After the initial problems were solved, the road ahead became a mechanical repetition.
As they progressed mechanically, Li Shuoxing finally had some time to think about this trip.
In fact, he felt that there was something wrong with the design of the travel system.
This wasnât due to the bad game experience or his money and time being cheated, but that there were some very intuitive and obvious logical problems.
There was nothing wrong with the game adding a travel system if it wanted to, of course.
But, as a game with a chibi art style, when adding a travel system and opening up a new map, it must also consider the chibi art style. How could it happen that the little person remained chibi while the surrounding scenery was realistic, making the art style inconsistent.
This problem, let alone professional game practitioners, even ordinary people who werenât involved with games would find it strange.
Moreover, the situation of the landscape in front of them.
Obviously, this was the Grand Canyon National Park⌠Then the second question arose. Why would a Chinese game, when choosing a travel destination, choose a foreign one over a domestic one?
It couldnât be because foreign landscapes looked superior, right?
It didnât make any sense!
Li Shuoxing took a breath and replaced his index finger on the screen with his middle finger. After pressing the screen for so long, his fingers were getting stiff.
Even if this game is stupid, it shouldnât be stupid to this level.
After all, itâs a game company that can create AI of Su Mingqianâs level. If it were to make such a spectacular mistake, itâd be too contradictory.
SoâŚ
Does this trip, this realistic scene, have some deep meaning?
Is there something I havenât noticed?
Li Shuoxing fell into thought.
As an author, he couldnât help but form conspiracy theories on some problems that were too illogical.
Then, he saw the game screen gradually darken, gradually darken, then suddenly go black.
Li Shuoxing: â!â
His arm shook with shock and the phone in his palm almost flew out.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough and hooked the phoneâs case at the last moment. After regaining a firm grip, he pressed the function button to find that everything was fine, just that the phone was running out of battery.
âŚCome to think of it.
Iâve been playing for six or seven hours.
âŚItâs been six or seven hours already?
Li Shuoxing couldnât believe it. He glanced at the clock on the wall, then glanced again.
No matter how he looked at it, the hour hand was steadily pointing to the number 2.
Itâs 2pm.
I feel like Iâve forgotten something.
Oh, I havenât had lunch yet.
But this trivial matter of not having had lunch yet isnât worth my suspicion.
There must be something else importantâŚ
As he was thinking about it, his phone vibrated. Someone was looking for him on QQ.
He opened it and saw that it was Night Tour.
This Terminal editor-in-chief was concise and comprehensive, getting straight to the point. âTodayâs chapter hasnât been updated yet. Youâre not already out of stock, are you?â
Li Shuoxing: ââŚâ
ShitâŚ
Li Shuoxing finally realised what heâd forgotten!
He got so high from playing the game that he forgot the daily 10am update!
Li Shuoxing hurried back to the game and said to the little person, âI have something to do. Iâll leave for a moment and be right back.â
After saying that, Li Shuoxing went offline, got out the charging cable, plugged his phone in, then returned to his computer. While opening the webpage to prepare the update, he replied to Night Tourâs words.
Li Shuoxing: âThis trivial matter is worth your directly messaging me.â
Night Tour was also helpless. âIf you update on schedule for me to read on time, would I have to look for you?â
Although Calamus said that the two had a good relationshipâŚ
There really was no dirty deal between them.
They had a good private relationship just because Night Tour liked Li Shuoxingâs writing.
In addition, as Terminalâs group six editor-in-chief, Night Tour himself was a very experienced reader and reviewer. He had some really good insights on the development and design of his writing, and Li Shuoxing was willing to communicate with him.
Gradually, as they talked more, their relationship got better. After all, for the sake of the same novel, they had stayed up many nights hand in hand and dedicated a lot of their lives together.
Night Tour asked the question just now again, âYou just started a new book after three or four months of break. Youâre not out of stock now, are you? How are you going to mass update like this if youâre given a good list and channel?â
Li Shuoxing: âI still have some. I forgot to update today.â
Night Tour: ââŚâ
He didnât know how Night Tour felt when he got this reply.
