Chapter 14: A Unique Reward for Cheating?

2005.

While the game Legend was still incredibly popular, the seeds of cheats and private servers¹ were beginning to sprout.

With the emergence of these things, Legend began to change. What had started as a game of grinding time and prepaid cards² slowly soured as many players drifted toward private servers and cheats.

For many people…

They played games for relaxation and to experience the fun. If they could spend less money and achieve the exact same results as the official version, why wouldn’t they?

Why would they play a game that cost both money and time without even guaranteeing a good time?

Zhang Yang had witnessed the popularity of Legend in his previous world, and he had seen it overrun by cheats and private servers. Eventually, due to various factors, Legend had never recovered and faded into obscurity.

Many years later…

When people talked about Legend, they couldn’t help but sigh, reminiscing about the ubiquitous private servers and cheats, and the glorious days of the past.

The version of Legend in this world was already showing similar symptoms.

In truth…

It was the same in every world.

Once you established rules, there would always be someone looking for a shortcut to break them, seeking the greatest benefit for the smallest cost.

Desert Bicycle was actually a very simple level-based game.

Anyone with a bit of technical knowledge could look at the game’s code, crack it, and then build auxiliary software on top of that foundation. It was quite easy to do.

“Brother… this is abnormal data!”

Zhong Chongwen brought over a stack of A4 paper.

A series of accounts with abnormal data appeared on the sheets.

Zhong Chongwen had noticed these abnormal data points the moment they started running half an hour ago.

He opened his laptop and used the abnormal data to run the game, simulating an accelerated completion process.

He discovered that this string of data had severely compromised the balance of the mini-game.

Every time these accounts passed a level’s code, a segment of garbled data would flood in. This data affected the game’s judgment, forcing the system to determine that the player had passed the level.

Although the intended game length was eight hours, with the help of the cheat, the simulated completion was finished half an hour early. Furthermore, the rhythm used to clear the levels was practically impossible for a human.

“According to the settings, this… this… this…” Zhong Chongwen stuttered for a long time. In his frustration, he picked up his laptop and started typing. “According to the settings, it’s impossible for a real person to finish the game half an hour early. Some levels require a respawn to pass, and respawning takes time. After all, the judgment rules are right there…”

“Can you find the source of the cheat?”

“It’s hard to track. It’s hosted online. At most, I can find an IP, but the guy making this cheat is likely an expert. The IP is very likely a fake.”

“Oh.”

Zhang Yang rubbed his chin.

After a moment of contemplation, his eyes narrowed.

“By the way, can we make a patch for the game now? Can we get it done before the cheat spreads everywhere?”

“We can. Do you want to block the cheat entirely? We can take it down ahead of time…”

“No, blocking the cheat completely is too much trouble. We just need to change the reward logic and the ending screen for the later stages of the game.”

“Huh?” Zhong Chongwen looked at Zhang Yang, suddenly feeling a bit lost.

“Let’s reward that cheater with a ‘special’ grand prize…”

“Uh?”

…

“Damn it!”

“This Desert Bicycle is way too hard. I always mess up once I hit ten thousand points. Almost all the points I earn go right back into respawning.”

“Are you really that weak? I made it to thirty thousand points… but I cashed out. This game is like gambling; it’s a psychological war. You make a profit and run. If you don’t play, you win!”

“But don’t you want the final grand prize? You can get thirty thousand just for playing, and if you get a perfect clear, it’s fifty thousand!”

“How is that possible? This game won’t let you get a perfect clear. At least, it’s impossible for a human to do it!”

“Yeah, it’s too hard. Even if the controls are simple after forty thousand points, the timing for getting on and off the bike and dodging the sandstorms is just ridiculous. What kind of monster could pass that?”

“This game won’t actually let you take the final prize money!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

While countless people on the forums were discussing how the difficulty of this suddenly viral money-making game was absolutely insane…

In a rental room near Yanjing University³.

A young man with disheveled hair stared intently at his screen.

The screen was running Desert Bicycle, and right next to it, the program he had just written was running methodically.

In the game, the protagonist on the bicycle bypassed obstacle after obstacle, dodging every sandstorm check with perfect rhythm. In just five hours, he had already earned three hundred thousand points.

Seeing the three hundred thousand points in hand, he switched windows to look at the lamentations of the forum users.

He laughed with excitement, feeling a great sense of accomplishment.

“Do you guys even understand the value of high technology? Do you? This game is too easy… I can get the rewards while I sleep!”

“Idiots!”

“Playing the game honestly and letting the game play you is just too stupid!”

“Humans should play games, not be played by them!”

“…”

After reflecting for a while, he hesitated before finally taking a screenshot and posting it on the forum.

“Heavens, he’s that good?”

“Crap, how did he pass that?”

“My god, three hundred thousand points, and it’s a no-damage run. That’s terrifying…”

“He triggered a no-damage Hidden Quest? Double points? Six hundred thousand points? He’s already entered the sixth stage of levels?”

