Chapter 121: If You Can't Even Trust the Game

Desire Tower, rest area.

Wen Xishu was already incomparably familiar with the process in front of him; ignoring various shouts, he walked directly towards the Tianyuan area.

The Desire Tower was still easier to mix in than the Mysterious Tower; even on the fifteenth floor, Wen Xishu was not the one closest to the center position.

He ran all the way to the center position; this time, Wen Xishu was very surprised; why was there a long line at the center position, as if everyone in the rest area had come to the center area.

Large Desire Tower team dungeon?

No, it should be impossible.

Wen Xishu soon discovered the reason.

This time, he actually met the bunker's heartthrob, Wen Renjing, in the rest area of the Desire Tower.

Everyone around was aiming for Wen Renjing. Wen Renjing was not Xun Hui, after all; not many people knew what Xun Hui looked like, and Xun Hui's personality was very irritable; facing this situation, Xun Hui would directly tell these people to get lost.

But Wen Renjing slowly answered various strategies. Under Wen Renjing's signal, the people around also lined up; everyone thought, although the Desire Tower level I'm in has no risk, if I get Wen Renjing's guidance, getting more supplies is also good.

At this time, Wen Xishu didn't line up directly and acted as the villain who didn't line up:

"Fifteenth floor, Senior Wen Renjing, Fengcheng, keyword, apocalypse survival game. Any strategy?"

Wen Xishu's behavior of not lining up immediately attracted everyone's dissatisfaction. Even Wen Renjing's female fans started scolding.

But Wen Renjing just smiled:

"Ah, Wen Xun, it's you, come over quickly. Sorry everyone, my friend has arrived; I might not be able to answer your questions next. Please don't follow."

Wen Renjing greeted Wen Xishu to come over, and then took Wen Xishu and left directly.

This treatment left Wen Renjing's fans stunned.

Due to Wen Renjing's personal charm, no one would be dissatisfied with Wen Renjing's idea of favoring one person and ignoring the crowd; they would only think: Lord Senior Wenren is really good to his friends.

But everyone was also truly surprised; who exactly was this person?

Wen Xishu suddenly became the focus figure.

Actually, there were also many students from the Desire Tower Academy who recognized Wen Xishu. Wasn't this Wen Xun who went to the forbidden area of the Desire Tower Academy with Xun Hui back then?

Wen Xishu said:

"Now that I'm back at school, I'm afraid there will be even more rumors, right?"

Wen Renjing smiled gently:

"You should also be able to get your name back soon, so the amount of rumors in front of you is not enough to trouble you."

Wen Xishu didn't expect that Wen Renjing had actually seen through his thoughts on this floor.

Wen Renjing continued:

"Regarding the mission you just mentioned, it's a pity, I cannot help you with this mission."

"You appearing here, I suppose you have already obtained the invitation, right?"

Wen Xishu didn't deny it this time and nodded.

Wen Renjing smiled:

"Then your entry point is different from ours; even if my luck value is very high and I can directly mark key figures, I haven't experienced the Mysterious Tower, and the time node I appeared at is also wrong."

"This mission, as people who normally only climb the Desire Tower, will require us to find a way to beat a game. A zombie survival game."

"But this game seems to have many problems and cannot be cleared."

Wen Xishu frowned, cannot be cleared?

"Why is there no way to clear it? Is it very difficult?"

"It's not very difficult; it's because this is not a single-player game, but an online game. Can you understand online games?" Wen Renjing asked.

Because there was no concept of playing games in the bunker, most people didn't know terms like single-player games or online games.

But Wen Renjing was the kind of person who liked to learn knowledge about the Desire Tower world.

Wen Xishu nodded:

"I know. Online games, then no wonder; online games don't have a concept of clearing; at most, you get the first clear of a dungeon, or rank first on the leaderboard. Online games are always intermittently updated; you only have seven days, of course, it's impossible to require the online game company to release all subsequent version expansion packs within seven days."

A series of professional terms made Wen Renjing quite surprised; he said:

"Little Tree, I should be able to call you that, right? Were you really... foolish before?"

Wen Xishu pulled the topic back:

"Senior Wen Renjing, let's not mention my past; you only need to know that my illness is cured. By the way, how did you solve this problem?"

Wen Renjing said:

"I tutored myself on the operating mechanism of online games; actually, it's all for making money, so I used my sequence and personal ability... in seven days, I acquired this company. I forcibly gave myself an ending."

Huh? Is this a way to clear it?

It was Wen Xishu's turn to be shocked; this can also be done?

In seven days, relying on sequence and personal charm, earning enough money to acquire a company, forcibly making a game release all the plot directly...

This Desire Tower breaking-the-game thinking of Wen Renjing really had a feeling of Xun Hui's violent aesthetics.

