Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 92 - 87 New Version Update Announcement

Chapter 92: Chapter 87 New Version Update Announcement

Li Hongyun couldn’t wait to open the official website to check the new update announcement.

"Dark Sand" New Version Update Announcement:

"Return Order members united and defeated the demons in the historical slices, recaptured the historical slices, and reawakened the true power of the ’Original Return Order’ Beichen.

"Dark Sand" will enter a seven-day ’Pre-Expedition’ new version preparation state.

"The ’Pre-Expedition’ update details are as follows:

"First, the ultimate trial video of ’Death is Inevitable’ will be released in movie theaters and online video platforms in a cinematic format. The specific pricing will be based on the minimum pricing of theaters and platforms.

"The revenue from this movie will be completely shared among the players who participated in the ’Return Order Expedition.’ The specific distribution ratio will be:

"Players who directly participated in the ultimate trial: 20%

"Players who participated in the ’Death is Inevitable’ instance and had a definitive impact: 20%

"Other players who participated in the ’Return Order Expedition,’ based on their contribution: 60%

"All revenue from future ultimate trial videos will be fed back to players as it is the players themselves who accomplished this feat.

"In the future, the distribution ratio may be adjusted slightly depending on the content of the trial instance.

"Second, the new gameplay ’Territorial Sealing’ will commence.

"In the ’Return Order Expedition,’ sixty percent of the conquered historical slices will become a communal activity area for players known as ’Order Fortress,’ available for multiplayer networking mode; the remaining forty percent will be divided into ’Fiefdoms,’ allocated to all contributing players.

"Within the Order Fortress, new mechanisms such as demons, mines, and blacksmiths will appear for players to enhance their weapons, armor, and basic attributes.

"Fiefdoms are the individual activity areas for each player, where players can also gather more resources through simulated management.

"As the ’Return Order Expedition’ continues to conquer new historical slices, both the Order Fortress and each player’s fiefdom will expand accordingly.

"Third, the distribution of internal test player eligibility.

"An additional twenty thousand internal test qualifications will be issued this phase.

"From the previous batch of internal test qualifications, players who have not yet cleared any trial instance will have their qualifications automatically reclaimed.

"The reclaimed internal test qualifications and the newly issued ones will be distributed to players according to new rules.

"New rules: ’Dark Sand’ will select one hundred thousand players according to the original rules for selection; clearing any trial of soldiers, assassins, scholars, or rangers can pass the selection and obtain the internal test qualification, on a first-come-first-served basis based on the order of clearance.

"In seven days, the game will welcome the new version ’Southeast Expedition,’ and the update details are as follows:

"First, a new batch of talent skills will be unlocked in the Return Order Talent Skill Library, including the ’Xin’ level skills.

"Second, a part of the talent skills will be unlocked as permanent talent skills, which do not occupy the original talent skill slots.

"Third, the four types of Trial Illusion will open advanced difficulty levels; the process remains the same, only the strength values of the enemies increase, and after clearing, players can upgrade their exclusive talent skills.

"Fourth, a new trial instance ’Ascension Reluctance’ will begin."

...

Li Hongyun grew more excited as he read.

"So much new content updated?

"How thrilling!"

This version update was different from the last, as it was updated in two parts.

The current update is "Pre-Expedition," which can also be seen as a prelude version before the official update of the new version; in seven days, the official version "Southeast Expedition" will update.

The content of "Pre-Expedition," besides the distribution of internal test qualifications, the most important are two things:

One is the movie edited from the ultimate trial instance "Death is Inevitable," which will be released in major offline theaters and online platforms, and crucially, all net income from the movie after deducting the offline theater costs will be fed back to the players!

Another is the "Territorial Sealing" gameplay, allowing players to build in the historical slices’ "Order Fortress" and even secure their own piece of fiefdom to start farming!

This way, the game content has become much richer.

As for the new version "Southeast Expedition" that follows in seven days, it mainly consists of launching new trial instances and various upgrades for Return Order abilities.

Li Hongyun looked toward Chu Ge with envy, jealousy, and hate in his eyes, "This movie actually distributes money to players!

"Direct participants share 20%, strategists share another 20%, and those in ’Return Order Expedition’ also get shares according to their performance... All combined, you have at least a 4% share, possibly even reaching 6% or higher!

"Damn, that must be a lot of money!!"

Li Hongyun was envious once again.

Among these proportions, the most significant share obviously belonged to the players who participated directly in the ultimate trial. There were five players participating, sharing 20%, each receiving 4%. As for the rest, the contributions and shares in the "Return Order Expedition," because so many players participated, even a significant role like Chu Ge’s would be diluted to about 1%.

But no matter what, the game not only costs nothing but can also literally mint money, which is already unbeatable.

