Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:chuappgame, author: Peng Chuwei

The past of two people is like a dream, and now Lin Jie is awake.

Shi Bai, "praise the Sun", has thought about going to Lin Jie more than once.

The last time they met was four months ago. After Lin Jie resigned, he came to see Shi Bai. The two men lived in the small house that Shi Bai rented, eating, chatting and playing the "Alden Ring" until one day, Shi Bai's girlfriend suddenly decided to come to him. At noon that day, Shi Bai stumbled and mentioned to Lin Jie that his girlfriend was coming. After taking a nap, he found that Lin Jie had left and the room was clean and tidy, as if no one had ever been here before. Lin Jie disappeared.

For the previous four years, Lin Jie worked at the local nuclear power plant. It is a state-owned enterprise with astonishingly high enrollment standards, but Lin Jie successfully entered the enrollment time. The students were very envious. Shi Bai of the school next door heard that he went to Lin Jie's dormitory to congratulate him. The two had a meal in the "Zhou Mapo" on the student street to celebrate.

While eating Mapo tofu, Lin Jie suddenly said, "I don't know when we can meet again."

Shi Bai comforted Lin Jie: "it's all right, we keep in touch online, there are still so many games to play."

Then he heard Lin Jie say solemnly, "I have an idea. Let's play games together in the future." I think the work of the nuclear power group will be very boring. I can teach myself art and programming. "

Hearing what Lin Jie said, Shi Bai was also very excited. "I'm in charge of writing the script," he said. "I can write it."

The two men raised their glasses with cola in it.

"Cheers."

"praise the sun!"

Praising the sun, like embracing the world, "praising the sun" is the appearance posture of Solar, the Sun Warrior. Solar is a character in the game "Soul of Darkness". He always helps players when they are in trouble and is loved by players. Many people join his sect and connect with others with glittering praise of the sun.

For Shi Bai, it is not just a catchphrase hanging on the lips to show the interest of his game.

After Lin Jie left, looking back on his friendship over the years, Shi Bai realized that Lin Jie's disappearance was, in a sense, the end of Shi Bai's own past-if the real past could come to an end, then, it is the "dark soul" that occupies the beginning and process of this friendship.

"pointing forward" University, October 14, 2015.

Shi Bai did not go to the evening self-study, playing "Soul of Darkness: the death version" in the dormitory alone. He was fascinated by the cold and dark temperament of the game, but the old laptop was embarrassed and ran at a very low frame rate. Shi Bai played hard-even if the number of frames was not low, the game was hard enough for him.

For several days, Shibai repeated the same thing: resurrecting from the bonfire (filing point), running up the winding city wall, avoiding the endless monsters on the road, reaching the leader, and then being hammered back into the bonfire.

The process of the game is a difficult adventure. The game is full of obstacles, but Shi Bai is used to moving forward over the obstacles. Born in the countryside, Shi Bai stood out from hundreds of people in high school and was admitted to one of the best universities in the province. My uncle chose his major for him-mechanical automation, which sounds good, but I don't know how painful it is for him until I read it.

Endless experiments and drawings are like monsters that can never be played in the game, and the daily routine of screws and wiring makes him want to cut off his hands. Once, he cried in the experimental exam: the students finished the experiment and left, only him, several teachers gathered around to urge him to hurry up, but he could not screw the screw into the circuit board as cleverly as others to let the light bulb on.

"come on, come on!" The teachers said.

This in Shibai sounds like: "obstacle, another obstacle."

He shook his head, something heavy in his tone.

The Dark Soul: the Dead version is full of obstacles, but they can always be overcome. Compared with the screw he can't screw in, an Boss challenge 40 times or 50 times, there will always be a success. He needs this obstacle experience.

Over and over again, he climbed through the church, the sick village, and the palace in the game-everything was recorded in his screenshot gallery on Steam. In the gray screenshots, the Shibai-controlled character always stands alone in the middle of the screen, looking up at the sky in the face of a huge, barren castle-until October 14, when a golden figure stood beside him.

The golden light is the symbol of the sun Shibai left a message in the screenshot: "praise the sun with my good brother!"

