On August 14, the launch day of Cool Play’s Vampire Legend 2, a large number of players were drawn to the Cool Play gaming cabins to “taste something new.” The online time for Ghost Realm was somewhat affected, dropping by 20% compared to the previous day.

However, because Qihang officially announced the warm-up for the “Ghost Festival – Hundred Ghosts Night Parade” event, the online time for Ghost Realm not only didn’t drop but actually increased on August 15.

In other words, the launch of the new game next door did not cause too much impact on Ghost Realm. After a brief drop, Ghost Realm not only stabilized its old players but also attracted more new players to join.

The free “Ghost Festival limited edition outfit” was very attractive. If players missed this wave, they wouldn’t be able to claim it again.

Many players who didn’t usually play Ghost Realm registered accounts because of this event.

According to the backend statistics, in just the short three-day warm-up period, the number of newly registered players for Ghost Realm reached a staggering 1 million.

Even if these newly registered accounts only played for 3 hours each, that would be a daily increase of 3 million hours—equivalent to 15 million in revenue!

Having withstood the opponent’s impact, Luo Hang was in a very good mood.

Duan Yuanxiu’s mood, however, was extremely poor. He had originally hoped to rely on Vampire Legend 2 to snatch away the users of Ghost Realm.

As a result, the expected situation of “most domestic players running to play Vampire” did not occur. The players of the next-door Ghost Realm were stickier, and some Vampire Legend 2 players even abandoned the game to go play Ghost Realm!

What was even more worrying was that the three-day retention rate for Vampire Legend 2 did not look good.

Launch day was the peak of the game’s online presence, and then it dropped for two consecutive days—to 80%, then 60%. The trend was quite unfavorable.

The reviews on the internet were also not very optimistic.

Setting aside the cookie-cutter praises from the internet water army they hired, the reviews from players who actually played the game on the game forums showed a completely different trend.

“Tried out Vampire Legend 2. The gameplay is old-fashioned. Compared to the first game, it’s just old wine in a new bottle. Boring. Dropped it after one day.”

“I spent several thousands P2W (Pay to Win) in the first game just to make the ultimate weapon. I really can’t bring myself to P2W in this one. Players’ lives matter too!”

“The launch event giving away level 30 equipment looks quite generous, but actually, you reach level 30 in just three days in this game. The max level is 100, so this equipment is completely useless. You still have to synthesize late-game equipment.”

“I played the first game and waited two years, and I’m really disappointed with the final product of the second game. Did the planning team think they could slack off just because the IP got big and there are no competing products? The core gameplay is exactly the same, and the combat system is copied directly from the predecessor. Won’t players get bored?”

A large number of such discussions made many passersby shy away.

In stark contrast, next door, Ghost Realm received widespread acclaim.

With the warm-up event and the revamped treasure hunting system, players who normally didn’t do treasure hunting also joined the treasure hunting squad, running all over the Ghost Realm with their Treasure Hunting Compass.

Many players shared the good things they found.

“Sharing coordinates 731.66, at the foot of Mount Luofu, there’s a field treasure chest. You can directly open a Grade-B magical item, which you can trade with Wei Zheng for Nether Coins or use yourself.”

“There are some Nether Coins scattered in the center of the sea of spider lilies, everyone hurry and pick them up!”

“Family, how many Nether Coins have you saved up? I want to buy the Nie Xiaoqian identical outfit, I wonder if I have enough.”

“I only started treasure hunting these past two days, so I haven’t saved much. I plan to just burn paper money to P2W directly!”

“Looking forward to the opening of the Ghost Market, treasure hunting players are ecstatic!”

Players were all discussing this Ghost Festival event, and the forums were incredibly lively.

Compared to the players of Vampire Legend 2 collectively cursing the developers, Ghost Realm next door seemed unusually harmonious.

Duan Yuanxiu had a splitting headache.

If there hadn’t been Ghost Realm during this summer slot, and players had no new games to play, they would naturally be more forgiving of a masterpiece like Vampire Legend 2.

