"Douluo: World has made huge improvements to its models, gameplay, and other aspects compared to previous games based on the Douluo IP. Though it still has that browser-game feel, it's the best Douluo IP game in the past five years. Overall, I'd say it's above average."
[666, the streamer's showing off his game knowledge again]
[u1s1, the streamer's really good at sucking up]
[How long has the streamer been live?]
[Thanks for the hard work, streamer. Get some rest early (sleeping emoji)]
Jinghua City apartment, Room 325.
Lu Ma watched the live-stream chat scroll by and let out a long breath.
He'd been grinding away at the game for seven days. Aside from eating, drinking, and taking care of business, he'd spent nearly all his time at his computer, pushing through the main story.
He looked at the nineteen actual viewers left in his stream and gave a helpless smile.
The low viewer count wasn't because it was the middle of the night. Quite the opposite: it was noon, the busiest time of day.
The reason he had so few viewers was simply—
He, Lu Ma, was a small-time streamer, and his streams weren't all that entertaining.
After ending the stream, Lu Ma started looking through his private messages in the creator dashboard.
Then his eyes landed on a message from a fan with an old-fashioned dolphin avatar, whose username was "Dark Douluo Official."
[Mr. Lu, would you be interested in testing our new Douluo IP game? We can pay a 30,000 yuan deposit, with the remaining 270,000 yuan due after the test. If you're interested, please add us on WeChat: xxxxx...]
"Is this a scam?"
Lu Ma furrowed his brow and clicked on the fan's profile. It was completely empty, and the only post was about passing a regularization exam.
He became even more suspicious about who was behind the account. But then he figured he barely had any money for anyone to scam him out of, so he added them anyway.
The other party was quick to respond, promptly dropping several files on Lu Ma.
[Dark Douluo alpha0.1.zip, 25.7 GB]
[Dark Douluo Basic Gameplay Instructions.txt, 1 KB]
[Transfer: 30,000 yuan]
They actually paid up. What was there to say? He'd test it, of course.
An hour later.
After taking a sip of water, Lu Ma looked at the downloaded archive, extracted it, and successfully launched the game.
Accompanied by a stretch of soothing white noise, the game's main menu appeared before him.
[Start New Game]
[Load Game]
[Settings]
[Exit Game]
"Single-player?"
Staring at the words "Load Game," he found it hard to believe this was a game based on the Douluo IP.
"How's a single-player game supposed to make money?"
Lu Ma muttered as he put on his headphones and selected Start New Game.
The view pulled in from a natural landscape toward a figure dressed in a black robe. Several characters gradually appeared in front of him.
"The Shrek Seven Devils? Are these all playable characters? Or do you pick a Martial Soul?"
"Holy crap, these models are practically on par with the latest AAA games. Is this really based on the Douluo IP? How are they making money off this?"
Looking at the dazzling array of options, Lu Ma's hands began to tremble.
But right then, the developers poured a bucket of cold water over him.
The words [Character Not Unlocked] appeared in front of every character except Ning Rongrong.
"Tsk, I knew a game company couldn't be this generous."
He selected her, then created the character.
The view pulled back and moved into a room filled with a young girl's charm.
The girl sat on the bed, wearing a standard blue-green lace miniskirt, her tea-brown hair cascading down her back.
Her light-blue eyes were bright and lively, yet at that moment, they held a trace of blankness.
At the same time, the character's name flashed along the bottom of the screen.
[Ning Rongrong (12 years old)]
Ning Rongrong.
As the only direct disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she'd been guarded closely since childhood by the two Titled Douluo Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong. She'd been doted on by everyone and had an extraordinary gift: innate ninth-level Soul Power. She was the only genius in the sect's centuries of history with any hope of breaking through the limits of her Martial Soul. Now, her Soul Power had reached level 26, far beyond that of other Soul Masters her age!
Not long ago, she'd overheard her father, Ning Fengzhi, and her two grandfathers discussing sending her to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. For what had to be the thousandth time, resentment welled up inside her.
That place was full of nobles. They were all so fake. She wasn't going! They all doted on her anyway. If she just acted cute a little, Dad and the others definitely wouldn't make her go!
Hehe, today she was going to have fun again!
Just woken up, Ning Rongrong gave herself a little pep talk.
"Huh? Why won't my body do what I tell it to?"
Ning Rongrong had just been about to get ready as usual when she suddenly realized something was wrong. She tried to call for her two grandfathers, but she couldn't even open her mouth.
-
So I get to control Ning Rongrong directly, instead of creating a new disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?
"Interesting. With character models this detailed, I'll forgive them for not unlocking the other characters. Let's see the controls..."
What was that voice?
Ning Rongrong immediately grew frightened. She tried to find where the voice was coming from, but couldn't move.
Then, to her horror, she found herself standing up and walking forward two steps. She turned twice, shuffled two steps to the left like a crab, then two steps to the right, backed up two steps, sat down, and then lay down.
At the same time, she heard words she couldn't understand.
"Standard WASD movement, and you can interact with objects naturally without pressing F. That's a pretty bold choice."
She stood up again, jumped once, then ran a few steps and stopped to throw a punch. After that, she charged straight at the wall.
No, don't!!!
No matter how unwilling Ning Rongrong was, she couldn't change the inevitable outcome.
Thud.
She hit the wall.
At his computer, Lu Ma frowned as he looked at the status bar along the bottom.
HP:259/260
"The controls are great, but why does hitting a wall cause damage? What game out there works like that?"
Of course my body can't take it when you run straight into a wall! I'm the precious jewel of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! When I get out, I'll make Sword Grandpa and Bone Grandpa torture you until you'd beg for death!
Damn it, let this young lady out!
Ning Rongrong cursed under her breath, feeling the pain in her forehead.
"But the environmental interactions are really well done. No clipping, and the movement is smooth. I'm impressed, and I haven't even changed the settings yet... So how do I use my Soul Skills? Let's see—oh, the number keys."
A moment later, Ning Rongrong, still standing in place, held out her hand. A Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda appeared above it, shining with brilliant light. In an instant, she felt much more comfortable.
She also understood one thing completely.
She was at someone else's mercy, and they weren't paying any attention to her. She didn't even know whether they could hear her thoughts.
Damn it. Once she got control of her body back, she'd make him pay.
"I've got the basic controls down. So what's next? The game's main story... Ning Rongrong is twelve, the age when she joins Shrek Academy. So the main story probably starts after she decides to go to Shrek Academy. I wonder how long until she runs away from home."
He knew I was twelve, and what was Shrek Academy? Why did she keep hearing that name lately?
As for running away from home, when her father and the others had discussed getting her enrolled at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy not long ago, she had indeed considered it.
But she'd never told anyone!
Hearing one frightening phrase after another from the voice she didn't recognize, Ning Rongrong couldn't help shivering.
Before she could recover from her fright, she found that her body had already left the room, one hand resting on a nearby tree.
She watched helplessly as her delicate hand touched the tree and began to climb...
A little while later, she finally came back down and heard an irritated voice.
"Why does climbing a tree cost HP too? That's terrible game design. They need to fix it."
Exactly, exactly. I don't understand what you're saying, but sorry that you can't smash into walls or climb trees.
Feeling the pain in her hand, Ning Rongrong was at a loss for words.
Before you continue