You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

"drop--!"

The screen suddenly went black, as if the entire game world was torn apart by invisible hands. Then, a flash of snow screen suddenly exploded, like the moment when the signal of an old TV was interfered with.

Wang Laoju narrowed his eyes and subconsciously gripped the mouse with his fingers.

"…What is it this time?"

The audience in the live broadcast room also exploded instantly, and the barrage of comments rolled wildly -

[What the hell?! This game has started again?!]

[It was clearly a pinball game just now, how come it suddenly turned out to be a CRT TV malfunction?!]

[Planners, what on earth are you doing?! ]

At this moment, the picture on the screen became extremely strange.

In the pitch-black background, the only scene that can be seen is——

It's an old TV.

It stood there quietly, white noise flashing on the screen, as if it were a forgotten signal source, trapped in endless data space.

At the same time, the narrator's voice sounded again, this time with a hint of confusion and bewilderment in his tone, and even... a bit of laziness as if he had just woken up?
"What, what happened? I think I fell asleep for a while."

"Where...are we?"

"User? User, are you here?"

Wang Laoju curled the corners of his mouth slightly and sneered: "Why, even you don't know where this place is?"

However, the narrator's voice carries a hint of unease, as if he is genuinely searching for something.

"If you were here, could you please signal me?"

"I don't want to be alone... Why did you try to exploit the system's loopholes?"

"I warned you."

"A bug in the program got us somewhere."

Wang Laoju licked his lips lightly, his eyes narrowed slightly, he manipulated the mouse, slowly moved the view, and began to observe this old TV.

The outer shell of the TV is covered with traces of time, and blurry images occasionally flash on the screen, like some forgotten images trying to piece together a complete story.

However, what interested Wang Laoju the most was the side of the TV.

A dial.

It is quietly embedded in the fuselage. The surface is a little worn, but you can still clearly see the sphere composed of three numbers: 1, 7, and 8.

The audience in the live broadcast room exploded instantly——

What the hell?! What kind of puzzle is this?!

[178? What's the significance of this number?!]

[Laoju, try to see if you can turn the dial!]

Wang Laoju sneered and turned the dial without hesitation.

"Click——"

As the dial turned, the perspective of the picture also changed, as if the whole world was rotating strangely around the TV.

——The perspective switches to the back of the TV.

【Sockets and screws】

The back of the TV is covered with various old interfaces, the most conspicuous of which is a row of colorful AV input ports, quietly waiting for a signal source to be connected.

At the same time, the narrator's voice sounded again, this time with a hint of shock in his tone——

"Did you plug in the video input?"

"You just can't help it, can you?"

Wang Laoju raised her eyebrows slightly, a disdainful smile playing on the corner of her mouth: "You said this as if I could still bear it."

The audience in the live broadcast room has been laughing like crazy——

[Hahahaha, Lao Ju's mental state has been completely integrated into the game! ]

[Narrator: Please, don't touch it! Player: No, I want to touch it!]

【This game is really getting more and more outrageous! 】

However, just as Wang Laoju was about to take a closer look at these interfaces, his eyes suddenly stopped at a detail -

A tiny screw.

It is quietly embedded in the body of the TV, as if it is some kind of seal, locking a secret that should not be opened inside the TV.

Wang Laoju licked her lips lightly, a cunning glint in her eyes.

He slowly stretched out his hand, manipulated the mouse, and placed the cursor on the screw, muttering to himself meaningfully:

"This screw...should be removed?"

The live broadcast room exploded instantly——

[What the hell?! Lao Ju, are you really going to dismantle the TV?!]

[Planner: Please, don't tear it down, there's really nothing inside! ]

[Lao Ju: Whether it exists or not, I want to see it! ]

However, the narrator on the screen was completely panicked, with a hint of obvious fear in his tone -

“No… no no no!”

"User! Please! Don't unscrew that screw!"

"You're really going to completely ruin the game!"