But now, since the two games clashed in their schedules, they inevitably got pulled out by people for a 360-degree, all-around comparison.

Vampire Legend was a globally renowned IP with a massive fan base, yet the planning team hadn’t innovated much in the gameplay. They directly copied the combat system from the first game, merely modified the background story, and produced a sequel that was obviously just a cash grab.

Ghost Realm was a domestic original game with a bizarre art style, an open worldview, and rich, novel gameplay including treasure hunting, random encounters, challenges, and Scenic Record Achievements. Once many players entered, they never wanted to leave.

Whether the planning team was sincere or not, players could feel it.

The superiority of the two games was instantly apparent.

After eating delicacies from the mountains and seas, who would want to go back to eating your plain boiled cabbage?

In just three days after launch, a large number of players questioning Vampire Legend 2 appeared online.

“Are foreign games just naturally better? It’s clearly a perfunctory cash grab of a sequel, yet some people are still praising it blindly! I seriously suspect they are water army hired by Cool Play.”

“The first Vampire game was indeed fun. The second one is just the exact same gameplay all over again. Sorry, I can go play something else.”

“I’ve already abandoned the Vampire pit to play Ghost Realm, just in time to catch this wave of the Ghost Festival event.”

“This time, I stand with Yangfan Studio. Their attitude towards making games is much better than that of a certain European giant. Please don’t treat players like fools, thank you!”

Luo Hang disdained buying negative trending searches to smear his competitors.

However, the large number of passersby who loved playing games would make their choice between the two games.

—Thank you, peers, for setting off our excellence by contrast!

Qihang’s wave of event promotion didn’t mention a single word about their opponent, yet it caught the opponent completely off guard.

Competition in the game market should always rely on quality to speak for itself.

---

On August 18, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Festival event officially launched.

At 12:00 PM that day, the global Qihang gaming cabins updated simultaneously.

Countless players scrambled to flood into Ghost Realm.

After launching the game, there was an eye-catching new CG animation themed “Ghost Festival – Hundred Ghosts Night Parade,” narrating the origin of this festival.

The Ghost Festival is the grandest festival in the Ghost Realm. On this day, the Gates of Hell would open, allowing ghosts who had not yet reincarnated to return to their homes in the mortal realm to visit their living relatives.

The mortal realm also had the custom of “ancestor worship” on this day. They believed that their ancestors’ souls would visit their homes. The living would use grand ceremonies to worship them, informing their ancestors and relatives that they were doing well and letting them rest assured.

At the same time, the Ghost Realm would also open a bustling “Ghost Market.” All ghosts could go play in the Ghost Market on this day.

After the brief 1-minute CG animation, the impatient players finally entered the Ghost Realm, and everyone was automatically teleported to Senluo Hall.

Above the heads of the Four Great Judges were brand new quest icons, making it convenient for players to classify and accept event quests.

Cui Jue said, “The Ghost Market is the most hidden place in the Ghost Realm and is usually very hard to find. The entrance only opens around the time of the Ghost Festival. You can take this opportunity to explore it.”

Wei Zheng smiled and said, “Today is the Ghost Festival. I heard that many rare treasures have appeared in the Ghost Market. Would you like to go look for them?”

Lu Zhidao said sternly, “The Ghost Market is open. As a member of the Investigation Division, I ask you to patrol the Ghost Market to ensure its security. If you encounter any grievances, please report them promptly.”

Zhong Kui had a fierce expression: “The Ghost Realm is very unpeaceful around the Ghost Festival. Some evil ghosts hiding in hidden corners might take the opportunity to come out and stir up trouble! You can find those evil ghosts and bring them back to Senluo Hall for trial!”

After the dialogue was completed, players would automatically obtain the [Ghost Festival Limited Gift Pack]. Opening it revealed a set of player clothes, which was much more exquisite than the starting clothes.

