Chapter 64 - 64 This Game is Toxic_l

Chapter 64: Chapter 64 This Game is Toxic_l

Huang Ping used his phone to explain to his girlfriend about inviting colleagues to stay over at his place, and she curiously said, “This is the first time you’re inviting colleagues over to your house, right? Didn’t you say before that you don’t like to mix work with personal life?”

“That was in the past. Xiao Douzi and Monkey are pretty good guys, and our personalities complement each other, so I invited them over.

“Alright, today is Thursday, so I’ll do some cleaning when I get home, and I’ll tidy the room.”

“No need, tomorrow is Friday, I’ll take care of it. Oh, and I bought some durian,

it’s in the fridge, remember to eat it tomorrow.’

Seeing how Huang Ping chatted with his girlfriend, even Xiao Douzi, who had

no intention to marry, felt somewhat moved.

This kind of dog food hidden in everyday life tasted especially sweet.

After finishing their communication, the three loaded the snacks and drinks into Huang Ping’s car, and then they drove to the apartment Huang Ping was renting.

Carrying their things up to the third floor, they found Huang Ping’s rental tidy and neat, with just some things piled up in the living room, overall it felt very

warm.

After letting them in, Huang Ping said, “It’s a bit cluttered, we’re in the process of buying stuff and moving to a new home. The new place is closer to the studio, and it’s also in a good school district.”

“You’re already considering school district housing?” Xiao Douzi asked in surprise.

“Yeah. My girlfriend and I want to have two kids in the future,” Huang Ping said with a smile, “I actually wanted to show off my cooking skills, but there wasn’t time today, so nevermind.”

Squinting at Huang Ping, Xiao Douzi felt an urge to have a girlfriend, as powerful and unstoppable as a primal force.

They laid out the pizza and fried chicken, added ice cubes to the cola, and the three planners booted up their computers, importing Monkey’s records, and began to eat and game.

After receiving the mission to deliver a message to Chang’an, the difficulty of the game suddenly increased, but the experience improved even more.

Heading east from the Protectorate of Anxi, it wouldn’t take long before they were deep into Tubo territory.

They had distinctly different features from the Han people, and the five-man squad could easily be spotted, then captured and turned into slaves.

The Tubo soldiers all had war horses, and each cavalry soldier was assisted by a slave child to take care of the horses and maintain the weapons, whereas the protagonist was all alone with nothing.

Even if Monkey had extraordinary combat awareness, fighting two was his limit, and fighting three almost certainly meant injury; such was the inevitable result of realism.

At such a time, names became a burden; better not to know them.

Halfway through the journey, resting by the campfire, Huang Ping looked at the screen and suddenly said, “This journey has no outcome.”

“Liu Bei, why do you say that?” asked Monkey, resting his fingers.

“The Tang Dynasty at this time is no longer at its peak, there are no soldiers left in the country. Even if we reach our destination, we can’t summon a single soldier or a grain of food. The Emperor of Tang will use the existence of the Protectorate of Anxi for political propaganda, but he won’t be able to offer any actual help.”

“...Is it that bad?”

“Yes. And looking at the map, supporting Anxi would require opening up a corridor, but that’s no different from going to full-scale war with Tubo.” “So, are you saying that this entire journey is meaningless?” “No, homecoming is the meaning; to tell others we are still here, that is also the meaning.”

Rubbing the corners of his sore eyes, Huang Ping felt a bit teary.

A man in his early thirties, he was least able to endure this.

Though modern people and ancient ones had different thoughts, the blood flowing in their cultural genes still moved him because of these soldiers. Exhaling deeply, he said to Xiao Douzi, “Xiao Douzi, is the journey plan for the next half complete?”

“Almost. We still have half of our journey to go. According to my calculations, we can complete the game in another twenty-four hours.”

“Only twenty-four hours left,” sighed Monkey. “I haven’t had enough fun yet.” “I haven’t played much, but I haven’t had enough fun either,” Huang Ping said regretfully.

The enjoyability of this game was a different kind; an immersive experience brought by its realism, an experience of executing perfect battles in cooperation with companions.

The game’s various settings closely matched the overall gaming experience, allowing players to feel the hardships of The Nameless and the efforts made to reach their goal.

This kind of effort would surely filter out some casual players, but it would undoubtedly make a portion of hardcore players hooked, even treating it as a masterwork.

Regaining his spirit, Huang Ping said, “Alright, we will continue to workhard and try to finish sooner.”

Just as he finished speaking, Huang Ping heard the sound of the door opening. Turning his head, he saw his girlfriend standing at the door, looking at them in surprise.

“You guys... haven’t gone to work?” His girlfriend asked with confusion. Checking the time, Huang Ping was suddenly wide awake and immediately said, “Stop playing, it’s 830, we need to go.”

His girlfriend looked at the three men, walked to the window, and after opening the curtains, pointed outside at the lights of thousands of homes: “Now, it is 830 in the evening.”

Huang Ping turned pale and stiffly asked, “So today is...

“Friday.”

Monkey, looking at the time in disbelief, finally understood why Huang Ping’s assessment of the boss was what it was.

The boss’s game... was addictive!