Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

The internet speed in Hu Xiao's house was quite fast. Soon, the game's download was complete.

As a professional UP Master, Hu Xiao had a relatively high-quality desktop in his home. After all, he had to edit videos and play some games.

He did not have a controller, but he could play this game using his mouse.

Since Hu Xiao treasured custom, he brewed himself a cup of tea and sipped it before entering the game. He was not even sure what kind of game this was yet.

However, its title made it sound like a Buddhist-themed game.

What's more, the game looked like it had an overall Chinese style. The images on the official platform also seemed to depict reincarnation, rebirth, and transcendence.

Hmm, it must be filled with Buddhist messages, right?

Since it's going to be a Buddhist game, should I relax and experience it with my heart?

Hu Xiao realized that he was beginning to look forward to playing the game. He saw a black screen and then heard a melody. The melody was mellow, but it also felt cold and sorrowful. Hu Xiao could tell that it was played using traditional Chinese instruments.

The hoarse voice of an old, experienced lady sounded.

"Rebirth after rebirth, we travel different paths and miss each other. Conflict and bloodshed fill our lives in this mortal world.

"The flower blooms and misses its leaves. It's hard to hold onto both on the Road to the Underworld.

"The River of Three Crossings is long, and there is heartbreak by the Bridge of Forgetfulness.

"The former life ends with a cup of tea and a bowl of soup. A mouthful smooths the journey ahead."

Her voice sounded aged and tired, but it chilled Hu Xiao to the bone. It was almost as if she was summoning his soul.

Her words sounded like a poem or lyrics to a song—it sent chills down Hu Xiao's spine.

An image appeared. A bright-red maple leaf fell into a stream of water before it was carried away. Immediately after that, bright-red blood dripped into the stream and faded away.

The camera began to pan upward. A bony, wrinkly hand smacked the surface of the water, creating ripples in the stream. Then, it stopped moving.

The camera panned up along the bony, wrinkly arm. A corpse appeared on the screen, dressed in torn and tattered clothing. He was covered in wounds, and his eyes were wide open.

Although he was already dead, his opened eyes would cause one to shiver involuntarily.

There seemed to be fear, helplessness, conflict, and a hint of indignance in his eyes.

The camera continued to pan upwards to reveal several bony, wrinkly legs walking past. There was a wild dog, skinny as a skeleton, with dried-up fur. Dark-red saliva was dripping from its mouth, and its eyes were blood-shot. It glanced at the camera before walking away, looking for its next target.

It looked like everyone had lost their sanity and become blind, ruthless killers.

The old, hoarse voice sounded once again.

"Everyone has three immortal souls and seven mortal forms.

"Once one's time is up, he would be picked up by the Black and White Impermanence. After that, he would step on the Road to the Underworld and begin his journey towards the netherworld, where he would be judged by Yama.

"He could reincarnate, enter the six realms of rebirth and existence, or be sent to hell."

The corpse by the stream suddenly twitched.

The camera did not focus on it for long. Instead, it continued panning across the stream and the wasteland. Finally, it stopped at a small village by the stream, hidden deep among tall mountains.

"At least, that was so… until the Black and White Impermanence stopped picking up the souls of the dead.

"The souls were dissociated from the earth, and yet they were not picked up. They had no choice but to wander around on the Road to the Underworld.

"They were left to suffer a fate worse than death.

"As time went by, these wandering souls became more and more ferocious. They lost their sense of humanity and their memories.

"The mortal world turned into hell."

The camera turned to show several innocent people being killed by villagers with pitchforks and axes. Their helpless and desperate cries filled Hu Xiao's ears.

Divine Buddha light—faint and golden—shone from inside a worn-out temple in the outskirts of the city. It formed a shield, isolating the temple from the wandering ghosts, who tried to charge into it.

An old monk sat cross-legged on a futon in the temple. He looked at the Buddha statue swaying back and forth in front of him and chanted continuously.

Not far away from him, a scholar ran out of a burning house. He tripped over and knocked into many things along the way as he ran for his life. His messy hair made him look like a lunatic.

He laughed as he shouted, causing his words to be muffled.

"The rebirth cycle is like a house on fire; we are absorbed in worldly suffering.

"We remain stubborn and refuse to change our ways.

"There is no path to the Soul Mountain; you clasp your hands together in vain.

"The Road to the Underworld is long; repent and be saved.

"Repent and be saved? Hahaha…"

As the scholar laughed maniacally, the screen turned black.

Then, the laughter faded.

