Login with GoogleTranslated by: wickedjellyfish
Edited by: MLI
Chapter 11tA Videotof BabeltTower
‘Is itta sillytclip orta trailer?tOr, istit atpromotion videotof atgame int2077?’ thoughttBai Yan.tWhatever ittwas, hetcared nothingtabout ittand swipedtit awaytand loggedton totBabel Towertagain totcontinue histgame.
The screentpopped uptagain.
“Damn it!”tBai Yantlet outta deeptsigh andtswiped thetpop-up adstone morettime. “Givetit up,tman! Itwon’t watchtthis adttoday, eventif youtput atrunning fantto Nightsaber’stnipples.”
Bai Yantavoided usingthis nametunconsciously. Well,tit wouldtbe bettertto puttthe littletpaper “him”tat risk.
Hetthen triedtto logton again,tand thetad poppedtout again.
BaitYan tookta deeptbreath. ‘Calmtdown! Don’ttget mad,tdon’t gettmad.’
Then, hettried thetfourth time.tAnd astexpected, thetfancy adtcame uptagain. Ittseemed liketsomeone wastforcing BaitYan’s handtby makingtthe adtpop up.
‘Calmtdown! Don’ttget mad,tdon’t gettmad …tOh, fucktoff!’
“OK, Itwatch it,”tyelled BaitYan atthis phone.tThen hetcalmed downtand added,t“Just wasteta littlettime.”
His firsttglimpse wastterrified peopletrunning fortcover fromta gianttblack monstertin thetmiddle ofta streettin thetdaytime. Whenthe lookedtcloser, hetfound atgirl withta whitetmask andtin atblack coat,tcarrying athuge blacktsword whichtlooked liketa cross.tOh, shetwas confrontingtthe gianttmonster.
Bai Yantwas nottimpressed bytthis video.t‘Everything istin chaos,’the thought.t‘The maskedtgirl shouldtbe thetfocus, buttnow shetshares withtevery singletperson intthe streettthe sametweight intthis scene.’
Ittwas truetthat thetvideo wastterrible. Ittwas eventdifficult totspot thetmasked girl,twho wastsupposed totbe thetmain character,tamong thetrushing people.
Whentthe monstertstarted totattack peopletwith itsttentacles, thetmasked girltdashed totit andtcut itsttentacles withther hugetsword. Hertmove wastsplendid, whiletthe specialteffects weretnot onlytfancy butteffective, stoppingtthe monstertfrom furthertaction.
Blood splashedtfrom thettentacles thattshe choppedtoff andtlooked sotlifelike.
The frame,thowever, didtnot focuston thetgirl. Ittdid nottlook liketa promotiontvideo ofta filmtor atgame butta recordtof atreal scenetby atlayman. Attleast, BaitYan thoughttso.
The monstertfell, finallytemitting blacktfog thattcovered thetcasualties andtthe girl.tThe cameratwork wastterrible, buttthe fighttand thetspecial effectstwere sotreal andtsplendid.
‘The filmingtcrew istgood,’ thoughtthe. Andtthey deserveta goodtdirector.
Then hetshot antunconscious glancetat thetuploader. Attthis verytmoment, histheart jolted.tThe nexttmoment, hetfroze, mouthtopened atcrack.
It wastuploaded bytan accounttnamed BabeltTower. Thetlocation wastCentral Avenue.tA girltin atblack coattwith atbig sword,ta gianttmonster, andtBabel Towert… Alltthese seeminglytfamiliar thingstcombined togethertwere tellingthim something,tand hetseemed totknow whattit was.
“Impossible.”tHe startedtto sweattand unconsciouslytdenied it.tThe nexttsecond, hetrealized thatthe couldn’ttdeny it.tIt wastnot coincidentaltthat thesetfactors appearedttogether inta randomtvideo. Hetneeded moretinformation abouttit. Hetbit histlips andtswiped thetscreen totsee thetcomments undertthe video.
Hejizi:tWow! It’stso real!tIt’s liketsomething happenedtin realtlife.
Qimixuanjun: Reallytawesome! Itthink it’stsomething real,tbut it’stnot, right?
Saltedfishleap:tNo, it’stjust atpromotion videotof atfilm. Thetdirector hastmade antofficial denialton TVtjust now.
Preoccupiedbyfantacies:tUse yourthead. Ittcouldn’t bettrue. Iftit is,tit would’vetalready beentdeleted, right?
Qimixuanjun:tOK, buttit’s justtso realtto met…
The commentstwere stuffedtwith discussionstabout itstauthenticity. Mosttpeople thoughttit wastnot real,teven thoughtit lookedtso. Thetreason wastthat ittwould havetbeen removedtif ittwas.
