Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 1514: Chapter 1512: This Is What I Truly Wanted!

At long last, under the expectations of the masses, ”Dark Soul” was released as anticipated.

And naturally, this became a time for major streamers to showcase their skills.

One of them being Fengdan.

”Dear viewers, look, the Collector’s Edition of ’Dark Soul’!”

Fengdan proudly raised the game box in his hand, showing off to the audience behind the camera, as he started unboxing it. Meanwhile, he didn’t forget to ramble on to the viewers.

”To be honest, I never thought Eagle Leap would dare release another action game. We all know, since the Death Game incident, Eagle Leap hasn’t released any action games. Honestly speaking, I’m not optimistic about them being able to make a decent action game. But since the producer from Eagle Leap claims this game can empower players, let’s see just how strong this game is!”

As he spoke, Fengdan immediately opened the packaging and flashed the PVC figurines and some useless trinkets inside to the viewers, then started installing the game. Fengdan had considerable confidence in himself. After all, he’s one of the most renowned action game players on Tubie, also considered a god-tier UP master.

To him, action games are like the cabbage in his backyard, there’s nothing that’s truly challenging for him. Precisely because of this, after watching the live release of ”Dark Soul,” Fengdan quickly ordered a Collector’s Edition, planning to see what this game truly offers.

”Honestly, I’m not too optimistic. Everyone knows, the previous two games released by Eagle Leap — Game King and Pokémon, I’ve played them and had a lot of fun. But these are entirely different from action games, and judging from the trailer, it seems to have a very dark setting. Can you imagine them making a decent game like that? I don’t think so...”

Taking advantage of the game’s installation time, Fengdan shared some of his thoughts with the viewers, which is understandable. Judging from Eagle Leap’s previous two titles, they clearly opted for a family-friendly cartoon style. However, this time, it’s a dark, brutal Western fantasy setting — just from what’s shown in the trailer, one can see it’s definitely not the kind of game like Game King or Pokémon where the whole family can happily play together.

”Alright, the game is installed, let’s start!”

After chatting a few more words, seeing the game was installed on the screen, Fengdan picked up his controller and smoothly entered the game.

”Oh, let’s see this opening CG... Hmm, it’s well-crafted. I was worried there might be a Pikachu hopping around in there, but it seems I was overthinking it. This character creation... let me give it a try.”

Looking at the character creation system before him, Fengdan immediately indulged in his mischievous side, directly creating a character with a mohawk hairstyle before entering the game.

However...

”No difficulty selection?”

As the camera shifted directly into the game, Fengdan was somewhat surprised. Normally, action games differentiate difficulty ranks for the sake of the majority of players. Of course, for god-tier players like Fengdan, starting with HARD showcases one’s exceptional skills, while EASY is for the weaker players.

But with something like this...

”Oh, dear viewers, as you can see, this game has no difficulty selection, which actually makes me a bit worried. After all, balancing difficulty in such games is tricky. Without a difficulty selection...”

As he spoke, Fengdan controlled the game character to walk a few steps, then saw lines of text appear on the ground ahead. Mostly something instructing players on how to use skills and such, which Fengdan was quite tired of seeing. He merely glanced over them briefly, pressed a button to confirm which function is attack and evade, then controlled the character to charge directly forward.

Very soon, Fengdan saw a few scrawny little creatures at the exit, holding rusty iron swords and slowly heading his way.

”Look, as expected, it’s all little creatures at the start. I knew the game’s typical pattern wouldn’t change much...”

While making comments, Fengdan raised his Longsword and quickly cut down the three little creatures.

”Simple! Easy! This kind of... Whoa!”

However, before Fengdan could finish his sentence, he suddenly saw an arrow shot towards him, causing him to shout in surprise. As a god-tier action game player, his reaction was naturally sharp, quickly dodging it with a lazy donkey roll. Only now did Fengdan realize a little creature was hiding in the corner nearby, aiming a crossbow at him.

”Oh, this little creature is a bit cheeky, knowing he can’t win, so he hides. But it proves pointless!”

