A Blind Spot in Plain Sight
It's unclear when it started, but a strange, urban legend-like rumor has appeared online, saying that occasionally people will suddenly encounter a strange virus pop-up window with messages like "The True Meaning of Life," "Infinite Worlds," and "ysor."
Things like "no" --
Once you choose "yes," your soul will be taken away by the subject of this ghost story.
Of course, these kinds of old-fashioned internet jokes, which sound like the same kind of quirky rumors as "Santa Claus puts gifts in good children's stockings," or "using a Ouija board," or "an extra thirteenth step," wouldn't normally attract much attention.
A well-known joke is often just a joke.
But as more and more scattered pieces of evidence are pieced together, and as people gradually become able to determine that this "joke" is not simply an urban legend created by a group of people in a relay, but rather more like some kind of "genuine product in disguise"—
Even with the invisible forces at play on online platforms, there are always ways to circumvent certain dissemination restrictions.
After all, no one is truly a fool.
However, once they realized the truth and noticed that everything on the internet remained calm, more people in the know tacitly concealed their tracks, like hedgehogs curling up and hiding in their burrows.
Even beneath this seemingly calm surface, true calm is impossible.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that it's nothing more than a furnace that looks perfectly normal on the outside, but is actually churning inside, waiting for the pressure to gradually build up, waiting for the moment when it finally can't hold on any longer and bursts out like popcorn.
In the end, these gradual, insidious changes were almost all observed by an unseen "vision," converging before the decision-makers like rivers flowing into the sea.
It evokes a deep sense of emotion.
This includes the fact that the number of users expanded from the initial two thousand to over one million after the third round, with more than two hundred thousand of them residing in China.
Even this seemingly small number is insignificant compared to a population measured in hundreds of millions. Even though the vast majority of those in the know instinctively recognized the necessity of "secrecy" and tacitly limited the spread of the information—
But can such a secret really still be considered a "secret"?
--At least in Li Yun's opinion, that's not necessarily true.
This is one of the reasons why, after the third mission, he indicated to the Main God that he could stop interfering excessively and loosen some of the information blockade.
Ultimately, paper can try to cover a spark, but it can't cover a flame—if you really want to forcibly extinguish the fire, you often have to pay the price of "burning something."
As he was seeing, in a semi-public, semi-private forum that required a special invitation code to enter, related discussions were spreading in a more blatant yet covert way [tabletop role-playing game platform].
Sitting on the street with a tablet in his hand, Li Yun logged in and was immediately greeted by a page of "Game Instructions" in both English and Chinese. In the bold, dark font of the function prompts, there were also personal settings services for switching to some of the mainstream languages.
It's a very interesting name, and also a particularly clever "blind spot" design.
After noticing that a certain level of information "depth" might attract data monitoring and capture issues, the website's designers deliberately went against the grain, having users "play" certain game roles, presenting it in a semi-public form similar to a tabletop role-playing game, thereby concealing some of the anomalies within.
After all, it's perfectly reasonable for any kind of "weird characters" and "plot developments" to appear in the lobby of a tabletop role-playing game!
Don't ask, it's just what the game requires.
Li Yun casually flipped through it. Inside this "game platform," the various functional areas were also separated in the form of functional modules. At first glance, the design details were actually quite thoughtful.
However, what's a little peculiar is that the central half of the webpage is dedicated to a scrolling public chat area.
[Monopoly]: "Seeking tickets with a hefty reward. Any leads are welcome. Price negotiable via video call or in person."
[Goblin Consortium]: "Huge bounty on clues to the Dark Portal, double the reward for the person mentioned above!"
[Wilderness Wanderer]: "It's so good to be rich--Hey pro, please carry me, I don't want to be a wanderer anymore, sob--"
Several new messages would pop up every now and then.
But it's quite clear that the people sending these messages are all making pointed remarks.
Or rather, this chat area, which seems to be placed in the most conspicuous spot, is actually the real "main function" of this role-playing game lobby!
A quick swipe up reveals a long history of messages and replies, showing various player "characters" engrossed in role-playing.
Or perhaps a "super-rich" individual is frantically issuing "buying" requests, and a group of people are chatting and exchanging ideas with the intensity of a bidding war.
Or perhaps the "bard" shares a "legend" he's heard—that somewhere a "super lord" suddenly became twenty years younger, and while on vacation with his wife, he was unintentionally photographed with visible signs of aging, but he vehemently denies it, insisting he's a distant relative.
