Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'

Jiaozi Niu always feels something is not quite right recently.

It's like everyone has their low period every month, or maybe it's because he hasn't touched games for a month. His attention span has been quite scattered lately.

He sits by the dining table, looking at the messages popping up on the terminal, unconsciously drifting off again.

As the runner-up in the solo challenge, many media companies and platforms intend to sign with him, offering attractive conditions, yet Jiaozi Niu feels something is off.

Since the end of version 1.0 "Contempt Maxim", he's been trapped in this state: constantly doubting that everything around him is fake.

When eating, he finds the taste of food unfamiliar, when strolling, the roadside scenery feels like mere textures, seeing people's shoving and jesting rolls like crude 3D models colliding.

——Have I played too many games?

Jiaozi Niu covers his forehead, his anxious, confused face reflected in the soup appears incredibly unfamiliar.

——Is this me? Is this how I'm supposed to be? My skin, my form, my expressions, why do they feel different from the reflection?

"The soup has almost gone cold, do you need me to take it back to heat?"

The synthetic human caretaker reminds him.

Jiaozi Niu turns a deaf ear, remains silent for a while, reaches out, and picks up the soup bowl, but instead of drinking, he keeps rubbing his fingertips around the rim of the porcelain bowl.

Is it being engrossed in games... or am I already living in a game?

Like those NPCs and natives, we all live in virtual data through filters.

What is reality, what is false?

Fingers rubbing the porcelain emit a resonance that makes the heart contract, which is commonly known.

However, when Jiaozi Niu repeatedly grazes the porcelain, he feels not just the heart-wrenching resonance.

Fingertips gradually generate heat, a faint but clear clash, like the rustle of two pieces of porcelain colliding, becomes more distinct in his perception.

"Mr. Jiaozi Niu?"

The synthetic human caretaker's voice gets more distant, body stretched long:

"Jiao...zi...niu..."

Jiaozi Niu's pupils expand more; in his perception, others' calls to him gradually change in distortion:

"Gi...ao...zei...ou..."

Ding!

The sound of a message alert rings, abruptly interrupting Jiaozi Niu's imagination. He shakes his head, picks up the terminal, and a striking news instantly fills his entire view:

"Starry Abyss" | Version 2.0 Expansion Pack "Obscure Tales" — Updated

QGN Rating: 9.7 — An insurmountable mountain, redefining MMORPG

Lanke Game Expo Best Visual Art Award

AGT Annual 'Most Anticipated' Game

"Qiqiao Network is a creative and exceptionally talented team, merely 'Contempt Maxim' already made others submit. For the first time, players could leave the ground and explore alien planets. Especially under the legendary NPC Li Aozi's lead, players for the first time challenged nearly invincible enemies."

"In e-sports events, we are thrilled to see prosperity. Members of various regions have dispatched their finest players. Though Qiqiao Network is a young team, they truly know how to captivate players and audiences. Each match is a visually cinematic feast."

"Now, after constant improvements in version 1.0, Qiqiao Network has innovated again, crafting the greatest masterpiece to date — 'Obscure Tales'."

"Every time 'Starry Abyss' crosses a mountain, there will always be another version waiting to conquer."

"Next, let's appreciate the latest expansion pack — welcome, 'Obscure Tales'!"

......

"Yes."

Jiaozi Niu's eyes brighten:

"The new version is coming soon. Why am I still hesitating?"

A brand new version, a fresh game experience, with more rich narratives and maps awaiting exploration.

He starts searching for information on the new version of "Starry Abyss," everyone is hyping it as a revolutionary game; compared to before when players could only battle on the surface, this time, the battlefield shifts into the cosmic realm.

Although Jiaozi Niu isn't interested in flashy CG animations and generally skips the main story whenever possible.

But regretfully, the information in this expansion is overwhelming, forced to watch without skipping.

"Damn! I want to play Abyssal God! Aahhh! I want to play Abyssal God! Qiqiao Network, give me, give me!"

After logging into the game several times trying to skip to no avail, he reluctantly starts watching the elaborate and luxurious CG animations.

......

The vast, uninhabited starry sky quietly shines.

No matter how many ages pass, this starry abyss still exists.

Still embroiled in disputes.

(The battleground of the Eye of the Galaxy slowly draws the curtain, the red-black shadows of Implant Gear standing beneath Polaris, gleaming brightly.)

"Crystal Tower people get off our planet! This is where our ancestors rest!"

(The conflict among people, cultural and ideological clash, never ceased.)

"Idealistic madmen are all terrorists; throw their cradles into the vacuum to freeze dry them!"

(Even the cosmic realm cannot accommodate different groups of people)

Still chaotic.

(At the banquet where glasses clink, Great Powers slowly unfold the Star Map, in the coaxing and flattery of others, taking out scales and pens, wantonly dividing the starry sky of Layer Abyss.)