Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 44 - 40 The Meaning of Dark Sand

Chapter 44: Chapter 40 The Meaning of Dark Sand

The video screen switched, cutting to footage of the scholars’ instance.

"Next, let’s talk about my pioneering clear of the scholars’ instance.

"Obviously, the scholar as defined by ’Dark Sand’ differs from the traditional concept of a scholar.

"In this instance, players must endure many strenuous tests, surviving prison not being the least of them, all while repudiating three types of people.

"The first type, led by He Xueyi, are the opportunistic literati. These men study solely for promotion and wealth, constantly scheming for personal gain. Though they maintain an image of integrity and a good reputation, it’s merely a means to climb the ranks. After Yang Yan was imprisoned, He Xueyi not only failed to stand up in support but even sought to refute Yang Yan in line with Emperor Weizhao’s wishes, even scheming to instigate a political storm to take down several big figures for his own ascent.

"The second type are corrupt officials and powerful courtiers like Wang Chong. They justify their actions with the logic that ’to save the people, save the officials first,’ painting the entire bureaucracy as a dye vat, a haven for filth, rationalizing their corruption and even attempting to corrode Yang Yan’s ideals with such twisted reasoning.

"The third type is represented by emperors like Emperor Weizhao. They view the world as personal property, officials as household slaves, and the common people as livestock. Obsessed with personal desire and uncaring for the masses as an emperor, he constantly employed the ’Yangtze River and Yellow River debate,’ which is essentially just a way to pit honest officials against corrupt ones to keep them balanced. It’s all about letting the corrupt accumulate wealth and do the dirty work for him while ensuring that the different factions check each other and he, himself, holds all the power and rests easy.

"In a dim dungeon, seeing one’s own battered body, watching those officials living high above, lavishly dressed and well-fed, it’s not easy to stay true to your convictions.

"But only by persisting and embodying the convictions of a scholar can one leave a lasting legacy in history. As for the likes of He Xueyi, Wang Chong, and Emperor Weizhao, they will only leave behind a legacy of infamy and contempt.

"In the game ’Dark Sand,’ there’s no requirement for a scholar to be blindly loyal to the emperor—blind loyalty is foolish. By playing the role well, staying firm in your convictions, clear of conscience, and always standing with the common people, you fulfill your mission.

"Zhao Haiping has already said a lot about the warrior-soldier instance before. He, as someone who has cleared the warrior-soldier instance, has deep insights, so I will not elaborate further.

"Now, we get to the focal point of this video: What kind of game is ’Dark Sand’ really?

"We can clearly feel that the four identities share one commonality: they all prioritize the common people and justice as their primary goal!

"Assassins execute Emperor Yanling because he is a foolish and tyrannical emperor whose wanton actions lead to the suffering of the people;

"Warrior-soldiers defend border towns to repel the invading Beidi barbarians, saving the border inhabitants from the scourge of war;

"Scholars admonish Emperor Weizhao because he relied on Wang Chong, leading to extravagance among the high-ranking officials and greed among the lower ranks, leaving the disaster-stricken citizens to subsist on chaff and straw;

"Rangers cut down Xue Tianba because he brought disaster to the villages, acting uncontrollably while the court failed to restrain him.

"So, we can generally summarize the essence of the game ’Dark Sand.’

"Players, through this game, travel back to occupy the bodies of ancient historical figures and fulfill the missions they must complete.

"The identities we assume, and the events we experience, are all based on events that truly happened in history. The standard for selection is whether this person has lived up to their mission and to the common people.

"So why is the difficulty of this game so high?

"On one hand, it’s because it emphasizes realism—since it’s 100% real, the enemies must also be smart, or else it wouldn’t be realistic. On the other hand, it allows players to feel more acutely the challenges these historic figures faced.

"Like in many action games, deliberately increasing the difficulty curve enhances the sense of achievement after completing the game.

"If the difficulty of ’Dark Sand’ were lowered and the NPC AI dumbed down, players could assassinate targets too easily or refute Wang Chong and Emperor Weizhao with token effort, totally negating the impact the game currently has.

"Actually, the game’s current level of difficulty is somewhat reduced compared to actual history. After all, we can not only benefit from the amazing talents of the Returnees but also reference historical materials, making it akin to an open-book exam.

"Most importantly, we can try various methods over and over again—with perseverance, we’re sure to clear the instance. But the historical figures we embody only had one chance.

"In conclusion, I believe this game is truly unique. Despite the high difficulty in historical knowledge, combat ability, and acting, its precise depiction of historical details, 100% realism, and highly intelligent enemy AI construct an incredibly real historical environment that allows us to experience a part of history unknown to many in an almost time-traveling manner.

"From this perspective, it stands as an unprecedented masterpiece in the history of gaming!

"Finally, let me share my speculation on the meaning behind the name ’Dark Sand.’

