Fairy, don't be afraid, I'm about to begin my strategy.

"Is this...is this still my account?"

Shen Mo was dumbfounded as he watched the game video's data surge. He had thought the game had great potential and that making it into a video would definitely generate traffic, but he hadn't expected the data to be this good.

He's a small content creator with less than 100,000 followers. His videos usually get a few hundred thousand views at most, and sometimes, if the video quality is bad, they might not even get 10,000 views.

The video, consisting of just one highlight reel, has already garnered over a million views and is heading towards two million, even making it onto the featured page.

With over 30,000 new followers, Shen Mo was so happy he almost fainted.

The comments and bullet screens were all asking for the game's name.

"This game is amazing; the character models and graphics are almost indistinguishable from reality. I've observed it closely, and every single NPC's face model is unique. Even with today's advanced game technology, it's impossible to make every NPC so distinctive; the computational demands are simply too high. If it weren't for the character system and other interfaces shown by the uploader, I would have thought he'd been transported to another world. I've already liked, commented, and subscribed; I'm begging the uploader to provide the game's name and how to play it."

These are popular comments in the comments section, along with numerous frame-by-frame video screenshots, which have garnered many likes from netizens.

"Based on my 30 years of gaming experience, this video is fake. I checked information on most popular game studios, and none of their games are the same as the game featured in the video. No matching games can be found on any search engines, so I'm certain this video was created using AI. Beware of AI-generated scams and soft advertising; it's all a scheme orchestrated by investors. I've already reported it!"

This comment also became a trending topic, and unlike the previous one, the comments section was filled with heated arguments.

Shen Mo didn't care about the content of the comments at all, and was too lazy to get involved in the argument.

However, even Shen Mo himself didn't know the name of this game. The game avatar on the screen was a strange symbol, and the name was blank.

When he tried to find the chat window with his fans to get some answers, he was dumbfounded.

Gone.

The chat window with that fan was gone, and there was no trace of the chat history. Unwilling to believe it, Shen Mo searched for the fan's name from memory.

still none.

When I opened the download website, it returned a 404 error.

Shen Mo was completely dumbfounded; he knew absolutely nothing about this game.

Now that he's calmed down, and recalling the comments under the video, Shen Mo also noticed many strange things.

For example, the game's worldview defies common sense and is too "realistic".

Shen Mo played the game for a whole day, and it really felt like a whole day had passed, even though only 6 hours had actually gone by in reality.

At the time, he was wondering why the time was taking so long, and even suspected that it was a problem with the game pod.

Looking back now, the game is eerie in every way, and it's terrifying to think about.

Sitting in this brain-connected gaming pod that claims to free up your hands, staring at that bizarre game, Shen Mo hesitated for a moment.

"What am I afraid of? It's just a game, it's not like it's going to kill me!"

Shen Mo made a self-deprecating remark and decisively entered the game.

Compared to the facts that we haven't figured out yet, making videos to increase traffic is more important!

……

The familiar old house, the familiar rustic decor, and the familiar atmosphere.

Shen Mo moved his body and felt nothing was wrong. Just as he was about to get up, he froze.

He clearly remembered that when he logged out of the game, his character was sleeping under the covers, but now the covers had been pulled back and piled up in the corner of the bed.

He quickly brought up the character interface, where a new character action record had been added: Chen Qingqing sat in the house for a day and a night without anything happening.

Nothing happened to the ghosts. Isn't this a single-player game?

When a player logs off, the game time should stop at the moment they logged off, so why does the game time move forward?

There's only one type of game where the game time is synchronized with real time: online games. But this is clearly a single-player game!

Shen Mo shakily disconnected the game pod from the network, but everything in the game world was normal!

Taking a deep breath, Shen Mo noticed that the paper and pen on the table seemed to have been moved.

He carefully approached the table, where a sentence was hastily written on a piece of white paper:

Who are you? What is your purpose in controlling me?

Shen Mo repeatedly confirmed that the paper and the words on it were indeed there, and not his hallucination.

Could it be that the controlled character has a soul inside their body?

The idea struck Shen Mo as utterly absurd. But then he thought, if he continued playing, he might control even more characters—what about their souls?

Aren't game NPCs just strings of code? Why would you break the fourth wall and talk to them?

Or was all of this predetermined by the game program?

Shen Mo suddenly realized that his IQ was not enough and he couldn't understand the reason behind it at all.

But this is just a game, and Shen Mo can quit at any time. Even if there are any problems, what can he do?

Moreover, the game allows for rollbacks, which Shenmo has tested.

Thinking about this, Shen Mo suddenly realized that he had nothing to be afraid of. He walked to the table and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, Chen Qingqing, you should be able to hear my voice, right? You don't need to know who I am; you've probably already witnessed my methods. As long as you behave, I'll help you take revenge and let you enter the inner sect."

After saying this, Shen Mo wrote below the sentence on the paper: If you agree with what I said, write a "good" character.

Shen Mo wasn't sure if the other person could share his senses, so he used this method to verify his guess.

After doing all this, Shen Mo felt something was strange; he was communicating with a 'soul' in the game.

But when I think of those AI girlfriend programs, I instantly feel relieved. Maybe it's all just a clever idea from the game developers!

Stop dwelling on these things and silently head out to begin his own plans.

Using the communication talisman given to them by Bai Xiaofeng, the two met again.

"Junior Sister Chen, have you finally made up your mind? I promise you a huge discount."

As soon as Bai Xiaofeng saw Shen Mo, he excitedly asked her about joining the study tour program. It seems he really wanted to close this deal.

"Put the study tour aside for now. Want to earn spirit stones quickly?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaofeng looked at Shen Mo with suspicion. If it weren't for Chen Qingqing's reputation, he would have suspected that he had encountered another fraudster.

Bai Xiaofeng was swindled out of his pockets as soon as he entered the outer sect, and he still feels a little scared when he thinks about those memories.

Seeing Bai Xiaofeng's doubts, he said, "I'll provide the capital. You just need to do me a favor. Whether it works out or not, I'll give you 5 spirit stones today. How about that?"

Upon hearing about the 5 spirit stones, Bai Xiaofeng's eyes lit up. "Junior Sister Chen, is your money-making plan reliable? Don't let it go to waste, or I won't have any money to lend you."

"Don't worry, we'll definitely make money. Let's talk as we walk." Shen Mo pulled Bai Xiaofeng along as they headed towards the beast arena.

……

"Tiger, they're heading towards the beast farm. Should we follow them?"

"Of course we followed. The boss told us to keep an eye on Chen Qingqing, so we can't miss any details."

Two furtive figures left with Shen Mo.