New Century Anime Warrior

Wang Xianren has been quite troubled lately.

Having eaten instant noodles for several weeks, I still can't bring myself to make the decision to switch careers.

Previously, I ran several self-media accounts, mainly focusing on ACG-related commentary and also providing in-depth analysis of the details of works.

But after going through the rounds, it was lukewarm at best. Either the criticisms weren't sharp enough, or the detailed comments lacked depth. In short, it just couldn't retain attention.

One account that did Easter egg analysis got incredibly lucky and stumbled upon a hidden plot by the second most legendary high school student of 2006, prematurely revealing the other party's promotional highlights.

For a time, he was incredibly popular, and even some portal websites reprinted his exposé blog post, resulting in an explosion in readership and reposts. Even now, fans of the Second Legendary High School Student still occasionally come to dig up his past.

During that period, Wang Xianren really thought he was about to take off, but reality gave him a rude awakening.

Temporary traffic can't be converted into effective fans... because all that traffic has become that high school student's fan.

I didn't even use any hand cream; my hands were spotless.

What's most heartbreaking is the fan who provided the clue, whose name is something like A-Qiang.

Because I became a fan of that high school student, I forwarded information about the second legendary high school student every day, regardless of whether it was new or old, just rehashing it.

Recently, he discovered a new way to play: find screenshots of random people praising the second legendary high school student on various platforms, and then share them.

These mindless compliments from strangers precisely hit the mark with fans' obsessive psychology, driving them to ecstasy and endless climaxes.

He actually turned his personal account into a fan portal, and vaguely became a fan leader.

He even connected with the celebrity fan group of the first legendary high school student because of the CP fans, and they had all sorts of fun interactions.

Moreover, many celebrity fan leaders were inspired by this and began to dig up screenshots of their own mindless praise, which has almost become a genre.

Holy crap, I'm so envious!

"Should I create a new account and specialize in analyzing my own work?"

Wang Xianren murmured, not even caring that the instant noodles had gone cold.

That guy, Ah Qiang, claims to be a fan of the work, but all he posts is bragging about himself. He's not as good as he claims!

True fans of a work will, of course, praise it to the extreme!

Let's start a new account with the latest "The Edge Walker"!

Yes, that's how to do it! Rinse!

"The second legendary high school student, my future depends on you!"

"Steam! Download!"

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Wang Xianren is a veteran anime fan, so starting a new game was naturally a breeze for him.

The startup page for "The Edge Walker" is very simple.

There are five options: the beginning of a legend, the continuation of a legend, the life of a legend, the reconstruction of the world, and the return to reality.

As expected, the process involves starting the game, loading a save file, watching a cutscene, setting up the game, and exiting the game.

It's fairly standard, though.

Clicking on "The Beginning of the Legend" caused the huge bright yellow logo in the background to flicker a few times, as if there was signal interference, before the screen suddenly went black.

A text box appears at the bottom of the screen.

[Prologue: A Boy's Shattered Dreams]

[2076, Night City. 】

After the black screen ended, a police car appeared on the screen. Although it was just a static image, simple lighting effects were added to the police lights.

A burly man with strange equipment stuck in his back suddenly appeared next to the police car, and a police officer followed him out.

A dialog box pops up with text.

[Officer: Hey, this is NCPD, stop...]

Bang!

Accompanied by a simple sound effect, a three-second animation seamlessly transitions into the originally static screen.

The police officer instantly turned into a cloud of blood mist, the police car exploded, and the other officers were instantly engaged in a physical fight with the burly man.

"???"

Wang Xianren was dumbfounded. What the hell is this thing?

It's not uncommon for visual novels to include animations, but I've never seen such a smooth transition before.

Most importantly, is this game really that wild?

What's with all this tomato sauce on the screen?

No wonder it's going to be released on Steam.

It has to be said that the seamless transition from the static image to the short animation was truly stunning to Wang Xianren, who even straightened his back a bit.

Serious mode!

This reflects a greater sense of anticipation for the entire game and story.

This scene also occurred to all the players who had begun to become legends of Night City.

-----------------

As the intense gunfire rang out, the three-second animation returned to a static image in the last frame.

It's a color comic book page interspersed with battle scenes.

Unlike traditional comics, the panels in the game are inserted sequentially in rhythm with the sound effects, and different dynamics are generated according to the content of the panels.

It felt like reading a page of a motion comic with its own sound.

This presentation method seems to save a lot of effort, but the effect is exceptionally outstanding, providing players with an experience that is no less than the previous animation.

"This performance ability is truly worthy of someone recognized as a visual and auditory genius!"

While clicking through the chat box, Wang Xianren commented on the game. Since he had decided to become a fan of the work, he naturally had to play the game with a magnifying glass.

Otherwise, how can I praise it?

As the panel depicting the burly man's death falls to the ground and the scene shifts directly to a young man with spiky hair, covered in sweat but smiling excitedly, holding a device that resembles display glasses.

The dialog box also displays new text.

[David: Hehehe, haha... This sunglasses dream is so cool!]

With this one sentence, countless players officially entered this cruel and bizarre cyberpunk world.

-----------------

[Mom, you forgot to top up the washing machine! ...Are you asleep?]

[Option: Wake up Mom and ask her to top up the washing machine credits]

[Option: Don't disturb Mom's rest, and put a coat on her.]

Faced with these options that didn't seem to have any real impact on the plot, Wang Xianren was a bit annoyed. This was quite different from mainstream Galgames.

"Is the weighted value hidden? Or is it just a deliberate gimmick? Surely the game ending can't be unlocked only at the very end through score calculation, right?"

"Never mind, just pick whatever you like."

-----------------

Gloria: I worked hard to earn money and send you to Arasaka Academy so you could climb to the top of Arasaka Tower...

[Option: Promise your mother that you will study hard and not let her down]

[Option: Firmly refuse, insist that children from poor families don't need to go to school, and prepare to drop out to work]

"Another one of those options where the actual consequences are not apparent."

"Forget it, David's family is having a really tough time. I should go get a job to help my mom out; she'll understand..."

Thinking about my experiences over the past two years, I realize that children from poor families mature early, and my family will understand.

Thinking this way, Wang Xianren directly chose the second option. This might hurt his mother Gloria's feelings, but Wang Xianren put himself in her shoes and had no psychological burden at all...

Just as the click ended, a group of thugs suddenly appeared on the side of David's family's vehicle and, through them, opened fire on the luxury car on the other side.

After a few tense scenes cut quickly, the image of Gloria lying on the ground is shown next.

"Holy crap?"

Wang Xianren was startled by this sudden turn of events.

Although I don't know what happened, I heard a rescue alarm in the game, so I guess my mother can still be saved.

For now, the only option is to continue the game's storyline until David receives news of Gloria's death...

"Holy crap! Si Hua, you're not human!!!"

Wang Xianren smacked the mouse, thinking, "I just hurt my mother's feelings, and you just sent her away like that?"

The last thing the employer said to her was a denial.

Isn't this a case of dying with one's eyes open in disgrace?

Is this even a plot written by a human?

Wang Xianren put himself in that situation, and his heart clenched.

Rollback is necessary! A rollback is absolutely required!

-----------------

Wang Xianren changed his options, but after seeing Gloria still unable to avoid death.

Without hesitation, he quit the game, opened Weibo, and wrote a sentence using his newly prepared account.

"You heartless author! @NewCenturyAnimeWarrior"

In no time, it received hundreds of likes.