Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 43 - 39 The True Ranger

Chapter 43: Chapter 39 The True Ranger

Afternoon.

Du Gang was still fretting over today’s report.

As a special operations team leader in a special department, his task was to investigate "Dark Sand," this mysterious game.

As long as there were any developments, he had to submit a new report to his superiors every day.

After passing the assassin’s trial, he had detailed his entire process of passing this trial in the report, and he had made some analyses about "Dark Sand" and this mysterious company.

But these were still far from enough.

He had originally thought that being the first player to pass the assassin’s trial would definitely get him in touch with the officials, but it turned out they were quite aloof, having sent him only a single message with no further contact.

Du Gang had also tried replying to this message, trying to contact the game’s customer service, but got no response whatsoever.

No other choice, he had to think of other means and continue his investigation.

Waking up this morning, he took a glance at the official "Dark Sand" website and discovered that all four trial instances had already been conquered. Logically speaking, today’s report should be settled.

All he had to do was analyze the situation of these four instances and come up with some ideas, and he should be able to get by.

But Du Gang, after all, was older than most gamers and his professional knowledge in fields like history was not quite up to snuff, so he racked his brains all morning and still had no clue; he couldn’t think of any new angles.

"I’d rather run ten field tasks than write one report, ahhh, what a headache!"

"If only someone could write this thing for me."

Du Gang smoked, his face showing a look of worry.

He hated writing reports the most, and if it were a routine report, it would usually be done by a dedicated writer in the team—he would slip away if he could.

No way, he really wasn’t good at it, just like when he was in school, some students could write a few hundred words as if playfully, while others struggled to churn out every word.

But this time it was different; he couldn’t pass it onto the dedicated writer in the team because only he had access to the "Dark Sand" game beta.

The others didn’t even know what he had experienced in the game—how was he going to write the report?

So he had to do it personally.

After getting nowhere for half the day, everything that could be written about the assassin’s trial had already been covered in previous reports; he really couldn’t think of anything new today.

He had no choice but to open the official website and try to see if he could get some inspiration from the discussions among the players.

While browsing, Du Gang’s eyes lit up.

Because he saw that Ranger, the player who had passed the Scholar instance and currently posted the most strategies, had posted a new thread!

And the title of this thread looked like it was full of substance.

"A brief talk on the overlooked details of the four beginner trial instances of ’Dark Sand’ and an analysis of the cultural content of this game."

Du Gang felt as if he had been graced with a timely rain; wasn’t this exactly what he needed?

He eagerly clicked on the thread to check it out.

True, the Scholar instance had only been completely conquered last night, but before that, as the player who made the fastest progress in the Scholar instance, Ranger had posted some strategy threads online.

Those strategy posts’ content was comparatively simple, or rather concise, consisting only of pure text information.

But this time it was different; Ranger posted a video!

Fortunately, the official website had just launched a forum and video feature, which Ranger happened to use.

There weren’t many comments yet, but each refresh showed the number of comments rapidly increasing, indicating the video was still hot and had the potential to go viral later.

Du Gang immediately clicked to watch the video.

...

The material used in the video consisted of the official release of the walkthrough recordings for the four trial instances.

It’s clear that Chu Ge’s editing skills are not that great, he just symbolically edited some scenes corresponding to the instance based on the content of his own video, without much fuss.

But that was already enough.

The significance of this video lay mainly in the content Chu Ge spoke about, not the visuals.

"Hello, everyone, I’m Chu Ge, the first player to clear the Scholar instance. Today, this video is mainly about combining some of my experiences from pioneering the Scholar instance to analyze some details in ’Dark Sand’ that many people have not yet noticed.

"You can view this video as a walkthrough for the game, providing guidance for your future gameplay, or as an appreciation and critique of the game, to understand more about what sets ’Dark Sand’ apart from other games.

"Without further ado, I’ll explain the differences between the four classes—assassin, Ranger, Scholar, Soldier—in that order, and the details within the trial instances.

"Let’s start with the assassin instance.

"For most players entering this game for the first time, the assassin instance would probably be their first experience.

"In my view, the assassin instance is the most representative of ’Dark Sand,’ because it clearly points out the three directions of difficulty in the game: knowledge, combat power, and role-playing ability, also known as acting.

"Compared to other instances, the assassin instance has the most comprehensive requirements. Soldier instances primarily demand combat power, with some additional knowledge needed; Scholar instances mainly demand knowledge, with some additional acting required; Ranger instances are almost solely about combat power.

"The assassin instance cannot be cleared without all three, and any shortcomings in any aspect mean failure.

"This is also the biggest difference between ’Dark Sand’ and other games: its difficulty stems from three dimensions, making it indeed too hard for new players.

"However, looking back after clearing it, I believe ’Dark Sand’ is the game that truly takes the concept of ’role-playing’ to its peak.

