Free Web NovelChapter 5770: Chapter 4793: Battleworld’s Upheaval (Part 2)
"What on earth is going on?" Shiller looked over at Arkham Batman and asked.
"See for yourself." Arkham Batman took a flyer from the printer next to him. It was clearly the paper version of the targeted ad, basically a promo poster, but with quite a lot of text on it.
"Manhattan Playground — Multiverse Amusement Park! Tired of some games’ cookie-cutter dungeon mechanics? Sick of overly harsh economic systems? Want something fresh and exciting? Come to Manhattan Playground and get a brand-new Multiverse virtual gaming experience!"
Shiller’s eyes widened. "Those ’some games’ he’s talking about wouldn’t happen to be Battleworld, right?"
"Exactly," Arkham Batman said. "They don’t call it out by name, probably to avoid getting sued. But it’s obviously talking about Battleworld—up till now you were basically the only Multiverse game company around."
Shiller shook his head, a bit helplessly. Arkham Batman asked, "You’re not mad?"
"If I said I knew a competing product would show up sooner or later, would that surprise you?"
"Not really," Arkham Batman said. "Honestly I always thought it was just a matter of time. Beings at the Multiverse and above level will definitely find a way to peek into Battleworld. They’ll realize how profitable this model is, so of course they’ll rush to copy it, and a good number of them can pull it off—or at least pull off part of it."
"Sure, you’re a giant monopoly right now, but small studios have their perks too. Even if they just ride the novelty wave and cash out once, it’s still guaranteed profit. Everyone already knows what this kind of VR game is now, their guard is way down, and they’re happy to try it. The first to plant the tree, the rest to sit in the shade."
Shiller let out a long sigh. "So this Manhattan Playground is a Multiverse game company set up by Doctor Manhattan?"
"That’s right." Arkham Batman nodded. "Then I should also say: if I told you this wasn’t the only ad I received, would that surprise you?"
"Who else?" This time Shiller really was a bit surprised.
Arkham Batman took back the blue poster in Shiller’s hand and handed him a green one. Shiller glanced at it and, well, there it was: "Brainiac Multiverse Creative Studio." Their slogan was, "Super AI brings you the best gaming experience."
And this guy isn’t just doing games. He claims he’s going to build a "Multiverse communication network app" with Brainiac as the base station, covering messaging, payments, games, plus other social sharing features—he’s one logo change away from turning into a certain South Pole bird.
The game is just step one, because people are more willing to accept games right now. But since Brainiac’s rank isn’t that high, they also need to manufacture hardware: one is a brainwave interface device, the other is a full-holographic virtual immersion pod. It’s only being pushed in a few universes at the moment, but it’s "click and it’s free."
"Have you tried it?" Shiller asked.
"Don’t be ridiculous. You want me to lie down in a coffin made by an evil AI?" Arkham Batman said. "I’m doing just fine as President, I’m not looking to die yet."
Shiller thought about it and, fair enough—Batman definitely wouldn’t hook his brain into something like that; it really isn’t safe. And when they play games, it’s mostly to build Alliances and sharpen themselves, not for fun and relaxation. For that, Battleworld is more than enough.
But with other people, especially young people, who knows. A lot of folks will throw personal data and privacy right out the window just to play games—whatever the company pops up in the user agreement, they just click agree. The number of people going in probably won’t be small. fгeewebnovёl.com
Two powerful competitors popping up at once—there’s no way you feel zero pressure. But Shiller was still trying to figure out a response, so he told Arkham Batman about Battleworld’s planned transformation. Arkham Batman was very supportive. He said, "In my view, the real Temptation of this model isn’t just that others will make more games or more creative games, it’s that we can use the Creation Simulation System. You know how insanely practical that is."
Of course Shiller knew. For super geniuses like Iron Man, Batman, or Mr. Fantastic, getting direct access to the backend for editing universes is basically the question-writer handing you the exam answers. Don’t be fooled by it being a small-scale virtual simulation System—the principles are similar enough. They can dig out the underlying patterns of cosmic truth from it, which matters more than anything.
Take Stark from the Central Universe, for example. His earlier information-flow conversion tech was actually a stripped-down, stripped-down-again version of one tiny function of the Creation System. For a typical carbon-based lifeform, reaching that point is already incredible. But if you could use information to create matter from nothing, wouldn’t you become a true creator?
Even though getting that far is unlikely, for these people, the exploration itself is the fun. Just this virtual Creation System alone is enough to keep them busy for a lifetime, not to mention all the spin-off disciplines attached to it—they’d be swimming in an ocean of knowledge, completely forgetting what heaven and earth even are.
Shiller realized this move of his really had been the right one. Compared to these small companies, Battleworld’s biggest strengths are its high rank, high technical level, plus it’s the official orthodox project personally approved by both big bosses, with guaranteed safety and stability.
Those little solo outfits are way more likely to blow up. If you enter their virtual System and it crashes on you, the person inside might be in serious danger. With so few staff, the number of dungeons they can offer won’t be huge either—at best it’s something you try once for the novelty.
