Chapter 466: The Old Thief’s Scheme |
Huh?
You?
Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow, surprised as he looked at Shen Miaomiao.
It felt like hearing the boss of a notorious bully volunteering to take down Sun Wukong—utter astonishment.
He knew better than anyone how difficult that thing was.
Don’t be fooled by Lu Bian’s constant goofing off and tall tales.
In reality, Gu Sheng knew full well that in the realm of programming, people who could match Lu Bian’s combination of talent and skill were extremely rare.
Even he, a man reborn twice and transported into a new life, was still somewhat behind Lu Bian in that aspect.
And now, Little Nezha actually said she had a good idea?
She wouldn’t be planning for us to hand-code it all, would she?
After all, they had hand-built games before.
When the engine was initially blocked, an entirely engine-less, hand-crafted My World had stunned the world.
So was Little Nezha planning to have them hand-craft panoramic spatial audio this time?
Theoretically... it wasn’t impossible.
But that would take a long time and would only be a stopgap; it wouldn’t fundamentally solve the stereo issue.
For a moment, Gu Sheng was puzzled, unsure what constructive suggestion a layperson like Little Nezha could offer on such a problem.
“Hey...”
Seeing Gu Sheng’s doubtful, uncertain look, Shen Miaomiao frowned and wrinkled her cute nose.
“What do you mean by that look?”
“Seeing...”
Gu Sheng shrugged.
“Evaluating the reliability of constructive suggestions from your standpoint.”
“So?”
Shen Miaomiao crossed her legs, sat up straight, and gestured at Gu Sheng.
“And what is your answer, sir?”
Gu Sheng forced a vague, awkward smile. “Your subordinate is dull-witted.”
Lin Xiao, you now...
Shen Miaomiao ground her teeth in anger.
Although Gu Sheng said “your subordinate is dull-witted,” what he was indirectly saying was that she was useless and couldn’t come up with anything constructive!
“Then straighten up and learn properly!” Shen Miaomiao snapped, stamping Gu Sheng lightly with her foot.
“I can’t solve it, but there are so many game companies in the world—surely someone can!”
Gu Sheng couldn’t deny that.
The motion-sensing pod market had developed for seven or eight years; various companies had found different approaches and some had focused on audio implementation.
But the question was, who would be willing to help them?
“That’s the little surprise I just wanted to tell you about,” Shen Miaomiao lifted her chin, looking prideful.
“This morning, Maher, the chief art director of Aurora Games, reached out to me about collaboration...”
She then laid out the lunchtime conversation in full, recounting everything to Gu Sheng.
She crossed her arms with a sigh.
“Ah—But some people think I can’t think of good ideas! They don’t believe me! Fine then! I’m just a mascot. Tomorrow I’ll tell Mr. Maher I’m only the mascot, not in charge. Our president doesn’t trust me, so let’s forget it! Sigh—!!!”
Huh???
Watching Little Nezha act like that, Gu Sheng was genuinely stunned.
This is... too coincidental!
Someone handed him a pillow just as he was about to sleep!
At the same time, Lu Bian on the phone suddenly perked up.
Right!
Aurora Games!
Although, based on what Phoenix had learned, no commercial engines on the market could meet their audio demands right now,
that didn’t mean independent engines developed by other studios couldn’t.
Aurora had originated from rhythm games!
If any engine in the world would put in the effort to perfect audio presentation, it would be Aurora’s in-house engine—the very one that had won TIGA’s Game of the Year for a rhythm title!
That engine had supported them for years!
Brother! Solid!
Thinking this, Lu Bian let out a long breath in relief.
Old Gu?
He’s just a lousy proposal writer who fabricates things!
If you want company growth and industry advancement, our wise and glorious CEO Ou is the one driving it!
“That settles it then,” the weight lifted, and exhaustion began to wash over him.
“We can clock out, take a leave of absence, and catch up on sleep tomorrow—no, later today.”
What?
You say CEO Ou was just throwing a petty tantrum at Old Gu, maybe thinking of canceling cooperation with Aurora—nothing’s decided yet?
Then what is Old Gu for?
Whether Aurora’s panoramic spatial audio can be sewn into our product depends on Old Gu’s performance, not us poor coders!