The game had been out for a month, and most players had figured out the rules for playing Ghost Realm—it was best to talk to all four of the Four Great Judges separately, as some quests could be done simultaneously.

For instance, casual players could accept all the quests issued by Cui, Wei, and Lu in one breath. They could do treasure hunting, trigger random encounters, and check in for Scenic Record Achievements all at once, completing many achievements simultaneously.

Challenge-oriented players who couldn’t be bothered to spend time on these could go straight to Zhong Kui and fight the newly added bosses in the wild.

At exactly 12:00 PM, a large number of game streamers opened the game simultaneously.

Recently, Ghost Realm was incredibly popular. Streaming Ghost Realm attracted many viewers, and the game had become a must-play for streamers.

As a streamer who rose to the front lines relying on Underworld Maze and Ghost Realm, Brother Liu certainly couldn’t fall behind when a massive event launched. He lay down in the gaming cabin early and logged in the moment the time came.

After logging into the Ghost Realm, he had a clear goal. He went straight to Zhong Kui to accept the challenge quest and said, “Family, I am going to be the first streamer to kill a wild boss! Today we are going to clear the newly added boss of this event. Wish me luck!”

He searched everywhere in the wilderness of the Ghost Realm. After a moment, he suddenly heard an eerie crying sound.

The crying of a child echoing in the dark was terrifying.

Brother Liu braced himself and rushed toward the direction of the crying. Then he saw a bouncing child staring at him with innocent big eyes.

The child looked extremely cute, wearing only a small red jacket. His face was covered in tears, and he choked out, “Wuwuwu, can you help me?”

Brother Liu paused, puzzled: “Is this kid a random encounter NPC or a wild boss? A boss shouldn’t be this small, right?”

Before he could react, the child suddenly leaped, instantly teleported behind him, and rode on his neck.

“Hehehe… Caught you!”

An eerie laugh of a young child came from behind, and a pair of cold little hands suddenly choked his neck.

Goosebumps instantly erupted all over Brother Liu’s body: “Holy crap!”

The viewers in the stream were also terrified.

[Holy shit, scared to death!]
[My soul almost split from fright. This eerie crying is so creepy. Ahhhh, my scalp is tingling!]
[He looks like he’s two or three years old. Is he really a wild boss?]
[The horror effect is maxed out!]

Brother Liu forcefully endured the fear of his neck being gripped by cold hands and said with a trembling voice, “This is called the Night-Crying Ghost! I saw his info, he’s a wild boss! I must catch him today!”

During the Ghost Festival, Zhong Kui would give players some items to use against wild bosses. Brother Liu gathered his spirits and began a battle of wits and courage with this bouncing Night-Crying Ghost.

“I can use a talisman to freeze him, then use Zhong Kui’s Universe Bag to catch him… Fuck, this little guy runs too fast, I can’t freeze him!”

“Why is he still teleporting? Does he have no martial ethics?”

“He’s climbing on my back again! Ahhhh, stop choking my neck!”

Viewers in the live stream: “…”

Sympathize with the streamer a bit; he ran into the Night-Crying Ghost the moment he went out.

This is too much of a test for one’s heart!

At the same time, streamer Meng Tu took the map given by the judge and found the entrance to the “Ghost Market.” She planned to explore the Ghost Market first.

As soon as she entered the “Ghost Market,” her eyes widened in shock at the spectacular sight before her.

—This was simply livelier than the Spring Festival night markets in her hometown!

Several streets crisscrossed, and the area of the entire Ghost Market was incredibly vast. Although the scene’s lighting was somewhat dim, there were countless leaping green will-o’-the-wisps illuminating both sides of the road, allowing players to clearly see the buildings and pedestrians here.

The architectural styles on both sides of the street were bizarre. Some towering ghost buildings gave off a strong sense of oppression.

The ghosts and monsters coming and going on the streets had all kinds of appearances, and some ghosts walking shoulder-to-shoulder were chatting with each other.

One ghost, holding its own head in its hands, walked past her and asked earnestly, “Have you seen my head?”

