EWN CH7
Shen Qinghan didn’t take this old-school shooting game seriously.
Although she didn’t play games often, she had dabbled in competitive ones during university. Even in extremely difficult mech battle games, she had won the university league championship.
So this kind of primitive shooter was naturally nothing to her.
Suddenly, the landing craft jolted violently, as if the bottom had hit something.
In the virtual sensory state, Shen Qinghan staggered and nearly fell. At that moment, voices shouted in her ear:
“Everyone! Split into two lines and avoid the craters!”
“Prepare to land!”
“May the Lord bless you!”
No time to think about who “the Lord” was or why they needed blessings—
Bang!
The front ramp of the landing craft slammed down.
Shen Qinghan looked up—NPCs in front of her were already charging toward the beach.
Suddenly, the roar of machine guns erupted.
Before she could fully stand up, the NPCs in front were shredded by overwhelming machine gun fire. Blood and torn limbs splattered forward—
And sprayed warm blood all over Shen Qinghan.
The sensation and temperature were horrifyingly realistic. Shen Qinghan froze completely.
She couldn’t even think.
Bang!
A heavy hit slammed into her chest before the pain could even spread—
Bang bang bang bang!
Her body bloomed with blood in multiple places as a burst of machine gun fire riddled her. She couldn’t even react—thoughts in her head were useless, her body completely unresponsive.
With a thud, she collapsed.
Fell onto the deck.
Shen Qinghan’s mind went completely blank.
Not dead?
The thought flashed across her mind. She tried to get up but realized she couldn’t move her body at all. The color of the world in her eyes began to fade—until everything went dark…
Then her perspective lit up again—but now she was in god view, watching the scene from above.
Watching the soldiers aboard the landing craft below being wiped out by the beach defenses.
A Game Over prompt appeared in front of her.
Only then did Shen Qinghan return to the main menu. She gritted her teeth.
And clicked on World War II: Rise of the Empire again.
That was just too humiliating.
Thankfully, no one had seen it.
She hadn’t even made it off the boat before getting killed.
No wonder they said to split into two lines.
Standing all together like that—you’re basically a target board.
What the hell was Zhao Ming thinking, creating such a monstrous game?
And…
Why is there only one chance? After dying, you have to wait for the round to end? How could anyone stick around with such a long respawn time?!
Unwilling to admit defeat, Shen Qinghan reappeared on the landing craft again.
Game Start.
…
…
Half a day later.
Inside Zhao Ming’s office.
It was almost noon. Shen Qinghan, still wearing the VR headset, had been sitting on the couch playing all morning.
Zhao Ming figured—she must’ve died dozens of times by now.
To still be playing after dying that many times… That meant his design was working. Even Shen Qinghan had gotten hooked.
Just as he was thinking that—
Shen Qinghan on the couch suddenly moved. She yanked the VR headset off and smashed it to the ground.
“Zhao Ming!!!”
She was furious!
Played over forty times, and not once had she survived more than three minutes!
There were even two times where she fell into the sea and drowned because she couldn’t swim up! Completely absurd!!!
What kind of stupid difficulty is this?!
Shen Qinghan clenched her teeth and stood up, glaring at Zhao Ming at the desk.
Zhao Ming gave a light cough:
“What’s wrong, Senior?”
Shen Qinghan snapped:
“What kind of garbage game is this?!”
“Does it even have a win condition?! Huh?!”
“I died over forty times!!!”
“This game is completely impossible to land on the beach!”
Zhao Ming coughed again:
“But Senior, you played all morning. Doesn’t that already prove the game’s success?”
Shen Qinghan froze in anger:
“That’s because I…”
She had only kept restarting because she refused to accept defeat.
“That’s not the same.”
Zhao Ming grinned:
“How’s it not the same?”
“It’s just because you’re unconvinced, right? And it’s not just you. Other players will feel the same after playing.”
“If everyone feels that way, won’t the game become popular?”
Hearing Zhao Ming’s twisted logic, Shen Qinghan’s head buzzed and her mind went blank, but she couldn’t find a retort. She could only mutter:
“Even if that method works…”
“Isn’t the game difficulty too high?”
“And why is it that once you die, you can’t revive until the round ends?”
“And getting hit by bullets affects your movement?”
“All these things…”
Zhao Ming replied:
“Aren’t those perfectly reasonable?”
Shen Qinghan gritted her teeth:
“How is that reasonable?!”
“Such settings make the gameplay experience terrible!”
“Players will definitely complain!”
No respawns. Injuries affecting movement.
You’d never think this was a shooter game.
With this kind of real-time feedback, it felt more like a large-scale survival simulator.
In a gunfight, having your movement impaired by injury was basically a death sentence.
Zhao Ming shook his head and calmly said:
“No, that’s exactly what makes it realistic and reasonable.”
“This game doesn’t have stat panels or a death counter.”
“Because in real life—you only get one life.”
“There’s no ‘respawn after death’ like in other games.”
“This is to make players value their lives.”
“Many people fantasize that if war ever broke out, they’d be commanding troops on the battlefield, achieving legendary victories, and defeating enemies left and right.”
Shen Qinghan’s face flushed slightly.
Why did that feel like it was directed at her…?
She had, indeed, been calculating how to land on the beach and neutralize enemy fire positions before she died—forty-plus times without ever making it off the boat.
All those ideas had been utterly useless.
Thinking back now, they were ridiculous.
Zhao Ming, unaware of her reaction, continued:
“But reality is cruel.”
“Most people are just cannon fodder.”
“Just like the soldiers on those landing crafts.”
“This game makes players experience that cruelty, face reality, and realize—they’re nothing but expendable.”
“And by doing so—”
“Who would still look forward to war?”
“Isn’t that achieving the goal of promoting anti-war sentiment?”
“Fits perfectly with the core theme of Anti-War Simulation.”
Shen Qinghan frowned slightly, unable to argue back. After a moment, she said:
“Then… can we at least adjust the pain feedback and movement penalties?”
“Even in perfect condition, it’s hard enough to land. But if you get your arms or legs shot… you’re basically just waiting to die.”
Zhao Ming shrugged and responded:
“Life only gives you one shot, and you only get one pair of limbs too.”
“This VR headset scans the player’s physical data to generate the in-game body.”
“And to enhance the experience—”
“I even gave the characters a 1.2x boost in speed and strength based on the real player’s stats.”
“In other words—”
“If a real war broke out—”
“Being cannon fodder in the game is no different than being cannon fodder in reality.”
“I’m truly doing this for the players—I’m making this game with heart~”