Interstellar Travel: Becoming a Dress-Up Game Designer

Chapter 217

Many people gathered around to watch when this player flew the kite; it was absolutely beautiful. It was like a work of art, and the player found it hard to imagine that people in ancient times would have gone to such lengths to create such an exquisite toy.

"My great mech marshal, how long would it take to make a kite like this?"

"It took me two hours to make this panda kite, and I think it turned out alright."

These words displeased the kite owner, who pulled the kite down and said, "Don't just look and talk nonsense. Touch it and see if yours can compare."

He carefully handed the kite to the player who had spoken. The player put down his panda kite, picked up the koi kite, and said, "What difference could there be? It's just that the colors are more varied..."

He couldn't finish his sentence; he couldn't say anything more.

The koi on the kite is indeed painted, but it's made of colorful silk threads woven in one by one, with a smooth and lustrous finish. The surrounding waves are also neat, delicate, and glossy.

The most outrageous thing is that each bamboo strip is trimmed and polished to an extremely smooth finish, and meticulously coated with clear varnish. Each strip is perfectly round or perfectly square, without the slightest error. The selection of bamboo strips is also very particular; they are made from the finest moso bamboo, with very few nodes in the middle, and every fiber is perfectly smooth.

"I don't believe that such sophisticated technology existed in ancient times!"

"My mecha grand marshal, this kind of skill must have taken at least a day to hone, right?"

The player comparing the panda kite to the koi kite noted a significant difference in feel, though the materials were the same. The panda kite was also made of bamboo and silk, the silk fabric pieced together from cut-out clothing. In some ways, this player's kite was incredibly detailed, with the stitching so subtle it was almost invisible.

Is it just about comparing details with a koi kite?

The koi kite completely outclassed it!

A player nearby secretly filmed the incident and uploaded it to the world chat, leaving other players stunned.

"The boss is so generous, are you really going to take these rare props out to play with?"

"If I had this kite, I'd want to hold an exhibition of it. Why would I actually fly it?"

The owner of the koi kite saw this and replied, "Aren't kites meant to be flown?"

That makes a lot of sense.

Players who obtained rare kites through other means also began their kite-flying adventures, starting with the peach blossom kite. However, after seeing the peach blossom kite before, players lost interest.

Then, a picture came into view.

The picture shows a snowy owl kite with a predominantly black base and secondary shades of navy, dark blue, and dark green. It truly is a snowy owl, with red and white feather markings, two enormous eyes, and eyebrows. Its wings are wide open.

The blank spaces are decorated with many small floral patterns, auspicious clouds, lotus flowers, round flowers, etc., creating a kind of intricate artistic beauty.

What players find most irresistible is the color scheme, perfectly matching the cool color aesthetic of the StarCraft universe at that time. The contrast between red and various subtle elements within the cool color palette infuses the cool tones with warmth, creating a striking and impactful effect. The resulting clash of elements gives it a cool and stylish feel, making it impossible not to fall in love with this kite.

The player commented below: "This kite is a reward from the Naihe Bridge Secret Realm in the Underworld. I love it! Video."

He didn't stream when he entered the secret realm because he's not a big fan of crowds, so he quietly explored the entire realm alone. Below the Bridge of Helplessness lies the River of Helplessness, and on the bridge, many pale-faced NPCs lined up to walk forward. An old woman in front of them ladled out a bowl of soup, and after they finished drinking it, someone led them onward.

Players were completely confused; what kind of operation was this?

Some NPCs were unwilling to drink the soup, so the old woman said, "Past events are all dust and smoke after passing through my judgment. If you are unwilling, then step back. If you have any grievances, go and find the Four Judges and ask the Eight Yama Kings to make a decision. Do not linger here and affect the order of reincarnation."

Some NPCs resisted fiercely, at which point ghostly soldiers appeared and abducted them. These ghostly soldiers were different from Qingfengyi's Black and White Impermanence ghostly soldiers; they felt much stronger!

At first, this player was afraid to approach the Bridge of Helplessness and Meng Po; he had to explore other places before returning. The Bridge of Helplessness had appeared before; this scene appeared in the dungeon featuring the guest companions, Golden Lantern and Embroidered Ball, and some players had even come here to search for fragments of the Golden Lantern Flower.

The river was long and deep, a dark, inky expanse reflecting a ghastly white light from an unknown source. There was no sun, no moon; the sky was a deep, inky black, as if it could absorb all light. Countless golden lantern flowers bloomed along the riverbank; when someone fell into the water, the flowers would turn red, emitting a terrifying, blood-red glow. This blood-red glow followed the departed soul, flowing until it disappeared from sight. Nearby were many powerful soul-ferrymen on boats; they could pull up seven or eight souls by casting their hooks down one after another.

The hook was very thick and long, which was a bit frightening.

After exploring one section, they couldn't go any further because an invisible wall appeared. This player had never seen an invisible wall before and thought Qingfengyi was an open world; they hadn't expected there to be invisible walls!

