Chapter 1: I Want to Dye This Thing Green! (Revised)

The subway train sped through the tunnel, emitting a rhythmic rumbling sound.

Yang Yixie leaned lazily in the corner of the seat, wearing a pair of somewhat heavy black-framed glasses that concealed the boy's slightly flamboyant appearance.

On his face, just turned eighteen, lingered the youthful immaturity characteristic of teenagers, and his soft black hair casually fell across his forehead.

He carried a single-shoulder bag, making him seem somewhat out of place among the surrounding crowd; anyone who saw him would think he was just a truant high school student.

But he had completely left behind his identity as a high school student; the smoke of the college entrance exam had just cleared, and this would be his freest long vacation.

The signal icon on his phone network suddenly turned into an eyesore cross, perhaps because the subway had just passed through an area with poor signal, causing the webpage's subsequent content to load very slowly, spinning for a while before finally appearing.

Yang Yixie sighed; he had never been interested in this content anyway, and seeing the spinning circle again, he lost all interest, swiped up with his finger, and returned to the phone's home screen.

He aimlessly swiped left and right among a pile of app icons; his destination was still seven stops away, about another hour or more, enough for him to space out slowly during that time.

Just as his fingertip swept across the second page of the phone screen, he noticed that an icon he had no memory of had appeared there:

Against a pixel‑style ruins background, the dark‑red four‑character title 《Wasteland Era》 had sharp edges, and the lower right corner was marked with the three small words "beta version".

Perhaps he had accidentally clicked on those nauseating pop‑up ads while scrolling through videos, causing an automatic download.

Yang Yixie really had no impression of this software, but he didn't care about its origin; those strange little games that inexplicably appeared on his phone were already commonplace to him.

Such knockoff games are usually crudely made, merely using the lure of earning a few cents after playing a few rounds to trick people into downloading them.

In reality, playing for a few hours would yield at most a few dollars.

Moreover, the gameplay is monotonous—just simple little games that become boring after a few rounds.

However, this game didn't look much like the previous ones, and a pixel‑style small game like this probably doesn't need an internet connection, right?

If it required networking, I would just delete it.

With a glimmer of hope, Yang Yixie still opened the game and found that its UI interface was even simpler than he had expected.

There were no annoying privacy‑policy pop‑ups, no request for network permissions, and no forced game‑account registration; after clicking "Start Game" on the main interface, he went straight to the character creation screen.

The pixel‑style UI was fairly refined, with bloody pixel‑gear elements scattered as decoration; judging by the UI alone, it seemed to be a lovingly crafted single‑player game.

If there was anything bad about it, it might be that if the phone were lost or broken, transferring account information would be inconvenient.

Could this be a game he had pre‑registered for a beta test sometime ago?

He had previously made some game‑guide videos in his spare time; now that the college entrance exam was over, he had free time and was preparing to resume his old profession.

To that end, over the past period Yang Yixie had applied for beta tests of many games, hoping to find material through them.

【Please create your character image.】

At the top of the interface was a pixel figure and a series of adjustable options: clothing, hair color, skin color.......

This pixel game offers many options, after all, no matter how you choose or combine them, they are merely composed of mosaic tiles.

Even many pixel games allow players to paint and design their own skin appearance.

Of course, the few that don't allow it will take the opportunity to sell skins.

Just as Yang Yixie was pondering what appearance to give his character, the empty subway carriage suddenly rang out with a loud line that could be called a familiar saying.

I want to dye this thing green!

That voice rang out especially loud in the quiet subway carriage; he instinctively lifted his head and looked toward the source of the sound.

The girl in the neighboring seat had just opened a video‑scrolling app on her phone when she heard that huge sound, and she herself was startled badly.

The girl immediately blushed, quickly gave an apologetic smile to those around her who were looking confused, swiftly put on headphones and lowered her head, trying to escape this embarrassing reality.

Yang Yixie turned his head to look at the pixel figure on his phone, suddenly thought of something, and the corner of his mouth twitched up with a mischievous grin.

Perhaps it was a mischievous impulse; in the hair‑color selection he decisively skipped gold, white, red, etc., and dragged the slider straight to the fluorescent green position.

He even carefully adjusted the hue, adding a brightness‑increasing filter before clicking to confirm the appearance.

A pixel figure topped with a blinding tuft of fluorescent green hair appeared in the center of his phone screen, paired with the default white outfit, looking like a non‑mainstream little thug.

