I'm too good at making things up in my head.
Finally, the weekend has arrived.
Rarely having no overtime work, Wu Chang specially ordered takeout in advance, along with a drink, and turned on his computer, deciding to enjoy a whole day of gaming.
So what should we play first?
Looking left and right, the only book I've been somewhat interested in lately is "The Way of the Corporate Slave".
It has to be said that while the gameplay of this otherwise unremarkable text adventure game may not have improved after players added all sorts of fancy plugins, the player experience has certainly been greatly enhanced.
It's said that the online version is quite fun, but Wu Chang is socially awkward and doesn't really want to interact with people after get off work.
Wu Chang took a bite of fried chicken and clicked to create a new playthrough. The history of playthroughs in the upper right corner recorded his numerous achievements in this game—being exploited in various ways.
It's enough to broaden one's horizons.
This new playthrough feels a bit different.
His status is that of a recent university graduate, or rather, he graduated last year...
I received an interview invitation from a company.
The company name is quite unique. It doesn't follow the realistic naming conventions typical of games; instead, it's an abbreviation of pinyin: ZH Games.
Since it was a rare opportunity to receive an interview invitation, Wu Chang naturally accepted.
Then--
As is his usual practice, Pigeon doesn't update videos but just chats in the group, and then the group members catch him and bombard him with urging for more.
"Hey kid, if you don't want to do anything else, at least record some game gameplay so we can watch you while we eat. We're really out of electronic pickled vegetables!"
"Dude, it's been a week since your last video update. Don't take advantage of your large fanbase and act recklessly, Pigeon!"
The pigeons weren't surprised; she had a thick skin.
Just then, a message caught everyone's attention.
"Guys! I think I triggered an Easter egg in 'The Way of the Corporate Slave'!"
The message was followed by a screenshot of a game.
The entire group was instantly ignited. Wow, everyone here is a game enthusiast, and most of them have hundreds of hours of playtime with "The Way of the Corporate Slave".
But no one has ever encountered the Easter egg.
The probability of triggering this Easter egg is too low.
No one questioned whether the picture was fake, since they were all brothers in the same group. Doing something like this would get you kicked out of the group.
Perhaps feeling that a single screenshot wasn't convincing enough, this guy quickly posted a video.
As you can see, this is indeed from "The Road to Becoming a Corporate Slave," only the game graphics are slightly different.
"Hey Pigeon, stop lurking! If you don't use this great material, we'll tell the other bloggers!"
"Aren't you a die-hard fan of Zhixing Games? Quickly, quickly, figure out how this Easter egg is triggered. It looks really interesting. I want to play it too."
Just as Yu Yue had predicted, after the online version and DLC were released one after another, the original single-player version of "The Way of the Corporate Slave" had actually faded from the players' sight.
It was purely coincidental that it was discovered so early.
This time, Pigeon didn't hesitate. She was genuinely interested in the Easter egg, so she mentioned it in the group chat and added the contact information of the player who discovered it.
Started researching how to trigger the Easter egg.
This process took about a day and a half, lasting all night.
Who would have thought that such a simple Easter egg would have such demanding prerequisites? First, you have to successfully unlock the "Good Boss" ending in the DLC "Humanity".
As everyone knows, "Humanity" is a ruthless boss simulator, and it's really difficult to unlock any kind and conscientious bosses.
In the game's setting, everyone is exploiting employees, reducing labor costs, saving company expenses, and using cash flow in places that can bring more value.
If you don't do this, you'll naturally have to spend a lot more money than others.
If the operation is not good, it is very easy for the company to go bankrupt at the slightest sign of trouble.
Those unscrupulous bosses who manage to stay in the business all become very wealthy.
Secondly, this Easter egg is not available in the online version; it can only be triggered in the single-player version.
I reckon there aren't many single-player players left. The only one to blame is Zhixing Games for making the multiplayer version too tempting; the players haven't done anything wrong.
This Easter egg is so well hidden; it really doesn't seem like it was made for players to play with.
After much effort, following online tutorials, Pigeon finally managed to be a conscientious and good boss for a while.
Back in the single-player version, after unlocking the Easter egg, the unique features of this Easter egg were experienced much more clearly than in the screenshots and videos.
The misanthropic trend that everyone used to talk about has become more prominent.
The rough pencil drawing style has become much more rounded.
And it just so happened that it coincided with the time when the pigeon had just finished playing "Out-of-Body Simulator," so the visual experience was linked together.
It was like suddenly opening a window in a dimly lit world, and the view inside was exceptionally beautiful.
It has a very comfortable art style, and that sense of world-weariness is completely gone.
And, and it even has voice acting!
It's worth noting that during the development of "The Road to Corporate Life," no voice acting was hired in order to save costs, since a considerable amount of money had already been spent on music and sound effects design.
This Easter egg must have cost a fortune! The art style was completely redone, and they even hired someone to do the voice acting.
The pigeons became even more curious.
She joined ZH Games as an intern. As soon as she entered, the receptionist greeted her very warmly, and maintained a good sense of propriety and distance, without making her feel overly enthusiastic.