“Good lord, isn’t this more impressive than that ‘I Am Number One’ guy? Even ‘I Am Number One’ failed at the sixth stage and cashed out!”

“Is a new record about to be set? Damn! This guy isn’t actually going to take the grand prize, is he?”

“How did he do it?”

“…”

In reality.

He was a timid programmer who made a living writing code for Legend private servers and cheats.

He was being ruthlessly exploited by a certain studio.

But on the internet…

…he was a legendary figure, worshipped by netizens across every forum, a god who could summon the wind and rain.

He took a long, deep breath. He thought about how, once he got his fifty thousand yuan prize, he would resign from the studio, sell his Desert Bicycle cheat, and finally take a good rest.

With that in mind, he lit a cigarette and turned off his computer.

After finishing the cigarette, he stretched and lay down on his bed.

“Ding!”

“Desert Bicycle is updating! During the update, all data will be processed without consuming points, auto-saved, and a free resurrection will be granted!”

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he suddenly heard a system notification.

He jerked awake and stared at the prompt for Desert Bicycle’s automatic update…

Did they find out I’m cheating?

Are they banning me?

At that thought, his joy vanished instantly. He stared intently at the notification interface.

After a moment’s hesitation, he finally clicked ‘Update.’

Worst case scenario, he’d just strip the game’s code again after the update and manipulate the data. The game’s code was too simple anyway; he could change it however he wanted.

Once Desert Bicycle finished updating, he planned to shut down his cheat software.

To his surprise…

…the cheat was still running automatically.

His eyes widened.

What the hell?

I can still use it?

“points have reached 800,000. Withdraw now?”

“points have reached 1,000,000. Withdraw now?”

“points have reached 1,200,000. Withdraw now?”

“…”

Watching the points climb and the levels fly by, he hesitated for a moment.

Did they really not notice the data anomaly?

Well, that makes sense. I wrote the cheat very carefully. It just exploits a few system bugs, but everything else mimics human input. There’s no way they could detect it.

Despite his confidence, he kept his eyes glued to the screen, ready to refactor the code at the slightest sign of trouble.

“points have reached 1.5 million!”

“points have reached 1.6 million!”

“…”

From the afternoon until eight in the evening.

He stared relentlessly at the screen, watching the points rise continuously.

When all the Hidden Quests were completed and the points reached a staggering five million-the absolute limit…

…he saw the Desert Bicycle pull over to the side of the road.

Then, he saw the withdrawal button turn red.

And then…

“Congratulations to the legend ‘I Am Awesome’ for clearing the game!”

A celebratory animation of firecrackers popped up on the screen!

Trembling with excitement, he clicked the withdrawal button for the five million points.

And then…

“Big boss, you’re so incredible that the universe can’t even contain you!”

“To reward your bravery, we are personally dispatching our beautiful Customer Service Xiao Wei to coordinate with you!”

“…”

He was ecstatic!

He immediately opened his Q-Dog⁴ chat software and added an account featuring a beautiful woman posing provocatively.

This woman was exactly his type.

“Hello, handsome! We are dedicated to serving you. Since you are the first user to clear Desert Bicycle, we are rewarding you with a 2005 Lamborghini ‘Big Bull⁵‘… Please enter your address. We will drive the physical prize to your building and transfer the title to you on the spot!”

“What?”

His eyes went wide!

A Lamborghini Big Bull!

Holy crap, that’s a multi-million yuan supercar, and a limited edition one at that!

He was beyond excited!

“Would you like to choose the cash prize and have your glory announced across the entire network, or the Lamborghini? You can only pick one…”

“The Lamborghini! Only a fool would take the cash!”

“…”

Because he was so overwhelmed with excitement-and because the game’s previous withdrawals had been completely legitimate and never deceptive-he didn’t give it a second thought and entered his home address.

“Address received. Please wait twenty minutes…”

“…”

He waited with bated breath.

He was expectant, thrilled, and even a little anxious.

This game couldn’t be a scam, right?

No way!

If it were a scam, how was he able to withdraw money before?

Besides, rumors said this was a “money-burning” game created by some rich heir to boost performance metrics; they shouldn’t need to lie.

Plus, doing this was great for publicity. Such an eye-catching stunt would generate massive traffic and be a huge help for their next game, wouldn’t it?

It had to be…

…real!

About twenty minutes later, he heard a knock at the door.

And then…

“Congratulations! Here is your physical prize. Thank you for supporting our game…”

He wasn’t greeted by a beautiful secretary, but by a tall man from the Northeast⁶ with a goofy grin!

And what he held in his hands was a…

Wait!

It was a Lamborghini…

…model car?

A model car!

“Fuck!”

He couldn’t catch his breath, and in an instant, he suffered a brain hemorrhage⁷…

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes