Meng Chang’s mindset underwent a complete 180-degree turn.

He suddenly didn’t care about this month’s commission at all.

Because what he learned from Mr. Pei was priceless!

The complete “Pei-style promotional method” could not be measured in mere tens of thousands of yuan.

With this realization, Meng Chang felt relieved and continued watching the second half of Qiao Laoshi’s video.

……

“For the second point, let’s return to the game ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ itself and discuss its spiritual core, which differs from ‘Turn Back to Shore.'”

“Some people say that ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ has lost the experience of struggling in the sea of suffering that ‘Turn Back to Shore’ had, and this complex combat system has polarized the experience for different player groups, causing it to lose that flavor.”

“I believe this phenomenon does exist to some extent.”

“But my view is somewhat different: I believe this is precisely the intentional design by the creator, because what ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ aims to express is fundamentally different from ‘Turn Back to Shore’!”

“Let’s start by looking at the game content and briefly compare the differences between ‘Turn Back to Shore’ and ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth.'”

“The story of ‘Turn Back to Shore’ takes place later, in an already collapsed world, and the protagonist is an ordinary person with no remarkable combat skills who goes through countless hardships before finally breaking into the Avici Hell.”

“The story of ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ takes place earlier, in a world that has not yet collapsed, and the protagonist is a Martial God whose combat skills have reached the pinnacle. He defeats various powerful enemies along the way, killing whoever stands in his path, whether human or divine, until he finally realizes he has made a grave mistake.”

“These two protagonists have clearly different identities, so how can we force the same approach as ‘Turn Back to Shore’?”

“Think about it: if the Martial God were to constantly struggle and sink in the sea of suffering like the ordinary person in ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ what qualifications would he have to be called a Martial God?”

“In the game, because of the different skill levels of players, the Martial God they portray also varies in strength.”

“But when discussing this issue, we must primarily base it on the Martial God’s image from the official novel. In other words, those players who can kill the Black and White Impermanence without taking damage at the beginning and breeze through the game cutting down enemies like vegetables are the ones truly reflecting the Martial God’s real state.”

“Similarly, the different combat systems of ‘Turn Back to Shore’ and ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ also correspond to the protagonists’ identities.”

“The protagonist of ‘Turn Back to Shore’ is an ordinary person, so he can only clumsily roll to avoid enemy attacks, carefully strike at the right moment, and only after countless deaths and cycles does he finally break this fated cycle.”

“The protagonist of ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ is a Martial God, so he can quickly sidestep, avoid lethal attacks with razor-thin margins, skillfully use various weapons, control his breath, parry opponents’ attacks, find openings, and strike with one killing blow.”

“Many details in the game constantly remind players of this.”

“For example, the Martial God uses the power of the magic sword to leave marks at suitable locations, reviving there through the sword’s power after death; while the protagonist in ‘Turn Back to Shore’ uses broken Buddha statues.”

“Attentive players will discover that the locations where the magic sword leaves marks are exactly the same as the positions of these broken Buddha statues.”

“Combined with some information in the game, we can easily learn that the marks left by the Martial God along the path continuously emit demonic energy, affecting the surrounding areas. A certain enlightened monk, in order to eliminate this influence, carved Buddha statues to suppress this demonic energy.”

“And after many cycles, when these Buddha statues became broken and incomplete, they took on the task of guiding the protagonist in ‘Turn Back to Shore.'”

“The intersections between ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ and ‘Turn Back to Shore’ are numerous. This shows that ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ is not like DLCs for other games that merely add an extra piece to the original game content; instead, it directly follows another timeline, forming a unified whole with ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ becoming two sides of the same coin!”

“Therefore, for some people to try to find the feeling of ‘Turn Back to Shore’ in ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ is like climbing a tree to catch fish.”

“‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ operates on the same principle as ‘Turn Back to Shore’ in breaking the fourth wall, but it targets a different audience!”

……

Although Meng Chang didn’t understand games very well and would definitely not subject himself to suffering in games like ‘Turn Back to Shore’ or ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth,’ he was still watching with great interest.

He had long heard that ‘Turn Back to Shore’ had the effect of breaking the fourth wall, with players dying over and over in the game, empathizing with the ordinary protagonist, and getting closer to understanding that despair-inducing world.

But what about ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’?

Meng Chang hurriedly continued watching.

……

“In my previous video, I said that the more unskilled you are, the more you should play ‘Turn Back to Shore.’ Because dying again and again due to poor skills makes you better experience the protagonist’s despair and pain.”

