On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

"Xiao Liu, why isn't the proposal for this stage play ready yet! Hurry up, do you know how much pressure Mr. Wang is putting on it!"

"Xiao Liu, look at all these celebrities you've contacted! What a bunch of ugly ducklings! Can't you find some popular ones to come over?"

"Xiao Liu, you need to work overtime today. The director said there's a problem with the stage lighting. Go contact the person in charge."

"Xiao Liu, the clothing factory said the workers are on strike, which will probably affect our performance costumes. You need to find me a new venue as soon as possible."

"Xiao Liu, have you asked him to urge the screenwriter to revise the script? Is that done?"

"Xiao Liu."

At 2:30 a.m., in the only room in the residential building still lit up late at night, a thin middle-aged man with dark circles under his eyes sat at his computer desk, wearily typing on the keyboard.

He's currently staying up all night revising the project proposal his boss wants.

The bad news is that this is already his fifth revision; the previous ones were all ruthlessly rejected.

The good news is that this is his last job for today, or rather, the last job he had left from yesterday.

As he finished typing the last line of the proposal, Liu Yang let out a long sigh of relief. It was finally done. He glanced at the clock beside him; it was almost three o'clock.

His body was sending out countless signals of fatigue. Liu Yang stood up from his computer desk. Perhaps it was because he stood up too suddenly, or perhaps it was because he had been sitting for several hours, but he felt dizzy and lightheaded.

Liu Yang quickly grabbed the nearby lamp and it took him a while to recover.

After a quick brushing of his teeth and washing of his face, Liu Yang turned off the light and lay down on the bed.

However, despite being physically exhausted, he couldn't fall asleep. Anxiety filled his mind; worries about the future, apprehension about work, and frustration with his boss kept him tossing and turning in bed, unable to drift off.

For Liu Yang, this had become a "habit," and he would often have to stay up until four or five o'clock before he could barely fall asleep, and then he would have to get up at seven o'clock to go to the company.

Speaking of

When did I become like this?

Unable to sleep in bed, Liu Yang couldn't help but recall that twenty or thirty years ago, he was a naive young man who had just entered the entertainment industry, full of enthusiasm for society and the future, and with lofty ambitions. He wanted to cultivate outstanding actors and become a great director.

However, the reality is that after so many years, although he has not been mediocre and has become a so-called assistant director, in reality, this position has neither the rights of a director, but he has to do all kinds of dirty and hard work, which is ostensibly to accumulate experience for him.

Whether he gained any experience or not, he did develop severe anxiety disorder as a result.

Thinking of this, Liu Yang sighed heavily again in the dark room.

When will we finally get through this?

Am I

Is this industry really not for me?

I really want to quit my job.

Just as Liu Yang was once again caught in the same inner struggle of the night, a "ding-dong" sound suddenly came from his phone next to him; it was a new message notification.

As an assistant director, Liu Yang dared not put his phone on silent even when he was sleeping at night, for fear of missing any instructions from the director or other producers.

After all, it did happen once. He finally managed to fall asleep, only to be woken up by a phone call at three or four in the morning, and then had to pick up his boss who was already drunk at a karaoke bar.

This time it must be some kind of job again, right?

With that thought in mind, Liu Yang sighed, picked up his phone, unlocked the screen, and habitually checked his social media, but there were no new messages.

So

"Ok?"

Liu Yang made a strange sound, which quickly turned into surprise, because the message came from a game account that he had forgotten about for a long time, or more accurately, that he had put in a corner for about twenty or thirty years.

The email in his inbox now is from the game account he linked to back then.

That is

"come down"

Liu Yang rubbed his eyes and looked at it carefully several times before confirming that it was "Falling" and not the currently popular mobile game "Falling 2".

Has a game from twenty or thirty years ago come back to life?

Out of curiosity, Liu Yang clicked on it and found that it was true; the original "Falling" now had a new DLC (expansion pack).

DLC is quite common in single-player games; it's essentially extra content, like side stories or spin-offs in a novel.

But this was the first time Liu Yang had ever heard of a game that had been dead for two or three decades releasing DLC.

It was this strange feeling that made Liu Yang, a busy office worker who had long since stopped playing games, take another look at the new expansion pack—"Reunion."

Strangely, the expansion pack has no description; all it has is a video.

Just browsing casually, perhaps as a way to reminisce, and since he couldn't sleep anyway, Liu Yang clicked on the video.

He had assumed it would be a standard promotional video, but as the screen panned out, Liu Yang was stunned.

because

"Lord Yangshen, it's been a long time."

The very first sentence stunned Liu Yang. Some memories, along with his game account, that had been forgotten in the deepest corner of his mind were gradually awakened along with the game characters that appeared on the screen.

"Many years have passed since our world was saved by Lord Yangshen. We have not let Lord Yangshen down. We have worked together to rebuild our home and ushered in happiness and peace in a world free from calamity. The only regret is that it would be great if Lord Yangshen could be here as well."

