This was the first time Hu Xiao had seen water armies blend so naturally into ordinary comments, truly seamless integration.

Hu Xiao had originally wanted to refund and delete the game, but after reading the fierce arguments online, he sank into deep confusion and felt a bit curious.

Making the game so difficult was intentional on the official side.

The attitude in this Weibo post was very clear, almost staring directly into players’ faces. Apart from being phrased more tactfully, it wasn’t much different from the six-character mantra.

But why?

Were they deliberately trying to antagonize players?

That didn’t make sense either.

What game developer would deliberately offend players? Wouldn’t they be refusing money?

With these doubts and curiosity, Hu Xiao decided to look for some guides about this game, hoping to find clues.

He opened the game’s forum and quickly browsed through it.

The forum wasn’t much different from Weibo and the game’s comment section—it was also in chaos.

Water armies were fanning the flames here, too, though it remained impossible to distinguish which were water armies and which were angry players.

Among the numerous complaint posts were some experience-sharing posts.

One of the more popular posts was titled “Action Game Veteran Updating Game Progress in Real-time.”

“At first, I was indeed tormented by this game, but after careful observation, I found that it’s not as difficult as many people say. Its difficulty has been demonized.”

“Although monsters kill people in two hits, people can take down monsters in four or five hits. As long as you’re careful and don’t make mistakes, it’s playable.”

“This game reminds me of those difficult side-scrolling games I played as a child. Somehow, I feel a sense of blood-boiling excitement, lol.”

“I also want to complain that when you die, all the small monsters respawn. It’s so damn hopeless.”

“…Made it past the first small area.”

“This elite monster here has killed me five or six times already. I’ll try to get past it this time.”

There were also many netizens commenting on the post.

“Damn, brother, you’re really a pro player, simply an action game genius!”

“…I’m still struggling with the monsters at the entrance, and this boss has already progressed so far?”

“Boss, make sure to record a video and post it on AiLiDao so we can watch and learn!”

“Can you livestream on the ZZ platform, boss? I want to learn your techniques!”

Currently, livestreaming is still in its early stages. Although there were some websites where streaming was possible and the technology was nearly mature, this trend hadn’t yet caught the attention of various capital investors.

So most players’ first reaction was to ask for recordings, with only a small portion of players mentioning livestreaming.

This thread creator obviously hadn’t thought about livestreaming either. He just posted a couple of screenshots every now and then, then wrote a few simple lines describing his views and understanding of the game.

Soon, not just posts but also simple videos appeared on AiLiDao.

Some showed players being destroyed by monsters, others proudly displayed successfully defeating the first small monster. The variety was endless.

Hu Xiao couldn’t help but marvel at how different people could be.

After watching several videos where agile players effortlessly dodged monsters, who couldn’t even touch them, and instead were quickly dispatched with a few backstabs, Hu Xiao fell into deep self-doubt.

Could it be that he just wasn’t playing the right way?

How come others had no problems at all?

It seemed that as long as you had the right technique, it wasn’t so difficult!

Hu Xiao felt his confidence rekindled and returned to the game.

There were still many hours left before the five-hour refund time limit. Hu Xiao felt safe.

“Hehe.”

“Hehe.”

“Hehe.”

…

An hour later, Hu Xiao once again sat in silence before his computer.

Sure enough, it had been an illusion.

This game truly wasn’t meant for humans to play!

Hu Xiao was utterly speechless. This time he decided not to hesitate anymore—refund and delete the game!

This damned game cost 128 yuan, how outrageous!

Not a second longer would it stay on his computer!

Time to leave a negative review!

Hu Xiao felt angry. Indeed, his initial thought had been correct.

Why had he tried playing this game? It was simply self-inflicted torture!

Feeling dissatisfied, Hu Xiao checked the time. It was still early before the refund time limit. He couldn’t wait to run to the forum to vent and find others like himself.

The disgruntled Hu Xiao posted his thread.

“This game is pure garbage!”

“Mindlessly increasing monster attack power is just deliberately annoying players!”

“Hurry up and get a refund. If you haven’t bought it yet, don’t bother. It’s a complete waste of life, paying money to suffer!”

Less than two minutes later, Hu Xiao refreshed the page and saw someone had commented.

“Hehe, another loser who blames the game when he can’t win.”

“This game indeed isn’t suitable for the uncoordinated. The official extension of the refund period was probably to accommodate elderly folks like you.”

“Running away at the slightest difficulty, in wartime, you’d probably be what they call a traitor, hehe?”

Seeing these comments, Hu Xiao instantly exploded with rage!

With my quick temper, how could I tolerate this?

Hu Xiao was experienced in online battles and couldn’t stand such humiliation. He immediately raised his battle cry, his hands rapidly typing on the keyboard, furiously trash-talking.

