Chapter 159: This Is Not the Land of Darkness!

[Payment successful. The account for the game 'Land of Darkness' has been activated.]

Ding!

After the account activation succeeded, a SMS notification regarding the deduction from his bank card popped up.

Tong Xin looked at the electronic bill on his computer, his eyes brimming with tears.

After struggling through countless days and nights, this moment had finally arrived.

All the bitterness and hardship he had endured transformed in this instant into sweet dew, nourishing his heart.

For this day, he had given too much.

Looking back on the path he had traveled, those sleepless nights, his lonely figure under high-radiation conditions, his obsequious presence in bars smiling and nodding to please others... his memories ultimately returned to the scene where he had managed to grab a qualification for the cracked version only to miss it by a hair, crying himself unconscious inside the game pod.

But now, he had finally obtained the qualification to play 'Land of Darkness'.

This goal, which once seemed so unattainable, was now truly held in his hands.

"So satisfying!"

He clicked download, and a progress bar appeared in the upper right corner.

Sitting before his computer desk, Tong Xin spread his arms wide, imagining countless figures cheering and shouting encouragement for him ahead.

At this moment, he very much wanted to share his feelings.

Alas, none of his 'righteous sons' in the group chat were online; he felt that happiness lacked something without sharing, missing a certain flavor.

While waiting, Tong Xin went to the refrigerator, took out a portion of custom-made pre-prepared dishes he usually couldn't bear to eat, opened a can of beer, and enjoyed a wonderful meal.

By the time he returned to his room, the percentage download progress bar had already hit bottom.

Ding!

[Download successful. Proceed with game adaptation?]

He clicked adapt, and the game files were transferred to the game pod, where interlacing lights began decompressing the files.

Before long, the green light indicating adaptation completion lit up.

Having changed into his game suit, Tong Xin impatiently entered the game pod.

As the hatch pressed down, Tong Xin's heart swelled with heroic fervor, as if thousands of soldiers and horses were galloping within his chest.

The setbacks of the past had now all transformed into the driving force propelling him toward the future.

"Brothers, your sleeping 'righteous father' has awakened!"

The view before his eyes shifted to a virtual desktop; he clicked the game icon, and a prompt indicating entry into the game appeared.

In his ears was the faint "humming" sound of the game pod operating; the view before his eyes turned into a blurry blue light screen that began to change as the system started up.

The blue light screen gradually became transparent, like morning mist scattered by a gentle breeze, and the four dark golden characters "Land of Darkness" emerged from the darkness.

Just then, the screen suddenly went dark.

Several figures emerged from the darkness, and a name input box popped up.

Touching it with his consciousness, Tong Xin typed "Kindergarten Principal" into the name box.

[Notification: This game name has been taken. Please choose another game name.]

"Damn!"

Seeing that his favorite game name had actually been used, Tong Xin cursed silently in his heart, then changed to a new name: "Kindergarten Headmaster".

This time, a green text prompt indicating successful naming appeared.

The figures in the darkness became clear at this point, entering the character selection interface.

The game 'Land of Darkness' offered a high degree of freedom; in the early stages, there was no specific class selection. The only options available were gender and talent specialization, and the game did not support Iron Face customization, using the player's real-life appearance as the initial model setting.

The only thing that could be modified was the "Completion" setting.

So-called "Completion" was specifically designed for players with physical disabilities.

For example, players who had lost limbs could obtain adapted replacements for their missing body parts through the Completion setting.

Regarding the selection of talent specializations, there were 18 optional choices.

For instance: Mechanical Mastery, Marksmanship Mastery, Weapon Mastery, Rune Mastery, Medical Mastery, Smithing Mastery, and so on.

As the game progress reached the talent specialization selection stage, Tong Xin's mind was full of question marks.

"Wait... something isn't right with the starting settings!"

Although he hadn't experienced 'Land of Darkness' himself, he had heard his 'righteous sons' in the group chat describe the game's related content.

The player's initial choice at the start seemed to be an ability called Soul Fate, combining various Soul Fates through Star Vein Slots to create powerful combination skills, with the ability to change Soul Fates later in the game.

So... what the hell was this Talent Specialization?

Could it be a choice only available after entering the game?

Hmm, that must be it.

