Chapter 1 First!
“First!”
“The Pigeon King finally remembered her account!”
“Sister Bai, do you know how long I’ve waited for you? My Sister Bai!”
“Oh ho, look what I’ve stumbled upon.”
“‘Interesting Gameplay’… what a strange title, let me take another look.”
“It’s been two months and ten days since your last video, were you in confinement for this long? (crying)”
…
Within three minutes of the video’s release, the bullet screen had filled the entire space, and the number of concurrent viewers had already surpassed one million.
Bai Zhiyuan’s first video, exploring the False Kindness and Hacker routes of “Undertale,” had pioneered the multi-ending, extensive fan-creation era of the game.
Her second video, a speedrun of the Veteran mode in “Sihai Summoning,” had showcased her exquisite skills to everyone.
To this day, no one has managed to break her record.
Even after spreading overseas, those foreigners haven’t broken this record either.
Her two videos had garnered over a million fans.
A testament to absolute skill.
These pure, content-rich videos not only presented players with a magnificent feast dancing on the tip of a blade but also offered audiences an unprecedented viewing experience with their logically sound and progressively unfolding narrative.
It was akin to a classic film, with her reinterpreting its essence from a different angle in an unconventional viewing order, perfectly.
Not only was there no sense of incongruity, but it also gave the audience a feeling of rediscovering the movie.
“Dark Souls is the highest quality game I’ve ever played!”
At the outset, Bai Zhiyuan’s praise was boundless.
Clearly, she was very satisfied with the game, placing it at the top in her heart without even using qualifying terms like ‘one of’.
It was an explicit declaration: in my heart, it is the undisputed number one.
Fans of other games who disagreed could just hold it in.
“Sister Bai, you are my goddess!”
“So brave!”
“Damn, the uploader isn’t afraid of death, are you afraid of other game fans tearing you apart?”
“Well done, Bai Zhiyuan, you said what I never dared to say!”
…
Such a clear stance at the beginning greatly satisfied the Dark Souls scholars.
There was no other reason; the notion that "all domestic games are trash" was deeply ingrained in the gaming community.
Even when truly high-quality games appeared, even several of them, it couldn’t change the minds of these people.
They positioned themselves on a moral high ground, acting like the sole sober ones, the guardians of reputation.
Any domestic game, like Dark Souls, which had explosive overseas reviews, couldn't be praised.
But, a little praise domestically would lead to being labeled with slightly mocking titles like ‘Soul Junior’ or ‘Soul Critic.’
In contrast, games like “Escape Route” and “Far Cry,” released concurrently with Dark Souls, were considered masterpieces, conscientious works, and hidden gems by these people.
Their inherent trait of fawning over foreign things meant their knees were weak.
Dark Souls was not wrong; the mistake was that it was produced in Dragon Country.
“I will not elaborate on the soundtrack, script, and combat system of Dark Souls. The analysis videos online are more professional than I am.”
The screen shifted, moving to Artorias’s corrupted arena.
Bai Zhiyuan’s voice chimed in at the right moment, “I will show you something different.”
“There’s no need to introduce Artorias, players who’ve played the DLC know his story, but…”
“Do you know that the information you uncover and the bosses you encounter in the DLC are different depending on your game progress?”
Pausing for a few seconds, Bai Zhiyuan gave the audience time to ponder.
Then she explained, “For example, if I have cleared the first playthrough of Dark Souls, I will learn about Artorias’s story before his corruption when I enter the DLC.”
“When I clear the second playthrough of Dark Souls and encounter Artorias again in the DLC, you’ll find that his strength is greater than in the first playthrough.”
“…”
“If you clear the eighth playthrough of Dark Souls and defeat Artorias in the DLC, not only will you see a woman kneeling by the tombstone in the arena mourning him, but this is another of the Four Knights of Gwyn – Ciaran.”
On the screen, a scene that many had never seen appeared!
As the sun rose and set, a small tombstone appeared in the arena. Before it, a woman clad in slender armor knelt silently.
The viewers in front of the screen could no longer sit still. It wasn’t just because the plot speculated by Dark Souls scholars had been confirmed, but also due to the information revealed in Bai Zhiyuan’s words—
She had completed the eighth playthrough!
“Holy crap! It’s true!”
“So… she’s already passed the eighth playthrough?”
“Damn it! I spent three months on the first playthrough and couldn’t pass it, and she’s already finished the eighth?”
“Comparing people makes you angry, f*ck!”
“Excuse me, what kind of devil are you?”
…
“The lost plot has been acknowledged. Ciaran truly loved Artorias.
And as time passed, you would find that in the dark forest, guarding Artorias’s grave, there was another presence also protecting him – Sif.”
A subtle fluctuation occurred in Bai Zhiyuan’s tone:
“This gray wolf we once rescued, without a doubt, recognized us, but in the end, it will draw its sword and carry the sword that belongs to Artorias.”
“Even when facing their savior, it will steadfastly uphold its oath and stance.
Perhaps it doesn’t want us to enter the abyss and repeat the tragedy… The blank spaces here are excellent, leaving infinite room for player imagination.”
On the screen,
Sif leaped down from a small hill in front of the tombstone and silently watched the protagonist for a few seconds.
A hint of human struggle was evident in its eyes, and then it walked towards the greatsword planted by the tombstone and picked it up.
At this moment, all the viewers completely lost their composure.
“I was so confused back then, why wasn’t Sif’s ending explained? Turns out this is what was waiting for us!”
“Such detail. Sif has no teeth anymore. I wonder how many years it has guarded here.”
“Oh my god, this scene is so heartbreaking!”
“The BGM here is both grand and tragic, tears fall involuntarily.”
“Facing their former benefactor, Sif could barely strike.
But for the sake of its master’s grave, and to ensure its benefactor wasn’t consumed by the abyss, it had to do this. This is Sif!”
…
“Sif’s piteous howl already conveys its inner turmoil and pain. The outcome of the battle is obvious. We will broadcast the pure version of the fight later.”
Bai Zhiyuan’s words, spoken with a normal temperature, plunged the viewers into an icy cellar.
This guy was also a devil. Not only was this scene not heartwarming, but she had also specifically made a pure version.
Was she implying that the audience hadn’t suffered enough from the emotional blows?
“The erosion of the abyss is not easily stopped by the sacrifice of heroes. Even after a thousand or ten thousand years, people still march forward to fight the darkness, all of them taking one person as their faith, his name is Artorias.”
“My favorite character.”