Chapter 131: This Game Has Side Quests!?! (Subscription Request)

Regarding the random item drop mechanic where items follow enemies, in fact, similar mods existed in Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 3 from Chen Xu’s previous life.

However, there were quite a number of bugs.

For example, terrain constraints made it difficult for certain bosses with specific arena designs, such as High Lord Wolnir, to appear in other locations.

In comparison, randomizing items was much easier to implement.

Aside from a few specific quest items that remained unchanged to ensure players could smoothly progress through main and side quests, everything else could be left to chance.

In short, this randomization had no particular balance—it was purely luck-based.

If you were lucky, you might start the game with legendary weapons right away.

If unlucky, you might not even be able to leave the Firelink Shrine.

Still, Chen Xu had no intention of making this unique mode the core gameplay of Dark Souls.

Rather, it was meant as a small gift, a little extra fun—a new space for entertainment for players.

Of course, it definitely wouldn’t be officially launched yet. At the very least, they’d wait until a batch of players had successfully cleared the Dark Souls story.

Although Chen Xu already had the idea in mind, he didn’t immediately bring it up with Qin Yi and the others.

Mainly because even if they did develop this new mode later, it wouldn’t take much effort.

After all, everything was built upon the existing Dark Souls base game.

Moreover, during this period, developing Dark Souls had involved a massive workload, with constant overtime to meet deadlines.

Therefore, Chen Xu had arranged individual compensatory leave schedules for the development team employees.

………………

In the office of Nebula Games, Chen Xu once again hosted the representative from Target Software.

The two parties sat together to discuss matters concerning distribution.

An hour later, Chen Xu shook hands with a smile on his face: "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Chen."

Regarding the several requirements Chen Xu had proposed a few days earlier, Target Software had returned and held internal discussions, ultimately reaching full agreement.

On the matter of creative control, Chen Xu would remain in charge, while they would only handle distribution.

Even the overseas version of the game would require Chen Xu’s input and approval.

The commission rate for distribution remained unchanged.

However, Target Software also proposed a new condition: if future distribution terms were equal, they would have the right of first refusal to sign Nebula Games’ next three major titles.

Additionally, Target Software suggested distributing some of Nebula Games’ previously released Independent Games overseas as well.

The terms would still follow the Dark Souls distribution contract.

Chen Xu agreed to this.

After all, handling everything solely through Nebula Games would involve considerable hassle.

………………

Over the next few days, Chen Xu remained quite busy.

Primarily, he was finalizing the related distribution contracts with Target Software, though his main focus still remained on Dark Souls.

This included overseas channel promotion and content translation. To manage this, Chen Xu formed a dedicated team to coordinate directly with Target Software.

Meanwhile, online, the第一批 players who had入手 Dark Souls had, aside from the clumsy players, mostly progressed into the late game story.

Zhang Yi, seated in front of his computer, had reached the final scene—Kiln of the First Flame.

His girlfriend Wang Han sat beside him, watching.

This save file had become exclusively his after the first day of playing.

Mainly because the earlier rule of switching players after each death had proven too troublesome.

The seat hadn’t even warmed up before it was time to switch.

Reflecting on his journey through Dark Souls, Zhang Yi sighed with emotion.

It had truly been an arduous experience.

From being repeatedly slaughtered by Gundyr the Ash at the beginning, to now standing on the verge of completing the great task of linking the fire.

He stepped onto the map titled Kiln of the First Flame.

Here, he would face his final enemy.

At the far end of the vast, open chasm, dark clouds gathered in the sky. A blood-red setting sun, seemingly about to vanish, bathed everything in crimson.

Yet most of that sun was already shrouded in darkness, leaving only a sliver of light still radiating its final glow.

Looking around, he saw the collapsed ruins of the王城, twisted Greatwood trees, and countless bizarre structures that seemed to transcend time and space. Scattered across the ground were various weapons.

And, of course, there was the ever-present bloodstains.

Zhang Yi was already used to it.

After all, in Dark Souls, it would be strange if any map lacked the blood and tears of players.

Even within the seemingly safe Firelink Shrine, countless players had left their blood after provoking the Crestfallen Warrior.

Slowly moving forward, Zhang Yi finally saw the last BOSS.

Charred armor nearly burned to ash, and a Coiled Sword blazing with fire—this was the very image of every Firelinker.

No words needed. He attacked immediately.

The Soul of Cinder’s skills were incredibly flashy. As the embodiment of the Firelinker, he possessed abilities from every Class, and his weapon transformed into various types—Great Sword, straight sword, and more—depending on the situation.

