Chapter 673: Where is My Elizabeth? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

For many players, after playing BioShock Infinite, the two most concerning points were:

The first point was the fate of Elizabeth, whom they dearly yearned for.

The second point was what kind of place that underwater city, seen at the very end of the game, truly was.

And in the content preview video released before this game's launch, players knew they would find answers in this installment.

The incredibly spectacular Rapture, flashing neon signs, and vast underwater creatures swimming by.

The video's scenes rapidly switched: inside Rapture, blood, corpses, and madmen.

The background music sounded eerily peculiar.

On a dark street, a small girl with red eyes holding a syringe turned her head and spoke to a large 'monster' in a diving suit.

After a series of fragmented edits, the scene shifted to a crashed plane.

As the plane plummeted into the sea, a yellowed letter gradually enlarged.

However, the text on it couldn't be clearly seen. The next moment, the game's camera instantly moved into a dimly lit small room.

'Give me back my daughter! No!'

A roar emerged from the darkness, and countless players who had played BioShock Infinite were instantly jolted.

They recognized it—it was Booker's voice!

What was going on?

But wasn't Booker killed at the source by Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite?

Accompanied by a cough, the scene appeared.

In the darkness, the large door was pushed open.

An elegant, mature woman in an office uniform walked in.

'What do you want?'

'How about you light my cigarette first, then we can talk?'

As flames ignited on Booker's hand, the woman, with her back to the camera, slowly turned around.

Innumerable players were filled with excitement.

'What's your name, miss?'

'Elizabeth…'

Then the screen went dark.

………………

This promotional video immediately sparked heated discussion among players.

Although the video content wasn't very long, the things it revealed were already quite substantial for the players.

What astonished them most was that Elizabeth's appearance in the video was completely different. She had become more mature.

Especially Booker's line, demanding his daughter back.

Moreover, Booker in the game didn't seem to recognize Elizabeth.

'It's obvious! This is a Parallel World! The original Booker is dead, but not all Bookers in Parallel Worlds are necessarily dead.'

'But the key question is, is this Elizabeth still the Elizabeth we know?'

'Completely baffling!'

'It'd be weird if it wasn't! The story and background of BioShock are quite deep.'

Players online discussed various theories, but most had many questions.

This was quite normal, though, as trying to understand the entire story of BioShock based on just a preview video was pure fantasy.

After all, this game involved aspects from various fields: religious authority, utopia, quantum mechanics, and a whole host of other complex topics that weren't so easy to grasp.

But no matter what, the one thing that truly excited players was that Elizabeth still had a relevant role in the game.

Knowing that alone was enough.

Especially with Elizabeth's new look, it made people's mouths water even more. Who cared about anything else?

Just for Elizabeth, they had to buy it! Not buying it would be inhuman!

………………

After more than a week, BioShock: Rapture was successfully unlocked after Infinite. Many eagerly awaiting players entered the game immediately.

The forums were filled with a jubilant atmosphere.

'Elizabeth and Booker should finally live together happily, right?'

'It should be, Elizabeth probably gets to retire peacefully.'

'But is the Booker from the original world truly dead?'

'Who knows? He might not actually be dead. Like Lutece and Lady Comstock, they died biologically, but from a cognitive perspective, they were still alive.'

Many, many players held a very optimistic view regarding Rapture as the concluding work of BioShock.

Similarly, Song Ren, a player who had been eagerly anticipating the game, also entered immediately.

Just as Zhang Yi complained that Elizabeth was far more useful than he, a 'pig teammate,' Song Ren had the same thought while playing. He felt that if he had Elizabeth as a teammate, his multiplayer games wouldn't constantly be stuck in the 'fish pond' of low ranks.

His low scores were all Old Zhang's fault for being underperforming!

In this situation, Elizabeth's thoughtfulness only deepened his affection for the character.

“Mr. Chen's works always follow a pattern of joy, sorrow, then joy. In the previous game, Booker might have died, which was sorrow. So, according to this logic, BioShock: Rapture should be joy,” Song Ren mused.

“It’s quite a contrast though, the opening scene in Infinite was a small boat, but the game map was Columbia, the Sky City. Here in Rapture, it's a plane, but the map is the underwater city of Rapture,” Song Ren mused.

At the same time, the in-game narration for the cutscene sounded in Song Ren's ears.

‘1960, mid-Atlantic…'

“This timeline seems to be after BioShock Infinite!”

Looking at a letter on the black screen, Song Ren showed a hint of surprise.

Then the game showed a scene inside an airplane cabin, revealing the protagonist's name: Jack.

This surprised Song Ren a little; had they changed protagonists?

Sitting in his seat, Jack held a burning cigarette butt.

Next, Jack's inner monologue began.

‘They told me: Son, you're a special person, destined to achieve great things.’

‘And you know what? They were right.’

As he spoke, Jack took a gift box from the luggage next to him.

A note was attached to it: To Jack, Mom and Dad love you… Would you kindly… not open until…

At this point, the screen plunged into darkness. Song Ren suddenly heard gunshots, explosions, and screams.

When the screen recovered, the scene had become the ocean.

The plane had crashed, and Jack was the sole survivor, falling into the sea.

In the distance were the plane's wreckage and an extremely dazzling, colossal lighthouse.

“A familiar scene!”

“Another lighthouse opening.”

Approaching the lighthouse on the sea, Song Ren looked around.

Unlike the lighthouse in the previous BioShock Infinite, this one wasn't as eerie inside.

A colossal statue of a man stood in the center of the lighthouse, with a banner hanging on it.

It read: Man is the master of all things.

“Columbia, the Sky City was about flying; now Rapture is about going underwater!”

Below the statue, a conspicuous submersible was parked.

Clearly, to reach the underwater city of Rapture, one needed to use this submersible.

Song Ren had already experienced this in BioShock Infinite.

Entering the submersible, he pulled the switch.

A cheerful BGM started playing.

The submersible's screen displayed a promotional video for the city.

The screen showed a man named Andrew Ryan introducing the submersible's destination to passengers: Rapture.

He claimed it was a utopia for scientists and artists, where everyone's labor would not be exploited by religious or political systems.

Accompanied by Andrew Ryan's narration, Rapture's skyscrapers appeared in the submersible's window.

This underwater city of Rapture gave Song Ren a visual experience no less grand than Columbia, the Sky City, had.

Although he had just started the game, Song Ren felt his attention was completely captivated by the deep-sea metropolis before him.

“Another utopian city. I have a feeling Rapture won't be a good place either.”

Song Ren mused.

Despite just starting the game, with his previous experience in Columbia, the Sky City,

Song Ren didn't hold much expectation for Rapture either.

And it wasn't just BioShock. Whether in film, novels, or games, if a story involved a utopian city, there was bound to be darkness hidden behind its prosperity.

After all, a utopia was a city that could only exist in ideals.

“But… where is my Elizabeth?”

After a brief moment of reflection, Song Ren realized a significant problem.

(End of Chapter) <>