Afternoon.
Players started leaving the Internet Cafe one after another.
But as soon as a computer became free, it was immediately taken by other players waiting in line.
"I can't do it anymore, I can't win, I keep dying!"
"Hmm, but I always feel like it's not that the wild beasts are too strong, but that we've made too many mistakes ourselves!"
"This should be what the boss meant by a drop in condition, right?"
"But I just logged off, and I want to play again, what should I do?"
At this moment, some players who had just logged off looked depressed; they clearly hadn't played enough.
However, due to their poor game condition, they knew that continuing to play would be a waste of time, so they reluctantly logged off.
But after logging off, seeing other players having a blast, they immediately felt their hands itching again and had some regrets.
Suddenly, a player thought of something and said, "Oh, right, what do you guys think? If our game condition is bad, we can't play monster hunter, but what about Stardew Valley? That doesn't require fighting and killing, right?"
"Don't even think about it, it's the same. No, in fact, I think game condition has an even greater impact on Stardew Valley!"
Another player who had just exited Stardew Valley immediately poured cold water on the idea, saying, "If you play monster hunter and your condition is bad, failing to kill a wild beast only wastes one hunting session!"
"But in Stardew Valley, if your condition is bad and you accidentally kill the crops you painstakingly cultivated, you'll waste a whole day or two!"
"So, it's better to just rest and recover your condition!"
The other players sighed and nodded, resigned. They had no choice but to head towards the resting area.
And now, the resting area, which was empty a few days ago, was much more crowded.
Because players had discovered that resting in the resting area was genuinely effective.
Not only could it accelerate the recovery of their game condition, but it also had the effect of improving their condition, allowing players to perform exceptionally well in the game.
For example, some monsters that were previously unbeatable could be defeated once their condition improved. For instance, the probability of cultivating rare individual crops would also increase.
Of course, such benefits are only within a certain range; if the skill gap is too large, it naturally won't be useful.
...
And at this moment, in a part of the resting area.
Wu Lei, Ouyang Qing, Oriental Bright, and Dugu Mu had also just arrived.
Ouyang Qing asked with concern, "Wu Lei, did you defeat that last Vaal Hazak?"
"Of course not!"
Wu Lei pouted, looking depressed, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have followed you guys over. How about you?"
"Same!"
"As expected, when our condition drops too much, even game guides are useless!"
The four of them were very close to completing monster hunter, but there was nothing they could do. Their progress was getting slower and slower, so they had no choice but to stop and rest.
"However, it really seems to be effective. When I was playing earlier, I was quite agitated!"
Dugu Mu smiled and said, "But now that I've sat down, I feel completely calm. This sofa is quite comfortable too!"
The four of them chatted for a while longer, until they ran out of things to say and fell silent for a moment.
Oriental Bright suddenly mentioned, "It's just that the few of us are sitting here with nothing to do, it's a bit boring!"
As soon as he said this, they remembered what they had asked the boss earlier.
To recover their game condition, they had to sit for at least one or two hours, but they hadn't been sitting for long yet.
The four looked at each other.
They continued to sit idly for a while longer.
Only then did they realize that it really was... quite boring.
It wasn't until a while later that they suddenly heard a commotion from the other side.
"Hmm?"
They looked up and saw many people gathered there, each holding something like a book and reading it with great interest, discussing as they read.
Wu Lei was a little curious, so he walked over and casually asked someone.
"What are you looking at?"
"Comics!"
"Comics?"
"Yes, the ones on the comic book shelf over there."
Wu Lei then remembered what the boss had said that morning, and enlightened, he asked even more curiously, "How is it? Is it good?"
"I just started reading it, it's alright. The story is quite interesting, it feels like reading a biographical novel!"
"Similar to a novel?"
Wu Lei used to enjoy reading novels, especially passionate novels about martial artists.
However, he had been reading less recently because he had games to play, but hearing this, he immediately became interested.
Ouyang Qing's eyes also lit up, and she immediately suggested, "Come on, let's go take a look. We have nothing to do anyway!"
Since the boss had said they could read comics while resting, it clearly meant that reading comics would not affect their condition recovery.
"Okay!"
Wu Lei and the others also responded.
With that, the four walked to the comic book shelf and indeed saw many comic books displayed on it.
But upon closer inspection, they realized that all the comics on the shelf were the same, all the same volume.
They casually picked up a copy and looked at the cover.
"Dragon Ball?"
"Volume One?"
They immediately saw the name of the comic and a small boy with a tail drawn on the cover.
They were a little curious.
But when they tried to flip it open to read it.
"Huh!"
Oriental Bright said strangely, "Why can't I open this comic?"
Wu Lei and Ouyang Qing also tried, and it was the same; they couldn't open the comic at all.
"Look here!"
Dugu Mu, sharp-eyed, pointed towards the comic book cabinet, and they saw a coin slot similar to the one on the computer desk at the far left of the cabinet.
Next to the coin slot were instructions.
[To view a regular edition comic volume is 10 gold]
[To view a deluxe edition comic volume is 100 gold. After payment, you can go to the counter and ask the boss for a viewing device.]
[Note: Once purchased, you can view it unlimited times, but it cannot be taken away.]
"Regular edition and deluxe edition?"
"Is there a difference?"
The four looked puzzled.
"Never mind, let's just look at this one first!"
Ouyang Qing was the first to take out ten gold coins and put them in. When she tried to flip the comic in her hand, she found that she could open it.
Wu Lei and the other two followed suit and also succeeded immediately.
"It really works now. It seems nothing in this Internet Cafe is simple!"
The four then took the comics back to the sofa in the resting area and started reading.
[A long, long time ago, in a deep mountain thousands of kilometers away from the city, this whimsical story began...]
After just a few glances, they understood why it was called a comic: it expressed the story through pages of images.
"This comic seems quite interesting!" Dugu Mu couldn't help but comment.
The other three also nodded in agreement and then began to read seriously.