"However, I know that Lord Yangshen also has his own affairs, his own world, and his own dreams, and continues to strive in places unknown to us."

"This message is to report to Lord Yangshen on the current situation. Although there are indeed some new and thorny crises, we should be able to overcome them smoothly with everyone's help. Of course, this is assuming Lord Yangshen can return to command us again."

"Time flies, that's about it. Oh, right! Lord Yang Shen, please take care of your health and get some rest. Don't keep staying up late, and don't get stuck on problems!"

"What? You're asking me how I know? Well, in our world, even the God of Yang suffers from decision-making difficulties. He often hesitates for a long time over a single choice. I imagine you must be the same way in your world, right?"

"However, as everyone knows, this is because you have a strong sense of responsibility and are afraid of causing trouble for others due to your mistakes. That's why you are always very cautious and have high standards for yourself."

"Phew! I've said so much without even realizing it. Let's conclude with these final words."

Good night, Lord Yang Shen.

The video was short, just over a minute long, but Liu Yang felt a sense of unease, as if something deep within his heart had been stirred.

Twenty or thirty years ago, he wasn't a corporate slave yet. He was a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur) youth who could come up with an ID like "Yang Shen". He especially liked simulation games and the feeling of nurturing characters. At that time, "Falling" was undoubtedly very attractive to him.

Unlike other character-raising games, Fall is completely random, meaning that each player's world is different, and the characters they raise are "unique" to them.

This is why Liu Yang hasn't played the current "Falling 2" game. He's busy with work, and he also doesn't like games where everyone gets the same character through gacha pulls.

He chose to work as a director because he enjoys the feeling of being nurtured.

Unfortunately, the gap between reality and virtuality is quite harsh.

Returning to reality from memory.

original

There are still people who care about me.

After turning from a young man into a corporate slave, Liu Yang was bombarded with numerous tasks and demands from his superiors every day. Not to mention others, even he himself seemed to have stopped caring about himself, with only work remaining in his mind.

Now, seeing the characters I once poured my emotions into and nurtured reappear before me, sending sincere greetings, it's as if these virtual characters truly have some unseen connection to me. They know I'm anxious, suffering from insomnia and staying up late every night, so they remind me to take care of myself and get enough sleep.

As a working-class person, Liu Yang's rationality told him that this was just a marketing ploy by the game company, a way to sell nostalgia. He guessed that they used some kind of high-end AI to generate the video. After all, the game is fake, how could the characters in the game actually send him messages?

But, how should I put it?

Liu Yang got out of bed, turned on his computer, and clicked on the game he hadn't opened in a long time, pre-downloading the latest DLC installation package.

He admitted that he had taken the bait.

After all, in reality, no one has ever cared about him. Sometimes, isn't it good to immerse himself in some virtual fantasies?

Of course.

Liu Yang let the computer download the files on its own, but he quickly climbed back into bed instead of playing immediately.

After all, didn't "Lily" tell me to get some rest and not stay up late?

"Good night."

In the dark room, Liu Yang muttered to himself, as if trying to send his voice to some distant place.

Surprisingly, this time, he felt an unprecedented calm in his mind, and the anxieties that had once hindered him disappeared.

This sleep

He slept soundly.

Liu Yang is not an isolated case.

Liao Ji sent a "unique" email to each of the tens of thousands of players of "Falling".

Just as Liao Ji had thought, twenty or thirty years later, everything had changed.

The former players are now a diverse group, including busy and stressed office workers like Liu Yang, parents who have started families and had children, lawyers who have become social elites, and top-notch chief physicians in their respective fields.

Of course, there are also authors who suffer from writer's block every day and are criticized by readers, and there are also those who remain unsuccessful shut-ins.

will get

People who have passed away due to accidents and incidents.

The remake of Falling 1 launched by Senmeng was not a big deal. This niche game, which once only had tens of thousands of players, did not really need too much public attention.

Retrieving the players' save files is the first step, which is somewhat difficult on Blue Star, so Liao Ji chose to split the team into two groups.

Anno remained on Earth, while he, with the help of the cloak that had been repaired by the elves, returned to the world of "The Fall" with the succubus. Liao Ji and Lena then embarked on their journey on the World Tree in the Starry Sky.

It's somewhat similar to what was in the Succubus Diary.

They traveled to those parallel worlds on the Mother World Tree, worlds from other players, bringing seeds of the Child World Trees to their worlds, and together with Anno from Blue Star, established new connections between these worlds.

This provides a way for former players on Earth to return to their world, namely, to "log in" to the game.

The remaining challenge is how to get players back.

As Liao Ji said before, Fall is a simulation game. Players who can complete the game must have invested a lot of emotion in it.

This feeling for the world, and for the character I created, may have faded, become blurred, or even been forgotten after twenty or thirty years.

What Liao Ji needs to do is to provide a little more impetus and a little more stimulation.

Liao Ji also summoned Polica, the "Mother of Calamity," to join the team. With Polica's abilities, Liao Ji revived the power of the "Old Spirits" in other worlds.