Chapter 4

Wang Bufe shook his head, truly not knowing how this girl had managed to get by on her own before. Of course, he couldn't really go into the bathroom with Xiaoci; he could only wait outside. This was a good opportunity to change his mindset and take a break. Wang Bufe's brain was indeed about to burst from all the English letters and words.

The suggestive sound of water droplets came from the bathroom, intermittent. Wang Bufe couldn't help but chuckle.

Wang Bufe's own sounds were very hurried, finishing in just a few dozen seconds. But Xiaoci was different, like a dripping faucet, the water sound lasted for a full minute before stopping. After a series of rustling sounds, the flush of the toilet was heard, and Xiaoci, still drowsy, opened the bathroom door and prepared to crawl back into bed.

Hesitating for a moment, Wang Bufe said to Xiaoci's back, "In the future, if you have a boyfriend, no matter how close you are, don't let him hear this sound. You can turn on the faucet a bit or play some music."

Xiaoci's steps paused, then she quickly dived into the bed, but this time she faced the wall, covering her entire head with the blanket.

"Embarrassed," Wang Bufe chuckled to himself. He felt that this was a sign of Xiaoci's complete trust in him.

With this little interlude, Wang Bufe's motivation magically surged. This was completely different from the past when he had to work overtime at the company for the boss's whimsical ideas. The task of converting text was clearly more tedious, but Wang Bufe was full of enthusiasm and didn't feel tired at all.

As Wang Bufe typed away through the night, the sky gradually brightened. A total of 30,000 sentences had been translated. After a simple compilation, the Beta version of "Raging Wave" was complete.

When Wang Bufe finished "Raging Wave" in 2009, even then, the game was only behind foreign blockbusters in terms of graphics and music, but its gameplay was on par.

This was a game that was nine years ahead of its time. Wang Bufe was already looking forward to the sensation it would cause when uploaded to the internet.

At this moment, the alarm clock rang.

"Ah~" Xiaoci yawned, sat up, and stretched a big yawn.

"Good morning, my guardian spirit."

"Morning. Little Princess." Wang Bufe was overjoyed to have completed the initial revision of "Raging Wave."

"It's Long Princess, not Little Princess!" Xiaoci corrected, then said, "Wait a moment, I'll make breakfast right away."

Saying this, Xiaoci went to the bathroom to wash up. Just before entering, she suddenly remembered something and said angrily, "You're not allowed to listen! Cover your ears!"

Who would deliberately listen! Wang Bufe thought, but obediently covered his ears.

Once Xiaoci closed the door, Wang Bufe let go of his hands. He walked to the window, opened it, and a cold breeze blew on his face, refreshing him.

Most of the surrounding buildings were about ten stories high, with only a few skyscrapers of twenty or thirty stories. It was really 2000! Wang Bufe felt a sense of nostalgia.

"Why did you open the window? It's so cold." Xiaoci, who had just finished washing up, hadn't dried her face. The cold morning wind made her shiver.

"I'll close it right away." Wang Bufe smiled and closed the window, then asked, "Do you know where there's an internet cafe nearby?"

Xiaoci thought for a moment, "There seems to be one on the street outside the neighborhood. But I've never been in. After breakfast, I'll take you there."

Saying this, Xiaoci went into the kitchen. She poured leftover rice and lukewarm water into the pot to cook porridge. She didn't waste the steam either, placing a steamer on top of the pot to cook a bowl of beaten eggs.

Wang Bufe stood outside, watching the busy little girl make breakfast. At her age, girls should be living a carefree life under their parents' doting. But Xiaoci was so independent.

"This princess's White Jade Pearl Soup is the best thing in the world!" Xiaoci pointed to the bubbling pot, proudly saying, "Wait, don't eat the bowl too!"

When the porridge was actually tasted, it wasn't particularly special. But Wang Bufe drank the bowl of porridge clean. Sometimes, the taste of food isn't just about the taste buds.

After breakfast, Wang Bufe was eager to go to the internet cafe to upload the Beta version of "Raging Wave." But just before leaving, Xiaoci seemed to think of something and said, "I want to bring my treasure beast!"

Soon, Xiaoci was standing in front of Wang Bufe, holding a pink porcelain pig, "This is my pet, the treasure beast. I want to bring it with me today."

It was just a piggy bank, Wang Bufe thought, chuckling.

"To celebrate my guardian spirit's arrival, I'll treat you to lunch at 'Strange Land,' okay? I'm sure it's delicious! Because it always emits a strange fragrance, warding off unspeakable evils." As they went downstairs, Xiaoci held Wang Bufe's hand and happily arranged the plan.