With his mind full of question marks, Tong Xin automatically filled in the answer himself, then carefully examined the detailed introduction for each specialization.

After some deliberation, he chose the combat-oriented Defense Specialization.

[Congratulations, player. Character creation successful. Next, assigning Novice Village region... You have been assigned to the Novice Village: Fengyunlan.]

[Loading Novice Village scene, please wait.]

Before long, Tong Xin, dressed in the novice-exclusive hemp cloth robe, appeared in the Novice Village.

Various noisy sounds filled his ears; looking around, player figures were everywhere.

Besides human players, there were also a large number of non-human players.

But the problem was, where did the Soul Fate option go? How was he supposed to select his Gargoyle Soul Fate?

Never mind, level up first.

Feeling puzzled, Tong Xin chose to level up first before considering other issues; he had already fallen significantly behind his 'righteous sons' in level, and he had to work hard to catch up as soon as possible, contacting them to carry him through leveling once he left the Novice Village.

Through this preliminary experience and understanding, he learned the background setting of the game.

The game's main background began a thousand years ago, when the invading force known as the "Terrifying Black Black Tide" descended, bringing endless calamity after sweeping across the world.

Just as the world was about to be shrouded in darkness, a group of chosen Chosen Ones fled to another world, where they established a new civilization.

A thousand years later, today, the fleeing Chosen Ones (the players) have returned, vowing to reclaim their lost homeland.

Regarding the background setting, just as the brothers in the group chat had said, it unfolded with the Terrifying Black Black Tide as the strongest opponent.

In the world of a thousand years later, corruption and pollution were rampant everywhere; players needed to gather resources in this world, level up and grow, and then fight against the evil influences.

During this period, they would also encounter many descendants from their hometown world of a thousand years ago, but all of them had already been severely infected with corruption.

One hour of gameplay experience.

Yet, the more Tong Xin played, the more puzzled he became, discovering more and more problems.

The game 'Land of Darkness' did not seem as perfect as he had imagined.

Or rather, the game did not possess the expressiveness his 'righteous sons' had boasted about.

When he first entered the game, the realism of the game scenes indeed made his eyes light up.

But after playing in-depth for an hour, numerous detail issues surfaced, truly affecting immersion.

Before leaving the village, he strolled through the bustling streets; the performance of the NPCs along the way seemed lively, but in reality, they were like marionettes on strings.

For example, the villager selling fruit by the roadside, no matter when one passed by, always used the same unchanging tone to hawk the same words, his expression forever enthusiastic, lacking any sense of being a living, breathing individual.

This issue was understandable; after all, aside from core NPCs needing to be endowed with high-intelligence AI, insignificant NPCs should not occupy massive data processing resources.

But since this problem existed, the game should not be called perfect.

Looking again at architectural details, the buildings and residences in the village appeared exquisitely modeled from afar, but up close, they revealed their roughness.

After observing the brick and stone textures of the city walls outside the village up close, they became blurry and indistinct, as if hastily smeared on with patches of color, lacking the uneven texture and traces of time that real bricks and stones should possess; while the AI-generated models were not repetitive, they were utterly devoid of character.

Secondly, the weather system in the game was also a complete mess.

The weather system should have been a major highlight for creating atmosphere, but it contained too many unreasonable aspects.

Just moments ago it was clear skies and bright sunshine, yet the next second, a torrential rain poured down without any warning, with no transition through cloudy skies, no process of dark clouds gradually gathering; the weather changed abruptly without any logic, and furthermore, the scenes in the rain were full of flaws: raindrops fell on the character but did not splash up water flowers, and the ground merely became wet instantly, without showing the dynamic process of rainwater accumulating into puddles.

Even stranger, when he ran in the rain, the clothes on his body only became superficially wet, lacking the heavy, clinging sensation of being soaked through, as if the rain had no effect on the clothing whatsoever.

Detail problems also existed in the combat system.

When he swung his weapon to attack a monster, at the instant the weapon contacted the monster's body, there was a lack of real collision feedback, let alone the pain feedback his 'righteous sons' had mentioned; when the sword struck the enemy, the feedback was extremely rough, showing no impact force, nor any sense of muscular resistance.

What could be confirmed was that this game's performance was far superior to the two games 'Land of Sin' and 'Conquest'.

