Before I knew it, half an hour had passed.
In that time, Instructor Ding had tried every trick in the book, attempting all sorts of methods.
For example, he searched for other routes to advance, looked for special items in the scene, or switched to different firearms.
But the result was without exception, all failures!
"Let's give it up, guys. I don't know what the exact situation is, but I think, maybe it's because I'm too noob to grasp the profound intentions of Client Daddy's level design.
"How about this, let's check out the online mode."
Seeing that a quarter of his two-hour game promotion stream had already passed, Instructor Ding started to get anxious.
This was a threat to his reputation!
Although he still didn't know what was going on, how could Client Daddy be wrong? If there was a mistake, it must be his own gameplay that was the problem!
So he decisively chose to exit single-player mode and change the content of his livestream.
If you can't beat the single-player mode because the computer is too strong, there wouldn't be such issues in player versus player online mode, right?
Thinking this, he returned to the game's title page and then entered the online mode.
The online mode of "Infernal Trajectory" wasn't overly complicated either, following the "random matchmaking" and "create a room" modes like other common FPS games.
Instructor Ding carelessly set up a room and soon it was filled with eager viewers.
However, Instructor Ding noticed something while adjusting the room settings—that the game's online mode seemed to be "asymmetric competition"?
The so-called asymmetric competition is where the competing parties are not equal in strength.
In "Infernal Trajectory", there's only one online mode, "Humans vs Demons", without any options for "Humans vs Humans" or "Demons vs Demons".
And in the "Humans vs Demons" gameplay mode, the number of players on each side is extremely unequal.
A total of 50 players, against 3 demons!
As the room host, Instructor Ding was automatically assigned to the Human Faction.
Within the room, the attributes of the competing sides couldn't be adjusted; other than changing maps, there was almost nothing the host could do.
"Alright, guys, are you all ready? Let's get started!"
Soon, the players on both sides entered the game!
This time, Instructor Ding chose a different map, no longer the previous viaduct, but an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs.
Compared to the earlier viaduct, the warehouse scene clearly showed more signs of demon corruption.
Obviously, the game's settings extended from the city to the Gate of Hell, the closer to the Gate of Hell, the more obvious the traces of Hell, and the stronger the demons encountered.
The game quickly began!
Instructor Ding noticed that he could choose weapons at the spawn point. Five slots corresponded to an automatic rifle, sniper rifle, pistol, and two types of throwable objects. Besides the previously used AK47, 98K, Glock, and others in single-player mode, there were also advanced versions like the AWP, Desert Eagle, and so on.
Instructor Ding directly selected top-tier equipment for himself.
If you have better guns and don't use them, wouldn't that be stupid?
This time, Instructor Ding was more confident: "Guys, come on, follow me and rush into the warehouse, take down the opposition!"
This time it's 50 against 3, the advantage is ours!
Although he had been bested by the demons before, that was because the AI in single-player mode was set too high, like playing against a cheater; how could you play?
But online battles meant that the opponents were all players, so there was probably nothing to be afraid of.
Instructor Ding took the lead and charged into the abandoned warehouse.
However, the next second, what he saw... was a Gatling gun spewing blue flames.
Yes, a real blue-flame Gatling!
In the center of the warehouse, atop an enormous pile of goods, sat a massive Hell Demon. Its terrifying horns and skin cracked and burning with Hellfire gave off a suffocating presence.
But what was even more oppressive was the huge Gatling gun in its hands. It seemed to be proportionally enlarged, with a dark Hell aesthetic. Large gun barrels were decorated with many black and red bone spikes resembling demons, and there seemed to be a breathing effect as the barrels slowly undulated.
The moment Instructor Ding charged in, the Gatling barrels had already started spinning rapidly, firing blue flames!
"Dada dada dada..."
Shell casings fell like popping beans while the Gatling's muzzle spat blue flames, turning Instructor Ding into a sieve!
The players following Instructor Ding didn't fare any better; they charged into the warehouse one after another, only to fall like wheat under a scythe.
