Chapter 618: Trial Play
On the first floor of the experience store, Zou Zhuo and Shuyi were playing *King of Glory*.
To win over the girl, Zou Zhuo had recently been drifting away from *League of Legends*. It seemed his defection was only a matter of time...
After all, playing too much *King of Glory* and then switching back to *League of Legends* made him realize he’d gotten worse—he even felt uncomfortable playing on the purple side.
Funny enough, most couples went on dates to malls, movie theaters, fancy restaurants, or budget hotels, but these two just came to the experience store to play *King of Glory* together...
Well, calling it a date wasn’t quite accurate either, since they hadn’t officially become a couple yet. The chubby guy still needed to put in more effort.
They finished another match.
Chen Mo asked, “Hey, little fatty, aren’t you going to try out the new game?”
Zou Zhuo shuddered. “Uh, boss, I haven’t fully recovered from the trauma of *Dark Souls* prequel yet...”
Chen Mo chuckled. “Perfect timing, then. Play *Prototype* to heal.”
Zou Zhuo was completely skeptical. “Boss, are you talking about crash therapy? I bet, knowing *Dark Souls*’ style, *Prototype* is actually a game where a virus kills the protagonist?”
Chen Mo shook his head. “No way. I told you it’s a hack-and-slash game, and it really is. When have I ever lied to anyone?”
Zou Zhuo squinted. “Boss, aren’t you afraid of getting struck by lightning saying that?”
Chen Mo laughed. “Nope. My store has a lightning rod.”
Zou Zhuo: “...”
Shuyi poked him. “Go play it. You’re always bragging about how good you are at games, and now you’re backing out?”
Zou Zhuo: “...Fine, I’ll go play.”
Sure enough, showing off in front of a girl was the number one motivation for many guys to play games.
Shuyi said, “Oh, and remember to turn on your stream. I just set up your channel last time, but you’ve been so inconsistent—three days fishing, two days drying the net—and you still don’t have many followers.”
Zou Zhuo scratched his head sheepishly. “Uh... well... okay.”
Zou Zhuo’s family was from the capital, and he’d just graduated from college not long ago. With no urgent pressure to find a job, he spent his days hanging around Chen Mo’s experience store, living a pretty carefree life.
Clearly, his family didn’t put much pressure on him either. They had no real expectations for their son, as long as he didn’t break the law or commit crimes...
But in Shuyi’s eyes, she felt it wasn’t right for him to just play games all day. So she set up a streaming channel for him, hoping he’d do some streaming in his spare time—at least it counted as something productive.
Even if he slacked off every other day, it was still better than doing nothing at all.
From that perspective, Shuyi was pretty good to the chubby guy; at least she cared about his affairs.
Shuyi patted Zou Zhuo’s arm. “Go on. Remember to start the stream. I’ll watch you from downstairs on my phone.”
Zou Zhuo nodded and headed up to the third floor.
...
Arriving at the VR game zone, Zou Zhuo found an empty VR pod.
It was still morning, so not all the VR pods were full. After the double whammy of *Dark Souls*, players had become more cautious about Chen Mo’s new games, since the earliest pioneers of *Dark Souls* had been the ones most brutally tortured.
He got into the pod, opened the streaming software, and launched *Prototype*.
During the trial period for *Dark Souls*, streaming wasn’t allowed, but *Prototype* had no such restriction. Zou Zhuo wasn’t sure why, but since he could stream, he went ahead.
Soon, the VR pod interface appeared in his stream.
There weren’t many viewers—mostly acquaintances he’d met playing *Warcraft* and other games. Many had come to drop a follow and show support.
A few dozen people showed up for his stream, but the engagement wasn’t high.
“Hey, isn’t that the chubby guy who streams every other day? He’s actually live?”
“What are you playing today, *Warcraft* or *League of Legends*?”
Zou Zhuo chatted with them casually.
“Hey everyone, your lazy streamer is back online. Today I’m at the boss’s experience store, streaming his new game, *Prototype*.”
He changed the stream title while launching the game.
He hadn’t officially signed with any streaming platform yet, so he could stream whatever he wanted.
“Oh? *Prototype*? Isn’t that Chen Mo’s new game? Nice! Get in the game so we can see!”
As soon as they heard he was streaming *Prototype*, the chat perked up, urging him to start quickly.
In truth, Zou Zhuo faced the same problem as many small streamers: he lacked a unique selling point.
He was decent at games, but only at the diamond level—nowhere near the top-tier pros. Becoming a pure skill-based streamer wasn’t realistic.
As for looks or charisma, those weren’t his strong suits either. His appearance wasn’t going to improve much, and while he could work on his banter, that took time and opportunity.
Of course, Zou Zhuo didn’t overthink it. He’d just stream as he went, one day at a time.
Entering the game, Zou Zhuo arrived at the starting space.
Like most VR games, *Prototype*’s starting area was a standalone scene. It depicted a ruined cityscape, surrounded by towering skyscrapers, many stained with mottled rust-red streaks like cracks.
The ground was littered with debris and abandoned vehicles forming long lines, blocking the roads as far as the eye could see.
In the distance, soldiers were faintly visible setting up barricades, firing intensely at something beyond. Further off, hordes of zombies and strange flesh monsters seemed to be assaulting the soldiers’ defenses.
The scene had interactive elements: [New Game], [Save], [Options], [Exit].
Zou Zhuo selected New Game. To his surprise, there was an option to adjust the difficulty!
Without hesitation, he chose Easy Mode. After being repeatedly tortured by *Dark Souls*, seeing a difficulty option felt like a godsend!
The usually merciless executioner Chen Mo was actually letting him off easy? Zou Zhuo could hardly believe it.
Sure, picking Easy Mode seemed a bit less impressive, but he had no desire to relive the suffering of *Dark Souls* anytime soon...
The game loaded quickly. It was clear the game’s size and system requirements weren’t too high. After just two loading tips, the game officially began.
The opening was a cutscene—the same two clips Chen Mo had released earlier. But in VR mode, the immersion was several levels higher. Zou Zhuo felt like a bystander witnessing everything unfold, and the well-timed camera cuts elevated the cutscene’s quality to an incredible degree!