It was even sufficient to be called a cross-era game in terms of promotional concepts.

But he had entered the game with the highest expectations, wanting to experience the perfect virtual game his 'righteous sons' had spoken of.

Instead, he discovered various problems within the game.

These detail issues were like grains of sand; though small, they were irritating, constantly reminding him during his immersive experience that this was not a perfect virtual world, severely weakening the game's immersion and causing him to break out of the experience repeatedly while playing.

"Something's not right; where is the perfection in this game? It actually deceived me for several months."

Although he felt this game was indeed good, it was far from the performance he had idealized.

Feeling suddenly melancholy, Tong Xin immediately summoned his friends list, preparing to add his brothers and scold them.

He input "Little Class Iron Hammer" and selected add.

Before long, the notification sound for a friend request acceptance rang out.

Kindergarten Headmaster: You bunch of dogs, actually deceiving your father; you made my expectations too high, and now I feel terrible.

Little Class Iron Hammer: Are you sick???

Kindergarten Headmaster: How bold; scolding an elder is unfilial, truly presumptuous... remember to carry me leveling once I leave the Novice Village.

Little Class Iron Hammer: You idiot piece of trash, are you crazy? Adding a friend just to curse, you xxxxx.

After being sprayed with a barrage of insults, Tong Xin suddenly realized something was off.

Filled with doubt, he chose to initiate a video connection.

Seconds later, the connection succeeded; a pale blue light screen materialized ahead, revealing the figure of a burly alien player in the frame, who opened his mouth in fury.

Before the alien player could unleash his tirade, Tong Xin decisively severed the connection and then deleted him from his friends list.

"Holy crap, something's wrong!"

During the last group chat, he had asked his brothers for their game names in advance and confirmed there were no issues.

"Could there be ID codes?"

Tong Xin's mind conjured up a possibility.

ID codes were a setting used in many games to identify different players, facilitating precise identification within the game and avoiding confusion caused by duplicate names.

Such games generally allowed duplicate names, but a string of codes would appear after the name.

But now his brothers had already entered the game; even if he logged off, he couldn't obtain identity code information in the group.

This left Tong Xin feeling distressed; unable to contact his brothers for now, he could only level up first and worry about it after leaving the novice village.

Since he had already entered the game, Tong Xin decided to play properly.

Outside the novice village, player figures covered the mountains and plains, making monster-grabbing exceptionally difficult.

Finally, his level reached 2.

Just then, a semi-transparent light screen appeared before his eyes, indicating he had received the novice initial quest.

This prompt caused Tong Xin to freeze in surprise.

An initial quest?!

He clearly remembered his good brothers saying in the group that "Dark Land" was a game of complete free exploration, with no main storyline quests or skill quests that followed level progression.

This setting contradicted what his brothers had said.

Could this be the quest to receive the "Guidance Water Sphere"?

His doubts grew stronger, but he still chose to continue the quest, wanting to see what exactly awaited upon completion.

Half an hour later, the quest was completed.

A skill disk appeared on the quest panel, resembling a lush tree; every node held a skill ring, developing upward from the basic abilities at the root.

There were two initially selectable skills.

They were the active skill "Dark Grip" and the passive skill "Dark Amplification."

Seeing the skill options, Tong Xin was completely bewildered.

"Something's wrong, definitely something's wrong!"

He realized the game's settings were completely different from what his brothers had described.

He could conjure reasons for other issues, but skill settings were the core of any game.

His brothers frequently mentioned them in their usual group chats, discussing ability combination schemes, so there was no possibility they were deceiving him.

As for the growth system of "Dark Land," his brothers called it the Star Vein Combination System.

Its feature was combining different Soul Souls to create powerful class builds, with no fixed gameplay; every player could use their own understanding to create unique styles.

The strength of a single Soul Soul was described by his brothers as unimportant.

Some Soul Souls that seemed very weak could produce miraculous effects when combined with others.

It was precisely this ultra-high freedom of ability combination that allowed countless builds to flourish in the game; there were only the weakest Soul Souls of a version, but no eternally weakest Soul Soul.

Every time a new Soul Soul was contained, the strength of all builds would be reshuffled.

But the skill tree growth Cultivation Mode before him was entirely different.

