War of the Gods

Although Old Li spoke as if it were a matter of course, as if Xiao Yu was born with the aura of God of Death, causing earthquakes wherever he went, landslides wherever he lay down, and even ruining a game while playing it.

However, Xiao Yu knew very well that the last time he played the Sky World, he was able to reach that point because of a series of coincidences. Moreover, the real Blackhand behind ruining the game was Shen Yuan and others. He just happened to be the key figure.

So, to what Old Li said, he could only shrug. "I'll do my best, but what if I mess it up? You guys aren't putting all your hopes on me, are you?"

Old Li shook his head. "Of course not. We have our own plans, and I can't go into the details. But considering how much they value you, there must be a reason. So as long as you enter the game, even if you don't do anything, you'll at least take up Moha Religion's energy, which will relieve some of our burden."

"Furthermore, if they can't handle you in real life, they'll definitely try to take you down in the game. This will make it even easier to expose their true colors. We don't know much about who the members of the Moha Religion are right now. If we can capture a few high-ranking members of the Future God Religion through you, that would be a pretty good achievement."

Well, Xiao Yu thought to himself, so they were using him as a feint attack fodder. But that's fine, this way he won't feel any pressure. It's just a game, so he'll just play. As for whether he plays well or not, there's nothing to worry about.

"Okay, I'll do it. But you haven't told me yet which company and which game you want me to play?" Xiao Yu asked, quite curious about which game company this Future God Religion controlled.

"This game company is very famous and currently holds a huge share of the online game market worldwide. You may have heard of it before; its name is Excellence Technology Network Co., Ltd.."

What?! Xiao Yu thought to himself, I've heard this name so many times lately.

Excellence Technology is one of the world's three major online gaming giants, far surpassing the strength of Sky Group. Moreover, the company's business scope extends beyond online games, encompassing many high-tech products.

Even within the online gaming industry, its scale far exceeds that of a typical game company, with several dedicated computers alone.

The Earth Online that Li Mingfei recommended he play is made by this company, as is the alien game Wilderness Planet that's based on a reality show.

"Is the Future God Religion that powerful? They even own Excellence Technology? No wonder you don't dare touch them."

Old Li shook his head. "That's not the case. Based on what we know so far, the Future God Religion only holds a partial controlling stake in Excellence Technology; they don't have absolute control. That's why it's taken them until now to develop their game."

"This Excellence Technology recently acquired some of the assets of the bankrupt Sky Group, including the quantum computer that operates the Sky World. This new game is running on this quantum computer—of course, the original Sky World has been formatted; this time it will be a completely new game called 'War of the Gods.'"

As he spoke, Old Li handed a stack of printed game information to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu immediately lowered his head and began to study it carefully.

The game genre of "War of the Gods" is somewhat similar to the original "Sky World". First of all, it is a fantasy game world background with various fantasy races such as dwarves, elves, and humans, as well as various evil creatures such as Undead and demons.

Of course, as the game's name suggests, there are also gods in the game. Unlike the only three main gods in the Sky World, this War of the Gods has dozens of gods of all sizes, and there are also evil gods among them.

The gameplay is somewhat similar to Sky World, but it is also completely different.

First, the pricing is different; War of the Gods uses a buy-out model.

The game will be sold in two completely different clients at the same time. The first one is called "War of the Gods: Legend of Light", priced at 312 yuan. It is basically the traditional MMORPG formula, where players play the role of a hero, adventuring in the game, slaying demons and monsters to save the world from evil and dark monsters.

The second client is called "War of the Gods: Dark Ages". This client is much cheaper, costing only 199 yuan. In this client, players can play as various monsters, committing evil deeds and destroying the world.

However, unlike the game "Sky World," this game doesn't have VIP templates for monsters. Regardless of the type of monster, players can only start from the lowest level 1 monster. Monster players gain experience by killing adventurers or NPCs, and can also do quests and run dungeons. Later on, players can gradually increase their rank and even grow into powerful bosses. However, there are no plot-driven deaths or similar designs. In other words, each character is permanent.

