System: Soul connection... Connection successful...
System: Starting to import Martial Arts Transmission System...
System: Import successful, officially launching Martial Arts Transmission System.
The continuous system prompts echoed in his mind, making Lin Qi, who was slumped in the dilapidated Martial Arts Hall, let out a deep sigh of relief.
System: Please set the initial game introduction connection amount. This amount will be entirely borne by the player.
System: The larger the amount, the closer the player's physical condition is to the original state, the shorter the resurrection time, the higher the amount needed for revival, the higher the soul connection completion, and the higher the fidelity of all sensations, including pain.
"For games, authenticity is key. Let's set it to the maximum."
Upon hearing that it would be entirely borne by the player, Lin Qi chose the maximum without any hesitation.
System: Please set a game description.
"Description, huh?"
"Make it grandiose, preferably something that gives players a sense of challenge, so they would be willing to click in."
Lin Qi thought for a moment, then began writing the description on the system panel.
The battle of a hundred nations, the struggle of ten thousand clans, the progression of life, stepping into the realm of gods, the legend of the Martial Artist will be written by you.
This game has 100% virtuality. Due to its extreme realism, download and play with caution. Not suitable for players without a certain level of skill.
System: Confirm this game description? Once confirmed, it cannot be modified.
"Confirm!"
After thoroughly reviewing it and finding no issues, Lin Qi directly clicked the system confirmation button.
System: Game has been uploaded to Blue Star network, will launch in half an hour. Please wait, host.
...
Blue Star, 2325.
"Aim! Take a deep breath, breathe, focus your mind, relax your entire body, and the aiming circle will automatically narrow."
"The calmer the mindset, the more stable the heartbeat, the narrower the aiming circle becomes."
"Don't rush now, wait until the circle is as small as it can get."
"Now's the time."
Inside the virtual game pod, a man nearing thirty with a rugged face and a thick beard, resembling a big brother, was Fang Zhen, explaining how to aim to the viewers in the live stream, while piloting a giant mecha.
A shot was fired, directly hitting a mechanical beast hiding five kilometers away amidst yellow sand.
Beep.
The mechanical beast five kilometers away lit up with a red mark, indicating death.
"One shot one kill, Brother Zhen, amazing!"
"Is this the strength of a professional level?"
"Brother Zhen, with this level of skill, are you really planning to retire from the team in half a year? Even those who make it to the top sixteen in the national mech tournament are no better."
The viewers in the livestream let out bursts of amazement and admiration at Fang Zhen's extreme distance snipe.
'Mecha Continent' this virtual game, with a virtuality of 75%, has been one of the most popular mech combat games on Blue Star in recent years.
For ordinary players, maneuvering a mecha to perform smooth actions is tough, let alone accurately shooting targets hundreds of meters away, which usually takes two to three months of practice.
In a severely disturbed visual field, hitting a mechanical beast five kilometers away with one shot is absolute mastery.
"People get old, reactions aren't as good as when I was younger, and my age is already high among professional players. Even if I don't retire this year, I may not be able to beat the rookies in the team next year," Fang Zhen sighed, "Alright, let's not talk about it. Today, let's see if there's any fun new games."
The viewers in the livestream had no doubts about what Fang Zhen said.
The virtual competitive professional circle is like this, not just incredibly competitive, but it's also a young person's game. Maintaining peak condition until twenty-five is already great, at thirty, you're really getting old.
So many professional players in the competitive scene opt for streaming or other side careers when they get older.
Fang Zhen started streaming five years ago and is now somewhat known in the Mecha Continent game streaming circle, occasionally making it into the top hundred on the game stream rankings.
And just as the viewers in the livestream were discussing, Fang Zhen opened the game lobby interface and a new game featuring a five-headed Black Dragon logo quickly caught Fang Zhen's eye.
"What the heck!"
"4999! What kind of masterpiece is this!"
Fang Zhen rubbed his eyes, afraid he had added an extra zero.
Nowadays, with the popularization of virtual game engines, even small workshops of a few people can create virtual games, so numerous new games appear on major platforms daily.
Among them, the price is generally below a hundred, and even a triple-A title doesn't exceed five hundred.
Right now, the new game titled 'Descent of High Martial' is priced ten times higher, a game regular people simply can't afford to play.
Meanwhile, the viewers in the livestream exploded.
"The virtual reality level of this game is advertised as 100%!"
