Alternate Dimension Game: Happiness is all that matters!
Chapter 193 - 177: The Intense and Extensive Search

Chapter 193: Chapter 177: The Intense and Extensive Search

About the horrifying supernatural phenomena that emerged within the Game Training Camp, humanity quickly took serious notice.

An unknown Demon God that battled with the "Game" related to global security!

All supernatural organizations, including the Black-clothed Guard and the Mysterious Bureau, had to convene and discuss this matter earnestly.

After a series of discussions, they concluded that the "Game" might have come into direct conflict with a genuine, highly-ranked unknown Demon God.

"The ’Game’ might have wanted to play around with it... but it was discovered. Due to the asymmetrical exposure between the two parties, the ’Game’ is currently at a disadvantage."

In the end, they borrowed power from a third party to block this unknown Demon God back.

As for what exactly the mysterious third party was, there were some guesses.

On the night when the disaster of the Blood Demon erupted, two strange star-like fireballs appeared in the sky, causing a great commotion.

These two fireballs and this circular creation might come from the same source of power.

It could very well be the legendary—"Player"!

The spokesperson of the Black-clothed Guard, who is relatively familiar with the "Game," said very seriously, "Regardless, the ’Game’ has begun to toy with real Demon Gods... even those that it might not be able to overpower."

"What a troubled autumn this is... If the ’Game’ is defeated, we humans might pay the price. That’s the risk we must accept in cooperating with the ’Game.’"

"We must consider this unknown Demon God our enemy now."

This string of remarks made people vigilant, yet they could only accept the situation. After all, trustworthy Demon Gods are scarce, and most of them bear immense malice.

"But what can we do?"

The director from the Australia Intelligence Bureau asked, "Whether it is the ’Game’, the Black Light, those two fireballs, the disc, and so forth, their power levels are beyond our touch. If we do, we’ll be annihilated."

"We probably cannot do anything."

The Black-clothed Guard’s Number One shook his head and said, "My lord, the confrontation between Demon Gods is multidimensional; a clash of power is just the most straightforward form, and it is very likely that no one can do anything to the other."

"The struggle over anchoring is what’s more important."

"And the key link to anchoring is the weak human race."

"Our top priority now is to find this unknown Demon God. Has it left any subtle traces in our world? We’ve already recorded its etheric fluctuations, so searching for traces shouldn’t be too difficult."

"Find it, and then we can deal with it!"

And so, a vigorous search operation was staged once more in every region of the planet, with the target being the unknown Demon God!

...

...

"Had tons of fun today!" Wang Hao stretched lazily and wiped off the seawater on his body.

"Right? You were just wearing the helmet and playing the game the whole time!"

"Didn’t we go swimming in the sea later?"

Old Wang was pretty decent at swimming; whether it was breaststroke, backstroke, or freestyle, he had a rough idea of each... It seemed to be a natural talent.

In contrast, Han Xiaoyue’s swimming skills were terrible, like a duck in the desert. Even little waves made her struggle and occasionally cry out as if she were about to drown at any moment.

There was no helping it. While teaching her to swim, Old Wang also ended up swallowing several mouthfuls of seawater.

The seawater wasn’t salty but had a bitter taste.

But that wasn’t a big deal—what was a trip to the beach if you didn’t swallow some seawater?

"Break time!"

They got in the car, found a nearby hotel, and booked two single rooms.

Actually, Wang Hao really hoped to hear the front desk girl say, "Sorry, there are no single rooms left."

But clearly, the expense for two single rooms exceeded that of a double room, so the front desk would never say that.

Then two single rooms it was—they weren’t short of money!

Collapsing onto the pristine sheets, he felt truly worn out from playing. Always energetic, he rarely experienced fatigue mingled with hunger and a longing for more, which was a rather unusual sensation for him.

"A perfectly fulfilling and meaningful day!"

"That game script was fun, and so was swimming in the sea!"

Then, suddenly remembering something, he struggled up from the bed.

Realizing he hadn’t brought the charger for his game headset, he was instantly filled with resentment.

"Why, I was fully charged, why are you out of power? And I didn’t bring the charger..."

He roared in agony and muttered to his beloved game headset.

"Why suddenly out of power?!"

Forget it, it’s not easy to get out for a trip; one should not always think about playing games.

Otherwise, what difference would it make from playing games in his own office?

After taking a cold shower and getting dressed, I knocked on Han Xiaoyue’s door. The girl had already taken her shower and was using a hairdryer to dry her hair.

"Let’s go eat seafood!"

"Yay! Give me a few minutes."

Strolling down the seaside streets was leisurely and comfortable.

Having a big meal in the midst of play-induced fatigue was truly a mortal world’s delight.

We were picky and chose an outdoor seafood stall that was doing good business, ordering clams, king prawns, mantis shrimps. The portunid crabs in August were large and meaty, full of rich roe, delicious, and much cheaper than in inland cities.