Wang Laoju just smiled slightly, with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Sorry, what I hate most is people telling me 'don't do something'."

He controlled the mouse and clicked lightly——

"Click!"

The moment the screw was unscrewed, the entire screen shook violently, countless garbled characters flashed wildly, and the game interface began to shake violently, as if some kind of forbidden seal was forcibly broken!

"Click!"

The moment the screw was unscrewed, the picture shook suddenly, and the whole world seemed to be forcibly twisted by an invisible hand. Wang Laoju's perspective instantly switched to the other side of the TV.

It's a strange sense of perspective, as if the camera has rotated 90 degrees around the object, but the logic of the entire space remains intact.

On the left side of the screen, a yellowed piece of paper was quietly stuck to the TV casing, with 555-2368 written on it in black marker. The handwriting was sloppy, as if someone had left a number in a hurry.

On the right side of the screen, a postcard note was pinned to the fuselage by a rusty thumbtack, with a line of strange words printed on it:

"A kiss from the Gear Factory!"

The live broadcast room exploded instantly——

[What the hell?! What kind of new information is this?!]

[555-2368?! Is this a phone number?!]

[A kiss at the gear factory...why does this sound like a horror story?!]

Wang Laoju frowned, his gaze lingering on the two messages for a moment, then he licked his lips and muttered softly, "...It seems that this TV is not just an ordinary prop."

However, just as he was about to continue exploring, his perspective rotated again, as if an invisible hand forcibly pulled the entire world back to its original perspective.

The screen cut back to the front of the TV.

The TV screen was still flickering with snowflakes, like some damaged signal source, gasping alone in the dark space.

But this time, Wang Laoju noticed a new detail.

Something seems to be wrong inside the screen.

It shook, like some loose pane of glass, swaying gently for a moment, then calmed down again.

The narrator on the screen also noticed this, and a hint of uneasiness appeared in his tone.

"The screen of this TV... doesn't look very sturdy." Wang Laoju narrowed his eyes, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and revealed an excited smile.

"It's not too strong—start knocking!"

Without hesitation, he manipulated the mouse and began to frantically tap on the TV screen!
"Bang! Bang! Bang—!"

The glass trembled and cracks spread rapidly, spreading across the surface of the screen like a spider web.

The narrator's voice suddenly exploded, with obvious fear—

"Stop, user!"

"Don't touch those cracks!"

However, Wang Laoju ignored it and instead increased the frequency of clicks, and the audience in the live broadcast room went completely crazy.

【Hahahaha, the narration is starting to break down again! 】

[Planner: No way, who would smash a TV screen in a game?!]

【Lao Ju: I can! 】

Finally, with the last crisp "click", the glass of the entire screen suddenly cracked, and the fragments turned into light points and dissipated!
Inside the screen, a whole new world emerges.

What appeared in front of Wang Laoju was a cartoon-style home room.

The whole world seems to be painted with a layer of warm colors. The lines of the furniture are rounded and fairy-tale-like. The wallpaper is an elegant beige. Warm sunlight shines through the window, and the air seems to be filled with a faint scent of tea.

In the center of the room, on a dark sofa, a man was sitting there reading a newspaper.

He was wearing a retro British suit, a gold-framed monocle, a high nose bridge, and a pipe dangling from the corner of his mouth. He exuded a strong Victorian atmosphere.

In the lower left corner of the screen, three interactive icons slowly appear:
【Eyes】, 【Mouth】 and 【Hands】.

In the lower right corner, there is a magnifying glass icon that flashes a faint light, prompting players to use it for closer observation.

The audience in the live broadcast room exploded instantly——

[What the hell?! Where is this?!]

[This game suddenly changed from a horror movie to a detective movie?!]

【Laoju, try it out! 】

However, while Wang Laoju was still observing, the man sitting on the sofa suddenly spoke -

"Watson!"

His deep voice carried a hint of unquestionable command, as if this was some kind of established mode of conversation.

