Chapter 1: A Divine Masterpiece
System: Soul connection… connection successful…
System: Initializing Martial Arts Transmission System…
System: Initialization successful. Martial Arts Transmission System officially activated.
A series of system notification sounds kept echoing in his mind, allowing Lin Qi, slumped in the dilapidated martial arts hall, to finally let out a deep sigh of relief.
System: Host, please set the initial game introduction connection fee. This amount will be borne entirely by the players.
System: The higher the amount, the closer the players’ initial physical fitness state will be to the original condition, the shorter the resurrection time after death, the higher the cost required for resurrection, the higher the completeness of the players’ soul connection, and the higher the restoration degree of pain and all other sensations.
“A game, huh? Of course it should put emphasis on realism. Set it to the maximum value.”
Hearing that it would be entirely paid by the players, Lin Qi chose the maximum value with almost no hesitation.
System: Please set an introduction for the game.
“An introduction?”
“It needs to sound grand and impressive, preferably giving players a sense of challenge so they will be willing to click in.”
Lin Qi thought for a moment, then began to write the introduction on the system panel.
A hundred nations at war, the myriad races contend, life evolves, ascend to divinity, and the legend of the martial artist will be written by you.
The virtual degree of this game is 100%. Because it is excessively realistic, please download and play with caution. It is not suitable for players without sufficient strength.
System: Confirm this game introduction? Once confirmed, it cannot be modified.
“Confirm!”
After carefully scanning it and making sure there was no problem, Lin Qi directly clicked the confirm button in the system panel.
System: The game has been uploaded to the Blue Star network and will open in half an hour. Host, please wait.
…
Blue Star, year
“Aim. Take a deep breath. Breathe again. Focus your spirit. Relax your whole body. The aiming reticle will shrink accordingly.”
“The calmer your mindset and the steadier your heartbeat, the smaller the range of the aiming reticle will become.”
“At that moment, do not rush. Wait for the reticle to shrink to the limit.”
“Now.”
Inside a virtual game pod, a nearly thirty-year-old man with a firm face and a thick beard, looking like a big brother figure, Fang Zhen, was explaining to everyone in the live stream room how to aim while piloting a giant mecha.
Bang. With one shot, he directly hit a mechanical giant beast hiding in the yellow sand five kilometers away.
Beep.
The mechanical giant beast five kilometers away instantly lit up with a red marker, indicating death.
“One shot, one soul. Brother Zhen, awesome!”
“So this is the strength of professional level?”
“Brother Zhen, with this level of operation, you’re not seriously planning to retire from the team in half a year, are you? Even those competitors from the teams that break into the top 16 of the Mecha Continent national competition are just about the same as you.”
Seeing this extreme-distance snipe from Fang Zhen, everyone in the live stream room could not help exclaiming in shock and admiration.
Mecha Continent, this virtual game, with a virtual degree as high as 75%, was one of the most popular mecha combat games on Blue Star in recent years.
For ordinary players, let alone controlling a mecha to perform smooth actions, even just firing normally and hitting a target a few hundred meters away usually required two to three months of practice.
To hit a mechanical monster five kilometers away with a single shot under severely obstructed vision was absolutely godlike.
“As people get older, their reactions in all aspects are definitely worse than when they were young. And my age is already quite high among professional players. Even if I don’t retire this year, I’m afraid I won’t be able to beat the newcomers in the team next year,” Fang Zhen sighed. “All right, enough of that. Today let’s take a look at what fun new games are out there.”
No one in the live stream room doubted Fang Zhen’s words.
The virtual competitive pro scene was just like that. Not only was the competition extremely intense, but everyone was also eating youth for a living. It was already very good if one’s peak state could generally last until twenty-five; thirty was indeed old.
So many professional players in the competitive scene, when they got a bit older, would choose to stream or take up other side professions.
Fang Zhen had started streaming five years earlier. Now, in the Mecha Continent game streaming scene, he had some recognition. His popularity would occasionally surge into the top hundred on the game streaming charts.
While the viewers in the live stream room were chatting, Fang Zhen opened the game lobby interface, and a new game with a logo of five black dragons quickly came into view.
“Damn!”
“4999! What kind of divine masterpiece is this!”
Fang Zhen rubbed his eyes, afraid he had added an extra zero by mistake.
In this era, because of the popularization of virtual game engines, even small studios of just a few people could make virtual games. So on major gaming platforms, a large number of new games appeared every day.
Most of them were priced under 100, and even AAA blockbusters would not be priced over
Now this new game titled High Martial Arts Descend was priced ten times higher. This was a game ordinary people simply could not afford to play.
At this moment, the viewers in the live stream room exploded.
“The game’s virtual degree is advertised as 100%!”