Starting from initial skills, the skill paths branched out; each path defined a specific build, leaving no possibility for free combination.

To change builds, one could only reset points.

The feeling he got was... the "Dark Land" he was playing seemed to be a completely different game from the "Dark Land" his brothers talked about.

"It can't be."

Filled with doubt, Tong Xin immediately chose to log off.

He then pulled out his phone and dialed Tie Chui's number, selecting the emergency contact Cultivation Mode.

In this era, virtual games had become an indispensable part of life, so contact modes were divided into normal contact and emergency contact.

Many people spent most of their time in games and rarely logged off.

Emergency contact was used in sudden situations, capable of directly alerting players inside their game pods.

After the ringing sound persisted for a long time, the call was answered, and Tie Chui's confused voice came through:

"Director, what's going on? Did you manage to grab a game qualification?"

"I grabbed it, but the game I'm playing is weird."

"Hahaha, congratulations... wait, you said the game is weird? How is it weird?"

"Didn't you say the first step after entering the game and creating a character is choosing a Soul Soul? Why did I encounter a choice of Talent Specialization instead?"

"Talent Specialization? Director, you're not joking, right? Isn't there a Containment Wall at the start where the Generation-One Soul Souls are all selectable as initial Soul Souls?"

"What Containment Wall? There's only the Talent Specialization selection page."

Hearing the Director's explanation, Tie Chui was also bewildered.

If it were just a different initial interface, it could be explained by a game update; many games changed their login screens with every update.

But different initial skills definitely indicated a problem.

"Director, let me ask you a question."

"Go ahead."

"Did you believe some rumor, where someone claimed to have a purchasing channel for the genuine game, and then you placed an order with them?"

"Don't be ridiculous; I grabbed the game qualification on the official 'Dark Land' website. I even have the electronic bill receipt. How could I possibly buy from other channels... I'm not Zui Nai, getting scammed out of money online."

"That's strange then. Why are the game settings different? Could the cracked version have magically altered the game content?"

Filled with doubt, Tie Chui asked about the game details.

The Director immediately recounted his game experience in detail, emphasizing the issue of realism.

Upon learning the specific reasons, Tie Chui was completely stunned.

What the Director described didn't sound like "Dark Land"; apart from the similar settings of Evil Spirits and the Black Black Tide, everything else was completely different.

The realism was incomparable to the cracked version of "Dark Land" he played.

It felt to him like two entirely different games.

"Hiss~ Director, I now have a bold idea."

"Speak."

"Is there a possibility that the genuine 'Dark Land' you're playing and the cracked 'Dark Land' I'm playing are fundamentally two different games? The one I'm playing might be the true genuine version, distributed only via links, while the one you're playing is a simplified test version of the genuine product. Although it costs money, it's just a semi-finished product; compared to the one I play, it might even be considered defective."

Tie Chui's answer caused Tong Xin's brain to crash for a long time; his hand gripping the phone trembled uncontrollably:

"Tie Chui, don't mess with me; this could cost lives."

"Why would I mess with you? Only the Moon Eclipse Clan has the technology to develop high-realism virtual games. It's certain that the cracked version likely leaked from within the Moon Eclipse Clan. Therefore, both games are genuine, but yours is the simplified genuine version, while mine is the complete genuine version. That's why both the physical performance and game settings differ."

"Damn, don't do this to me! I worked so hard to get the qualification, and now you tell me I paid for a simplified version? I don't believe it!"

Hearing Tie Chui's explanation, the Director's mindset completely exploded, his eyes turning red involuntarily.

His mood at this moment was extremely similar to that of a cultivator named "Heavenly Soldier" in an Ascension Clan farm.

He thought he had overcome countless hardships to achieve the Dao and immortality, reaching the ultimate goal of life, only to discover upon unveiling the truth that everything was fake.

The sharp contrast between the earlier joy and the current sorrow made the Director unable to hold back his emotions.

"Director, I'm not very clear on the specifics. Why don't you ask on the Human Rise Forum or seek a solution on the Moon Eclipse Clan's official website?"

"I'm going right now; I'll hang up first."

"Mm, I'll wait for your news. This is the first time I've heard of your situation. I'll go ask on the forum in a bit to understand exactly what's happening. Once I figure it out, I'll call you. Stay in touch, and don't do anything stupid."

