Chapter 1: This Game Seems Off, Doesn't It?

The screen went dark, and Wang Zhan could see his handsome face. Perhaps it was because his company had just declared bankruptcy, and his life, which was at the peak of its career, had fallen into decline. Although he was young, there was a hint of gloom between his brows.

Now he can only do game testing for others.

Frostpunk, developed by 11bit, tells the story of the process of social reconstruction under extremely low temperature conditions. This is the game that Wang Zhan needs to test this time, but it is its DLC.

Take a deep breath. The loading icon in the lower left corner stops spinning. The game has been loaded, but it is just a little stuck. This DLC is privately made, so it is expected that it cannot run smoothly 

[Survivor mode is activated.]

Wang Zhan's heart skipped a beat. The game could not be paused in survivor mode, and it was challenging. It was a bit too cruel for him who had just started playing for a few days - this game was indeed difficult and fucked up.

A bunch of unruly people dueled in the extreme low temperature of minus 100 degrees Celsius, and they still wanted to find a chicken? 

When Wang Zhan completes the "A New Home" campaign, the production team even has to say at the end of the plot, "Is it all worth it?"

Wang Zhan, who had seen the diversity of human beings, just sneered and called his boss, hoping that he would change the game for testing, but was naturally rejected.

Well, I was a little willful.

[A Generator suddenly appeared on the northern plains of Ursus. The temperature dropped sharply, and storms howled around the Generator. We couldn't confirm whether the land had fallen into severe cold, but one thing was obvious: we had to survive the coming storm and natural disaster.]

Click on the screen, and as the camera descends from the air, a huge generator is located in the canyon.

The canyon runs from north to south, and is approximately circular in the middle with a large area. There is an abandoned village on one side of the circle. The south side is covered by a birch forest, and the entrance on the north side is narrow.

[We need manpower to get the generator moving. It will provide heat and energy and serve as a shelter on the snowfield to resist the coming severe cold. ]

Well, no manpower, starting from scratch... This is somewhat similar to his situation. Wang Zhan clicked confirm, and the game officially began.

[Use the recruitment system to recruit people. ]

The taskbar that popped up in the lower left corner made Wang Zhan confused, because the original game did not have this function.

Wang Zhan found the recruitment button above the number of people in the lower right corner. When he was about to click it, he suddenly found a small figure standing under the generator and looking up, as if she was very curious about the building.

The girl had a pair of deer antlers, wore an old long skirt, and carried a fruit basket on her arm. Wang Zhan wanted to see her face clearly, so he slid the mouse wheel - the perspective instantly adjusted from the sky to the ground, and the girl also occupied the screen, her delicate little face full of confusion.

"Strange, when did this building appear here?"

This NPC spoke!

Wang Zhan instantly became interested and clicked on the NPC with his mouse to pop up the information panel. The girl's name was Alina, and her current occupation was a teacher.

Could it be that his boss connected intelligent AI to this DLC, allowing NPCs to communicate autonomously... But the girl's eyes were lively, without any stiffness, just like a real person...

Is this an AI?

Alina looked around and found no one. She walked forward and touched the surface of the generator's foundation with her hand. The cold metal texture made her feel satisfied. In her mind, she imagined Victoria's high-speed terrestrial warship in the book. All the structures had a similar cold touch.

There was a longing look on her face.

Wang Zhan shouted, "Amazing!"

"Who? Who's there!"

A girl's scream came from the headphones, and she looked around with a red face. How embarrassing would it be if someone saw her staring at a big piece of iron with that expression?

Wang Zhan outside the screen was even more shocked. The NPC inside could hear him talking and made such an interesting reaction. Was this game really for him to test?

The ability to have free conversations with the AI ​​alone is enough to make him willingly pay for it.

"What? We've been discovered? Humph, as expected of an Elafia, she can even discover us."

It wasn't Wang Zhan who answered Alina's question. A group of people quickly ran out of the birch forest and surrounded Alina. Wang Zhan looked surprised. Could the NPCs in this game also rob people?

"What do you want to do?"

The bear-eared uncle who led the group glanced at the generator. He estimated that it belonged to the Ursus masters. "We are hungry. Can you give us your basket?"

To put it mildly, isn't this just robbery?

Wang Zhan watched the development of events outside the screen. If this were part of the plot, then he would have a solution.