Surprisingly, the other party was equally matched. The two began an intense verbal duel.

From physical health to friends and family, they finally traced back to the origin of life and humanity.

As they argued, Hu Xiao suddenly felt something was off.

Why did this feel so familiar?

Hu Xiao rarely encountered such equally matched opponents. After all, most people had regular jobs and couldn’t spend all day typing online like him.

This opponent not only had a rich vocabulary and high-level sarcasm skills but also typed quickly, maintaining quality while not falling behind in quantity.

With suspicion, Hu Xiao shared his post to his group chat.

“Is any brother following this thread?”

Soon, someone replied.

Jaiedg_0: “Brother Hu, rest assured, I’m arguing with this brain-dead thread creator right now. Not only completing the task but also annoying this uncoordinated player, hehe.”

[Jaiedg_0 has been muted for 24 hours.]

Hu Xiao’s hands trembled with anger. Damn it, it was indeed his group member!

No wonder the argument technique was so familiar!

But precisely because it was his group member, Hu Xiao couldn’t do much about it. After all, this was a misunderstanding, and kicking him out might hurt the feelings of the other brothers.

He could only mute him for 24 hours to vent his frustration.

After arguing confusedly with his teammate for a long time, Hu Xiao checked the time. He hadn’t closed the game, so there were about two hours left before the refund deadline.

“Forget it, forget it, let’s just get the refund.”

But looking at the refund button, Hu Xiao fell silent again.

Did he want a refund?

Was he going to admit defeat so easily, acknowledging that he was uncoordinated?

No way, let’s try again!

The more Hu Xiao thought about it, the more unwilling he became. If he retreated now, wouldn’t that confirm his impotent rage?

At the very least, he should solve those few small monsters in the graveyard, right?

Hu Xiao entered the game once more.

After dying many times, Hu Xiao finally learned some lessons.

Lure monsters one by one.

Attack with one slash at a time.

When seeing a small monster raise its hand, be sure to dodge first, then find an opportunity to attack.

In short, absolutely no greed!

Following the pro players’ guidance from the videos, Hu Xiao played steadily and, after taking one hit, successfully dealt with the few small monsters around the graveyard.

No more “hehe.”

“I’m so awesome!!”

After killing these few small monsters, Hu Xiao felt his heart still pounding vigorously, and his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

Too nervous, too exciting!

Is this what it feels like when adrenaline surges?

This game didn’t seem as difficult as imagined!

Hu Xiao felt instantly filled with motivation and controlled his character to continue forward.

Three minutes later, a butcher with a large cleaver appeared before Hu Xiao—this was the first elite monster he would encounter in the game.

“Hehe.”

“Hehe.”

“Hehe.”

…

A long time later.

At the computer, Hu Xiao put down his mouse and silently lit a cigarette.

Ah… what am I doing today…

I wasted so much time on such a game.

Hu Xiao even began to question his life choices.

He had died so many times that he’d become numb. He wasn’t even sure how much time he had wasted in this place.

Now there was only one feeling—emptiness.

Endless emptiness!

“Forget it, I’ll just get a refund.”

“There’s no need to waste so much time on this game.”

Hu Xiao checked the time. It was about time to refund; if he delayed any longer, he’d miss the refund time limit.

Once you get obsessed, time flies.

Just as Hu Xiao was about to exit the game, he noticed a small line of text appear on the screen.

“Get a refund. With your skill level, it’s impossible to complete the game. There’s no need to persist like this. Life has many worthwhile pursuits; why waste precious time and money on a game like this?”

Hu Xiao: “???”

Who the hell are you looking down on?

Hu Xiao had indeed planned to refund, but now he had changed his mind!

Actually, the message on the screen was quite sincere, and it spoke the truth.

For a player who couldn’t leave the starting village after five hours, the possibility of completing the entire game was indeed minuscule.

Moreover, life had many more worthwhile pursuits. Playing such a game that made you angry and suffer, while wasting money, really wasn’t necessary.

In Pei Qian’s view, this passage was heartfelt advice. Any player with a sense of self-awareness should be moved by it, right?

Furthermore, such a friendly reminder also made players aware that the game was about to reach its time limit, so they should hurry up and get a refund.

However, to Hu Xiao, it felt completely different.

“Absolutely impossible to complete?”

What if I do complete it?!

“Why waste precious time and money on a game like this?”

I have plenty of money and time. I’ll waste it if I want to! Who are you to tell me what to do?

I won’t be refunding today!

Once Hu Xiao’s stubborn temperament kicked in, not even nine oxen could pull him back.

Today, he was determined to conquer this game!

With anger, Hu Xiao once again embarked on his journey.

“Wait, how much was this game again?”

“Oh, 128.”

“128 it is then, whatever.”