We’re done for the day. Whether President Gu is working or streaming, that’s his business!
If he can’t bring back the audio tech, he can sail back from Stockholm!
After saying that, Lu Bian, eager to avoid further involvement, hung up the phone.
Left on the sofa, Gu Sheng offered a sincere smile toward the puffed-up flustered Little Nezha across from him, trying to take his fiancée’s hand. “Hehe, Miaomiao...”
Slap!
Shen Miaomiao rolled her eyes and gently opened Gu Sheng’s hand.
“It’s useless, you scoundrel. Even if you poured Yunnan Baiyao down my throat, it wouldn’t heal my emotional wounds!”
“No, no—”
Gu Sheng shamelessly snuggled closer and wrapped his arms around his little, furious wife who was harder to catch than a pig at a fair.
“Give me a chance, please...”
“I blinded myself and mistook a gem for coal. I judged you wrongly; you are the Golden Light, the ladder of engine progress, the bridge for industry cooperation,” he babbled.
“I’m just a game developer; the chairman is the real core leader of Golden Wind!”
Shen Miaomiao, who had struggled and failed to break free, rolled her eyes but ultimately ‘surrendered’ into his strong, warm, hormonally charged embrace.
“Your tone sounds sarcastic.”
“Is it sarcastic? I’m sincere!”
“Really? Prove how sincere you are.”
“Madam, your so-called ‘prove how sincere’... is that by physical means?”
“Not letting me look?”
“I just think the demo version lacks sincerity.”
“So Mr. Gu means...?”
“Try experiencing the full version!”
“Whoa...”
...
[Dark Souls Official Version Released Today! Total Preorders: 2.66 million!]
[Motion-Sensing Preorder King! Dark Souls Sets New Preorder Record for Motion-Sensing Games!]
[Average Score 9.8! Over 2.5 Million Preorders! Dark Souls Set to Sweep the Industry! The Ultimate Souls Masterpiece Is Here!]
[Only Golden Wind Surpasses Golden Wind! Dark Souls Official Release Triggers Global Phenomenon! The Golden Age of Games Begins!]
[An Unparalleled, Shattering Experience! Dark Souls Will Lead a New Wave of Souls-Like Games!]
(....
Not bad!
Half a month after that GDC event wrapped up,
Dark Souls released its official version on schedule!
As the standout work from the GDC that had stunned the world on release and provoked widespread praise from players and industry insiders,
for this launch Golden Wind barely invested in any marketing channels.
Relying solely on organic media reports, it became the most watched title in the industry, bar none!
They remembered how they had once celebrated when Vampire Survivors was accidentally reviewed by the media.
Now they had grown into the most prominent studio in the gaming world.
What Gu Sheng once said had become reality—
we no longer had to beg the media for coverage.
One day the situation would reverse; without us making noise, the media would chase us eagerly,
because we were synonymous with heat. For the media, not giving us coverage was like denying themselves exposure.
This popularity could be glimpsed in the massive 2.66 million preorders.
From the motion-sensing pod’s debut to now, seven or eight years had passed.
The market’s growth and wider adoption gave Golden Wind a broader stage, and the growing player base offered fertile ground.
But 2.66 million was no small number.
Not just in the motion-sensing market—across mobile and PC, that figure was dominant.
In no time, from domestic to overseas,
open any streaming platform and a Dark Souls stream would be on the front page.
Even outside gaming, in general chat or musician streams, people were playing Dark Souls!
Its presence exceeded what Sekiro once had.
And the quality of Dark Souls did not disappoint—
“Wooooooooooo——”
Pushing open the great gate of Lothric!
The distant view of the royal city burst before every player’s eyes!
Even though the demo already showcased a stunning visual experience—the grave piles at the spawn point, the arena where players fought Master Gudda, and the ancient, deep Bonfire Ritual Grounds—
with the official release,
when players finally pushed open a heavy, copper-clad carved ancient gate in the tower and saw Lothric Castle in full view,
the indescribable shock made players gasp in unison.
There, among Lothric’s towering walls, a massive, magnificent royal castle rose against a gray-yellow horizon!
Layer upon layer of intricate spires, enormous galleries connecting two colossal castle keeps.