Anyway, he sent an ellipsis, then nothing afterwards. Heâd gone offline.
During their conversation, the browser had opened and automatically restored the pages from before it closed, the authorâs backend page and the novelâs frontend page.
Li Shuoxing had copied the chapters to be updated. He was going to enter the authorâs backend, but heâd used too much energy when moving the backpack and his fingers hadnât fully recovered, so his hand holding the mouse slipped and went to the novelâs frontend.
The frontend opened.
He saw numerous and various comments urging for updates.
Scrolling down, there seemed to be one or two hundred discussions in the discussion forum alone, the hottest one of which had over 500 replies. A glance at the title read:
Knowing that Ximu isnât a man, I still fell in love with this man. Letâs make a thread to discuss when Ximu will become a man today. Support Ximu, 10 coins a reply, 100 replies a knot, no limit.
Li Shuoxing: ââŚâ
I thank you for helping me warm up the discussion forum!
Originally, discussions were something that you didnât care about if you didnât read them, but once you read one, you couldnât help but want to finish.
So, Li Shuoxing not only looked at the discussion forum, but also entered the discussion forumâs most replied threads, and entered his latest chapter to read the chapterâs comments.
Heâd thought the various discussions in the discussion forum were exaggerated enough.
He didnât expect to enter the chapter page to see the comments were even more exaggerated. Looking at the statistics, there were 4000 comments.
Li Shuoxing: ââŚâ
Li Shuoxing: â???â
How the hell did these guys leave so many comments? It couldnât be a system counting error, could it?
Li Shuoxing cautiously opened it.
He found it wasnât an error.
There really were so many comments.
A bunch of people in this chapter urged for updates, angrily cursed, discussed the plot, discussed the plot of his last book, recognised relatives, confessed⌠In short, there were all kinds of things being said.
Li Shuoxing silently closed the chapter.
One urging for updates didnât matter.
Ten urging for updates didnât matter.
The pressure of fifty or one hundred didnât seem very great.
But, after all, people had their tolerance limits.
Todayâs comments were a little beyond the limit of Li Shuoxingâs tolerance.
So, after updating two chapters of 5000 words as originally planned and explaining that heâd forgotten the update time, Li Shuoxing updated todayâs third chapter with heartache, adding a bracket after the title of the third chapter with the content:
(Add an extra chapter to compensate everyone. Please pretend that nothing has happened.)
After posting the three chapters, Li Shuoxing looked at his further shrinking stock. Reason told him he should put the game down and write, butâŚ
Li Shuoxing looked at his computer and then at his phone.
Words suddenly flashed through his mind.
Novel, Iâve always loved you deeply.
Cub, I can never let go of you.
âŚ
He shook his head.
What nonsense am I thinking?
A few minutes later, Li Shuoxing made a difficult choice.
The inability to let go overcame the depth of love.
After all, there was still some stockpile left to hang on to, but the cub was now in the game anxiously waiting for him to return.
This time when he entered the game, Li Shuoxing intended to finish the travel scenes in one go, so he made adequate preparations.
He rummaged through the fridge for bread and milk, and grabbed an ice pack in passing.
The battery continued to charge to ensure it lasted.
The ice pack was tucked under the phone to keep the body from overheating.
He then opened the milk and bread, took a few mouthfuls to ease the hunger in his stomach, and did finger exercises to stretch his tense fingers.
The preparations were finished.
Li Shuoxing entered the game again.
Under the azure sky, white clouds floated like waves; reddish-brown rocks were wrinkled with age by the wind, layered with insect-like green spots clinging to them, which were trees growing in the mountains.
And Su Mingqian.
The 2D little person remained in almost the same position as when he left. It seemed that in the ten minutes he was gone, he hadnât moved a muscle, just waiting for him to come.
Li Shuoxing typed, âIâm back.â
Almost at the same time, a text bubble popped out of Su Mingqianâs head.
