Pokémon, but cultural invasion.

With the spirit of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains, Lijia, after many twists and turns, once again entered the area where the competitive hairy crabs were active.

The sunken cave looked harmless, but she knew that once she passed through, a fiercely competitive hairy crab might appear and knock Saltstone away.

Salt Stone Treasure's speed is not enough to dodge this attack.

Lijia stood there, pondering a solution, when a moment later, a brilliant idea struck her.

Salt Stone Treasure pressed close to the cave entrance, gently pushed the handle, and backed away just before entering the critical area of ​​the cave.

The competitive hairy crab indeed had some kind of trigger mechanism, and was successfully lured in by the probing actions.

Amidst the earth-shaking tremors, the competitive hairy crab, with an invincible air, burst out from the far right of the screen and disappeared like a giant snowball on the left side.

"Well done!"

Lijia clapped her hands in celebration, knowing that as long as she repeatedly tested each cave, the journey would be smooth.

She manipulated the Salt Stone Treasure to continue upwards.

But the competitive hairy crab didn't go far; it turned around and returned along its original trajectory from the left side of the screen.

Just as Saltstone, who thought the path ahead was safe, was hit head-on again without any surprise.

"?"

"Okay, okay, is this how you play it?"

Unexpectedly, the competitive hairy crab had a comeback event, which made Rika laugh in exasperation after being caught off guard by its sudden return.

Her face flushed red at a visible speed.

The background music on the radio was always so unique.

I'm willing to guard the frontier for you my whole life—I've learned the skill of the surprise attack!

Salt Stone Treasure hung forlornly on the familiar, withered branch of the tree.

"This radio...this crappy game...I can tolerate it!"

Lijia took a deep breath. She would hold back until she beat the game, and then slam this garbage game when it was released.

From being a die-hard fan of Quanshu to becoming a lifelong hater of Quanshu, sometimes it only takes twenty minutes.

The radio paused, and Qi Shu's words of heartwarming encouragement rang out.

Patience is not the same as admitting defeat.

Squeak, squeak, squeak!

Lijia clenched her fist. Where were the game developers?

She's going to punch that guy to death!

Chapter 51 A Couple with a Tragic Fate

Life is suffering; survival is finding meaning in suffering.

You were born with nothing, so what's there to fear about starting over?

The road is winding, but the future is bright.

After the background music, which doesn't capture the atmosphere, every time the character falls, it plays a bunch of nonsensical inspirational quotes.

The radio was filled with patient encouragement, but to Lijia it sounded more grating than mockery.

She does indeed have remarkable gaming talent.

With hundreds of games under her belt and a wealth of experience, she can overcome challenges that would take ordinary players several tries on her second time.

This is why Lijia is able to experience the prank tools and the author's clever ideas much faster than the average person.

In a sense, aren't the talented players who set speedrun goals and the game developers who go to great lengths to make players suffer and slow down their progress just a pair of star-crossed lovers?

Lijia's hand holding the controller trembled slightly. So far in the game, she had been betrayed seven times.

The first time, it's an invisible rock without any warning, leaving only a slight trace. When players try to climb over it, they will bump their heads and fall into the abyss.

The second time, it was a cable car that could run and had a track leading directly to the top of the mountain. She tried every possible way to take a big detour, only to be told that "the door cannot be opened from this side."

The third time, a large rock that could have been used as a fulcrum to climb over was taken away by a rock-climbing bird that flew out from somewhere.

The fourth time, that damned stone-dropping bird flew back and dropped a stone, catching her off guard.

The fifth time...

All seven times, Lijia wrote them down in her little notebook without exception.

"Passed! Passed!"

"When the game is officially released, just wait for my ten-thousand-word tearful essay!"

If Izumi knew what she was thinking, she would probably sigh and lament that it was a pity she wasn't in her previous life, because magical attacks in the Pokémon world wouldn't work.

Flocks of Murks flew away from the Rainbow Gym; Oddish, which prefers to roam in the moonlight, slept soundly; Zubats, nocturnal creatures, returned to their burrows at the first light of dawn, their claws laden with heavy bags of fries...

Finally, Rikka, maneuvering the Salt Stone Treasure, could see the summit of Frost Mountain.

As if sensing that she was about to pass the test, the words on the radio became much more sincere.

[You are truly admirable; I will probably never forget you for the rest of my life.]

As they continued upwards, Lijia's hand, which was manipulating the handle, suddenly stopped moving.

She saw a large rock snake.

An enormous rock serpent, floating motionless in mid-air, defying all the laws of physics.

A grayish-white snake lay across the sky, its body winding into the distance, beyond the screen's display area, making it impossible to discern its destination.