Moreover, monsters also have their own dungeon system, quest system, guild system, and other functions commonly found in online games, unlike in Sky World where monsters and adventurers are completely different concepts.

In a sense, these two clients are like two opposing camps, only with more distinct gameplay.

The second difference lies in the level. In the War of the Gods, leveling up seems to be very difficult, with the highest level being only 20. Once you reach level 20, you can trigger Legendary quest and advance to a Legendary character.

The character's attributes, such as health points, are designed very conservatively. A level 1 civilian only has a few points of health, and an adult dragon only has a few hundred points of health.

Xiao Yu continued to delve into the details of the game, including comments and guides from beta testers. Gradually, he gained a basic understanding of the game.

It's clear that Excellence Technology absorbed some of the advantages of Sky World, but also removed some of its immature and unreasonable aspects. For example, this game doesn't have a VIP template, and the game company's slogan is "fair game."

This suited Xiao Yu's taste perfectly. Of course, it's also possible that Excellence Technology was afraid of being bankrupted by VIP players like the Sky Group.

If you're only selling a buy-out client application, you don't need to worry about lawsuits even if the data is lost.

"So, what do you think of this game?" Old Li suddenly asked, seeing Xiao Yu watching intently.

"Looks promising, when will the game be released for public beta?"

"Three days from now, oh right, I've also prepared a partner for you."

As Old Li spoke, he took out his phone and pressed a few buttons. Soon, with a hiss, the sealed door to the room opened, and a girl who looked to be in her early twenties walked in. Her black, tight-fitting combat suit accentuated her athletic figure, and her neat short hair gave her a very heroic air. A touch of orange-red at the ends of her hair added a touch of unruliness to her look. Her face was delicate; it wasn't stunning, but it was the kind of face that made people feel comfortable looking at it.

"Report, Agent 0697 Chenghong Moli reporting to you."

Chenghong Moli? Xiao Yu paused for a moment upon hearing the name before realizing that this girl must be an Electronic Tribe.

The Electronic Tribe is a unique social group that emerged in the early 22nd century. This group is characterized by its pursuit of freedom and unconventional lifestyle, and it disregards traditions that are taken for granted by ordinary people. The easiest way to identify them is by their names.

To distinguish themselves from ordinary people, or to highlight their individuality, these people often choose bizarre names similar to game names, and may even create their own surnames.

This Chenghong Moli is most likely the same.

"Hello, Agent Moli, please have a seat. Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Xiao. He's an important figure who's collaborating with our National Guard Bureau this time. From now on, you'll be living with him as his security consultant, protecting his safety."

"What!?" The Chenghong Moli was immediately shocked, then showed a hint of disgust, and said coldly, "Sir, I request a different mission."

Old Li's face immediately darkened. "Do you think the National Guard Bureau is a vegetable market? Assigning tasks isn't like buying groceries. I'm not discussing this with you; this is an order!"

The Chenghong Moli immediately fell silent.

Xiao Yu was a little puzzled. "Wait a minute, why are you assigning me a security consultant?"

Old Li explained, "Firstly, it's to protect your safety. You know, the Future God Religion might not give up so easily and will send even more assassins to deal with you. Secondly, we need to keep track of your every move and progress in the game. So her task is to live with you and enter the game together. Don't worry, Moli is a gaming expert from our National Guard Bureau; she won't hold you back. If you encounter any danger or special circumstances in real life or in the game, she can report to us immediately. If we have any intelligence, we will also pass it on to you through her."

Xiao Yu felt somewhat helpless after hearing what Old Li said.

Actually, Xiao Yu was quite happy to have a beautiful female partner, but it depended on who it was. He could tell that Chenghong Moli wasn't too interested in him, so he naturally didn't want to cause any trouble.

But since Old Li said so, there was nothing he could do. Besides, having a secret agent by his side would indeed make him a little safer.

So when he went home at night, he had an extra follower with him.

