A Smash Hit (Part 1)

Citong City.

At the home of Xia Libing's third uncle and aunt, Xia Nianqing, who had just started junior high school, and her younger brother Xia Tinglei, who was still in the fourth grade of elementary school, were huddled at the dining table in the living room, staring at a tablet computer watching a streamer doing a game live stream.

Today is Sunday, and my parents had something come up and are both out. Only my cousin, who came over for a free meal, is home, so the two of them can do whatever they want.

Xia Tinglei originally wanted to snatch the tablet to play "Honor of Kings," but his sister had already taken it. He couldn't win against her, so he could only harass her from the sidelines—"If I can't play, you can't watch either."

But as he watched, he too became captivated by the live stream, and the siblings huddled together, engrossed in watching it.

The streamer was a fairly famous game streamer who streamed all sorts of games, doing whatever was popular. His streams were very entertaining and had a large audience.

But the game he's using for his live stream today is a very special one—"Voice Genesis," a game that has just entered a limited public beta test, a game where you can only hear the sounds but not see the characters, and it's all about voice.

Following the game's guide, the streamer completed a few minutes of voice recognition correction, followed by a very brief character setup, and then began matching players to enter the game.

"This game has both a PC version and a mobile version. Although it's all voice-based, we can see the corresponding subtitles on the screen. Hmm, look, it's recognizing what I'm saying very quickly and displaying it on the screen. Wow, the recognition rate and speed are terrifying! I can even speak fast and with a slight accent without much impact."

Before the streamer could finish rambling on, the game loaded. To the accompaniment of a somewhat eerie background music track, a deep narration began. "You crawled out of the weeds, looked around, and were surprised to find yourself in a forest you'd never seen before. You thought back carefully, and realized you seemed to have fallen asleep in your office..."

The streamer couldn't help but exclaim, "This voice is amazing! In a game, this should be AI voice, but it sounds more like a real person speaking, both in terms of rhythm and tone. Wow, that's impressive..."

Just as he was speaking, the game's narrator stopped, and only continued after he finished speaking, "You seem to have hit your head and started talking nonsense, as if everything around you is a game."

"Holy crap! I'm shocked! Could the narrator really be a real person?! Does every game have a dedicated narrator? No, wait, his voice is clearly directed at me alone. Judging from the previous matchmaking, there were eighteen people in this game, so that means we need eighteen..." The streamer was halfway through his rambling when he saw viewers in the chat reminding him of the game's "rules," and quickly said, "It seems I can't say things outside the game environment while using voice input. I'll focus on playing the game now."

The narrator continued, "You were babbling incoherently as you carefully made your way forward at a slow pace, stopping every few steps to observe the surroundings, seemingly worried about losing your bearings. Suddenly, you heard footsteps. Following the sound, you saw a tall young man carrying a bamboo basket, dressed in coarse linen clothes, looking like an ancient person, emerge from behind a large tree. You shouted:..."

The streamer knew it was time for him to type, so he raised his voice and shouted, "Bro!"

One second after he typed his voice message, the narration continued, "The young man heard your shout, glanced at you with slight surprise, and walked towards you."

Then, the sound of footsteps on the grass in the woods could be heard, followed by a Mandarin voice with a heavy Haixi Province accent. "Brother, did you call me?"

Narrator: "You begin to inquire about the information you care about:..."

The streamer asked, "Hey bro, where is this place?"

A voice with Haixi Province accent replied, "This is Rolling Mountain, no, what mountain is it again? Big Stick Mountain? Never mind, let's just call it Rolling Mountain, this is Rolling Mountain!"

"Brother... where is Rolling Mountain? By the way, what era is this? Is it on Earth?" the streamer asked again. Before entering the game, he only knew that it was a time-travel story, but he didn't know the specific details. He didn't know if he was traveling to ancient China or another world. Anyway, as long as he found and rescued a girl named Xiangxiang, he would win.

"I forgot where it was, but the system just told me. Hey bro, you're really a player? That's interesting. Your voice doesn't have any background noise at all. I initially thought you were an NPC," said the man with the Haixi accent. "By the way, my name is 'Lightly Flying Wild Rhino,' and I stream on the Firefish Platform. You can follow me later, my room number is..."

