Chapter 64: This Ga 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 ti 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 complent each other, so I invited them over.
“Alright, today is Thursday, so I’ll do so cleaning when I get ho, and I’ll tidy the room.”
“No need, tomorrow is Friday, I’ll take care of it. Oh, and I bought so durian,
it’s in the fridge, rember to eat it tomorrow.’
Seeing how Huang Ping chatted with his girlfriend, even Xiao Douzi, who had
no intention to marry, felt sowhat 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 apartnt Huang Ping was renting.
Carrying their things up to the third floor, they found Huang Ping’s rental tidy and neat, with just so 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 ho. 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 ti 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 ga.
After receiving the mission to deliver a ssage to Chang’an, the difficulty of the ga 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 ant injury; such was the inevitable result of realism.
Fortunately, the enemy Al was strong, and their own Al was no slouch either, even stronger, in fact.
just like the protagonist, they were all veteran soldiers. Their understanding of each other was so strong that a single glance or gesture was enough for the teammates to grasp his intentions and know what to do.
The five-man squad was like a sharp knife, thrusting deeply into the territory
of Tubo, relentlessly pushing towards Chang’an.
Outside the ga, Huang Ping was sothing of a history buff.
He quickly confird the ti period of the ga and found a contemporary map online. He directed Monkey to avoid Tubo’s major towns en route and instead travel through mountain villages.
Xiao Douzi helped calculate the distance and various expenses, estimated the travel ti, and optimized the route based on the weather and other factors. Monkey took the reins of actual operations, and with the three of them working together, the journey beca less daunting.
Thanks to the Al’s excellent response, along the way, the three players felt as if their companions in the ga were not just cold programs but living beings.
The youngest companion was the Scout, also known as the at Bun. After arriving at the Protectorate of Anxi, he tasted a at bun for the first ti and got his mouth scalded by the hot oil.
But even so, he continued to eat them like crazy, without regard for his own life, stuffing his belly until it was bulging and choking on the food but still continuing to eat.
In the end, if it hadn’t been for the Squad Leader slapping him unconscious, Monkey believed the kid would have literally eaten himself to death. Because of this, he earned the nickna at Bun and fantasized daily about how delicious the at buns in Chang’an must be.
The oldest companion was called Mr. Fang.
Although he was just over forty, the harsh conditions of the western regions- the wind and sun-had rged into his skin, creating deep, knife-hke wrinkles that made him look seasoned and old.
He typically stayed quiet, only silently preparing supplies during rest ti.
Yet, he was the most indispensable mber of the team.
He was skilled in various survival techniques; he could lie on the ground to hear distant horse hooves and underground water, and he could identify the poison of herbs and snakes at a glance.
The Squad Leader, on the other hand, was a rough man with a touch of finesse. He had an incredible intuition for battle, his squad of five was like an extension of his own limbs, each mber with a different role but working together seamlessly—so close-knit that they could erge victorious even against enemies three to four tis their number.
The last skinny mber, then, was the team s jester.
He was a master ventriloquist, proficient in various musical instrunts, and spoke four or five foreign languages. He could even use ventriloquism to imitate different sounds, making him the most reliable companion when dealing with foreigners.
Beyond that, he was also a skilled assassin.
Between his fingernails, he always hid a blade coated with poison-a light cut was enough to kill an opponent, and the cause was difficult to trace afterwards. Nobody in the squad used their real nas, instead addressing each other by nicknas.
There wasn’t much deep significance to this, just the feeling that knowing each other’s nas would make their connections deeper, and the loss of a teammate would hurt that much more.
They were the elite chosen by the Protectorate of Anxi, their sole purpose to go to the Tang Dynasty and make their presence known to secure support.
At such a ti, nas beca 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 outco.”
“Liu Bei, why do you say that?” asked Monkey, resting his fingers.
“The Tang Dynasty at this ti 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 aningless?” “No, hocoming is the aning; to tell others we are still here, that is also the aning.”
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 ga 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 ga was a different kind; an imrsive experience brought by its realism, an experience of executing perfect battles in cooperation with companions.
The ga’s various settings closely matched the overall gaming experience, allowing players to feel the hardships of The Naless and the efforts made to reach their goal.
This kind of effort would surely filter out so 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 ti, Huang Ping was suddenly wide awake and imdiately said, “Stop playing, it’s 830, we need to go.”
His girlfriend looked at the three n, walked to the window, and after opening the curtains, pointed outside at the lights of thousands of hos: “Now, it is 830 in the evening.”
Huang Ping turned pale and stiffly asked, “So today is…
“Friday.”
Monkey, looking at the ti in disbelief, finally understood why Huang Ping’s assessnt of the boss was what it was.
The boss’s ga… was addictive!
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