Being a veteran Tenda player was truly a blessing. Other game companies ignored their veteran players, never updating old games, and simply letting them die out naturally.

In contrast, Tenda never abandoned any game, no matter how old. As long as veteran players persisted, they would always receive new content!

It was quite outrageous.

Despite his amazement, Qiao Liang couldn’t help feeling curious because the update announcements for these two games clearly stated that there were some Easter eggs hidden within.

“Not bad. I don’t have anything to do recently anyway, so I can play this afternoon and see what new content these game DLCs have to offer.”

Qiao Liang tidied up the Slackin’ takeout containers and placed them by the door, waiting for the delivery worker to collect them. Then he opened his computer to purchase the DLCs for both games, preparing to play them in the afternoon.

“The DLC for ‘Lonely Desert Highway’ costs 5 yuan, five times more expensive than the base game? Interesting.”

Qiao Liang immediately purchased the DLCs for both games and began downloading the game resources.

First, he checked out the 5-yuan DLC for “Lonely Desert Highway.”

The main content of this update seemed to be the online mode and various random scenes. The art resources and gameplay content were much more extensive than the original base game, which explained the increased price of the DLC.

The online mode allowed players to team up with their friends and play “Not-So-Lonely Desert Convoy,” though Qiao Liang wasn’t optimistic about this feature. He didn’t want to drive for another eight hours, let alone find friends willing to drive with him for eight hours.

However, the developers had considered this and added some additional changes: random matchmaking with other online players solved the problem of having no one to drive with; voice chat solved the boredom of driving; and when vehicles broke down, players could wait for online friends to rescue them, addressing the frustration of having to start over after a single failure.

“This change is pretty good,” Qiao Liang nodded slightly, expressing approval of the official update.

On the surface, these changes seemed to contradict the original intention of “Lonely Desert Highway.” After all, it was a game specifically designed to torture players. One of the main reasons it became popular was that players couldn’t make a single mistake during the eight-hour drive, or they would have to start over, which appealed to players’ masochistic and curious tendencies.

If not for these harsh conditions, this simple game wouldn’t have stood out and become famous through one of Qiao Liang’s videos.

But by now, maintaining such difficulty was no longer necessary.

“Lonely Desert Highway” had become an ancient relic of a game. Everyone who wanted to buy it had already done so, and it was impossible to expect new players to join just for the torture.

Since that was the case, it made more sense to modify the originally harsh gameplay and give veteran players something else to enjoy.

For new players who wanted to suffer, they could avoid the online mode, as the single-player mode remained just as difficult as before. If they found themselves unable to persevere, they could switch to online mode and play with other players, and if their car broke down, they could still hitch a ride — much more user-friendly.

Although Qiao Liang was internally resistant to driving through the game again, he still gathered a few people from his fan group to play “Lonely Desert Highway” in online mode together.

Because he wanted to see the so-called “Traveler Bao Xu” Easter egg.

Surprisingly, he really could find people in his fan group willing to drive together, and the team filled up quickly. A total of eight people, each choosing different vehicle skins to form a convoy, created a long line on the lonely desert highway. Sometimes they would form an S-shape, and sometimes… sorry, that wasn’t possible because there was only one road.

They joked around while following the predetermined route.

However, the number of cars decreased as they continued.

Because once concentration lapsed, cars would fall into the desert and break down. Players could only hitch a ride on the car behind them and would “respawn” after an hour. At first, there were eight cars, but as they drove on, the number dropped to seven, then six…

Some people made mistakes due to a lack of concentration while driving, while others simply got tired of driving and deliberately drove their cars into the desert, waiting to hitch a ride with others.

Of course, different cars could carry different numbers of passengers, and in extreme cases, there might not be enough space in the convoy. In that situation, one would have to wait alone for cars coming from behind to hitch a ride.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, suddenly feeling that the game wasn’t so torturous after all.

After driving for some time, the DLC’s “mirage” appeared.

