So he got up again and irritably made himself a cup of milk.
When I returned to the table, Chen Sike on the other side of the screen had already opened the game interface.
This time he didn't dare wear a helmet, but instead projected the game onto his home screen, where the word "LIFE" slowly unfolded.
"So, this game doesn't necessarily require a helmet, right?"
Just as Yi Heye was about to ask a question, Jian Yunxian asked the question that was on his mind for him, without even letting him speak.
—This guy is really convenient to use, but he's too considerate, giving you the feeling of being read on, which makes Yi Heye feel uncomfortable.
“…Yes,” Chen Sike replied, “but it’s not as fun without a helmet.”
Yi Heye focused his attention, watching him enter the game interface.
On his way back from Chen Sike's house, Yi Heye had already learned about the game called "LIFE" online.
According to the synopsis, this is a multiplayer adventure game with a main roguelike (Note 1) theme.
Players can choose a starting class and enter a completely random, one-way storyline. They can complete levels through puzzles, battles, and other methods to receive corresponding rewards.
The game supports online multiplayer, allowing players to team up with others on the same server, or play solo.
The start and side quests of each game, the equipment you acquire, and the NPCs you encounter are all completely unpredictable. It is this high degree of randomness that makes the game so engaging and playable.
Yi Heye browsed the forum and found that, since the game is still under development and expansion, no one has been able to collect all the side quest easter eggs yet.
After entering the game, a character appeared on the screen, and upon closer inspection, the facial features were those of Chen Sike himself.
"This is the game character for the challenge; it will be customized directly through facial scanning."
As Chen Sike explained, he saw Fan Mengqing's grayed-out avatar, and his voice immediately dropped: "...Every character in the game is unique."
Jian Yunxian offered him a few words of comfort, but Yi Heye couldn't stand the mushy talk and ignored them.
Perhaps Jian Yunxian was indeed very good at talking, because Chen Sike quickly composed himself and continued playing the game.
The game's interface is exquisitely designed, and the background is based on reality. The character roles are divided into police, criminal, hunter, AI, hacker, and doctor, and each role has different attribute bonuses.
Chen Sike said dejectedly, "She and I usually play police and doctor. She is physically weaker than me, but she is very skillful. This profession suits her very well."
Yi Heye was just wondering what kind of game required physical strength when he saw the character in front of him enter the game.
In the video, Chen Sike wore a body-sensing gaming suit in place of a brain-computer interface helmet, with sensor patches covering all the joints of his body.
He stretched his limbs in place, and at that moment, the little figure on the screen made the same movement—
Therefore, all the fighting moves in the game are actually performed by the players themselves.
“Motion-sensing equipment is far inferior to brain-computer interface helmets,” Chen Sike said with some regret. “Motion capture technology has a delay and is not as precise as brain-computer interfaces.”
In Yi Heye's dull and monotonous life, the word "game" had never existed, so he was still somewhat surprised by the high-tech technology in front of him.
After the equipment was debugged, the game loaded, and Chen Sike, wearing a police hat, appeared on the screen.
"I rarely play single-player games..." Chen Sike said sadly, "No one is there to help me, so I probably won't be very good at it."
Jian Yunxian reassured him and said that once he had learned how to play, they could play together.
Chen Sike shook his head: "After today... I probably won't play anymore..."
At the start of the game, Chen Sike's character appears in an empty room with a treasure chest in the center. There, he obtains his starting equipment—a crossbow.
He stared blankly at the crossbow in his hand and said, "I'm not very good at crossbows; I can never find my aim—it would be better if it were a gun."
Jian Yunxian: "Is there a chance to switch to a gun later?"
Chen Sike: "Yes, after defeating the mini-boss on each floor, a treasure chest will drop, and you can randomly get items from it."
After acquiring the equipment, Chen Sike entered his storyline. Since he had chosen to be a police officer, his first mission was to capture the thief listed on the wanted poster.
"Are these thieves NPCs?" Jian Yunxian asked, echoing Yi Heye's thoughts. "Or are they other players who chose the 'criminal' profession?"
“Anything is possible,” Chen Sike said. “What I’m encountering now is an NPC, just like the player-versus-player battles we’ve had before.”
It features both player-versus-AI battles and random player matchmaking modes, making it a game with a high degree of randomness.
The scene changes to a shopping mall, where people are bustling around and a group of NPCs are picking out clothes and buying things.
Chen Sike, dressed in a police uniform, stood in the center of the crowd, carefully searching his surroundings.
Yi Heye had sharp eyesight and spotted the thief in the corner almost instantly. He circled the thief and sent the picture to Jian Yunxian, asking him to remind Chen Sike.
Jian Yunxian: "In the upper right corner, the one wearing a gray T-shirt is touching his wallet."
Chen Sike immediately turned around and ran over, not forgetting to praise, "My God, you're amazing!"
Jian Yunxian said shamelessly, "After all, this is my job."
As the information showed, Chen Sike had excellent sports performance and superb physical fitness. Although Yi Heye thought his movements were somewhat clumsy and immature, he still bravely pounced on him.
It was clear that the child wasn't good with a crossbow; he missed several times and almost stabbed an NPC who was watching the commotion. Yi Heye couldn't help but say speechlessly, "Why use a crossbow for melee combat..."
