Chapter 1123: Could It Be QTE? (First Update)
Although Chen Mo had developed many "grass-cutting games," true grass-cutting games among them were few and far between; most of the time, monsters treated players like grass to be cut. But God of War was indeed a pure grass-cutting game.
At this moment, Lin Xue was experiencing the opening of God of War 1, and the gameplay from God of War 1 to God of War 3 followed the same lineage, focusing primarily on exhilaration. Anyway, whether it was gods, ghosts, or demons, Kratos would kill them all without a second thought for you to see.
After completing the initial tutorial, Lin Xue gained control of Kratos and began fighting in her own way.
Earlier, Lin Xue had repeatedly familiarized herself with Kratos's combat style, mainly the attack techniques derived from his two Blades of Chaos: horizontal swings, vertical chops, launches, aerial attacks, heavy slams, and so on. As Lin Xue experienced the combat, the consciousness implantation technology continuously reinforced this fighting sensation in her mind. Now that she was hands-on, she only needed to replicate the combat methods she had learned before.
Of course, players could do whatever they wanted freely—for example, using the Blades of Chaos to "trim toes" was perfectly fine. But to clear out the hordes of monsters, Kratos's standard combat techniques were clearly the most efficient choice.
So, Lin Xue quickly got used to this grand, sweeping combat style, swinging the Blades of Chaos to mercilessly reap the lives of these monsters.
Lin Xue felt her entire body brimming with power. Her speed, reflexes, jumping ability—all had been massively enhanced. She could even perform a double jump in midair and briefly hover, making her a veritable superhuman.
"Oh my god... If I remember correctly, this is the first time Chen Mo has been so generous... Well, Iron Man doesn't count that time."
No wonder Lin Xue was so excited; Chen Mo wasn't often this generous...
Players who had grown accustomed to "Selent's Conspiracy" had long lost all faith in this guy's integrity and mercy.
In truth, given the technical level of the Matrix Gaming Pod, it could easily turn an ordinary person into a superhuman or even a god within the game world. This was because the Matrix Gaming Pod could not only alter various physical attributes but also change the flow of time.
Ever since the sleep mode was introduced, many industry insiders had discussed that this mode could even create different time flows between players.
Creating a time flow difference between a player and their surroundings was easy—just slow down the surrounding flow, like the "bullet time" found in many games. When an enemy's bullet flew toward the player, activating bullet time would slow the entire game's flow while keeping the player's reaction speed constant, allowing them to dodge the bullet with ease.
Just like in Chen Mo's previous life's *The Matrix*.
However, creating a time flow difference between players had previously been impossible, because in-game time was also real-world time. Between two players, if one reacted 0.1 seconds slower, they could lose outright.
But with sleep mode, the system could control different players' time flows. For example, the entire game world, including other players, could run at standard time speed, while only one player's time flow was set to sleep mode speed—say, 1:2. This effectively meant the system had activated bullet time exclusively for that player.
Of course, this only meant the current Matrix Gaming Pod supported such a mode; Chen Mo hadn't actually implemented it yet. After all, it would be extremely unfair to other players, essentially acting as an "official speed hack."
This example was merely to illustrate that, with the current Matrix Gaming Pod's mechanics, it was entirely possible to turn an ordinary person into a god in the game—capable of speaking laws into existence or shattering stars with a wave of the hand. All of that was within reach.
Naturally, the prerequisite was that Chen Mo, as the designer, had to create such game content for players to experience.
But Chen Mo had always been very cautious in game development. In the few next-generation titles he had released, players mostly experienced life as ordinary people.
In *The Last of Us*, *Bloodborne*, *Iron Man*, and *World of Warcraft*, the protagonists at most gained some special abilities as humans, with nothing too overpowered. Perhaps the most satisfying was *Iron Man*, but Iron Man's awesomeness mainly came from his suit; without it, he was still an ordinary person.
Having such incredible physics systems and next-generation technology, yet using them to make players suffer—that was truly something else.
However, this time, Lin Xue and other players had finally gotten a game that truly made them gods. It was also the first time Chen Mo had been so generous, allowing players to genuinely experience the thrill of omnipotence in the game.
After clearing the small monsters on the deck, Lin Xue was about to catch her breath when she saw a massive head suddenly burst through the ship's deck. Kratos was sent flying backward and crashed to the side.
"Is this the boss I'm supposed to kill?"
Although Lin Xue had seen many large bosses before, in *God of War*, monster sizes only got bigger, never smaller.
This enormous head was one of the Hydra's many heads. Its body was covered in layers of overlapping scales, with fins on its cheeks. It suddenly opened its massive maw and lunged to bite Kratos!
The moment the great serpent bit down, the time flow around Lin Xue instantly slowed, triggering bullet time. Lin Xue could have used this time to roll and dodge the boss's attack, but the monster's gaping maw and dagger-like teeth panicked her, and she failed to evade in time.
The bullet time quickly passed.
The Hydra roared, violently tossing Kratos into the air, then opened its massive jaws and swallowed him whole!
"Damn, I'm dead, I'm dead."
Lin Xue was already preparing to restart when she realized the game hadn't ended.
Kratos, swallowed into the Hydra's mouth, wasn't crushed or devoured. Instead, he braced his hands against the Hydra's upper jaw, holding it open with sheer force!
Lin Xue felt her hands, feet, and entire body being squeezed by a powerful force. The Hydra, one of the legendary sea monsters, could easily bite a hole through a sturdy ship, showing just how terrifying its bite force was. Yet now, it couldn't overcome a single small human.
Not only that, but Lin Xue felt her strength growing. Gritting her teeth, she actually pried open the Hydra's massive jaws and leaped out!
While Kratos was still in midair, bullet time triggered again.
Lin Xue clearly saw a motion trajectory: a phantom of Kratos drove the Blades of Chaos deep into the Hydra's right eye, then swung them 360 degrees fiercely before smashing them from the right side into the Hydra's left eye.
This bullet time lasted about 23 seconds. Lin Xue almost instinctively followed the motion trajectory to execute the actions.
"This... Could it be...?!"