"100% virtual reality? That's absolute nonsense, even those world-class gaming companies can only make games with a virtual reality level of less than 80%. I've never even heard of this 'Reality is Key' game company, how could they create a 100% virtual reality game?"
"I've seen boastful games, but I've never seen a game this boastful. Priced at 4999, with each character death requiring a 648 for revival, and if not revived within 24 hours, the account is directly deleted. I'm not fit for this, huh."
"But this company made it pretty authentic, with the first batch limited to ten experience test slots."
"This game is definitely fake. If there really was a masterpiece with 100% virtual reality, even if it was just in development, it would already be headline news. Let alone that they've made an experience version, the news would have already spread worldwide. If there really is a 100% virtual masterpiece, I'd livestream myself doing spiral somersaults while eating noodles."
"Too real, without certain skills it's not suitable, this company really dares to boast, Brother Zhen, go for it!"
Everyone looked at the game introduction of Descent of High Martial, and they were engaged in lively discussions. The intense heat of the discussion saw the popularity of Fang Zhen's livestream also soar rapidly. In less than thirty seconds, the popularity had tripled or quadrupled, catching up with those famous game streamers.
Fang Zhen saw this as an opportunity.
"Brothers, since everyone is curious about what kind of game this is, let me test the waters for us all." Fang Zhen gritted his teeth and chose to pay 4999, "Reality is Key, if it's not real enough, brothers, we will swiftly refund within two hours, then report it together, showing the company what realness means!"
"Brother Zhen is mighty!"
"4999! This company really dares to dream."
Everyone agreed, anyway, the streamer paid, all they had to do was watch. The focus was on companionship, and if they paid for this game, it meant they lost.
"Too real? Then let me see how real it is!"
Fang Zhen smiled as he clicked the game icon for Descent of High Martial, watching his increasingly popular livestream room.
...
The dim little room, with flickering lights, the corridor outside the iron bars occasionally swept by the sound of wind, left Fang Zhen, who had just woken up, a bit confused.
"What's going on? Where am I?"
"Wasn't I about to play Descent of High Martial? How did I end up in a place like this?"
The rotten stench of decay, the cold metallic feel from the chains on his hands and feet, and the chilling wind blowing from who knows where inside the room, made Fang Zhen shiver uncontrollably, a thought suddenly arose.
Kidnapped!
Could I have been kidnapped?
"Name?"
Before Fang Zhen had time to piece together his fears, a cold, stern voice demanded, causing his ears to perk up instinctively and answer.
"Fang Zhen, 'Fang' meaning direction, 'Zhen' meaning to vibrate."
"Age?"
"29."
"At this age... you're a bit old, seems quite useless."
"No, I'm still young, I still have a lot of savings, I can still..."
As the serious voice kept questioning, Fang Zhen gradually regained his senses, his vision becoming clearer.
Outside the iron bars sat a handsome young man in a black martial arts uniform with a slightly pale face, quietly sitting at an iron-framed table, pencil in hand, asking questions and taking notes in a small notebook.
"Am I inside?" Fang Zhen looked at the handsome young man before him; although the clothes were different, that tone, that stance, it was unmistakable. He hastily explained, "Hey big brother, there must be some mistake, I've never done anything illegal. I'm just a game streamer, this must be a mistake."
"Don't try to bond, we're not acquainted."
"Then officer?"
"Be more serious, call me Hall Master, or Lin Qi Master."
"Hall Master? Lin Qi Master?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Zhen was momentarily confused and couldn't distinguish who this young man named Lin Qi was.
Kidnapper?
Uncle?
Mental patient?
"29 years old... 29 years old..." Before Fang Zhen could react, Lin Qi glanced at the notebook again, the pencil spinning on his fingertips, muttering softly, then he looked up at Fang Zhen, "In that case, prove it—two thousand squats, within two hours, you can start now."
"..." Fang Zhen was a bit bewildered, and a bit scared.
Damn, proving age like this!?
And two thousand squats in two hours? Are mental patients this playful now?
"Do you want me to help you?"
"No! I'll do it myself, I can do it, trust me."
Facing Lin Qi, who seemed about to stand up, Fang Zhen didn't dare think about anything else, and promptly started doing squats, not minding the chains on his hands and feet.
One... two... three...
"Hmm, not bad, quite standard. Since you don't need help with the chains, then it's fine." Lin Qi slightly nodded when he saw Fang Zhen furiously doing squats, then got up and left the dim basement.