Even if "Death is Inevitable," after being edited into a film, can’t compare with those well-produced blockbusters, it still had no production cost!

With only a few million in revenue, distributing it among these players would also be a fortune.

Li Hongyun couldn’t wait and quickly checked the official website again for the beta testing eligibility.

"Hey?"

"Holy shit!"

"I finally got it!"

Li Hongyun was overjoyed, almost unable to believe his own eyes.

Heaven finally sees!

I, the lucky king, am finally coming out, going to punish Chu Ge, the faker!

Chu Ge reminded him with a smile, "Don’t get too excited yet, the rules for beta eligibility have changed. They drew a hundred thousand people, but there are actually only over twenty thousand new spots available. Whether you can grab a spot depends on how quickly you can clear the Trial instance."

Li Hongyun said with a smirk, "Are you kidding me? You can clear the Scholar instance on your first try, and you think I can’t? Just watch, I’m going to be the first player in this batch to get the official qualification!"

...

Afternoon.

At the entrance of a large cinema in Tiandu City.

Du Gang, accompanied by his wife and teenage daughter, went to the ticket-checking counter of the cinema.

His daughter looked very lively, hopping and skipping around.

Du Gang’s wife curiously said, "I’m telling you, Du, have you changed today? What made you think of watching a movie with your daughter? Even on weekends and holidays, weren’t you always busy with work?"

Du Gang cleared his throat softly, "Ahem, actually, this is still related to work. This movie is also related to our work."

His wife chuckled, "Alright, alright, your job is special and confidential, whatever you say."

She clearly didn’t believe him and thought that Du Gang, the workaholic, couldn’t save face and had made up an excuse to spend some time with his daughter.

So she didn’t say much more and just smiled, taking their daughter by the hand to find seats.

Du Gang felt helpless; what he said was indeed the truth!

But then he thought, better not explain further, this is good enough.

The family of three sat down in the theater, waiting for the movie to start.

After sitting in the cinema seats for a while, Du Gang suddenly felt a long-lost sense of relaxation.

His job was quite special, and being a workaholic, he hadn’t properly rested for a long time.

But recently, he started fully coordinating with the "Dark Sand" game. After the initial busyness, he actually found some free time.

Since he had properly resolved the creatures appearing in reality previously, there had been no more apparitions causing trouble. Moreover, he had just received news from Beichen that the attack on the historical fragment was progressing smoothly and no demons were expected to appear in reality in the short term.

However, even so, Du Gang’s department had formed a specialized group with many members to coordinate a series of activities of "Dark Sand" in reality.

The movie was naturally one of those activities.

Beichen had notified Du Gang a long time ago that after completing the final trial, there would be a movie and advised him to make early arrangements.

Thus, Du Gang and his colleagues had gone through some trouble, pushed through many connections, to allow this movie to pass through approvals without an actual movie finished yet, and to arrange its screening in the cinema.

Of course, since materials like promotional content were prepared only recently and there was no actual marketing, the screening proportion was very low, most cinemas would not arrange a high number of screenings for such a movie initially.

But regardless, being able to premiere the movie the day after players completed the final trial instance was nothing short of a miracle.

Regarding various online video platforms, it was much simpler than cinema chains. Nonetheless, even the online platforms were not free, charging at least one yuan.

Just like the cinemas predominantly used the lowest ticket prices.

The theater’s occupancy rate was not bad, around seventy to eighty percent.

Although "Dark Sand" was already incredibly popular, the beta testers were too few. Plus, a movie edited from a game’s walkthrough video does not have much appeal to the average person.

Paying to watch gameplay footage? It felt like a waste of money.

Thus, those prepared to watch the movie in the theater were either players who were quite interested in the "Dark Sand" game or curious spectators who paid to try their luck, with the rest just random viewers who wandered in due to a lack of appealing movies recently.

Some spectators were quietly discussing while munching on popcorn.

"Gameplay videos edited into a movie and screened? Is the box office that easy to earn from?"

"I’m puzzled too. Wasn’t the final trial completed just last night? What can you edit in a few hours?"

"This shows your ignorance! The technology team of ’Dark Sand’ is dimension-breaking strong! The first completion videos of a few Trial Illusions were cut almost instantly, and the effects are comparable to major films. Just watch, stop complaining!"

Soon, the cinema lights dimmed, and the movie began.

Other than a dragon symbol at the beginning, there were no logos from any film companies or distribution companies, showing the pureness of this movie.

"Dad, what kind of movie is this? Will it be more interesting than a cartoon?" the little girl quietly asked with curiosity.

Du Gang raised his index finger to his lips, "Shh, let’s not talk when the movie starts, okay? Watch carefully, it’s definitely going to be exciting!"