"The 11th UEFA Cup is about to begin!"
The cold night wind whistled outside the window. Although February was approaching and the warm spring was about to arrive, this was something that would happen later - even the advanced technology of the 22nd century could not change the effects of the changes in the four seasons. Come winter. Although the house Duan Qing rents has complete basic conditions such as energy, heating and cooling, for some reason, Duan Qing's heart still feels like winter.
So he gave up tossing and turning on the bed, got up, made a cup of hot coffee, and then browsed the recent news - the afternoon before yesterday, a coworker who had worked before Duan Qing came to his door and paid him an old debt from a long time ago. This surprised Duan Qing. To celebrate, he went to the supermarket to do some shopping and prepared a lot of surplus food for his home. The coffee brewed now is one of them, of course, it is synthetic and the cheapest kind.
After the coldness in his heart dissipated a little, Duan Qing noticed the most eye-catching headline.
The new UEFA Cup is about to begin again. Although the news of registration for the UEFA Cup is released almost at this time every year, so this kind of event arrangement can no longer be called news. However, the gaming industry still paid a lot of attention to this news. On the forums of major platforms, the amount of attention was even greater than the "Emerald Forest" incident a few days ago.
After so many years of hard development, the results of the alliance’s efforts are finally showing. This large-scale event they have spared no effort to organize has become a grand event in the virtual gaming industry as it continues to grow. Whether they focus on the competition between experts, or focus on the exchange of game skills, or even come to make friends, use martial arts to make friends, discover talents, or just join in the fun, they will come to participate in this game feast, and then let this game Become more lively. Of course, in the ten years since the UEFA Cup was founded, many godly players and players have been born here, and all kinds of anecdotes have also occurred in this event, which has become a chat capital for players after dinner.
What's more, this year's UEFA Cup seems to want to make some changes of its own after experiencing the first ten years.
"A more streamlined event arrangement! Fairer scoring standards! A more relaxed competition environment! What are allies waiting for? Come and sign up to compete and show your true colors!"
Oh, this is still a big deal... But Duan Qing casually looked through the league competition process in 2135, which has entered the countdown, and found that there have indeed been a lot of changes.
The new competition events have finally reduced some "feelings" and decisively discarded the virtual game competition events that are still based on the previous generation of game technology. This will of course arouse opposition from some veteran players, but in the face of the general trend, these waves of opposition that have been continuous a few years ago will eventually become powerless.
Two years ago in 2133, a new generation of game architecture relying on the latest optical brain calculation methods was released and formally tested. At that time, some virtual games that had lagged behind by two generations finally began to let go of their glory and reach the end of their lives. After all, the designs and architectural traces of these games that have been around for seven or eight years are too old. Even if these projects are retained for competition, they will always feel a little out of place compared with those games of the new era.
In an event that takes place in a real scene in a virtual world, but also has some flat competition events that rely on images and operations, wouldn't this make people feel... not inconsistent?
After all, they are not on the same level.
Of course, Duan Qing knows that the content of these current virtual games has not changed much on the surface. Gun battle themes, martial arts themes, magic themes, science fiction themes...the content of the games will never exceed human imagination. . But people like Duan Qing can also see that underneath these surface contents, huge changes have indeed taken place, whether it is the design and logical operation methods inside the game, or the operation and reaction methods outside the game.
Otherwise, he would not be so stretched in the free world.
Thinking about other people, they would feel similar to himself... Duan Qing took a sip from the rim of the cup, turned off the news, then flipped through the friend list, and unexpectedly found Xue The name of the magical ice.
What a dedicated person... Duan Qing thought to himself. An input device was then used to send a message: "Will you attend?"
As the only remaining player parties, no one in the five-person team led by Duan Qing came forward to provide any detailed explanation for the sky-high light beam that occurred that day in the Emerald Forest. However, the players who had fought with Duan Qing on the Emerald Tower came out to show off their power. However, in the face of various doubts and without knowing more details, they could not describe all the aspects of the whole story clearly. Therefore, without rounding up the whole story, their only role was to expose more doubts. It made this thing even more heated.
Of course, the participants still mentioned the names of Duanshanyue and Xueling Huanbing. As for the rest... they probably regarded Duan Qing and the others as their subordinates or unknown passers-by, so they didn't mention them much. In time.
Duan Qing himself did not say anything about this matter, nor did he speak out to warn others - he felt that it was his teammates' freedom whether to tell such things. Therefore, the two guys Xue Ling Huan Bing and Duan Shan Yue didn't say anything about this situation afterwards, and he didn't know why - for the two of them, this was a great opportunity to build the reputation of their guild.
Of course, he would not care or care about such things. As for whether someone would come to trouble them after this incident, it was not up to him.
