"Yes, the gameplay of SLG games is very appealing to me."
Lang Xi pondered for a moment, "I'm not the target audience for strategy games, so I can't offer you constructive advice. Furthermore, strategy games have a higher barrier to entry than other games, which means your target audience will also be more diverse..."
"However, it's good that you've made your decision."
…
The next day, Zhu Yao started her live stream of playing Civilization VI as soon as she got up. Some viewers who came because of Wolf Blade, who were into Souls-like games, watched for a while and then left, leaving the live stream deserted.
Zhu Yao didn't care; instead, she immersed herself in the world of civilization.
Civilization VI is a time-consuming game, from the first life emerging underwater to the giant beasts of the Stone Age, and then to the first time humans walked upright...
The first round ended with a technological victory for India. Zhu Yao rubbed her sore shoulders, wondering why Gandhi could be launching nuclear bombs and sending artificial satellites while she was still researching coal-fired power generation.
Zhu Yao suddenly looked back and realized that 12 hours had passed since the game started, and the ready-made meal that Yu Nan had placed next to her had long since gone cold.
"You're finally done playing..." Yu Nan stood behind her, hugging a pillow, looking very resentful. "We should go to sleep."
This day felt like a fleeting moment, yet also like most of a lifetime had passed.
Author's Note:
I'm afraid to play Civilization anymore, because I don't have time to update the novel (laughs).
Chapter 45 Forcibly Entering the Hospital
"Could you...be a little less civilized?"
After listening to "Magna Mater" (the background music when playing Civilization VI and choosing to play Rome) for several days, a listless Yu Nan slowly spoke to Zhu Yao.
Yu Nan called out several times before Zhu Yao reluctantly looked away from the computer screen. Her eyes were bruised and bloodshot, but she couldn't suppress her excitement.
"Let me play 5 more rounds..."
Because she hadn't spoken for a long time, Zhu Yao's voice was slightly hoarse, and her lips were stuck together, tearing apart when she spoke, causing a slight pain.
Yu Nan almost knelt down before her: "You said the same thing two hours ago..."
Zhu Yao tilted her head and made a "crack" sound. "This round is almost over."
Yu Nan rolled her eyes. Zhu Yao had said the same thing while playing Civilization yesterday. Then, she waited for dinner from eight in the morning until eleven o'clock, but Zhu Yao was still staring at the "map" on the screen as if she were in deep meditation, without moving an inch.
If it weren't for the clicking sound of the mouse, Yu Nan would have suspected that Zhu Yao might be the one with a serious illness.
At 11 p.m. the day before, Yu Nan finally couldn't sit still any longer and prepared to drag Zhu Yao to bed.
"Shh," Zhu Yao said mysteriously, pulling Yu Nan aside and pointing at the screen, as if she had accomplished something great. "Look!"
Yu Nan glanced at the screen; it was a world map with different units on it.
Zhu Yao is playing Trajan, the leader of the Roman Empire, on a purple map. Next to her is a green map, whose leader is Qin Shi Huang, representing the Qin Dynasty.
"See, I only needed to click this once..."
Yu Nan saw Zhu Yao click on the town marked "Jincheng" on the green map with her mouse. Something flew over, and a mushroom cloud appeared over "Jincheng," turning the surrounding land scorched black.
Yu Nan: ? ? ?
"I played for half a day and finally blew up Chengdu, the capital of China!"
Zhu Yao looked as if she had fulfilled some wish, her joy overflowing as she looked at the mushroom cloud on the computer screen and laughed heartily.
"You spent half a day just to bomb Jincheng?" Yu Nan's voice trembled as she stared blankly at the smug Zhu Yao.
At this moment, Zhu Yao was like a child who had received a favorite toy, or a top student who had gotten first place in an exam, full of pride and arrogance.
Zhu Yao stretched, saved her game, stood up and moved around a bit, then looked up and said, "That feels so good!"
Yu Nan: ...I don't really understand you civilized players.
Yu Nan pondered for a long time, but she still couldn't understand why bombing "Jincheng" would give her a sense of accomplishment. However, Zhu Yao slept soundly next to her that night, and even when she woke up in the early morning, she had a smile on her face.
It was the kind of confident and arrogant laugh that only top students have.
Today... Zhu Yao didn't bomb Qin Shi Huang's city anymore, but... she was building something.
"I am landing on the moon."
Yu Nan: "??? Isn't this a war game? The kind where you occupy each other's territory?"
"I have 5 more turns before I go to heaven. Once I achieve technological victory, I'll go to sleep."
Yu Nan: "?? Heaven? What?"
Zhu Yao was too lazy to explain to her. In the past, when she encountered something she didn't understand, Zhu Yao would stop what she was doing and patiently explain it to her!
Yu Nan suddenly felt frustrated and became increasingly unfriendly towards the game, even though she was the one who introduced the game to Zhu Yao first.
"I suspect Zhu Yao is addicted to the internet!"
Yu Nan secretly complained to Lang Xi, but overheard Lang Xi laughing heartily on the other side.
"Hey, I'm serious!"
"Yes, yes, I know you're serious!" Lang Xi finally suppressed a laugh. "Don't worry, anyone who can get into Beiling University can have her self-discipline trusted. Zhu Yao is like this because there's a Civilization Online Game competition in a few days."
"Huh? What competition?" Yu Nan felt even more aggrieved. Lang Xi knew about Zhu Yao's situation, but she didn't.
“Ah…someone contacted me. I just told Xiao Zhu today. She probably hasn’t had a chance to tell you yet,” Lang Xi immediately realized the problem. “A few content creators who play Civilization invited her to play a game together online. She needs to brush up on the game rules now.”