Meng Tu: “…It’s right in your hands!”

It seemed to not hear her and kept looking everywhere for its head.

The netizens in the live stream were dying of laughter.

[Carrying his own head in his hands, looking for his head everywhere]
[The NPCs in the Ghost Market are so weird]

There was also a very glamorous female ghost in red, giggling as she pulled a passing male ghost and said, “I find you quite pleasing to the eye. Perhaps it’s destiny. Do you want to enter into a ghost marriage and go reincarnate together?”

The male ghost blushed and said, “N-no, I-I can’t handle that.”

[Hahaha, you can even go on blind dates in the Ghost Market?]
[I want to find a ghost husband too, reincarnating together would be so nice~]
[If the Ghost Realm implemented a blind date policy, it could completely solve the single issue. Getting engaged while reincarnating is too convenient!]

Up ahead, a bouncing little ghost grabbed the hand of a tall, fierce large ghost and said, “Daddy, can you buy me a toy?”

The large ghost had a rough voice: “Daddy is out of money. Later I’ll appear in your mother’s dream and ask her to burn some paper money for me, and I’ll buy it for you another day!”

There were also decrepit old ghosts walking with canes, coughing with every step.

Some ghosts might have died by hanging, sticking out long tongues; some ghosts were dripping wet, leaving a trail of water as they walked; some ghosts were shriveled up, thin as bone, looking like they hadn’t eaten in a long time…

The ghosts here had all sorts of bizarre appearances, and most of them were not very good-looking.

Heads cut off, missing arms and legs, eyeballs falling out, tongues hanging out, crawling on the ground, bodies covered in whip marks…

However, watching this scene, Meng Tu felt that the Ghost Market wasn’t terrifying at all. Instead, it had a strange, lively “hustle and bustle” unique to the Ghost Realm?

All kinds of ghosts and monsters were wandering around the Ghost Market, stopping to chat when they bumped into acquaintances, not much different from the world of the living.

They were ugly, they were weird…

Yet, for the first time, Meng Tu felt that they were also vivid lives! It was just that ghosts were another form of existence for life.

Just as Yangfan Studio had said—ghosts are not scary, because all ghosts are transformed from humans after death.

The terror of the Ghost Realm was only its surface. In truth, every ghost here carried a story of when they were human.

It was vast, wonderful, vivid, and lively.

This kind of Ghost Realm was simply too amazing!

Meng Tu took an excited, deep breath and quickly walked into the Ghost Market. She arrived at the shops in the Ghost Market and said excitedly, “Family, this Ghost Market is so lively! It’s even livelier than the Spring Festival night market in our hometown! I’m going to buy some clothes first.”

“I tried on the limited Ghost Festival clothes given by the developers, and I don’t really like them. I want to buy the Nie Xiaoqian identical outfit!”

“50,000 Nether Coins? The price is quite reasonable. The Liancheng identical outfit looks so good too, I really love the green dress. Wait, I want the Gongsun Jiuniang identical outfit as well; her ribbons are too beautiful!”

“Adults don’t make choices, let’s go all in!”

“Not enough Nether Coins. Looks like I’ll have to appear in my parents’ dreams to have them burn some paper money for me.”

“Let me look for the paper money burning system… Found it! Time to P2W.”

The generous streamer topped up online, directly buying two 648 packs and bought all the clothes and special effects in the mall.

Then, she changed into Nie Xiaoqian’s outfit and Gongsun Jiuniang’s ribbons, excitedly running off into the wild to look for bosses.

The viewers in the live stream immediately started teasing her.

[A flashy dressed noob! No, a noob ghost!]
[I feel like the streamer suddenly became super cute after transforming into Nie Xiaoqian]
[The clothes look quite nice, I’m going to buy them too!]
[Sister Tu, you can do it! The streamer next door is already dying a miserable death]

---

Qin Xiaorou loved doing random encounter quests the most.

Recently, she would set aside two or three hours every day, lie in the gaming cabin, open Ghost Realm, and look for various random encounter stories inside.