"When you're about to reach the top of the game, a giant floating Onix suddenly appears. Don't the developers find that strange?"

Lijia observed it.

During her play, she discovered that any map design could be leveraged by the stone pickaxe, including the emerging invisible rocks and the running, competitive hairy crabs.

In other words, this giant rock snake can also be climbed.

"We're almost at the top of the mountain. Let's clear the level first, no matter what."

Lijia maneuvered the Salt Stone Treasure up the mountain.

She took two steps uphill without using the stone pickaxe, then stopped.

"What if it's an Easter egg left by the creators?"

She personally appreciates and enjoys the Easter eggs that creators leave in games that resonate with players.

"And if things go wrong, I can get off the snake's back."

Although Rika was frustrated by the game's quirky design many times, she quickly adapted to the game's controls.

Now she can freely control the Salt Stone Treasure to move forward, backward, left, and right, avoiding all sorts of unexpected directions, rolling over traps that can turn back, and then turn back again after a period of time.

Curiosity ultimately prevailed over everything.

"I still have to write a review of this game, wouldn't it seem very unprofessional not to mention this Easter egg?"

Lijia convinced herself that she simply couldn't ignore the illogical behemoth that had appeared at the end of the game.

After much deliberation, Saltstone Treasure struck the back of the giant onyx with his stone pickaxe.

What will happen if we follow the giant onix?

Lijia gently pushed the joystick, and something terrifying happened.

The giant rock snake's back seemed to be very smooth, and the stone pickaxe completely lost its friction.

Unable to use the stone pickaxe to hook onto the uneven surface and move, the loss of friction brings a sense of loss of control.

Salt Stone Treasure slid down the back of the Great Oni, getting faster and faster under the influence of gravity.

The screen began to move continuously along the snake's back, like a rapid slide backward and downward!

Within seconds, Lijia realized that she had just paid an extremely expensive ticket price for this slide.

The snowy scenery of Frosty Mountain receded rapidly, and Rika frantically manipulated the controller, trying to reverse the decline.

But all of this was in vain.

As the scenery flashed by—the Lower Stone Bird Area, the Hidden Rock Area, and the Competitive Hairy Crab Area—painful memories began to resurface.

Lijia also saw the cable car that had wasted so much of her time, the door of which couldn't be opened from this side...

Is this hell?

Her trembling lips murmured, her unfocused pupils almost glazed over.

When he came to his senses, Yan Shibao had already returned to the valley floor where he had started.

The radio crackled and hissed.

I know.

Starting over is harder than starting at the beginning.

"Hehe, hahahaha~"

Lijia laughed; she understood completely.

Some games are made to please players because creators need players to pay for them.

Some games are the brainchild of idealists and may not be popular with the general public, but a closer look reveals the creators' dedication.

Some games are a form of self-gratification for their creators. They don't hesitate to add vulgar elements that are disliked by the public, and after being criticized, they boast that they are misunderstood and admire their own brilliance.

However, this game, "Overcoming Difficulties with Saltstone," does not belong to any of the above categories.

It seems to have been sent to punish the players, born a demonic being.

Beneath the surface of a puzzle-solving game lies a core principle of equally punishing every player.

For it, tormenting players is as natural as breathing, and making players beat their chests in frustration is as simple as eating and dressing.

With her eyes glazed over, Rika delivered the verdict.

This game is guilty; the voice actor Kiki is also guilty; and the game's creator, Izumi, is unforgivable.

A torrent of emotions and a multitude of turbulent thoughts converged into a pure urge to confide.

Lijia had a premonition that she could write a moving video script as soon as she picked up her pen.

The content is, of course, an attack on the game, an attack on the creator Izumi Kiku, and an attack on the creative philosophy that has tormented players like never before.

She opened the document and was about to type the first word.

"I would never denigrate any interesting game, even if its format differs from mainstream standards."

The previously edited document opens automatically, stopping at the title that was used as a promotional slogan.

Lijia suddenly froze.

Chapter 52 Left Brain Attacks Right Brain

There was a time when she looked down on those picky viewers.

A great stage play, regardless of whether the ending is good or bad, provides the audience with a unique experience.

In the script she wrote for the video, Lijia was full of praise and wrote down many promotional slogans.

"I would never denigrate any interesting game, even if its format differs from mainstream standards."

Honestly, is "Overcoming Difficulties with Saltstone" fun?

The answer is yes.

The variety of traps in the game, the way each trap is triggered, and the complete mechanics are all impressive.

The creators really like to think outside the box, taking players by surprise from unexpected angles.

The previous trap seemed ordinary, but it actually concealed a deadly trap.

The next trap may look similar, but it may be completely empty and safe.

Players may become paranoid and even play games with thin air due to the psychological trauma of their previous experience.