After that riot, the entire kingdom was on the verge of collapse.
The King, along with his entourage and the collector, sought refuge in the castle, hoping that the collector could create the Elixir of Life. However, the resources they stored in the castle didn't last until the day the Elixir could be created.
In the castle atop the mountain, there was no princess, and the once glorious and glorious days were gone.
In the final "feast," they turned their attention to their own people.
In this infected place, the King was naturally not spared, and he eventually ordered the collector to come up with a solution—the creation of a homunculus.
Using a mix of trees, red crystals, and special cells, they created a container for the homunculus.
That's our protagonist, a green and oily mass that looked like algae.
The King's soul was transplanted into the homunculus, and the Philosopher's Stone was used to preserve the King's body.
However, the separation of soul and body caused the King to lose his memory, a fact known only to the collector and no one else.
The King's Hand, in a state of ignorance, continued to protect the King's physical body.
This was the scene the game "Cell Zero" encountered at the end. After defeating the King's Hand, we killed the motionless King on the throne.
The red Philosopher's Stone was placed on the King's chest, but it was just a body without a soul.
The Time Guardian kicked the King back into the cycle of time, repeatedly attempting to save the kingdom.
But ironically, his abilities were limited, and he could only send the King back to the day of the plague outbreak.
In one of the subsequent cycles, the collector successfully created the Elixir of Life but tragically, it was consumed by the collector and the protagonist.
If the player reaches Cell 5, they can find the alchemist on the observation platform.
There, only the alchemist stands alone.
The platform is equipped with a huge, top-of-the-line telescope that allows them to see the azure sky and the moon.
Here, they also encounter the final boss, the collector.
"It's a pity, Black Star, you escaped so fast that I didn't even get a chance to see you fight the collector without taking any damage," Brother Yin felt a bit disappointed.
"He fights the collector without taking any damage how many times now, but he still seems to lack confidence."
"Collector: You're here again, you're so obedient~"
"Thanks for bringing more cells! I'm feeling a bit thirsty!"
"Gulp gulp gulp~"
"Drinking the Elixir of Life, collector-style."
"Today is an especially thirsty day!"
...
Brother Yin ignored the barrage and swung his cursed blade crazily at the collector.
Each strike splattered red blood, but the collector always conveniently pulled out the Elixir, gulping it down.
His health bar kept getting filled.
And this observation platform had been dubbed by the players as the "Official Designated Cemetery."
For Brother Yin to attempt a no-damage challenge was an exceedingly difficult task.
One misstep, and there would be no no-damage run, which meant failure.
After a cell person got hit, he couldn't help but sigh.
The challenge had failed again.
Fighting the collector was no longer a difficult task for him; the challenge was how to do it without taking damage.
In the end, after defeating the collector, the entire island wasn't saved.
The Time Guardian could only kick the protagonist back into the cycle of time, hoping to find a way to save the island.
But this solution could never be found because all the endings indicated that the island couldn't be saved.
Even everyone, including the Time Guardian, would forever live in an infinite cycle of hell.
"This is the most brilliant game I've seen in years." Brother Yin didn't spare his praise; especially the game's ending, it completely exceeded everyone's expectations.
He had played other games before, where clearing it meant a happy ending, just like in other games where the end of the journey was saving the princess and living happily ever after.
But on this island of Dead Cells, there was only the cycle of reincarnation.
Your princess was in another castle.
After the ending of Dead Cells was thoroughly revealed, this game unsurprisingly topped the monthly download charts.
When many players didn't know what game to play, they would check the charts to see what popular games were there.
For many, before playing a game, they couldn't judge its quality intuitively.
However, they could learn about the game's quality from other people's feedback, and game reviewers' opinions were one of the factors that influenced players' decisions.
In addition to recommendations from friends and game reviewers' evaluations, another way that affected players' decisions was the game download charts.
Before Dead Cells, those games that dominated the charts would often receive many negative reviews after staying at the top for a long time.
There were various reasons for this, such as players feeling that the game's high popularity was undeserved after they downloaded it with high expectations from seeing it at the top of the charts.
Now, when players clicked on the charts during a gaming drought, they wanted to see what popular games were available.
Dead Cells was still in the top spot, and when they saw it at number one, their first thought wasn't, "Why is this still here?"
It was strange; even though this game had tormented everyone to the point of despair, and most players were stuck at Cell Three or Four, unable to progress in the story, when they saw Dead Cells at the top, they thought only one thing: well-deserved.
...
"Hello?" Ye Feng, who was screening and reviewing resumes, received a call from an unfamiliar number.
"Hello, is this Black Star from Moe Studio?" The caller was a man with a slightly strange Mandarin accent, his voice very cheerful and with a familiar foreigner's tone.
"I am Black Star, who are you?" Ye Feng was a bit puzzled as he glanced at the number. Who could be looking for him?
"Hello, I am Carter, the regional manager of Steam Platform. Your studio's game, 'Dead Cells,' is excellent. We are wondering if you have any plans to add several language versions. We would like to release it on Steam platforms in other countries."
Ye Feng realized that someone might contact him to do other language versions, but he didn't expect it to be the platform manager himself.
"Naturally, I have the intention to do so. Translating the game requires your assistance, though," Ye Feng readily agreed to the request of releasing the game in other regions.
His studio was small, and they wouldn't have been able to do multiple language versions without some help.
Now, with someone offering to help for free, why would he decline?
After some mutual praise and commercial flattery, the other party finally revealed the purpose of his call:
"I'm here to discuss one more thing with you, Black Star."