"When I first started playing the assassin instance, I thought it was a play on words for ’assassination,’ but now it seems that thought was too naive, definitely not the case.

"The term ’Dark Sand’ can actually be understood literally: it refers to the small islands formed by the accumulation of sand and coral debris in the sea, slightly below or level with the low tide line, which can also be seen as a type of special reef.

"To my understanding, the game ’Dark Sand’ likely holds a double meaning.

"The first is that if our world were vast oceans, then the history we experience would be an island. Most of the island is submerged beneath the water, hidden from sight, and only a small part of history is remembered by us, which is the ’Dark Sand.’

"Like the idiom ’the tip of the iceberg,’ the vast majority of the iceberg is hidden under the sea, with only a small part visible above the water."

"Our history is just like that, the game initially presents those parts of history that are visible above the sea level. We can use this as a starting point to trace back and seek the more distant and vague history, to explore what lies beneath the ocean’s surface.

"Another implication could be comparing the countless ordinary people to grains of sand. History is an island, not solely created by kings, generals, heroes, and champions; it is composed of countless ordinary people, and those historical figures are just the larger grains among the many.

"So, this is a game with a historical theme, as well as a hymn to those ordinary people silently creating history, and those heroes who stand up for the common folk!

"I am now a loyal player of this game and am looking forward to future updates with great anticipation. There are so many poignant people and events in history, and the thought of being able to experience them in this game, of traveling back to play these heroic characters as an eyewitness, fills me with genuine excitement!

"To the other players who haven’t cleared the game or are thinking of giving up, I want to say, please hold on a little longer and cherish your beta test privileges. Otherwise, when the officials start reclaiming the inactive players’ beta qualifications, it will be too late for regrets.

"Lastly, I hope everyone has fun playing ’Dark Sand,’ and I hope the ’Dark Sand’ developers will hurry up and release new content!"

...

After finishing the video, Du Gang refreshed the page and saw that the post had been pushed to the forum’s front page by players, with the number of replies skyrocketing.

The response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic!

After carefully watching the video content a few more times, Du Gang lit a cigarette, lost in thought.

"Alright, I’ve got the content for the report.

"It seems this game is indeed more complex than I imagined. The division into these four roles isn’t just about the differences in combat abilities like in other games; it also represents the different historical choices of four kinds of people.

"When faced with a foolish ruler or a power-hungry minister, an assassin’s choice is to kill the king, a scholar’s choice is to plead through death, a ranger’s choice is to act for the heavens, and a foot soldier’s choice is to defend the frontier no matter what, maintaining the peace and the safety of the citizens.

"Moreover, these four identities and their choices also depend on the player’s personality traits and skills.

"This game is not just simple entertainment; it also has a profound cultural depth and a sense of duty to one’s country, which is truly precious.

"However, I am still unclear about the developers’ intentions; many tech-secrets are simply inexplicable.

"Anyway, I’ve got enough for today’s report. But I still need to find a way to contact the game designers as soon as possible."

Du Gang stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and continued typing.

...

Meanwhile, Meng Yuan was watching the players’ clearing videos with great concentration.

Shen Shang was beside him, munching on an apple.

"So, when will I be able to know the specific details of this historical slice?" Meng Yuan asked.

"In a few more hours," Shen Shang answered, "When this historical slice gets a bit closer to reality, we should be able to know. We can be certain that it’s not an ancient slice of history, but rather during the middle to late period of the Great Sheng Dynasty, and it’s unlikely to be any well-known event.

"Of course, we must not be complacent. Even the weakest demons are quite troublesome for us now."

Meng Yuan nodded, "I understand."

During this period, Meng Yuan had repeatedly confirmed the overlap of historical slices with reality with Shen Shang, and they were formulating a battle plan based on the players’ progress.

That’s also the version update plan for ’Dark Sand.’

According to Shen Shang, history is a river that connects Ancient Era with the present, and demons are occupying the history of the Ancient Era, seeking to descend into reality through gradual infiltration.

So, even if a historical slice briefly overlaps reality due to the influence of demons, it is still a long process.

At the beginning of the overlap, it is bound to be just a very small part of a slice close to reality, and only a very few powers from that slice will be able to enter reality.

For example, a few barbarian squads controlled by demons.

As the degree of overlap between the historical slice and reality increases, the strength of the demons entering reality also gradually increases.

Therefore, Meng Yuan, as an Order Restorer, needs to achieve two goals next.

The first goal is to organize players to eliminate the demons that enter the real world, to ensure the safety of the people in this world.

The second goal is to select players to enter the slice controlled by demons, correct the erroneous history, expel the demons from that slice cleanly, and use this as a stepping stone to continue tracing back to more distant historical slices while enhancing both his own and Shen Shang’s Magic Power.