I Rely On Poverty To Sweep Through Survival GamesCh101 - DEATH Game Studio (4)

Edited by Jules

Xiao Lan looked at the time; there was now a little more than half an hour left before it reached 2:44. E41zkd

Their current understanding of this game all stemmed from that boss. The other party’s words didn’t mention anything that was related to clearing the game; it was clear that the players had to go search themselves.

Because the game’s range this time was relatively smaller, to avoid internal discord over the clues which emerged among them, they agreed on a time to share clues with each other. After all, their true opponent was still the game.

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As for whether the others would conceal things, that was hard to say.

There was no time to lose; the players all left their offices and began searching for clues using their own methods. yj5O0N

In the entire work area, aside from the three offices that the players were in, there were also a few other rooms. These rooms were locked and had no signs, so the players were unable to figure out what they were used for.

Hua Bei took out a key from his pocket. This was something he had found at the front desk. The key wasn’t labelled, but it was probably a spare key for these rooms.

He squatted in front of the room doors and tried them out one by one, but his luck wasn’t good. He tried several doors, but the key didn’t match with any of them.

At that moment, Hua Bei saw someone walk over to the door of the neighbouring room out of the corner of his eye.

Xiao Lan stepped forward and stood in front of the door; he didn’t do anything except leisurely stick an iron wire into the keyhole. With a slight shift, the locked door opened just like that, as if what he was holding was the actual key.

Watching as Xiao Lan and Luo effortlessly entered the room, Hua Bei gazed at the key in his hand —

Wh- Wh- What use do I have for you?!

· ec zdh

The office which Xiao Lan entered was very small, and there was only one workstation inside. A chaotic pile of things were on the table. On this side was a pile of documents while on the other side was a pile of snacks, headphones, USBs, stationary, and lipsticks all crammed together messily.

It looked like it belonged to a woman who didn’t really like tidying up.

There was a thin layer of dust over everything, and it looked like no one had touched them for a time.

Xiao Lan picked up the lipsticks left on the table and looked at them. “What’s the difference between these colours? Aren’t they all red?” SzdiyO

“Sir, this one’s called rust red, that one is tomato, and the other one in your hand is pure red,” said Luo, who had done extensive research on human society and popular trends.

Xiao Lan gave Luo an admiring gaze and put down the lipsticks a little reverently. To a certain degree, women were truly amazing ah.

After that, his gaze fell on a notebook with a very exquisite cover on the table.

Originally, Xiao Lan thought that there would be some information in it. As a result, he opened it to see various things like ‘3-day fasting weight loss method’, ‘enzyme weight loss method’, ‘soybean weight loss method’… EWQH4L

Xiao Lan’s gaze shifted to the small mound of snacks, then looked at this earnestly copied weight loss notebook.

Xiao Lan was baffled. “Does this lady want to lose weight or gain weight ah?”

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Luo: “This is probably the so-called constant life struggle of many females ba.”

Looking at this messy office gave Xiao Lan a bit of a headache. lpzaiD

On the side, Luo directly went up and sat in the chair.

The seat was adjusted for a woman’s height, and with his height, it looked a little cramped for Luo. He turned on the office computer. Like the table, the desktop was also a pile of files, photos, and folders.

Onlookers would feel their eyes blur and become dizzy.

The two rummaged through a pile of icons with great difficulty and found a chat software; searching the content was like catching fish in a vast ocean. XkM86K

Finally, they found a chat record.

The chat was from the owner of this computer. She held an admin post, and the person chatting with her was labeled as the receptionist. It looked like this studio had a fairly complete staff configuration in the past.

Admin Liu Bing: Did you hear about what happened with our studio’s new game?

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: What happened? Tell me. Recently, I’ve had nothing to do. I’m so bored every day I want to die. cZvaS2

Admin Liu Bing: I hear that strange things have been happening since the day of the game’s demo test. 

Admin Liu Bing: We don’t have a test group, riight? It’s always been those developers who test it themselves. I heard that when they came out from the office that day, they all had deathly pale faces. 

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: Aren’t they also like this when scolded by the boss? [Doghead]

Admin Liu Bing: …[Sweats] 7hfbM5

Admin Liu Bing: That’s definitely not the same. On that night, the artist hung herself in the breakroom!

Admin Liu Bing: She was wearing a red dress at that time. The boss didn’t dare make it public since he was afraid that the media would keep talking about it. He even called someone to take away the body at night. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: Ss… I did say we haven’t seen her for many days. Is she really dead?

Admin Liu Bing: Really. I was the one who even issued the money to appease her family members.  XUKpdx

Admin Liu Bing: That’s not all. The next day, something happened to someone else. 

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: [Frightened] Who?

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Admin Liu Bing: The designer. The rumour is that he was frightened to death. Moreover, before he died, he chewed off all his fingers bite by bite. When he died, his mouth was full of pieces of his fingers. The people who cleaned up the body all vomited. 

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: I… I feel unwell all over… 4VtzGq

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: Wait! A few big brothers in the programming team have also been missing for several days. Don’t tell me… 

Admin Liu Bing: Mn, also dead. 