Wen Renjing was somewhat ashamed:

"But it's very embarrassing to say, by the time I finished all this, it was already the seventh day, and I was about to go back. So... I didn't have time to beat the game. In addition, the actual performance of the game has a big gap with the promotion."

Wen Xishu couldn't evaluate this Desire Tower experience; it felt like conquering the world with his own strength, only to die of a cold.

If Wen Renjing really managed to beat the game, would he really have the level of six-level completion just by climbing the Desire Tower with his own strength?

Wen Xishu had a new understanding of Wen Renjing's personal charm.

"One word, impressed! Fine, Senior Wen Renjing, I know the situation."

Wen Renjing said:

"I don't know what your entry point will be like. Tell me about it after you come back?"

Wen Xishu said:

"My mission description is to bring happiness to a person named John; I think he should be the creator of the apocalypse survival game."

"And this person is very likely to possess some kind of powerful aptitude; in the Slaughter Tower, perhaps he is a leader-level or even sovereign-level existence."

Wen Renjing nodded:

"Good, it's really different from our entry point. Keep it up."

Wen Xishu waved his hand:

"Goodbye, Senior. I won't dawdle; I'll head to the Desire Tower first."

Wen Renjing said:

"Good, me too; see you in the bunker."

Desire Tower, fifteenth floor. Area, Fengcheng.

Different from before, the area Wen Xishu could explore this time was an entire Fengcheng.

"It seems that the higher the level, the larger the map? And the harder it is to find the target. The difficulty increase method of the Desire Tower is really... not on the same magnitude as the other two towers at all. No wonder so many people love the Desire Tower."

Fengcheng is not big; compared to Moen City, Fengcheng is probably only one-third the size of Moen City.

However, Fengcheng is indeed very prosperous; Wen Xishu was on the streets of Fengcheng at this time. From afar, he saw the seventy-story Golden Building.

"Must find John first." Wen Xishu looked around, preparing to use the Pseudo-Fate Luo Pan.

But he soon stopped, because Wen Xishu saw overwhelming publicity, game publicity.

Almost everywhere, there were various posters promoting a game called "Apocalypse," claiming it would redefine games.

"Redefine games," "immersive experience," "the most realistic game in history," "all other games will have no value from now on," "no one can refuse its arrival"—these kinds of very gimmicky promotional slogans, combined with various images, occupied every corner of the streets and alleys.

Wen Xishu looked at those images; the images were simply real existences; he saw many familiar scenes.

Schools, Ziluolan Garden residential area, and various landmark buildings in Fengcheng.

Playing games is nothing more than paying attention to a sense of immersion; when the people of Fengcheng saw the game that claimed to be incomparably realistic taking scenes from Fengcheng, they all looked forward to this game.

But Wen Xishu suddenly felt that the promotional slogans of this game might not be praising the game, but objectively describing it.

Immersive experience, the most realistic game in history; this was obviously not exaggerated, because the game in the images was the Mysterious Tower scene Wen Xishu himself experienced.

That couldn't even be called immersive; that was simply throwing people directly into an apocalypse world full of zombies.

"All games are of course valueless, because the apocalypse has arrived. Whether there are games or not is still a question."

"No one can resist its arrival; is it saying the apocalypse is coming, and no one can stop it?"

Every corner of the entire Fengcheng was the promotional slogan of the game, but no one realized that this was not the promotional slogan of the game; this was...

The sign of the apocalypse arriving.

Wen Xishu couldn't imagine that the Desire Tower opening of this mission would be like this.

"The degree of distortion is even more exaggerated than I imagined. Normally, even people like Tang Rui and Jie Ke who possess leader-level aptitude cannot realize the arrival of the apocalypse."

"Up to now, there is only one scene where, after I arrived, the NPC realized the arrival of the apocalypse and was preparing for the apocalypse. That is An Rongzai, the controller of the Three Balls Group."

"Wen Renjing said that the game he actually played has a big gap with the game's promotion."

"It can be seen that there is indeed an apocalypse survival game released recently, and the content is very close. This is definitely not a coincidence, because Wen Renjing said that he must beat that game."

"That is to say, the zombie apocalypse in Fengcheng has a correlation with the game called Apocalypse."

The mission's name is Genius John's Trouble; Wen Xishu guessed that the author of the game "Apocalypse" is very likely John.

"Fine, back to the initial question, find John first."

Wen Xishu took out the Fate Luo Pan; he had many methods, but now the compass was the simplest and most brainless; he was too lazy to use his brain if he could cheat.

But this time, the compass needle was very chaotic.

When Wen Xishu took out the compass, Wen Xishu also discovered a strange thing.

The Scorpio's Cheating Knife was actually trembling. The knife trembled, and the compass needle constantly changed direction to point to chaos...

This anomaly made Wen Xishu realize that things were not simple.

"Is the knife interfering with the compass? No, this knife belongs to me now; there's no reason it would hinder me."

