Starting Over Is Harder Than Starting!

The chat immediately burst into laughter. Watching streamers play games made by rookie designers like this was just for laughs. What normal person would spend money on such bizarre things?

The game was not very large, and he finished downloading it in no time.

"Take a look at this game description. I'll read it out for everyone."

"This is a rewarding rock-climbing game that can greatly temper the player's mindset. If possible, I hope everyone can play this game with a smile and, after clearing it, sincerely say: 'Very easy!'"

[ Ding! ]

The notification sound for the completed download rang out, and Silver's attention quickly shifted to the new game.

"Hello, everyone. Today, we're playing Getting over it. Now, I'll fire the first shot that sends this game straight into obscurity!"

He opened the game with a grin. On-screen appeared a little man sitting in a pot.

A black clay pot, a slightly rusted hammer, and bare arms covered in marks from wind and sun.

This man with no lower body sat in the pot with a hammer in hand. The platform beneath him was made of yellow-brown earth.

"I thought the cover character was some kind of joke, but now that I'm in the game, he really is a joke!" Silver looked at the protagonist, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The protagonist gripped the hammer with both hands and could use it to push, pull, hook, and perform a series of other movements to propel himself forward.

Looking at the game screen, the chat could not help mocking it too.

'I would never buy a game like this in my life. I really admire Silver for resisting the urge to refund it until now.'

'What kind of trash character is this? What sort of person makes games like this?'

'Is this what game design graduates are like? The gaming industry is doomed!'

"cc, don't ever let him graduate."

'This is way too funny!'

'No wonder the developer told us to play with a smile. This is purely a comedy game.'

"This really is ridiculous. What was the creator trying to convey? A disabled man with an indomitable spirit?"

Silver moved the mouse twice, and the man in the pot swung his hammer twice as well.

With a hard jab of the hammer against the ground, the little man lifted slightly into the air and fell forward.

"Don't say it, seriously, don't say it! This control scheme is actually pretty stress-relieving." Silver raised his brows at once.

He controlled the pot man and jumped straight onto a small mound. The feeling of bouncing around while sitting in a pot was rather satisfying.

Ahead stood a rather crude little tree.

It was strange. In this place filled with yellow, brown, and earthy rocks, that single little tree was exceptionally conspicuous.

As he passed it, he could not help taking a few extra looks.

At the time, he did not understand why a tree stood here all alone.

The rock wall ahead was uneven, with many stones stacked together. As the top streamer in the gaming category, he understood its purpose at a glance.

He raised the character's hammer high and wedged it directly against a protrusion in the rock wall. With a slight flick of the mouse, the pot man landed steadily atop the cliff.

"Heh, that's it?" He spread his hands. "Ve~ry~ easy!"

With just one look, he had grasped the game's basic premise. It was a climbing game where he needed to control the hammer in his hand to reach the top.

Just as he smugly picked up the mouse again and prepared to continue, he moved it too widely and directly knocked the little man, who had just climbed onto a rock, back to the ground.

Smack!

Seeing this, Silver froze for a moment.

He looked at his hand. Was it really that exaggerated?

He had only moved the mouse a little too much.

"A mistake. No big deal. Let's go again." Silver nodded unconcernedly, though he kept mulling over that move in his mind.

It had only been the height of one rock, yet when he fell, his heart could not help skipping a beat with it.

The game's background music remained soothing, unchanged by his mistake.

But when he began controlling the character again, a deep male voice rose from the background music, delivering a rambling narration.

[Well, thank you for starting this journey with me. Whenever you want to quit, I can understand. Just stop somewhere safe, then exit.

Don't worry. I'll keep saving for you, even if you make a mistake.]

The moment those words ended, the chat exploded!

'Lmao, it has real voice narration!'

'Damn, this guy might suck at making games, but he sure knows how to mess with people's heads!'

'It was just one mistake, and he's already mocking us?'

'I'm buying this game too. Not for anything else, just so I can leave a bad review and refund it.'

That line had completely interrupted Silver's train of thought. In that instant, his mind buzzed!

This guy knew how to attack people's mentality!

Silver laughed in anger and controlled the character to continue playing. This time, though, his movements became extremely cautious.

Yet the more careful he was, the more seriously he tried to operate it, the harder he found the controls.

The mouse could make the character swing the hammer, but the character's joints imposed certain limits on how far the hammer could swing.

And the controls were incredibly counterintuitive. One careless move could send him flying!

If he had merely been careless at first, then after falling more than a dozen times in a row, his mentality had gradually begun to crumble.

After a full three hours, he was on the verge of a breakdown!

"Don't rush, don't rush. Let's steady ourselves. Hook it, take off, get up there!"

Silver stared intently at the screen, gripping the mouse tightly in his right hand and forcing himself not to shake.

The little man flew upward and began to fall. He carefully tried to hook the tip of the hammer onto the rock wall.

Perhaps because he had been gripping the mouse for too long and his palm was sweating, the moment the little man's raised hammer caught on the rock wall, his right hand trembled slightly.

Screech—

The hammer slid down the rock wall with a piercing scraping sound, and the man in the pot began falling rapidly.

Silver's pupils contracted instantly!

"No, don't!"

"Don't! Woo, woo!"

"No—!"

The protagonist had just slipped from the rock wall when Silver's miserable howl rang through the stream. He watched the slipping little man plummet rapidly, trying midway to hook the hammer onto the rock wall.

But with one push, the recoil from the hammer striking the wall sent him flying farther away!

The protagonist flew from the starting area of Orange Mountain, past Furniture City, then across the azure sky, before finally landing on that familiar yellow earth. He still held the hammer high above his head with both arms.

Duang!

The fall alone took three or four seconds. At that moment, even the viewers watching the stream felt as if someone had fiercely yanked at their hearts.

Once again, he saw that familiar little tree and its bare branches.

The deep male voice in the background music sounded once more, beginning another one of its boring yet mocking quips.

[There is no feeling more unforgettable than "Starting Over";

It feels like... like accidentally deleting your completed homework the day before you have to hand it in. Mm, I've done that before;

Starting over is harder than starting up.

If you're not ready yet—say, if you've already had a terrible day—then you'll have to bear pressure someone your age should not have to bear. You can take a break and come back later. I'll be waiting here.]