Chapter 500: Chapter 303: Oh No, I Can’t Tell Anymore! (Part 2)

If the time is consistent, it means the game hasn’t changed at all; it’s just a template, and at a certain moment, this NPC will come to the fruit shop to select grapes.

But if the time is inconsistent, then there’s a problem.

Either this NPC has a cycle in his actions, where he periodically returns to the fruit shop, or the game has changed, and what happened in the previous save might not occur in this one.

Anyway, being idle is also idle, so Liang Xuan decided to make an attempt by squatting in front of the fruit shop to see if the NPC would return after leaving the shop.

Results proved he wouldn’t!

After buying grapes, the NPC left the fruit shop and didn’t come back within almost an hour.

This confirmed Liang Xuan’s suspicion; starting a new save file causes changes in the game content, and it won’t be identical to the previous save file.

"Try again..."

Feeling that this still didn’t prove much, Liang Xuan went to a uniquely positioned trash bin.

In the previous save, he rummaged through this trash bin and found a plastic bottle worth fifty cents.

However, this time, when he opened the trash bin, there was nothing inside...

"What does this mean?"

Liang Xuan frowned; this was quite unexpected for him.

Because he had started a new save file!

What’s the point of a save file?

Why do single-player games have terms like second or third playthrough? Of course, it’s because players can use the save mechanism to gain the "rebirth" cheat in the game!

Don’t you understand foresight and prediction?

Players who have already completed the game, when they start a new save, they are certainly up for a "speedrun" challenge. They already know the flow very well; even with their eyes closed, they know the next step.

This is also a major reason why single-player games are less enduring than online games because single-player games lack "changes." The first playthrough is indeed filled with unknowns and novelty, but once completed, the game loses all its suspense.

Network games, especially competitive PVP games, are filled with unknowns and suspense each time played, at least it won’t bore you anytime soon.

But now, "Abab’s True Story" breaks the preconceived notions, starting a new save file no longer gives you the "foresight" cheat.

Why is this?

Liang Xuan was totally puzzled, not even knowing if this change was good or bad, because... he hadn’t even completed the novice guide task, what right did he have to evaluate these?

"Forget it, who cares!"

The unknown changes in the new save file causing players to lose some "foresight" capability didn’t affect Liang Xuan much.

He couldn’t remember lottery numbers anyway!

The so-called foresight, in essence, refers to gaming strategies and experiences! But he hadn’t even completed the first task, so where could he find strategies and experiences for reference?

Besides!

Changes in some minor details don’t directly impact the game plot or the main tasks, he’d just play as he used to.

Continue exploring the map!

Too lazy to think about the logic behind this, Liang Xuan continued exploring the map, searching for the mysterious task NPC.

"Right!"

During his search, a thought suddenly flashed through Liang Xuan’s mind. He muttered to himself, "If the game plot and main tasks remain unchanged, doesn’t that mean everyone’s novice tasks are the same?"

Dang, why is he so dumb?

Still measuring the game map with his feet, blindly wandering around the world? Instead of using that time to search for guides on the Tianba Community, wouldn’t he easily find out where the task NPC is?

Liang Xuan had a sudden realization and couldn’t help but want to slap himself on the face, feeling extremely ashamed of his stupidity.

How come he didn’t think of such a simple truth?

Main tasks relate to the game plot advancement, whether in single-player games or online games, following the strategy guide is all you need to do.

Switching to the browser, opening the Tianba Community to search for "Abab’s True Story" guide, Liang Xuan quickly found dozens of threads.

"Got it, here we go..."

After opening the thread with the highest reply count, Liang Xuan quickly found the answer he wanted.

The novice guide task is indeed the same for everyone, all needing to leave home and go to Jiangning Stadium to find Abab.

The thread starter also mentioned.

The early tasks in "Abab’s True Story" are largely consistent; just follow the guide. Only when starting the career path will there be different main tasks based on different career paths.

Rest assured now!

Following the guide’s instructions, Liang Xuan hurriedly rushed to Jiangning Stadium to find Abab and submit the task.

"The number 17 bus directly gets there..."

"Players with low Physical Strength are advised to take the construction site shortcut path after getting off the bus; the journey is halved, using less Physical Strength, but not suitable for players with vision impairment."

Following the guide’s instructions, Liang Xuan boarded the number 17 bus heading towards the destination, filled with excitement to rush to the designated task location.

Great!

After tossing and turning for so long, even spending three years in jail, he can finally complete the novice guide task and step onto the right path.

In the end, one must check the guides!

How can one play games without checking guides? If he hadn’t checked the guides, wouldn’t he still be blindly wandering around the map, how could he possibly know the target NPC is at the stadium?

Perhaps the only downside is that playing games with guides lacks the joy of exploring the unknown.

But speaking of which.

"Abab’s True Story" is such a tormenting game, who’d be willing to explore the unknown? Isn’t it wonderful to do it in one go?

Anyways, Liang Xuan has had enough, he doesn’t feel at all that guides will reduce his gaming experience, rather he thinks the existence of guides is an immensely good thing.

"Seriously, Jiangning Stadium is so far; if I didn’t read the guide, when would I find it?"

While riding the bus, Liang Xuan opened the M key to glance at the game map, commenting with great emotion, "Such a pig-like design; the novice task crossing half the map, who could think of... huh? Wait!"

Just about to complain about the bizarre game design, how could the novice task require players to cross half the map to complete it—that’s simply too abnormal.

But he hadn’t finished speaking when, with a quick glance, he was stunned by the map interface displayed by the M key.

What’s the situation?

The map displays a Bug?

Why does he see two "Jiangning Stadiums" on the map, one 2.63KM away from the protagonist, and the other 32.1KM away?

Wait...

Not just the stadium!

Liang Xuan took a closer look and suddenly saw the issue clearly.

Not only has the stadium duplicated into two, but it should be said the entire game map has duplicated into two.

Exactly!

He opened the M key, displaying the game map, which is actually two "complete" maps stitched and overlapped into a "double" version.

On the map, every landmark and location has two instances.

Some locations are very close to each other, while some have identical names but are far apart.

Like the stadium!

On the map, the two stadiums are over thirty kilometers apart; one is nearby, while the other is on the other end of the map.

He only saw the farthest stadium earlier, hence he complained about the game design being brain-dead, mistakenly thinking the novice task should cross half the map to complete.

But now, maybe that’s not the case.

Among the two stadiums, which one is real? Which has the task NPC? It seems this question isn’t mentioned in the strategy guide at all!

With a mind in chaos, Liang Xuan could only comfort himself with the map display Bug.

That must be a map error!

How could there be two stadiums? No matter how much free time a game company has, they wouldn’t add two identical building models in the same scene, right?

He boarded the bus.

According to the description in the strategy guide, the terminal of the number 17 bus is the stadium; once you board this bus, you can definitely find the task target.

Thinking of this, Liang Xuan instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just before he could complain about the trashy game, even capable of having errors in the game map, resulting in such a low-level Bug, suddenly, a screen showed another bus speeding by with the tail clearly displaying [17 Jiangning First Middle School—Jiangning Stadium].

Liang Xuan: "..."

Oh no, you’re taking the number 17 bus, so which bus am I on now?