She had already completed the questlines for Qiao Sheng and Liancheng, Nie Xiaoqian, Gongsun Jiuniang, Tian Qilang, the Soul Accompanies Soulmate, etc. She really loved these affectionate and loyal NPCs.

As for the Random Encounter Side Quest “Painted Skin,” it was said to be very terrifying, so she hadn’t dared to do it yet.

For this Ghost Festival event, she was very much looking forward to seeing if there were any new storylines.

After logging into the game, she immediately headed to the Ghost Market.

The bustling scene of the Ghost Market before her left her standing frozen in shock.

She had originally thought that the events for a single-player game wouldn’t be too complicated, and that the “Ghost Market” was just a newly added scene location.

She never expected there to be so many NPCs here!

What was even rarer was that every ghost’s appearance was different. Tall, short, fat, thin, missing limbs, various scars…

Hundreds of monsters and ghosts with different looks—just the drawing and modeling must have taken a tremendous amount of effort, right?

All for just this one event?

Qin Xiaorou was moved by the planning team’s dedication.

She quickly walked into the Ghost Market and tried talking to these NPCs.

“Have you found my head?”

That headless ghost was still looking everywhere for his head.

Qin Xiaorou asked, “How did your head fall off?”

It was just a casual question, but she didn’t expect the NPC to actually answer.

The headless ghost said, “When I was 18, I followed the general to war, and my head was chopped off by the enemy. But, I also killed ten enemies, hehe, totally worth it!”

So he was a soldier who sacrificed himself on the battlefield.

Qin Xiaorou asked, “Your head is being carried right in your hands. Maybe I can help you put it back on?”

The headless ghost paused: “You can?”

Qin Xiaorou took his head and tried fitting it onto his neck.

The headless ghost’s neck turned 360 degrees, faced forward to look at Qin Xiaorou, and said excitedly, “That’s great! I can go reincarnate now. Thank you!”

Watching his departing figure, Qin Xiaorou had mixed feelings.

She never expected that these NPCs in the Ghost Market could actually converse and interact. This was so interesting!

She walked forward a few steps and saw two ghosts arguing, cursing very harshly. Qin Xiaorou joined the other ghosts to watch the drama.

After listening for a moment, she learned that these two were treasure thieves. They teamed up to steal treasures from a rich family’s house, but after succeeding, they ended up killing each other over an unequal division of the spoils and both died.

Qin Xiaorou felt helpless: “…Still arguing after death, what’s the point!”

She stopped and went along the way, chatting with some ghosts, listening to them tell stories of their past lives, and casually helping the ghosts who needed help, keeping herself pleasantly busy.

When she arrived at a stall, a ghost was holding a parrot and said, “Selling a parrot, a talking ghost parrot!”

Qin Xiaorou went up and asked, “Can you sell it to me?”

The other party glanced at her and said, “20,000 Nether Coins.”

Qin Xiaorou: “That’s too expensive, make it a bit cheaper!”

She just said it casually, but unexpectedly, after thinking for a moment, the NPC actually gave her a discount: “Then I’ll sell it to you for 10,000 Nether Coins.”

Qin Xiaorou had saved quite a lot of money recently. After spending the money to buy this parrot, she kept feeling that the sorrowful look in the ghost parrot’s eyes wasn’t quite right.

Sure enough, once the parrot was held in her hand, it suddenly spoke: “Can you help me find A’Bao?”

Qin Xiaorou paused: “A’Bao?”

The parrot said, “During the Ghost Festival, the Gates of Hell open. I only have this one chance to return to the mortal realm and be by A’Bao’s side.”

Is this a random encounter quest?

Qin Xiaorou excitedly said, “Alright, I’ll help you!”

She took this parrot back to the Gates of Hell. Today, the gates of the Ghost Realm were indeed open and completely unhindered.

She crossed the Gates of Hell, and the scene before her shifted. She surprisingly arrived in a courtyard.

