The developers still haven't forgiven the players.

[Player character dies, level resets to zero, player enters cooldown period.]

[Cooling-off period countdown - 23:59:53]

The view returned to the pitch black it was when I logged in, with only two lines of fluorescent white text in the center of the screen.

Unconvinced, Brother Niu silently entered the game, but when he found no reaction, he reluctantly took off his game helmet.

He suppressed the urge to curse, lit a cigarette, and quietly finished it.

Finally, I slapped my thigh in frustration.

"Seriously, is this game design flawed? Why would you need a cooling-off period in a game?"

Having just experienced this groundbreaking game, he feels like he's going to die if he doesn't play it for a day.

Overwhelmed by a strong urge to confide, he immediately opened his phone and accepted Dog Brother's friend request.

Sure enough, Dog Bro was also looking at his phone at the time. He immediately approved the application and added him to a newly created group chat.

[Closed Beta Player Discussion Group]

The man, who seemed to swagger across the entire area, shouted: "No way! I can't take this! Let me in! I'm going to settle the score with that leopard!" (angrily)

Dog Bro: "Why?! Why is there a cooldown for resurrection? I can't accept this!"

Dog Bro: "Brother Niu, you're in, right? Say something."

Dog Bro: "Aren't you a gaming magazine editor? Could you use your connections to get in touch with the game's operators?"

Dog Bro: "Ask if the cooling-off period can be canceled; I'm willing to pay for it."

The messages kept popping up, showing that the two of them were in a hurry.

However, Brother Niu could understand, since he felt much the same way as the two of them, and quickly typed a reply.

Sweetheart One-Hit Cow: "My job is old news, and I don't know many people in the industry now. Besides, I think this game is still in secret development and it's a long way from the publicity stage, otherwise there wouldn't be no news about it at all."

Sweetheart Strike Cow: "Speaking of which, brothers, first of all, I have to apologize to you two. I didn't expect the death penalty in the game to be so severe."

Dog Bro: "Don't be so formal. It's fate that we've all come together. So what if we die? Consider it a lesson learned."

Sweetheart One-Hit Cow: "I really don't understand, what's the point of the planners setting such a severe death penalty?"

Not only is there a 24-hour resurrection cooldown, but your level will also be reset to zero. This is barely understandable in the early stages of the game, since it's not a significant loss.

However, if players progress to the later stages of the game and level up, then having to start all over again would be incredibly frustrating and completely contradict modern game design principles.

Dog Bro: "Hard to say. The planners have even created a cooling-off period, so I wouldn't be surprised if they pull something else."

"He's got a lot of players in the whole region: 'They think there are too many players. (Grinning face)'"

Sweetheart Cow: "By the way, there's one more thing I wanted to ask. Can you still recall what it felt like to be killed by the monster?"

Dog Bro: "Yeah, I remember. What's up?"

Sweetheart One-Hit Cow: "That's the problem. Bro, I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me, but my heart races when I see a chicken being slaughtered in real life."

I still vividly remember the monster lunging at me and tearing me in two with a single claw. The bleeding from the severed limbs looked incredibly realistic, but it felt like I was watching a movie through a screen; I didn't experience any psychological discomfort.

Dog Bro: "That's normal. After all, games are going to be released to the public, so they'll definitely do some pain and psychological desensitization to prevent any social problems, like parents reporting them or something."

Sweetheart One-Hit Cow: "Yeah, I just think this technology is really amazing. I really want to meet the game's planner."

……

Jiang Chen naturally couldn't meet the players in real life.

Incidentally, the player-controlled body is actually quite easy to create, since it's just a blank slate, and the time for flesh and blood reconstruction can be shortened to less than a minute.

The reason he deliberately lengthened the resurrection time was purely to make players cherish their lives and try to invest their limited time in improving themselves.

Ultimately, the Fourth Calamity is a creature whose main purpose is to avoid dying.

If death comes without consequences, once the number of players increases, he'll probably spend all his time sculpting clay figures instead of doing anything else.

As for resetting the level to zero, there's really no other way. This is the only way he can reclaim the clay doll's cultivation results without affecting the player's gaming experience.

Players end up with nothing, resulting in overwhelming negative feedback?

If you're so capable, then don't die.

Jiang Chen shifted his attention to the open space in front of him, changed to a more comfortable sitting position, and continued to serve as a backdrop.

On the open ground in front of them, several players were already "fully armed".

They searched the village thoroughly, only stopping when they found they had so much stuff on them they couldn't carry any more.

Regardless of whether it's a good item or not, as long as it looks usable, pick it up and carry it with you.

Among them, Lao Kuai was the most exaggerated. He wore a bone helmet on his head, carried three stone axes on each side, wore a big coat on his back, had an animal skin wrapped around his waist, and was holding a bronze pillar in both hands, making people wonder if he would have trouble taking even two steps.

Peng Zhi patted his bottom and sat down on the ground: "Let's all share what we've learned."

Old Kuai chuckled, planted the bronze pillar on the ground, and sat down together.

"Look, all my spoils are on me, you can see that, right?"

"No, I mean interactive items," Peng Zhi reminded him.

Ke Yun was startled, immediately feeling like she'd been ripped off: "This game has interactive items? What did you pick up?"

Upon hearing this, the kid awkwardly shrank his neck. Old Kuai noticed this but didn't say anything.

"It's this one."

Peng Zhi spread out the animal hide in his arms and placed it among the group.

The three of them were stunned for a moment, and Peng Zhi realized that they must have received the same system notification as him.

Old Kuai rested his chin on his hand: "Yellow-level military technique? It's like the internal energy cultivation methods in martial arts games, right?"

Ke Yun offered a different opinion: "It should be called a martial arts technique. Although I don't know what kind of world this game is, the traces of life in the village, from what I've observed so far, don't seem to be in the style of martial arts."

"That's right. The NPC over there also mentioned that what we thought was a village was actually a tribe. I feel it's more like a fantasy, the kind with an ancient background."

Peng Zhi continued, "And I've tried it. The military strategies in this game can't be used just by acquiring them. You have to train them according to the methods described on them until you're proficient enough to use them directly."

Old Kuai's mouth involuntarily opened: "Wait, you mean...?"

"Wow! Bro, that's terrifying."

Old Kuai raised his hand from his chin, now rubbing his forehead: "What cyber training? You mean if we want to level up in this game, we have to honestly train with this stuff? There's no need to pursue realism in a place like this, is there?"

Peng Zhi: "...Yes, if you want to level up, you have to practice."