“If you give up, you’ve actually achieved the ‘turn back to shore’ ending—you abandoned the game, and the protagonist in the game sinks forever in the sea of suffering.”

“And those real experts, because they die so few times and easily pass the levels, can’t experience this feeling of struggling to survive.”

“This time, Mr. Pei created ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ to compensate for this regret for those expert players, allowing them to also experience the feeling of breaking the fourth wall!”

“Compared to ordinary players who die again and again, expert players’ gaming journey better matches the Martial God’s original story, so their mindsets are more aligned.”

“I think many players who can kill the Black and White Impermanence in the prologue should, like me, have a strong sense of pride and self-satisfaction, feeling invincible and undefeated. The Ten Yama Kings, the Judges of Life and Death—aren’t they all just souls who fell under my sword?”

“With this mindset, we cut through the Yellow Springs Road, crossed the Bridge of Helplessness, strolled through the Yama King’s Hall, and cleared the Six Realms of Reincarnation…”

“With our powerful martial skills, we slew one enemy after another who dared to stand in our way, even though they constantly warned us, we turned a deaf ear.”

“The old monk once told us that even divine martial arts cannot sever life and death, and will lead to the demonic path, urging us to turn back to shore.”

“The Black and White Impermanence angrily rebuked us, saying we resist the ghost officials and will be cast into the Avici Hell, never to be reborn.”

“Besides them, Meng Po, the Judges, the Ten Yama Kings… these bosses all said some lines when fighting and dying, either threatening or admonishing, but we paid no attention and just wielded our weapons, cutting them down one by one.”

“It was only after clearing the Six Realms of Reincarnation and returning to the human world to see the tragic state that we realized we had made a grave mistake.”

“So, we entered the Avici Hell, sacrificed ourselves, and became the first Prison Keeper.”

“Throughout this process, our emotions were completely consistent with the Martial God’s: we possessed great power but became arrogant because of it, thinking we were doing the right thing when in fact we were making a huge mistake.”

“And those who willingly gave up and entrusted everything to the magic sword can be seen as Martial Gods who failed to shoulder their responsibilities, ending up in an even more tragic situation, controlled by the magic sword, eternally trapped in the cycle of rebirth.”

“And this is clearly another way of breaking the fourth wall!”

“The way ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ and ‘Turn Back to Shore’ break the fourth wall is essentially the same: by linking the player’s actions with the protagonist’s actions in the game, creating emotional resonance, and unconsciously driving players to act according to the protagonist’s style, they can develop a deeper understanding of the story.”

“So I say, ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ is not an ordinary DLC; it forms a complete whole with ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ two sides of the same coin, extending this feeling of breaking the fourth wall to all players!”

“It’s perfectly balanced.”

“Understanding this, we also know why ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth,’ as a DLC, is set before ‘Turn Back to Shore.'”

“Because for a player who has never encountered ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ playing ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ first might not necessarily provide a better gaming experience, but it is more logical!”

Qiao Liang’s meaning wasn’t hard to understand.

The combat system of ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ was more complex, so it might be more difficult to play. Of course, there might be exceptions, but this was speaking about the general situation.

Therefore, playing ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ first might not provide a better experience, because if you couldn’t adapt to this combat system, you might die even more miserably than in ‘Turn Back to Shore.’

But this arrangement was more logical.

Because the story of ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ came before ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ this arrangement allowed players to better understand the development and context of the entire story. The fall from Martial God to ordinary person would enhance the sense of suffering for the ordinary person, catalyzing players’ deep appreciation of the story in ‘Turn Back to Shore.’

Finally, Qiao Liang made a concise conclusion.

“In my view, ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ as a DLC hasn’t just achieved 100 points, but 120 points!”

“It’s not simply taking out a portion of content and forcibly grafting it onto the base game ‘Turn Back to Shore.’ Instead, it uses a more sophisticated approach, redesigning the combat system, replanning the timeline, and using reused scenes and resources to show us another possibility—two sides of the same coin!”

“At first, I was a bit regretful, thinking that such an innovative combat system could completely be used to make a new game or ‘Turn Back to Shore 2,’ which would definitely earn more money.”

“But Mr. Pei’s thinking is indeed different. He used the original materials and scraps from ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ polished them, and perfectly combined these two different games and combat systems!”

“This makes us exclaim: so DLCs can be made like this?”

“Perhaps the content of ‘Eternal Cycle of Rebirth’ isn’t enough to earn an episode of ‘Legendary Works,’ but I think it has shown us the perfect answer a DLC should deliver, achieving 120 points out of 100. This is the truly correct way to approach a game DLC!”