[Breaking news: After ten years of development, the Moon Eclipse Clan's groundbreaking virtual reality game, Dark Land, has officially launched. Preorders are now open on all major gaming platforms and the official website. The game costs 128,888...]
[Hardcore Players Chat Group (10 online)]
Broke to the Bone (Admin): Brothers, Dark Land sold a million copies in ten minutes. What do you think?
Still Paying to Play Games?: What do you think? Obviously, I'm watching the news. I'd love to buy it and give it a try, but my wallet won't let me.
Leopard Head Zero Charge: I've been waiting eight years for this game. When I saw the price, my heart finally gave up. They clearly never intended ordinary players to have a chance at this price. I heard the game also has all kinds of new anti-cracking technology. At this rate, I probably won't get to play it in my lifetime—unless my plan to find a sugar mommy makes some progress.
Family Shared Godfather: Even worse, the game blocks external livestreaming and recording. It's hard enough to find gameplay videos to watch while we eat, and now they've completely cut us ordinary players off from watching rich people play.
Broke to the Bone (Admin): Aaaaaah, I really want to play! The early CG videos already had me so hyped, and then at launch they hit me with 128,888. If it were 28,888, I'd grit my teeth and buy it. I could always eat dirt for a few months.
Just as the players in the chat group were lamenting Dark Land's price, a sudden message caught their attention.
Welfare Officer: If you really want to play, I've got a cracked version of Dark Land. You can play online just fine.
Broke to the Bone replied to Welfare Officer: Bro, quit bluffing. A cracked version? Even buying the official game means waiting in line to fight for a copy. The Moon Eclipse Clan only allocated a limited number of licenses to the Human Federation. How could a cracked version come out on launch day?
Leopard Head Zero Charge replied to Welfare Officer: Are you trying to trick us into downloading SpongeBob SquarePants and the 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. If you want to play, just download it and log in. Link: ******.
Welfare Officer really had sent a download link to the group, but none of the members clicked it.
They instinctively assumed it might be a scam link, and clicking it could cost them dearly.
Just as the members were cursing Welfare Officer out and preparing to kick him from the group, one of them spoke up.
Game Brick Mover Party: Don't panic, brothers. Let me download it and test it first. I've only got 20 in my bank account, so even if I get scammed, I won't lose much. Like they say, when you're poor enough, you're invincible. How much damage a scam can do depends on how much money you have. Someone as broke as me won't take much of a hit. Wait for my report.
Family Shared Godfather replied to Game Brick Mover Party: Godfather, go and come back quickly. Your children await the good news.
Human Federation, Tianfeng City.
South District, the slums.
Moss and vines covered the walls of the narrow alleys. An indescribable smell hung in the air, a mixture of cooking fumes, mildew, and the stench of unknown garbage.
Most of the houses here were low and dilapidated, built mainly from wood and tinplate. Whenever it rained, they went "pitter-patter," as if protesting the terrible living conditions.
Night fell, and a dim yellow light came on in an old wooden shack tucked into a corner.
Looking through a gap in the shack, one could see a room measuring less than thirty square meters.
Slurp!
Li Zheng sucked the remaining instant noodles from the bowl into his mouth in one go, chewed and swallowed them, then let out a long breath. He tossed the noodle cup into the trash can beside his chair, pulled a tissue from a box, and wiped the grease from his lips.
He glanced at the time in the lower-right corner of the computer screen. There was still an hour until the scheduled start of his livestream. Li Zheng got up and went to the bathroom to straighten up.
He stood 1.82 meters tall, with fair skin. He wore a black T-shirt and a neat crew cut, and was quite handsome.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Li Zheng couldn't help letting out a dejected sigh.
He currently worked as a game grinder. He earned money by farming resources in popular games and selling them to paying players, and occasionally livestreamed for a little extra income.
Recently, Dark Land had become a huge hit, drawing in countless paying players. As a result, the income from grinding in the several games he played was visibly declining.
The most tragic thing in life was being alive but having no money left to spend.
He pulled out his phone. It displayed his latest payment notification.
[Your savings account ending in 3584 was charged 329 for the purchase of D-Grade Nutrient Solution. Balance: 21. Would you like to activate account protection? This feature will protect the funds in your account.]
Protecting a two-digit balance with a six-digit bank card PIN struck Li Zheng as completely unnecessary.
He returned to his computer desk. The game download progress bar had reached 95 percent. It would be ready to play in three minutes.
He glanced at the chat group, where everyone was still discussing Dark Land with great enthusiasm. Li Zheng figured there was a 99.99 percent chance he was being scammed.
Dark Land had been made by the Moon Eclipse Clan using the most advanced virtual reality technology. It had a host of core anti-cracking measures, so the chance of it being cracked on launch day was practically zero.
Even the Moon Eclipse Clan's virtual reality game Land of Sins, released five years ago, still had no cracked version.
Still, he decided to download it and see. Even knowing how it would probably end, he might as well give it a shot.
One episode wouldn't hurt.
Five minutes later.
The game finished downloading. Li Zheng unzipped the files, transferred them to the game pod connected to his computer, and pressed "Game Compatibility."
Before trying the game, he decided to let his livestream followers know he'd be taking the night off.
He'd arranged to livestream at eight that evening, but now he was going to try out a "fake game," so he was bound to miss the start time.
Feeling a little apologetic, he took out his phone, opened the fan group, typed a message, and sent it:
"Sorry, something urgent came up. Tonight's eight o'clock livestream is canceled."
Before he could put his phone down, someone in the group replied:
"Nobody watches anyway. One day off won't cut it. I suggest taking a few more days. Better yet, take a year off."
A string of copycat replies followed.
Li Zheng: ...
The fans' replies dealt Li Zheng a heavy blow.
Just then, the game pod beside his computer desk lit up with a green light, indicating that compatibility was complete.
"Forget it. I'll watch one episode of Calabash Brothers to calm my nerves."
After changing into his gaming clothes, he went over to the game pod and pressed the open button. The translucent lid slowly lifted.
He lay down sideways inside. The lid lowered, nutrient solution flowed from holes all around him and enveloped his body, and neural connection tubes automatically attached themselves to various parts of his body.
After a dizzying spin, the view before him shifted to a virtual interface.
There were twelve games on it. The newest download, Dark Land, was at the bottom. Its icon showed a monster wreathed in crimson flames.
"Something's definitely off."
He'd seen Dark Land's login icon in the news. It was a black sword, completely different from the monster icon he saw now.
"Damn scammer!"
Cursing inwardly, Li Zheng still chose the game icon and pressed it to launch the game.
"Calabash Brothers, launch!"