Monsters Are Coming-Chapter 1 - Pirated Link

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[Latest News: After a decade of development, the epoch-making virtual reality game "Dark Land" has officially launched, now available for purchase on major gaming platforms and the official website, with a retail price of 128,888,...]

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[Liver Emperor Group Chat (Online: 10 members)]

Poor as Dirt (Admin): Brothers, "Dark Land" sold a million copies in just ten minutes, what do you guys think?

Gaming and Still Paying Money?: What else can I say, obviously I'll watch on the news. I did want to buy it and try it out, but my wallet says no.

Zero Charge: I've been waiting for this game for eight years, and when I saw the price, my heart finally gave out. They clearly didn't intend to leave any room for ordinary players - I've heard they've even implemented various new anti-cracking technologies. Us common folks might never get the chance to play it in this lifetime, unless my Sugar Mama Plan makes some progress.

Family Shared Godfather: What's even more tragic is that this game blocks all external livestreaming and recording features. We can't even enjoy game videos with our meals, effectively cutting off any chance for us common folk to peek at the rich players gaming.

Poor as Dirt (Admin): Ahhh, I really want to play it so bad. I was already full of anticipation from the early game CG videos, but then they hit us with this 128,888 price tag. I would have gritted my teeth and bought it even if it were 28,888, worst case I'd just eat dirt for a few months.

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As the group chat members continued to lament the pricing of "Dark Land", a sudden message caught their attention.

Benefit Officer: If you guys really want to play, I actually have a cracked version of "Dark Land" that can connect online normally.

Poor as Dirt replied to Benefit Officer: Don't joke, man. Cracked version? Right now, even purchasing the official version requires queueing and competing for scarce copies allotted by the Moon Eclipse Clan to our Human Clan Federation. It's impossible to have a cracked version out on the same day.

Zero Charge replied to Benefit Officer: Are you trying to scam us into downloading SpongeBob and Teletubbies? By the way, who the heck are you? I've never seen you in this group before.

Benefit Officer: I've posted the cracked version link in the group. If you want to play, just download and login directly using this link: ******.

After seeing that Benefit Officer actually sent a download link in the group, none of the members clicked to download.

Instinctively suspecting that it might be a phishing link, clicking on it could lead to disastrous losses.

Just as the members were about to spew abuse at Benefit Officer and prepare to kick him out of the group, one member stepped forward.

Game Working Party: Guys, don't panic, let me download and test it first. There's only 20 left in my bank account, so there's not much to lose if it's a scam. As the saying goes, "The poorer you are, the less you can be hurt." The damage from fraud is proportional to personal wealth. Being as broke as I am, the damage would be minimal. Wait for my reply.

Family Shared Godfather replied to Game Working Party: Godfather, make a quick trip and return swiftly. Your children await your good news here.

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Human Clan Federation, Skywind City.

South District, the slums.

Narrow alleyways were overgrown with moss and vines, the air filled with an indescribable stench, a mix of kitchen fumes, dampness, and unidentified garbage smells.

The housing here was mostly low and dilapidated, constructed of wood and tin sheets. When it rained, they would "pitter-patter" noisily, as if protesting the deplorable living conditions.

As night fell, a dim light shone from an old wooden house in the corner.

Through the gaps of the wooden house, a room under 30 square meters was revealed.

Sslurp!

He sucked the remaining instant noodles into his mouth in one breath, chewed and swallowed, and Li Zheng took a deep breath, tossing the noodle cup into the trash bin beside the seat. He pulled out a paper towel from the carton and wiped the grease from his lips.

Glancing at the time in the bottom-right corner of his computer screen, there was still 1 hour until the scheduled start of his livestream. Li Zheng got up and headed to the bathroom to tidy up his outfit.

In the mirror, he stood 1.82 meters tall, with fair skin, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, his hair neatly cropped short, indeed quite handsome.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Li Zheng couldn't help but let out a jaded sigh.

His current job was a game worker, grinding out hot games to provide resources for pay-to-play players in exchange for money, and occasionally livestreaming for some extra income.

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The Dark Land has recently become hugely popular, attracting hordes of pay-to-play gamers and causing the revenue from my regular game grind to drop visibly fast.

The saddest thing in life is to be alive when your money isn't.

Pulling out my phone from my pocket, the latest payment reminder is displayed.

[Your savings card ending in 3584 has been charged 329 for a Class D nutrition fluid, balance: 21. Would you like to enable account protection feature, which secures the funds in your account?]

Using a six-digit bank PIN to protect a double-digit balance, Li Zheng thinks it's totally unnecessary.

Heading to his computer, the game download progress bar is at 95%, just three more minutes to go before he can dive into the game.

Glancing at the chat group still vigorously discussing The Dark Land, Li Zheng feels 99.99% certain he's been duped.

The Dark Land, produced by the Moon Eclipsing using the most advanced virtual reality tech and equipped with numerous anti-crack core technologies, was almost zero chance of being cracked on its first day of release.

Even the virtual reality game Land of Sin that Moon Eclipsing launched five years ago hasn't got a cracked version to this day.

But he decides to give it a download anyway, despite knowing the likely outcome might just be Calabash Brothers saving grandpa.

Watching one episode shouldn't be too harmful.

Five minutes later.

The game is fully downloaded. Li Zheng unzips the file and transfers it to the gaming capsule connected to his computer, then presses "Game Adaptation".

Before starting the game, he decides to ask for a leave from his live stream viewers.

He had already agreed to stream at 8 tonight with his fans, but now he's about to test this "bogus game" and will unavoidably miss the time.

With a bit of guilt, he takes out his phone, opens the fan group, composes a message and sends it:

"Sorry, something urgent came up, tonight's 8 pm live stream is canceled."

Before he could even put his phone down, a group member replies:

"Nobody watches anyway. A day is not enough; I suggest taking a few more days off, or even a year's leave."

Followed by a series of echo chamber responses.

Li Zheng: ...

His fans' replies are a real blow to his spirits.

At this moment, the green light indicating the gaming capsule has completed adaptation lights up beside his computer desk.

"Forget it. Time to squash my anxiety with an episode of Calabash Brothers saving grandpa."

After changing into his gaming suit, he approaches the gaming capsule and presses the open button, the semi-transparent lid slowly lifts.

He slides into the capsule sideways, the lid closes, and the nutrition fluid oozes from holes around him, engulfing his body as the neural connection hoses automatically attach to various parts of his body.

After a dizzying whirl, the virtual interface appears in front of his eyes.

There are 12 games listed, with The Dark Land that was just downloaded at the very bottom, its game icon depicting a monster engulfed in scarlet flames.

"Something's definitely off."

He's seen the login icon for The Dark Land in the news - it's a pitch-black sword, totally different from the current monster icon.

"Damn con artists!"

Cursing in his mind, Li Zheng still goes ahead and presses the game icon, launching the game.

"Calabash Brothers, power up!"