Around it, smoke billowed—a scene of decay and ruin.
The breathtaking colossal castle, coupled with the setting sun’s bleak mood,
the game had only just begun, yet an atmosphere of a dying flame already enveloped this immersive world.
And on those complex high walls of Lothric!
A skeletal, scaly crimson ancient dragon lay coiled at an old gate opening.
“My god...”
Ayin stepped forward to examine this behemoth the size of two dump trucks.
“Good thing it’s a corpse. If that thing were alive...?”
He grimaced.
He couldn’t imagine how traumatic it would be if such a giant ancient dragon took wing.
After looting a few items around the dragon, Ayin drew his sword and shield and continued down toward the base of the wall.
That’s right.
With the official release, players could choose many more starting classes.
After some thought, Ayin abandoned the Demo’s companion Drumstick Knight Useless One
and selected the armored knight with sword and shield.
At least it felt safer.
“Where to? I don’t know, just keep walking downward,” Ayin chatted with the livestream chat as he descended the steps.
“Eventually you’ll turn enough corners to reach the right place,” he said.
“Like the Aquatic Village in Sekiro—disgusting, but the more you die the more you follow the mainline.”
“The Old Thief’s maps are something else.”
“At first they’re labyrinthine, but if you wander blind enough you’ll get to the right path.”
“This is kind of genius—ah, shit!!!”
Just then!
When he rounded a corner, Ayin let out a shout!
Then a metallic ping rang out!
A staggeringly drunk-looking zombie coldly appeared to Ayin’s flank, wielding a short sword the length of a forearm!
“What the hell—!”
Two quick slashes later, Ayin rolled his eyes at himself.
“All right, all right, so that’s how we play? Damn, good reflexes saved me from a critical hit!”
Hahaha, the Old Thief’s scheme...
The chat burst into laughter.
Classic—corner ambush right after you step out the door.
A harsh little rude awakening for souls newcomers.
This place is nasty—behind the stone rail by the steps you can’t see; one careless move and it’s a backstab.
Fake horror game: Escape; real horror game: Dark Souls.
The boss’s reflexes are strong.
“You die so much, you get fast reflexes,”
“Hahaha, the truth!”
“The boss is so skilled.”
“Your parenthetical didn’t get deleted, minus a drumstick!”
.......
For a while, viewers joked, but they couldn’t help admiring Ayin’s maneuver—no wonder he was an old Golden Wind player hardened by Sekiro.
“Hmph.”
Seeing the chat’s comments, Ayin grinned proudly.
“Don’t be surprised, my subjects. Standard operation—just the Old Thief’s scheme.”
“Pitting newbies is one thing; trying to trap me? You’ll need to be more devious.”
He soon arrived beneath a long bridge.
The stone bridge connected two towers.
From below it looked normal.
But when he climbed the stairs and glanced at the surface he drew back his neck.
“Holy crap! What the hell is this setup?”
On the bridge was a mass of undead.
At least ten in sight.
Three or four of them were crossbow-armed!
What kind of ultimate suffering zone is this?
Ayin was shocked.
Even though he had Sekiro experience and the demo practice, cutting through these foes seemed straightforward—
yet those skeleton soldiers normally patrolled solo or in pairs.
One-versus-two wasn’t a problem for Ayin; they were minor trash mobs, especially with a shield.
But this crowd?
Six or seven melee undead plus four or five crossbowmen.
With numbers like that, his health would be drained in five or six hits—instant death.
If surrounded, forget it. You’d have to give up fighting.
You couldn’t even roll your way out easily.
“This place can’t be fought.”
Ayin clicked his tongue.
“Anyone who fights dies.”
But the path forward seemed to be the only way. Even if he didn’t want to fight, what else could he do...?
Huh?
While pondering,
Ayin’s gaze landed on a small iron gate beside the closed great door across the bridge.
He took out a telescope-like device reminiscent of Sekiro’s periscope and scoped it carefully.
A confident grin of discovery spread across his face.
The little iron gate seemed to be unlatched and ajar.
The design was clearly meant to trick players into thinking the only way forward was to clear the bridge.
“Hah! You can fool others, but not me!”
Ayin laughed.
“Such a nasty trick! Make people waste time dying over and over to clear the bridge, only to find you could just run through that open gate.”
