< Tomorrow > was another fantasy/sci-fi/thriller 3D game produced by QingLang Luo Entertainment. It was set in the apocalyptic world that was once popular on the internet. With its top-notch technical team and realistic world setting, it instantly swept the entire online gaming world.
At the start of the game, players could choose a basic identity, such as student, white-collar worker, or athlete. Different professions had different basic attributes. But no matter who you were, you would appear in an ordinary residential building after entering the game. You had to complete the novice mission — kill two zombies that broke into your house. Then, you would team up with your NPC neighbor to kill the zombies and reach the true "novice village" — a large shopping mall that was used as a temporary base. You would discover that you had awakened an ability here. The specific content was randomly assigned. The requirements to level up an ability were similar to those in novels — obtain and absorb high-level zombies' core crystals.
But it was an online game, and everyone knew about it. Especially this kind of free game. Its purpose was to earn the money of the rich and the leisure of the idle. As long as you had enough money, you could open an item shop and instantly obtain a dual-ability to max level was no longer a dream. Of course, considering the probability of failure when leveling up an ability, this was a cost that most people could not afford.
Zhang Zhiyin was an ordinary player of < Tomorrow > who had a little money and a little leisure. He had a chuunibyou syndrome that could never be cured in this lifetime — he was a hopeless antagonist with a boss fetish. In reality, he could be considered a good young man who helped grannies cross the road and gave up his seat on the bus. But in the world of novels, games, and animations, he always liked antagonist bosses.
The NPCs of < Tomorrow > were not drawn, but calculated.
They had a set of NPC creation programs. As long as a set of random numbers were input, the corresponding NPC image would be generated. Due to the large number of NPCs required in the world of < Tomorrow >, not only did this save on art work, but it also ensured the game's diversity and realism.
But when creating the boss, they obviously did not input random numbers, but perfect numbers.
< Tomorrow >'s boss was called Dr. Y. Not only was he the so-called "Father of Zombies," but he was also the culprit that caused the apocalypse. After the apocalypse, he had awakened all his abilities and evolved to the highest level. He was jokingly called "The Man at the Top of the Apocalypse's Food Chain."
At that time, a technician on the game forum analyzed the data and said that if one wanted to take down Dr. Y, they would need at least 50 players who had maxed out their abilities and character levels. Later on, someone added that these people's equipment had to be top-notch. Then, someone added that they had to meet the xxxx criteria … But in any case, Tomorrow was still a long way from defeating the boss, so there was no way to verify this.
In the current game, there was only one place where Dr. Y could be seen, in the Tianshui City main storyline mission dungeon — the Abandoned Laboratory. Players and their teammates came here to help an old professor retrieve an important document. After clearing the dungeon, they would see Dr. Y who suddenly appeared. In the game's plot, the player and his companions did not know Dr. Y's identity at this time. They would talk to him according to the requirements of the mission. After receiving a silent and cold glance from him, they could leave with the mission item, an important document, to complete the mission. Hence, this quest was also known as "I'm here to do a quest, and when I meet the boss, let me out."
Tianshui City was not a very important place in the game. It was only involved in a main quest and had no important resources or functional NPCs. Most players came here to complete quests and leave once they were done. No one came here often.
But there was an exception, Zhang Zhiyin.
The Abandoned Laboratory was one of the more difficult dungeons in the early stages of the game. Fortunately, it was a main storyline dungeon, so it would not refresh after completing it. The monsters inside would not refresh, and the final boss, who was a storyline character, would not refresh either.
At level 20, Zhang Zhiyin and his teammates risked their lives to clear the dungeon. From then on, he came here every day to report.
From level 20 to level 50, the monsters on the way from the teleportation to the entrance of the dungeon were enough to give him a headache. Now that he had thrown two "Freeze" spells, the entire path was smooth and unobstructed.
He went all the way to the third underground floor of the laboratory. The eerie and terrifying atmosphere did not dampen Zhang Zhiyin's excitement. He pushed open the door of the innermost room and saw a familiar figure still quietly leaning against the information cabinet.
It was as if it was waiting for him.
This sudden thought made his heart skip a beat. Zhang Zhiyin could not help but laugh at the computer screen. He knew that it was just a data NPC, so of course it would stand there.
He walked over and spoke in the current channel.
"Hi, I'm here again!" A dialog box appeared on top of his game character's head. Silly, but there would not be a second person here, so it did not matter if he was silly.
This was the most important part of Zhang Zhiyin's daily routine in < Tomorrow > — killing bosses. In the beginning, he was just watching normally, but later on, his boss killing actions became more and more shameless.
"Did you miss me? Are you bored by yourself? Let me dance for you." Zhang Zhiyin selected the "Dance" option in the "Daily Actions" section and looked at the little person twisting around on the computer screen. He laughed while scolding himself for being so bored that he had to tease a virtual data.
There was a messy row of buttons in the "Daily Actions" section. Zhang Zhiyin secretly rubbed the "Kiss" button.
In the end, he did not adjust the angle properly and kissed the information cabinet behind Dr. Y.
Annoying, I won't let him kiss me. Zhang Zhiyin curled his lips and suddenly remembered something, so he typed, "Y, can I hug you?"
He then added, "Today is the hundred-day anniversary of us getting to know each other." To be more precise, it was the hundred-day anniversary of Zhang Zhiyin killing bosses.
