looking fully prepared.

Since he was playing on PC, the stream wouldn't be affected.

"Alright, brothers, I'm going into the game. I've already mentally prepared myself for this game to be bad. I just hope it doesn't hit me too hard."

The chat followed along, saying they too had mentally prepared for a terrible game.

Others said since it was free, it didn't matter if it was bad.

At that moment, sitting in his chair with the VR headset on, Zai Zong didn't feel much excitement.

Only curiosity.

Curiosity about just how terrible this VR game developed in a single month could be, and whether he could even stomach playing it.

Even though this developer had created the high-quality, wildly popular game called "Dark Forest," that didn't shake this mindset.

After all, everyone knew the state of VR games.

Come on, let me take a look—are you a mule or a horse?

The moment this thought crossed his mind, he saw a blurry, indistinct shape begin to materialize in his vision.

The livestream audience immediately saw the image too.

As the blur gradually sharpened, they all froze, then couldn't help but laugh.

Because in front of them was nothing but the large, dripping blood-red game title "21 Points." Following the blood down were simple menu options: "Start," "Settings," "End."

No scene whatsoever. Just this pitch-black, bare-bones menu interface appearing out of nowhere—truly underwhelming.

Zai Zong instantly lost any expectations.

Even with the dripping blood effect, it still felt half-hearted.

The livestream room burst into laughter, everyone saying this menu interface was the most, most, most, most, most bare-bones they'd ever seen in their gaming careers—bar none!

Zai Zong felt the same, but he was a player and a streamer after all; he couldn't just follow the crowd's rhythm.

So he clicked Settings, went in, and turned the graphics to maximum.

Nothing else to it—his rig was beastly.

Then he backed out and clicked Start Game.

"Well, it's free anyway, might as well give it a shot."

Just as he expected the menu interface to slowly fade away, a focused beam of light suddenly slammed down from above, accompanied by a loud bang like a light switching on. The menu vanished instantly, catching him completely off guard.

"What the—what the—holy shit, what the hell!?"

Zai Zong, who had been leaning back, jolted upright. Still wearing the headset, he frantically looked left and right, wondering what had happened, but saw nothing.

Nothing except the table in front of him.

This table that had appeared out of nowhere...

Zai Zong tried to lift his head and look up.

All he saw was a thick, dense darkness and the glaring white spotlight.

Nothing else.

The table in front of him was an old, paint-chipped green square table, its large patches of rust seemingly telling tales of its age.

By the light, he spotted a very conspicuous English word on it.

'BlackJack'

His sixth-grade English was enough to know what that meant.

Blackjack, also known as 21 Points.

A card game.

Just as he frowned, staring at the tabletop, another loud bang rang out. Two beams of light instantly shot down from left and right, fully illuminating the surroundings.

When Zai Zong saw clearly, he froze.

Before him, with the expanded light source, he could see more rust stains on the tabletop, the filthy, peeling walls, a pile of outdated old TVs and metal trinkets, and across from him, a stranger wearing a thick coat and a burlap hood.

Zai Zong stared, stunned. He blinked, squinting hard at the figure across from him.

This...

This isn't a real person, is it?

No! It's a model!

But it's way too realistic!?

The fine texture of the coat's fuzz, the grime in the folds, the burlap feel of the hood—it looked practically real!

And the pile of TVs behind him—you couldn't even tell it was a game model. The textures and lighting were spot-on, the reflective glass of the screens like real life, blurring the line between real and fake!

At that moment, Zai Zong wondered if this wasn't a game at all, but a VR film!

"Guys, can you even tell this is a game? I swear, my first thought was that it looked just like reality."

The livestream audience was blown away by the fine graphics too. Some immediately said this wasn't a game, it was a film, just presented in a game-like format.

But others insisted it was still a game, just insanely well-made.

Zai Zong felt the same. Having experienced it firsthand, after the initial shock, he did notice some differences.

Traces of modeling were still there, just subtle, which was why it gave people that illusion of reality at first glance.

And he only noticed because he was experiencing it directly. The audience watching the stream through a screen weren't Leeuwenhoeks—they hadn't and wouldn't make such observations.

Glancing at the chat, Zai Zong ignored it. He pulled back his surprised expression and turned his gaze to the hooded figure across from him.

He hung his head low, motionless, but the faint breathing and rising and falling of his chest showed he was still alive—just seemed to have passed out.

At the same time, his right hand was locked to the tabletop, fingers spread apart, each one bound individually.

Zai Zong noticed his left hand was also restrained to the table by the same device, and it looked vaguely familiar, though he couldn't place it for a moment.

But the livestream audience recognized it.

A finger-breaking torture device!

It worked like a guillotine, slicing down from above to sever the fingers—a tool of abuse from long ago.

Zai Zong saw the barrage and couldn't help but feel a jolt of fear.

Looking at the situation with himself and the two across from him, plus the obvious card table in front, he immediately understood what kind of card game this was!

A bloody game of suffering!

Just then, the pile of TV sets all flickered on at once, static crackling with noise.

The sudden burst startled the hooded man across from him awake, making him panic and struggle!

But his right hand, firmly locked down, wouldn't budge, driving him frantic as he even tried to pry the device apart.

Zai Zong stared wide-eyed, and before he could react, a figure appeared in every single TV screen.

A man wearing a chilling mask.

Through the black-and-white screens, he slowly turned his head, his gaze fixed directly on Zai Zong, making his hair stand on end and his throat bob.

In the dead silence, only the hoarse, low voice from the black-and-white TVs echoed.

"I want to play a game with you."

Thanks to 'Book Friend 3848' for the tip support. Thanks to 'Sakura Loli' for the monthly ticket support.