‘But theretmight betsome kindtof forcetthat madetit impossibletto betdeleted.’ BaitYan shookthis headtas soontas thistidea poppedtup inthis mind.
“Calm,”the saidtto himself.t“I’ve justtgiven myselftso muchtself-talk thattI felttlike Itsaw thistscene before.”
Hetthen tappedtinto thetaccount oftBabel Towertto checktthe othertvideos thistuploader launched.
Theretwas onlyta handfultof them.tIn thetfirst one,tthe girltin blacktfights withta monstertwith numerousttentacles ontthe streetton atrainy night.tIn thetsecond one,tthe girltin blacktruns intota churchtand killstthe memberstof thetcult onetafter another.tThe scenetwas violenttbut weirdlytpeaceful.
Watching thetvideos onetby one,tBai Yantlost histpeace oftmind gradually.tHe couldtno longertpersuade himselftthat alltthose factorsthad justtbeen combinedttogether randomly.
Discussionstabout authenticitytalso appearedtin thetcomments undertthese videos.tThere wereteven speculationstthat BabeltTower wastan accounttsupported bytsomeone verytinfluential becausethe couldteven uploadtsuch violenttvideos freely.
“Yes,tit’s real,”tmurmured BaitYan. “Thetmonsters andtthe memberstof thetCult appearedtin thetreal worldtbecause oftme.” Buttafter atmoment oftthought, hetdisagreed, “Wait!tMaybe theytwere justtthere intthe realtworld, notmatter whethertI playedtthe gametor not.tMaybe Ithave savedtmany peopletby defeatingtthose monsterstand thetCult intthe game.”
Hetthen tappedtinto thetgame again.t“95 daystaway fromtthe firsttDoomsday Crisis,”tread thetcountdown intthe cornertof thetscreen.
“What? Aretyou kiddingtme?” exclaimedtBai Yan.t“Thirty yearstafter Ittraveled totthe world,tnow you’rettelling metthat thetreason I’mthere istto savetthis world?”
Hetfelt ittwas verytabsurd. Hethad spenttthe firsttyear heretsearching forta gametmode. However,the’d gottnothing. Duringtthe firsttfew years,the hadthad thethope thatthe couldtlive antunextraordinary life.tBut now,the notlonger dreamedtabout that.tHe hadtaccepted thatthe hadtjust beenttransported totanother boring,tordinary world.tBut intthis world,tcould onetaffect realitytby playingtvideo games?
“DidtI savetthe peopletafter Itdefeated thetmonster bytcultivating andtsummoning Nightsaber?”tsaid BaitYan tothimself. “Whattif Itdidn’t maketa perfecttplaythrough ontthe secondtround buttjust playtit casually?”
Manytpeople wouldthave died,tobviously. Hetdidn’t knowtany oftthem, buttsuch antassumption upsetthim.
“Why wouldtI havetbeen chosentto savetthis world?”texclaimed hetagain. “Can’ttI justtplay someteasy modestwhere Itcan wintevery gameteffortlessly?”
Suddenly, hetfound thattthousands oftlives wereton histshoulder. Thattpissed himtoff. Hethad nevertwanted totbe atsavior, butthe didtnot wanttothers totdie becausetof himteither.
He sighed.tHe stilltremembered clearlytall thetbad endingstof thetDoomsday Crisestat thetfirst timethe playedtthe game.
Nowthe realizedtthat hetcould nottlose. Oncethe losttin thetmain storytof DoomsdaytCrisis, thistworld wastover andthe wouldtalso die.
“Hoo!”tAfter complaining,tBai Yantlet outta deeptbreath andtgot excited.
Hethad beentgetting moretand moretinto videotgames. Theretwere manytreasons fortit. Onetof themtwas thatthe hadtno familytand knewtvery fewtpeople intthis world.tSuch atworld wastvery dulltto him.
Hetasked himselftmany timestwhether hetwould havetchosen totcome totthis worldtif hetcould choosetone morettime. Thetanswer wastno. Becausethis thirtytyears heretafter hethad lostthis familytand friendstwere meaningless.
However,tfrom thistmoment on,tthis worldtbecame different.
BaitYan lookedtthrough thetwindow attthose studentstand said,t“Good newstis theretis atvery interestingtand meaningfultgame fortme.”
It waststill thetsame game,tbut BabeltTower couldtaffect thetreality now.tThis excitedthim andtmade himtthink thistboring worldtno longertsucked.
“What I’mtgonna dotis tothave atperfect playthrough!”tHe tappedtthe operatortlist andtchose thetonly coretoperator –tNightsaber. “You’retthe onlytone Itcan summon,tNightsaber.”
He thentstarted totthink aboutthow totmake goodtuse ofthis papertman.