Admin Liu Bing: They were together, and each of them found a bathroom sink to drown themselves in. 

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: This is just too… Who would be that cruel to themselves…  bk4cRQ

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: Can it really be a ghost?

Admin Liu Bing: Humans shouldn’t be able to do something like this ba. Also, the monitor didn’t capture anyone else at all. 

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: So this is why I recently haven’t had anything to do?

Admin Liu Bing: We might soon lose our jobs.  3PAxI0

Admin Liu Bing: But I plan on resigning before that. I’m leaving today. My dog life is more important. 

Receptionist Wang Mengqing: Sister, wait for me!!!

Ktf mtja ibu jygeqais rabqqfv tfgf, jr lo atf akb bo atfw tjv gec boo ilxf atfs rjlv atfs kbeiv. Ufgtjqr atlr kjr atf gfjrbc kts atlr boolmf tjv rb wjcs atlcur; wjsyf atf jvwlc kjr lc remt j gert ktfc rtf dela atja rtf vlvc’a tjnf alwf ab qjmx eq ja jii.

The game mentioned in the chat was probably ‘Yin’. bR0wdU

But the death method spoken of in the chat log was different from the death caused by Yin as described by the boss. What was going on here?

Xiao Lan stared at the chat log on the screen. From the information in the chat, he knew that all the problems began from the game’s demo test.

But the computers allocated to the players didn’t have anything about the game demo. Their computers and offices seemed brand new, with no traces left by their predecessors.

It seemed that the clues related to the game had to start from the staff that had had accidents. Jofm0K

At that moment, Luo reached out and picked out a piece of paper from the keyboard that had takeout ads and discount coupons stuffed under it.

He looked at it, then passed the paper to Xiao Lan. “Look at this, sir.”

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Xiao Lan reached out and accepted it. The paper seemed to have been torn out from a notebook. It had traces of being soaked in blood. Many baffling words with no head or tail were written on it before they were finally crossed out.

Only a sentence was left: 【“Visitant from nowhere, return whence you came”】 VtJ5mQ

The handwriting was incomparably hideous, and simply made one associate it with Luo’s drawing level.

Xiao Lan’s brows creased. “It’s ‘visitant from nowhere, return whence you came’ again.”

This was identical to the game hint, but was also as much of a head-scratcher.

What did this sentence refer to? kWpInb

Xiao Lan flipped the paper over. There was nothing else on the back either.

But since it was something related to the game hint, it could tentatively be considered a clue ba.

The two put away the paper and left the office.

· YPtU32

At that moment, the door of the neighbouring office door was open.

Xiao Lan and Luo walked in. Someone was already sitting before the computer in this office. His figure was blocked by the monitor, and they couldn’t see who it was for a moment.

Xiao Lan reached out and knocked on the door, wanting to remind the other that someone had entered.

The person before the computer raised his head upon hearing the sound, and Xiao Lan just happened to meet Hua Bei’s ‘nothing left to live for’ face. 1MC4VK

Why did he look like he had been hit hard? Xiao Lan felt a little puzzled.

“Ah…”

An indescribable voice suddenly rang out of the speakers, resounding among the three of them at that moment. The atmosphere was suddenly filled with something that could be described as awkward.

Hua Bei, with his ‘nothing left to live for’ face, closed the video that the sound was coming from, and clicked on the next one. elNL1Q

There was another burst of indescribable sounds. This time, it sounded like quite a number of people.

The battle situation was intense, and seemed unbearably stimulating.

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Xiao Lan: “…”

Could this guy who looked like a herbivore male actually be a hidden carnivore? FdADCn

“Ai…” Hua Bei twisted his hair with both hands and let out a helpless sigh. “You are al- also here to find c- clues, right?”

Xiao Lan said, “Mn…”

Hua Bei stood up, pointed at the computer, and complained, “T- this guy’s computer is all sh- sh- short pornos! The names are a- also ‘Meeting Record 197’, ‘Work Inspiration 24’ and so on. He e- even m- mixes them with genuine da- data videos…

“I- I already searched three drives. H-how many d- does he have?!” Hua Bei felt that this was his first time seeing pornos to the point he wanted to throw up. After completing this game, he might only be able to live an ascetic life. d8sF2V

Xiao Lan walked over and looked at the hard drive full of video files and felt a headache. Among them, there were a scant few which Hua Bei had filtered as genuinely relevant to the game’s development.

What was wrong with the staff of this studio? Was the pressure so heavy from doing so much overtime?

Hua Bei: “N- not only this, you guys l- look at his chat log.”

Xiao Lan went over and clicked into a group, and looked at the messages for this account. h3xBcC

Debauched Scholar Zhao: Let me tell you, she always talks to me. She definitely likes me. 

Debauched Scholar Zhao: Aiya, she has a boyfriend. How can I do something like that?

Debauched Scholar Zhao: Honestly a woman having an affair isn’t incomprehensible. After all, I’m so outstanding. 

