Chapter 1149: Games Change the World (Third Update)
It began with a hero, and ended with a hero.
No one had expected the final outcome—that Duke Bolvar would take up this heavy burden from Tirion Fordring's hands.
No one had imagined that this old friend would meet such a cruel fate.
He had once been the Regent Lord of Stormwind, a Grand Duke, the Highlord of the Expeditionary Force, and the commander of the Alliance's Seventh Legion.
He had accepted the charge in a time of crisis, assisting the young Prince Anduin in inheriting the throne, but he was also deceived by Onyxia. It wasn't until the appearance of Marshal Windsor that he awakened and launched the expedition against the Black Dragon Princess.
He had led the Expeditionary Force without hesitation toward the Wrathgate, only to suffer a devastating defeat due to an ambush.
The Lich King brought the surviving Duke Bolvar back to Icecrown Citadel, intending to transform him into a Death Knight. Yet Bolvar's unyielding will meant that no matter how much he was tortured, he never submitted.
In the end, he took up the Helm of the Lich King. He could no longer be the leader that others followed, but he was destined to become an immortal hero, remembered by all players.
And so, the story of the Lich King finally reached its ultimate curtain call.
...
...
Three years had passed since the launch of World of Warcraft, and the game had earned the love of tens of millions of players.
This unprecedented work was now known to nearly everyone. From the moment it launched, it had been in a constant state of updates, and the continuous release of new content kept players enthralled and excited.
For a game like this, ratings or reviews were almost unnecessary. It was regarded as the pinnacle of the legendary designer Chen Mo's career. Perhaps for many years to come, even Chen Mo himself would find it difficult to develop a game that could surpass it.
After all, how many games had Chen Mo spent a full ten years laying the groundwork for?
But this didn't mean players had no new expectations, because Oasis 2.0 was about to launch.
In the brand-new Oasis world, players would gain access to a massive virtual Earth, a new world modeled after the real one.
With this as the center, players could freely travel between different parallel universes, embarking on solo or multiplayer adventures.
To date, Oasis already contained over 5,000 distinct game units, and the number was still growing.
For many players, they might never finish all the games in Oasis in their entire lifetime.
Moreover, with the rapid advancement of virtual reality technology, people's lives were undergoing earth-shattering changes.
Through constant discounts and price cuts, the price of the Matrix Game Pod had been compressed to an unprecedented level below 20,000 yuan, and the time ratio for sleep mode had changed from the previous 1:2 to the current 1:4.
This meant that every player could exchange six hours of real-world sleep for twenty-four hours of game time.
Every player now had two lives.
It was precisely because of the low price and the ultra-cost-effective sleep mode that the Matrix Game Pod had become a necessity in almost every household. Global sales broke 50 million, then 100 million, and were quickly marching toward 200 million.
For many families that weren't wealthy, the demand for a Matrix Game Pod had even surpassed that for personal computers and private cars.
As for the rich, the Matrix Game Pod was no longer a symbol of wealth. They had begun to pursue the latest virtual reality device: the newest Matrix Glasses.
Matrix Glasses were becoming more and more compact, yet their functions were growing richer. Some even speculated that in the near future, Matrix Glasses might replace the Matrix Game Pod, combining both VR and AR functions, allowing players to freely explore mixed-reality game worlds.
By that time, it was even uncertain whether Matrix Glasses would still be called glasses. Perhaps they would become a small ring that, once pressed against the temple, would allow one to freely travel between different fantasy worlds.
Games were profoundly changing the social structure of the entire world, as well as many deeply ingrained concepts.
More and more people began to see games as a special way of life, as another world, another reality, rather than just a form of entertainment.
More and more people were using game content as topics of conversation over tea or meals.
More and more people were gaining another identity beyond being students, freelancers, coders, teachers, or workers: that of a gamer.
Last year, three Thunder Entertainment theme parks had begun construction in Magic City, Neon Country, and the Lighthouse Country. Although more and more people preferred adventuring in virtual worlds, many major cities around the world hoped to use such large-scale theme parks to enhance their appeal to tourists.
The characters on the Thunder Game Platform were becoming cultural symbols, deeply embedded in the hearts of players worldwide.
And the headquarters of Thunder Interactive had nearly become a holy land in the eyes of players, attracting a steady stream of tourists every day.
Many teenagers visiting Thunder Interactive's headquarters felt like they were at an amusement park for the first time, their eyes darting everywhere, unsure where to look.
On the first floor of the lobby, a middle-aged man with an immortal air was holding a tourist's hand, very kindly trying to tell her fortune: "Big sister, what are you calculating?"
"Hey, big sister, I'm telling your fortune, why are you kicking me? Security! Security!"
Several tourists were taking photos of the various game character statues in the lobby, asking where they could buy these figurines.
Jia Peng, Wen Lingwei, and Chang Xiuya were gathered around a gacha machine in the lobby.
Wen Lingwei was speechless: "How many more times do you need to try before you realize you're really just unlucky?"
Jia Peng refused to give up: "This gacha machine is brand new. I really still have a chance! Trust me!"
A player sitting on a sofa suddenly had his phone ring. He jolted, immediately pulled out his phone, and started frantically tapping away.
A minute later, the player shouted, "Damn, it's gone in the blink of an eye again?! Zhou Jiangping, you bastard!! Is your cross-dressing promise still valid or not, huh?!"
In another office, Su Jinyu was furiously yelling at several executives: "I said buy Fruit, meaning Fruit phones! Who told you to go and acquire the whole company?!"
One executive tried to defend himself: "Well, Fruit Company is a newly rising company. We all agreed it has great development prospects in the mobile phone industry. We didn't know you just wanted to buy a phone... Besides, didn't Boss Chen seem pretty satisfied with this acquisition..."
Su Jinyu glared: "Bringing him up doesn't excuse your mistakes! Go back and each of you clear the new horror game Biohazard three times. Have your personal AI record it and report back to me!"
A young female assistant was outside the conference room door, originally planning to come in, but seeing the scene, she decisively tried to slip away. But Su Jinyu immediately called her back.
"Don't leave yet. Is the proposal revised?"
The assistant timidly entered and handed the proposal to Su Jinyu.
Su Jinyu quickly flipped through it: "Mm, well written. But rewrite it."
The assistant: "..."
In another office, Qian Kun was wailing helplessly: "Why am I getting blamed again?! This cash-grab event was clearly requested by the boss himself! Why won't these players listen to my explanation?!"
"Fine, if that's the case, don't blame me for lashing out at society. I'm adding ten more half-price games this week. No, thirty! Let's see how many hands you all have left to chop off, hmph..."