A beautiful young girl was resting by the pavilion.

Seeing her, the ghost parrot immediately flew over in excitement.

When the girl saw the familiar parrot, she was overjoyed. She caught it and quickly tied up its wings. But then she heard the parrot excitedly cry out, “A’Bao, don’t tie me up, I am Sun Zichu!”

A’Bao was taken aback, released it, and said, “I know of your deep affection, but humans and birds are not of the same kind. We cannot be together.”

The parrot said, “It doesn’t matter. Being able to stay by your side, I am already very satisfied!”

It turned out that Sun Zichu was originally born with six fingers. He was a dull and honest man, known to people as “Sun the Fool.” One day, he ran into A’Bao in the suburbs and fell in love at first sight. Someone jokingly told him to send a matchmaker, and he actually got a matchmaker to go.

A’Bao didn’t know him at all. She had only heard that he had six fingers, so she jokingly said, “If he cuts off the sixth finger, I will marry him.”

Unexpectedly, Sun the Fool took it seriously and directly chopped his finger off. The matchmaker was astonished and told the news to A’Bao, and A’Bao was also stunned: “I was just making a joke, he actually took it seriously? Tell him to also get rid of his foolishness.”

Sun Zichu defended himself, muttering that he was not foolish.

Later, the two met in the suburbs. A’Bao hurried away because she was being surrounded by people due to her immense beauty. Sun Zichu stared at her blankly. Wanting to look at her a few more times, his soul actually left his body and followed her.

His family found him half-dead and performed a soul-calling ritual for him. He mumbled, “I am at A’Bao’s house.”

The family had no choice but to go to A’Bao’s house to retrieve his soul. A’Bao was very surprised and didn’t believe such a bizarre thing at all. However, when Sun Zichu woke up, he was able to clearly describe the furnishings and dietary habits of A’Bao’s house, and only then did everyone believe it.

A’Bao was also moved by his infatuation.

Later, the parrot A’Bao raised died, and she was very sad. Sun Zichu’s old illness relapsed, and this time he really died. His soul attached to the parrot’s body and came back to find her.

Qin Xiaorou looking at this part of the story, really didn’t know how to evaluate it. To think there were actually such foolish people in the world!

The ghost parrot obediently stayed by A’Bao’s side, but humans and beasts could not be together. The player needed to assist them to let Sun Zichu’s soul return to his body.

This storyline quest was not simple. A’Bao lost an embroidered shoe, and as a witness to their feelings, the ghost parrot needed to bring the embroidered shoe back to Sun Zichu’s house.

The player would transform into the parrot to help A’Bao move the embroidered shoe.

This was Qin Xiaorou’s first time experiencing the “transform into a parrot” gameplay in the game. She grabbed the embroidered shoe with her claws, but after flying just two meters, the embroidered shoe dropped.

Quest failed. Try again.

This time, she flapped her wings and flew forward holding the embroidered shoe in her beak. Halfway through, due to an operational error, she lost her balance and plummeted down as well.

“Ahhhh! Help!” Falling straight from high in the air into the bushes, the feeling was truly thrilling.

Growing wings, she couldn’t even walk anymore.

However, being a bird in the game was actually quite fun.

The five-sense system of the holographic game was very realistic. At this moment, she felt as if she had really become a tiny parrot.

Qin Xiaorou was not in a hurry to do the quest. She first learned how to fly and mastered her balance. She tried flying over and over again, helping A’Bao move the embroidered shoe, playing to her heart’s content.

The story quest wasn’t just simple dialogue or fighting mobs; it actually let players personally roleplay as a parrot to assist Sun Zichu. This was too interesting!

---

At the same time, Cheng Yuan rushed to the Ghost Market at the first opportunity and used the money she had saved recently to buy a set of clothes.

She found the “shops” located in the center of the Ghost Market, where Nether Coins could be exchanged for magical items and clothing. She took a fancy to the same white dress that Nie Xiaoqian wore.

Spent Nether Coins, bought the clothes.