The screenshot scene is "Crystal Cave", which is a labyrinth, and players need to find the right way from countless crystal bridges. That day, Shi Bai went around the cave again and again, but could not find a way out. Unwittingly, it was late at night, and the roommates had not come back yet.

The dormitory is without power at night. Originally, there was no such rule, but a classmate wrote to the counselor that it was not good for the students to stay in the dormitory to play games at night. In order to make them motivated, they wanted to set a time for everyone to go out for self-study. As a result, there is a rule that there is a power outage for four hours every night.

Shi Bai was playing games in the dark, and the light of the computer screen shone on his face. Unwilling to get lost, he searched everywhere for strategies with his mobile phone. The strategy told him that the best solution is to connect to the game server and follow the messages shared by other players. But the problem is, the school network is very poor, basically can not receive messages from other players. Shi Bai usually rarely see traces shared by other players, and always experience offline mode.

Put down the phone, Shi Bai went around twice, still had no clue, but in helplessness, he was going to try to connect to the Internet. Sure enough, after waiting for a long time, there was no trace of other online players. When he was about to give up, a shining golden symbol appeared in front of his eyes.

Quiet will is in another dormitory only a few hundred meters away from Shi Bai. Lin Jie left the computer and got up to boil a pot of water for himself. The colorful crystals on the computer screen were shining. He stood in the center of the crystal cave, which is the lair of White Dragon Heath.

It was only after the fierce leader's war that he had time to look around: the light reflected by the crystals made the whole cave more empty, the dragon died, and the lair full of loud music quieted down. While tidying up his backpack, he noticed the online waxstone, a prop he had never used before, which could write down summoning symbols in the world of all players online and send them online invitations.

After writing down the summons, Lin Jie looked at the lights outside the window with boredom. Lin Jie likes this school. This is a university town on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by huddled universities, isolated from the rest of the world, and the pace of life is relatively simple. He is quite satisfied with the life of playing games in the dormitory except for class and self-study.

White Dragon Heath is the leader of the Crystal Cave. On the wall behind Lin Jie's laptop is a disassembled picture of a car. The details are detailed, and every line of gear, engine and lever is fully outlined. Lin Jie painted it himself.

Introverted, talented, suitable for vehicle engineering major. This is the teacher's comment on Lin Jie. As a matter of fact, he doesn't like his major, but he just lets himself learn, and he is actually doing well.

Lin Jie knew that the school's network was poor, so he never used online props. When he wrote down his summoner on a whim, he had no hope. Such a bad net is not even a "knife tower" with the city's high school students.

But a miracle happened. When the summoner disappeared, Lin Jie did not realize what had happened, and the next moment, he turned into a golden appearance and came to another player's world, Shibai's world, in the posture of praising the sun.

Lin Jie looked at Shi Bai, and Shi Bai looked at him, both in a daze.

"does anyone really play this game?" Lin Jie raised his staff suspiciously and waved at Shi Bai.

There is no voice function in the game, so the two can only communicate with each other through action. Shi Bai hurriedly made a circle around Lin Jie to express his welcome. Lin Jie made a "look forward" action, pointed to the direction of the cave, then turned and walked in. Shi Bai followed him.

After entering the cave, Shi Bai followed Lin Jie to a dead end, with a bottomless cave in front of him. Shi Bai watched him miraculously leave the crystal bridge and step into the abyss, walking quietly where there seemed to be no road at all, not falling or stuck, but reaching the center of the cave that had been out of reach all the time. There, he saw Lin Jie turn around, raise his hands to him, and gradually disappear.

A moment before falling off the line, Lin Jie saw Shi Bai hurrying onto the air bridge, running towards him, then stepping on the air, falling, and dying.

This is the first meeting between Shi Bai and Lin Jie.

Before long, Shi Bai added Lin Jie's friends through the player query function, and only then did he know that their universities were friendly neighbors. Lin Jie did not expect that there is also a self-masochistic player in the school next door. The game is already a minority, but he still meets each other in the same scene, which is of course a kind of fate. The following night, when there was a power outage in Shibai dormitory, he went to Lin Jie's dormitory to play with his computer on his back.

When he came here for the first time, Shi Bai noticed the disassembly picture of the car, which comforted him. He could not tell where this feeling came from, perhaps because the lines were clear, concise and orderly, showing the patience and bearing of the cartographer.