Then, a man wearing a top hat and glasses walked in from the other side of the room. He was dressed a little formally, and his expression revealed a hint of gentleness and rationality.

"Are you calling me, Holmes?"

The live broadcast room exploded:
【? ? ? 】

【? ? ? ? ? ? 】

[What the hell?! Holmes and Watson?!]

[What the hell is this game setting?! ]

However, the strangest thing is yet to come.

Holmes slowly put down the newspaper in his hand, frowned, and glanced slightly across the room, with a hint of obvious vigilance in his eyes.

"...Am I the only one who heard it?"

"There was a sudden echo?"

Wang Laoju: "..."

Studio:"……"

【? ? ? ? ? 】

[What the hell?! He heard us?!]

[Wait, no way, the NPCs in this game can sense the player's presence?!]

Wang Laoju licked his lips, his eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose.

“…It’s a bit interesting.”

【Strange Voice】

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

"what----!"

An extremely strange scream suddenly came from outside the window.

The sound was not like a human scream, but more like some distorted, indescribable tone, like someone slowly scratching the glass with a rusty saw, or like some twisted pendulum, echoing in the gap between reality and illusion.

Holmes frowned slightly, quickly closed the newspaper, and swept his eyes like a knife towards the window.

"Watson, do you hear that?"

Watson also frowned, pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and said with a hint of uneasiness: "That doesn't sound like a human cry at all."

He paused, his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he suddenly thought of something, and his tone became strange: "That scream - it's more like it came from our dear William's house!"

The audience in the live broadcast room exploded instantly.

[What the hell?! The William family?!]

[Don't tell me, this game's worldview is so vast that even characters from the original Sherlock Holmes novel can appear?!]

[This sound is really weird! Lao Ju, go check it out!]

However, Wang Laoju did not make any movement. She just crossed her arms and watched with interest as the two characters on the screen continued their conversation.

Holmes stood up with a decisive and calm movement, picked up a pipe from the table, and a sharp gleam in his eyes: "Shall we go and see what's going on?"

Watson rubbed his hands excitedly, as if he had already anticipated a thrilling adventure was about to begin: "This is too exciting!"

As soon as they finished speaking, the two of them quickly put on their coats, hurried out of the room, and disappeared into the corridor outside the door.

The air fell into a brief silence again.

——Only Wang Laoju was left, alone in this strange world.

Wang Laoju moved his fingers, controlled the mouse, slowly turned the view, and looked at the room carefully.

At this moment, the room is no longer just a simple "scene", every detail of it reveals a strange sense of reality.

The mural on the wall depicts a dark red forest. The branches of the trees look like some twisted creatures, seemingly wriggling slowly.

There were thick ancient books on the bookshelf. The words on the spines were blurry, like some unknown hieroglyphics. When Wang Laoju tried to click on them to view them, the cover of the book actually trembled slightly, as if it were alive.

This doesn't seem like an ordinary game world anymore.

The narrator, who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn't help but speak, with a hint of fear and uneasiness in his tone: "What the hell is this?"

“Hey, those look like interactive icons!”

Wang Laoju glanced at the [eye], [mouth], and [hand] icons in the lower left corner of the screen and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Any questions?"

The narrator paused briefly, as if trying to comprehend his surroundings, and then his tone grew increasingly uncertain: "I think we're in a... game."

"Oh my god, we can't stay here."

The audience in the live broadcast room exploded instantly.

【??? The narrator finally realized he was a game character?!】

[How outrageous is this game's worldview?!]

[Laoju, please see if you can do something with these icons! ]

Wang Laoju chuckled, manipulated the mouse, and prepared to try to use the interactive icon, but——

The icons on the screen suddenly turned gray.

They cannot be clicked or used, as if some kind of ability has been blocked, forcibly deprived of all interactive permissions.

The narrator's voice became more nervous: "Do the icons in this game... work?" (End of this chapter)