"The Fate Luo Pan... is not interfered with by the Scorpio's knife; the compass pointing to chaos means there is great danger here. It doesn't want me to go to John's location."

"The Scorpio's knife is also like this; it is warning."

This is a very strange feeling; Wen Xishu seemed to feel the thoughts of two god-level items.

The compass and the knife, although they are both orange items, are clearly higher in status than orange items like the Killing Football.

"You... don't want me to look for John at this time?"

As if responding to Wen Xishu, the Scorpio's Cheating Knife suddenly stopped trembling. The Fate Luo Pan needle also stopped moving randomly.

Wen Xishu's expression was solemn.

"Scorpio knife, game... could this level be related to Scorpio? But John cannot be Scorpio; it's only the fifteenth floor of the Desire Tower; it doesn't make sense."

"Wait, could it be..."

Wen Xishu thought of An Rongzai again; through An Jincheng's barrage, Wen Xishu had seen such a scene: An Rongzai had met both Pisces and Scorpio.

Because of this, An Rongzai knew the apocalypse would arrive.

Now, does the author of the game also know the apocalypse will arrive? And he knows the apocalypse will arrive because...

He is in contact with Scorpio.

Thinking of this, Wen Xishu suddenly felt everything matched up.

Scorpio is seducing a powerful sovereign-level player, John.

Once the seduction is successful, the game "Apocalypse" created by John will arrive in the real world.

In this way, everything in Fengcheng will be the same as what he saw in the Mysterious Tower.

This is different from An Rongzai, who had no aptitude and then obtained aptitude through rituals.

John is a person who possesses aptitude and was actively drawn in by Scorpio.

"So, the two of you don't want me to look for John because I am very likely to encounter Scorpio there?"

The Scorpio's Cheating Knife and the Pseudo-Fate Luo Pan both moved again at this time.

Normally, the two items are dead objects and cannot respond, but perhaps it is because Scorpio arrived in Fengcheng, and Wen Xishu happened to be at the node where he arrived.

So many things started to become unreasonable. For example, his items started to have consciousness.

Wen Xishu said:

"But I must find John; I hope you can cooperate with me, instead of going on strike with me."

No response.

This time, whether it was the Pseudo-Fate Luo Pan or the Scorpio's Cheating Knife, they were like they had lost consciousness, quiet and still.

Wen Xishu changed his thinking:

"These things fear Scorpio, so they went on strike; change the thinking, perhaps it is Scorpio who doesn't want anyone to disturb him..."

"So these items will be disabled at this node."

"In other words, if I don't take action... then next, the apocalypse will arrive in this city in the form of a game."

"I must stop Scorpio."

Wen Xishu soon had an idea.

The compass couldn't be used, which didn't hinder Wen Xishu, just added a few steps to his process of finding John.

In an alley outside an internet cafe, a young man with green hair cosplaying a certain lost swordsman was beaten up by Wen Xishu and contributed a mobile phone plus two barrages.

In the barrage, he learned that "Apocalypse" seemed to be single-player content in the early stages; Fengcheng, this small place, actually had many online games, but no excellent single-player ones.

Earlier, people discussed "Apocalypse" as a single-player game.

But with the remote future of "Apocalypse," there seemed to be a disagreement within the team.

Wen Xishu soon entered keywords like John and Apocalypse on his mobile phone and learned more precise content.

"Apocalypse team development group decided to make Apocalypse into an online game, has reached cooperation with Tengyi Group, and indicated willingness to accept the Tengyi Group's planning team to come for guidance, making "Apocalypse" another hit after games like "Alliance," "Cold of Water," "Dream Travel," and "Underground City"."

"Tim, a game streamer who is disabled in both legs and has advanced stomach cancer, wants to play the real "Apocalypse"; John indicated he would find a way to let him play it before he dies."

"Apocalypse team development group member John Leon was exposed to suffer from depression."

The latest news was that John suffered from depression. But there was no detailed report on the cause of the depression.

After Wen Xishu finished browsing the information from the barrage and the mobile phone, he patted the green-haired young man's face:

"Listen to advice and you'll be full; leave Fengcheng early."

The young man trembled, but Wen Xishu had already returned the phone to him, then disappeared at a very fast speed and started looking for the next target.

Beating to create fear, fear produces barrages; relying on the Wen-style information acquisition method, Wen Xishu beat more than a dozen people in one hour from Fengcheng East Road to Fengcheng South Road.

In this not-so-big city of Fengcheng, the information obtained randomly and indiscriminately from more than a dozen people was enough to piece together quite a bit of information.

Wen Xishu really asked for John's address. It was actually in Ziluolan Garden residential area, just without a house number.

So Wen Xishu used a speed that Desire Tower residents couldn't understand and started running wildly towards Ziluolan Garden residential area.

He was like a cheetah traveling through the city; many people saw this scene.

It wasn't that people hadn't seen people running, but running this fast was the first time.