Su Mingqian: âMm.â
Li Shuoxing continued typing, âI have a good idea.â
He really did have a good idea. When he went offline and came back, his head suddenly cleared and he thought of something he shouldâve long ago. He said to Su Mingqian, âWe should buy a car. Try saying you want a car and see if it works.â
Su Mingqian: ââŚâ
In fact, he was a little confused for a while as to why whatever he said he wanted would appear. And instead of getting it directly, it was bought by Ximu and then passed on.
But now wasnât the time to dwell on that. These minor issues could wait until they got back.
Su Mingqian obediently called out according to his words, âI want a car.â
Li Shuoxing had already opened the store waiting for it to refresh.
Then.
The store didnât refresh.
Two lines of words popped up on the screen.
System: ââŚâ
[The system prompts the player: In the early stage of the game, please spend sensibly.]
Li Shuoxing: ââŚâ
Li Shuoxing had so many complaints he didnât know where to start for a moment. âSensible spending is sensible spending. Why add early stage of the game? Could it be that the early stage of the game wonât do, but the late stage will? Is this to fatten up the player before killing them?â
However, no matter how he spoke, he couldnât get a response from the system.
So, he could only instruct the systemâs son again, âPut it another way. Say we want to rent a car, and a cheap one will do.â
Su Mingqian did as told like before.
Just as a new text bubble came out, the system store refreshed with a mountain bike. This mountain bike didnât have a direct purchase option but rather an additional rent function at 5 contribution points/hour.
You figured it out!
Li Shuoxing fiercely pressed his finger down and rented it out.
After renting a means of transport, the rest of the journey would become easier.
They set out again.
The sound of wheels sounded on the road again. The backpack was hung on the mountain bike, and the suitcase was in Li Shuoxingâs hands. It accompanied the mountain bike, twisting and turning as it sped along to the rhythm of the wheels.
The bright sky had begun to slowly dim at some point.
Su Mingqian had a flashlight in his backpack.
However, Su Mingqian didnât take it out under the pretext of tired hands. Instead, he asked Ximu to send a message every once in a while to keep the light screen on.
The silvery-white light screen could act as half a light source at night, and could also serve some more important purposes.
It made this strange trip not so lonely.
For there was someone else, always by his side, talking to him.
He didnât know how long heâd been riding forward.
Around the time when it was getting darker and darker, to the point it was almost impossible to see his fingers, Su Mingqian, whoâd been moving forward, suddenly stopped. A text bubble popped out of his head, which read:
âThereâs a railing ahead.â
The text fell away and the light on the screen began to change.
First, a bit of crimson roundness was revealed in the distant pitch blackness. Then, the crimson grew brighter and brighter. It tore open the pitch black sky, dyeing the clouds to the left and pouring its heat through the rift.
The golden light came in sheets, caressing the canyons, the deep ravines and the heavy mountains.
And then, with a sudden leap through the sea of clouds, the burning sun leapt up to untouched heights and looked down to illuminate this vast and majestic world!
âAt sunrise, a new day comes!â
Watching the sunrise over the canyon on his phone, Li Shuoxing suddenly remembered a sentence in the task. This sentence only felt stupid at the time, but looking back on it now, it was strangely fitting.
At that moment, a line popped up on the screen.
Su Mingqian: âXimu, I thinkâŚâ
I thinkâŚ
Those two words revolved in Su Mingqianâs mind.
He couldnât help grasping the railing in front of him and leaning forward.
The magnificent scene was reflected into his eyes, and then through his eyes, into his mind.
His nerves were gently tugged.
He seemed to remember something vaguely. He felt the beautiful scenery in front of him oddly familiar, as if heâd seen it before.
IâŚ
MaybeâŚ
Su Mingqian murmured, âXimu, I think, Iâve been here before. Also, maybe you couldnât search my name last time because I have another name, an English name. But I canât rememberâŚâ
The author has something to say:
Discussion forum: The main interface of Terminal novels has a message system called the discussion forum. Messages left here are in the form of topic posts and can build threads.
Chapter comments: The message system on chapter pages of Terminal novels allows people to leave a comment after a paragraph. There will be a small number at the end of the paragraph to show how many people have left comments on that paragraph.