Not long after, he received a reply: "I want to participate, but my level is not high enough."
Then he received another question: "Why is it invisible?"
"Of course... it's for personal reasons. Are you not of a high level?"
Duan Qing also went to the league's Hall of Fame to look up the ID of Xueling Huanbing. He was a player who had appeared in the past three years. Of course, he had some achievements, but from Duan Qing's perspective, these achievements were not in his eyes.
Because she is beautiful and always has a straight face, as cold as ice, the fans of Wings of Liberty gave her the title of "Ice Goddess". After getting along with him for a period of time, Duan Qing naturally sneered at this title - his skills were not very good, and he was not very cold, but... he was just a little stubborn.
Of course, he couldn't deny that she was beautiful.
"The matter in the Emerald Forest has been delayed for a long time, and my level has fallen. If I can't reach level 40 or above before the registration deadline, the president will not agree."
Insufficient level means insufficient attributes and insufficient equipment, which means insufficient strength. Even if you participate in competitions, you will most likely be beaten. The backstage of Wings of Freedom probably also made such internal requirements for the sake of reputation and winning rate.
"That's it...then we can only work harder."
"I will."
"If... you participate, I will also cheer for you." Duan Qing hesitated for a while, and then said one more thing. Then he felt that he was really cheap.
I've suffered such a loss once before.
But it didn't take long before he received the same short reply as always.
"Thanks."
After closing the dialogue window, Xue Ling Huan Bing shook her head, and then put the previously temporarily put aside dialogue in front of her again: "I already know what the president means. Do the people in the first team have any other requests?"
"No...but the players have been a little emotionally unstable recently, and I'm worried...it will affect their performance in April."
"I can't adjust my mentality... How can I still call myself a professional player? These are my exact words, and that's what I tell them."
Xue Ling Huan Bing, who wrote this, actually felt a little embarrassed in her heart, because during the incident in the Emerald Forest, she more or less showed some instability of will, and...
"Okay, Captain."
Thinking of the ID name of the man she just talked to, Xue Ling Huan Bing felt a wave of emotion in her heart, but in just a moment, her years of training restored her previous state.
"Is there anything else you can ask..."
Green mountains on the road... green mountains... that's right.
As if she suddenly remembered something, she called back the dialog box again: "What happened to the person named Duan Qing who you asked you to investigate before?"
"...No results yet, but we are narrowing down the scope. What's wrong, Captain, the situation is very..."
"It's okay, just...just asking."
She waved her fingers casually in front of the screen, and then temporarily put aside these things and the pile of windows.
"It really... fits her style." On the other side, Duan Qing shook his head, closed the chat window, and deleted a lot of other messages.
Ever since the rumor of "The Sky-Breaking Blade returned to the world" spread, a lot of inquiries would pop up in his friends' messages every day, and even his mailbox was flooded with various similar emails. Duan Qing pushed these things aside as if he were facing the collapse of Mount Tai without changing his expression. He has said goodbye to his past self, whether in reality or in the game.
Now he just wants to play the game.
Randomly flip through industry news, professional reviews, and player chatter - the world of games is so exciting, and there is never a shortage of topics. Even things like "Jianghu and Wings of Freedom are fighting on the battlefield", "hot-blooded youths are fighting for NPCs", "new skills are released, but their ownership is causing disputes", etc., will be discussed by players with a lively attitude. There are a few people among them who are either full of enthusiasm or angry and yelling at each other. Most of them are just doing it for the views they support, or for the celebrities and guilds they support. After all, positions and values must be firm no matter what.
But there are some topics that don’t fit into this routine. For example, the news that Duan Qing saw next.
"Christo dies at age 91."
Duan Qing sighed.
Christo is one of the leaders of the "Liberator" development team and the chief designer of the fourth generation virtual game technology. A few years ago, this cute foreign old man frequently appeared on various media terminals, showing off his IQ while displaying the research results of their entire group. But it has to be said that with the development of those technologies, he completed a triple jump in virtual game technology in his later years, and also completed a leap from poverty to billionaire.
This slovenly and humorous designer always looks like an old naughty boy when talking to the media, which makes people laugh and laugh at the same time, but also deeply admires him. Of course, this admiration is not because of the billions of capital he has earned, but because of his contribution to virtual technology. Without the efforts of him and his development team over the years, perhaps until now, all games would still be stuck in the peripheral operation and control stage.
However, this old man who opened up a great era in the gaming industry still failed to break through the shackles of time.
Duan Qing silently opened the news, and then after a brief death announcement and life introduction, he saw a video. This video is said to have been recorded by Christo while lying on his hospital bed before his death. According to his wishes, after his death, this video will be released to the world as his last words to everyone in the world.
