Chapter 11

At 1:00 AM, inside the New Dream Game Studio, several power-levelers stared at their phones with serious expressions, continuing to test this uniquely styled game.

Getting their heads snipped off, hung up on iron trees, cooked in a steamer, scorched on a copper pillar… after experiencing all sorts of bizarre deaths, everyone had grown accustomed to the horrific environment of the Underworld Maze.

Not to mention, the more they died, the more they wanted to get back up and keep grinding.

Especially when Black Impermanence mocked them—everyone’s fighting spirit skyrocketed!

Hu Fei’s progress was the fastest. He planned to clear the 18 floors first to understand the environmental features and gameplay mechanics of each floor, and then go through it again in detail to hunt for bugs.

Currently, he had completed the first seven floors and hadn’t encountered the “Meng Po” his colleague mentioned. Perhaps it was because he was only taking the correct paths, and Meng Po spawned on the other branching paths?

As Hu Fei pondered this, the bird’s-eye view of the 8th floor appeared on his screen.

Ice Hell.

The art style of this floor was completely different from the previous ones. The entire maze was tinted ice-blue, and the floors and walls were completely frozen over, the air itself seeming to exude a bone-chilling cold.

Upon entering the maze, the sound of the player character’s teeth chattering from the cold reached his ears. Combined with the realistic rendering of the ice and snow environment, Hu Fei felt incredibly immersed, almost as if the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped.

The 8th floor, if he remembered correctly, was a “Looping Maze” consisting of countless interlocking squares. One wrong step and it was easy to end up back where you started. To clear this level, drawing a map and constantly checking your orientation was mandatory.

Hu Fei had walked it once before, so he naturally knew the route well.

He noticed the maze floor was divided into individual squares, and many blocks of ice had cracks. Could these cracked ice blocks be step-triggered traps? Would they shatter if stepped on?

Hu Fei was extra careful, swiftly dodging any cracked ice blocks he saw.

He had only taken a few steps when the ground suddenly gave way beneath him. Accompanied by a bloodcurdling scream, the player character fell into a bottomless ice hole, his body instantly freezing into an “ice sculpture.”

Black Impermanence immediately popped out to mock him: “How are you walking, to be so careless?”

Hu Fei muttered a complaint, “I’m already being fucking careful!”

White Impermanence: “He’s going to freeze to death alive, how pitiful.”

Black Impermanence: “Do you want to try again?”

Hu Fei hurriedly tapped “Try Again.”

Did I step wrong just now? Stepping on intact ice makes you fall, so is it the opposite? The cracked ice is the correct path?

He tentatively stepped onto a cracked ice surface—and fell into the ice hole again!

Black Impermanence: “Are your eyes just for decoration?”

Black Impermanence: “With how clumsy you are, I advise you to just give up.”

Hu Fei: “…”

I won’t!

He unhesitatingly tapped “Restart.” This time, observing carefully, he finally discovered the pattern behind the shattering ice—it had nothing to do with the cracks, but the color of the ice blocks.

The darker-colored ice blocks were thicker and wouldn’t break when stepped on; conversely, the slightly lighter-colored thin ice would easily shatter, sending the player plunging into the ice hole.

The cracks on the ice were merely a “distraction” designed to deliberately mislead the player.

After figuring out the pattern, Hu Fei specifically chose the darker ice blocks to walk on. He progressed unimpeded and quickly navigated more than half the maze based on his memorized route.

Ever since he entered the Ice Hell, an ice cube symbol had appeared around his avatar, indicating a “Cold” debuff.

As his cold meter continuously rose, the player character’s movements became increasingly sluggish.

Just then, an old voice called out from the distance: “Is it very cold here? Do you need something to drink to warm your body?”

The player character’s hands and feet were frozen stiff, and his walking speed had slowed to a snail’s pace.

Is the NPC giving out an item to clear the cold debuff?

