Chapter 851: The Three Silly Bandits Strike!

Soon, amidst eager anticipation and controversy, Payday officially launched.

Apart from the earlier promotional video, Chen Xu hadn't done much promotion for this game. It wasn't because the game's scale was small; it was purely because the subject matter was a bit controversial. Although Nebula Games' size made it impossible to keep a low profile, Payday still remained a point of contention. For Chen Xu, however, it was important to convey the appropriate attitude.

Yet, for players, it had long been eagerly awaited. Perhaps this wasn't Nebula Games' best title, but it certainly generated the most hype. After all, most people aren't the saints recorded in history or stories; they inevitably harbor some dark thoughts. These dark impulses, however, are kept in check by laws, morality, and their better nature.

But in a game, players can choose to let loose and vent.

As usual, before the game even started, many players who had been looking forward to it were calling their friends, waiting for the game to unlock.

After all, through previous information, players already knew the game's core elements: it was a PVE co-op game, with grinding elements.

This type of game, obviously, would be exponentially more fun when played with friends.

………………

In Nebula World, Zhang Yi, Song Ren, and Wang Han were also full of anticipation for the game to start.

There’s no need to mention Zhang Yi and Song Ren, the two grown men. Despite their terrible marksmanship, truly the epitome of awful aim like those legendary “sunset red” players, if they used hacks, they'd pretty much get banned from every FPS game they played.

But as real men, most are naturally drawn to intense and exciting games, and these two were clearly among them. As for Wang Han, though a female player, she was a die-hard fan and equally excited about this type of game.

The thrill of robbing a bank in a game was simply too hard for her to resist. What’s more, this game called Payday, at least when it came to robbing banks, looked nothing short of professional based on the previous promotional videos.

“What are you guys going to name yourselves? Shouldn't we pick an ID with a bit more immersion?” Song Ren excitedly asked while they waited.

“Change IDs? Immersion?” Zhang Yi looked a little confused.

“Exactly! Compared to robbing banks in Red Dead Redemption, Payday, judging by the promo videos, is incredibly professional. Since the game is so professional, we players should step up our game too!” Song Ren said, as if it were obvious.

“That makes sense. Hmm… I’ll be Zhang Mazi. Sounds like a heinous bandit, and it has a strong sense of the times,” Zhang Yi thought for a moment and quickly decided on his ID.

“You might as well be Zhang San. Not only did he commit robbery, but he’s done every illegal thing imaginable,” Wang Han, standing nearby, couldn’t help but retort.

“Zhang San sounds terrible, and we’re supposed to be fierce bandits. Zhang Mazi is much more fitting,” Zhang Yi argued.

“Perfect, then I’ll be Song Silang. Like you, I’ll have that sense of the era. Originally the fourth son of a landlord, but forced by corrupt officials to become an outlaw,” Song Ren said, completely absorbed in his character.

As the initiator of the idea, he not only chose a bandit alias for himself but also planned out a backstory for his character.

“You two, don’t turn fierce bandits into silly bandits!” Wang Han, standing beside them, was truly at a loss for words with these two.

Their gaming skills were awful, but they sure had a lot of drama!

Zhang Yi and Song Ren ignored Wang Han's comment. At this moment, their minds were already visualizing themselves as highwaymen, breaking into jewelry stores, committing robberies, and then escaping in a hail of bullets.

How exciting!

It was a shame Joey and Wang Yifan weren't around; today there were only three of them. This game, after all, supported up to four players for robberies!

The three of them chatted and bragged, and soon the game unlock time arrived. Without a moment's hesitation, they all jumped into the game and set their in-game IDs: Zhang Mazi, Song Silang, and Wang Dabiao.

“Let’s go through the basic tutorial missions first, then we can team up,” Zhang Yi suggested.

“Sounds good, I saw the introduction, it looks like this game is quite different,” Song Ren nodded in agreement.

The three chatted for a bit, then each temporarily muted their voice chat software and entered the new player tutorial system.

Compared to the original Payday, Chen Xu had optimized a lot of the content. Firstly, the game's action system—climbing, crawling, and melee combat—was much richer than the original. In addition, there were improvements in detailed expressions, higher AI performance, and the in-game hostages would also be more intelligent, moving to specific positions, crouching, or lying prone as directed.

In the original, for most players, hostages were essentially target practice, a means of teasing, and a waste of zip ties. Their true purpose, such as exchanging for teammates or delaying SWAT arrival and their offensive firepower (e.g., SWAT wouldn't use tear gas if there were hostages), was rarely noticed by players. So, Chen Xu slightly enhanced this aspect, giving hostages a bit more presence.

The game’s new player tutorial wasn't overly complex, though it might be a bit tedious for impatient players. After all, Payday wasn't a huge game, and the tutorial couldn't break new ground like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; it could only proceed step-by-step like most FPS games.

Normally, Zhang Yi wasn't impatient, but he was currently so fixated on becoming a fierce bandit that he didn't pay much attention to the tutorial, basically just doing whatever he was told. The only thing he noticed was how incredibly cool the fierce bandits in this game were!

Dressed in suits with masks and guns in hand, the sense of oppression was maximized!

Soon, the three quickly completed the new player tutorial levels. As Zhang Mazi, the boss, Zhang Yi impatiently pulled Wang Dabiao and Song Silang into the squad.

“GOGOGO!” Song Ren’s eager voice came through the squad chat.

However, upon seeing Song Ren's character, he immediately couldn't help himself.

“Dude, we’re robbing banks here, Old Song, what the hell is up with that mask!? You look like such an idiot!” Zhang Yi said, dumbfounded by Song Ren's appearance in the group.

Song Ren, holding a small pistol, had no issues with his suit or weapon, but his mask looked like that of an idiot.

“Exactly, Old Song, can't you be a bit more normal? And why aren't you two wearing bulletproof vests?” Wang Han, who had also joined the group, interjected.

At the start of the game, Chen Xu had also given players two sums of starting funds. Players could use the regular gold coins to buy initial equipment, such as firearms, a portable chainsaw for cutting ATMs, or simply masks. In addition, there was a sum of offshore funds that could be used to accept contract missions on crime.net and increase contract difficulty.

As for skill points and cards, these required experience, and naturally, that came from grinding and intense grinding.

“Why wear a bulletproof vest? Wouldn’t that ruin my handsome suit?” Zhang Yi chuckled.

Being handsome was a lifelong priority, even when fallen into banditry, it couldn't be ignored.

“Enough talk, let’s go acquire some goods quickly. I found this game is different from Call of Duty; it doesn't have much of a pure storyline, it’s more like Rainbow Six,” Zhang Yi said.

According to the previous promotional videos, they had a general understanding of the game's content. In the game, they were part of an organization called the Payday gang, high-IQ robbers with unique skills from different regions, brought together by Dallas to commit various criminal activities.

Crime.net was the primary place to accept contracts, including but not limited to destruction, theft, and robbery. The rewards varied based on difficulty and scale.

“What the heck do you mean ‘acquire goods’!” Wang Han couldn't help but retort.

“Although the backstory states we’re high-IQ robbers, we’re actually rookies. How about we start small? This ‘Four Stores’ mission seems perfect for us: a cafe, a convenience store. We'll start from scratch,” Song Ren suggested.

Considering their gaming skill levels, Zhang Yi and Wang Han nodded in agreement.

“GOGOGO, fierce bandits deploy!”

Accompanied by an exciting slogan, the three quickly selected their first robbery contract in the game: Four Stores. (End of Chapter) <>