Soon, everyone who had followed Instructor Ding into the charge was dead, not a single survivor remained!
"What's going on? Does this demon not need to reload?"
Instructor Ding was baffled, as he was the first to die and, naturally, the first to respawn.
Respawning in this game only took one second, so after reviving, Instructor Ding headed back to the warehouse just in time to catch up with the tail end of the squad.
He charged again with unwavering resolve, and again, he bit the dust with the same resolve.
That was why Instructor Ding voiced his existential doubt: why doesn't it reload?
From the start to now, the demon's Gatling gun hadn't stopped firing, but here's the thing, while a Gatling gun has plenty of ammo, its rate of fire is also high.
In real life, Gatlings used while moving mostly come with 300 or 500 round ammo boxes, and in games, the ammo count for these guns is usually set around 300 or 450 as well.
But obviously, this particular Gatling was far exceeding those numbers.
"Could it be... just like in reality, it's using an ammo box with 4000 rounds??"
This guess was ludicrous, but Instructor Ding vaguely sensed that it was probably the truth.
In this ridiculous game, even the lowest-level Infernal Inferior Demon could wield an M4A1 with special effects, so what was so strange about a high-level Hell Demon using a Hellfire Gatling with 4000 rounds?
If there was a better gun available, wouldn't it be stupid not to use it?
Seeing that the recently resurrected human players were about to charge to their deaths again, Instructor Ding quickly stopped them and began explaining tactics.
"Don't just rush in headlong! Go one by one, deplete its ammo!"
Under Instructor Ding's command, the players formed a long line, charging in groups of three or five at a time.
Meanwhile, Instructor Ding was silently calculating the enemy's remaining ammunition.
According to typical game design logic, the higher the ammo count of a gun, the slower its reloading speed would be.
For a firearm with a 4000-round magazine like this one, the reload time could easily exceed ten seconds; and once the demon ran out of ammo, or couldn't control its hands due to reload fever, that would be the moment for the human players to launch a full counterattack!
Finally, after several more rounds of death, Instructor Ding roughly estimated that the enemy's 4000 rounds should be nearly spent.
He decisively ordered: "Brothers! Charge! Spread out as soon as you enter the warehouse, its ammo is almost gone!"
The human players surged in all at once, and as Instructor Ding charged into the warehouse, just as he predicted, the demon's ammunition ran out!
The impressive Hellfire Gatling's barrels were still spinning, but no longer spewing blue flames, while the enormous Hell Demon seemed to be looking down for something.
"Now's our chance!"
Instructor Ding immediately moved his mouse to aim, targeting the demon.
If everything went as he predicted, this demon would have at least ten seconds of reloading time, enough for the human players to focus fire.
But the next second, Instructor Ding froze.
Because after running out of bullets, the demon simply stretched out its claw, randomly grabbed another 4000-round ammo box connector from beside its body, inserted it into the Hellfire Gatling, and completed the reload.
Then, the Hellfire Gatling spat blue flames once more!
Although a few human players reacted quickly and fired sporadic shots that hit the demon, it seemed unaffected, not sustaining any fatal damage.
Immediately after, a deluge of Gatling bullets sent the human players who had rushed into the warehouse back to the respawn point.
"This is absurd!"
Instructor Ding was furious; he had played FPS games for many years and had never encountered anything as preposterous as this.
How could this Hellfire Gatling not only have a fast firing rate, huge killing power, and lots of ammo, but also reload so quickly?
It had reloaded in almost two seconds, which was faster than assault rifles and sniper rifles!
Is there no justice? No law?
If this wasn't a job order, Instructor Ding would have certainly raged about it, but the thought that it was a client's request quickly calmed his anger.
"Alright, it's definitely my fault no matter what, the Client Daddy can't be wrong, I just haven't found the right way to play this game..."
Instructor Ding repeated this phrase to himself a few times, quickly soothing his near-breaking point stress.
"Guys, don't rush in anymore, the main entrance has too much firepower, let's think differently, take the side door!"