Although throughout the entire game Zhang Yi had never practiced level-locking and had leveled up whenever he obtained souls, he still died many times facing the Soul of Cinder, the final BOSS.

Yet after nearly a hundred hours of enduring Dark Souls’ trials, he had grown completely accustomed to it.

In fact, he now felt that if he didn’t die at least a couple times a day playing Dark Souls, something felt off.

"NICE! Finally cleared the game!"

After depleting the final BOSS’s health bar, despite many veteran players and hardcore grinders having already completed the game online, Zhang Yi still felt a surge of excitement.

In the game, his character stood beside the First Flame, ignited the flames, and let them spread across his body. Then, slowly, he sat down beside the First Flame. The camera slowly zoomed in on the distant sun, seemingly on the verge of being completely consumed by darkness.

The next moment, the screen went black, and the Dark Souls title appeared in the center.

Thus concluded the first playthrough.

"You know, this game… at first, I was tormented to the point of numbness, but later on, it just got more and more thrilling!" Zhang Yi said, still immersed in the experience, speaking to Wang Han beside him as the main menu reappeared on screen.

This wasn’t showing off—it was his genuine feeling.

When he first started playing Dark Souls, he never imagined a game could be this brutal.

But after dying repeatedly, he suddenly realized the game was actually quite fascinating.

The deeper he went, the more he felt its addictive pull.

At first glance, the Classes seemed nearly identical, mostly focused on slashing enemies in the early game.

But different weapons and skill point allocation created vastly different playstyles, offering immense room for exploration.

Especially the exhilaration and sense of achievement after defeating a boss—this was something he had only ever experienced in Dark Souls.

"The only regret is I didn’t quite understand the story. I just know about linking the fire," Zhang Yi said, scratching his head.

Dark Souls’ greatest feature was its fragmented storytelling.

Moreover, Chen Xu had prioritized the story of the third game. Although he had planted many hints and left numerous traces of the first game’s lore throughout, allowing players to glimpse the former glory of the Dark Souls world,

for the majority of players who simply focused on slashing through enemies and linking the fire—many of whom didn’t even know the conditions for alternate endings—the story remained full of questions.

For example: Where did the First Flame come from? Who exactly was the original Lord of Cinder, Lord Gwyn? Who was the nameless king atop Archdragon Peak? What was the origin of Pontiff Sulyvahn? What did the peak of the Age of Fire look like?

Before clearing the first playthrough, players focused on combat, but after finishing, curiosity about the story emerged. Yet most remained completely baffled, understanding only the surface.

For instance, why link the fire, and why didn’t the Lords of Cinder want to link it?

But the vast narrative of the Dark Souls world remained completely unknown to them.

Beside the puzzled Zhang Yi, Wang Han scoffed: "Who told you to just focus on killing bosses and slashing through? You never paid attention to the story."

"Then tell me the story," Zhang Yi replied.

"Well, I haven’t cleared it yet. But from what’s circulating online, besides the Link the Fire ending, there’s also an End of Fire ending. And it’s very likely that Dark Souls will have a sequel," Wang Han said with a light cough.

Most players were still unclear about Dark Souls’ story.

Whether it was difficulty, gameplay mechanics, or narrative structure, Dark Souls wasn’t a game that could be judged by past ARPG experiences.

The only thing players could be certain of was that through various items,道具, and lingering legends, they knew this was the end of an era.

But what did the world look like at the dawn of that era?

Clearly, Chen Xu probably hadn’t even created a folder for that yet!

"So you don’t even know either, and you’re criticizing me!" Zhang Yi scoffed, hearing Wang Han’s words.

At least he had cleared the game!

"That’s because the story and worldview of Dark Souls are just too vast!" Wang Han defended. "And you only care about killing bosses and clearing the game. Do you know Patches’ ending? Do you know the story behind Siegward of Catarina’s side quest? What about the Crestfallen Warrior, the Saintess—those side quests? I bet you haven’t done a single one!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yi scratched his head: "What!? This game has side quests?"

Of course, this was just a joke. As one of the first players to experience Dark Souls, Zhang Yi didn’t actually not know about side quests.

But knowing and doing were different. Throughout his playthrough, he truly hadn’t completed a single side quest.

And this was the experience of most players.

Because unlike other ARPGs that practically forced you to complete side quests before progressing the main story,

in Dark Souls, every quest—including the main quest—had no clear hints.

Everything had to be discovered by the player.

For the main quest, if you didn’t figure it out, you couldn’t progress.

But for side quests, if you missed them, they were simply gone.

As a result, many players completed their first playthrough without even realizing what side quests existed in the game.

Yet when players later explored the stories behind these side quests, they gained an entirely new understanding of Dark Souls.

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