“Virtual degree 100%? That is absolutely bragging. Even those world-class game giants cannot make a game with a virtual degree of 80% yet. I have never even heard of this game manufacturer called Emphasis on Realism. How could they possibly create a 100% virtual game?”
“I’ve seen arrogant games, but never one this arrogant. Price 4999, and every time your character dies, resurrection costs If you don’t resurrect within 24 hours, the account is directly canceled. I am not worthy.”
“But the manufacturer is playing it pretty real. The first batch is actually limited to ten test slots.”
“This game is absolutely fake. If there really were a 100% virtual-degree masterpiece, even if it were only in development, it would already be headline news. Let alone having an actual test version ready; the news would have spread worldwide long ago. If this really is a 100% virtual-degree masterpiece, I will live stream doing spiral somersaults while eating noodles.”
“Excessively realistic, not suitable if you don’t have sufficient strength. This manufacturer really dares to boast. Brother Zhen, go for it!”
Everyone watched the game introduction for High Martial Arts Descend and debated fiercely. The intensity of the discussion caused the popularity of Fang Zhen’s live stream room to rise rapidly. In less than thirty seconds, his numbers had tripled or quadrupled, almost catching up to those well-known game streamers.
Seeing this, Fang Zhen felt this was an opportunity.
“Brothers, since everyone is curious about what kind of game this is, I will test the waters for you,” Fang Zhen said through clenched teeth and chose to pay “Emphasis on Realism, right? If it is not realistic enough, brothers, we will rush and refund within two hours, and then we will all report them together and let the manufacturer understand what real means.”
“Brother Zhen is mighty!”
“4999! Bold of this manufacturer to even think of that.”
Everyone agreed. After all, the streamer was paying; they only needed to watch. It was all about the joy of keeping him company. If anyone was paying for this game, it meant they had already lost.
“Excessively realistic, huh? Then let me see just how real it is.”
Watching his live stream room grow ever hotter, Fang Zhen smiled and clicked on the icon of High Martial Arts Descend.
…
In a dark small room, a flickering light shone on and off. From the corridor outside the iron fence came intermittent gusts of wind, leaving the newly awakened Fang Zhen inside the room a bit confused.
“What is going on? Where is this?”
“Wasn’t I about to play High Martial Arts Descend? How did I end up in a place like this?”
The reek of some unknown rotting substance, the icy metallic sensation from the chains on his hands and feet, and the bone-chilling wind blowing into the room from some unknown gap made Fang Zhen shudder uncontrollably. A thought then surged up.
Kidnapping!
Have I been kidnapped?
“Name?”
Before Fang Zhen could recover from his panic, a stern, icy interrogation cut in, making his ears twitch and prompting him to answer by instinct.
“Fang Zhen. Fang as in ‘direction’, Zhen as in ‘vibration’.”
“Age?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“At your age… you are a bit old. Feels like you are not of much use.”
“No, I am still young. I still have quite a bit of savings. I can still…”
As that severe voice continued to question him, Fang Zhen gradually regained his senses, and his vision became clear.
Outside the iron bars sat a handsome youth in a jet-black martial arts uniform, his face slightly pale. He sat quietly at an iron-framed table, holding a pencil in one hand, looking up to question him while taking notes in a small notebook.
“So I am in?” Fang Zhen looked at the handsome youth before him. Although the clothes were different, that tone and that bearing could not be mistaken. He hurriedly explained, “Big brother, there must be some mistake. I have never done anything illegal. I am just a game streamer. This must be a mistake.”
“Don’t call me that. We are not close.”
“Then, officer?”
“Be serious. Call me Master of the Pavilion, or Lord Lin Qi.”
“Master of the Pavilion? Lord Lin Qi?”
Hearing this, Fang Zhen’s mind stalled for a moment. He could no longer tell what kind of person this youth called Lin Qi was.
Kidnapper?
Uncle?
Lunatic?
“Twenty-nine… twenty-nine…” Before Fang Zhen could figure it out, Lin Qi glanced again at the notebook. The pencil spun around his fingertips as he muttered under his breath, then he raised his head to look at Fang Zhen. “Since that is the case, then prove it. Two thousand squats, within a time limit of two hours. You may begin.”
“…” Fang Zhen was a bit dumbfounded and a bit scared.
Seriously, twenty-nine is proven like this?
And two thousand squats in two hours? Are lunatics nowadays all this creative?
“Do you want me to help you?”
“No! I will do it myself. I can. Trust me.”
Seeing Lin Qi about to stand up, Fang Zhen did not dare think further. He hurriedly started doing squats, ignoring the chains on his hands and feet.
One… two… three…
“Not bad, pretty standard. Since you do not need help unlocking the chains, then forget it.” Lin Qi nodded slightly at the sight of Fang Zhen frantically squatting, then stood up and left this dark underground basement.
Old Cat is back /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