"Okay." Tong Xin's eyes were red as he replied with trembling lips.

Hanging up the phone, the sky felt like it had collapsed.

Tong Xin sat in the game pod, letting out thunderous sobs:

"Who can endure this damn thing? Boo-hoo-hoo."

After releasing his emotions, he dragged his exhausted body up and walked to his computer desk.

Too lazy to change clothes, he opened his browser and entered the Human Rise Forum.

On the other side.

After entering the game, Tie Chui immediately spoke in the team chat channel:

Little Class Tie Chui: Brothers, something big has happened; the Director is about to have an emotional breakdown.

Little Class Zui Nai: What happened? We didn't grab one this round either, but isn't that normal? Didn't he say if he couldn't grab one, he'd just keep grabbing the cracked version? Why did he suddenly have a mental explosion?

Little Class Black Ball: Poor Director, destined to never have a chance with the genuine version. Just grab the cracked version like us; we can buy the official copy later when the genuine version fully opens qualifications.

Little Class Tie Chui: It's not about failing to grab one. The Director was already prepared for that. The problem is he actually grabbed a genuine game qualification.

Little Class Monitor: He grabbed it and still had a mental explosion? (God of Wealth confused.jpg)

Little Class Tie Chui: Here's the situation: After the Director grabbed the genuine qualification and entered the game, he found the genuine game's settings were completely different from the cracked "Dark Land" we discussed in the group chat. This includes the game's physical performance and the realism of the models. It's basically certain that the "Dark Land" sold through genuine channels and the cracked "Dark Land" we downloaded via links are fundamentally two different games.

Little Class Tie Chui: So you realize the problem now, right? The gameplay experience of the genuine "Dark Land" simply cannot compare to the cracked version we're playing now. The Director was full of expectation, thinking he could experience a perfect virtual reality game, but after entering, he discovered a bunch of issues. At first, he didn't take it seriously, thinking we were pulling his leg. Then he tried to add me in-game and found he added an alien player. After completing the initial quest, he was even more bewildered, discovering the skill settings were different too. Only then did he confirm it wasn't the same game we described...

Little Class Zui Nai: Holy crap, that's too intense! No wonder the Director had a mental explosion; if it were me, I couldn't handle it either.

Little Class Gulu: What do we do now? Is the Director planning to apply for a refund or go to the official website to complain to the Moon Eclipse Clan customer service?

Little Class Tie Chui: The Director plans to go to the Human Rise Forum first to ask about the specifics and understand why the two games are different, then decide whether to request a refund. It really messes with one's mind. I didn't realize the genuine and cracked versions were two different games; I was even thinking about buying the official copy in the future.

Little Class Meng Wa: So does that mean everyone playing with us are players who downloaded the cracked version via links???

Little Class Marble: Let's go to the forum first to start a thread and ask around, figure out the specific situation, give the Director a clear answer, and then think about how to solve it. The Director urgently needs comfort right now; after we clarify the situation, we'll log off together to find the Director.

Little Class Hammer: Alright, I'll go start a thread on the forum to ask right now.

Before long, the post published by Hammer refreshed on the forum, continuously attracting players to join the discussion.

[Brothers, something huge has happened. Enter the thread for detailed discussion; it concerns the game "Land of Darkness" released by the Eclipse Clan]:

Poster: Little Class Hammer.

Content:

First, let me ask everyone a question: how exactly did you get your game qualifications!

Don't lie; tell us whether you downloaded "Land of Darkness" through official legitimate channels or downloaded a cracked version via a mysterious link.

I'll confess the truth first: my brothers from the Kindergarten Society and I all downloaded the cracked version of "Land of Darkness" through a mysterious link.

The reason I'm coming to the forum for help is that one of my good brothers encountered a problem that baffles me.

The specific situation starts from five months ago, when "Land of Darkness" distributed the first round of qualifications....

The current situation is that my good brother finally managed to grab a legitimate copy of the game, but upon entering to experience it, he found something was off.

Gameplay mechanics, background settings, graphics, sound effects... none of the content matched the cracked version we were playing. My brother is nearly collapsing; he worked so hard to get a legitimate qualification, only to find the game is different from what we are playing.