Hu Fei followed the sound to the end of a fork in the road and saw an old woman leaning on a walking stick, holding a bowl of soup, her loving smile bordering on bizarre.

The name hovering above the NPC’s head read: Meng Po.

Hu Fei remembered his colleague mentioning “meeting Meng Po on the 7th floor” earlier and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Old Xu, what’s the effect of drinking that soup Meng Po gives you?”

Old Xu smiled broadly. “It’s quite tasty. You’ll know once you drink it.”

Hu Fei muttered to himself, “I ran into her on the 8th floor too. This maze actually has NPCs handing out items?”

System: Meng Po gifts you a bowl of “Meng Po Soup”. Drink it immediately?

Hu Fei chose “Yes” without hesitation.

The screen suddenly went black, and then a large block of bright red text scrolled up.

[You drank the Meng Po Soup]

[Your mind suddenly goes blank]

[You forgot everything]

[You do not know who you are, where you are, or what you should do]

[You become a wandering ghost, roaming aimlessly through the Underworld]

[Until the Black and White Impermanence find you once again]

Hu Fei: “?????”

White Impermanence looked at him with a smile. Why does this scene look exactly like the beginning of the game?

Having a bad feeling, Hu Fei quickly opened the system menu in the top right corner—and was shocked to discover that his save records for clearing floors 1 through 7 had completely vanished.

Hu Fei was dumbfounded. “Holy shit?!”

This was being sent all the way back to the start of the game, a forced rollback?!

The 7 hours he had continuously grinded through the maze were completely wasted; he had to wipe the slate clean and restart?!

Drinking Meng Po Soup to forget everything… this kind of mechanic actually existed?!

Beside him, Old Xu, who had tricked him into drinking the soup, was smiling extremely smugly. “Was it tasty?”

Hu Fei said deadpan, “Yeah, super tasty… Bros, when you see Meng Po in the maze, remember you absolutely have to drink the soup!”

The power-leveler beside him asked, “Really? I just reached the Ice Hell on the 8th floor.”

Hu Fei leaned over for a look and kindly reminded him: “It’s safe to step on the dark ice blocks; the light ones will shatter. Keep it up, you’ll see Meng Po soon.”

The duped power-leveler followed his advice and cleared half the maze.

Then, happily, he drank the Meng Po Soup.

[You forgot everything]

Power-leveler bro: “Motherfucker%￥#%!”

A mouthful of curses.

Hu Fei laughed so hard he pounded the table. “Was it tasty?”

The power-leveler sneaked a glance at the others, who were focused on the game, and gritted his teeth. “So tasty! After drinking Meng Po Soup, my whole being has been elevated!”

And so, through a chain reaction of one tricking the next…

All 6 testers collectively drank the Meng Po Soup, were sent all the way back to the 1st floor, and had to restart their games.

The group’s expressions were all very bizarre.

Playing for 7 hours, only to be sent back to the 1st floor to restart…

This maze actually had a psychopathic mechanic like a “forced rollback”?

Dev, aren’t you afraid players will mail you blades?

It was entirely foreseeable that once the game launched, Meng Po would become the players’ most hated NPC.

Currently, it was known that Meng Po spawned on the 7th and 8th floors; drinking her soup made you forget everything and return to the beginning. If Meng Po spawned deeper in the maze—for example, on the 18th floor—and players were forced to roll back right as they were about to beat the game… they’d probably vomit blood from anger!

The dev wouldn’t be that excessive, right?

The several power-levelers exchanged glances, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Remembering this was a paid closed beta and they were the first batch of players, the group rallied their spirits and, sporting heavy dark circles under their eyes, started over from the very beginning!

---

The next afternoon, Xie Yunfan received a message from Little Hu: “Boss, everyone pulled an all-nighter last night and just beat the game for the first time. So far, we haven’t found any bugs on the correct paths. We’re going to catch up on some sleep first. When we wake up tonight, we’ll start over and carefully explore every corner of the maze to hunt for bugs.”