"No...this is prepared for the guerrilla fighters," Alina knew that the guerrillas were famous. As a team dedicated to protecting the infected, they have always been respected by the infected. As long as she revealed their names, everyone would understand her to some extent.

The group of people in front of them was infected because Originium crystals were growing on the back of the leader's hand.

"Guerrilla...Guerrilla! You are a guerrilla!"

The leader's eyebrows jumped, and he pointed his finger at Alina, "Okay, okay! You can't leave today!"

Alina frowned, her rosy face turned pale. Despite her fear, she still shouted bravely, "These are just some fruits! If you are still hungry, the guerrillas can give you food!"

"Food... They drove us away without giving us anything! Damn Talulah, she promised not to let us starve!"

Alina swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth. She knew very well that she had no reason to let the other party let her go. She could only lean against the energy tower and said, "I'm sorry, I really can't give you these fruits."

"Oh, I didn't intend to let you go!"

Wang Zhan sighed, realizing that he still needed his help.

The leading bear on the screen drew the knife from his waist. The blade was damaged due to years of use, but it was still easy to cut bones. Alina, who was standing under the generator, held the fruit basket in her arms and looked for a gap to escape from the encirclement.

These people had no intention of letting her go, and handing over the fruit basket would probably result in the same outcome.

The situation was urgent, but Wang Zhan couldn't find a solution.

Could it be that this plot is showing the cruelty of this land?

If you think about it carefully, with Mu Ye's character, he would indeed do such a disgusting thing.

Wang Zhan relaxed his brows and began to look for the button to skip the plot. He couldn't force himself to eat history, right?

There's nothing fun about killing people.

[Talk to the characters. This game has an AI that can talk to you. Players can use the microphone to talk, which can help the game progress and affect the plot flow. Now, turn on the microphone and try to talk to the NPC in the game. ]

Forehead...

Wang Zhan pursed his lips, glanced at the screen, fiddled with his microphone, tried to overcome the shame in his heart, and whispered, "Hello... hello?"

Alina heard someone greeting her. The situation was too tense, and her feverish brain froze.

The voices sounded full of power and majesty.

For a moment, the little deer seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw - but the thugs were still slowly tightening the encirclement, leaving her no chance of survival.

She tried to find the source of the sound. As long as there were other people there, she would have a chance of escaping!

But apart from this tall iron tower and the thugs, there was only white snow and towering rock walls all around, making it impossible for anyone to discover him! 

The hope that had been ignited in her heart was shattered in an instant. Tears welled up in her blue eyes. Alina glared at the thugs stubbornly, but the other party's actions did not stop at all.

The figure gradually became blurred, and I was afraid that I couldn't leave.

There's no going back.

Talulah might break her promise and fall into Kashchey's conspiracy... And Eno, even though Sasha is with him, the child has always had mental problems -

Someone needs me!

If someone could save her, she would do anything!

The thugs didn't react. Wang Zhan, who was outside the screen, understood that only Alina could hear his voice.

This setting is too ridiculous.

Since I can talk to this girl named Alina, it means that she is indeed a very important NPC, but I can't find a way to save her...

It must be a BUG!

Restarting solves all problems!

There is no reset button!

[The recruitment system selects people within the range of the generator as your initial human resources. ]

Wang Zhan smiled knowingly, isn't this the solution?

Click on the recruitment system in the lower right corner, and a series of lists will pop up, including Wandering Infected, Guerrillas, Patrols, Nomads, Dr. Kal'tsit, Emperor's Blade, Royal Researcher, and the Wandering Infected is shown to be very close to the generator.

As long as we make these thugs our subordinates, we can stop their atrocities.

[The recruitment system will display nearby targets and indicate the distance. Please pay attention to the recruitment conditions when recruiting. If you can meet the other party's request, you can recruit successfully. ]

Wang Zhan selected the wandering infected people, checked all their names, and clicked Recruit...

[Recruitment successful. Now we have the first batch of people. Let's start the construction of the generator. We must have an automated city to explore this strange land.]

The number of people in the lower right corner changed to sixteen, and Wang showed a sinister smile.

These thugs fell into his hands of a former capitalist, and naturally, he had plenty of ways to deal with them.

As for whether they were wrong or not, Wang Zhan didn't care. It was just a game.

"Get to work, my people!"