Chapter 4 The First Victim_2
Audiences flocked in droves, and the popularity of the live broadcast room quickly began to climb steadily, with various gifts starting to pour in.
Under the watchful eyes of his fans, Liu Liang opened the official game store and searched for the keyword "Zen".
"Ah? This game doesn't even have any reviews!
"Speaking of new games, this is a bit too new, isn't it?"
He was somewhat baffled and turned to look at the game's description in hopes of getting more information, but this did not resolve his confusion; instead, it made him even more bewildered.
"All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, and a shadow, like dew and like lightning, we should view them thus?"
"Nice, quite mysterious indeed.
"OK, let's download it and give it a try. According to folks in the group, this game is profound and the puzzle content is very rich—hopefully they're not leading us astray."
The game had two versions, a PC version and a VR version, priced at 5 and 10 yuan respectively.
Lu Zhixing, of course, had considered the average price of games in this world before setting his own; for such a disappointing game, the price definitely couldn't be too high. Anything over 30 would be outright robbery and would fail to achieve the purpose of volume sales.
A price of 1 yuan would be too low; if the game really took off, it would seriously affect profits.
All things considered, 5 yuan was just the right price.
The VR version was priced at 10 yuan partly because the VR version's graphics were more refined and also because VR games in this world were generally priced higher.
After all, only rich guys who could afford the 5th Generation VR Gaming Helmet would think nothing of the extra cost.
Liu Liang certainly owned a 5th Generation VR Gaming Helmet, but the live streaming technology for the 5th generation VR was not yet mature and the game library was not very rich, so his live broadcasts usually mainly featured PC games.
Soon, the game finished downloading.
At this moment, Liu Liang was clearly not yet aware of the gravity of the situation; he didn't become alert because the game's file size was very small. That's normal, after all, since the majority of independent games are quite small in size.
He clicked "Start Game".
The screen went black, but quickly lit up again. There was no logo, nor a title screen; Liu Liang found he had entered the game directly.
This game was in first-person perspective; looking down, he could see the prison clothes on his body and looking up, the cold iron bars of a cell window.
The chill moonlight shone through the iron bars, casting a small square of light on the floor, with distinct shadows of the iron bars visible.
"Ah?"
Liu Liang was stunned, his first reaction was that he had entered the wrong game.
Wasn't this game named "Zen"? How did it become "Tears of the Iron Bars"?
He exited to the desktop to confirm the program's name.
That's right, it's "Zen"?
Liu Liang vaguely had the guess that he might have been duped...
However, as a well-trained live streamer and YouTuber, he certainly wasn't going to easily dismiss a game, at least not before experiencing it to see if there was more to it than meets the eye.
Even if he confirmed it was just fodder for critique, as a YouTuber, he should be able to enjoy the big feast of profound enlightenment amidst laughter.
Liu Liang's first reaction was to interact with the cell door.
Yet, his hands only pushed against the cell door, after which there was no reaction at all.
"Huh?"
Liu Liang, not giving up, went around the entire cell, clicking on every corner that seemed like it might offer interaction, but the result was the same.
No interactive options whatsoever!
Liu Liang was numb.
He had thought that somewhere in this cell, there would be a clue hidden, and that following the clue would lead him to the key of the cell, but after trying, he realized that this was just wishful thinking on his part.
Definitely not there!
On the bullet chat, the viewers were starting to lose their patience as well.
"What kind of game is Niu playing today, a prison simulator?"
"Isn't this game named 'Zen'? It's obviously not as advertised; how did this get approved?"
"Niu's broadcast is starting with a thunderous flop today!"
"We're already fast-forwarding to the trash game appreciation segment? Wasn't this section usually reserved for the midnight broadcasts?"
At this time, Liu Liang was confused, feeling like he had been tricked by the fan group.
But he didn't get discouraged and started to search every inch of the cell, leaving no stone unturned.
I have to at least figure out what this game wants me to do, right?