Xie Yunfan replied, “Thanks for your hard work. How long did it take to clear on average?”

Hu Fei: “Without drinking Meng Po Soup and knowing the correct paths, it takes about 10 hours to clear. For a beginner, it might take three times as long.”

A single-player game wouldn’t be fun if it could be cleared too quickly. For veteran players or those who read guides, 10 to 15 hours was standard; for beginners slowly figuring things out, around 30 hours was expected.

Playing 3 to 4 hours a day, it would take over a week to beat. Hardcore gamers pulling all-nighters could finish Normal Mode within 2 days. This playtime aligned with Xie Yunfan’s expectations.

Xie Yunfan: “Looks like the level difficulty doesn’t need to be changed. I’ll add Nightmare Mode later.”

Hu Fei paused. “Nightmare Mode? Then what are we testing right now?”

Xie Yunfan: “You’re testing Normal (Simple) Mode.”

Hu Fei: “…”

This is called ‘Normal Mode’? Do you have some misunderstanding of the word ‘Simple’?

Hu Fei asked curiously, “What makes Nightmare Mode so hard?”

Xie Yunfan explained, “For example, in the Steamer Hell and Ice Hell, the heat and cold meters will increase twice as fast, and there’s a time limit to clear the floor. If you don’t make it in time, you’ll be steamed alive or frozen to death.”

“A time limit? Does that mean if you take a wrong turn, even if you don’t trigger any environmental traps, you’ll die of heat or cold once the time is up?”

“Yes.”

A time limit would increase the sense of tension, requiring players to clear the level within a specific timeframe. With a countdown constantly on the screen, players were also more prone to making mistakes.

Xie Yunfan continued, “Also, in the Oil Cauldron Hell and Blood Pool Hell, you won’t be able to just jump across in Nightmare Mode. Players will have to build their own path.”

Hu Fei was confused. “Build our own path?”

Xie Yunfan: “I’ll be adding some item mechanics. Clearing certain maze floors will grant items that must be used strategically in later floors.”

Hu Fei rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “That actually sounds a lot more interesting!”

Compared to simply jumping over the blood pools and oil cauldrons, massively expanding their size and forcing the player to figure out how to build a path across was truly thrilling and exciting.

One misstep, and you’re either deep-fried or corroded by the blood pool.

All while constantly enduring Black Impermanence’s mockery.

It was easy to imagine that the Oil Cauldron Hell and Blood Pool Hell would become insurmountable hurdles for clumsy players!

Hu Fei asked curiously, “Are there any changes to Meng Po’s Soup in Nightmare Mode?”

This was what he cared about the most. After being screwed over once, whenever he met Meng Po offering him soup, he decisively hit “I don’t want to drink.”

Xie Yunfan said, “In Nightmare Mode, Meng Po spawns more frequently, and she will force the player to drink the soup, triggering a direct rollback. Running into Meng Po means restarting the game, so you have to carefully avoid her… Is it a bit too hard?”

Hu Fei was completely speechless: “It’s not just a bit too hard. Boss, you’re going to drive the players crazy!”

Xie Yunfan replied, “My game was never meant to be a relaxing, casual maze you can breeze through. A bit of difficulty makes it more challenging, right? ^^”

Hu Fei: “…Makes sense!”

Xie Yunfan: “When the final version is ready, you guys can test it again to see if there are any bugs like item lag or character clipping. Once it passes review and the testing is clear, it’ll be ready for launch.”

Hu Fei hurriedly assured him, “Don’t worry, Boss, we will definitely test it thoroughly.”

Having been a power-leveler for so many years, this was the first time he was so eagerly anticipating the launch of a new game.

Once Underworld Maze officially launched with Nightmare Mode included, he couldn’t wait to see how many players would be crying and screaming in the maze, tortured half to death.

Friendly tip: Start with Normal Mode to familiarize yourself with the maze paths.

Whatever you do, don’t be stubborn and pick Nightmare Mode right from the start—because you really will have nightmares!