Recently, a new five-star character “Xia Kong” was launched in the game “Mingchao”, accompanied by a complex material list that makes people dizzy. The seemingly cold numbers and materials are like a folded life map in my eyes, depicting the fragmented time and hidden helplessness of contemporary people. Perhaps we are all like the players in this list, collecting trivial “materials” while heading towards the unknown “full level” in the big chess of life.
This material list is quite complicated, divided into low-frequency, medium-frequency, high-frequency, and full-frequency “tide erosion sail cores”, as well as various crystallized phlogiston, burning phosphorus bones, golden wool, sighing ancient dragon drops, and “Rosemary” potion store limited purchase materials. The numbers look huge, with hundreds of hundreds of accumulations, and some materials have to be repeatedly swiped in the map. If you want to cultivate “Xia Kong” into a top character, you have to spend a lot of time and patience.
In this respect, games are very similar to reality. In reality, we are also accumulating various “materials”: life experience, work skills, family support, friends’ understanding, and even occasional luck. These “materials” are large or small, scattered, just like the seemingly messy list in the game. Only when we can patiently collect and organize them one by one, can we gradually enrich our lives and give birth to a little warm light.
But it is unavoidable that the “materials” in the game often make people feel boring and tired. Especially the tasks that require repeated collection and defeating strong enemies, just like the tedious daily chores in life: the alarm clock to get up in the morning, the crowded bus, the repetitive office work, and even the trivial disputes in the family. Everyone is “brushing monsters” in their own way, so that they can “upgrade” a little bit tomorrow, a little bit better. But these efforts may not always bring immediate happy results.
There are also props such as “stuffed meat tofu” in the game that temporarily increase the drop rate of materials, which is quite like the small happiness we make for ourselves in real life. It may be a cup of fragrant coffee, a short trip, or a leisurely reading time. These bits and pieces make people relax for a short time and find a little sweetness of life. However, just as the “stuffed meat tofu” effect in the game will eventually pass, these beautiful moments of life are often fleeting and make people reluctant to leave.
What is more intriguing is the “recharge discount” and “discount code” that appear repeatedly in this list. They silently tell players that time and money can be exchanged. The same is true in reality. The pace of modern society is getting faster and faster. People are anxious about not having enough time. Only using money to exchange time, or using money to exchange convenience, has become the norm. We keep weighing between economy and time, just like the exchange in the game, it is difficult to stop.
This also reminds me of scarce materials such as “burning phosphorus bones” and “golden wool”. Their names are quaint and sound like mysterious treasures in fairy tales. In the game world, their rarity gives them value. In real life, scarce resources or opportunities also determine the balance of life. Some people are born lucky, perhaps with the “golden fleece” at birth; while more people need to keep searching, waiting, and even groping in the thorns.
The mentality of players in this process is undoubtedly contradictory. On the one hand, they expect to grow quickly, and on the other hand, they are afraid of the exhaustion and emptiness brought by this speed. The list of Xiakong materials is such a microcosm of life – seemingly complicated and trivial, but it contains hope and persistence, and also wraps up the helplessness and anxiety of reality.
If the countryside described by Mr. Wang Zengqi is quiet and warm, then this complex game list is like the other side of the modern city. It makes us realize that even in the most virtual world, people are still telling the story of life in their own way. Those complex numbers and materials are like the responsibilities and challenges that cannot be avoided in life, quietly waiting for us to face and take on.
Perhaps, life is like this, showing poetry in repetition and triviality. Just like Xiakong’s growth path, although long and tortuous, it is also full of hope and possibility. Each of us is “Xiakong” in our own life game, accumulating little by little in the flow of time, and moving towards a more complete self.