"Fine," Yu Nan pouted, still feeling wronged inside.
The Magna Matter was still playing, which annoyed Yu Nan. She went back to her bedroom and lay down for thirty minutes, but Zhu Yao still didn't come in.
"Ughhhhh, I'm so angry!" Yu Nan kicked off the blanket, sat up with a jolt, and rushed to the game room, intending to drag Zhu Yao back to her room to sleep.
"Five rounds?!"
Zhu Yao scratched her head, "Ah... we almost got robbed by Wenhua Shengli just now, so I reverted to a previous save."
"Isn't a cultural victory a victory? Doesn't it still mean you've won?"
Zhu Yao's expression was unusually serious: "Completely different! I plan to achieve technological victory!"
Yu Nan: ...I don't really understand.
"It'll be over soon," Zhu Yao said, clicking on each city and glancing at each unit that required commands. "The main problem is that I have quite a few cities later on, making each turn rather lengthy..."
Yu Nan fell silent. This round of opportunities had already taken five minutes... No wonder this game takes so long.
Finally, the ending animation appeared, announcing Trajan's "Roman Empire" technological victory.
Zhu Yao stretched her body. "Is it time for dinner? I'm a little hungry."
"It's time to sleep," Yu Nan said, her feelings complicated.
Fortunately, Zhu Yao hasn't been streaming these past few days because she's been practicing, otherwise all her fans would probably have been scared away—how could anyone watch a streamer stare at a map like they're playing chess all day long?!
She slept soundly through the night. Around dawn, Zhu Yao quickly got up, prepared breakfast, and placed it on the table before continuing to use the app.
Yu Nan: ...
A strange emotion welled up inside Yu Nan. She felt something was off about her, like a child who hadn't received enough attention from their parents and wanted to make a scene to get Zhu Yao's attention back from the game.
Yu Nan tiptoed downstairs and opened the refrigerator—it contained a wide variety of drinks, including juice, milk, beer, and carbonated beverages, but no coffee or Red Bull.
Yu Nan's heart cannot tolerate caffeine and taurine, and Li Yue's housekeeping staff would not put beverages containing those two substances in the refrigerator.
However... there is caffeine in cola.
Yu Nan knew very well that drinking one can would cause her heart palpitations, drinking two cans would cause her angina, and drinking three cans in a row would... cause her to faint, trigger the alarm, and get Zhu Yao to take her to the hospital.
As for the agreement with Gu Wanqiu... a month has passed, and even if she goes to the hospital, she doesn't have to completely obey Li Yue. At most, she will still be under supervision in the future.
It doesn't matter, anyway, her cousin's supervision is for her own good, at most she'll scold her a few times when she gets angry.
drink!
Yu Nan took a large vat, poured three cans of cola into it, and then, as if to destroy the evidence, hid the cola cans under the kitchen garbage bag, and began to force herself to drink cola.
The tank of cola was full of carbonation. Yu Nan took a sip and burped. Before she could even drink half of it, her stomach was already bloated.
The cola was ice-cold, and Yu Nan drank it very quickly. Her throat, nasal cavity, and eye sockets were filled with the bursting gas of carbon dioxide, making Yu Nan groan in pain from the spiciness.
I'm numb now, I never want to drink cola again.
After forcing herself to finish those three cans of cola, Yu Nan felt dizzy, as if she were drunk.
Her stomach was swollen like a ball, filled with cold water, and countless gases were churning inside her internal organs. Her stomach was making gurgling noises and she was experiencing some cramping pain.
Despite feeling unwell, Yu Nan brushed her teeth in the bathroom—Gu Wanqiu had instructed her to brush her teeth immediately after drinking carbonated beverages or milk.
Immediately afterwards, she ran to the bathroom, trying to relieve the cramps in her stomach, but it was completely useless.
Oh no, is she going to faint on the toilet and get found by Zhu Yao in the bathroom...?
Just as Yu Nan had this thought, a wave of palpitations washed over her.
Normally, when she feels tightness in her chest, her first instinct is to clutch her heart and cough loudly—in the event of a sudden heart attack, coughing forcefully is equivalent to performing CPR on herself to save herself.
As for this time... Yu Nan chose to pull up her pants first.
When a heart attack occurs, there are only 10 seconds between feeling severe discomfort and losing consciousness. In these "diamond 10 seconds," Yu Nan endured the discomfort, cleaned herself up, pulled up her pants, dressed neatly, and collapsed.
In the instant she lost consciousness, Yu Nan already regretted it; she hated the childish version of herself who had tried to get Zhu Yao's attention.
But... it was all too late.
…
Zhu Yao sat by the hospital bed with red eyes, next to Gu Wanqiu who seemed lost in thought, and Li Yue who rushed over.
"Wasn't your heart rate normal a few days ago? How come you suddenly fell into a coma again?!" Li Yue was walking into the ward barefoot, with a contract tucked under her arm and a pair of high heels in her hand.
"It's okay, I'll keep an eye on things here. Take a breather first."
Gu Wanqiu was like a clear spring, instantly soothing the anxious Li Yue. Li Yue threw herself into her arms and began to sob.
"Mingming... Xiaoyu had been doing really well lately, but she still had this accident today... Will she suddenly leave us one day...? I shouldn't have scared her when she was little, it's all my fault..."
"No, it won't happen," Gu Wanqiu gently stroked Li Yue's back, comforting the strong woman who had broken down and cried. "Yu Nan's heart condition is strange this time, baby, believe me."
"Are you really alright?" Li Yue sobbed.