Shi Bai's attitude towards Lin Jie borders on admiration. Not only because Lin Jie has a good understanding of games, but also because he is in real control of everything. The courses for vehicle manufacturing engineering and mechanical automation are almost the same, with a large number of tedious drawings, countless electronic experiments and design assignments. ". The huge maze of these courses takes you four years to walk, and in the end, you will find that there is no way out." Shi Bai wrote on his blog.

But Lin Jie is different. He can go to class, read books and take exams. In Shi Bai's memory, Lin Jie is always a wizard walking in the crystal cave abyss, walking quietly in a place where there seems to be no way out.

"look up" compared with Shi Bai, Lin Jie's ideas are much less, and most of the time he is calm and rational. In Shi Bai's eyes, Lin Jie changed a little only when he was playing games, becoming more vivid and passionate. On weekends, he came to the dormitory to find Lin Jie. Lin Jie would stop drawing and open the game with a smile.

The "air bridge" of the crystal cave was discovered by Lin Jie after carefully observing the crystal shavings scattered in the air. Lin Jie told Shi Bai about the discovery, and Shi Bai walked out of the crystal cave.

Lin Jie realized that Shi Bai came to him more frequently: from occasionally asking him for help in the evening, to coming to the dormitory to play together and sometimes having dinner together. Lin Jie's dormitory is standard with four people and only three people live in. One roommate left because he could not adapt to intensive study. Shi Bai often came to occupy the spare position and spread out the computer. Shi Bai's father wanted a roommate as a contact, so Shi Bai left Lin Jie's phone number. Slowly, Lin Jie also regarded Shi Bai as his roommate.

Lin Jie can't tell what attracts him from Shi Bai, who are all "Soul of Darkness" players. Are you pathetic? Neither. After thinking it over, Lin Jie felt that he had stayed with Shi Bai because "we are all repressed people looking for an exit in the 'Soul of Darkness'."

Shi Bai is escaping from depression. He wanted to leave his school and the people who seemed to him to be dead, snitching on each other and making progress like machines. Escape was a brief respite for him. He told Lin Jie how he felt, and Lin Jie just nodded.

Lin Jie believes that only by accepting repression as normal can we be truly free from repression. From this point of view, Shi Bai's behavior is too wanton. Shi Bai in Lin Jie's eyes will always be the one who chose the power weapon when playing "Dark Soul 2", went to the front alone, and then pulled a large group of enemies of different shapes to him for help. This is contrary to what Lin Jie asked of himself. He would let himself look around and open the way with a bow and arrow. He told himself that every moment should be prepared for the next moment.

It was only in this gesture that he felt quiet.

Lin Jie did not express his opinion with Shi Bai, perhaps because he thought the other party would not accept it. In his view, Shi Bai's classmates are planning for the future, and Shi Bai is more like running away from the future. Therefore, he had to let Shi Bai go back to school and study and graduate normally. In order to get him back to class, Lin Jie doubly suppressed himself: he took the initiative to find a part-time job to model several schools in the university town.

During that time, Shi Bai could not find Lin Jie when he came to the dormitory. Lin Jie spends most of his time outside. He has to draw the general structure of each school and use the computer to build modules. At that time, Dark Soul 2 was their only channel of communication. Lin Jie received messages from Shi Bai several times. He suppressed the mood of replying to messages and playing together, saying only that he was busy. In the end, he was surprised that he didn't open Dark Soul 2 for weeks. Gradually, Shi Bai looked for him less and less.

"Soul of Darkness 2" was their spiritual connection on June 14, 2016. That night, Lin Jie came back from the library, his desire to play games surged in his heart. Suddenly, there was a call on his cell phone, which was Shi Bai's father. The tone of the other party was almost pleading: "I received a call from the counselor. Shi Bai was not in the dormitory for two days in a row. Could you help me find him?"

Lin Jie ran to Shibai's school. During the evening self-study time, the dormitory was empty. He noticed that all the dormitory doors were locked with the same brand, and immediately knew the reason why Shi Bai ran away: he couldn't play games and he couldn't stay in the dormitory. After running all night, relying on the memory of modeling, Lin Jie found him in the Internet bar on the back street of the school.