Numerous complaints from "bounty hunters" indicate that among "black market merchants," the number of bounties offered for clues, specimens, and even live copies of "chosen heroes" from various nations is increasing daily, especially for the "first hero"—
And then there was this "useless person" who pessimistically asserted. "The world is about to be divided into strata, and we are destined to be fish left on the shore."
The bizarre and seemingly absurd news, which actually contained "hidden secrets," left Li Yun speechless.
But on second thought, it's not that strange.
The Main God Forum is, after all, only a gathering place for the "minority".
Those who vaguely caught a few clues and sensed that something was amiss were like outsiders carrying a "treasure map," yearning for it but unable to find a way in, and could only anxiously search for new clues in secret.
Yes, but how long can they keep it a secret?
Even a fragmented piece of information can serve as a "secret," circulating only among close friends and family, or even spreading in specific corners of the internet, becoming distorted until truth and falsehood are blurred, ultimately weaving a vast net that shrouds countless hearts, attracting countless moths to a flame.
The biggest driving force is simply the prospect of personal gain, enough to motivate countless people to willingly contribute and build upon it.
Restricting online dissemination merely hinders the most crucial and efficient First Circle, drastically slowing down the process.
Even at its slowest pace, it is still making continuous progress.
Ultimately, as long as the Main God User continues to expand, simple information blocking is itself a false proposition that contradicts this.
Sitting on the bench, Li Yun quietly scrolled through the interface.
Of course, he probably understood by now the reason why the Main God deliberately put this forum URL in the "potentially slightly useful information for Administrators " category.
Besides, the website itself is indeed quite creatively designed, so giving it a harmless "gift" wouldn't hurt.
On a whim, ignoring the occasional glances from passersby, he randomly selected a game category and chose the male character at the top.
All other fields marked "required" in red are skipped, and a new account is thus "unreasonably" bypassed the normal rules and registered directly.
[Divine Emperor Yuri] has joined the public chat room.
In the chat area with hundreds of users, the small, light-colored system notifications didn't attract much attention. However, the automatically popped-up notification was much more noticeable. "New users, please read the rules for posting promptly. Repeated violations of these rules will result in your posts being deleted and you being banned from posting."
Recalling the list of prohibited mentions of specific tabletop role-playing elements related to "Infinite Flow" that I had just glanced at, it's clear that the people who designed this forum did put some thought into avoiding various "risks".
After thinking for a moment, Li Yun casually followed the "rules of the game" and jokingly posted a message: "[Divine Emperor Yuri]: It is said that the Chrono-Space Teleportation in the superweapon can be obtained periodically and with a probability from Hero-class Units."
A simple statement, like a depth charge dropped into a pond, instantly stirred up a huge wave.
Within two or three seconds, someone popped up and questioned, "Newbie, have you read the complete rules for speaking? You can't just say things like that."
This person clearly noticed the Iv0 icon next to the account [Divine Emperor Yuri] immediately, and was worried that someone who knew nothing was talking nonsense.
But someone immediately replied, "Wait a minute, why can a 1v0 account post? Shouldn't it be that after registering for three days and browsing for more than an hour, you need to be upgraded to Iv1 before you can post messages? Has the website changed its rules?"
At this moment, a user named [Judge] with the prominent "Administrator" suffix also appeared and quickly typed in a clarification:
No, the rules haven't changed!
This was immediately followed by a warning, "This person is acting strangely; I can't silence him!"
"He must have hacked in!"
Ignoring the somewhat excited reactions of these "players," the character account [Divine Emperor Yuri] sent out several more messages. "It is said that in addition to the existing 'teleport' spawn of Hero-class Units, Hero-class Units will randomly spawn in the wild."
"It is said that the Holy Light shines in the darkness of night, choosing those who pray," rather than during the day. Nightwalkers have an advantage in this regard."
"It is said that the Holy Light possesses its own Magic Web." Tickets to "Heaven Mountain" are limited, but access to the Magic Web is much more plentiful, also derived from Hero-class Units. It's not recommended to focus solely on obtaining tickets; instead, prioritize attempting to enter the Magic Web to observe the situation.
It contained a hint of humor and a touch of innuendo, but ultimately, that was all it said.
After casually glancing at the related replies a few more times and closing the webpage, Li Yun silently instructed, "Main God, give the main designers of this website a Visitor Invitation Quota, distribute them separately, and forget about those big spenders."
Leaning back on the public bench, lost in thought for a long time, he suddenly looked up, his face expressionless, gazing at the few birds that had just landed on the power lines high above.
"--Also, let's revamp the official website a bit, and release it with limited accessibility, following our previous plan of releasing it after ten matches."