Chapter 172 : Chapter 172
Chapter : 172
"I didn't expect there to be an underground space here..." [destin] exclaimed, "By the way, the smell of blood here is way too strong."
[XiamiXiami] crouched down and fiddled with the soil on the ground, replying casually, "Can it not be strong? The soil here has been soaked in blood for years... Hmm, at least for more than three years."
"What?" [Rin] was extremely surprised. "Teacher Xiami, do you mean the people in this village have been dead for more than three years?"
[XiamiXiami] looked back helplessly. "I told you not to call me teacher... Also, that's not what I meant. I meant..."
[XiamiXiami]'s unspoken words were preempted by [Pig Chasing Butcher]. He looked up at the patterns carved on the stone pillars, then at the circular platform in the very center of the underground space. "Teacher Xiami means that for three years, people have been dying here from time to time."
"Huh?"
"Based on my years of gaming experience, there's a high probability they died from bloodletting?" [Pig Chasing Butcher] rubbed his chin. "Don't you think this place looks a lot like the cult altars that appear in movies and TV shows?"
"Huh???"
[Big Brother A], hearing [Pig Chasing Butcher]'s words, noticed the high platform. With his extensive gaming experience, he immediately understood the other's meaning. "Indeed. Generally, western fantasy works inevitably feature cults. This underground space really has that altar vibe. Look at that high platform; doesn't it look like something used during a sacrificial ceremony?"
[Computer Sleepy Cat] quickly climbed onto the high platform and saw the patterns carved on the cracked surface. "These runes... look like a magic formation?"
"Formation?" [Kunlun Sect Leader] also leaned in to take a few looks. "No, this should be an alchemy array, not a magic formation."
"You can recognize even this?"
[Kunlun Sect Leader] postured calmly, "I encountered a small hidden quest earlier and learned a little bit from an alchemist."
"Holy crap!" Everyone's gaze towards him was filled with envy and jealousy.
The beta test hadn't been open for long, yet someone had already figured out gameplay for professions other than Mage and Swordsman?
No wonder this [Kunlun Sect Leader] was third on the total game level rankings; he really had some skills.
"Is there any difference between an alchemy array and a magic formation?"
"Hmm..." [Kunlun Sect Leader] thought for a moment and explained to them, "Magic formations are mostly used for elemental amplification or for casting certain spells, and only mages can set them up. Alchemy arrays have broader uses; ordinary people who can't use magic can also become alchemists and set up alchemy arrays."
Everyone fell into deep thought together. This explanation didn't seem to have much relevance to their current situation.
"The setting for alchemy in this game is quite complex, but I think it can be summarized in one sentence." [Kunlun Sect Leader] thought and said, "Ordinary people can also master the world through alchemy."
"Generally speaking, in works with western fantasy settings, cults are never good things. With an altar here and an alchemy array, it looks like they were conducting some terrible sacrificial activities." [He Kou Wang] said, "Teacher Xiami just said that people have been dying here continuously for three years. They wouldn't be using humans for sacrifice, right?"
This guess was very reliable. Almost as soon as these clues appeared, the few players thought of the same thing.
[Big Brother A] thought a bit deeper. "Then the reason for Hawthorne Village's demise becomes complicated. You say there's such an underground altar beneath this village, plus the long-term use of people here... no, more strictly speaking, the use of suspected humans or livestock for sacrifice. Would anyone in the village above know about this?"
Everyone looked at each other, and only [XiamiXiami], the psychology teacher, spoke up. "They would know."
"In settlements like this village, most villagers have some relationship with each other as relatives or friends. It's hard to hide news, especially such a large-scale underground altar." [XiamiXiami] said, "If this is a cult altar conducting sacrificial activities year-round, then it's very likely that the whole village was involved."
"I also noticed earlier that the traces of life in the village above were too 'fake'. I was wondering at first why, in such a realistic world, details in such a key plot point would be glossed over. Thinking about it now, this village might not have been an ordinary village from the start."
[XiamiXiami] stated with certainty, "Perhaps this village was formed by the cult that built this underground altar from the very beginning."
With their discovery, the exploration quest progress also rose by a small chunk.
The few players exploring Hawthorne Village together exchanged glances; it seemed they had found the right direction.
**
The game's beta test had been running for nearly a month, and just three thousand players had already contributed hundreds of pages to the Return section on the forum.
Dozens of threads popped up every day. Not only were the three thousand beta players active, but some viewers who hadn't grabbed a beta spot—who were half-believing, half-scoffing at, yet fully anticipating the world described by the beta players—were also frantically refreshing the threads in the section.
Game-related threads were bumped up one by one. Unfortunately, the gaming helmet didn't have a built-in recording function for now, so the vast majority of viewers still didn't believe that Return was a true holographic game.
[Broken Bridge, Lingering Snow], as a well-known game lore uploader, temporarily stopped updating videos due to the lack of a recording function. Instead, he turned to writing to record his beta test experiences, which was also welcomed by countless players and viewers.
[Livestreaming My Experiences in the Ailman Continent — Broken Bridge, Lingering Snow]
0L: The main post is dedicated to the beautiful Ailman Continent.
I will describe my fantastical experiences in the Ailman Continent from a first-person perspective. This is a real and grand world. If you are fortunate enough to experience it with me, you will surely marvel at this great miracle.
