Chapter 12: Can Being Stinky Really Lower Favorability?
This game is so incredibly realistic and well-crafted, with every detail meticulously rendered like a living, breathing world. The development team’s dedication is evident—they absolutely wouldn’t allow any fatal bugs in such a small area! Yet, when you think about it, there must be something overlooked. Better to try again!
While players are engrossed in the game, the forums are in an uproar.
“Damn it, someone please come out and help me, I beg you!”
Several hours later, a player, due to poor skill and bad luck, finally logs off after waiting eight hours to respawn multiple times, compiling footage from the gameplay.
Other players catch a glimpse of the iceberg beneath the surface of this game world.
Then...
“Holy crap, it’s really holographic? Why didn’t I get a chance to play? I feel like I lost a fortune—I want to play so badly!”
“Wife alert! The main NPC is stunning! The holographic game’s website looks so simple—maybe they spent all the budget on the game and modeling my wife!”
“Seems like the pre-registration has already hit 100,000? Alright, draw swords against a hundred thousand rivals!”
“Heh, I’m one of the lucky hundred to get a beta spot. You guys and I are sworn enemies—draw swords, champions! I’m going all out!”
The forum erupts in chaos—wailing and howling. Although the player was clumsy, only posting a short five-minute clip showing the opening scene where they meet Su Qingyue and then get clawed to death by a tiger, it was enough to reveal the game’s excellence.
The footage begins from the player’s first-person perspective: distant mountain ranges stretch endlessly, a lush green forest lies ahead, crisp and melodious birdsong fills the air, accompanied by a gentle breeze rustling through leaves and grass.
Wildflowers bloom on the nearby meadow, simple yet embellishing the scenery. In the distance, the faint call of a monkey echoes.
It’s an incredibly vivid, untouched paradise. From the player’s viewpoint, the wind brushes their cheeks, long hair flutters, and the textures of soil and leaves feel unmistakably real—as if they have truly crossed into another world.
The camera shifts. A girl in a white dress stands there, ethereal and cool, her breathtaking beauty beyond words, her dazzling eyes scanning lightly. Viewers holding their breath recall earlier promotional videos.
So, such a beauty really exists!
She—and that cultivation world—are indeed real!
The viewers want to gaze longer, but the elegant, otherworldly white-clad fairy vanishes; the screen goes dark.
“Wait, just a few seconds? My wife only appeared for a few seconds?”
“Too beautiful. Now I understand why the big player ‘Flying Dragon in the Sky’ had a fight with his good brother—I’m just going to fangirl over my wife!”
“Damn, does the other side die in just a few seconds? I didn’t get enough of that face!”
Next comes a chaotic battle scene: players wildly brandishing weapons chase a tiger—or rather, are chased by it, running helter-skelter.
Forum members: “???”
“They’re so embarrassing! If it were me, I’d be way better. Don’t they want their wives to think they’re cool?”
“Wake up! That tiger is over two meters long and can crush your skull with one swipe!”
The players’ fighting is messy and unskilled, yet the audience watches avidly.
The footage feels like a movie—though the combat is clumsy, it’s thrilling and intense, perfectly capturing the desperate struggle of humans wielding cold weapons against a giant tiger.
Only when the video ends do they realize: wait, weren’t we just watching the latest action film?
“Awesome! So exciting! My heart’s pounding—so intense!”
“I want to jump in and fight, even if the big cat claws me to pulp!”
Like a live-action film, it’s incredibly real, as if a group of people is genuinely battling a tiger.
And, of course, there’s that divine beauty.
They remain exhilarated long after, only lamenting the video’s brevity, containing just the opening and Su Qingyue’s brief appearance. It’s simply not enough—they watch it repeatedly.
“I want more! So little content!”
“OP is terrible! If he survives longer, we’ll see more! I want to see my wife!”
“Looks fun, I dream of playing it! If not, just more videos will do!”
Suddenly, both game addicts and admirers of beautiful women—men and women alike—are desperate to play this game.
If nothing else, more gameplay videos would suffice. With a hundred players, is no one else uploading footage?
There really isn’t. Players are still locked in deadly fights against tigers, lions, bears, and wolves!
Trending on Weibo: “First Holographic Game—Live Videos from the Immortal Realm!”
Meanwhile, in the game, players grow more adept, constantly thinking and adjusting their skills during combat.
They soon discover that aiming skills at targets and channeling more spiritual power increases their potency.
Moreover, mixing skills of different attributes yields impressive effects.
For example, everyone knows that forest fires spread faster with wind. So, if a fire cultivator’s small flame is combined with a wind skill...
By analogy and reasoning, players aren’t fools. Having played many games, they quickly master the mechanics.
As the sun nears the horizon, they laugh and joke, cheeks flushed, carrying back an enormous haul of prey to Su Qingyue.
“Sect leader, look! We hunted so much!”
“I told you these beasts aren’t a match for cultivators! Haha, we’re the best!”
“The chosen ones are the strongest!”
Su Qingyue was about to praise the players when a strong, foul stench hit her head-on, making her eyes water and her mind buzz.
She staggered back several meters, barely regaining her senses.
Wait—don’t you have storage rings? Why carry these bloody, stinking carcasses instead of storing them?
Are you trying to kill me with the stench?
The players froze, noticing her mournful expression, finally realizing.
They had been battling beasts for a long time, accustomed to the foul smell; their senses dulled, they didn’t notice it much.
But Su Qingyue, who already rarely bathed and was somewhat smelly, was now overwhelmed with the stench of bloodied beasts—an utterly intoxicating assault.
A few players, initially unfazed, cranked their sensory perception to maximum: “It’s not that bad… Ugh, gulp!”
They rolled their eyes and gagged, fearing they’d literally lose blood from the stench soon.
Frantically, they shoved the carcasses into storage rings, and the air instantly cleared.
The ever-cheerful jokester suddenly joked, “If we die from the stink, do you think we’ll get a ‘Death by Stench’ achievement?”
An achievement for testing? Collectors’ hearts fluttered—they even wanted to take the carcasses out again.
Other players: “...Though ridiculous, it’s oddly tempting. What the heck?”
Su Qingyue: “...” She had a headache.
[System Announcement: Due to exposure to foul gases, NPC Su Qingyue is feeling unwell and emotionally distressed. Affection towards all players decreased by 20!
Warning: This is a highly immersive game. All NPCs are fully humanized. Players, please mind your words and actions.
If NPC affection drops too low, it will affect task acceptance and main storyline progression!]
Players: “!!!”
Stench lowers affection? Again? For everyone? They’re ready to give up.
After all their hard work, affection dropped by 20 for everyone! But on reflection, if they were assaulted by the stench and bloody smell of carcasses, they’d be angry too.
Alright then, that’s reasonable.
Everyone instinctively rushed to cover the jokester’s mouth: “No, you don’t want that.”