Chapter Eight: Me! Li Shang, Student and Keyboard Warrior! Challenge Me If You Dare!
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I am Li Shang, a student! I love playing games, but I have no money.
So, what can I do?
Of course, I play the demo games featured in the recommendations. Not only can I enjoy them for free, but I get to roast the designers’ games too. Instead of getting angry, they actually thank me and even invite me for one-on-one guidance. It’s just too satisfying.
Tap tap tap...
After finishing another game trial, Li Shang’s consciousness returned to his body, and his fingers became a blur as they danced across the keyboard, venting his thoughts onto the computer screen.
[What garbage is this! Even plain water has more flavor than your storyline! If you had any sense at all...]
A heartfelt review, over a thousand words long, was swiftly produced and sent to the game’s comment section.
Satisfied, he nodded at his masterpiece.
He believed it wouldn’t be long before another designer would be captivated by his words, send their thanks, and invite him for personal feedback.
Ah, the excellence of a talented person shines everywhere—even as a critic, he’s treated with respect.
He sighed and closed the game interface after posting his review.
Time to search for the next lucky candidate.
The homepage of the StartPlay platform was divided into three sections:
Home – featuring trending released games;
Categories – each major category had its own page, showcasing the best games available there;
Regional – games debuting in the local area, also serving as the testbed for all new releases.
Li Shang went straight to the regional page, skipping the most prominent recommendations.
His finger scrolled rapidly down to the section for newly added games.
Roasting fresh designers who had just signed up was the most entertaining; those who already had a few old games under their belt didn’t care about reasonable criticism. If you weren’t showering them with praise, they’d just block, delete, or mute you—no fun at all.
“Let’s see, which game should I play...”
His gaze swept quickly over the dozens of new titles.
Veteran designers were immediately skipped—his target was clear: only the works of newly signed designers.
Soon, a particular cover caught his eye.
It wasn’t because the artwork was especially beautiful, but rather because it was completely different in style from the others.
“That looks like the art style of a caveman—my god! And it’s a sandbox game? It’s the year 1202 of the New Era, and someone’s still making such outdated games?”
He couldn’t help but mutter, clicking into the game titled “My Little World.”
He quickly browsed the screenshots and found that the graphics were just as primitive as the cover.
He was speechless. How had this game even been signed?
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Nepotism?
Li Shang clicked his tongue, suppressing the urge to unleash his inner keyboard warrior. After all, he prided himself as a cultured critic.
He would have to play the game first; otherwise, his review wouldn’t be credible or convincing.
He clicked to enter. The neural interface embedded in his brain activated, connecting his consciousness to the computer.
There was a moment of formless confusion, then light returned to his vision—a world built entirely from blocks appeared before him.
“Are you kidding me? They just slapped these textures straight onto the models? My eyes!”
Seeing the world before him, Li Shang was ready to start roasting.
Sure, it was a free demo, but honestly, even if you paid him, he wouldn’t play such trash.
What era is this? And they're still using basic textures as game assets? Unbelievable.
Even more absurd, a game like this got signed.
If there wasn’t some dirty deal behind the scenes, Li Shang wouldn’t believe it.
Holding back his urge to quit and flood the comment section, he began to explore the gameplay.
Just criticizing the graphics wouldn’t get him to a thousand words—he had professional standards. A thousand words was his minimum, never less.
“My body is pixelated too—and it’s square...”
He was at a loss for words. How much must they have lacked in funding to make a game like this?
Shifting his attention from the graphics, he looked at the bottom of his vision.
There was a row of gray squares; the first slot contained something yellowish-brown.
Li Shang focused, and a map appeared in his hand.
He checked it and found it was a usable item, so he used it immediately.
A colorful map popped up in the upper right corner of his vision.
At the center was a green dot, marking his current position.
“The map only shows the immediate area—looks like I’ll have to explore the foggy regions myself.” Li Shang stroked his blocky chin. “An exploration game? How dull.”
He didn’t see what could possibly be interesting about a world made of blocks.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, he noticed a plus sign in the corner of his inventory.
With a thought, a new interface appeared before him.
On the left was his in-game character, a blocky figure in blue clothing, surrounded by five empty equipment slots.
On the right was a grid inventory, and above it an arrow pointing to a crafting section.
“Crafting your own equipment? That’s kind of interesting...” Li Shang caught himself, quickly correcting, “But that’s such an old mechanic now—nothing new at all.”
He closed the crafting menu, looked around, and prepared to gather something to try crafting.
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He tried to pick up some grass, but as soon as his hand touched it, the grass shattered—not grass, but he gained a handful of seeds.
“What the heck?”
Li Shang looked at the seeds, then at the ground. He hadn’t done anything, so how did the grass just explode?
Instinctively, he reached down again...
Looking at the square pit in the ground and the block labeled “dirt” in his hand, Li Shang was stunned.
Was he too strong, or was this game too fragile?
“This mechanic...” Li Shang waved his hand, tapping quickly.
He found that both trees and dirt could be easily broken apart.
And each time he broke something, he felt a vibration—a strangely satisfying sensation that he was beginning to enjoy.
After collecting a variety of miscellaneous materials, he opened the crafting menu and began to experiment.
Dirt? No.
Seeds? No.
Flowers? No.
After a round of attempts, he discovered he could only craft with wood.
One block of wood could be broken down into four planks.
Two planks could become four sticks.
Four planks could be crafted into something called a workbench.
With the workbench, he realized he could craft even more items.
Wooden sword
Wooden axe
Wooden hoe
...
For a while, he was thoroughly absorbed in the game.
But what he didn’t notice was that, as soon as he crafted his first wooden sword, the world around him began to change.
One by one, crystal-clear orbs started bouncing toward him.
PS: 1. The game is a combination of Terraria and Minecraft!
PS: 2. I don’t want this novel to go off the rails again, so I’m writing steadily. The pacing might be a bit slow—please bear with me.