Inside, the interior design is quite unique. It feels like the company doesn't need to pay rent; they've rented such a large space, but only have a few staff members.
It's like they're letting corporate slaves roam free...
The mentor personally guided the interns on what they should do.
Everything was normal at first, and the pigeon didn't say it felt anything was wrong.
As for the Easter eggs, perhaps they are meant to soothe the wounded hearts of those who have been hurt by "The Road to Corporate Life," just like "Out-of-Body Simulator," making it a bit more fantastical, which is completely understandable.
Until I went to the meeting—
That unique way of holding meetings is hard to evaluate; it suddenly made the whole scene feel eerie. As a player, Pigeon's intuition told him that something was wrong.
Looking at the handsome but somewhat unlucky-looking boss on the small screen, whose true appearance is for all the corporate slaves to admire... well, that's it...
Goodness, I knew this couldn't possibly be the kind of work a normal company would produce.
Are you trying to cause trouble in the underworld?!
Pigeon immediately became alert. She hadn't forgotten that the game "The Road to Becoming a Corporate Slave" was labeled with the word "horror," so it might really be a horror Easter egg.
It turns out that all those previous setups were just to lower her guard.
Sure enough? There must be a chicken being slaughtered here!
The pigeon stopped abruptly, picked up the mouse in her hand, and went to find a notebook to get paper and pen to write down every detail and every clue. She wouldn't miss anything!
At this point, I felt quite resentful that "The Way of the Corporate Slave" couldn't have a save and load function. I remember praising this artistic design when I was chatting with other players.
All Pigeon wants to do right now is to smash the planner's head in frustration.
However, apart from the somewhat eerie meeting, the rest of the workday was fairly normal, and the afternoon arrived smoothly.
The pigeon survived the afternoon unscathed. The only thing was… this company actually provides folding beds for lunch breaks.
The curtains in the office area were drawn, letting in very little light, making the entire area somewhat dim. And if you stood there looking at the floor, you could see...
The art style suddenly turned dark, and upon closer inspection, it was a scene of corpses strewn everywhere.
Some were covered with blankets, looking like bulging lumps, resembling small grave mounds.
The pigeon perked up again, observing the clues in the scene that it might need to record, worried that a chase might be about to take place, and unsure if the emergency exit was a safe passage.
But nothing happened until the end of the lunch break.
Then the black cat appeared.
The moment this cat appeared, the entire office seemed to be enveloped in a strange, invigorating buff. It was as if seeing the cat was like seeing the boss, and everyone worked even harder at their keyboards.
—She could tell the pigeons by the sound effects; her high-end headphones were always especially useful at this time.
A black cat... that's not exactly auspicious.
What kind of company keeps black cats?
The pigeon wanted to stay away from this dangerous object, its internal alarm bells ringing loudly—but, but, but this is a cat!
Then she chose to follow her heart and go along to see the cats, and was even lucky enough to experience feeding the cats with cat treats.
This cat is kind of creepy.
It's a bit too human-centered.
No other problems arose during the entire afternoon's work period.
She was even urged to leave work as early as 5 p.m.
"Aren't you leaving yet? If you don't leave, you'll get a public reprimand. The boss won't pay you overtime." Her supervisor was calling to her.
Should we leave quickly?
What time is it?
It's not even 5:30 yet. With your company operating like this, aren't you worried about going bankrupt?
Then the pigeon's uneventful day of experiencing the Easter eggs came to an end; it survived successfully, without any game difficulty.
The only minor setback was that I wasn't very proactive in leaving get off work, which the system caught me, and I'll probably get a reprimand the next day.
Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, everyone in the entire office area would have left?
Pigeon looked bewildered, and had been working mechanically at this ZH game company for ten years, spending those ten years in what was considered a player paradise in "The Road to Becoming a Corporate Slave".
They don't look like they're here to be corporate slaves at all.
After completing the Easter egg experience, Pigeon's feedback was: Why did I think so much? So all my efforts, which seemed so impressive, were just wasted on thin air?
No, she didn't believe it; it must be fake.
She won't believe it, since so much sunk cost has already been invested!
There must be something she missed. That's right! This amazing company that only an abnormal human could run must be Zhixing Games, since the company name is just an abbreviation.
Well, you've portrayed your company in such a wonderful way in the game.
There must be a problem.
The public disclosure system just happened to be up around this time, so I'll go there right now and expose you. This whole thing is just a carefully crafted, beautiful illusion hidden in this Easter egg!
The pigeon, indignant, picked up the keyboard and got to work.
Honestly, you can't blame Pigeon for overthinking things; there's the cautionary tale of "Out-of-Body Simulator." She wouldn't easily believe that the designer was willing to act like a human.
It seems like it's been a long time since I've taken President Jiang out to play, hahaha, I've forgotten my main character.
Don't rush, everyone, this is just setup, the secret won't be revealed so soon—why do I keep giving away spoilers! Never mind, I'll just disappear!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com