Chapter 917 The Final Chapter: 'I Am a Player'

One by one, characters incredibly familiar to Zhang Yi appeared on the screen.

Like a fleeting glimpse, the life experiences of the Van der Linde gang members who left with Arthur's help were laid out before him.

Pearson, the chef who opened a restaurant, still kept a photo of all the Van der Linde gang members under the counter, naturally, without Micah.

Tilly, who married a lawyer in Saint Denis, settled down and had children.

Mary-Beth, who became a famous writer, and Reverend Swanson, who became a socialite.

And Sadie, the Valkyrie who became a bounty hunter, as well as John Marston's family, who built their own farm at Beecher's Hope.

Of course, what pleased Zhang Yi the most was Arthur Morgan.

In a small rural town, Arthur and Mary lived a peaceful life in seclusion.

Unlike Arthur's tragic ending in the original game, this ending clearly lacked much of the emotional impact, making the game less shocking than the original.

At the same time, without that layer of tragedy, this ending was not as profound.

If judged by the media's scoring system, where the original scored 100 points, this perfect ending might only receive around 90 points or even less.

However, that was only from an artistic perspective. For a player like Zhang Yi, he clearly loved this ending to death.

Don't think about art, don't think about all that messy stuff.

In a certain world, Arthur could safely and soundly live alongside Mary; that was already enough.

Similarly, Zhang Yi wasn't the only one feeling such excitement.

In Call of Duty, the original Roach and Ghost were betrayed by Shepherd, Soap also died from severe wounds during their escape, and finally, Yuri sacrificed himself in the battle against Makarov, not to mention Gaz and others who died at Zakhaev's hands before Task Force 141 was even formed.

But in the new Nebula World, players could enter this world, which had left them with immense regret, and rewrite the fates of these characters.

In the sky city of Columbia, fate played a cruel joke on Booker; he wasn't some Prince Charming rescuing a princess. In fact, Comstock, the main villain who imprisoned Elizabeth, was an alternate version of himself who had been baptized and corrupted in his youth.

So, in the end, to truly destroy Comstock, Booker had the restored Elizabeth drown all alternate versions of himself before he could be baptized, thus completely eliminating his and Comstock's existence across all universes. And in the underwater city, Elizabeth died permanently there to save the girl Sally.

Now, in the world of BioShock, players possessed new abilities to rewrite these fated deaths.

If a person became a Fungal Beast due to a mold infection, would he still possess human emotions?

His heart was dug out, his body crystallizing and beginning to rot—what else could he do? Ethan showed everyone through his actions that he was indeed a monster, just a monster named 'father.' Unlike Chris, who only acted as a Riddler at the start and showed up for a rich battle at the end, players in the village would assist Ethan in eliminating the five Four Heavenly Kings and ultimately rescuing his daughter Rose.

Desmond, who gradually grew from an ordinary youth into a powerful assassin inheriting his ancestors' will, ultimately chose to sacrifice himself for all humanity, tragically dying completely burnt.

Emile, who defied his superior's orders during the war, mutinied to save soldiers destined for death, but was ultimately sent to a military tribunal and sentenced to death.

Liva, who, despite being together with Johnny, always had a wall between them, spent her entire life folding paper bunnies just to make Johnny understand her true feelings.

The Buster Sword, passing from Angeal to Zack and then to Cloud, transmitted the honor of a SOLDIER.

Vandham, who launched a suicide attack; the Four Champions who united to defeat the Demon King; Broxigar, who, as a mere mortal, blocked the demonic tide and wounded Sargeras himself.

For players, there were too many characters and stories within Nebula Games' many IPs that left them with lingering regrets.

Perhaps these adapted stories wouldn't be as profound as the originals.

But for players who had experienced them, who would truly care?

It had been almost ten years since some of these classic games launched, and the power of nostalgia was truly immense.

And when the opportunity to mend these regrets appeared, players erupted with an incredibly strong enthusiasm.

Nebula World was not a game, yet it was more powerful than any game.

Because it was, in itself, the embodiment of the youth of players both domestic and international.

Although overseas, new-generation VR gaming pods were gradually becoming restricted through pricing and various other aspects.

But seizing the initiative, coupled with the emergence of the Nebula World as a powerful weapon, left no suspense whatsoever in the platform wars of this era.

And it went far beyond that; the existence of Nebula World initially appeared to be a tribute to players' nostalgia, but its inherent network attributes also made it a virtual VR community.

Concurrently, with the advancement of technology and the times, the market for gaming as an entertainment activity would continue to grow, and it would also gradually change how countless people viewed games.

More and more people shared the same identity: Player.

Nebula Games was clearly an unavoidable presence for any industry professional or player.

One by one, familiar characters and IPs had gradually become symbols representing game culture.

………………

Nebula Games' theme park, unlike when it initially collaborated with some renowned domestic and international film and television companies to promote IPs, now exclusively featured Nebula IPs.