After arriving at Ziluolan Garden residential area, Wen Xishu even recognized those few people wearing security uniforms.

After all, in the Mysterious Tower, they had already turned into zombies. The Ziluolan Garden residential area in the Desire Tower didn't actually have many people until now.

And when Wen Xishu arrived at Ziluolan residential area, the Scorpio's Cheating Knife started to tremble violently.

"Fine, I know, stop warning."

Wen Xishu wasn't sure if he would encounter Scorpio here. He judged based on An Jincheng's memory that Scorpio's image was a child's image.

However, whether Scorpio was really very young, that was hard to say. Having a child's image and being young, for these people who have divine power, did not conflict.

Wen Xishu started to use the Cheating Knife to explore in reverse.

He wandered around the residential area; he judged whether he was closer to the target based on the vibration frequency of the Scorpio knife.

If the Scorpio knife could speak at this time, it would probably be speechless. Because it frantically persuaded its master not to seek death, but its master was frantically moving towards death.

Wen Xishu was also not afraid of Scorpio; he knew better than anyone that the strength of the owners of these constellation names was not something any human at the current stage could deal with.

"The entry time point of the invitation is always very special. At least in the option of entry time, no matter how much luck value Desire Tower players have, they can't compare to me."

"In this way, I have to consider, perhaps I have to have some kind of duel with Scorpio; if I bypass Scorpio... perhaps I won't be able to save John."

Wen Xishu arrived at the pavilion unknowingly; this was where he designed to kill Duan Donghuo.

He was originally still thinking about where John lived. But at this time, Wen Xishu suddenly heard a child's voice.

"Brother, you seem to be lost."

Wen Xishu immediately felt a huge sense of crisis, because after this voice sounded, he suddenly felt as if the surroundings had stopped. Even the Scorpio knife went silent, no longer sending that sense of vibration.

Wen Xishu turned his head and saw a child wearing a light blue children's suit, with a red bow tie at the collar, looking at him with a childish face and a smile:

"Brother, where are you going? I am very familiar with this place; I'll take you there."

The dust in the air seemed to stop at this moment, but then, everything returned to normal.

The feeling of space freezing just now was like his hallucination and illusion.

But Wen Xishu was very sure that it was not an illusion.

The sense of crisis brought to him by this child in front of him was incomparable even to the Red House.

He could only think of one answer.

Scorpio, he had bumped into it head-on.

"At this time node, it shouldn't appear here, but seeing it appear in front of you in this posture, I am very happy. Brother, our fate is not shallow."

Scorpio looked at Wen Xishu with a grin and pointed to the short knife on Wen Xishu's waist.

Wen Xishu knew that tension and fear were meaningless now, so he simply let go:

"I'm looking for John Leon."

"I guessed so, great, we are on the same way, let's go together."

Completely different from facing An Rongzai; facing An Rongzai, Scorpio was like a tyrant with a child's face.

He could coldly watch An Rongzai kneel down and kowtow to him. But facing Wen Xishu, Scorpio changed his attitude.

He very friendly reached out his little hand, signaling Wen Xishu to hold him.

Just like a big brother holding a little brother.

Wen Xishu couldn't refuse; facing such an existence that could wipe him out without a trace with a snap of his fingers, he was already trying his best just to maintain his current composure.

So Wen Xishu held Scorpio's little hand, and Scorpio showed a cute smile:

"It's over here, brother."

Scorpio started taking Wen Xishu towards the villa area. Not long after, the two had already arrived in the courtyard of a villa.

In the courtyard, John Leon was staring blankly at the river, his whole body curled up on the swing chair in the courtyard.

John had curly hair like an angel in a Western oil painting; his eyes were very deep; when he gazed in one direction, he didn't give people a feeling of staring blankly, as if he was observing this world.

Wen Xishu noticed that when he was really holding Scorpio's little hand, the world seemed to stop again.

At this time, John should have perceived their arrival, but John didn't move.

Even the river surface was in a static state. Wen Xishu then confirmed that time had been stopped by Scorpio again.

But Scorpio, can he also control time?

As if knowing Wen Xishu's question, Scorpio actually took the initiative to answer:

"Brother, this is a game; games will have a pause function. Ziluolan Garden, from the moment I arrived, has already become a game world. And you, happened to have the ticket to enter here."

Wen Xishu didn't fully understand this ability, but just felt that let alone himself, even Xun Hui who had opened "No-Self" would probably not be able to escape if he came here.

He instead became more relaxed because of this.

"So, what do you intend to let me see?"

"Of course, John Leon's life; you were able to get the recognition of that knife, which means, brother, you and I are the same kind of person."

John's life.

Wen Xishu originally thought about evoking John's emotions and then obtaining information from the barrage.

But now, he didn't seem to need to do this.

More perverted power was displayed in Wen Xishu's eyes.

In Wen Xishu's eyes, an interface appeared.