Fengdan teased, then rushed over, raising his Longsword, swiftly sending the creature to the Western Paradise with a couple of strikes.

”Simple, easy, now I’m eager to see how the first BOSS is. If it’s like this, then this game is bound to be too boring.”

Chopping down a few more slender creatures along the way, Fengdan felt this game might not be as interesting as he thought, complaining aloud. Then he controlled the character to push open the massive door, stepping into the plaza, seeing Guda half-squatting in the middle.

Fengdan pulled out the broken sword embedded in Guda, triggering the cutscene.

”Alright, you see, this is the first BOSS, now I... What the heck!”

Before Fengdan could finish his sentence, he saw the cutscene end, and the giant suddenly grabbed the weapon beside him, swinging it violently at him. Startled, Fengdan instinctively controlled his character, rolling backwards swiftly. But as soon as he got up, he saw Guda had already rushed before him, raising his weapon and striking down at him.

Realizing he couldn’t dodge this time, Fengdan quickly raised his shield.

However...

”Clang! Clang clang!!”

In the face of Guda’s storm-like attacks, Fengdan could only withstand three hits before his stamina ran out, then Guda thrust his shield aside, piercing through Fengdan’s body, lifting him up before pounding him heavily onto the ground!

”Boom!!”

Only at this moment did Fengdan react, hurriedly controlling his character to retreat desperately.

”Holy moly, it’s this fierce? Are you kidding me, those little creatures were as weak as chickens earlier, why is this BOSS on steroids? Not even giving a chance to counterattack? And why did my health drop by two-thirds just now? Are you messing with me?!”

Unfortunately, Guda couldn’t care less about Fengdan’s screams, swiftly sending him home with a couple of swings.

Even worse, since Fengdan didn’t pay attention earlier, he didn’t light the bonfire, so he had to start from the graveyard again.

”Uh... cough cough...”

Now Fengdan’s expression didn’t look good, as the screen was flooded with messages like ”Veteran’s vehicle overturned, hahaha” – certainly, while seeing a god-tier play a game is enjoyable, watching a god-tier falter is evidently more entertaining.

”Cough cough, that was a mistake, a mistake.”

Seeing the bullet comments on the screen, Fengdan’s face flushed red, hurriedly controlling his character to rush out again, while also attempting to defend himself.

”I feel like the difficulty setting in this game isn’t very fair, you see the creatures are so easy, why is the BOSS designed to be so hard? It’s completely against players... What the heck heck heck!!!”

Before he could finish his sentence, Fengdan immediately shouted once more. This time, in an effort to save time, he didn’t bother fighting the creatures. In Fengdan’s view, these creatures were weak and few, defeating them wouldn’t level him up, so he opted for a parkour style, dodging creatures to face the BOSS again.

Unexpectedly, just as he brushed past one creature, it turned around and swung a sword at him, leaving him off balance. Before Fengdan could stand up, two other creatures closed in, each strike sending him home in a couple of moves.

This time, dying faster than when facing Guda.

”This...”

Looking at the large ”YOU DEAD” on the screen, Fangdan’s face turned as dark as a frying pan. Damn, is this game cursed or what? Just when I said the game’s difficulty was unbalanced, the small creatures came up to stab me, and in a gang assault, no less.

Do AIs really hold grudges these days?

But as a divine-level player, this only piqued Fangdan’s interest. By the third start, he didn’t just flash by like the first two times but carefully read the guide on the ground and cautiously maneuvered around the minor creatures through several rounds, finally feeling a bit of excitement.

But.........

”Alright, audience, I think this BOSS still has some issues.”

After being smashed by Guda for the third time, Fangdan sighed helplessly.

”Maybe this BOSS isn’t the one we should be fighting at the start. This seems like a game trick, placing something too difficult at the entrance, forcing the player to find another way... we just went this way and confirmed that continuing forward only leads to Guda. Perhaps we can look for other routes...”

As he talked, Fangdan maneuvered his character back until he returned to the starting point, where he discovered a hidden gap nearby.

”See, I told you there must be another path!”

Fangdan excitedly slapped his thigh upon finding the hidden path.

