The Players Complain Endlessly

As Xin Xin's desperate struggle for survival ended in her death, the livestream reached its climax.

And this firmly secured her the top spot in the gaming channel, unshakable.

Even Zai Zong was pushed down, becoming the eternal second place again.

On the night "Visage" launched, more and more people started playing.

The gaming channel on the Danmu Network exploded in popularity, drawing in many streamers to try it out, to the point where the first four pages were all broadcasting this game, and viewer counts were far from low.

This overwhelming heat pushed the entire channel's popularity ahead of others, especially crushing those female streamers who relied on flaunting their bodies—their viewer counts plummeted, leaving them utterly baffled.

They all grumbled inwardly: Why are there so few pervs today? That doesn't make sense. Did they all go ascetic?

Then they helplessly muddled through their stream time and signed off, preparing to lure back the audience tomorrow with some deep cleavage.

On the other side, streamers broadcasting "Visage"—whether top-tier or newcomers—all used this game to attract massive crowds of online viewers, reaping plenty of new fans and gifts.

Some of them were chased all over the house by the little girl with her jaw snapped off in Lucy's chapter, screaming in terror, panic after panic.

Others entered Dolores's chapter, dizzy from the room full of mirrors, their brains fried by the intricate puzzles, then interacting with the audience to solve them together.

Still others went into Lacan's chapter, driven mentally unstable by ghosts chasing them through the hospital, dying so many times they went numb!

And then there were some talent-type female streamers who didn't usually play games, coming to try it out—after all, a VR horror game was unheard of for them.

But before any ghost even appeared, the hyper-realistic atmosphere and supernatural phenomena scared them stiff, unable to move, huddled in corners trembling.

And when a ghost did pop up right in their face, they burst into tears on the spot, leaving their chat room fans completely at a loss.

Because of "Visage," some normally aloof streamers broke down, acting like helpless kids in the game, their usual demeanor nowhere to be found.

It also humbled some technical streamers—those who headshot every enemy in shooters and dominated first place in racing games all knelt before this game, their former swagger gone.

Among them, a well-known shooter streamer named Hou Sai Lei swore before playing that he'd seen it all—barrages of gunfire, piles of corpses—he was used to it, unfazed.

But in Lucy's chapter, he got so scared he screamed "Diuleiloumou!" Then the signal cut out, and no one knew what happened, leaving everyone worried.

Even though "Visage" had streamers screaming and pissing themselves in fear, they kept broadcasting.

Because this was the key to traffic!

"Visage" taught these streamers what the audience and fans loved to watch.

Through experience, they learned that fans loved seeing streamers get owned and scared!

No technical gameplay, no live commentary, no interactive chats, no suggestive content—none of it beat streaming a horror game and screaming in terror.

And so, streamers understood: to stay popular, from now on, any horror game was a must-stream!

Didn't matter if it was fun or scary—just scream.

What? Can't scream?

Learn!

Treat it as "commercial screaming."

It truly became a lifeline for low-tier streamers.

Soon, as these people played through it, both cloud-watchers and actual players noticed a pretty serious problem.

Players couldn't attack!

What the hell?

A horror game with no combat system?

Before launch, most players were guessing what weapons or methods they'd use to fight the ghosts.

They even laughed at the other group who said there might be no combat system.

Now it looked like that minority of netizens who guessed "Visage" might have no combat system were the real winners!

And they themselves had become the clowns.

But a horror game with no combat system—what's the point!?

How are you supposed to play!?

One streamer, crying and cursing, shouted something like, "You're so noble, so great, making a horror game with no combat system and making it this terrifying—you're sending players to their deaths! What did players ever do to you!?"

It struck a chord with the players.

At this point, around 4 AM Sunday, eight hours had passed since the game's launch.

But in the Fourth Calamity Club, plenty of people were pulling all-nighters because of this game, so many were discussing "Visage"'s combat system.

"Anyone with big balls wanna say how to fight the ghosts in this game? Or where the weapons are? I'm already dead numb, and now I think Lucy's little faceless face looks pretty."

This post was seen by many with the same question, who clicked in hoping for answers.

But it was all just shitposting.

"Same here, I'm in the hospital, just got face-slammed. Heart's cold, body's numb. I'm a streamer, live right now. To save face, I'm asking on a throwaway. If there's an answer, feel free to @ me. It's a pride thing, so I won't name myself. Fellow netizens, urgent, anonymous!"

"Please, someone save me—my sanity's bottomed out, my lighter's out of fuel, my meds are gone, and now it's one supernatural event every three steps, a ghost every five. What do I do? (crying)"

"I haven't found any weapons either. I'm starting to think there's no combat system. I tried picking up a chair to smash things, but I died as soon as I got close. After respawning, I threw it—no use. Then I tried picking up everything I could and throwing or smashing it, even used a fire extinguisher—nothing worked."

"The ghost is invincible! You can't fight it at all! If you run into it, you can only run! I, Li Someone, have been gaming for nearly ten years, and I've never felt this stifled!"

"Heads up, heads up—I found a shotgun in the Dolores chapter! Location here (image). No idea about other chapters, but good luck to everyone, hahahaha."

"The guy above me, I #&%￥#"

"No combat! This damn game has no combat! If you don't want the ghost to spawn, you have to keep your sanity up! Stock up on Anti-Stress Pills and Lighters—those are the most critical! If your inventory's full, drop stuff by the entrance hall door so you can swap easily!! Never skip collecting just because your inventory's full—you won't remember where things are!!"

And so, after the game's release, boosted by streamers and major websites, the buzz and popularity surged, becoming almost universally known.

Within eight hours of release, it topped the concurrent player charts at number one!

The next day, it hit Weibo Trending, spreading to even more people.

In less than twenty-four hours, the game was the subject of frantic discussion among players.

Every major site had posts about "Visage."

Weibo's topic section alone had nearly a thousand threads.

"What a smart move by this game! Launching at 8 PM on a Saturday—I just wanted to check it out before bed, but I ended up playing until now!"

"I never thought our country could make a VR game of this weight. Who still says foreign 'VR StarCraft' is the crown jewel of the VR gaming scene now?"

"It's so real—if it weren't for the headset on my face, I'd really think I was inside the game world!"

"Scary as hell, this game. And that dizziness effect when your sanity drops? A total nightmare! Dizzy while running for your life while being chased by a ghost—I broke down on the spot!"

"It's a good game, clearly made with heart. But it's way too terrifying. The three Past Residents chapters—each story is so obscure, no idea how they connect to the protagonist. Hope some expert can put out a plot analysis."

"The dev team's VR tech is incredibly mature, even surpassing foreign standards. The game they made is almost indistinguishable from reality—amazing! If only it were an FPS, the shooting would feel so satisfying!"

"Yeah, yeah—if it were a VR shooter, it'd have that epic, jaw-dropping feel! Making it a horror game feels like overkill. Hope the devs consider making other types of games."

"I'm dying laughing—last night my roommate got so scared playing this that he spilled instant noodles all over my bed. Watching his face was a whole night's worth of comedy, hahahaha."

"I want to thank 'Visage'—because of it, my crush, who's also my roommate, asked me to come play with her. I hugged her so many times, and things got really subtle between us. Now we've made plans to watch a movie together. I feel like there's hope, haha."

And so, riding the massive buzz of "Visage," at 8 PM, the developer Shuo Guang posted the game's first-day sales and his personal thoughts on the Danmu Network.

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