【New Game.】

【Load Save.】

【Recalling the Past.】

【End Game.】

Combined with the image of John staring lonely at the river, it really seemed like some kind of independent game exploring people's inner hearts.

Wen Xishu was not surprised; his reaction was also seen by Scorpio.

"You can choose to start a new game to change John. But I suggest you don't do that first; I think I am the person who understands John best in this world."

"I came to find him today, originally intending to load the save and then continue my cooperation with him."

"So, brother, do you want to look at Recalling the Past first, understand John's past, and then consider what way to end this journey?"

Although it was an interrogative sentence, the overly huge strength gap left Wen Xishu with no choice.

Scorpio had even made John Leon, the protagonist, into a game.

Wen Xishu could only follow Scorpio's suggestion and choose Recalling the Past first.

A new interface appeared, a 16-grid CG appreciation interface appeared.

"These are all the epitome of John's life journey; if you piece them together, you can form a movie. Brother, you watch first. I'll wait for your decision."

Scorpio was very well-behaved, squatting beside John Leon, as if becoming a part of the background.

And Wen Xishu also clicked on the first image.

CG01.

"Charles, let me play with you too!"

A girl named Catherine looked at Charles's Monopoly board on the table, very much wanting to play.

But Charles cast a look of disgust:

"Go away, go away; this game is called Monopoly; do you know how much this set of cards and board cost?"

Catherine lowered her head; in that era when prices were not very outrageous, her daily living expenses were three yuan.

One yuan in the morning could buy a chicken leg bread; two yuan at noon could buy the school's big pot rice with meat.

She really had no money to buy expensive toys.

John Leon took a look from afar; he really hated Charles very much and said:

"Catherine, let's play!"

Catherine was somewhat puzzled:

"Ah? John, did you buy it too?"

John smiled:

"No, but it's too simple; I can draw one!"

Next, John really drew a Monopoly board with white paper, then used a small knife to whittle an eraser into the shape of a die; this scene attracted many people to watch:

"Wow, John, you really drew it."

The Monopoly board John drew was more interesting; it contained many buildings in Fengcheng, and even the school they were attending, as well as everyone's home.

So when everyone played, they had a special sense of immersion, especially when buying someone else's house, some male students would very proudly say:

"Your house is already mine!"

Charles suddenly felt that his Monopoly didn't seem to smell good anymore.

The final image was a group of children surrounding John, everyone laughing and enjoying the simplest fun brought by the game.

CG02.

The image changed quickly; this was when John was in the sixth grade. John looked like he had grown quite a bit taller.

During this time, John's favorite game was a game called Bomber Man. There was a Bomber Man Story on the Sega machine that could be played by two people on the same screen.

The story this time was very simple; it was that John came back very late once; because he played too late with his little friends, he delayed the appointment with his father.

When he returned home, his father was holding a controller, playing Bomber Man Story; the game had already reached the boss level of the second act.

Bomber Man relied on placing bombs to deal with a pyramid monster that could jump.

Originally, John thought he was going to be scolded, but John's dad just said:

"Quick, I've been stuck on this level many times; come help me!"

John showed joy and immediately picked up the controller, squatting on the ground with his father.

This was the final image of CG02. John smiled and squatted on the ground playing Bomber Man with his father.

CG03.

"Still playing! Don't you look at what time it is! Why are you so worrying?"

"I live frugally just so you can study well, but why are you addicted to games?"

Because old game consoles would heat up after playing for a long time, and the heat was very obvious, so John would sometimes play games crazily when his mother was not at home.

But his mother later became smart; when she returned home, she only needed to touch the game console, and based on the degree of heat, she knew how long John had played.

John was somewhat unconvinced:

"But... but Dad would play with me for so long! Mom, some games are just like that; you have to play for a while to clear them."

"Then go live with your dad! Go!" Mom roared hysterically.

This year, John was fourteen; his dad and mom divorced.

Dad owed gambling debts, and because he gambled with his leaders and colleagues, the unit didn't even pay him wages. Because he used his wages to pay off the debts.

And... it had been a long, long time since Dad played games with him.

Dad was always addicted to a kind of game from the East—Mahjong. Later, John discovered that there were also Mahjong games, so John bought a Mahjong-type game after not eating breakfast for many days.

He happily pulled his father to play Mahjong.

But that was also the last time he played a game with his father. Because no matter who it was, John could always find happiness on the faces of people playing games.

Catherine when she was young, Dad when he was in elementary school, and even all his partners...

They were all happy when playing games, because only at that moment, time belonged to themselves.

But this time, he saw the impatient expression on his father's face.

A long, long time later, John finally understood. It wasn't that the game wasn't fun, it was just that the game didn't involve gambling money.

Dad was once a good dad, and actually was in the future too. But he really let Mom down, and also let this family down.