So diabolical, Old Thief!
This move was designed to make players furious.
Luckily he was one step ahead.
The chat couldn’t help but praise the boss’s savvy intellect reclaiming the high ground.
“Check out the old player’s moves!”
Ayin drew a deep breath to ensure his green stamina bar was full, tightened his body, and shouted.
“Go! Charge—!!!”
In an instant, the undead on the bridge were alerted and moved to encircle him.
Clatter—clatter—
Ayin was quick.
Two consecutive rolls avoided the undead’s encirclement. Ignoring enemies, he focused on sprinting to the ajar iron gate.
Halfway across, his green bar nearly drained, but the horde was behind him.
Then, everything changed!
Rumble—
Suddenly!
A sound like the ground groaning, like distant rolling thunder, rose from behind the high tower in front of him.
Ayin’s legs went weak; his green bar hit zero.
In the next second, a physical collapse washed through his legs, up his spine, making his scalp tingle!
From beyond the tower emerged a massive, shadowing bulk that filled the sky!
Pale scales and bony spines like stone stalagmites crisscrossed between tattered great membranes!
Steel-like claws reflected the dusk’s cold light!
The huge silhouette stood like a tower, blotting out the sun!
A soul-gripping roar like a hammer struck, tearing lungs and freezing blood!
A dragon.
An ancient dragon.
A pale ancient dragon.
It reflected in Ayin’s horrified, stunned eyes.
And in that same reflection, from the dragon’s mouth surged a growing, scorching, blistering breath of flame!
“Whoa—oh—god—!!!”
Whoosh—boom!!!
In an instant, the dragon unleashed a sky-burning inferno, like divine punishment from the high heavens, enveloping Ayin and all the undead in terrifying, torrential flame!
At that moment even the air itself twisted and deformed!
The blaze ripped along the bridge, incinerating everything!
Everything! Reduced to ash!
[YOU DEAD]
Holy—!!! Fuck—!!!
The chat exploded!
“What a top-tier jinx! The boss actually made it alive!”
“Dude, that was brutal!”
“It’s like a giant flamethrower!”
“Jesus! The effect had me shivering across the screen!”
The boss silenced instantly, hahaha...
Nobody could speak—this effect terrified everyone who saw it.
Was this an early cremation service?
Hahaha, premature cremation indeed!
“Honestly, this is better than a cremation dream. Any cremation veterans want to share?”
“Tonight I’ll tell you in bed (dog head).”
The Old Thief was so devious—everything had been laid out!
Right! I was going to say this! It’s a combo: give you a dragon corpse to relax, then a petty trap to make you alert so you notice the ajar gate, lure you into parkour...
and finally cremate you on the spot (laughable).
“So you shouldn’t have fought?”
Of course! You just go up, tough it out with the undead, you don’t have to clear everything. The dragon would have taken off before they swarmed you. Then run back to hide under the steps and Dragon Bro clears the field for you!
Hahaha don’t say more—you make the boss sound stupid the more you explain.
The chat was in stitches. Some overenthusiastic viewers even posted reaction images.
“HAHAHAHA that expression is priceless.”
Clever backfires on the clever—
“You think what you think you think is what you think?”
“Layered traps!”
“Hahaha...”
Watching the black-and-white screen and heart-hardening chat,
Ayin was furious.
So nasty!
The fear once instilled by Cat Mario seemed to return in that instant!
Who puts a chain trap like this in their game?!
This is monstrous!
Ayin, newly respawned, returned to the bridge.
But those undead that populated it earlier were gone.
And according to this kind of game logic, normal mobs should respawn when the player dies or respawns.
But those bridge undead didn’t respawn—meaning the viewers’ guess was correct.
In the Old Thief’s design, it really had been a scripted scene.
And he was the unlucky sap killed by a scripted performance, outsmarted by his own cleverness.
What a jerk!!!
Crossing the bridge again, Ayin encountered no danger this time.
Moreover,
as if to compensate for his psychological wounds, just a few steps in through the small iron gate inside the tower, Ayin spotted a long rectangular treasure chest quietly resting in a corner not far below.
His eyes lit up as he ran toward it.
“Chest! Let’s see what treasures await me!”