The name was randomly generated as Ying Duo; feeling it was not bad, Yang Yixie simply clicked confirm.

Not only the hair, but also skill effects and such—he chose to directly absorb the color, using again that extremely visually polluting fluorescent green.

In a short while he had completed the full set of fluorescent green; Yang Yixie looked satisfied at the pixel figure on the screen sporting a dazzling green head of hair.

After all, it's just a game—go as over the top as you like; the only downside is that staring at it too long makes the eyes a bit sore.

Later, if I were to make a guide for this game, such an abstract character appearance could also attract eyeballs and boost discussion.

He casually selected what should be a black hoodie to replace the white shirt, then clicked confirm, and a line of pixel‑style text immediately popped up on the screen:

"Character creation complete, welcome player to Wasteland Era."

The phone screen entered a brief blackout, with the caption "loading......" popping up in the lower right corner.

However, after a moment the city had finished loading, and it began to play a short pixel animation.

Cold blue light traced the outlines of the room; hidden in the walls were many energy circuits, the flickering lights dimming and brightening, making it look more like the interior of a high‑tech computer.

In the center of the room stood a metal platform, above which hovered a holographic projection of the "Dome" logo, while around it flickered incessantly rolling data streams; the pixelated grain gave everything an advanced yet mysterious feel.

A pixel figure dressed in a black coat, its upper half shrouded in shadow, sat there, placing a briefcase on the tabletop.

The camera was timely pulled in here, giving a close‑up of the silver briefcase.

【The briefcase was pushed over.】

Next came a close‑up of a hand; although merely pixel‑styled, the cutscene was exceptionally detailed, fully revealing the hesitation of the first‑person protagonist.

But at the moment his hand touched the box, a point of light symbolizing interaction flashed and vanished instantly.

【Obtained key plot item: Unknown Briefcase x1】

Immediately after, the screen switched again.

The black‑haired pixel figure, briefcase in hand, walked down a dilapidated street; the sky was an oppressive dark purple, and in the distance stood silhouettes of buildings of various styles.

Some resembled lofty church spires, but many more were festooned with garish, eye‑hurting colored lights, which looked especially out of place in the pixel wasteland world.

In the CG, the figure still had the initial black hair, indicating that the game's cutscenes are fixed playback and do not change according to the player's character appearance.

That alone warrants a negative review.

Otherwise, on this dim street, the Ying Duo he had carefully crafted might not be beautiful, but it was certainly the brightest scenery.

Finally, as the camera slowly zoomed in, the little figure entered a room resembling an inn, presumably a temporary lodging, and he carefully placed the suitcase on the table in the center of the room.

The little figure raised a hand and opened the metal box on the table; the screen instantly displayed a high-tech style pixel font, accompanied by electronic sound effects with a ceremonial feel.

【Player, please choose the path you will walk in the future.】

【The profession selection interface popped up at this moment.】

The game offered few options, but they were distinct in style, and all the necessary ones were present:

Wielding a huge blade, clad in high-tech battle armor, the 【Warrior】; controlling energy, with strange runes floating around, the 【Mage】; holding a short dagger, the dagger engraved with intricate patterns, the 【Assassin】.

And...... a 【Mechanic】 with mechanical constructs floating beside him, shouldering a huge cannon barrel.

Yang Yixie's gaze was first drawn to the 【Mechanic】 profession—not only because this one looked the most splendid and occupied the largest area, but even the blood‑stained gear icon on the previous main interface resonated with this profession at this moment.

At a glance, it was clear the game had put great effort into this character; it was on a different level from the other few stand‑illustrations.

Moreover, the rough and hard feel of guns and cannons, which relies heavily on machinery and firepower, formed a wonderful contrast with the flamboyant green hair he had just chosen for his character.

Well, who wouldn't love the exhilaration of a screen full of barrage and overwhelming firepower?

"Then it's this one." Yang Yixie's finger tapped down, instantly deciding on the profession he would play.

【Profession confirmed: Mechanic】

As Yang Yixie pressed the confirm button, the screen's image changed again; the time that had paused due to the profession selection flowed once more.

The pixel figure still stood before the opened metal suitcase he had just opened; inside, the suitcase was filled with dark soft cloth, and in the central recess lay a syringe.

In the pixel rendering, the agent inside the syringe appeared like liquid gold, with fine particles slowly drifting within.

【Be sure to read the author's note! Adding it before this chapter will cause comment misalignment.】