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[Latest News: After a decade of developnt, the epoch-making virtual reality ga "Dark Land" has officially launched, now available for purchase on major gaming platforms and the official website, with a retail price of 128,888,...]
...
[Liver Emperor Group Chat (Online: 10 mbers)]
Poor as Dirt (Admin): Brothers, "Dark Land" sold a million copies in just ten minutes, what do you guys think?
Gaming and Still Paying Money?: What else can I say, obviously I'll watch on the news. I did want to buy it and try it out, but my wallet says no.
Zero Charge: I've been waiting for this ga for eight years, and when I saw the price, my heart finally gave out. They clearly didn't intend to leave any room for ordinary players - I've heard they've even implented various new anti-cracking technologies. Us common folks might never get the chance to play it in this lifeti, unless my Sugar Mama Plan makes so progress.
Family Shared Godfather: What's even more tragic is that this ga blocks all external livestreaming and recording features. We can't even enjoy ga videos with our als, effectively cutting off any chance for us common folk to peek at the rich players gaming.
Poor as Dirt (Admin): Ahhh, I really want to play it so bad. I was already full of anticipation from the early ga CG videos, but then they hit us with this 128,888 price tag. I would have gritted my teeth and bought it even if it were 28,888, worst case I'd just eat dirt for a few months.
...
As the group chat mbers continued to lant the pricing of "Dark Land", a sudden ssage caught their attention.
Benefit Officer: If you guys really want to play, I actually have a cracked version of "Dark Land" that can connect online normally.
Poor as Dirt replied to Benefit Officer: Don't joke, man. Cracked version? Right now, even purchasing the official version requires queueing and competing for scarce copies allotted by the Moon Eclipse Clan to our Human Clan Federation. It's impossible to have a cracked version out on the sa day.
Zero Charge replied to Benefit Officer: Are you trying to scam us into downloading SpongeBob and Teletubbies? By the way, who the heck are you? I've never seen you in this group before.
Benefit Officer: I've posted the cracked version link in the group. If you want to play, just download and login directly using this link: ******.
After seeing that Benefit Officer actually sent a download link in the group, none of the mbers clicked to download.
Instinctively suspecting that it might be a phishing link, clicking on it could lead to disastrous losses.
Just as the mbers were about to spew abuse at Benefit Officer and prepare to kick him out of the group, one mber stepped forward.
Ga Working Party: Guys, don't panic, let download and test it first. There's only 20 left in my bank account, so there's not much to lose if it's a scam. As the saying goes, "The poorer you are, the less you can be hurt." The damage from fraud is proportional to personal wealth. Being as broke as I am, the damage would be minimal. Wait for my reply.
Family Shared Godfather replied to Ga Working Party: Godfather, make a quick trip and return swiftly. Your children await your good news here.
...
Human Clan Federation, Skywind City.
South District, the slums.
Narrow alleyways were overgrown with moss and vines, the air filled with an indescribable stench, a mix of kitchen fus, dampness, and unidentified garbage slls.
The housing here was mostly low and dilapidated, constructed of wood and tin sheets. When it rained, they would "pitter-patter" noisily, as if protesting the deplorable living conditions.
As night fell, a dim light shone from an old wooden house in the corner.
Through the gaps of the wooden house, a room under 30 square ters was revealed.
Sslurp!
He sucked the remaining instant noodles into his mouth in one breath, chewed and swallowed, and Li Zheng took a deep breath, tossing the noodle cup into the trash bin beside the seat. He pulled out a paper towel from the carton and wiped the grease from his lips.
Glancing at the ti in the bottom-right corner of his computer screen, there was still 1 hour until the scheduled start of his livestream. Li Zheng got up and headed to the bathroom to tidy up his outfit.
In the mirror, he stood 1.82 ters tall, with fair skin, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, his hair neatly cropped short, indeed quite handso.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Li Zheng couldn't help but let out a jaded sigh.
His current job was a ga worker, grinding out hot gas to provide resources for pay-to-play players in exchange for money, and occasionally livestreaming for so extra inco.
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The Dark Land has recently beco hugely popular, attracting hordes of pay-to-play gars and causing the revenue from my regular ga grind to drop visibly fast.
The saddest thing in life is to be alive when your money isn't.
Pulling out my phone from my pocket, the latest paynt reminder is displayed.
[Your savings card ending in 3584 has been charged 329 for a Class D nutrition fluid, balance: 21. Would you like to enable account protection feature, which secures the funds in your account?]
Using a six-digit bank PIN to protect a double-digit balance, Li Zheng thinks it's totally unnecessary.
Heading to his computer, the ga download progress bar is at 95%, just three more minutes to go before he can dive into the ga.
Glancing at the chat group still vigorously discussing The Dark Land, Li Zheng feels 99.99% certain he's been duped.
The Dark Land, produced by the Moon Eclipsing using the most advanced virtual reality tech and equipped with nurous anti-crack core technologies, was almost zero chance of being cracked on its first day of release.
Even the virtual reality ga Land of Sin that Moon Eclipsing launched five years ago hasn't got a cracked version to this day.
But he decides to give it a download anyway, despite knowing the likely outco might just be Calabash Brothers saving grandpa.
Watching one episode shouldn't be too harmful.
Five minutes later.
The ga is fully downloaded. Li Zheng unzips the file and transfers it to the gaming capsule connected to his computer, then presses "Ga Adaptation".
Before starting the ga, he decides to ask for a leave from his live stream viewers.
He had already agreed to stream at 8 tonight with his fans, but now he's about to test this "bogus ga" and will unavoidably miss the ti.
With a bit of guilt, he takes out his phone, opens the fan group, composes a ssage and sends it:
"Sorry, sothing urgent ca up, tonight's 8 pm live stream is canceled."
Before he could even put his phone down, a group mber replies:
"Nobody watches anyway. A day is not enough; I suggest taking a few more days off, or even a year's leave."
Followed by a series of echo chamber responses.
Li Zheng: ...
His fans' replies are a real blow to his spirits.
At this mont, the green light indicating the gaming capsule has completed adaptation lights up beside his computer desk.
"Forget it. Ti to squash my anxiety with an episode of Calabash Brothers saving grandpa."
After changing into his gaming suit, he approaches the gaming capsule and presses the open button, the semi-transparent lid slowly lifts.
He slides into the capsule sideways, the lid closes, and the nutrition fluid oozes from holes around him, engulfing his body as the neural connection hoses automatically attach to various parts of his body.
After a dizzying whirl, the virtual interface appears in front of his eyes.
There are 12 gas listed, with The Dark Land that was just downloaded at the very bottom, its ga icon depicting a monster engulfed in scarlet flas.
"Sothing's definitely off."
He's seen the login icon for The Dark Land in the news - it's a pitch-black sword, totally different from the current monster icon.
"Damn con artists!"
Cursing in his mind, Li Zheng still goes ahead and presses the ga icon, launching the ga.
"Calabash Brothers, power up!"
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