With ruthless words in mind and hands on the keyboard and mouse, Zhang Yi officially started his journey of spreading fire. He was quite excited at the moment.
Neon Games was one of his favorite game makers. Although the games it had launched were a little too much—like Overcooked which had made him wash dishes until today, and Braveheart: World War, which had made him shed a lot of tears not long ago—these games had the ability to touch the hearts of players.
Dark Souls, the game in front of him, was Neon Games' first masterpiece. He had been eagerly anticipating it. The world of despair, conveying the fire of hope, was fascinating to think about. It might have cost him many tears, but what did that matter? He was ready.
In the game, on the road ahead, many symbols like blood could not be easily understood. Zhang Yi was no stranger to them, as Chen Xu had already introduced this special system during a previous online live broadcast conference.
Players could also leave advice in various parts of the game map. This feature was a major aspect of Dark Souls, acting almost like a message board. Of course, leaving a message came with certain format restrictions, and the content would undergo special review. Any player leaving inappropriate comments would be warned, and those who committed more serious offenses would be banned from using the online features.
Zhang Yi observed the system advice now displayed in the game and followed the prompts. Rolling, normal attacks, heavy attacks... The gameplay felt different from the gorgeous attack methods of other games. Dark Souls had a weightiness that made the actions feel impactful. Rolling, slashing, and the feedback from cutting against stone all felt remarkably powerful.
The only thing that bothered Zhang Yi was that the energy bar depleted too quickly. A few rolls, a couple of slashes, and it was gone. Even running consumed energy, which was a bit frustrating.
However, Zhang Yi didn't mind too much. He assumed there would be upgrades or equipment to increase the energy bar later on. After all, he was currently playing as a whiteboard character—without any special gear or stats.
Soon, as he moved forward, he encountered the first mobs—skeleton minions, creatures known as corpses. They were easy to deal with. With the chicken leg in his hand, he smashed them twice, effortlessly.
The opponent's blood bar was cleared immediately.
"The difficulty of this little monster is so simple! But is there no minimap in this game?" Wang Han commented from time to time.
Zhang Yi, focused on playing, felt equally puzzled. Although he had just started the game, something seemed off. Dark Souls felt very different from other games.
"There's no difficulty adjustment before entering, and this little monster is too easy to deal with. No challenge at all," Zhang Yi remarked.
As for the missing minimap, though he found it unusual, he made a guess. "It probably hasn't reached the plot point yet. We should meet an NPC later who'll give us a map."
Moving forward, Zhang Yi came across a corpse near a fountain-like area. He picked up a bottle of blue medicine from it.
"An elemental bottle? Orange for health, blue for magic… How poetic," he said, inspecting the description.
Wang Han, sitting beside him, shook her head. "They changed the names to be like this?" she said, though she had to admit the phrasing felt smooth and vivid.
Zhang Yi continued further, noticing advice etched into the ground. These were basic tutorials, teaching players how to raise shields and perform other essential actions.
Combat skills, dual-wielding, and basic operations were all introduced here. Along the way, there were small enemy soldiers—slow, stiff, and brittle in movement. Even beginners could take them down with just a couple of hits.
Some of these mobs dropped chicken legs, which weren't very useful. Others carried small wooden shields, surprisingly effective for defense.
"What kind of difficulty is this game, though?" Wang Han asked, watching Zhang Yi effortlessly dispatch the zombie mobs. She couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. The high-difficulty tag on the store's interface seemed misleading. "Am I really going to sit here all afternoon, watching this?"
Zhang Yi chuckled at her complaint. "No way! It's just that my skills are on another level. Hard to die, you know?"
After clearing the area, the soul counter in the bottom-right corner kept rising. Zhang Yi guessed it must be either the game's currency or an experience bar. However, its exact purpose remains unclear for now.
Moving on, as the cold sun shines, the rugged mountain road splits into two forks.
One path leads to a huge stone door at the edge of a cliff, while the other reveals a narrow, sheep-intestine trail. The surroundings are marked by ruined buildings, clearly weathered with age.
"The cliff path must be part of the main storyline, but there are probably collectible props hidden along the narrow trail," Zhang Yi analyzed, his gamer instincts kicking in. Years of playing games weren't for nothing; experience was on his side.
"Intuition tells me there's a big baby here!" he said confidently, sneaking a glance at Wang Han beside him.
She rolled her eyes and retorted, "Treasures like that usually have guardian spirit beasts. With your little arms and legs, you might not even make it out alive."
"How's that possible?" Zhang Yi dismissed her skepticism. "Even if something is guarding it, it can't be much stronger than the living corpse I just crushed!" His confidence soared from the recent easy victory.
The rugged trail ahead was overgrown with dry vines, and a weathered sign lay on the ground. Picking it up, Zhang Yi read the ominous words: "Go back!"
"Turn back? No way! I've come this far. I'm definitely checking this out," he muttered and pressed forward.
The path led him through a shallow pool of water and into a cavern. Not far ahead, a massive crystalline lizard lay sprawled across the ground, its shimmering scales reflecting faint light.
Zhang Yi's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the enormous creature.
"You seem to have found a treasure," Wang Han's voice cut through, her tone carrying a mix of sarcasm and concern.
The crystal lizard, now aware of the intruder, rose slowly, fixing its unblinking gaze on Zhang Yi.
"It's fine, really," Zhang Yi assured himself, his voice steady despite his growing unease. "This is just an elite mob, not a boss. Look, its health bar is so short! I'll smash it to bits with two swings of my chicken legs!"
With a deep breath, he rallied his courage, gripping his chicken leg weapon and battered wooden shield. Charging ahead with reckless confidence, Zhang Yi prepared for the encounter, utterly convinced of his victory.