Wang Hao ate with relish, "These portunid crabs, usually before the tenth month of the lunar calendar, have plenty of crab roe, especially the females, which taste the best. After the tenth month, the males have more cream."

"But, crab roe and crab cream are essentially... you know..." Han Xiaoyue said.

Old Wang rolled his eyes and immediately stopped Han Xiaoyue from saying anything that would spoil the mood, "These clams were once fed to ducks by fishermen. There were so many that a net could capture a bunch, and they couldn’t be sold... so they were only good for feeding pigs and ducks."

"Now, their price keeps rising, it really shows the increase in people’s consumption levels—we’re running out of things to eat."

The two chatted while eating.

"Though there’s not much meat, the clams taste pretty good. When you refer to the ’past,’ it was like twenty or thirty years ago. You weren’t even born yet, how do you know about this?" Han Xiaoyue ate gracefully, taking small bites to avoid splashing her clothes with food.

"I obviously know. Forty years ago, I had a friend who saved the world with me, called Pan Hao. I wonder how Pan is doing now?"

"That’s a friend from a game plot, right?" Han Xiaoyue rolled her eyes, "A gaming fanatic can’t even distinguish reality from fantasy anymore."

"It’s not that I can’t tell them apart," Wang Hao sighed, "The game was interesting, immersive, and had a strong sense of presence. But I think it’s unlikely to be released in the country, as the content is too thrilling and easily censored. It’s a pity, really. I always think that overprotecting the youth isn’t necessarily a good thing."

The news on the TV at the seafood stall reported, "Abnormally warming ocean surface temperatures from the Equatorial Pacific to the International Date Line suggest that this year’s El Niño could cause a small-scale reduction in food production."

"The world fundamentally is about competition; any little disturbance is likely to come at the expense of the smaller nations."

Wang Hao had a knack for being well-versed in a wide range of knowledge.

He knew about everything from astronomy to geography.

Although he wasn’t an expert, he could hold a casual conversation, entertain, and be convincing enough for a younger girl.

"Living in a big country, we still have the freedom to ’lie flat’; living in a small country, you can only worry about what to eat tomorrow. So, do you have any special dreams? After college, it’s either graduate school or entering the real world."

Wang Hao lamented the fast-fading vestiges of his youth, grateful for the "small" career he had built, else he’d inevitably feel a sense of having achieved nothing.

"Actually, going to graduate school is mostly about finding a better job. Unless you truly love research, better to forgo a PhD."

"I am the way I am because I was too lazy to study... If I had to do it over, I’d probably be the same. Life’s too comfortable and it rots you."

Old Wang analyzed himself in this way.

Han Xiaoyue was stunned, this world-saver was complaining about achieving nothing.

How to put it... Was this a good thing?

"An ideal? I guess... I don’t have one," she wished, "Maybe... world peace? That’s a good dream, isn’t it?"

"World peace, huh? Dream on!" Wang Hao felt a sense of satire towards his cousin’s naivety, "Peace in what way? Do you believe in communism, environmentalism, liberal democracy, or just utopian socialism?"

"Running a society is complicated, with the goods on the supermarket shelves not sprouting from there."

"Conflicts are inevitable among people; and between humans and other species."

"Humanity itself can hardly be considered a truly good and beautiful species. Look at these shrimps and crabs; aren’t they just raised to be eaten by humans... If something superior to humans saw us as lower beings, it wouldn’t be surprising."

"So, how do you think we can achieve peace? You need a plan, a goal before you can make a wish."

Suddenly Han Xiaoyue’s face went pale, her fists clenched under the table.

She broke into a nervous sweat, though the weather was already hot.

"He’s not going to pop up, is he..."

But that shouldn’t be the case; my big cousin could not have seen that scene during the day.

"What is it... that is above humanity?"

Wang Hao shook his head and found her expression amusing.

He had meant to say "Demon God", but reconsidered, it was after all just a game setting.

He smiled and said slowly, "Capital is what’s above humanity. It alienates your thoughts, influences your actions, and it even significantly reduces the birth rate of the species. A lot of little kids have been ’eaten’ by capital."

"Isn’t that something above humanity? Can you escape it? No. Even if you know the answer, you can’t, right?"

"Oh, I see..." classmate Han Xiaoyue relaxed her fists, tilting her head, "That does... seem right."

Is capital a Demon God? Who knows.

"We’ll play another day tomorrow, and the day after we’ll be heading back." Wang Hao suddenly spoke up and planned the itinerary, with a store to mind, it was important to pay some attention.

Of course, the most important thing was to go home and recharge! Without the game, he was really itching to play.

"How about tonight... we pull an all-nighter to play Glory of the Dominator?"

"Yay!"

...