Chapter 896: Darkness! Oh, the Darkness!

On December 25th, Sin City officially opened.

On the Nebula Games Platform, countless players who had pre-loaded and were waiting for the game to open immediately entered.

Although the game, named Sin City, was almost half as expensive as previous next-gen VR games, Nebula Games and Chen Xu's reputation were well-established, earning the trust of many players.

Furthermore, while the lineup of VR next-gen games was gradually expanding, truly excellent games remained quite scarce.

Zhang Yi, having just finished washing dishes, sweeping the floor, and taking out the trash, returned to his gaming room. Looking at the illuminated gaming pod next to him, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

As his marriage progressed, his former 'Emperor' status in the family gradually devolved into that of a 'younger brother'. He recalled that in the past, he only had to wash dishes and sweep floors; taking out the trash was never his responsibility.

Filled with emotion, Zhang Yi silently lay down in the gaming pod and entered the world of the Nebula Games Platform.

Clicking on the brightly lit Sin City game icon, Zhang Yi entered the game.

As the Nebula Games LOGO flashed by, the screen transitioned to a new scene.

He was currently sitting on an airplane, the cabin filled with NPCs going about their own business. He sat by the window, clearly seeing the outside world through the thick glass.

At that moment, he was soaring over a vast expanse of ocean. In the distance, the coastline and the faint outline of a city were visible.

"This loading time is so slow!"

Zhang Yi was initially a bit confused, but he quickly understood the situation with the airplane sequence before him.

He was, in fact, loading the game's map.

Entering the next-gen era, iterative updates in storage and loading hardware meant that most games' loading progress rarely exceeded 5 seconds.

Even with cutscenes, many games could create a sense of seamless map transitions.

But the current Sin City was different. According to the information previously revealed by Nebula Games, the entire game featured several large cities.

Moreover, different cities seemed to correspond to stories featuring different protagonists.

The map here would be unbelievably vast.

In this situation, to achieve seamless gameplay, it was highly probable that the game would need to pre-load.

Furthermore, unlike games such as The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, whose open-world maps were also large, their themes meant that most areas were wilderness, allowing for repeated resource utilization.

However, Sin City was entirely different. Since the player's stage was a city, all sorts of storefronts, shops, and buildings needed to be meticulously planned.

"This is truly incredible," Zhang Yi gasped in amazement as the plane drew nearer and the city's outline became clearer and clearer.

Just as they were about to approach, different options popped up before Zhang Yi's eyes.

"Choose landing city? Is this for selecting the spawn map?"

Zhang Yi looked at the options, making guesses based on his many years of gaming experience.

Among the choices were three different cities: 'Vice City', 'Lost City', and 'Liberty City'.

If judged by the promotional videos released by Nebula Games previously, different cities clearly corresponded to different stories.

Just like in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with its British and American campaign extensions.

"I'll start with the Lost City content then." Zhang Yi thought for a moment and selected the city.

After all, the others were three-character cities, while this one had two.

After making his selection, Zhang Yi's plane rapidly descended from high altitude. Simultaneously, his view switched from the first-person perspective inside the cabin to a God's-eye view, slowly zooming in towards the ground.

The screen gradually darkened. A Black character in the game disembarked from the plane, pushing his luggage towards a taxi outside, which then drove him slowly along the highway.

Zhang Yi had seen this segment in the promotional video before.

However, this was far more detailed. From the narration, the Black character, clearly the protagonist, was named Carl Johnson. At nineteen, he left his hometown for Liberty City on the East Coast to work for Italians, only returning home after his brother Sweet called with the devastating news that their mother had been killed by a rival gang.

"So, this is like a traditional wuxia novel story: avenge his mother, take out local gangs, and eventually become a gang kingpin?" Having just played Fate Seeker, Zhang Yi instinctively connected it to wuxia themes.

But before he could ponder further, a shrill police siren pierced his ears. The taxi was forced to a stop by a suddenly appearing police car.

Several police officers, pistols drawn, aimed at the taxi he was riding in.

"Hands up, out of the car!"

"What's going on, what happened!?"

Watching Carl emerge from the car in the game, Zhang Yi was completely bewildered.

Zhang Yi had seen this scene in the promotional video before, but he had assumed Carl was arrested by officers for some illegal or taboo act.

"But now?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Don't move! Get on the ground!"

Looking at the dark muzzles of the guns, Zhang Yi obediently lay on the ground, and then the officers put new handcuffs on him.

At the same time, the officer's hand wandered through his pockets, pulling out a wad of cash from his pants pocket.

"'Hand it over, Hernandez.'"

"'That's my money!' Carl on the ground protested."

"'No, this is drug money.' The lead officer chuckled as he counted the cash in his hand."

"'Welcome back, Carl. Happy to be home? You haven't forgotten us, kid, have you?'"

"'How could I? Officer Tenpenny, I was just wondering why you hadn't come looking for me all this time.'"

"'Get in the car...'"

Watching his in-game self being escorted into the police car, Zhang Yi felt a bit bewildered.

"Old acquaintances? Or enemies?"

"'I've washed my hands of that life. I've been working in Liberty City all these years, I'm a law-abiding, innocent citizen,' Carl, handcuffed, argued."

"'Innocent? No, that word has no relation to you. Look at this, what is it?' Under Zhang Yi's bewildered gaze, Tenpenny pulled out a pistol and placed it into Carl's bag."

"'Officer Pulaski, this is a murder weapon, used less than ten minutes ago to kill an officer, Officer Pendelbury. I must say, he was a good man. You work fast, Carl.'"

"'You all know I just got off the plane!'"

"'No, luckily we found you, and discovered the murder weapon.'"

"'Damn it, what do you want from me?'"

"'When we want you, we'll come for you naturally.'"

"'You can't leave me here, this is Ballas gang territory!'"

"'Is that so? But Carl, didn't you say you were a law-abiding citizen, never joined a gang? Now... goodbye!'"

With that, the officer unlocked Carl's handcuffs, opened the car door in the narrow alley, and kicked Carl out of the vehicle.

Rolling on the ground, Zhang Yi felt the vibrations throughout his body and was completely stunned.

He looked at Carl, who had not a single penny on him, dressed only in a tattered white shirt and blue jeans with several holes.

"Darkness! This is too dark!"

Recalling the recent plot, Zhang Yi couldn't help but feel numb.

"Can this get any damn darker!?"

(End of Chapter) <>