Lin Jie still remembers what Shi Bai looked like sitting in front of the computer: the screen was dark, reflecting a dazed face. On the wide sofa, Shibai huddled, and the whole person was pale, like ashes left after the fire.

Lin Jie's face appeared beside him, pressed the turn-on button, and the screen lit up.

Lin Jie said carelessly as much as he could: "who can stand having classes during the day and forcing people to study by themselves at night?"

Shi Bai looked at Lin Jie and said, "I won't learn."

"mm-hmm."

"I can't stand it. I'm not fit to study this major."

"mm-hmm."

"I may be a loser."

"mm-hmm."

"I'm not going back."

"mm-hmm."

Lin Jie grabbed the mouse, clicked on Steam, entered Shi Bai's account number and told him firmly: "you must stick to it."

"I won't insist." Shi Bai still wants to give up.

Lin Jie clicked on the store page, typed "Dark Souls 3" and bought the game himself.

"I'll give you Dark Soul 3. Let's play."

Waiting for the game to download, Shi Bai called his father. After making the call, Lin Jie clicked into Dark Soul 3. They played for three hours, each taking turns. When Shi Bai recalled the scene, he only remembered that Lin Jie had been sighing contentedly, while Lin Jie remembered that Shi Bai was laughing happily. The depression of the past disappeared at that time, and they went all out to immerse themselves in the game.

Challenged and defeated the Boss of the city wall area, Shi Bai went back to write self-criticism, and Lin Jie no longer worked hard part-time. They play "Dark Soul 3" together in the dorm every night. Shi Bai's computer couldn't run the game, so the two people took turns playing it with a computer. When Shi Bai played, Lin Jie often helped him with a few operations; while Lin Jie played, Shi Bai would comment from time to time and recite some words at the same time-although he was not interested in professional courses, Shi Bai began to learn a foreign language. he wants to know the story behind the "Soul of Darkness" series. Because the plot of the game is very broken and the translation quality is not good, he is determined to get through multiple language versions.

Shi Bai told Lin Jie about the idea, and Lin Jie said he was willing to help him, as long as Shi Bai could not fail. The summer vacation came as promised, Shi Bai did not fail, and the two did not go home. During the day, Lin Jie worked as an intern in a nearby factory. Shi Bai was preparing for the language proficiency test. In the evening, Lin Jie passed the game flow, and Shi Bai excerpted the plot clip beside him.

"look up" is also a gesture in "Soul of Darkness". It is encouraging to "go to the path of Gulong". Shibai slowly pieced together a series of stories. From "the Soul of Darkness" to "the Soul of Darkness 3", he combed out his understanding of the plot and posted it on the forum. He remembers that moment. It was an afternoon in April 2017, and after posting, he sat next to Lin Jie, nervous. The two men refreshed the page every once in a while, comments poured out, he replied one by one, and sometimes received private messages asking for authorization to reprint.

What kind of feeling is that? Excitement, joy, recognition, and some relief: he is not useless, and at the same time, he has partners who are willing to draw strength from the game together.

Lin Jie is very pleased that Shi Bai has changed like this. As foreign languages get better and better, Shi Bai is not satisfied with piecing together the "Soul of Darkness" series of stories. He played niche games with Lin Jie, and Lin Jie played them. He watched and finished the plot analysis and evaluation related to writing the game. Soon, Shi Bai's account got more attention. Lin Jie plays more and more, and Shi Bai writes more and more.

The partnership spans juniors and seniors, from metalworking internships to design assignments. Shi Bai has dealt with the past relatively smoothly. Lin Jie has achieved better results and won several scholarships. Nearing graduation, Lin Jie decided to join the nuclear power group and had a stable job. Instead of looking for a job, Shi Bai rented a room to practice writing and concentrate on running his own account. Shi Bai is very satisfied with this state. He left school and found a way out.

Shi Bai likes the branch line "the way to Gulong" in Dark Soul 3. In this branch line, the protagonist prays piously that he can reach the other end-a noble and mysterious cologne residence, which is finally taken there by the wind. Shi Bai felt that he was also going to his destination in a tortuous way.

After meditating in the path of Gulong, players will suddenly find themselves in the cologne residence. "my destination has no parts, oil or control." Shi Bai said in his blog.