"The rules of other role-playing games are obviously too lax, it doesn’t matter if you run around or do irrelevant things in-game, but not in ’Dark Sand.’ If you do the slightest thing out of character, the NPCs in the instance will become suspicious, leading to failure.

"Of course, this doesn’t mean that there’s no freedom in the game. As long as what you do fits the character, you can do some things you’ve never thought of before and naturally turn the situation around.

"That’s what true role-playing is about, even more realistic than a movie set!

"So, the assassin trial acts as a guide, hinting that if you want to clear the game, you need to excel in at least two out of combat power, knowledge, and acting. One aspect must be outstanding, another passable, and compensate for the last with a talent skill to be able to play on.

"Next, let’s talk about the Ranger instance.

"The difference between the Ranger instance and the assassin instance is that the former is an instance that almost exclusively requires combat ability. In fact, many players, after watching the video walkthrough of the Ranger instance, feel that this instance has a distinctly different style from the other three instances.

"After all, the other three instances all correspond to specific historical events, while for the Ranger instance, it’s not even clear who the protagonist is, and you simply can’t find any record of the name ’Xue Tianba’.

"I think this needs to be explained from the perspective of the different identities’ positioning.

"The lines between Rangers and assassins, especially during the Yan and Great Chu dynasties or even earlier, were very blurred. Rangers, while acting out of a sense of justice, often broke the law or, due to their generosity, ended up impoverished. Therefore, it was common for them to attach themselves to influential people as retainers. And these influential people would often order them to assassinate political rivals, so many of the famous historical assassins had experiences as Rangers and retainers.

"However, in the game ’Dark Sand,’ assassins and Rangers are distinguished as two completely separate professional identities, thus reinforcing their respective connotations.

"You can tell from their exclusive talents: the characteristic of an assassin is to assassinate those high-ranking figures who pose great threats, requiring meticulous preparation before the assassination and employing any means necessary to succeed, whereas a Ranger stands for meting out justice on behalf of Heaven, typically targeting the gentry and the powerful, and aiming to retreat safely after the deed.

"The most crucial point is that the definition of a Ranger identity in ’Dark Sand’ has deviated from its historical definition.

"We all know the saying, ’A hero uses martial arts to defy the ban.’ The most famous Ranger during the Great Chu period was Zhou Jie, who wasn’t particularly handsome, was of short stature, cruel-hearted, and had a bad temper, often getting into fights over trivial matters, and he inflicted serious injuries, even killing many. He also engaged in various other activities like harboring fugitives, counterfeiting money, and desecrating others’ family graves.

"As his fame grew and his following increased, he began to whitewash his reputation, appearing to repay grievance with virtue and showcase his magnanimity, but in reality, it was all a performance. When someone reported his illegal activities to the authorities, he beat the whistleblower to death right in front of the government office.

"In the end, he was executed by the emperor, and his entire household was eradicated. Such a person, who could be described as thoroughly criminal and of the worst sort, was nevertheless the most famous Ranger of the Great Chu era. This obviously does not fit with the interpretation of the ’Ranger’ identity in ’Dark Sand,’ nor does it match the public’s first impression of a ’Ranger.’

"In the Ranger trial in ’Dark Sand,’ a Ranger image more aligned with popular imagination is proposed.

"Think about it, who is Xue Tianba? He is a tyrant and a local bully, but in fact, he is closer to the historically accurate image of a ’Ranger’ like Zhou Jie.

"Xue Tianba, who came from a wealthy family and practiced martial arts since childhood, would feign conventionality by engaging players in unarmed combat at first, without immediately resorting to weapons or calling for help, showing he had some semblance of ’chivalrous spirit.’

"Yet he oppressed the good and committed all sorts of evil deeds, terrorizing the locale, which shows that his so-called ’chivalrous spirit’ was actually more accurately described as a primitive sense of brotherhood in the underworld.

"On the other hand, the Ranger played by the players risked their lives to kill Xue Tianba, not for fame or profit, and the deed was not even recorded in the history books.

"It was purely for meting out justice, for addressing the grievances of the world. When the government and ancient laws couldn’t maintain justice, it was up to the Rangers to step in.

"And the process was fraught with peril. Xue Tianba was powerful, with high martial skills, and had many house servants and henchmen. Yet even so, the player’s Ranger managed to slay him and escape unscathed.

"This is the true meaning of ’today I stand before you to resolve injustices,’ this is the essence of ’kill one in ten steps, leave no trace in a thousand miles’!

"So, the profound meaning of the Ranger instance is: do you want to be a false Ranger like Xue Tianba, or a true Ranger like the protagonist? Only when you are willing to take on a nearly impossible task, risking your life without any hope for fame or gain, to seek justice for the downtrodden, can you be considered a true Ranger!"