Pirated Link

[Latest news, Moon Eclipse Clan spent ten years creating the epoch-making virtual reality game <Dark Land, which has officially launched. Pre-orders are now open on major gaming platforms and the official website. The base game costs 128,888...]

[Grinding Player Player Chat Group (Online: 10 people)]

Broke to the Bone (Admin): Bros, Dark Land sold 1 million copies in ten minutes, what do you guys think?

Playing games still costs money?: What else can we think? Of course, we'll see it on the news. I'd love to buy it and try it, but my wallet won't allow it.

Leopard Head Zero Charge: I've waited eight years for this game. My heart died when I saw the price. This price means no survival for ordinary players. Rumor has it the game also has various new anti-piracy technologies. For ordinary people like me, I probably won't have a chance to play it in this lifetime, unless my plan to find a rich sugar mama makes new progress.

Family Shared Godfather: Even more tragic is that this game blocks external live streaming and recording functions. It's hard for us to even watch game videos for entertainment. It completely eliminates the possibility for common players like us to peek at the rich playing games.

Broke to the Bone (Admin): Ahhhhhhh, I really want to play! Seeing the early CG videos of the game already filled me with anticipation, but when it was released, they told me 128,888. If you set it at 28,888, I would've gritted my teeth and bought it. At worst, I'd eat dirt for a few months.

Just as the players in the chat group were lamenting the price of <Dark Land, a sudden message caught their attention.

Welfare Officer: Actually, if you really want to play, I have a cracked version of Dark Land here. You can play online normally.

Broke to the Bone replied to Welfare Officer: Bro, stop bragging. A cracked version? Right now, even buying the official version requires queuing up. Moon Eclipse Clan has limited quotas for us Human Federation, how could there be a cracked version on the first day?

Leopard Head Zero Charge replied to Welfare Officer: Are you trying to trick us into downloading SpongeBob and Teletubbies? By the way, who are you? I've never seen you in the group before.

Welfare Officer: I've sent the cracked version link to the group. Just download and log in if you want to play. Link address: ******.

Seeing that Welfare Officer actually sent a download link in the group, none of the group members clicked to download.

They instinctively thought it might be a scam link, and clicking it could lead to heavy losses.

Just as the group members were verbally abusing Welfare Officer and preparing to kick him out of the group, a group member stepped forward.

Game Brick Mover Party: Bros, don't panic. Let me download and test it. My bank account balance is only 20, so there's no significant loss if I get scammed. As the saying goes, as long as you're poor enough, you're invincible. The impact of being scammed is directly related to your wealth. For someone as poor as me, the impact is very limited. Wait for my reply.

Family Shared Godfather replied to Game Brick Mover Party: Godfather, go and return quickly. Your children are waiting here for good news.

Human Federation, Tianfeng City.

South District, Slum.

The narrow alley walls were covered in moss and vines, and the air was filled with an indescribable smell, a mixture of cooking fumes, mold, and unknown garbage.

Most of the houses here were low and dilapidated, mostly built from wood and sheet metal. They would creak and groan when it rained, as if protesting the harsh living conditions.

As night fell, a dim yellow light flickered in an old wooden house in the corner.

The perspective passed through the gaps in the wooden house into a room less than 30 square meters.

Slurp!

He slurped the remaining instant noodles in the bowl into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Li Zheng let out a long sigh, reached out, and threw the noodle box into the trash can next to his chair. He pulled out a tissue from the box and wiped the oil from his mouth.

He glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of the computer screen. There was still an hour before the scheduled broadcast time. Li Zheng got up and went to the bathroom to tidy his clothes.

In the mirror, he was 1.82 meters tall, with fair skin. He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and had a clean buzz cut. He looked somewhat handsome.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Li Zheng couldn't help but sigh in dejection.

His current job was a game grinder. He usually made money by grinding in various popular games to provide resources for paying players. He also occasionally streamed to earn some extra income.

Recently, Dark Land had become very popular, and a large number of paying players were drawn to that game, causing his income from grinding in the games he played to decline at a visible rate.

The most tragic thing in life is to be alive but out of money.

He took out his phone from his pocket. It displayed the latest payment notification.

[Your savings card ending in 3584 has been debited 329 for the purchase of D-Grade Nutrient Solution. Balance: 21. Would you like to enable account protection? This feature will protect your account funds.]

Using a six-digit bank card password to protect a two-digit deposit, Li Zheng felt it was unnecessary.

He walked to the computer desk. The game download progress bar was at 95%, and it would take another three minutes to experience the game.

He glanced at the chat group, which was still enthusiastically discussing Dark Land. Li Zheng felt that the probability of him being scammed was 99.99%.

Dark Land was created by Moon Eclipse Clan using the most advanced virtual reality technology, with a large amount of anti-piracy core technology embedded. The possibility of it being cracked on its release day was almost zero.

Even Moon Eclipse Clan's virtual reality game Land of Sins, released five years ago, still had no cracked version.

But he still decided to download and try it, even though he knew the ending was likely to be like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandpa.

Watching one episode wouldn't hurt.

Five minutes later.

The game download was complete. Li Zheng decompressed the file and transferred it to the game pod connected to his computer, then pressed "Game Adaptation."

Before experiencing the game, he decided to inform his fans in the live stream room.

He had originally scheduled a live stream for 8 PM tonight with his fans, but now he had to go and experience a "fake game," so he would definitely miss the time.

With a hint of apology, he took out his phone, opened the fan group, edited a message, and sent it:

"Sorry, urgent matter. Tonight's 8 PM live stream is canceled."

Before he could put down his phone, a group member replied:

"No one's watching anyway. How could one day be enough? I suggest taking a few more days off, or even a year's leave if you have to."

This was followed by a string of repetitive replies.

Li Zheng: ...

The fans' replies were a major blow to Li Zheng.

Just then, the gaming pod next to his computer desk lit up with a green light, indicating that the adaptation was complete.

"Forget it. I'll watch an episode of Calabash Brothers Saving Grandpa to calm my nerves first."

He changed into his gaming outfit and approached the gaming pod. Pressing the open button, the semi-transparent lid slowly lifted.

He lay down on his side in the pod. The lid closed, and nutrient fluid flowed out from holes around him, enveloping his body. The neural connection tubes automatically docked with various parts of his body.

The scene before his eyes spun, and he found himself in a virtual interface.

There were 12 games displayed, and at the very bottom was the newly downloaded Dark Land. The game icon was a monster engulfed in crimson flames.

"Something's definitely wrong."

He had seen the login icon for Dark Land on the news. It was a jet-black sword, completely different from the monster icon now.

"Damn scammers!"

While cursing inwardly, Li Zheng still chose to press the game icon to start the game.

"Calabash Brothers, activate!"

Newcomer reporting, please take care of me.

(End of this chapter)