Chapter 727: Ever Heard of a Cliffhanger?
Old Song was having a blast shooting amidst the turbulent waves.
The feel of the pistol was excellent. Every time he fired, Old Song could feel the vibration in his hand—it was incredibly realistic.
The recoil of the gun was just right, perhaps slightly weaker than a real firearm, but the sensation was perfect. The enemies' reactions to being hit were varied; they would topple in different directions, and headshots provided an even better visual effect.
The gunfight didn't last long—just the right amount of time. Old Song ran back to the driver's seat and steered the boat forward.
The sky seemed to grow even darker. Old Song stared intently ahead, but he still couldn't see clearly. Just then, the speedboat slammed into a rock. Old Song quickly yanked the wheel to the right to swerve, but a large ship suddenly charged in from the side, crashing directly into the starboard side of the speedboat!
"Nathan!!"
Amid Sam's shouts, Old Song's entire field of vision flipped upside down as he plunged into the water again. The speedboat was completely overturned, crashing down toward Old Song's head!
The screen went black, and the chaotic sounds gradually faded away. Old Song could feel his heart still pounding wildly.
Nun: "Nathan."
The screen lit up again, and the scene had completely changed.
It looked like an orphanage, with furnishings that felt very vintage. A young Nathan was sitting on a bed, listening to a nun's lecture.
Light streamed in from a window on the left side of the frame, splitting the room into warm and cool tones. Young Nathan sat alone on a bed in the center of the screen, while the nun droned on, lecturing him.
Their conversation wasn't long, but Old Song still picked up a bit of information about Nathan's childhood from the exchange.
The nun left, and Nathan looked dejected.
But just then, a flickering light appeared outside the window—it was Sam signaling him.
Nathan opened the window and jumped out. The camera zoomed in, switching to a first-person perspective.
In the upper-center of the field of view, the chapter title appeared: Chapter 1: The Allure of Adventure.
On the rooftop, Old Song didn't rush forward. Instead, he first took in the surroundings.
In the distance, a faint full moon hung in the sky, partially obscured by clouds, casting a cool, muted tone over the entire scene. A nearby bell tower showed that it was nearly midnight, with only a few dim yellow lights glowing.
Lush green trees swayed gently in the evening breeze, and occasionally, a few leaves drifted down, landing at Old Song's feet.
The chirping of insects made the night feel even more serene. As Old Song walked and looked around, he could clearly hear his own footsteps.
Red brick walls, blue-green roofs, slightly yellowed drainpipes, iron security grilles, wall lamps—it was entirely an architectural style from the last century, subtly indicating the time period.
"Not bad, the architectural details are pretty meticulous." Old Song, using his shallow knowledge of European and American history, examined the scenery around him. Finding no flaws, he praised it with satisfaction.
"So... am I supposed to climb up here?"
Old Song stared at a tall wall in front of him. At this point, he was playing as young Nathan, who was barely over a meter and a half tall. But the wall in front of him was at least four or five meters high. There were some handholds on the wall, but to Old Song, they just looked like protruding bricks.
Old Song tried jumping forward, and Nathan instinctively reached out with both hands, lightly pushing off the wall before firmly grabbing onto the protrusions and smoothly climbing up.
"Whoa, that works? Is this the talent of an adventurer?"
Old Song had played "Uncharted" before, which had some climbing scenes, but he never expected a kid to be able to climb a wall so nimbly.
He kept moving forward along the rooftops.
The whole scene looked vast, but there was actually only one path for the player to take. Every time Old Song tried to go the wrong way, a special building would block him.
For example, a wall that was too tall with no handholds, or a slope that couldn't be traversed.
He scaled walls and leaped across rooftops.
He entered rooms to avoid the nun.
He jumped from one building to another that was far away.
He shimmied along the edge of a wall, hanging by his hands.
Old Song hung on the wall and couldn't help but glance down. His legs felt a bit weak.
It was at least ten meters down. If he fell, it would definitely be game over. Old Song could see young Nathan's slender arms trembling slightly as he struggled to grip the wall.
The scene was so realistic. Even though Old Song kept telling himself it was just a game, the clear texture of the bricks in his vision and the trembling arms gave him a very convincing illusion.
He found a flashlight, and the two brothers met up and caught up. Then came another climbing sequence.
This time, the climbing was more complex and difficult, adding operations like using a grappling hook and swinging on ropes.
Fortunately, Sam was leading the way ahead, and the brothers kept chatting the whole time, so the dangerous climb didn't feel so scary.
When he jumped onto the bell tower, Old Song thought he was about to die, but Sam caught his arm just in time, giving Old Song quite a scare.
At the moment of the leap, just as he thought he was going to fall, Sam reached out and grabbed Nathan's arm. Old Song felt a jolt in his right upper arm, followed by a continuous tight grip that made his legs go weak.
Gradually, Old Song got used to the controls.
He was no longer afraid of jumping from high places. When he saw an unknown protrusion on a wall, he would instinctively walk over and climb it.
That's how VR games worked. At first, many players would experience a fear of heights in the game, but once they got used to the feeling, they would completely overcome it and instead enjoy jumping around tirelessly.
Old Song died a few times in the middle because he wasn't used to the controls, but he quickly adapted.
Finally, after a heart-pounding leap, Nathan and Sam made it to the ground. The camera pulled back, and another cutscene began.
Sam showed off the motorcycle he had just bought to Nathan. After a scene showcasing the brotherly bond, the two got on the motorcycle, and the frame froze on young Nathan's face.
But just then, Old Song's vision went black.
"??? What's going on? A bug? Power outage?"
While Old Song was still confused, a prompt box popped up in his vision: "The demo content ends here. The full version of 'Uncharted' will be released soon. Stay tuned!"
"Damn it!!"
Old Song cursed. What the hell was this?! He was having so much fun, had just climbed through a key scene, and the story was about to unfold—and it cuts off right here?!
He was all ready to go, and this is what he gets?!
This kind of cliffhanger in a web novel would make you a million a year—oh wait, no—it would get you killed by your readers!
For the first time, Old Song felt a strong urge to buy a VR game. After all, in his opinion, most games before this lacked style and weren't fun to play.
But when Old Song opened the official website, he found it wasn't on sale yet!
"Scumbag developers!!!" Old Song was so furious he climbed straight out of the game pod, practically ready to kill someone.
He really wanted to just delete "Uncharted" from his game pod, but after thinking it over, he held back.
"Forget it. It's only a week, right? I can wait!"
Genius remembers this site's address in one second: