Chapter 6: Only by Adapting to the Rules Can One Create the Rules

While Lin Bai was busy decorating the shop.

In a remote corner, Lao Mi and Gengmi quietly logged online.

The two looked at each other, then burst into laughter with a snort.

"Playing games for so many years, this is the first time I've been forced to log off by an NPC. Interesting," Lao Mi said, shaking his head.

"A-Lao, what would have happened if we hadn't logged off back then?" Gengmi asked.

"Get caught, sent to prison for interrogation, then either released without charge or wrongly accused and have our accounts deleted..." Lao Mi said, then suddenly froze. "You mean this was a plot mission?"

"The NPC appeared too abruptly. He didn't know our identities, yet he suddenly approached us, made up a story, and then immediately turned the tables on us. Isn't all of this too strange?" Gengmi said. "He didn't gain anything at all. You don't think everything that happened was just a prank by an NPC on a whim, do you!"

Lao Mi fell silent. A moment later, he looked up: "It is indeed strange."

"This game is really fucking realistic!" Gengmi said.

"It's not just that," Lao Mi said. "When that NPC framed us, my heart was filled with the anger of being set up, and the thought that I had to run immediately and absolutely could not be caught. At that moment, I even forgot I was a player..."

"Isn't that normal? The game connects to our neural nerves; all our reactions stem from the most real thoughts in our hearts," Gengmi said. "Besides, previous games were like this too. The police cars in racing games, the zombies in shooter games—no player wants to be caught by an NPC. This is a competitive spirit ingrained in our bones."

"It's different," Lao Mi shook his head again. "In previous games, would you be angry because you were framed by an NPC?"

"..." Gengmi paused for a moment, then said earnestly, "I hate that bitch Keli immensely."

"..." Lao Mi.

A moment later.

Lao Mi looked at Gengmi and brought the topic back: "At the time, he said a sentence: 'When Heaven is about to place a great burden on a man, it first pains his heart and will.' He didn't finish the sentence at the time. It's hard to imagine an NPC saying something so philosophical."

"Must be the work of the writers!" Gengmi said. "You know how it is, someone might just have a flash of inspiration and come up with one or two badass lines!"

"It wasn't a line," Lao Mi said. "There are many discussions on the forums about professional NPCs. No NPC has ever had fixed lines. People have long said that all the NPCs in this world have their own thoughts..."

"You mean that highly profound language was generated by the intelligent AI itself?" Gengmi asked.

Lao Mi looked at Gengmi and said: "Compared to AI generation, I am more inclined... inclined to believe that this is a real world..."

Before the words had even faded.

Lao Mi saw Gengmi's look of pity for the mentally challenged: "Fine, let's just assume this is a real world. What do we do next?"

"Find a place to eat, then figure out how to make money," Lao Mi said. "The hunger in this body is too real. I suspect that if we don't eat, this body will directly lose its ability to move, and then we'll miserably freeze or starve to death. What a hellish setting."

"Not going to look for your little brother?" Gengmi said teasingly. "Didn't he say that if we encounter anything in Jiamu City, we can look for him?"

"I don't even know his name, for fuck's sake." Bringing this up, Lao Mi was full of anger. "There are so many people in Jiamu City, where am I supposed to find him? If I run into him again, I'll definitely hack him to death..."

"Catch them."

"Don't let the master thieves get away."

"Go to the yamen and report it quickly."

"Fifty taels of silver reward for catching them."

Just as Lao Mi and Gengmi walked out of the alley, someone in the bustling crowd took an extra look at them, which then triggered another round of chaos.

The two players were forced to flee, and after much difficulty, they found an empty spot and used the log-off escape to dodge the new wave of pursuit.

Back to the login interface.

Lao Mi was in a sorry state, his clothes even torn in several places. He looked exasperated and couldn't help but curse: "Damn."

"What's the situation?" Gengmi's message followed immediately.

"How would I know?" Lao Mi said irritably.

"Still logging on?" Gengmi asked.

"Play the time difference," Lao Mi said. "Wait for the people camping us to disperse, then log on and figure out what happened. Why is it so endless?"

As he spoke.

He opened the forum.

"A brand new experience, creating the most realistic game. Entering the game is equivalent to living another life."

The promotional slogan for the Xianxia World game caught his eye.

There were two hot posts pinned to the top.

The title of the first post: "The most badass game in history. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch—all five senses are present. Entering the game is like traveling to another real world."

This was the most popular post, a review by a game big-shot named Huangye Lang. A large number of screenshots and commentary explored the new world; beautiful scenery was everywhere, and the fine hairs on the NPCs' faces were clearly visible...

Below the post were a bunch of envious and flattering comments. Of course, more were voices begging for the closed beta to end immediately and for the open beta to begin;

After all.

Who wouldn't want to start another thrilling life when they are resting?

Below this post was another, opposite one.

"The most frustrating game in history. Working 996 in real life is one thing, but I can't even find a job in the game."

The person who posted this was also a professional player, named Gelige. His post was full of complaints about the game's lack of logic.

The way of logging off and on was unreasonable; in the city, one must log off in a safe zone or an uninhabited area, and in an uninhabited area, one must log back in at the same spot, making it easy for enemies to camp;

The monsters in the wild were too brutal, and one couldn't even see a health bar. You'd be killed in seconds upon meeting them, completely unable to feel the thrill of playing a game;

Everything in the city cost money, and the initial money given by the system couldn't last until one found a job that paid;

Moreover, finding a job wasn't easy, and the conditions for professional NPCs to hire or take on apprentices were exceptionally harsh...

One by one, these summarized the drawbacks of the game.

In short.

The rules of such a game were anti-human. If it weren't for the cloak of reality, it would have absolutely zero playability.

In the interest of the sustainable development of such a finely crafted game.

This professional gamer named Gelige strongly urged the game development team to make rectifications based on his requests and adjust the game's difficulty, so as not to chill the hearts of the players.

……

"Agreed, I wanted to learn to be a Blacksmith, but I was kicked out before I could even open my mouth."

"Forget being a Blacksmith, I couldn't even become a waiter at a restaurant."

"I wanted to go to the Yihong Courtyard to spit and condemn the bad atmosphere, but I ended up being beaten out with sticks."

"Was that a proper spit, upstairs?"

"Stop showing off, we don't even have the qualifications to play this game yet. If you have the ability, hand the account over to me, let me..."

"Begging to be abused, kneeling for the public beta."

……

A crowd of people followed up on the post to complain.

But there were still more voices of envy, jealousy, and hatred from players who could not participate in the public beta.

Lao Mi was just about to close the post, upload his own experience, and incidentally complain about the game's unreasonableness.

Suddenly.

He paused and was stunned.

Under Gelige's post, the game officials had surprisingly and rarely replied with one sentence: "Before breaking the rules, one must first understand the rules, adapt to the rules, and only then can one create the rules. Wishing all players a happy game."

This sentence was like a bolt of lightning striking Lao Mi; he suddenly realized.

That was it.

They had just entered the game.

They hadn't even figured out the basic rules, so what kind of reasonable suggestions could they talk about?

Must all games be changed into monotonous pay-to-win monster grinding?

That would be losing the Soul of this game!

Thinking of this, Lao Mi was suddenly enlightened, and his heart was reignited with high fighting spirit.

(End of this chapter)