It can't be something like "Do you want my treasure?" Duan Qing thought maliciously, and then opened this video that has been clicked countless times by players.
The video is short, and the camera keeps shaking, seemingly due to the haste and emotion of the recording. When the old man was dying, he didn't have much energy to waste. But judging from the picture, he was very excited, and his wrinkled face was filled with a flush of light.
Duan Qing spent five minutes reading it, then remained silent for more than ten minutes, and finally closed the browsing interface and entered the game.
In my mind, the naughty voice belonging to the old man was still echoing.
"Dear players, I am about to go to another world, the world of freedom."
"My life has been colorful. I am honored to be able to create more colorful worlds and then let more people appreciate these worlds."
"I believe that virtual technology can do much more than this. But the rest of the road is up to you to continue to explore."
"However, I will not leave just now. I have left a gift to players all over the world. I hope you can discover and use it."
""Free World" is the best work in my life and the most satisfying work for me. I hope you can find..."
"The Meaning of Freedom."
*********************
"It's so slow, uncle! Do you know how long I've been waiting here?"
Before the scene in front of him became clear, Duan Qing heard the lively voice belonging to Mengzhu, roaring loudly at him.
Still wearing the purple burqa, still wearing the golden ponytail, the little girl looked very excited, jumping around Duan Qing, and then took out a leather jacket from the bag: "Look! This is What?"
"Is this...leather armor..."
"It's a leather armor made of wolf skin! Does Wolf Skin know..." Seeing the coldness of the uncle in front of her, Mengzhu's little mouth showed signs of pouting again. But a moment later, she excitedly held the piece of equipment again and introduced it as if taking credit for it.
"I bought this from a player who set up a stall at the entrance of the village. It is purely handmade and has good quality wild wolf skin! It is said that the sewing process once passed through the hands of Uncle Norman. I looked at the marks on it and it should be genuine. Of! And the most important thing is..."
"That player only sells it for 200 Ebri coins!"
Duan Qing covered his eyes, trying to pretend that he didn't recognize the little girl with the golden light of coins in her eyes.
After that day of separation, Duan Qing and Mengzhu jointly made the decision to go out and explore, so in the past few days of the game, they were preparing for the departure.
Although the adventure in the Emerald Forest did not yield much practical gains, it also allowed Duan Qing and Mengzhu to improve their levels a lot. Coupled with the hard work these days, they are now at level 20 and level 19. There won't be any new development outside Green Stone Village.
Moreover, the current Greenstone Village is indeed at the level of a novice village. The wild wolves on the grassland to the north of the village have become the most powerful monsters that players can find, and the Emerald Forest, which has already lived up to its name, is no longer easily accessible. The existence of monsters was discovered.
Many players from guild forces, and even some famous masters, rushed here in a hurry after what happened that day. But they didn't find anything valuable, because the power of the principality came earlier and was stronger than them.
Some players who had not gone very far into the Emerald "Stone Forest" were immediately kicked out by a patrol composed of soldiers from the Principality. The reason was that the Principality was carrying out research tasks inside and no one else could enter. This situation of "there is treasure inside, but we want to keep it all" really makes the players furious, but other than that, there is nothing they can do.
Players cannot defeat orthodox NPCs, at least not now. And they don't want to provoke these NPC forces, which means endless trouble.
However, Duan Qing and Mengzhu had no complaints about this, since there was indeed nothing inside. It won't be long before these patrolling soldiers will let go of the blockade...
In comparison, they have more troublesome things.
On the third day after that day, Duan Qing accompanied the troubled little girl to the north of the village and found the little boy. After explaining the truth to Benny, they wanted to return the gloves as an apology, but the little boy who gritted his teeth and held back tears refused.
The two of them had discussed before whether to tell the truth. Judging from the current results, Duan Qing's persistence has not been in vain. At least the title of "Manly Benny" can be truly crowned on this little boy's head. The little girl looked at the little face that was trying to hold back the tears. She leaned down and hugged him sadly: "It's all our fault for not finding your father earlier..."
"No, it's not like that..." Benny put down the wooden basket in his hand during the struggle, and then wiped his eyes with his dirty sleeves. As a result, his little face became even dirtier: "Actually, ..."
His voice was a little choked: "I think... my father... hasn't come back for so long... it's very possible... they said... Said..."
"But, I just...I, I hope he...isn't like they say...I, my dad is a man, so... I...I want to..."
"Your father is more than just a man." Although there was some confusion, the two of them could still hear a child's small hope from those intermittent words. Thinking of the ragged figure who kept resisting the forest, Duan Qing finally knelt down and patted Benny's thin shoulder.
"Your father is a hero."