A loud "boom" interrupted the player's voice, who spoke with a Haixi Province accent. Then, a narrator began. "Just as the young man in front of you was gesticulating wildly and spouting nonsense, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck him from the sky. You were also thrown back. When you got up from the ground and looked over, you found that he had completely disappeared, as if his words had violated some unknown taboo and he had been punished by the heavens."

The streamer quickly turned off the game's voice recording and then laughed as he said to his viewers, "I knew this guy was in trouble. What he said clearly violated the game's lore and rules. I just didn't expect the punishment to be like this—a direct 'divine punishment' and he's gone. Interesting! Absolutely interesting!"

The streamer quickly turned on the audio recording again and continued playing the game following the narration.

"I think I should go in the direction that person came from; maybe I can get out of this forest." The streamer had also mastered the gameplay, using "talking to himself" to influence his own game trajectory.

Sure enough, the narrator said, "You started following the man's footprints, but soon realized that he hadn't come from the outside of the mountain, but rather deeper into it. Remembering the bamboo basket he had just carried was full of herbs, you realized he had clearly gone into the mountains to gather herbs and was returning with a full load. The direction he was heading was the way out of the mountains. But just as you were about to change direction and turn back, you vaguely heard the sounds of fighting..."

After the streamer started playing the game based on its background, he soon found himself immersed in it, as if he were someone who had truly traveled to another world.

The game's narration is very smooth, and the tone changes according to the environment and the progress of the plot. Combined with the background music and related sound effects, it is indeed easy to immerse the player in the game.

The narrator doesn't always follow a fixed player. Sometimes, after everyone's names in the game have been announced and they know each other, in large scenes, the narrator will also speak in the third person for all the players in this "scene," creating a sense of "ensemble acting."

After playing for more than forty minutes, the streamer was unfortunately "killed" by a female player. However, he could still choose different "perspectives" to continue listening to the game's progress.

"Even if you don't participate directly or play, just listening is very interesting. It really feels like listening to a radio drama, even more so than many radio dramas. When I first heard about the game's mechanics, I thought it was just a more advanced tabletop RPG, but now the experience is completely different!"

"The plot framework of this story itself is not complicated, but with everyone having an impact and multiple variables, the plot line is constantly changing, various subplots are constantly being generated, and they are still reasonably integrated together without going astray. That's really quite impressive!"

"Moreover, the identities of the players are arranged very well. Some are transmigrators, some are natives, and their winning objectives are different... There are also NPCs. When you talk to them, unless they deliberately reveal it, you really can't tell at a glance whether the other person is a player or an NPC. When I was killed by that 'little lady' just now, I was really confused!"

"If the NPCs inside are really automatically generated by AI, they could pass the Turing test, right? This Tengjiao... Soaring Dragon Interactive Entertainment, which rock did they pop out of? I've never heard of them before, their technology is just too damn strong!"

"Just to clarify, this experience is Quanzhen School, there's no sponsored content. I even bought this public beta invitation code on Taobao..." the streamer said with emotion. After being "killed," he could finally chat freely with his viewers about his experience.

Not only the streamer, but also Xia Nianqing and Xia Tinglei, the siblings who were watching the live stream, were completely engrossed and absorbed. In fact, this was not the first time Xia Nianqing had watched the live stream of this game. From the very first day of its open beta, the game quickly dominated the top spots on various game live stream charts.

Although it's only a small-scale public beta test, and the number of players is very limited, most people who watch the live stream won't be able to play the game themselves. However, watching the live stream, watching others play, or more precisely, "listening" to others play, is a very different experience. Each live stream is like listening to a radio drama; the level of excitement and fun may vary, but they are all very attractive.

As a result, the public beta invitation codes for "Voice Genesis" on Taobao have been sold for four figures.

When Xia Nianqing and Xia Tinglei were watching the live stream, a tall figure appeared behind them and listened to the live stream with them. It was their cousin, Xia Tianhuo, who had been kidnapped in Myanmar earlier.

"You two aren't studying properly or doing your homework, and you're watching this live stream instead. I'll tell Uncle and Aunt!" Xia Tianhuo said to his younger cousins after the game ended.

