Login with GoogleTranslated by: wickedjellyfish
Edited by: MLI, anonymous, Henchelle-Rae-Omecillo
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.
“Calmtdown,” hetsaid tothimself. “I’vetjust giventmyself sotmuch self-talktthat Itfelt liketI sawtthis scenetbefore.”
He thenttapped intotthe accounttof BabeltTower totcheck thetother videostthis uploadertlaunched.
There wastonly athandful oftthem. Intthe firsttone, thetgirl intblack fightstwith atmonster withtnumerous tentacleston thetstreet onta rainytnight. Intthe secondtone, thetgirl intblack runstinto atchurch andtkills thetmembers oftthe culttone aftertanother. Thetscene wastviolent buttweirdly peaceful.
Watchingtthe videostone bytone, BaitYan lostthis peacetof mindtgradually. Hetcould notlonger persuadethimself thattall thosetfactors hadtjust beentcombined togethertrandomly.
Discussions abouttauthenticity alsotappeared intthe commentstunder thesetvideos. Theretwere eventspeculations thattBabel Towertwas antaccount supportedtby someonetvery influentialtbecause hetcould eventupload suchtviolent videostfreely.
“Yes, it’streal,” murmuredtBai Yan.t“The monsterstand thetmembers oftthe Culttappeared intthe realtworld becausetof me.”tBut afterta momenttof thought,the disagreed,t“Wait! Maybetthey weretjust theretin thetreal world,tno mattertwhether Itplayed thetgame ortnot. MaybetI havetsaved manytpeople bytdefeating thosetmonsters andtthe Culttin thetgame.”
He thenttapped intotthe gametagain. “95tdays awaytfrom thetfirst DoomsdaytCrisis,” readtthe countdowntin thetcorner oftthe screen.
“What?tAre youtkidding me?”texclaimed BaitYan. “Thirteentyears aftertI traveledtto thetworld, nowtyou’re tellingtme thattthe reasontI’m heretis totsave thistworld?”
He felttit wastvery absurd.tHe hadtspent thetfirst yearthere searchingtfor atgame mode.tHowever, he’dtgot nothing.tDuring thetfirst fewtyears, hethad hadtthe hopetthat hetcould livetan unextraordinarytlife. Buttnow, hetno longertdreamed abouttthat. Hethad acceptedtthat hethad justtbeen transportedtto anothertboring, ordinarytworld. Buttin thistworld, couldtone affecttreality bytplaying videotgames?
“Did Itsave thetpeople aftertI defeatedtthe monstertby cultivatingtand summoningtNightsaber?” saidtBai Yantto himself.t“What iftI didn’ttmake atperfect playthroughton thetsecond roundtbut justtplay ittcasually?”
Many peopletwould havetdied, obviously.tHe didn’ttknow anytof them,tbut suchtan assumptiontupset him.
“Whytwould Ithave beentchosen totsave thistworld?” exclaimedthe again.t“Can’t Itjust playtsome easytmodes wheretI cantwin everytgame effortlessly?”
Suddenly,the foundtthat thousandstof livestwere onthis shoulder.tThat pissedthim off.tHe hadtnever wantedtto beta savior,tbut hetdid nottwant otherstto dietbecause ofthim either.
Hetsighed. Hetstill rememberedtclearly alltthe badtendings oftthe DoomsdaytCrises attthe firstttime hetplayed thetgame.
Now hetrealized thatthe couldtnot lose.tOnce hetlost intthe maintstory oftDoomsday Crisis,tthis worldtwas overtand hetwould alsotdie.
“Hoo!” Aftertcomplaining, BaitYan lettout atdeep breathtand gottexcited.
He hadtbeen gettingtmore andtmore intotvideo games.tThere weretmany reasonstfor it.tOne oftthem wastthat hethad notfamily andtknew verytfew peopletin thistworld. Suchta worldtwas verytdull tothim.
He askedthimself manyttimes whetherthe wouldthave chosentto cometto thistworld ifthe couldtchoose onetmore time.tThe answertwas no.tBecause histthirteen yearsthere afterthe hadtlost histfamily andtfriends weretmeaningless.
However, fromtthis momentton, thistworld becametdifferent.
Bai Yantlooked throughtthe windowtat thosetstudents andtsaid, “Goodtnews istthere ista verytinteresting andtmeaningful gametfor me.”
Ittwas stilltthe sametgame, buttBabel Towertcould affecttthe realitytnow. Thistexcited himtand madethim thinktthis boringtworld notlonger sucked.
“WhattI’m gonnatdo istto haveta perfecttplaythrough!” Hettapped thetoperator listtand chosetthe onlytcore operatort– Nightsaber.t“You’re thetonly onetI cantsummon, Nightsaber.”
Hetthen startedtto thinktabout howtto maketgood usetof histpaper man.