1L: First!
2L: Broken Bridge, Lingering Snow? Is it the Broken Bridge, Lingering Snow I'm thinking of? Even Broken Bridge, Lingering Snow was bought? Didn't they say this guy never takes paid promotions?
3L: Upstairs, do you really believe these bloggers with millions of fans won't take ads?
4L: Die-hard fan of Brother Snow reporting in. Didn't grab a beta spot, squatting here for Brother Snow's feedback.
...
21L:
Ten minutes before the beta test launch countdown, I put on the helmet.
What appeared before my eyes was a pitch-black starry sky. I felt as if I were in the real universe, with specks of starlight within reach.
I was very certain that in this void universe, my five senses were very real.
A huge countdown appeared in the center of my vision, synchronized with the countdown on the official game website.
I reached out to touch the countdown, and a texture like quicksand flowed through my fingers, as if time had turned into a real hourglass, and I couldn't grasp the fleeting time.
After enduring a difficult ten minutes, an ethereal voice rang in my ears.
It asked me to input my name, and I still named myself Broken Bridge, Lingering Snow.
"You have successfully entered your character name. Now, let us embark together, journey to the unknown world, and unveil the mysterious veil of the Ailman Continent."
"The adventure is about to begin. Wishing you a pleasant journey in Return, and may the stars guide your way forward."
Accompanying these two sentences, a white light swallowed me, engulfing me like the Big Bang. A soul-shaking roar resounded in my mind. In the blink of an eye, the white light faded, and I stood under an azure sky.
I can't describe that feeling. It was like truly traveling through time and space. My soul was scattered and then reassembled in another world. I had landed.
I was in a deep forest, with trees towering into the clouds. Small beasts in the low bushes looked at me curiously. The clear breeze rustled the forest, and a leaf fell onto my shoulder.
I could smell the scent of the forest!
This is an incomparably real, grand world.
22L: Is it really that magical? Can current technology achieve this level? It's not really bought, is it?
23L: As expected of Brother Snow, graduating from a prestigious school means good writing. When I logged into the game, I could only say 'WTF' repeatedly. My brain went blank; where would I have the time to remember what happened?
PS to the upstairs, Return is really holographic. Brother Snow isn't exaggerating at all; it's exactly the same as transmigrating!
24L: Yes, I jumped around as soon as I entered the game, almost going crazy. The Ailman Continent is so real that I thought this game was sending us to another world under the guise of a holographic game! I immediately logged off to confirm, but as a result, I used up my daily limit and wasn't allowed to log back on QAQ. I wasted eight hours of leveling time compared to others.
...
43L:
The place where I landed is called Norman Forest. It is the largest forest in the Ailman Continent, connecting the Two Great Empires, the Sea of Death, Dragon Valley, and the Elven territory, Sylval.
I learned all this in the novice village, but that's a story for later.
Let me talk about what happened after I landed.
I spawned here with a batch of players. After everyone gradually got used to their new bodies (actually, I think it was after everyone calmed down from their excitement), a man named Lloyd appeared. He wore leather armor and carried a bow and arrows on his back; he looked like a hunter.
And indeed, he was. Lloyd claimed to be a hunter from Norman Autumn Leaf Village. He heard a commotion while hunting nearby and came to check it out. Seeing us, he guessed we were Descenders and warmly invited us to his village for a temporary stay.
Norman Autumn Leaf Village is the novice village for our batch of players. We affectionately call it Norman 02 because there are a total of three novice villages in Norman Forest, and ours is the one in the middle.
We then stayed in this village.
Those who know me should know that I really like exploring the background story of a game, especially those hidden, unknown backstories.
Curious about the hunter calling players Descenders, I began to ask around in the village for information. I have to marvel at the realism of this world again.
No matter what I asked, the NPCs could have different reactions and could even ask rhetorical questions regarding my inquiries. This is simply too incredible.
After a few days of inquiry and corroboration from multiple sources, I summarized all the information I know.
This world has only one vast continent; no other continents have been discovered for now. This continent is called the Ailman Continent and was once ruled by gods.
However, three thousand years ago, more than a thousand years before the Eternal Calendar (also known as the Light Calendar), for unknown reasons, the God of Darkness, one of the Six High Gods, launched a war against another High God, the God of War. The War of the Gods, which lasted for over a thousand years, began.
Gods killed each other, fighting for authority. This continent ruled by gods fell into the flames of war. The human race and other races were displaced, with only a few powerful races temporarily spared from the disaster.
It wasn't until more than a hundred years before the Eternal Calendar that a human hero appeared. His name is unverifiable, but he has a widely circulated title: [Demon King].
The Demon King subdued the major races, including Elves, Beastmen, Dragons, Dwarves, the Sea Tribe, and so on, integrating them into one, and leading the multitude of races to sound the horn of counterattack against the gods.
After the Angel race, the kin of the God of Light, rebelled and joined the Demon King's team, the Demon King's army was unstoppable.
While the gods were still killing each other, the Demon King had already led the other races to defeat them one by one.
Finally, the most powerful God of Light ended in the sky above the Empire of Light, ending the thousand-year-long War of the Gods.
Speaking of this, do you think Ailman's history is a cliché story of a hero fighting a dragon?
Actually, the story has just begun...
[To be continued]