26: Chapter 26 The Binding of Isaac!

Ever since "Zhuge Liang's death from overwork" was developed, the dominant position of 《FGO》 on Blue Star has been completely unshakable.

Even gods and demons defense line》, which Tianpeng Interactive Entertainment had poured all its efforts and hundreds of millions into creating, was cursed to pieces by players less than a week after launch due to its disgusting VIP pay-to-win mechanics and mindless, shallow hack-and-slash gameplay, with revenue so dismal they could barely afford the server electricity bills.

However, after launching a few small resource-gathering events, 《FGO》 inevitably entered the most classic phase of ACG games—the [content drought].

The so-called content drought means the main storyline is temporarily paused, and players only need to log in for ten minutes a day to burn through their stamina (AP), stare blankly at their 2D waifus, and then log off.

For players from the previous life on Earth, the content drought was a rare, relaxing time to save their liver.

But on Blue Star, in this extremely impatient gaming environment accustomed to new stat boosts every day, the content drought became the perfect opportunity for rival companies to strike back.

In the president's office at Tianpeng Interactive Entertainment, the big boss watched the slowing update frequency of 《FGO》, a glimmer of malice flashing in his eyes.

"Hmph, I knew it!"

The big boss slammed his hand on the table, "That guy named Gu Yi just got lucky and found a god-tier art outsourcing team! Now his 3D masterpiece production capacity can't keep up, right? Updating only a few pictures a month—the players must be bored out of their minds by now!"

He immediately pressed the intercom:

"Notify the PR department! Spend money to buy internet trolls across the entire web! Within three days, I want everyone to believe that Chaldea Studio has run out of ideas and their internal team has jumped ship!"

Within just a few hours, a strange wind of negativity spread rapidly across the major forums on Youxing Network.

"Brothers, FGO hasn't updated its main story for half a month now. Is it doomed?"

"I heard Chaldea Studio's lead 3D artist was poached by a big company. They can't even make a model for a new monster now!"

"Just a flash in the pan! This kind of single-player-oriented story tower defense game can't retain players once the story is finished!"

"If you've run out of content, go bite a lighter; don't occupy the latrine without doing anything. I've spent 100,000, and now there's not even a new map for me to show off in!"

The rhetoric of these trolls was extremely vicious, precisely hitting the pain points of boredom and anxiety among players during the content drought.

For a time, even the die-hard fans of FGO began leaving frantic comments under the official account, urging Gu Yi to quickly release the second singularity or a new 3D masterpiece.

And a few days later...

Eight o'clock in the evening.

Just when the whole internet was still arguing incessantly about Chaldea Studio's "production capacity crisis."

On the homepage of Youxing Network, a new game recommendation slot quietly appeared without any prior promotion.

[The latest masterpiece from Chaldea Studio, a casual, stress-relieving indie game for the content drought—The Binding of Isaac》]

[Price: 68 yuan (buy-to-play)]

This extremely sudden move instantly ignited the gaming circle of Blue Star!

"Holy crap?! Father Gu released a new game?!"

"It's not a large DLC for 《FGO》, but a brand new game?!"

"I knew Chaldea couldn't have run out of ideas! Father Gu must have been secretly brewing a big move during this time!"

"Quick, quick, quick! Buy, buy, buy! 68 yuan? This is way too cheap; I'm buying it with my eyes closed!"

In the Shark Stream Room, PD was so excited he almost smashed his keyboard.

"Brothers! Do you see that?! This is the strength of Chaldea! How dare those clowns at Tianpeng Interactive Entertainment still try to stir up trouble? Father Gu just threw out a new game to slap you in the face!"

PD didn't hesitate to pay the 68 yuan, put on his VR headset, and clicked run.

Full of anticipation, PD's mind was already imagining himself entering a 3D next-gen universe even grander and more shocking than 《FGO》.

However, when he put on the headset, the scene in front of him left him stunned on the spot.

There was no shocking starry sky, no burning Earth, and no ultimate symphony.

