To ascend, I had no choice but to create games-Chapter 833 - 459: Mutation and Survival_2

After reading the announcement from Zhiyi Heavenly Lord on behalf of Fang Cheng, they remained silent for a long time, so long that Zhiyi Heavenly Lord thought for sure they must be fuming.

Just as Zhiyi Heavenly Lord braced himself for the players’ wrath, he discovered that the players actually heaved a collective sigh of relief.

"I have always been searching for where Fang Cheng’s Easter egg might be, and I finally found it!"

"Same here, when the Easter egg wasn’t out yet, I thought about it every day. Only after truly seeing the Easter egg could I relax."

"I’ve started analyzing the content of the announcement. Just take the first letters of ’search, create, and accompany’ and look at what they spell out!"

"Damn, luxury goods, huh? This announcement’s got some tricks up its sleeve."

"And I discovered that if you convert the text here into binary and then recompile it, it happens to be one of Cthulhu’s names!"

"No way, bro, you’re really detail-oriented, like, super detailed."

"I’ve also found that if you rearrange the content of the announcement, it turns out to be a cipher, and we can try to decipher it from different angles."

"After opening a shop simulation, it’s now decrypting, huh? I like it!"

"Me too, and I think these contents should foreshadow our future enemies, that is Cthulhu, all kinds of bizarre luxury goods, and those Evil Gods lurking in the shadows!"

"Who would have thought that opening a shop could somehow be related to apocalyptic crises? My friends, I am already excitedly raising the flag here!"

"There were already signs, weren’t there? Why did Fang Cheng repeatedly strengthen the players’ abilities, why keep freeing the players’ hands, if not to let players join this crisis as soon as possible. I don’t know who was the first player to discover this Easter egg, but please accept my respect."

"Same here, but I feel like only a strong, crazy guy could activate this Easter egg, so I cast my vote for Xiemen Waidao."

"I have to say, I want to vote for him too because I also think only this guy could possibly activate this Easter egg."

"Me too!"

Looking at this somewhat baseless slander, Xiemen Waidao just wanted to say, "How can you tarnish my innocence out of thin air!"

I am diligently working as a capitalist, exhausting my brains every day to exploit Little Bear even better.

To think up better and more covert methods, I’ve even hidden my base in a concealed location and risk exploitation of Little Bear constantly under the threat of being discovered by the referees and others.

Such a good capitalist, how can you slander me like this!

Besides, some players who wanted to claim the discovery of the Easter egg started to act as well, using various plausible but unverified proofs to claim they were the discoverer. The originally harmonious gaming community began to snipe at each other, to the point where the new mission had barely started and the players were already fighting like mad dogs on the outside.

And Zhiyi Heavenly Lord saw all their thoughts.

Watching these players’ bizarre playstyles, Zhiyi Heavenly Lord felt like his brain wasn’t enough.

Reviewing his own announcement over and over, Zhiyi Heavenly Lord didn’t find any mistakes, but somehow it was interpreted with different meanings.

Are you all so good at making up stories?

Moreover, this was just an accident; there was no political allegory, no satire on political correctness. How did those of you claiming to see philosophical meaning manage to do it?

Using P-eyes!

Although swearing isn’t good, Zhiyi Heavenly Lord was already tormented to the point of going crazy and couldn’t care about anything else.

Times have changed, players’ ideas have become so numerous they leave one dumbfounded, and their collective consciousness has become exceptionally complex. Just dealing with those thoughts already left Zhiyi Heavenly Lord running ragged.

Therefore, Zhiyi Heavenly Lord admired Fang Cheng all the more.

To have matched wits with these players for so long and to have only gotten a bit angry, Great Heavenly Lord was indeed not an ordinary person.

Realising that things were twisting beyond his control, Zhiyi Heavenly Lord felt like he was doomed.

With no other options, he could only try his best to rescue those trapped by shadows, so that when Great Heavenly Lord came out of seclusion, he could at least die a less embarrassing death.

After a series of great debates, players had essentially reached a consensus, knowing that it no longer made any sense to contend over being the discoverer of the Easter eggs.

First, they had to get through the game.

A new game mechanic had emerged, and most of the game content was going to change; players now had to survive in this chaotic world and save as many people as possible.

After the update, players realized that the situation they faced was even more daunting than they had imagined.

Firstly, due to the invasion of the shadows, most NPCs had mutated.

They became more violent; even the most peaceful NPCs became dangerous.

Some originally powerful NPCs became even more terrifying. They seemed to have all gone mad, making this dangerous world even more horrific. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Some players’ electronic Little Bears directly mutated, the once mini bears instantly grew massive and tore the players to shreds.

And when a player logged on again, they would find their shops completely ruined, their research results totally invalidated, and themselves left with nothing.

The increased game difficulty overwhelmed some players, and the voices of dissatisfaction began to coalesce on the forums. If not addressed in time, this dissatisfaction would inevitably impact Fang Cheng Studio’s reputation.

However, amidst the complaints, some players were constantly exploring the game and continually improving themselves within it.

But this self-improvement might be a bit off.

The mutations happened rapidly, and when they did, some NPCs were contaminated by shadows, turning into enemies of the players.

Xiemen Waidao’s Little Bear was no exception. But as an experienced capitalist, Xiemen Waidao had long been prepared for employee betrayal.

The moment the betrayal happened, Xiemen Waidao immediately jumped away, then kicked the traitor’s butt.

The unbalanced Little Bear fell forward, its bulky body breaking through the floor and directly falling into the basement.

Agilely tying up Little Bear, Xiemen Waidao said to a flabbergasted Liuzi upstairs, "Mr. Liuzi, what are you standing there for, come and help me."

"What work?" Liuzi yelled in astonishment, "To be perverted with you? No matter how shameless I am, I wouldn’t lay hands on an NPC."

"Based on what I know about you, it was only a matter of time before you would. Stop playing around and come help."

Liuzi also realized something was wrong with Little Bear, so he jumped down and helped Xiemen Waidao tie it up.

Just as they finished the preparations, Liuzi felt a sense of unease.

He had logged into the game using the gaming pod, and at that moment, he felt a chill down his spine, a surging feeling of discomfort, as if something wasn’t right.

The world seemed to be shrouded in a shadow, the once bright sky now tainted black. The spring sunlight was stained a bloody scarlet, and one could even see the sun in the sky bearing a ghastly grin, sending shivers down one’s spine.

Although the process lasted only a few seconds, everything had changed once it happened.

Peace was shattered forever, the world plunged into chaos, and the screams of players were unceasing.

Stepping out of Xiemen Waidao’s den, Liuzi saw the ground covered with blood, the path to the outside blocked by obstacles, and NPCs with eerie movements wandering incessantly, as bloodthirsty as zombies yet possessing agility and strength that zombies did not.

Upon seeing an abnormal NPC casually rip a player into pixelation, Liuzi decisively abandoned the idea of continuing to seek help and hurried back to Xiemen Waidao’s cabin.

After carefully reading the forum posts, Liuzi made a decision that went against his conscience.

Taking Xiemen Waidao by the hand, Liuzi earnestly said, "Xiemen Waidao, you were right, the NPCs in this game really are extraordinary. Now, we can’t deal with them using ordinary means anymore. We must think of some special methods."

"Like what?"

"Fully utilizing the value of NPCs, making them our capital for survival. So, we must learn how to use these enraged NPCs, you get my drift?"

"I do."

Grasping Liuzi’s hand tightly, a new friendship blossomed between Xiemen Waidao and Liuzi.