So I'm asking everyone on the forum: did you download the cracked version or the legitimate one? Why is it that my brother downloaded the legitimate version, yet the content cannot compare at all with the version I'm currently playing? I'm starting to suspect whether the Eclipse Clan sent the wrong game, perhaps giving my brother an early beta version.

This question can only be answered by the handsome and beautiful friends in the forum.

Comment Section:

Pitch-Black Security Guard: Brother, I confess I downloaded the cracked version. Please delete this post quickly. If the Star Net discovers we're using cracked versions, we'll all get banned. I'm begging you to delete your post. The Star Net is no joke; if I get banned, I'll collapse. I feel terrible if I don't play for a day; even food tastes bland outside. I understand you're posting for help for your brother's sake, but you shouldn't endanger other players.

Jinling Vice-General Ma Guocheng: Damn, so there are this many cracked versions? I thought you were all on the legitimate version, and only me and a few friends were on the cracked one. I'm very confused now; exactly how many cracked versions are there? Is there a possibility that everyone in the game is a cracked-version player?

Foxes Don't Eat History: I feel this thread's popularity has already exploded; hiding it is definitely impossible. I'll confess too: I downloaded the cracked version. However, when I mentioned it to others in-game, I always said I was lucky enough to buy the legitimate version. I suppose those brothers who usually brag about how hard they fought to grab a copy are probably using cracked versions too. Let's leave it to fate; I hope the Star Net shows mercy and doesn't ban accounts. I don't want to leave this game (Explorer wiping tears.jpg).

Wosniedie: I'll confess too; I downloaded a cracked game qualification, but all the sacrificial power I bought was paid with real money via offline transfers. They won't ban me, right? If I have to start leveling from zero, I'll cry until I faint. Also, just to mention, I tried grabbing a legitimate qualification several times but simply couldn't get one; otherwise, I wouldn't have downloaded the cracked version. I always thought the cracked version and the official channel version were the same game, but your post has confused me.

God King: Oh my god, you're all on cracked versions? Only I'm on the legitimate one... Forget it, I won't pretend anymore; actually, I'm on the cracked version too. Back then, I couldn't grab the legitimate version and planned to return to the war, waiting to try again in the next round of qualifications. Suddenly, a download link appeared in the guild chat, and sure enough, some brothers managed to download the game, and then all the brothers in our guild entered.

Huangpizi I Am Not a God: After reading the post, I actually think your friend is incredibly lucky. First, encountering the distribution of the cracked version has an obviously tiny probability. Second, you all grabbed it while he didn't participate because he was asleep; that probability is also very small. Then, he grabbed the cracked version, but missed the account activation due to sleeping again, causing it to be reclaimed; that probability is too low. Finally, he managed to grab the "Land of Darkness" distributed through official channels. Adding up all these probabilities, I suspect your friend is a Child of Destiny.

Game Brick-Moving Party: Seeing so many brothers admit they downloaded the cracked version, I suddenly thought of something. No wonder I couldn't see other players when the server launched. I originally thought it was a channel-separated server and that I had entered a newly opened one, which is why I couldn't see others. Now thinking about it, I might even be Player Number 1 on the entire server... By the way, I'm also on the cracked version.

Poor Enough to Eat Dirt: Good heavens, the truth is too absurd. It feels like a group of people smuggled into a new country through irregular channels. To avoid detection, everyone claimed to be a native of that country, and no one ever noticed any problems. Then the truth is revealed, and it turns out everyone living here is damn well a smuggler. Isn't that hilarious? I hope they don't handle this by banning accounts.

The post published by Hammer was pinned to the top of the forum's popularity list within a short time, attracting even more players to join the discussion.

During this period, an analysis post published by the strategy-group player "Night Is Coming" received a large number of likes from players.

Night Is Coming:

After reading everyone's comments, I can basically confirm that we all downloaded cracked versions.

There is simply no player on this forum who purchased through legitimate channels.

So, is there a possibility that what we are playing is the legitimate "Land of Darkness" secretly released by the Eclipse Clan, while the version promoted externally, requiring money to rush-buy officially, is actually an outdated version abandoned by the Eclipse Clan?

Old players might recall an incident that happened at the time, specifically four months ago.

