The Game Descended?

When Xin Jiu finally killed the final boss with her greatsword...

The system issued an announcement.

[Congratulations to player Xin Jiu on becoming the first player across all servers to clear "Codename: Divine Descent."]

"Finally..."

Two years!

More than seven hundred days and nights!

But before she could enjoy even a few seconds of happiness, the system issued another announcement.

[The game will undergo a major version update in ten minutes. Dungeons will be strengthened after the update.]

[Countdown: 09:59]

"..."

Xin Jiu was stunned.

She had been playing this game for two years.

The final boss of the tower-top dungeon alone had taken her several months of grinding.

Last night, she had stayed up all night.

She had only cleared it after staying awake so long her heart had nearly stopped.

And now it was telling her there would be a major version update in ten minutes?

She couldn't help demanding from the depths of her soul, "Are you out of your mind?!"

[System: QAQ, the game management decided that. It has nothing to do with me...]

Xin Jiu laughed in anger.

The players who had quit were right to curse it.

This game really was sick.

Actually, when "Codename: Divine Descent" first launched two years ago, it had been incredibly popular.

Its promotional campaign had advertised fully immersive holographic dungeon experiences.

Every floor's dungeon was interesting.

There were goblin tribes, a fifteen-hundred-kilometer labyrinth, polar lands at seventy below zero, highway survival, an arena... and so on.

Xin Jiu remembered that more than eighty million players had preregistered.

The day after preregistration closed, players worldwide had simultaneously received gaming pods sent by the game company.

On the first day of the open beta, the servers had nearly crashed.

But who knew what was inside the game designers' heads.

Normally, dungeon difficulty should have increased gradually.

But what had "Codename: Divine Descent" done?

There were only thirty dungeon floors in total.

The first three floors were fairly easy.

But the difficulty started climbing on the fourth floor, with nothing but stat monsters!

New players couldn't get through, and even expert players found it a bit taxing.

The later dungeons had players groaning nonstop.

Tormented by these inhuman dungeons, the players had completely lost it.

They unleashed a barrage of abuse at the game company online.

"What a garbage game! Die! Die! Die! (cleaver)"

"Has that dumbass designer even played it? Look at this-is it something a human can clear? (cracking yellow-face emoji)"

"If anyone can clear it, I'll eat shit on livestream!!!"

"Don't eat it! Save it for the designers!!!"

"Do we have to return the gaming pods? I couldn't find a return address on the official website..."

"Return them, my ass! Just sell them for scrap! (head on fire)"

Later, everyone couldn't even be bothered to curse anymore.

More than eighty million players left like an ebbing tide.

Xin Jiu was a gaming streamer.

Playing games was her job.

Coupled with the refusal to admit defeat in her bones, she had stubbornly stuck with it, logging into the game for four hours every day.

Today, she had finally cleared it.

She had thought today would be the finish line.

Only to be told the game was getting another update?

Xin Jiu climbed out of the gaming pod.

Whatever. She had cleared it, and she had recorded it.

They could update it however they wanted.

She turned on her computer and entered her livestream room. As the platform's number-one gaming streamer, she always had the most viewers, and in just two minutes, the number online reached twenty thousand.

[Jiujiu, why are you streaming at this hour? Don't you usually start at eight in the evening?]

[Did you just get out of the game? What floor did you reach? If you ask me, you should stop playing this game. It's pure torture. I died more than twenty times on the fourth floor alone!]

[Didn't you watch Jiujiu's guide? If you had, you should've made it to at least the sixth floor.]

[Fine, I admit I'm a noob.]

Xin Jiu first sent out red envelopes in the livestream room.

The comments grew even livelier.

[Boss Jiu'er is so generous!]

[Jiujiu, did something good happen? You look really happy.]

"There is something important I want to tell you."

The comments went quiet for a moment, then erupted.

[Don't tell me you cleared it?]

[Impossible. With that difficulty, nobody could clear it. She's probably switching to beauty blogging, right? I heard the beauty channel offered a huge sum to poach Jiujiu. With her face, Jiujiu should be dominating the beauty section!]

Xin Jiu cleared her throat.

Just as she was about to tell them to go to the group chat later to watch her clear video...

A comment caught her attention.

[I can see the tower from "Codename: Divine Descent"!!!]

"...What?"

The comments began flooding in.

[I'm in the Imperial Capital, and I can see it too!]

[Reporting from Rongcheng. There's one here too!]

[What is all this!!!]

[Jiujiu, hurry and look outside!]

Xin Jiu strode into the living room and pulled open the curtains.

A black tower had suddenly appeared in the direction of downtown S City.

Unlike a medieval-style spire...

This tower had no markings anywhere on its surface, and its top disappeared into the clouds.

It was identical to the tower on the login screen of "Codename: Divine Descent."

Xin Jiu checked the time.

Since the game had issued its update announcement...

Exactly ten minutes had passed.

So the game's so-called major version update meant... the game invading reality?!

The next second...

A translucent blue panel appeared before her eyes.

[In keeping with the principles of involuntariness, unfairness, and nontransparency, this system would first like to express its regret at your arrival.]

["Codename: Divine Descent" will officially launch in six hours. All players, please carefully read the following instructions and rules.]

[Tip: Don't zone out. You only have one life! (doge)]

Xin Jiu: "..."

[1: Players who logged into "Codename: Divine Descent" during the open beta must enter the Trial Tower in their city. All Trial Towers have been deployed. Those who fail to enter a tower before the deadline will be deemed to have forfeited. Forfeiture means death.]

[2: During the six hours before the game begins, the system will spawn gift-pack acquisition points in your city. To improve your survival rate in the game, you are advised to attempt these challenges.]

[3: Points can be earned in the game. Please note that the total points of a country's players constitute that country's total points. Ranked matches exist between countries.]

[4: After each dungeon floor ends, the system will broadcast the national and individual point rankings worldwide. Nonplayers need not worry about feeling left out. The official website will begin livestreaming punctually at 8:00 every day and end at 20:00.]

[5: The country ranked last in points each period will face the descent of anomalies. The anomalies' types, strength, and numbers will be random.]

[6: After each period's points have been tallied, players may freely use their points to purchase items in the in-game trading hall or conduct one-on-one trades with other players. Note: points will reset to zero when a new dungeon opens.]

[7: Hidden achievements exist in the game. Players must discover them on their own.]

[8: Finally, death in the game means the player's death in reality.]

[That concludes the game instructions. In the days ahead, fight for yourselves and your countries. (yellow-face martial-arts emoji)]

As the last line disappeared, the panel changed.

What appeared was Xin Jiu's personal information.

[Player: Xin Jiu (That's what you get for using your real name as your nickname during the open beta. Regretting it now, huh? Hehe.)]

[Strength: 15 (One roadside scrub)]

[Agility: 19 (Two roadside scrubs)]

[Perception: 28 (You're not cutting it, sis. Keep training.)]

[Stamina: 85% (Remember to rest when it falls below 30%.)]

[Points: 0 (Hurry up and earn some. This is just sad.)]

Xin Jiu: "..."

[Player Xin Jiu has been detected as the first player to clear "Codename: Divine Descent." The system will issue you a special reward.]