Inexplicably, he retracted his playful smile. When he typed this sentence, his expression was incomparably serious. His lips were slightly pursed as he quietly looked at the reclining Dr. on the screen, like an innocent youth asking out a girl he liked for the first time.
The boss in the game naturally did not respond.
Zhang Zhiyin took it as a tacit agreement. He adjusted the angle and clicked the mouse. The little person with the word "Zhiyin" leaned forward, opened his arms, and buried them in Dr. Y's chest, making a hugging gesture.
The scene was exceptionally heartwarming. The corner of Zhang Zhiyin's mouth unconsciously curled up slightly.
Because it was a 3D game screen, "Zhiyin"'s hand had already sunk into the information cabinet.
Zhang Zhiyin looked at the cold Dr. Y and smiled. He felt that if Dr. Y was alive, he would definitely beat him to death.
Even though Zhang Zhiyin knew that after opening the dialog box, it would be the same dialogue that she had seen over a hundred times — "… (He coldly looked at you guys)", she still couldn't help but move the mouse over to the doctor and press the left button.
There was only one sentence on the dialog box —
"My name is Yin Nian."
Zhang Zhiyin's friends felt that he was bored to death. They could understand the joy of killing bosses every day, but going to the boss and chatting with him every day was too boring. They couldn't understand how a man like Zhang Zhiyin could have such a girly heart.
Friend A: "Zhang Zhiyin is probably the only one who can turn 'Tomorrow' into a romance game."
Friend B: "If this really is a romance game, then it's a huge loss. The target didn't respond at all and in the end, they couldn't even achieve the achievement of pushing him down. Which idiot could be so infatuated as Zhang Zhiyin? "
Regardless of what they said, Zhang Zhiyin continued his daily boss killing routine. The line "My name is Yin Nian" that day gave him a huge boost of encouragement. Although his friends said that it was the result of the programmer debugging the program in a secluded place, it was hard to say whether Yin Nian was the boss or not. Logically, Zhang Zhiyin also thought so, but emotionally, he couldn't suppress the joy of a blossoming iron tree.
There was an event in the game during the Qixi Festival. Through a series of complicated Qixi missions, players could obtain a large bouquet of roses. Giving it to other players would increase their favorability and intimacy.
Looking around the mission area, there was a vast army of couples. Other than Zhang Zhiyin, there were also game merchants who took advantage of the situation.
A friend from the game came over. "Zhiyin, don't you have a partner? You came alone and want to sell it? It doesn't matter who you sell it to, you might as well sell it to this bro. "
Zhang Zhiyin put the bouquet of roses into his backpack and replied, "No, I'm keeping it as a gift."
That bro looked at Zhang Zhiyin's departing figure and rubbed his chin. "This is a situation."
He didn't know that Zhang Zhiyin had flown directly to the third basement of the laboratory. His level was getting higher and he had more high level items in his hands, so it was more convenient for him to visit the boss.
In the gloomy information room, Yin Nian stood slanted like he had been for a thousand years.
Zhang Zhiyin directed the little person to walk in front of him, opened "Daily Action", and made a gesture of giving flowers. Then, he opened his backpack, took out the bouquet of delicate and beautiful roses with dew, and hit it on the ground. The bouquet of roses that countless couples yearned for but were extremely difficult to obtain, [Qixi's Special Rose for Special You, Tomorrow's Exclusive Supreme Rose], lay quietly on the black floor of the reference room.
Other than this method, Zhang Zhiyin didn't know how else to give the flowers to him.
"Happy holidays," he said. Then he just stood there quietly and looked at Yin Nian.
Five minutes passed, the roses on the ground flashed a few times, and then they were recalled by the system and disappeared. "Zhiyin" walked up to Yin Nian and gave him a hug.
In reality, many people would ask Zhang Zhiyin half-jokingly when they met him, "Little Zhang, are you in love with a woman?"
Only then did Zhang Zhiyin realize that he had lost control of his feelings for Yin Nian. This was different from all the antagonistic bosses he had liked in the past. Those bosses were also liked by many people, and they were a public symbol. But Yin Nian wasn't. This perfect boss who always stood quietly in the dark information room and waited for him wasn't Yin Nian. Even though he couldn't move, speak, or react in any way, in Zhang Zhiyin's heart, this person belonged to him, and only him.
These two days were the first anniversary of "Tomorrow's" server, and related promotions were being done everywhere. There were also endless in-game activities. Zhang Zhiyin counted with his fingers. In two days, it would be the first anniversary of him and his boss meeting. Coincidentally, he was going to visit him one more time, and then he would delete "Tomorrow" and never play it again.
He thought that when the time came, he would definitely kiss him one last time. It had already been a year, but he still only dared to hug him once. Even if this relationship was destined to end without a cause, it was still too much of a failure.
There were only a few seconds left before the green light turned green, and the electronic screen of the opposite building began to play a promotional video, which happened to be the first anniversary of "Tomorrow." In the video, Dr. Y was wearing the standard white coat of a researcher, standing tall. Ice, fire, lightning, wind, and other types of abilities were circling around him. Behind him were two rows of countless glass pillars filled with repulsive zombies. His face was dark, and his expression was cold. Although it was a perfect face that couldn't be painted, it didn't show any emotions that a human should have.
Zhang Zhiyin couldn't move his eyes away. When he saw the people around him walking forward, he subconsciously walked forward as well. There was only that pair of incomparably familiar eyes in his mind.
Then, with a "bang", he felt a dull pain and lost consciousness. His last impression was still that pair of dark, emotionless eyes.
...
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