EWN CH6

After exiting the virtual headset, Zhao Ming began working on the gameplay design.

If players kept dying like that with no hope, they’d surely give up in no time—there had to be some light at the end of the tunnel.

With that in mind—

Zhao Ming began operating his computer, continuously inputting commands into the photon supercomputing cluster.

His plan was to make World War II: Rise of the Empire an immersive, story-driven game where players could experience the plot and take on roles in the war. However, due to limited funds, he could only start with the opening CG and a general storyline for now.

Each famous battle in the game would serve as a large-scale online PvP (player vs. player) instance.

Just like the current Normandy Landing instance used to attract players.

First, the game would provide a brief background introduction to World War II, and then drop players straight into the Normandy Landing combat scenario.

Once a queue reached 500 players, the match would automatically begin.

Players would be randomly assigned to the frontmost landing boats attacking Omaha Beach as part of the Allied forces, allowing them to experience the terror of heavy machine gun fire and the grim reality of being cannon fodder in war.

But to prevent players from becoming discouraged—

Each time a player dies, they’d be notified of their total death count.

Once a player dies 100 times or successfully kills 10 Imperial soldiers on the beach, they would be promoted to Commander.

Upon promotion to landing boat Commander—

The player would be able to control the boat’s movement direction at the start of the match, as well as decide when to lower the ramp.

On the surface, this gave players a chance to direct the battle.

In reality—

Zhao Ming had increased the defensive firepower of the Empire forces on Omaha Beach considerably—just the number of machine gun nests had been raised by 10…

Forget commanding one landing boat—even ten boats wouldn’t make it through.

However, that didn’t mean success was impossible.

Each match started with 500 players. As long as 300 of them survived for 20 minutes under the storm of machine gun fire, allied air support would arrive and destroy nearly half of the heavy machine gun nests and bunkers on the beach.

Then, if those 300 players could fight the Empire forces head-on and win—

That would be considered a successful landing.

But how long it would take for players to reach that point was anyone’s guess.

Based on Zhao Ming’s understanding of human nature—

All those players dying as cannon fodder would definitely curse and complain, thinking: If I were the commander, I’d never die that miserably.

Once they discovered that they could be promoted by dying enough times—

Out of pure pride—

They’d keep playing, just to prove themselves and become Commander.

Imagining what it would be like to lead the charge in battle.

Completely unaware—

Zhao Ming had never intended for players to actually win. Just adding those extra firepower points made it nearly impossible to succeed head-on.

Not that the players knew that. Torturing them was the whole point.

He kept tweaking and adjusting the game, and before he knew it, the entire night had passed.

The next morning.

Zhao Ming was awakened by hunger in his office.

Smelling a delicious breakfast he didn’t remember ordering, he yawned and opened his eyes, sitting up from the couch:
“Senior, when did you get here?”

Sitting on the single-seater sofa nearby was Shen Qinghan, and on the coffee table in front of Zhao Ming was a breakfast set.

Zhao Ming didn’t hesitate—he picked up the chopsticks and started eating.

Shen Qinghan spoke up:
“Just got here a little while ago.”

“You worked on this all night?”

Seeing how calm Zhao Ming looked, Shen Qinghan couldn’t help but look at him in a new light.

His mental fortitude was impressive.

She had never expected someone who looked so gentle and bookish—

Could actually break someone’s bones.

When the two reporters gave her their report yesterday, even she found it hard to believe.

But the internal traitor’s injuries were definitely real.

And to still have the peace of mind to make a game after beating someone up—he was truly one of a kind.

Zhao Ming nodded, sipping porridge while replying:
“Yeah.”

“Worked all night. Got most of it done.”

“Just need to polish up some of the details.”

“It should be ready before the competition starts.”

Shen Qinghan looked a little skeptical and surprised:
“You made a whole game in one night…”

“Is that… even playable?”

It wasn’t that Shen Qinghan didn’t believe him—just that it all happened way too fast.

An afternoon and one night—

At most, that’s twelve hours total.

And he finished it?

Zhao Ming nodded and said:
“Of course.”

“Want to try it out? If you don’t mind.”

“My virtual headset is on the desk.”

“You can give it a go.”

Shen Qinghan turned her head to look and saw a virtual headset placed on the desk. Without overthinking it, she got up, picked up the headset, returned to the couch, and put it on.

Her vision lit up as a virtual desktop appeared before her eyes.

She looked at the firearm icon labeled “World War II: Rise of the Empire” and activated it with a single thought.

The screen flashed.

…

…

The scene shifted—she was now aboard a landing craft.

The roar of explosions echoed in her ears.

Shen Qinghan looked up.

In the sky, squadrons of what appeared to be very old-model aircraft were flying toward the same direction as the landing craft.

She found herself standing on the deck.

Dressed in a military uniform, holding a long-obsolete firearm in her hands.

Shen Qinghan examined the weapon, operated it briefly, and nodded approvingly:

“The details are pretty good.”

These antique guns hadn’t been used in reality for many years.

But they could definitely attract a wave of nostalgic players.

After all, today’s gamers are used to the “big fish and meat” of flashy mech and starship games—sometimes, a bit of “wild greens” could be refreshing.

She looked around and noticed all the other characters were NPCs. They were all engaged in different actions—some were smoking, some praying, some murmuring as they kissed their crucifixes.

Some couldn’t hold it together and were vomiting on the deck of the landing craft.

This made Shen Qinghan frown.

She didn’t get seasick, and even on a rocking landing craft, she could keep her balance. It was just the visuals that were a bit too much:

“Why make that kind of thing so realistic?”

Out of sight, out of mind—she turned her head away.

Then, a mission prompt appeared in front of her.

[Main Mission: Capture Omaha Beach.]

[Mission Reward: Promotion to Commander (Grants you the role of landing craft officer at the beginning of each game)]

Seeing this, Shen Qinghan understood.

“So, the goal is to take a beach?”

Noticing the crowd up ahead, she didn’t push forward to squeeze through the NPCs. Instead, she moved to the edge of the landing craft and leaned out to observe the beach.

What met her eyes was a shoreline filled with metal Czech hedgehogs and numerous bunkers.

Friendly aircraft were continuously bombing the beach to suppress enemy fire, providing cover for the landing craft. Shen Qinghan looked around—there were easily over a hundred landing craft, all charging toward the shore at the same time.

She began to form a strategy in her mind. Then she turned her gaze back to the beach, scanning for the optimal landing point.

She was confident in her shooting skills.

As long as she could lead the NPCs to take the beach, it would count as a win.

The dense field of metal hedgehogs could serve as cover.

The game didn’t seem that hard—just very retro.