Chapter 459: Declaring War on All of Humanity
"A noob who's never played Warcraft really wants to ask: you all say this Origin is so insane, what level of play would that correspond to in League of Legends?"
"You can't compare them. League only has a few actions—six skills, then it's just kiting. How does that stack up against an RTS?"
"If you had to force a comparison, it'd be like pulling off a geometry barrel combo a hundred times without a single mistake."
"Holy crap? No one can do that, right?"
"Actually, the difficulty might be even higher. Imagine controlling ten Gragases simultaneously, doing geometry barrel combos without any errors, and you're up against top-tier players."
"Is it just a hacker?"
"I've never heard of hacks in RTS games. Aren't they only in FPS games?"
"Maybe it's a new kind! Otherwise, why would it only show up now?"
"You guys are all so cynical. Can't you believe the NA server just produced a genius kid?"
"Genius my ass! Do you think there can be two monsters like Chen Mo in the same era? I sure as hell don't believe it!"
...
Players were all speculating wildly, with countless opinions flying around. Even some players who didn't normally play Warcraft were drawn in by this incident, because the topic was just that sensational.
An unprecedented super genius?
A chuunibyou kid sweeping the world?
Everyone was guessing at Origin's true identity.
However, just as Warcraft players worldwide were wondering who this Origin was, a news story instantly blew up every topic.
The authenticity of this news was beyond doubt. Not only were there press conference videos on foreign websites, but domestic news channels and science and education programs also reported on it.
"The North American company's super AI, Origin, has recently burst onto the scene. After conquering all board games worldwide five years ago, they've set their sights on video games. Yesterday, they announced they've achieved 'extraordinary' results."
"It's reported that the AI named Origin has successfully topped the ladders on the NA, KR, and EU servers with a perfect win record. All human players who faced it were defeated, including several world-ranked professional players."
"Notably, the game Origin chose this time is Warcraft, a classic real-time strategy game designed by our country's designer, Chen Mo. According to relevant R&D personnel, Warcraft was chosen as the target because it represents the highest design standard of current RTS games worldwide, and its balance is very refined, helping ensure fair matches between Origin and human players."
"At the same time, the AI Origin has officially declared war on all of humanity. Currently, Origin's development company has formally issued a challenge to Starlight, the top player on the KR server, for an offline match this week."
"After conquering all board games, can AI continue its advance and conquer the realm of video games? Let's wait and see! We'll provide full coverage of the event. Welcome to watch this classic man-versus-machine battle!"
As soon as this news broke, the topic of Origin exploded!
Originally, this information was only circulating among Warcraft players, but once the news came out, it instantly sparked a nationwide online frenzy.
If Origin were a player, it could never have reached this level of buzz. But as an AI, the nature of the discussion was completely different!
On major gaming forums and Weibo, everyone's attention was focused on this, all discussing the upcoming man-versus-machine match.
"Holy crap? What's going on? It's already in the gaming world? And an RTS game?"
"What the hell? Origin really is an AI! Some big shot was analyzing it seriously before, and I didn't believe it. I never thought it'd actually be an AI!"
"Yeah, who would believe it? I heard last year the AI was getting wrecked by second-tier human players, losing even with 70% HP. Now it's already topping the ladder with a perfect record?"
"Don't you remember the script when AI conquered all those board games? A month ago, it was going back and forth with second-rate players. A month later, it was crushing the world's top three. Another month later... no chess player in the world could even understand its moves anymore!"
"Isn't this way too arrogant? Topping the ladder is one thing, but pro players are a whole different beast from high-ranked ladder players."
"Sorry to break it to you, but Starlight already faced Origin on the ladder before, and Starlight lost..."
"What? Then what's the point of even playing! Even if they can win now, in a month, it'll probably be crushing everyone!"
"Hard to say. We don't know the format of this offline match. Besides, in that game with In, Starlight was a bit unlucky, and the early game was pretty even. If Starlight gets lucky this time, there's still a chance to win."
"This week? That's rushed. What's the format?"
"Best of three. I think if Starlight's lucky, they might take one game, but winning the whole set... that's tough."
"I'm following this. I couldn't understand the board game man-versus-machine matches before, but this RTS one, I've got to pay attention!"
"Yeah, even if I don't play Warcraft anymore, I can still understand the matches!"
...
This news quickly shot to the top of the trending lists on Weibo, Tieba, major forums, and search engines, even giving Warcraft a brief resurgence.
Many players who had never played Warcraft bought it just to understand the upcoming man-versus-machine match.
Clearly, the buzz around this man-versus-machine event was even higher than Chen Mo had anticipated.
In this parallel world, technology was more advanced than in Chen Mo's previous life, and research into AI was also ahead of the curve.
Five years ago, before Chen Mo had crossed over, the company developing Origin had already conquered all board games worldwide.
Go, as the last board game to fall, had already drawn immense attention during its man-versus-machine matches. Many casual observers who knew nothing about Go were glued to this epic showdown.
But the final result was a defeat for humanity.
After humans lost their dominance in Go, some "AI threat theories" emerged online. Many worried that since Go—the world's most complex and difficult board game, and the one best representing human intelligence—had been cracked by AI, how far off was the day when machine intelligence truly surpassed humanity?
And now, the gaming world had become AI's next target.