Finally, Mom paid off the debts Dad owed, and Mom also divorced Dad. And John was sentenced to Mom.

John knew for the first time that money could take away a person's happiness when playing games from a game.

The image of CG03 was John wiping away Mom's tears, comforting Mom, and indicating that he would study well.

CG04.

John had already been admitted to university.

But his style in the university dormitory was quite alternative. When everyone was playing online games, John stubbornly played single-player games.

When others showed off the equipment they bought in the game, John would always have very strange thoughts:

"Those things, shouldn't they belong to you originally? Why do you have to buy them separately?"

He would of course also be happy because of exploding equipment in some games with equipment design. But that kind of happiness had nothing to do with money.

John always felt that his roommates' showing off was more like labeling how "valuable" this piece of equipment was. And every time John proposed whether this numerical design would hurt the game...

The roommates all looked at John with the eyes of looking at a monster.

Of course, when they found that they got equipment without joy, just wanting to show how expensive the equipment was, John also felt they were monsters.

The image of CG04 was John on the bed, playing a game he hadn't cleared when he was in junior high many years ago, while under the bed, three roommates sat in a row, playing games with exquisite images but full of recharge entrances.

CG05.

"Graduation design? Teacher, I recently met a few partners; they are from outside the school; can I... use a game as my graduation design?"

"Of course you can, but you must indicate your division of labor in the game, hahaha, otherwise, I won't pass you."

"Thank you, teacher; I will find a way to make it in the next year. That is my dream; I want to make a... pure game that can bring happiness to people."

CG05 was unusually simple.

At the end of the performance, John created a folder on his computer—"Apocalypse."

CG06.

In the cramped office building, everyone had dark circles under their eyes.

This was the place where miracles were born; in such a ten-plus-square-meter office, eight people lived, with eight computer desks.

The former good friend Catherine had now become John's lover.

The predecessor of the game "Apocalypse" was made by these eight people at the earliest.

Here, John thought he had met a soulmate—Catherine.

Because the team that completed the graduation design with John was brought by Catherine.

Catherine marveled at how John was still the same as when he was young, full of passion for games, having wild imagination for games, and... pure.

What she had always wanted to find was such a person.

Fortunately, many years later, John was still single; fortunately, many years later, John was still shining as before.

Catherine's eyebrows were full of smiles; she really enjoyed the time spent with John.

Catherine also relied on her own liveliness to pull in a group of like-minded people.

In CG06, they chatted together, so compatible.

"In a serious game, if too many lottery systems are added, it means this game is not worthy of the word serious."

"Yes, lottery, card drawing, indeed gives people a simple happiness, but in this way, under long-term stimulation, users will gradually lose their enthusiasm for playing games... They might feel that all slow-paced games are garbage."

"Yes, yes, yes! So our game must, must not do this!"

Everyone's eyes had the belief in dreams. In such laughter, CG06 ended.

CG07.

"Teacher, how is our game?"

"It's great, it's great. But I have a suggestion; you'd better not send it out completely, or better not send it at all."

"What do you mean? Teacher, I don't quite understand."

"John, I see your efforts. When other students are still addicted to games, you are always studying hard, thinking about how to bring various delicate feelings to players in the game. This game is great... but it is not enough to defeat other games on the market. My suggestion is to polish it well. Well, I will also help you modify it well."

John was stunned. He actually also thought about this problem. How powerful could a game made by eight people be?

Yes, this game was indeed not enough to defeat games from top game companies with hundreds of people.

Just, why defeat them? Players like it, and being able to bring happiness to players is actually very good, isn't it?

But John thought, the teacher let him polish it, there must be a reason. Can the game continue to be optimized? Yes. Can the image continue to be improved? Yes. Can the bloated systems in the later stage be subtracted? Yes.

Thinking of this, John felt that he had motivation again.

The ending of CG07 was John setting a goal to make the world's number one game!

Of course, even if he couldn't do it, it didn't matter; thinking that there would always be people stronger than himself, always people worth learning from and surpassing, he was also very happy.

CG08.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is powered off."

Half a year after graduation, John suddenly received news that he couldn't accept.

Catherine cried and said:

"John... he lied to us! He changed the art style of our game and sold it for money!"

"No... impossible, how could that be! Teacher... he... he loves games so much; how could someone who loves games do such a thing?" John couldn't accept it.

But when he called the teacher, he only heard the cold machine voice.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is powered off."

The betrayal of his mentor made John suddenly feel unprecedented loneliness.

So everything was fake.

So you didn't let me send the game out not to help me polish the game, you just felt... it could help you make money.

The thing that made John feel most uncomfortable about this game that plagiarized John and Catherine's team was not the plagiarism itself.

It was that the game was full of content inducing recharge. Even... even the skin of zombies could be changed through recharge.

If you are a player who is afraid of blood, you can even make zombies turn into those cute little animals in life through recharge.

As long as you have money, you can almost redefine forty percent of the game's content.