Wang Bufe held Xiaoci's soft, small hand. He glanced at Xiaoci, thinking it was Saturday, not a school day, but Xiaoci was still wearing a somewhat faded sports-style school uniform. Who doesn't love to look pretty? Xiaoci wore this outfit because she probably didn't have any other clothes.

He decided that once "Raging Wave" was sold, he would take Xiaoci to buy a few outfits that matched her beauty.

People in the neighborhood seemed to know Xiaoci. As Wang Bufe walked with her, many early-rising elderly people gave them strange looks.

"Hey, which girl is a bit off in the head!"

Vaguely, Wang Bufe heard children laughing and playing in the distance, their voices carrying over.

"My mom said that girl's parents don't want her anymore, and she's on her own, not right in the head."

"No! I heard that she was born with a missing string, so her parents don't want her."

Wang Bufe felt the small hand in his tremble slightly. He turned to look, and Xiaoci's head was lowered, her expression unclear.

Xiaoci's hand tightly gripped Wang Bufe's little finger, as if using all her strength, afraid that the guardian spirit she had summoned with great effort would leave her.

"Don't worry, I'll make you a real princess!" Wang Bufe said.

"It's Long Princess, not Little Princess!" Xiaoci immediately corrected, her sad mood seemingly swept away, "These sycophants! They must have been bewitched by unspeakable evils! Trying to shake my resolve. Luckily, you, my guardian spirit, are here, or I would have been betrayed."

"..." Wang Bufe was speechless.

After passing through a few short streets, they arrived at a place with rows of computers, an internet cafe. Although it was only a little past seven in the morning, there were already quite a few people inside.

In China in 2000, computers were still a novelty. Computers, which cost over ten thousand RMB, were out of reach for most people. So internet cafes, where people could cheaply access computers, were very popular.

Wang Bufe remembered sneaking to internet cafes in his middle school days and felt a bit nostalgic.

Through the glass window, he could see the running computer screens. "Age of Empires," "StarCraft," "Red Alert," "Command & Conquer"—all scenes that could evoke Wang Bufe's memories.

"I'll wait outside..." Xiaoci stood at the door, looking fearfully at the various people inside the internet cafe, and said softly.

"It's just a computer, what are you afraid of?" Wang Bufe didn't have the notion that minors shouldn't enter internet cafes, and besides, it would be too conspicuous and unsafe to leave such a pretty little girl outside.

"This place is a base of evil forces, I think it's better not to get involved..." Xiaoci not only didn't enter but took two steps back.

"I'm your guardian spirit, are you still afraid?" Wang Bufe could only coax, "I'm not here to play games, but to release the results of my hard work last night to the world. A kind princess like you wouldn't want your guardian spirit's efforts to go to waste, right?"

Xiaoci bit her lip and nodded lightly.

"Do you want your guardian spirit to earn money so you can live like a princess?"

Xiaoci nodded again.

"Then will you come in with me?" Wang Bufe persuaded.

Xiaoci wasn't stupid and didn't fall for it. She neither nodded nor shook her head, just stood there, looking pitiful.

"Let's go." Wang Bufe gently pulled Xiaoci in.

"Our teacher says it's not good for children to go to internet cafes..." Xiaoci resisted as Wang Bufe pulled her along.

Once Wang Bufe finally got Xiaoci inside, the front desk manager asked, "Are you going to use a computer?"

The manager had been watching the whole time, thinking today was an eye-opener. He had seen children nagging adults to let them into internet cafes, but never an adult dragging a child in.

"Let's get one." Wang Bufe asked, "Is the upload speed fast here?"

"This is a dedicated line our boss set up, the download speed is great... you're asking about upload speed?" The manager recited the familiar sales pitch halfway before realizing, awkwardly, "I don't know what upload is. Should I ask the boss?"

"Never mind. Get us a computer." Wang Bufe said, opening his wallet and pulling out the only hundred-yuan note he had.

"Sure." The manager took the money, wrote a receipt, and handed it to Wang Bufe, "Two yuan per hour. The computer is 32A."

"Thanks." Wang Bufe pulled Xiaoci to find their computer.

After a while, Wang Bufe found 32A, the computer at the far end of the row. Next to it was a guy who had clearly been up all night, now sound asleep.

Xiaoci moved a stool and sat beside him, curiously watching the computer screen.

Wang Bufe first entered the Valve Corporation's webpage. The internet in 2000 was very rudimentary, and it took Wang Bufe a while to confirm that the crude-looking webpage was indeed the official site of the future game development giant, Valve, known for Steam and Dota 2.

The player discussion board was also very simple. But as Wang Bufe browsed, his eyes became serious. The top-ranked post was a download link for a "Half-Life" expansion mod, "Counter-Strike."

