Mini World Game Console

"...For cultivators, games are akin to what romantic novels were to ancient scholars, a product of fantasy that satisfies the desires they cannot obtain in reality.

In ancient romance novels, there are plenty of stories about impoverished scholars heading to the capital for the imperial examination, captivating the hearts of wealthy families' secluded daughters with one-part talent, three-parts looks, and six-parts charm. These ladies would be so smitten they'd offer their own money and carriages, not to mention promising to marry no one but him.

Then, the scholar tops the exams and attracts the attention of the Prime Minister's legitimate daughter, ultimately choosing the miss who has been faithfully waiting for him. Little did he expect that the Prime Minister's daughter would be so touched, she'd be willing to follow the example of the fabled Ehuang and Nüying, with both women serving the same husband...

Hmm, such novels are still quite common today, and there are even related games—most of which are rated R18.

Successful officials and nobles don't read these novels because they have much more than the protagonists of these stories. Real commoners also don't read them because they aren't scholars at leisure.

Simply put, there's no sense of identification.

But according to statistical data, most ordinary cultivators actually prefer playing games, especially those featuring Extraordinary Strength, because they fit the profile of the 'scholars' in these games—not possessing strength comparable to game characters, yet not completely powerless mortals either.

And characters with Extraordinary Strength just so happen to be what cultivators aspire to be.

Therefore, fellow cultivators should not indulge in games and should instead dedicate themselves to cultivation and honing their spells..."

Xie Qiansi put down this internal newsletter and yawned, turning his head to shout, "Is anyone logging in? If not, I'm going to head to the cultivation ground after work."

"Let's do it!"

"Logging in, logging in!"

Although Xie Qiansi had transferred to the Tactical Bureau, he didn't work in the Lian River Tactical Bureau office but rather in the Tactical Office located within the Yuexiu District Public Security Bureau.

Their main task was to assist the police in capturing superpowered criminals. If a criminal managed to evade the criminal investigation system's search or demonstrated extraordinary combat power, the case would be transferred to the Tactical Headquarters. Additionally, they were responsible for gathering and reporting supernatural phenomena in their jurisdiction for the Tactical Headquarters to handle.

After all, Lianjiang City had a permanent population of over ten million. Previously, it only had one Tactical Headquarters due to a lack of staff. But as more and more cultivator public servants took office, a Tactical Bureau network covering the entire city area was woven together.

However, Xie Qiansi and his associates were relatively unoccupied at the moment. They mostly performed clerical work in the office, reviewing 'supernatural phenomenon' intelligence, and had few opportunities to go out on duty. After all, with mobile payments nowadays, who would carry a lot of cash and give others a reason to commit crimes?

Typically, Xie Qiansi would head straight to the cultivation ground after work, but sometimes he needed to relax—such as playing games with his colleagues. Their office was fully soundproofed, and they had to keep the door closed at all times (as per regulations), so playing games was not a big deal.

"Chairman, let me support you."

"I'm going top lane, donate or I'll feed."

"No donation unless you call me daddy."

"Brat."

After a period of chaotic bantering, Xie Qiansi and his colleagues formed a five-person team and started playing League of Legends.

He chose the ADC Ezreal—Xie Qiansi never cared about tier lists when playing games, only about character aesthetics. For this reason, he had already spent hundreds of yuan on skins...

Five minutes into the game, the office was quiet. At ten minutes, someone alt-tabbed to browse the web. Fifteen minutes in, someone suggested, "Let's surrender after this."

Indeed, these cultivators, including Xie Qiansi, weren't great at the game. In regular matches against other teams, their win rate was 50/50.

Admittedly, their reflexes were a bit quicker than the average person, but that didn't make much difference in competitive gaming—studying heroes, awareness, and tactical execution were the keys to winning.

Xie Qiansi looked at his own score [1/3/2], nodded silently, and agreed to surrender.

Watching his champion being dived and taken down by the opponent's bot lane duo again, Xie Qiansi helplessly shook his head and rubbed his temples.

For some reason, Xie Qiansi felt as though he had aged—he got tired very quickly while playing games.

Though he believed this was due to his excessive cultivation, and as long as he returned to the battlefield, his sense of exhaustion would completely dissipate.

Seeing his champion resurrecting at the base, Xie Qiansi checked his gold, which was enough to buy a significant item, and opened the in-game shop—

WHOOSH—

Xie Qiansi suddenly heard a strange sound, closed the shop, and discovered that the base was attacking a black, fog-like creature!

In League of Legends, as the final bastion for both teams, the resurrection base is indestructible and capable of firing instant-kill beams of light at invading enemies—although max-level characters equipped with divine gear could get kills within the base, only those with vast Health Points or the ability to dodge damage could do so.

But now, it hadn't even been twenty minutes, and the second tower was still up. How could an enemy suddenly appear at the base?

Moreover, Xie Qiansi saw that he couldn't recognize the character—not a hero, nor a jungle minion!

And for some reason, despite the base attacking it, the creature was unharmed. Instead, Xie Qiansi's Ezreal was rapidly losing health!

A colleague next to Xie Qiansi asked, "Mr. Chairman, what's happening to you? Can you die at home too? Why isn't the kill information displayed?"

"You guys quickly check the base!" Xie Qiansi shouted as he looked at the shadowy figure on the screen, "There's a bug creature!"

"Bug creature?"

"Damn, what kind of jungle monster is this? Stop fighting and teleport back to gang up on this Easter egg."

"Screenshots, screenshots! We'll have something to brag about later!"

Though they were cultivators, Xie Qiansi and his friends were young men; their eyes lit up at this rare occurrence, quickly disengaging from battle to return home.

However, that black fog creature didn't plan on staying as a boss. It shot out a shadowy trail from the base, then stepped on this trail and moved extremely quickly, ignoring all physical collisions!

"It's running away!"

"Won't get away!"

Conveniently, their mid-lane Void Prophet had just resurrected. Upon hearing Xie Qiansi's call, he rushed back and encountered the black fog creature.

The Void Prophet's first move was his ultimate—Grasp of the Underworld, capable of suppressing enemy champions for 2.5 seconds!

"Just as I had foreseen," the Void Prophet character spoke as he made the pre-casting motion.

This creature actually got hit by the ultimate; it seemed truly extraordinary, thought the Void Prophet player.

However, although the Void Prophet released his ultimate, a blue barrier suddenly appeared on the black fog creature. It wasn't affected at all.

"A boss with a built-in magic shield!?"

"Think of a way to stop it!"

"Can't stop it!"

Other players also arrived by now, desperately throwing skills at the black fog creature. The creature was already about to leave the base, when the Steam Robot hooked it back with a chain!

"NICE!" The players who had returned quickly tried to hinder the black fog creature. Although its Spell Shield still blocked Directional Skills, basic attacks and area-of-effect attacks couldn't be stopped. Moreover, the creature seemed to want to leave and could only pass through the main gate, subjecting it to the defense tower's attacks!

"*** has killed Lu Zhiyu"

"*** has killed Will You Come to Pick Me Up"

"*** has killed African Penguin"

"*** has killed Ren Naiser233"

Without lifting a finger, the black fog creature had wiped out all four of Xie Qiansi's teammates!

"This creature is too buggy!"

"What's going on!"

The teammates were all stunned. Suddenly, Xie Qiansi heard the sound of a chair falling over behind him. A colleague stood up, looked at the computer in surprise, and said, "Look at this creature's information—this isn't a League of Legends creature!"

"That's Dota's Wraith!"