Translator Jian Yunxian reminded Chen, "Chen, the crossbow might not be suitable for close combat."
Chen Sike then realized what was happening, put down his weapon, and swung his bare fists at the thief, knocking him down.
The thief was fragile; after being captured by Chen Sike, who had an attack buff, his health bar was emptied after only a few punches, and a wallet fell out.
Chen Sike returned the wallet to its owner and took the person to the police station, thus completing the first hurdle of the beginner level.
In the second level, he and his NPC colleagues from the police station apprehended a robber.
As the game progresses, various cases emerge, and the difficulty increases. Without medical assistance, Chen Sike's health bar is depleted during the fifth level's battle against an armed robber, ending the game.
After completing five levels, Chen Sike quit the game, drenched in sweat, and sat back on the sofa: "That's about it..."
Yi Heye didn't appreciate the content of the game and even doubted its connection to the case, so he said, "Let's stop here. I feel like..."
Before he could finish speaking, Jian Yunxian's voice interrupted him through the earpiece:
"Chen, I have a question unrelated to the case. How does this game's mechanics work for the player? Is there any pain involved?"
Yi Heye suddenly raised his head, holding his breath and waiting for an answer.
"If you use a helmet directly, you can set the pain tolerance level, and you can even adjust it to several times the normal value."
Chen Sike explained, "However, I've never seen anyone turn on the pain level. After all, it's a game, and the damage here is quite realistic. Who would want to suffer for no reason..."
As Yi Heye listened to these words, his breathing tightened with excitement as he imagined the pain spreading throughout his body.
At that moment, Jian Yunxian happened to be looking at the camera, and those emerald green eyes stared straight at him.
The instant their eyes met, Yi Heye felt a pang of guilt and instinctively clenched his fists.
At this moment, Jian Yunxian's seductive voice once again reached my ears:
"Really? The stinging pain of a cut, the dull pain of a blow, the tingling pain of an electric shock, the excruciating pain of being shot..."
Yi Heye trembled uncontrollably as he listened. He knew the situation was not good and wanted to end the call, but he couldn't bear to hang up for a long time—he couldn't help but want to listen a little more.
After a long while, when he recovered from his nervousness, he realized that the two of them had already changed the subject and were talking about something else entirely.
Yi Heye loosened his fist, looked down at his slightly sweaty palms, and couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy.
This is terrible... Has it really come to this?
Author's Note:
1. An excessive obsession with pain is an abnormal psychological phenomenon. If this phenomenon affects your daily life or leads to self-harm, please seek medical attention promptly.
2. This article is not a game-themed/infinite flow story. The game world is only part of the plot at this stage and is not the main storyline of the entire article.
3. Notes
Roguelike is a game genre, a branch of role-playing games (RPGs). These games typically feature high randomness and irreversibility, and are colloquially known as "meat pigeon games." For example, The Binding of Isaac is a game of this type.
Many mobile games have now developed roguelike modes on top of their original gameplay. For example, Phantom and Crimson Lone Diamond in Arknights are roguelike games.
It's okay if you don't know the specifics; it won't affect your reading experience.
Chapter 13, number 013
Yi Heye took a deep breath, got up and went to the washroom to wash his face with cold water.
Having finally suppressed the strange agitation, Yi Heye returned to the screen and just then received a message from Jian Yunxian:
"Where did you go? Are you really so sure you can leave me here alone?"
Yi Heye ignored him and just scratched his bangs in frustration.
Chen Sike was still on the line, and the two chatted casually. Jian Yunxian took a moment to send him another message:
"Honey, is there anything else I need to ask him?"
Yi Heye: "Ask about what happened before you died."
Jian Yunxian nodded and asked Chen Sike, "Before Fan's accident, were you playing this game 'LIFE' together? Did you notice anything unusual?"
Chen Sike shook his head: "I hadn't finished my homework that day, and she went to play by herself. I don't know exactly what she played, but she told me that she had unlocked a hidden level."
Jian Yunxian and Yi Heye said almost simultaneously, "Hidden level?"
“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me anything specific. She just said that she encountered a level she had never seen before,” Chen Sike said. “We usually look back at a lot of game guides on the forum. She had never seen or heard of any level before, so I really don’t know what it looks like.”
Jian Yunxian: "Is there a record?"
“No…it was burned out along with her brain-computer chip. The entire record of that game is blank.” Chen Sike said, then asked doubtfully, “I told Officer Pei all this, didn’t he tell you?”
Jian Yunxian remained calm and composed: "It's like this, Lao Pei has always regarded me as a rival at work..."
Chen Sike immediately understood: "Ah, I get it, I get it."
Yi Heye's mind was a bit confused, and he couldn't make sense of it for the time being, so he said:
"Have him send over the rest of his game saves, I'll look at them myself at my own pace."
Jian Yunxian: "Could you please give me a copy of your game save file?"
This wasn't supposed to be an unreasonable request, but Chen Sike suddenly tensed up: "Really, really necessary?"
This reaction alerted Yi Heye. He recalled how the child had vehemently denied playing games when he first met them, which made him even more suspicious.
At this moment, Jian Yunxian also sent a message: "Is it really necessary, sir? ^-^"