Wang Bufe knew that although this mod was still in its early stages, it would soon become a global sensation.

"Counter-Strike" was released in August 1999. It had been about eight months, with over 37,000 downloads and over a thousand pages of comments.

The second-ranked post was a Valve announcement, stating that the company had reached an agreement with the creators of "Counter-Strike," acquiring the mod and inviting the two creators to join Valve. "Counter-Strike" would soon be officially released.

Xiaoci, sitting next to Wang Bufe, was amazed at the foreign text he was browsing. She had been tortured by these foreign languages, always forgetting and then remembering.

"CS," Wang Bufe thought, "I wonder if my 'Raging Wave' can surpass you!" He glanced at the download count of "Counter-Strike" and began to post his own thread.

[Independent Game Developer, using a more advanced engine than "Half-Life," with graphics five years ahead of its time, this is "Dead.Wave.Beta"!]

Wang Bufe used an arrogant title to attract clicks. In the main text, he introduced the game's gameplay and features with images.

"Zombie outbreak, New York falls!"

The image showed the protagonist standing on a rooftop, looking down at the endless horde of zombies below.

"Struggling forward, alone!"

The image showed the protagonist holding a machine gun, viciously mowing down a group of zombies.

"Be a hero, or a demon!"

The image showed a beautiful NPC pleading for the protagonist to save her, while the protagonist, holding an AK-47, aimed the gun at the NPC's head.

Xiaoci closed her eyes, not daring to look at the screen: "Guardian spirit, what are you making? It's so scary!"

"These are zombies, the enemies in the game," Wang Bufe explained.

"Are there people who like such scary things?" Xiaoci opened her eyes to glance at the screen but quickly closed them again, unable to accept it.

"You don't know, in the West, zombies are a classic and enduring element in the entertainment industry," Wang Bufe said. This was true, as seen by Capcom's "Resident Evil" series, which had been making money for over a decade.

"Oh." Xiaoci tried to look at the images on the screen again. Although the zombies were disgusting, she gradually built up resistance and could stare at them for a while.

"Do you want to try playing it?" Wang Bufe seized the opportunity.

"No!" Xiaoci immediately refused, but after a while, she mustered the courage, "I'll try... after all, it's the result of your hard work all night."

Wang Bufe finished uploading the images and uploaded the initial version of "Raging Wave" as an attachment, a 300MB file that would take three hours to upload. This gave Xiaoci time to try the game.

"Come, sit here." Wang Bufe switched places with Xiaoci, "In this world, you are the first player of this game."

He wasn't lying. In 2000, Xiaoci was indeed the first to play "Raging Wave."

Saying this, Wang Bufe taught Xiaoci how to use the mouse and enter the game.

The computer configuration in 2000 was terrible, and the loading screen was excruciatingly slow. Just as the two were waiting for the game to load, a voice from the side startled them.

"Hey! I, Sun Yifeng, am going to take on seven!"

It turned out to be the guy who had been sleeping next to them.

With his voice, a group of young people abandoned their mice and keyboards, gathering around.

And the man who called himself "Sun Yifeng" proudly opened the popular game "StarCraft." He intended to challenge seven computer-controlled opponents in the game with his own strength.

"What a bunch of happy people," Wang Bufe thought. Now, when he saw any game, he first thought about data balance, AI strategy, and even the profit points designed by the creators, losing the pure joy of playing games he once had.

"Inside, what do I do?" Xiaoci interrupted Wang Bufe's thoughts, as "Raging Wave" finally loaded.

"First, click to enter the game, then choose the difficulty level. Start with easy," Wang Bufe said, holding Xiaoci's small hand and operating the mouse.

Before entering the game, there was a character creation process. By selecting various options, players could choose the protagonist's appearance, enhancing the player's immersion.

The character creation process revealed a person's personality. Carefree players would accept any random choice, while more sensitive and meticulous players would spend more time creating a suitable face.

Wang Bufe once knew a peculiar person, an A-type blood, Virgo, who, after getting a copy of "Raging Wave," spent an entire night creating the perfect character, trying every combination of hairstyles, eye shapes, nose shapes, and mouth shapes before finally creating his ideal goddess. Wang Bufe had curiously looked at the "goddess" and was left speechless, feeling as if a thousand llamas had stampeded through his mind.

Xiaoci didn't randomly choose a character and immediately enter the game, nor did she obsessively tweak the character. Instead, she casually clicked the random button, watching the randomly generated faces change. Finally, she chose a tall, thin young man.

Wang Bufe curiously asked, "Why did you choose him? Weren't the previous ones also good?"

"This person has black hair, don't you think he looks a bit like you?" Xiaoci looked at the screen, then turned to look at Wang Bufe, covering her mouth and giggling.