Lin Jie saw Shi Bai's blog. He left a message for Shi Bai and deleted it. The work at the nuclear power plant is long, boring and important. First, I took classes day and night for half a year, took an examination for half a year, and then endless patrolling, maintenance and duty in the station. Lin Jie felt his calmness at school fade away. People around us are talking about how to invest, and most people seem to be born to pursue a more comfortable environment, more wealth, and do so all the time, and no one suppresses their desires, such as playing games, like him.

Lin Jie goes to work during the day, watches the tutorials of the game engine at night, and talks about the new games online with Shi Bai. Shi Bai also felt the tiredness of Lin Jie, which was different from that when he was at school.

On May 1, 2019, Shi Bai was awakened by a knock at the door. He got up and opened the door. Lin Jie was at the door, dragging his suitcase.

"May I come in?"

"mm-hmm."

"I really don't want to do it."

"mm-hmm."

"but if I don't go to work, I have no money. I have to save some money before I quit."

"mm-hmm."

"is there any way?"

"mm-hmm."

In April 2019, Shi Bai's account attracted the attention of MCN institutions. When the other party asked if he wanted to sign the contract, Shi Bai agreed. At that time, the game industry developed rapidly, and there were commercial orders from time to time. In the following months, Shi Bai shared the work with Lin Jie. Shi Bai was in charge of copywriting, and Lin Jie was responsible for editing, matching pictures and providing game insights. Lin Jie finished all this on weekends, and Shi Bai transferred 4000 yuan to Lin Jie every month.

During the Spring Festival in 2020, Lin Jie did not go home and chose to spend the Spring Festival here in Shibai. Shi Bai didn't have a real job in the eyes of his family, and he didn't want to go home. The two bought self-heated rice and frozen steak. On Spring Festival, rice mixed with steak was fried and placed on the table. Lin Jie picked up Coke and said to Shi Bai again, "I want to play a game in my spare time."

Shibai supported him. The next day, they played "go to the Moon" together, ready to play a similar game about their college life. Shi Bai is responsible for writing the screenplay.

On the fifth day of the 2020 Spring Festival, they also played other games, Lin Jie was called back to work overtime. Two months later, Shi Bai wrote the script and sent it to Lin Jie, but he didn't get a reply. During those two months, Lin Jie spent most of his time overhauling the equipment, occasionally looking at his mobile phone, but could not get a mental reply. After the news has been put for a long time, there is no longer any incentive to go back.

Lin Jie felt that he was being exhausted. When he finally got idle, Lin Jie slept for several days and came to the conclusion that he was a man who could not go up or down, and he could not suppress himself forever, nor could he abandon all his desires as recklessly as Shi Bai did, and that was the desire that had consumed him all the time. Tortured by longing, he felt that he was disappearing.

"the reality is like this. I can only change myself." Lin Jie said in moments.

In August 2022, Lin Jie submitted his resignation and gave up those game-related ideas. The handover after the resignation lasted several months. When all the dust settles, he finds Shibai and plans to live with Shibai for a while, telling him his plan: to return to being part of a "normal" crowd. "live a normal life." This is what he wanted to say to Shi Bai.

The arrival of Shi Bai's girlfriend interrupted Lin Jie's plan. He left without saying anything.

He doesn't hate Shibai, but he has to do it.

"it used to be like a dream, but now I wake up."

In Shi Bai's life, Lin Jie disappeared, leaving behind the unfinished script, the unfinished main line of "Elden Ring" and a little guilt and regret.

A few days ago, Shi Bai had a dream in which he had an argument with Lin Jie 7 years ago. It was about the task of going to Gulong Road. In Lin Jie's dormitory, there was a white sky outside the window, the wind kept pouring in from the window, and the kettle was whistling on one side. Shi Bai said loudly that reaching the way to Gulong means that the dream comes true. Lin Jie said calmly that they were already on the path of Gulong. The so-called way to reach Gulong is just waking up.

"cut the crap! I'm asleep. I'm at the top of Gulong." Shi Bai Chong Lin Jie shouted seven years ago.

"I woke up and reached the top of Gulong."

The third on the left is Shi Bai, and the fourth on the left is Lin Jie (at the request of the interviewees, the characters in the article are all aliases. )

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