The two siblings clearly didn't show the same respect for their cousin, Xia Libing. Xia Nianqing turned around and glared at him. "Brother Huo, it's Sunday, okay? Besides, I finished my homework a long time ago. Watching the live stream is for research for our club's sociology project, not just for fun! But Xia Tinglei doesn't seem to have finished his homework yet..."

Xia Tinglei grinned and said, "Come on, when Brother Huo was in school, he was way more impressive than me. He skipped classes all the time, and he fought his way from the first year of high school to the third, and then from the third year all the way to the administration office. I heard he ran to the administration office and shouted, 'I'm going to beat up ten of them~~~~', and then his uncle, who came to the school, gave him a good beating..."

"Who told you that nonsense..." Xia Tianhuo couldn't help but pick up the brat who had teased him and spank him, but the kid just laughed while being spanked. Xia Nianqing even took out her phone to film a video, laughing as she filmed, "Brother Huo, hit him harder! This kid's skin is thick, my mom usually hits him with a rolling pin, your strength isn't enough, Xia Tinglei, look at the camera, come on, cooperate a bit, let out a couple of screams..."

Xia Tianhuo was speechless. Of course, he hadn't used much force; he was just trying to scare the kid. But he couldn't really hit him hard, because if something serious happened, the joke would be ruined. So, he could only helplessly put Xia Tinglei down, ignore the brat, and go to the refrigerator to get a drink.

"Brother Huo, I heard you were kidnapped before?" Xia Nianqing asked in a low voice after giving her younger brother the tablet to play Honor of Kings and then leaning over to her cousin who was sitting on the sofa looking at his phone.

"Who told you that?" Xia Tianhuo asked, frowning.

"I guessed! Okay, to be honest, I overheard my parents talking about it in their room before. No wonder they sent us to Aunt Yang's house for several days when Sister Bing came over in March—it was to rescue you! Hey, Huo-ge, tell me, how were you kidnapped and how were you rescued? What were the kidnappers like? Did they have an AK?" Xia Nianqing asked with shining eyes. "Why did Sister Bing find out about this first? Why didn't you just tell my dad or uncle?"

"Go away, go watch your live stream." Xia Tianhuo pushed her head away, secretly relieved that he had called Lao Xia when he called for the ransom and wouldn't tell anyone the contents of that distress call. If it had been Yang Zhen'er, his cousin, or this cousin in front of him, they probably would have already spread the word that he called her "Mom".

"Hey~! Tell me, they're all your cousins, there's no reason you only tell Sister Bing and not me!" Xia Nianqing said coquettishly.

"So, you're also my cousin, but you're as docile as a quail in front of Lao Xia, yet you're like a flea in front of me?"

Despite Xia Nianqing's persistent entreaties, Xia Tianhuo refused to discuss the kidnapping with her. Eventually, she lost her patience and could only reluctantly return to her room to watch a drama.

Xia Tianhuo picked up his phone and started searching for information about the game "Voice Genesis".

He knew that this game seemed to be the work of Xiang Kun, who was working with Lao Xia on some Research Base or research center. He had met this bald guy once before he went abroad before the new year.

Moreover, Yang Zhen'er and Tang Baona were also deeply involved in this game.

It's said that when they were testing it out internally, the narration was still Nana's voice, but it's been changed now. Although that voice sounds pretty good, he still prefers to hear Tang Baona's version of the narration.

Today is April 19th, a full month has passed since Xiang Kun and Lao Xia went to Peng City to see Zhang Qian.

<Voice Genesis> has only just begun its limited public beta test, but in less than five days it has already become a viral sensation online and a hot topic of public discussion.

As time went on, people's focus began to shift from the game's inherent gameplay to other aspects.

I recommend a new book, <Six Doors 2077>:

Borderland City, a chaotic frontier of China.

Outlaws gather here, human modification is rampant, black market transactions converge here, and chaotic gangs are deeply entrenched here.

For various reasons, Green Lotus Company, the developer of Cyber Space - New World, chose to locate its headquarters here.

The Six Doors, which were practically non-existent, were in dire need of reconstruction. Wang Chuan, a constable in the capital, was demoted from the capital after a failed online romance and took up his post here.