Many teenagers flocked together, exploring the theme park with astonished expressions, overwhelmed by the cool areas and unsure where to go first.

Zhang Yi, Wang Han, Song Ren, Joey, and Wang Yifan, the five of them, explored together, just as they had ten years ago when they first attended a Nebula Games offline exhibition.

Wang Han looked at the pale-faced Zhang Yi, quite speechless: “Can’t you have some self-awareness? From PC to VR, how many times have you played Outlast? What does knowing the plot matter? Every time you still scream your head off.”

Zhang Yi took two deep breaths: “Who the hell knew this haunted house would be so terrifying? Don't regular haunted houses just hire real people to play NPCs? Mr. Chen's newly opened Outlast-themed haunted house, damn it, uses holographic projections!”

“Exactly, exactly. Let’s rest for a bit, my legs are wobbly,” Wang Yifan and Joey agreed, supporting each other.

“By the way, where's Old Song?” Zhang Yi, having somewhat recovered, finally noticed something: one person seemed to be missing from their group of five.

He looked around and quickly spotted their target.

Not far behind them, a middle-aged man with a ghastly pale and utterly drained face stood alone, leaning against a wall, forming a stark contrast with the couples who had just emerged from the ‘Mount Massive Asylum’ haunted house next to him.

“Old Song, are you alright?”

“Heh... I'm anything but fine.” Facing Zhang Yi's concerned words, Song Ren grunted, his pale face offering no conviction.

“Speaking of which, Mr. Chen seems particularly active these past few years,” Song Ren said, changing the subject and sighing as he noticed a large screen in the theme park showing Chen Xu as a guest on a game interview program.

In Nebula Games' project office, Meng Zuo and others were engaged in a fierce ‘argument.’

“I told you to make a game, and you're using public funds to chase stars?! Is there something wrong with my character design? Why the hell did you go find real people for filming?!” Ruan Ningxue glared, shouting at Qin Yi and the others.

“Cough cough... Mr. Chen greenlit these character choices, and he also said that the story of '428: Shibuya Scramble' would have more immersion with real-person performances,” Qin Yi coughed lightly.

“Don’t bring him up! Mr. Chen hardly participates in front-line development anymore, and are you making a game or a TV series?” Ruan Ningxue snorted. “Also, tell me your thoughts on this game.”

This time, Qin Yi and the others became enthusiastic: “We discussed this with Mr. Chen. The main system will be based on the ‘butterfly effect,’ with multiple players collaboratively playing different roles. Based on each player's actions, different developments will unfold. Whether it's a good ending or a bad ending, players will solve it together.”

………………

While a group of people at Nebula Games were discussing the direction of new projects, Chen Xu was undergoing a special interview.

An interview about an award bestowed by the Game Department.

In fact, Chen Xu hadn't participated in any related game awards for a long time.

The main reason was that Chen Xu no longer needed so-called game awards to prove himself.

Numerous game media and players, both domestic and international, believed this to be true.

Chen Xu didn't need awards to prove himself, but major game awards needed Chen Xu to prove their own legitimacy.

To determine whether a game media outlet or game award was legitimate or merely a ‘wild chicken’ (fraudulent) existence, the first thing to check was whether they had ever honored Chen Xu with an award, or if they had given high scores to Chen Xu's classic games.

If not, there was no need to look further.

This time, however, the award Chen Xu was nominated for was somewhat special.

It was the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Game Hall of Fame.

Unlike previous selections of game designers, which often sparked controversy,

when the award organizers officially announced Chen Xu's induction into the Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement, both those who liked him and those who didn't had to admit one thing: it was well-deserved.

In the gaming industry, Chen Xu had truly led too many trends, all with profound and lasting impact.

He pioneered sandbox gameplay with Don't Starve and Minecraft; established the open-world concept with Red Dead Redemption, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; shaped 'box garden' design with Super Mario Odyssey; and even, in terms of hardware, created a phenomenal handheld console like the Switch.

And in the realm of VR, Detroit: Become Human, as the first game to support brainwave operation, could be said to have established a new generation of control standards.

Not to mention games like Uncharted, The Last of Us, and Final Fantasy, which revived once-languishing genres.

Purely in terms of influence on the industry, due to the times, a game designer still had some.

But when considering his classic works as well, it could be said that no one could surpass him.

“One final question, Mr. Chen Xu, if you had to describe yourself in one sentence, what kind of game designer do you believe you are?”

Chen Xu, seated upright in a formal suit on the sofa, paused slightly upon hearing the reporter's final question.

Looking at the countless familiar IP characters around him, and with the images of many people flashing in his mind, Chen Xu finally just pulled out a business card from his pocket.

“On my business card, I am the BOSS of a game company.”

He put down the business card and lightly tapped his head with his index finger.

“In thought, I am a game designer.”

His right hand slowly came to rest on his chest.

“But in my heart, from beginning to end, I am a player.”

(End of Chapter) <>