Back then, "Ban Ban Zhuan" discovered on the Human Rise Forum that some players were slandering "Land of Darkness," with content completely inconsistent with the facts. He subsequently took his brothers from the Liver Emperor Society to spray them, only to be sprayed back by even more opposing players. He then came to the forum to seek our help.

I participated in that battle at the time as well.

Looking back now, there were actually many suspicious points.

I have summarized the suspicious issues that arose during the forum exchanges back then:

The first suspicious point: The player who posted at the time had a purchase verification bill displayed in their profile, visible just by clicking their avatar. Why would they spread rumors?

What we thought at the time was that although this guy had bought it, he was definitely deliberately slandering. After all, in reality, there are quite a few netizens who hate the Eclipse Clan.

The second suspicious point: Where did so many water army come from to cooperate?

Thinking about it now, everyone who participated in the battle back then were players who bought the legitimate version. They all discovered problems within the game, while only we did not realize it. Thus, mutual spraying occurred, and both sides believed the other was the water army. In reality, we were not even playing the same game.

The third suspicious point: During the mutual spraying on the forum back then, the game content discussed by both sides simply did not match up.

This was also the core reason we thought the other side was the water army.

The series of issues they mentioned, such as game modeling and physical performance, were problems we never encountered in our game. That is why we were incredibly furious, feeling the other side was spreading rumors.

Now it seems, what they said was indeed the problems encountered in the legitimate channel version of "Land of Darkness." We were the "water army."

However, I do not believe the cracked version of "Land of Darkness" we downloaded is fake.

What can be confirmed is that the quality of the cracked version game is far superior to the legitimate "Land of Darkness" purchased through official channels.

This obviously does not conform to normal logic. Why would the official Eclipse Clan hide a perfect-quality cracked version and then sell a cheap, eliminated version of "Land of Darkness"?

Actually, clues to this question can be seen from the distribution speed of the legitimate channels.

It is possible that the main game server resources were primarily used for the cracked version we are using. Settings like perfect physical performance require processing too much information, occupying a large amount of server resources.

Therefore, the legitimate channels, which occupy only a small portion of processing resources, need to distribute qualifications slowly.

It can be understood this way: the brothers in the forum are all closed-beta players of the legitimate "Land of Darkness," and moreover, they are playing the core version developed by the Eclipse Clan.

Meanwhile, the version distributed through official channels can be understood as an old version that was eliminated during early development.

I even suspect that the person who published the mysterious link is actually the Star Net.

Otherwise, there is no way to explain why no one has been banned until now. The entire internet world operates under the monitoring of the Star Net. Human energy is limited and cannot monitor all content, but nothing happening on the internet can escape the observation of the intelligent brain Star Net.

The pirated link should have been detected by the Star Net the moment it appeared.

Everyone is experiencing the game with a lucky mindset.

So, is there such a possibility: we are closed-beta players chosen by the Star Net, and there is fundamentally no possibility of being banned?

If they really intended to ban accounts, they wouldn't have waited until now; several months have already passed.

With so much online communication information, how could the Star Net not have the slightest reaction?

In summary: The Star Net is aware of the existence of the cracked version links, and the cracked version links might even have been distributed by the Star Net. We are all the destined ones chosen by the Star Net for closed beta testing.

The post by Night Is Coming mentioned the great forum battle event known only to old players.

It also made many old players suddenly realize that the forum battle back then was entirely a misunderstanding.

There was no water army at all; it was just erroneous information that made everyone mistakenly believe the other side was the water army. In reality, everyone was speaking the truth, but they were simply not talking about the same game.

The reason lies in the fact that neither of the two games could produce content for the outside world.

If players at the time had been able to provide videos from inside the game or game screenshots, the misunderstanding would not have occurred.

Regarding this issue, more and more players participating in the discussion joined the thread.

At the same time, the Human Rise Forum also published a post:

[Help needed, the officially purchased legitimate "Land of Darkness" has a problem; it's simply not the same game my friend is playing.]

This post was precisely published by Tong Xin.

However, the netizens below the post were furiously spraying Tong Xin.