Debauched Scholar Zhao:  Alter the design document a bit more. That way, she can meet me a few more times. I’m doing this to give her a chance. Ai… looks like she’s working overtime because of this. My heart really hurts ah.  nWPTjv

Debauched Scholar Zhao: Fuck me, why did she go on a date with her boyfriend again?!!!

Debauched Scholar Zhao: She must hate that I don’t have money!!

Debauched Scholar Zhao: Fuck, women are so artificial!!!!

Xiao Lan: “…” D8hZwV

Why did these messages filled with delusions feel like deja vu? This made him recall that boss of the newbie game from way back, Zhang Dong. If these two were to meet, they would definitely share a common language.

Freely discussing their delusions as they did drugs and drank alcohol.

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What sort of talent did this designer have? Was it really alright for a game to be created by this sort of person?

Seeing 2:44 getting nearer and nearer and that there was truly too much trash information in the computer, they simply split up. Hua Bei continued fighting the computer to the death, while Xiao Lan and Luo first investigated the things in the office. M5Kndo

The office of the designer had far fewer things and was much easier to search through.

Soon, they found a very miserable-looking notebook.

This notebook looked like it had encountered heartless devastation. The entire book was askew, and they could see that part of it had been torn out. The most prominent thing about it was the bloodstains.

Combined with what the admin had said about the designer biting off his own fingers before dying, this notebook looked very suspicious. qPYt0S

Flipping the notebook open, the first impression that greeted their eyes was that — the writing was too goddamn ugly.

Xiao Lan took out the piece of paper which they had picked up in the admin office. Comparing the two, it was truly the exact same ugliness. It seemed that the piece they picked up was also written by this designer.

The front contained some records related to inspiration:

【Cannon fodder, just use the boss as the model ba, make him die a little tragically】 OAJjz2

【The protagonist must have little sisters. Two isn’t enough, so three ba】

【The protagonist has several little brothers】

【Protagonist can cultivate to immortality】 This line was crossed out, with a few words at the back: 【Why did the boss scold me again, saying that I’m messing around?】

Xiao Lan: “…” Kkg8x0

If the game had truly developed according to this designer’s train of thought, it would have long been screwed.

At that moment, Xiao Lan was suddenly on the boss’s side; it was good that the designer was scolded.

After that were also fragmented bits of inspiration, with vulgar skits occasionally mixed in. Xiao Lan automatically disregarded those.

By the time he flipped to the back of the notebook, the already very sorry-looking handwriting had become increasingly illegible; the designer didn’t write on the new blank pages, but on top of the previous content, making it hard to decipher: N1Ur8I

【It came out of the game!!!】

【Yin is real, what to do?!!】

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【It wants our lives! We’re its creators! Why?!】

【** is already dead】 VE1PMo

Xiao Lan guessed that the two words covered in blood was probably the artist’s name. After all, she was the first to die.

【No, I can’t die】

【Oh, right, I previously designed a method to send it away!!! It’ll definitely save my life!!】

【Great, great —】 V aEXn

The writing abruptly cut off, and the tip of the pen dragged over the paper. The page after that was covered in blood.

Just looking at this page made one feel their blood run cold.

One could imagine a person writing at a tremendous speed under the light deep into the night. The expression on his face went from fright and worry to hope. Just as he thought of how he could save himself, he was instantly controlled by an unknown force and bit off his own fingers while still alive.

Finally, he was scared to death in despair. pWRiqj

Yin came out of the game into the real world, and its first order of business was to try and kill those who had created it. The reasons for that were unclear.

Xiao Lan guessed that the Yin at that time had just appeared and was very weak, unable to kill soundlessly and erase all traces like now. Now, the Yin that appeared before the players was already far stronger than back then.

Then, killing its creators was perhaps for it to get stronger.

This truly wasn’t good news. What if this guy could also get stronger by killing players? o7D OY

Xiao Lan focused on the words ‘method to send it away’. He swiftly flipped back through the notebook, attempting to find a way to control this monster.

But he realised that the pages in the back half had been torn out.

Luo pointed at the torn edge of one page and said, “This shape matches the paper we just found.”

Xiao Lan took it out and compared them. Sure enough, it was like this! sclKtM

Then, ‘visitant from nowhere, return whence you came’ was probably one of the essential factors for sending off the monster, but the other parts were still missing, and this piece alone wasn’t enough.

The three weren’t able to get excited yet.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Dong— Dong — Dong dong—

Right at that moment, the familiar bell rang out. kxgmPp

Xiao Lan received a message on his work phone from the boss:

【Xiao Lan, come to meeting room 2. I have a matter I wish to discuss with you】

Whereas Luo and Hua Bei’s phones were silent.

It seemed that this time, the one to pick the joker card among the three of them was just Xiao Lan. wpQhCG

The author has something to say:

Valentines Day little theatre:

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· ghpBtI

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·

·

· 9LAtJB

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Pei pei pei, nothing.

— Coming from a single dog(▼ヘ▼#) wtq Oa

Baobao Notes

THAT FINAL JEBAIT LMAOOOOO

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.