Even so, Shiller still planned to take a taste. He said, "Can I go in?"
"Of course. This thing is sold openly; anyone can go in. Plus, they were gunning for Battleworld from the start, so they definitely figured you’d show up and have prepared countermeasures. What are you planning to do?"
"I’m not going there to cause trouble," Shiller said. "I just want to play the games they’re releasing. Do you know what genre they are?"
"A Batman has already been to Manhattan Playground," Arkham Batman recalled. "He said it was decent. Purely in terms of art and production quality, it’s on par with Battleworld. But they probably started very early and polished it over and over, so that level is normal."
"What about the game design?"
"He was afraid of spoiling me, so he didn’t go into detail. I called you over because I’m planning to go check it out together." Arkham Batman showed a scornful expression. "Those instances in Battleworld are all too easy for me. If he can make something halfway decent, that’d be something."
Shiller rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully, "If that Batman gave good feedback, that means the basic quality is there. I just don’t know what the gameplay is. Does it allow duo queue?"
"You can queue together, but it’s not necessarily a team mode," Arkham Batman said. "I’m leaning more toward a free-for-all."
"All right. When are you free?"
"I’ve still got some work to do today, so probably tomorrow afternoon."
"How do we get there?"
"Just come to the Presidential Palace, I’ll take you over."
"Wait," Shiller suddenly said, "there’s only a week left before the new season, I’m really busy too. Can I send someone else with you?"
"Who are you switching in?"
"You’ll know when the time comes."
The next afternoon, the one Arkham Batman was waiting for turned out to be a Shiller in a black shirt. His skin looked even paler than Greed’s, like he hadn’t seen sunlight for years. The gray of his eyes was lighter too, the whole person like a sheet of paper, thin and brittle.
But Arkham Batman would never underestimate him. He knew the infamous reputation of this Shiller; he’d just never had any deep interaction with him. Greed claimed he didn’t want trouble, yet he sent this guy over—no matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem like he had good intentions.
Still, Arkham Batman wasn’t much of a talker, and this Shiller clearly wasn’t chatty either. The two of them didn’t say much. Arkham Batman took out that poster and stared at it for a while. Very soon, countless blue particles formed around them, and a quantum channel opened up. This was Doctor Manhattan’s signature move—he had the ability to manipulate quanta.
Following the quantum channel inside, they arrived in a deep blue space. It looked empty, but it wasn’t bare; everywhere they looked, there were futuristic-looking pieces of furniture. At the same time, because the space was vast and open, there was no sense of oppression at all—pure sci-fi vibes.
Arkham Batman gave the place a quick once-over. But soon, the blue particles rose again, and what appeared before them this time was a massive city, with Doctor Manhattan’s figure showing up on the giant ad screen of the tallest building.
"Welcome to the Manhattan Playground." His voice sounded in their ears. "The Manhattan Playground will be part of the Multiverse Manhattan City. The rest of the city is still under construction and is not yet open to the public. Please follow the arrows into the interior of the playground."
Arkham Batman understood instantly: clearly, Doctor Manhattan’s ambitions weren’t limited to a game. He wanted to build a city spanning the Multiverse, maybe something even grander than that.
Blue guide lines appeared on the ground. The two of them followed the lines, crossing streets and alleys, until they reached the gate of the playground. It looked just like an ordinary amusement park, but the instant they stepped inside, the particles wrapped around them again, and they reappeared in a hall.
The walls were the same pure white, the furniture as futuristic as before, and there were many sleekly built Robots. The only difference this time was a huge column in the center, with blue holographic screens floating on it, displaying the names of the games.
There weren’t many games, only three in total. But according to difficulty they were split into Easy, Medium, and Hard. Arkham Batman immediately asked, "Do you have Very Hard or Nightmare?"
Those two difficulties were options in Battleworld: above Hard was Very Hard, and above that was Nightmare. The previous "Death Escape" instance, for example, had been a Very Hard instance. But Arkham Batman felt that even Nightmare, above Very Hard, was a bit too easy for him.
"The Hard instance is player-versus-player. The difficulty mainly depends on the strength of the players. If you want to participate in a more challenging game, I recommend you choose this mode."
Arkham Batman then looked more closely and realized that these three games weren’t actually three separate instances, but more like three different modes. The easiest one was story mode, the medium one was PvE, and the hardest was players fighting each other.
"Is there any ability restriction?" Arkham Batman asked. He was still mapping this to the Battleworld model, where the modes were divided into restricted and unrestricted.
"You won’t be completely restricted, but you will be modified," Doctor Manhattan answered with surprising patience. "Your attributes will be adjusted for balance. At the same time, your abilities will be categorized as Skills, which will neither completely erase your powers nor prevent fair competition among players in different instances."
"That’s actually pretty good," Arkham Batman said. "I’ve been wanting to try the middle mode for a while now."
Then he looked at Shiller. "Let’s do this Hard mode."
"Okay." Shiller nodded.