After putting on the clothes, Cheng Yuan happily ran off to stroll around the Ghost Market. The feeling was as exciting as putting on new clothes as a child and visiting the Spring Festival flower market.

Successfully checked in at the Ghost Market alleyways.

Took commemorative photos at the highest point of the ghost buildings.

Cheng Yuan wandered around the Ghost Market. She could stroll around a bustling market like this for a long time. Suddenly, while passing by a room, she heard some ghosts talking inside. The door was open, and out of curiosity, she walked in.

A few ghosts sat around a table and said, “We need to find one more card player, we don’t have enough people.” One of the ghosts turned to look at Cheng Yuan, “Do you want to play together?”

Cheng Yuan asked curiously, “Play what?”

The female ghost with her hair in a bun had a pale face and revealed a strange smile, saying, “Play cards, gamble Nether Coins! Yezi Xi, do you know how to play?”

Cheng Yuan scratched her head: “…No.”

The old lady with a wrinkled face on the right smiled and said, “We can teach you, it’s very simple.”

System: Yezi Xi, the oldest card game, is very popular in the Ghost Realm. The Yezi Xi deck in the Ghost Realm has a total of 40 cards, with the faces of famous judges and Yama Kings of the Ghost Realm printed on them.

The cards are divided into four suits: Shi Wan Guan (Hundred Thousand Strings), Wan Guan (Ten Thousand Strings), Suozi (Strings), and Wen Qian (Coins). When playing the same suit, the card with the higher points can capture the card with the lower points. Whoever finishes their cards first is the winner.

Welcome to the Ghost Market Card House. The currency here is Nether Coins. You can play a round to try it out!

Cheng Yuan’s eyes lit up: “Wow, we can even play cards in the Ghost Market?”

She had thought that this event would at most involve checking in at a few scenic spots or doing a couple of side quests. She never expected that within the bustling Ghost Market, there was actually an entertainment card house where she could play cards?

In reality, she rarely placed bets playing cards with others.

But in a game, who’s afraid of whom!

She had saved up 200,000 Nether Coins. Even if she lost it all, she could just do treasure hunting quests to earn it back.

Cheng Yuan rolled up her sleeves and started her first round.

Yezi Xi. Playing this kind of card game for the first time, seeing the familiar NPC portraits on the card faces felt quite intimate.

An hour passed…

Two hours passed…

Cheng Yuan played cards with a few ghosts, playing so much that she almost lost track of time.

---

More and more players entered the Ghost Market.

Some were chatting with ghosts, some were searching everywhere for treasures, some went to do side quests, and there were also some like Cheng Yuan who ran off to play cards with ghosts…

Everyone had thought that a single-player game’s event would only add a scene or add a few bosses and a few side quests.

They never expected that the content of the Ghost Realm Ghost Festival event would be so rich that players could hardly keep up with everything.

The planning team was awesome!

Hundreds of NPCs appeared in the Ghost Market, each with a different appearance, and behind every ghost lay a unique background story.

How did the headless ghost lose his head? Why did the hanged ghost hang himself to commit suicide? How did the water ghost drown?

By chatting with them, one could learn the stories of their lives before death.

The vivid interaction system and rich background settings seemed to give every NPC a soul.

Players could also play cards with NPCs. Some NPCs would lose their temper and curse if they lost. If you didn’t like it, you could switch to another table to play.

Some ghosts were very cunning and would even peek at your cards.

This scene—was it really just a game?

It was simply like a truly existing world.

It had to be said that Yangfan Studio’s concept of game design was far ahead of the industry, and it completely refreshed the players’ worldview.

It was just an event.

Yet every detail was full of sincerity!

__

Author’s Note:
Yezi Xi is the most popular card game from ancient times, the ancestor of Mahjong and Poker. Fanfan placed it in the Ghost Market, and it will also appear in future ancient-style games.
ps: Playing cards with NPCs in a single-player game is not considered gambling, please do not over-interpret it.