Chenghong Moli followed behind him with a consistently indifferent expression. Even though she had changed into casual clothes, she still walked with a touch of Rayleigh's swift and decisive manner.

"By the way, you're a newbie, right?" Xiao Yu asked casually as they walked along the stone path outside the Azure Cloud Residential Complex parking lot.

How did you know?

"It's very simple. A truly excellent agent should blend into the crowd as much as possible, looking as ordinary as possible. The way you're acting, as if you're afraid people won't know you've been trained, makes you look like a rookie."

Although Xiao Yu had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs walk and had read spy novels, so he had some understanding of these theories.

"I'm a member of the special operations team. My job is to charge into Charge. I don't need to learn those complicated things."

"Hey, I don't remember ever doing anything to you, do you have a problem with me?"

"How could that be? Mr. Xiao is a great hero who has saved countless gamers. I admire you so much, how could I possibly have a problem with you?"

Xiao Yu suddenly realized, "Damn, does this girl know about my relationship with that blonde beauty? She probably thinks I'm some kind of promiscuous celebrity who likes to pick up fans."

Damn, I'm so wronged! This is the first time I've ever met a fan, and I've run into an assassin instead.

However, he was too lazy to explain; as long as the other party didn't interfere with his normal work, it was fine.

Soon, Xiao Yu returned home and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Azure Cloud Residential Complex should at least be safe, right? The security here is tight. Even if the Future God Religion Cult has great supernatural powers, they still can't get in. I'll never go out and wander around again.

He first arranged a room for Chenghong Moli, since the house was big enough that it would be easy and convenient for a guest to stay there.

Then, he started preparing to research the new game. There were still three days until the game's public beta, so he had to be prepared. He was also hesitating about whether to invite some old friends to play together.

However, after thinking about it, Xiao Yu decided to give up. This matter was quite dangerous, and it was one thing for him to take the risk, but what was the point of dragging his friends into it?

However, as the saying goes, "the tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease," Xiao Yu did not intend to go looking for someone, but someone took the initiative to come to his door.

"Hey, Xiao Yu, are you still there?" Mofeitosi's voice came through the communicator as soon as I sat down on the sofa.

"Yes, of course I'm here. Did you need something?"

"Of course there's something going on. There's a new game out recently, called War of the Gods, and they've been hyping it up a lot. Plus, they had a group of veteran reviewers do an official review during the closed beta a while back, and guess what? It got a 9.9 score! That's a rare gem in recent years. Aren't you going to give it a try? I'm also planning to get into this game, so how about we team up?"

Xiao Yu sighed. It was really hard to refuse this guy who was so eager to play games with him. It would be fine if he didn't want to play, but it would be too awkward if he said he didn't want to play and then ran into him in the game.

Moreover, even a hero needs three helpers; having more reliable assistants can save you some trouble.

Mofeitosi's gaming skills are still quite reliable. Although he's not as flashy as me, he's still decent among professional gamers.

"Sure, but let's make this clear first: I'll be in charge when we play games together. I'll call the shots in the game. I've been planning this for a long time."

"Absolutely! What character are you planning to play?"

"Well, I haven't thought about it yet."

Mofeitosi: "..."

Xiao Yu said, "Don't worry, I'll think it over carefully these next few days, and I guarantee I'll have a good idea by then."

Three days later--

Over the past three days, Xiao Yu and Chenghong Moli have become quite familiar with each other. Putting aside her doubts about Xiao Yu's personal moral character, which led her to often speak to him in Taunt tone, Chenghong Moli is actually a pretty good person.

Once you get to know her better, you can even crack some little jokes with her.

Although Chenghong Moli enjoys Taunt, she is not sarcastic; rather, she possesses a masculine and refreshing quality.

That morning, the two got up early, had breakfast, and Xiao Yu opened the game room.

There are two luxury gaming pods side by side here, one of which is a spare, but it's coming in handy now.

The game had been purchased in advance, and the two lay down in the game pod and entered the game together.