Even if it's for making a critique video, I still need to fully understand the game; this is a matter of professional ethic for a gaming YouTuber!
Finally, Liu Liang's persistence paid off as he found a rather inconspicuous painting on one of the walls.
The painting wasn't large; including the frame, it was only the size of a palm and was also in a dim corner.
Liu Liang had previously kept his head down looking for keys, so he missed it.
```
After moving the tiny dot at the center of his view over, interactive options suddenly appeared!
Boosted with excitement, Liu Liang immediately clicked his mouse.
Then, the character in the game... sat down.
The painting appeared right at the center of the character's view, and after that, no matter how Liu Liang moved the mouse, the viewpoint remained unchanged.
As for the painting, there was nothing special about it, it was just a tree.
Liu Liang was a bit baffled, but he still held onto some unrealistic fantasies about the game.
"Wait a sec, viewers, let's sort this out."
"There should be other interactive options in this game, right?"
"If all you can do is sit in jail, then this game should be called 'Sitting through Jail' instead!"
"Since it's called 'Zen' and it got approved, that means there has to be at least a tiny bit of connection between the game's content and the title."
"No, I must look further."
Undeterred, Liu Liang, as a gaming channel content creator, had the essential quality of resilience.
Ordinary players might be quick to drop a frustrating game, but content creators must endure through the crap first to enjoy later. After all, viewers also take great pleasure in watching creators struggle.
Liu Liang right-clicked to exit the observation mode of the painting and continued to search the jail cell.
As a result, he interacted with every nook and cranny of the entire cell, and indeed, there were no other interactive options!
The only interactive option in the whole cell, it turned out, was that painting!
"Could it be... that this painting holds a clue for escaping the prison?"
Liu Liang was completely stumped; he clicked on the painting once more and started to scrutinize it.
Hmm, a tree.
A tree standing in the open field, neither tall nor short, neither thick nor thin, with no distinctive features—just an ordinary tree.
There were red flowers and green grass, the sunshine was bright...
But, there were absolutely no signs of any hidden puzzles!
Liu Liang tried as hard as he could, intensely focusing on the picture as if he were playing "Find the Difference," trying to spot any clue.
One minute passed.
Two minutes passed...
Liu Liang, with his hand on his forehead, sank into deep thought.
He began pondering life, oh no, pondering tree life.
What in the world was this...?
At this moment, the many years of experience as a seasoned gaming content creator seemed to reset to zero, as he faced a completely unfamiliar wasteland...
...
In the live stream, a flurry of comments flew by.
"Man, this game's modelling is so detailed, how come the gameplay is so eccentric?"
"Commonly known as a gold-wrapped defense?"
"There's a blade of grass moving in that corner on the left! Really!"
"Stop lying, there's no grass moving, it was clearly a leaf that fell from the tree, didn't you guys see?"
With a mix of feelings, Liu Liang looked at the barrage of diverse comments.
Where's the trust between people?
It's one thing for game developers to trick me, but even you fans are playing tricks on me, people really aren't what they used to be!
Just as Liu Liang was about to hit alt+F4 and give up, a premium comment flew by.
"Do you think there's a possibility that this game isn't about solving puzzles at all?"
Liu Liang disagreed strongly with this comment.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Based on the game's process, how would you progress without solving puzzles? There's got to be some kind of trigger mechanism... What the hell??"
Just as Liu Liang was about to refute the comment, the very next second, the game screen changed!
Initially, the painting took up only about a third of the screen, but now, the painting began to rapidly expand, gradually filling the entire screen.
And the tree in the painting switched from being static to dynamic.
A breeze blew, the leaves rustled, the warm sunshine fell, making one completely forget they were within a painting, leaving only the serene natural atmosphere of the wild.
Liu Liang's gaze gradually became dull, and after a long while, his voice, full of bewilderment, echoed once again in the live stream room.
"Huh?"
```