Once again, the old, hoarse voice spoke, "Wandering and evil ghosts roamed the earth. The six realms were broken; the gates to hell opened…"

The screen remained black for a long time.

Dong!

Dong!

There were two low rings. A sliver of light appeared on the black screen. It was the first-person view of a person being buried. Soon, the camera turned to face the outside of the grave.

It was a deserted mass grave. Broken signs were either sticking out of the ground crookedly or being covered by long, withered weed.

There were many opened coffins lying around the mass grave. These coffins were made out of low-quality thin wood, and they were dilapidated beyond recognition.

Some coffins contained the remains of corpses they once held; perhaps hungry beasts had fed on those corpses. Other coffins were empty apart from rainwater and mud.

A huge number of corpses were scattered haphazardly around the mass grave. Most of them were incomplete, missing limbs or heads.

Two holes were smashed into a particularly thin coffin cover. A scrawny hand—that still had a bit of meat left on it—stuck out of the hole, pushing the cover aside with all its might.

Then, a pale-looking corpse sat upright.

…

Hu Xiao looked at the cup of tea in his hand and then at the unwelcoming cut scene. He felt like the game had fallen short of his expectations somehow.

How is this a Buddhist-themed game? There's a huge problem!

Hu Xiao wanted to give up. He had just bought the game anyway; he could return it right now if he wanted to. However, on further thought, he decided to give it a shot. What if it turned out to be fun?

"Eh? I can write my own epitaph? What a weird detail. I'll skip it."

Hu Xiao instinctively wanted to skip it, but he realized he could not. He had no choice but to write a message.

He wanted to type an ellipsis. However, thinking it would be inappropriate, he settled on one word instead.

After some consideration, Hu Xiao typed 'hehe'.

He did not think too much; he just wrote the first word that popped up in his mind.

Once he was done, he officially began playing the game.

Hu Xiao steered his character towards the monster in front of him.

Three seconds later…

His character screamed out in pain and collapsed onto the ground. The screen turned gray, and the word 'hehe' appeared on his screen.

Hu Xiao, "???"

He was slightly confused about what had just happened.

My health bar was full, wasn't it?

The beast only touched me twice—how did my health bar become empty so quickly?

Is there a bug in the game?

Hu Xiao revived himself indignantly. He climbed out of the mass grave and charged towards the monster once again.

"Hehe."

"Hehe."

"Hehe."

Hu Xiao was stunned. After a few minutes, he pushed his keyboard and mouse forward and leaned back on his chair, falling into deep thought.

What the h*ll is happening?

Why is my character as weak as a paper doll? The monster just touches me and I die?! Did I open the grave wrongly?

Is there something wrong with the way I started the game?

Still confused, Hu Xiao opened his chat with his fake reviewers, intending to ask them how they found the game.

Yet, other people seemed to be just as confused as Hu Xiao.

"Has anyone downloaded Repent and be Saved? My computer is too lousy. It keeps lagging, and once I recover from the lag, I'm dead."

"My computer lags, and I keep dying mysteriously, too."

"This game's requirements are too high. My computer can't seem to accommodate it either. It looks like a slideshow."

"Hehe, my computer can't run the game, too. Honestly, I don't think you're dying because you're lagging…"

"Sh*t, what a lame game. The first beast can kill you?!"

"How can we continue playing?"

"I don't know. I've already refunded the game. The boss didn't request for positive or negative comments, right? I'm going to give it a bad comment!"

"I don't think you should give it one star immediately. You're not giving it a second chance?"

"I can't run the game on my laptop. I'm planning to look for an internet cafe later on."

"This boss is quite generous. Would it be irresponsible of us to give the game bad reviews based on this alone? He didn't ask us to spam bad comments either. He just asked us to review the game based on our first impression."

"That's right. My first impression of the game is that it's horrible."

"But maybe it's because of your computer."

People in the group began to argue.

Hu Xiao scratched his head, feeling light-headed.

This was the first time he was witnessing such serious discussion in a group of fake reviewers.

The group used to feel more like a well-trained army. At the sound of command, everyone would either like or share a post, attack a particular account, or agree with someone else. All in all, they always responded instantly to any instructions.

Yet, the group felt more like a marketplace today. Everyone seemed to have their own opinions.

A group of people wanted to give the game bad reviews after playing for just a couple of seconds.

Other people felt this would be letting the generous boss down. They refused to act irresponsibly and insisted on trying harder at the game.

Hu Xiao found himself in a predicament after reading everyone's thoughts.

What if the fake reviewers begin to fight among themselves? I'll wait and see; this is serious!