What appeared before him was an extremely crude 2D slideshow of stick figures, as if drawn by a kindergartener with crayons.

Accompanied by a somewhat eerie and oppressive music box melody, an extremely deep, raspy male narration, seemingly carrying a certain religious solemnity, slowly rang in PD's ears:

"Isaac and his mother lived alone in a small house on a hill..."

"Isaac played with blocks, drew pictures, and played with toys. His mother watched Christian broadcasts. Life was peaceful and simple."

"What the hell? What's going on? A bedtime story?"

PD was stunned, and the audience in the stream was also completely confused.

But the narration continued, and the art style began to take a sharp turn for the worse.

"Until one day, Isaac's mother heard a voice from above: 'Your son has been corrupted by sin, and he needs to be saved.'"

On screen, the fanatical mother took away all of Isaac's toys, and even stripped off his clothes.

"'But he is still not pure.' The voice from above descended again."

The mother locked the naked Isaac into an empty room.

"Finally, the voice from above said: 'Prove your devotion. Sacrifice him to me.'"

On the screen, the mother, eyes filled with fanaticism, raised a huge, blood-stained kitchen knife and walked toward Isaac's room.

The terrified Isaac discovered a trapdoor leading to the Basement in the cracks of the room, and at the critical moment when his mother broke in, he jumped down without hesitation.

A short opening animation of less than a minute.

Crude stick figures, paired with this extremely oppressive, dark, and twisted plot involving elements like "dysfunctional family abuse" and "fanatical religious sacrifice."

The audience in the stream, although they didn't immediately understand what this was expressing, all vaguely felt a chill.

"This... this plot is too abstract?!"

"The mother wants to kill her own son with a kitchen knife? What kind of twisted development is this?"

"Although the art style looks like a child's graffiti, why does the plot feel... incomprehensible yet powerful? It's even a bit creepy!"

Just as the audience was getting goosebumps from this eerie opening, as Isaac jumped into the trapdoor, the stick figures before their eyes instantly dissipated.

PD discovered that he hadn't entered the game world in "first-person," but was floating in mid-air in an extremely strange "God's-eye top-down view."

And below him was an extremely realistic, yet extremely oppressive—square dungeon room.

This is a perspective known as a "VR miniature sandbox." It's as if the player is a giant, looking down at a cardboard maze placed on a table.

And in the center of this slightly dim cardboard room with moss growing on the walls, stood a naked, completely bald child, whose large eyes were constantly welling up with tears.

[Isaac]

A few crude, giant flies made of black pixel blocks were flying around a pile of poop that looked very aromatic.

The background music was an extremely oppressive, even somewhat eerie, music box melody.

Silence.

In PD's stream, a silence more eerie than when gods and demons defense line》 launched appeared.

A full minute passed before PD stiffly turned his head to look at the chat.

"Brothers... what is this?"

PD swallowed his saliva and pointed at the crying naked baby below, "Is this... the big move Father Gu secretly developed?"

After the silence, the chat instantly exploded with a terrifying backlash!

"???????"

"Just this?! What the hell kind of eerie art style is this?!"

"Damn, these crude pixel blocks! This weird top-down view! There's not even a normal 3D model?"

"The trolls from Tianpeng Interactive Entertainment were right! Chaldea's 3D team definitely jumped ship! This is clearly just trash drawn on a drawing board!"

"Refund! Damn it! Although it's only a few dozen yuan, this art style is an insult to my eyes! What the hell is that poop monster? It's so disgusting!"

The whole internet was in an uproar!

The trolls bought by Tianpeng Interactive Entertainment were like sharks smelling blood, starting a frenzy of madness:

"Hahahaha! I'm dying of laughter; is this the 'Ninth Art' you guys were hyping up to the heavens?"

"No money to make 3D, so you started making this kind of eerie so-called 'indie game' to cash grab?"

"Chaldea has fallen from its pedestal! Everyone, avoid the landmines; definitely don't buy it!"