Looking at all this, John was very eager for an answer; he really wanted to ask the teacher, why did you do this?

But responding to John was only the constantly repeated "The number you dialed is powered off."

Deep in John's heart, a blurry black shadow suddenly appeared.

So this is the adult world; after walking out of the ivory tower, he was immediately given his first social lesson.

At the end of CG08, John was in a bar, full of drunkenness, but he raised the wine bottle and said:

"I won't fail! I will definitely be able to make the game I expect in my heart."

Facing the betrayal of his mentor, that big boy who liked games was not defeated.

CG09

Still in that cramped office, Catherine said:

"John, I want to marry you."

All the companions followed suit; John never thought that he would be proposed to by Catherine.

Catherine said:

"John, I like you; you are the one among all of us who works the most seriously and works the hardest; I have liked you since I was a child; you have the passion and creativity for games that we don't have."

"I know this is our most difficult moment, but... I want to tell you in this way that we are a team, and we have the same original intention."

"John, are you willing to marry me?"

Life is like this, ups and downs; John didn't expect that after experiencing betrayal, a light would appear immediately to heal himself.

At that moment, he looked at Catherine, feeling like he was looking at an angel.

At the end of CG09, John was holding Catherine, kissing Catherine passionately.

CG10.

This scene was very similar to CG06.

Everyone was working hard; everything seemed like a reincarnation; they seemed to have returned to their university days, carrying the most pure original intention, and started to make a work that was truly worth their best efforts.

"Apocalypse."

Different from the predecessor plagiarized by the teacher, this time, John achieved a personal technical breakthrough, made more interesting designs, and the worldview was also more perfect.

And the overall art style was increasingly hardcore and realistic.

John's team had studied that in the comment section of the plagiarized work, there were indeed a large number of players who indicated that those skins in the game were very out of place.

I am fighting zombies in the game, other players are wearing exposed and cool clothes in the game, and zombies are all plastic surgery faces...

John's team realized that everyone needed an immersive world with a sense of immersion.

Serious themes, only when matched with serious game styles, can truly be realistic.

Because of this, John believed that although the teacher plagiarized, due to the cognition of wanting to make money, the teacher didn't plagiarize the essence!

At the end of CG10, Catherine's eyes were shining; she looked at John, who continued to create with full passion, firmly believing that this man would definitely be able to bring victory to everyone.

CG11.

The actual machine demonstration of "Apocalypse" triggered a lot of discussion.

"Fengcheng's own 3A game!"

"Look at this texture! Do you dare to believe it was made by a team of eight people?"

"Many zombies in the game have their own pasts; it is said that a particularly interesting setting has been added to the game; zombies will follow their instincts, but because of their obsessions before death, they will produce some behaviors different from other zombies; if you observe some zombies carefully, you can slowly understand the past of the zombies from their behaviors!"

"In the game, we are playing the savior!"

"Those who recharge are the saviors; we are the followers of the saviors!"

"Upstairs, this is a single-player game!"

Whether it was the actual machine demonstration or the demo of the first level released, it truly ignited the players' expectations in a meaningful sense.

John looked at those players' comments and shed tears.

He knew that he hadn't deviated from the players' expectations; the game he made was the game that matched the players' imagination.

He couldn't wait to see the players' smiling faces after this game was released.

But at the end of CG11, someone in the team suddenly received a collection call from the bank.

At the same time, Catherine had just finished talking with the landlord; the landlord indicated that if the rent was not paid, he would arrange for people to throw all the equipment in the house out.

John didn't know that the operation of this world was far darker and crueler than he imagined.

CG12. This is a very long CG.

Different from the images of other CGs. The opening of CG12 is a cold white.

Winter in Fengcheng has snow.

Many couples will come to build snowmen and have snowball fights when goose-feather snow falls. This is the happiness belonging to Fengcheng people in winter.

It's just that John is not happy. CG12 is a thorough... cold winter belonging to John.

In stark contrast to this is the continuous popularity of "Apocalypse," high opening and violent running.

Because this game "Apocalypse" welcomed a promotion that could be called advertising bombardment.

And everyone in the development team of "Apocalypse" finally achieved financial freedom.

Their names are destined to be written into game history. Whether they earned a full pot or this super promotion that didn't match their financial strength, no one would feel it was unreasonable.

Just because "Apocalypse" was sold to Tengyi Group.

When Wen Xishu saw the CG12 image, a trace of sadness flashed in his heart.

As if he felt John's loneliness at this moment, it was about to completely devour John.

What an ironic scene; a game that took two years, everyone tried their best, and even carried debt to make... when they thought they were finally about to welcome a life counterattack...

The game could never pass the review.

They had to modify some content in the game again, but even so, it still couldn't pass the review.

The young team didn't know that whether a game passes the review or not depends on human relationships, and has nothing to do with the game.