”I thought it was odd before; that BOSS is so strong, it doesn’t seem suitable for new players. We should go this way... what’s this?”

To Fangdan’s surprise, as soon as he reached the path entrance, he saw a prompt.

”Turn back.”

”Turn back? So we’re not supposed to take this path? No, no, no, that’s the wrong way to think about it, my friends. Look, the game’s system is clearly designed with reverse psychology. A lot of players might see this and obediently go the other way, only to be repeatedly smashed by Guda. But that’s obviously not the beginner area, which indicates what? It indicates that this line is just a bluff! Let’s go!”

Fangdan applauded his own analysis and then proudly walked in.

However, it wasn’t long before screams emerged once again.

”Oh my, what kind of creature is this? It actually bit me! I’m running... running... why is there no path! Why is there no path aaaaah I’m dead again aaaaah!!!”

Fangdan’s experience was just a snapshot, in fact, every player who bought Dark Soul after watching the promotion is now plunged into self-doubt.

Who am I? Where am I? Why am I playing this?

Many players couldn’t help but post their thoughts on various microblogs.

”I don’t feel stronger, I only feel like the BOSS is getting stronger!”

”Passion and thrill? I only feel like I’m getting KO’d quickly, no thrill at all!”

For a moment, complaint posts flooded various forums and microblogs, even the pages under Eagle Leap were swamped with player messages from around the world.

”Is this really okay?”

Looking at these messages on the official website, Hikaru Yagami’s heart trembled. Although Eagle Leap had gone through criticism during the ”SAO” incident, at that time they were just collateral damage. But this time, the blame was all on them, there was no way to dodge it.

”No problem, it’s stable, don’t worry.”

Fang Zheng, in the meantime, was watching game stream videos with Aika. Every time they saw those UP masters getting defeated miserably, they would share a knowing smile...

Seeing this, Hikaru Yagami was speechless and could only let them mess around.

The employees of Eagle Leap initially thought their company was headed for disaster, but to their surprise, although many complained about the high difficulty in the first few days of release, gradually these voices diminished and instead, many players started to rave about it!

One player even posted that after being beaten badly in Dark Soul, they looked for another action game to relax. Surprisingly, those games which were originally challenging were easily handled in no time!

”Playing Dark Soul and then playing other action games feels like going from senior high back to elementary school.”

Under this post, many players agreed. They originally thought Dark Soul’s difficulty was deadly, but surprisingly, after playing it, other action games seemed childishly easy, even sections they used to barely pass by luck were now a breeze even with their eyes closed!

Players remembered what Fang Zheng said at the press conference, and they were in awe.

A game that can make players stronger!

Indeed, players could clearly feel it, despite still stumbling in Black Soul and running all over from the BOSS, but when switching to another action game, the difficulty plunged multiple folds, even HARD felt like EASY!

This game is cursed!

After players gradually unearthed the joys of Dark Soul, their attitudes shifted. And needless to say about the media, money talks, and with all the PR work funded by Fang Zheng, they certainly wouldn’t turn against him. Coupled with the high quality of Dark Soul, while Asian players initially struggled, European and American players were quite accustomed to this type of game. Not long after, Dark Soul became a worldwide sensation!

Now this is what I wanted.

Sitting proudly behind his desk, looking at all the praise and discussions about Dark Soul on the computer, Fang Zheng’s nose would almost reach the sky. This entire time he didn’t go anywhere, just stayed in the Game World, now it seems......

”Hmm?”

However, just when Fang Zheng was excitedly browsing posts, suddenly he felt a faint warm flow in his lower abdomen, immediately followed by a system prompt appearing in front of him.

[Activate Special Task]

[Special Task: Deification]

[The game you created has taken the world by storm; you are seen as the God of Games by players, and what you have to do is make your title true to its name]

[Task Requirement: Create games in three consecutive worlds capable of changing the world]

[Task Completion Reward: Divine Position: God of Games]

[Task Failure Penalty: Divinity -1]

Reading this far, Fang Zheng trembled all over, then excitedly slapped the table.

This is what I wanted!!!