Chapter 922: The Clever Players Politely Decline

The players stared at Chen Mo’s Weibo post, utterly baffled by the image and text. What was this?

Normally, when someone reveals a new game and posts a promotional image, the focus is on the protagonist—at least a human, right?

But Chen Mo’s image… the protagonist was a dragon?!

And a dragon they’d never seen before!

This was a high-precision, massive original painting, the kind you could use as a desktop wallpaper. The background was blurred, but on the left, jagged mountain peaks could be faintly seen, with diamond-like crystals standing like daggers. On the right, a volcano spewed lava, the entire view bathed in crimson.

The entire background was softened, and in the very center of the image were the protagonists: two colossal dragons!

The dragon on the left was spreading its wings, its massive claws poised to strike. Its back, head, and tail were covered in hard scales, and the wing membranes had beautiful patterns. From its gaping maw, a faint glow of fire could be seen. Its huge talons were as sharp as razors, glinting with an eerie green light.

The dragon on the right looked even more oppressive. It had two enormous horns, powerful forelimbs that seemed to hold infinite strength, and its head, neck, back, wings, hind legs, tail… almost every part of its body was covered in terrifying spikes. This extremely imposing design made many players involuntarily think of Diablo, the Lord of Terror from *Diablo*.

These two dragons each struck a majestic and domineering pose, occupying the center of the image and giving off a suffocating sense of pressure.

"Rathalos: The undisputed 'King of the Skies' of the Ancient Forest. Rathalos has an internal organ called a Flame Sac, used to store combustible dust and produce a scorching dragon breath that incinerates any creature that dares to offend it. Its scales have extremely high heat resistance (jí qiáng de nài rè xìng), and its claws carry venom glands, making them one of Rathalos's deadliest weapons."

"Nergigante: Known as the 'Elder Dragon Killer,' Nergigante is a ferocious predator. At the same time, it has extremely strong environmental adaptability (jí qiáng de huán jìng shì yìng xìng), covered entirely in black scales, with a pair of huge horns and powerful limbs. Furthermore, its entire body is covered in spikes—you could say its whole body is a weapon. Additionally, Nergigante has an incredible regenerative ability, recovering from injuries in an extremely short time, and the healed areas become even harder. Remember, when Nergigante is near death, the real battle has just begun!"

The players who saw this Weibo post were all puzzled. What was this, an animal documentary?

Clearly, these two dragons were entirely fictional creatures—not just in appearance, but even their physiological structures and special habits were made up!

But this kind of fiction wasn't baseless. It clearly had some biological support, finding a good balance between fiction and reality. It preserved the terrifying pressure of the dragons while making players feel a certain sense of authenticity.

Still, the players were confused. Were these two dragons the protagonists of the new game?

Players controlling a dragon? Eating other dragons? Evolving into a stronger dragon?

Or a two-player co-op, each controlling a dragon, dominating the forest? Outsmarting and outmaneuvering other AI-controlled dragons?

…That didn't seem very likely.

After thinking it over, the most probable answer seemed to be only one: this should be a hunting game, right?!

Players would go and hunt these dragons?

But judging by the size of these dragons, it was clearly very unscientific. It was unlikely to be a realistic hunting game; it was probably a fantasy theme.

Thinking about this, many players felt a chill run down their spines and couldn't help but shiver…

It brought back some bad memories…

When was the last time they fought something this huge?

It must have been *Dark Souls*… like the Black Dragon Midir, the Nameless King, Seath the Scaleless… every single one, looking back, was a nightmare…

"Could it be… this is a Souls-like game?!"

"Damn, has Chen Mo's sadistic side finally awakened again?!"

"He's not even hiding it this time! When *Dark Souls* first launched, he tricked us by saying it was a hack-and-slash game, and now the new game directly uses the monsters as the protagonists! Is he telling us the monsters are the main characters and we're the prey?!"

"Wow, thinking about it that way, it's totally in line with Chen Mo's style. This Weibo post is practically screaming it!"

After being tricked by Chen Mo so many times, the players had finally learned their lesson.

Although Chen Mo's Weibo post didn't mention the game's name or show the protagonist's image—basically no key information—the players still roughly deduced the game's genre.

After deducing it, the players all said in unison: "No thanks!"

*Dark Souls* had already screwed us over once, and now you're doing it again?

Even though *Dark Souls* was highly praised among players, its "suffering" attribute was also famous. Except for a few hardcore players who particularly enjoyed this type of game, everyone else got weak in the knees the moment they heard the words "Souls-like combat."

Under Chen Mo's Weibo post, the players' comments were perfectly uniform.

"Souls-like game? Sorry, I'm out!"

…

Hundreds of identical comments were pushed to the top in neat rows, and the players were cracking up.

"Hahaha, Chen Mo's trick has been seen through!"

"Everyone's learned their lesson; no one's falling for it!"

"Reject Souls-like games! Reject suffering! Let Chen Mo go bankrupt!"

"Cherish life, stay away from suicide runs!"

"I'd rather unplug my gaming pod, cut the internet, and go play *Silent Hill* than touch Chen Mo's new game!"

It wasn't that everyone hated the new game. It was mainly that the psychological shadow *Dark Souls* left on players was just too deep. "Suffering" had become a meme, like "Don't pass it on, get lost." When players saw that the new game might be a Souls-like, they all expressed their firm refusal to play.

Not long after, Chen Mo posted another Weibo: "This is a hack-and-slash game, trust me!"

As soon as they saw the words "hack-and-slash game," the players' outrage boiled over.

"Damn, trust you? Like hell I will! This time it's the same as *Dark Souls*—we're the grass, right?"

"Haha, another hack-and-slash game. We've already experienced Serent's 'hack-and-slash game.' Thanks, but no thanks!"

"Isn't this official confirmation? I think we can skip this game entirely!"

"Exactly! Let's ignore this game and look forward to Chen Mo's next one together!"