Thus, for the sake of everyone's livelihood, for the beautiful future that was originally planned, Catherine made a decision that everyone agreed to, but must hide from John.

The image of CG12 at this time is the image of Catherine, John, and even everyone on the team sitting at the negotiation table.

On the other side of the negotiation table is the current executive of the game department of Tengyi Group, and also... that teacher who plagiarized John's work in the past.

"Hahaha, we really have fate; don't worry, we will treat the work Apocalypse well."

"This time, we will learn from experience and lessons; one year before players enter the pit, we will try our best not to change the background color of the game."

"Catherine, I heard John talk about you before; you are really great; behind a successful man, there should be a woman like you."

"I believe we will achieve success. I think children and even parents will be willing to keep spending money in this game! We will create a revenue myth in the game world!"

At the end of the performance, John pulled Catherine to the ten-plus-square-meter house of the past.

Catherine felt John's unhappiness, but she still smiled:

"Our game, bought by the biggest game company, will have more people able to play our game; John, we have also completely said goodbye to the past..."

"Later, we won't have to work in such a narrow place; we will work in the Golden Building where we can overlook this city through floor-to-ceiling windows; we are the existence that countless people look up to! All of this is because of you, my hero, John! You are the hero of all of us."

John could feel Catherine's joy from the bottom of her heart.

He really wanted to accept Catherine's hug, really wanted to.

He wanted to persuade himself that Catherine was right, that this world operates like this.

But he still avoided it; he trembled and said:

"Catherine... we did all this... just for money, right?"

Catherine looked at John, not understanding why John had this expression.

That was a panicked and timid expression, not even sadness, only fear remained.

Wen Xishu saw this and felt that he was not looking at an adult's expression.

But a lonely hero, carrying the dream of saving the world, embarked on a journey, but was finally scared by the demon kings of reality.

That black shadow hidden in his heart surged, as if to completely devour John's soul.

"When we were young... playing Monopoly, was it for later... earning more money?"

John still looked at Catherine with a timid expression, his eyes full of tears.

Catherine's joy in her heart gradually emptied. She suddenly felt guilty, as if she had killed something with her own hands. But she soon felt again that she was not wrong.

Everyone has to survive; what everyone seeks, isn't it a wealthy future?

I didn't betray you; when you were at your hardest, I really firmly believed you could do it. I am different from your teacher, different...

She kept repeating in her heart, I am different from your teacher.

But no matter how many times she repeated it, she was still afraid; she was afraid of seeing John's expression like that.

"Catherine, I... really like you; when I felt at my lowest, the way you stood up and proposed to me, I will never forget it in my life. I probably won't believe in any feelings anymore."

"Sorry... I need to be alone for a while. We are not suitable; I need to be alone for a while."

"I can't beat the demon king... I can't beat the demon king... I want to hide."

John started to speak incoherently.

He fell into his own memories; he finally realized how terrible the demon king was.

When he was young, the demon king took away the happiness on his father's face when playing games.

When he was in university, the demon king also made his roommates produce distorted values when playing games.

Later, he thought he met a teacher who was both a mentor and a friend, but the demon king made that teacher become hateful, become a betrayal of games.

Later, he cheered up again, thinking he could definitely find a pure land that the demon king couldn't invade...

He also finally gathered partners, lovers, just like every hero slaying a dragon story, they had mighty monsters, heading towards the demon king's castle!

But he didn't expect that the demon king was so powerful; everyone of them fell before the demon king's castle.

Friendship, mentorship, kinship, love... all the cornerstones of John's life were broken by the demon king.

Even the work and dream he poured his life's efforts into... was about to become the appearance he hated.

The world seemed to collapse completely at this moment; when everyone was carnivaling in the heavy snow, John suddenly cried out.

Catherine wanted to hug John, but was pushed away by John as if it were a stress reaction.

Catherine would never understand John's hesitation and fear in his heart. She didn't understand why John had such a big reaction.

Everyone's life was still very long; everyone had better environments and equipment; now everyone was no longer strapped for cash; this game had already completed its mission, bringing wealth and fame to its creator.

Isn't this a perfect ending?

She suddenly felt that John was too pretentious. She couldn't understand a person like John. She would also never understand what kind of game John was trying to create with all his might.

And John was like a blind man, his eyes no longer had Catherine, only that boundless black shadow.

At the end of CG12, John whispered a sentence:

"If... if in our world, children can't even trust games... what else can we trust?"

CG13.

"John, I can realize the game in your heart, do you want me to help you? If you cooperate with me, the 'Demon King' can also be killed."

"My name is Scorpio; I like your game very much."

At the darkest moment of his life, at the moment when his spine seemed to be pulled out by life, the child wearing a blue suit appeared; he brought a smile like a devil.

"Apocalypse" has not arrived, the apocalypse has already arrived.

(Can't finish writing, let's stop here for now...)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 122 =====