The desert still stretched on both sides, but different scenery could be seen within the desert: European cities, desert pyramids, oases, tropical rainforests, and more…

Now Qiao Liang understood why the 5 yuan price was justified—it was all for these scenes.

After driving for a while longer, a sun-tanned man carrying a travel backpack appeared on the roadside. There was no broken-down vehicle nearby, indicating he wasn’t a player.

Qiao Liang’s eyes lit up: “That must be Traveler Bao Xu. Quick, pick him up! There should be an Easter egg!”

After “Bao Xu” got into the car, he exchanged pleasantries with everyone, thanking them for giving him a ride.

Afterward, whenever they saw a new mirage, Bao Xu would say a few lines, his tone revealing a sense of worldliness.

“This is Honduras. I once arrived here by boat and encountered storms and huge waves. My boat seemed to be thrown to the sky and then plunged into the abyss. No wonder Columbus called this place the ‘Bottomless Abyss.’ That was a truly memorable experience…”

“This is Namibia, with vast desert on one side and boundless ocean on the other. Up ahead are cave landscapes eroded by wind and sand, pitted like the surface of the moon…”

“This is the Dominican Republic…”

Every time they passed a mirage landmark, “Bao Xu” in the car would express his feelings, recalling his travels in that place, sometimes thrilling and exciting, sometimes savoring unforgettable moments.

Qiao Liang couldn’t help but remark, “Impressive, he can even be a tour guide in this game.”

“Traveler Bao Xu” was originally a hero in GOG, and many players knew about this employee’s travel stories, though they didn’t know the details behind them.

As Pei Qian’s close friend, Qiao Liang naturally knew.

Bao Xu himself had only been to some of these places. After all, there were too many scenic spots in the world, and Wang Xiaobin had only chosen these scenes based on the resources he could find online when making the DLC.

The creator had treated “Traveler Bao Xu” as a meme. In the game’s lore, he was a miraculous adventurer who had traveled to every corner of the world.

Of course, everyone believed Bao Xu had this potential. After all, he was still young, and if he traveled for a month every half year, it would just be a matter of time before he visited all the famous landmarks around the world.

After driving for about two hours, Bao Xu said, “Alright, I’ll get off here. Thank you for letting me hitch a ride. I’ve prepared a gift for you. Hope to see you again someday.”

Qiao Liang exclaimed, “Hmm? This should be the Easter egg he left behind!”

The system prompted that they had received a new vehicle skin and unlocked a new scene. Qiao Liang quickly exited the game to check.

He discovered that he had acquired a new vehicle skin—a sci-fi-styled miniature spaceship about the size of a sports car, but with a pair of diminutive spacecraft wings and no wheels, hovering in the air.

Qiao Liang opened the scene page again, which displayed various scenes activated by players in the game.

Among them was a new scene on the surface of a dark red planet covered with gravel. Various-sized meteor craters could be seen all around, presenting an alien landscape straight out of a sci-fi movie.

In the distance, there seemed to be some gigantic caves with pitch-black entrances, as if some terrifying creatures were stirring inside.

“Hey, is this the Easter egg buried in the game? Does this mean Mr. Pei’s next game will have a sci-fi theme?”

“I have to say, this spaceship and scene fit quite well with ‘Lonely Desert Highway.'”

Qiao Liang carefully examined the spaceship and the new scene but found no additional information. It seemed to only convey one message: Tenda’s next new game would likely have a sci-fi theme.

As for what specific game genre it would be, that remained unclear.

“Alright, alright, I’ve got the skin and scene. Now I can check out the DLC for ‘Game Developer.'”

At Qiao Liang’s command, everyone immediately scattered.

“Mr. Pei is so crafty. He knows ‘Lonely Desert Highway’ sells cheaply and has many veteran players, so he deliberately lowered the game’s difficulty and added cool new vehicles and scenes. Any player with even slight interest would spend five yuan to match with other players, check out the new scenes, and incidentally promote the new game…”

Qiao Liang mused as he opened “Game Developer.”