Through an invisible wall, one can see the surging Yellow Springs in the distance, a muddy road originating from an unseen depth, upon which many more people walk. Some merge into the Yellow Springs as they walk, some walk lightly, and some walk with more difficulty, but they do not disappear. The scene is incredibly impactful; a chilling feeling emanates from the spine to the forehead, leaving the viewer with a cold, tingling sensation.

Players who clicked on the video and saw this scene were even more shocked. The road to the underworld made them realize the insignificance of life, like a speck of dust that would dissolve at the slightest touch of water. A nameless sadness and melancholy arose, a melancholy tinged with the vicissitudes of life and the hopelessness of insignificance.

The video creator stared blankly for a long time, as if lost in some strange dream, waking up with tears streaming down his face. The video ended abruptly there, and what happened afterward is unknown.

Viewers kept asking him to release the sequel, so the video creator posted two photos, one of a kite and the other of an explanation about the secret realm (the following story is not entirely based on legends, but includes my original adaptations, though the overall message remains the same).

The Road to the Underworld: Over centuries and millennia, people developed a legend about the Road to the Underworld, reflecting their contemplation on life and reincarnation, as well as their generational judgments of morality, character, and good versus evil. They believed that after death, people are led to the Road to the Underworld, where the wicked are buried in the mud, the mediocre struggle on, and the kind float in. This is the Road to the Underworld, the first barrier for souls entering the netherworld. Along the way, there are also ghostly messengers, innkeepers, patrolling ox-headed and horse-faced demons, and so on—everywhere are tests of humanity, allowing for a simple classification and identification of the deceased.

The Bridge of Helplessness: the penultimate gate to reincarnation in the underworld, where Meng Po (the goddess of forgetfulness) and her soup reside. Drinking the soup signifies the end of one's past life and the beginning of the next. A person's present life only exists while alive; after death, there is only the past and the future. Regardless of wealth or poverty, the ancients hoped for an afterlife. The afterlife carries the weight of punishment for good and evil, ensuring that most people in this life don't become wicked monsters, and providing hope for countless wronged and desperate souls. Because we are alive, because we are human, we cannot, or do not, guarantee that good and evil will ultimately be rewarded. We can only entrust our hopes to the afterlife and the underworld, hoping to find a sliver of solace in the despairing void. Those with unfulfilled wishes in life refuse to drink Meng Po's soup and wander on the Bridge of Helplessness until time erases their memories. Some, having passed through the past, feel empty inside and jump into the River of Helplessness, melting into the vast, surging waters, flowing in darkness towards the unknown.

From then on, one more golden lantern flower appeared on the riverbank.

There are also fools who, unable to hold on yet unwilling to give up, resolutely jump in.

This is the Bridge of Helplessness.

What can be done? What can be done? The passing away is like fleeting smoke.

Mengjuan's bowl of soup vanished, and she wandered aimlessly toward the next life.

The Naihe River: A river whose destination is unknown, said to be formed from the tears of countless wandering souls and vengeful ghosts, bitter and chilling beyond compare. Every drop of its water embodies all the helplessness of the world, hence its name. The bridge over the Naihe River is the Naihe Bridge. The Naihe Bridge is an ancient concept in China. Although the Naihe River originates from Chinese Buddhism, the Naihe Bridge existed in folk traditions before its formal origin. Legend says that no soul can cross this river, and all are beyond help, hence the name Naihe Bridge. Later, those with the authority to record things compiled these accounts, gradually merging the Naihe Bridge and the Naihe River together, making it a fortress in the underworld.

.......'

This explanation is quite extensive, with the player who uploaded it condensing the text into a small format. However, the vast story and background make it impossible for players to miss a single word. Although the description of the dungeon isn't detailed enough, and much of the background is only mentioned in fragments, the sheer volume of text conveys the grand and expansive storyline behind it, captivating the reader's attention.

Many story-driven players have compiled all the clues surrounding Qingfengyi's appearance so far, as if something is about to emerge. However, with insufficient clues, it's impossible to guess the specific direction of the story. Their compiled videos were uploaded to the StarNet, sparking the interest of historians, who became even more eager to learn after watching them.

An elderly man watched the video and excitedly exclaimed, "It's surfaced! It's surfaced!"

A student nearby asked in confusion, "Teacher, what's floating up?"

The old man was so moved that tears streamed down his face. "Human history has come to light!"

These high-ranking historians were aware of the Academy's summoning program, but summoning so many people had nearly exhausted all the interstellar resources allocated to research departments. The results were minimal; while the tasks performed by the summoned individuals were novel, they contributed little to the exploration of human history. Especially in areas like food, clothing, biological research, and physics research, while interstellar resources were scarce, they weren't indispensable.

The essential purpose of this summoning project is to rediscover human history, the past of human civilization, and the roots of human civilization!

The designer of Qingfengyi has provided the answer.

The old man showed the video to the students and shared some of his thoughts.

That student was also a fan of Qingfengyi, but he hadn't gotten Qingfengyi's game account. He also showed the old man a video and said, "Teacher, I think Qingfengyi already said everything about human history."

This video is a summary of the "Inherited Legacy Through the Ages, Endless River" event, compiled by story-driven players.