Some netizens believed Tong Xin was showing off that he had grabbed this round of game qualifications; seemingly asking a question, he was actually pretending to be impressive. They stated that if he didn't like it, he should refund quickly and give the extra qualifications to other players who want them, calling his showing off shameful.

Other netizens stated that the thread starter must have been misled by his friend. A game that perfectly simulates real-world physical performance? Since when did the Eclipse Clan have such technology?

Even more players stated that the thread starter was simply making up a story to attract replies. A cracked version simply cannot exist; even if it really did, the Star Net would make the cracked version disappear the next second, and all players would be collectively banned. Did he really think the Star Net runs a charity? It is an efficiency robot without emotions.

Although some players expressed agreement with what Tong Xin said, this agreement was more of an affirmation of "retarded" statements.

They responded with "Yes, yes, yes" to the thread starter's viewpoint, teasing that they believed everything he said, and even provided a bunch of self-invented reasons in their answers.

The reality is that no netizens replying to the post believed what Tong Xin said.

After all, the content described in the post was too absurd and did not conform to reality.

Seeing the reply content, Tong Xin instantly felt despair; he discovered that the netizens simply did not believe what he said.

It even made him feel as though the whole world had gone mad and only he remained sane. He simply could not converse with a group of netizens who did not believe the truth.

"So... is there a possibility that I am the one who has gone mad?"

Thinking of this, Tong Xin developed serious doubts about his own mental state.

Just as Tong Xin was doubting himself, many players from the Monster World logged off and replied to Tong Xin's post.

They stated that everything the thread starter said was fact and that they themselves were playing the cracked version.

However, due to the inability to provide evidence, the replies from these players were also mistaken as teasing the thread starter.

Therefore, under circumstances that violate realistic logic and without the ability to provide screenshots, videos, or other evidence, mere verbal accounts simply cannot prove the truth of the matter.

Even voices supporting Tong Xin would be understood by the onlookers as standing on their own side.

In order to prove that everything he said was the truth, Tong Xin chose to edit the post, publishing the chat screenshots from that time as well as the electronic bill for the legitimate "Land of Darkness" within the thread.

This time, voices finally appeared expressing doubt about whether two versions of "Land of Darkness" actually existed.

As the discussion popularity of the post grew higher and higher, it even attracted netizens from other races to watch and comment.

This matter was quickly reported up, alarming the high-ranking officials of the Human Federation.

Whether two games existed or not, they knew better than anyone; naturally, they knew the player who posted was not lying.

Players from both the Gene Research Department and the Weapon Research Department could prove this.

They had also already made arrangements in advance within the cracked version game.

Now, two choices lay before the high-ranking officials of the Human Race.

One: Delete the post, suppress the popularity, prevent the spread of public opinion, and avoid triggering a series of uncertain events.

Two: Allow the event to continue being discussed and ferment, attracting more people, even netizens from other alien races to participate, making the existence of two games completely public knowledge.

How to decide? The high-ranking officials of the Human Federation convened a meeting.

This meeting was likewise an offline meeting, preventing discovery by Star Net monitoring.

The meeting lasted for two hours.

The high-ranking humans, who were already puzzled as to why there were two games, ultimately decided to let the matter continue fermenting and then observe the Erosion Clan's reaction.

Only the Erosion Clan knew the true answer to this question.

As the post's popularity continued to climb, its content was even reposted to the Star Net forums of the alien races, sparking heated discussion there as well.

Yet no one could prove one thing: whether two different games truly existed, or if this post was merely a conspiracy theory.

Much like the Flat Earth theory, the Reptilians, and a series of other conspiracy theories from the past.

After all, bored netizens could always conjure up all sorts of bizarre, attention-grabbing topics.

Just as the discussion over whether two versions of Devouring World existed gradually became a hot topic across the entire Star Net, the Erosion Clan released an official announcement.

It stated that one day later, the First Consul would step forward to explain the online controversy and provide a detailed account of whether two Devouring Worlds truly existed.

The Erosion Clan's response once again ignited heated discussion across the entire network.

Even the onlookers from before were left bewildered.

In their eyes, this incident was purely a fallacy designed to grab attention; they never expected it would receive an official response from the aloof Erosion Clan, let alone an explanation from the First Consul himself.

This made netizens worldwide realize that this incident was far more complex than they had imagined.

(End of Chapter)