I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!-Chapter 63 - 37 Blue Star War Criminal Step Forward_1

The rapid development of FPS on Earth over these twenty years had been incredibly fruitful, branching out extensively.

It became a top game category that stood toe to toe with genres like ACT and RPG.

Yet on Blue Star, due to a misguided development in gaming technology, it became a niche genre.

It was rare to see a quality FPS game release globally even once a year.

And when one did come out, it essentially boiled down to paying for guns.

Having infinite spending power was equivalent to your firepower.

It’s well-known that FPS games are very dependent on the player’s micro-operations.

Players would work hard at their skills, only to be suppressed by the fierce firepower of the opponent.

Or you might shoot the enemy 10 times, all headshots, making the enemy suspect you’re cheating, yet still, you couldn’t kill them.

Then, they would hit your fingernail once, regarded as a graze, and you would be dead in an instant.

The frustration this caused was immense. Out of ten players, probably nine would abandon the game on the spot, and the last one would be off looking for the enemy ace to see if they could handle a sniper rifle.

This is also why to this day, the FPS category on Blue Star had trouble developing.

In such a tough environment, Eggplant still carved out a path with his extremely refined live streaming style and became one of Shark Platform’s top hosts.

Originally today, Eggplant, with nothing better to do, planned to call up some buddies to form a convoy, and continue his “underdog triumphs over the pay-to-win giants” show.

But then, he was informed by the barrage of comments that a game with utterly ripe show effects had just been released.

After browsing a few channels, Eggplant found the game quite interesting. He was also getting a bit tired of constantly shooting, so why not take a break and nourish his skills.

He learned a bit and dived into “Skyline” on the spot.

In the beginning, the development progressed decently.

But as the city grew to a certain size, the game’s most aggravating aspect kicked in.

Traffic jams.

The jams made Eggplant seriously question his life choices.

He had meticulously planned the commuting routes for the citizens, yet they refused to take the spacious eight-lane roads and insisted on queuing up on the crappy dirt paths.

The city’s GDP was calculated based on the real-time consumption or creation by the citizens.

With everyone stuck in traffic, the GDP naturally couldn’t rise.

Enraged, Eggplant deleted the dirt roads and left only the main ones.

F*ck your mothers!

This time, I want to see how you annoying citizens are going to move!

Then, new problems arose.

The original dirt roads accommodated not just vehicles but also a significant number of pedestrians.

Now, with no dirt roads,

pedestrians wanting to get to the commercial or industrial areas had to cross the main roads.

Have you ever seen a highway at 3 in the morning?

Truly overcrowded, with citizens lining up to cross the road, even a heavy-duty truck from Balin would have to offer a cigarette.

Unbearable, truly unbearable.

Long story short, the roads got jammed again.

Then, guided by the comments, Eggplant started building overpass bridges.

Now, people and cars were completely segregated.

Surely it wouldn’t jam again, right?

But soon, Eggplant realized he was still too naive.

The overbridge solved the traffic jams at other times.

But during the rush hours in the morning and evening, the personal cars of the citizens, transport trucks, government vehicles, and tourists’ sightseeing coaches all crowded together, looking from above like a great ant colony on a feeding march – it was still jam-packed.

“I’m losing my f*cking mind! I f*cking build a six-lane road, and you all just have to squeeze onto one lane like it’s the only way to your ancestors’ graves?” A frustrated Eggplant spewed curse words like flowers.

The live chat, however, was rolling with laughter.

“Hahahaha!”

“Sharp! Stuck in traffic, sharp as a needle.”

“Citizen: As a driver, isn’t it reasonable to take the nearest road? /sarcasm”

“Why not build a ring interchange? Without intersections, there would be no traffic jams. I see Yin handled this quite well in the neighboring area.”

“Build your mother’s roundabout! Can’t indulge those citizens! I must seriously discipline these nuisances today!” While saying this, Eggplant immediately opened the city facility interface.

He selected the city toll booth.

Then, he placed them one after another, at intervals, on the largest main road in the city center.

At first, his actions were just to vent his frustration.

“Since vehicles have to stop at the toll booths anyway, if I build enough of them, I can split the road completely and create a lot of space for traffic diversion.”

But when he had finished building them,

the nature of the game had subtly changed.

Eggplant noticed that the GDP of his city had inexplicably started to skyrocket!

After observing,

he found that the largest source of revenue was the 16 toll booths he had just built.

The profits from one day accounted for a whopping 80% of the city’s entire economy!

The AI of these obstinate citizens was indeed dumb as a bunch, stubbornly sticking to shortcuts, not deterred by even a dozen toll booths.

Suddenly, the breached Eggplant grinned again.

“Damn! Can it really be like this?”

“Then I’ll build a few more! Go all in!”

In one go, he emptied the city’s finances, building more than 40 toll booths, densely lined up on the roads the residents had to travel daily.

After basking in his triumph, he clapped his hands with pride: “Not bad at all, clogging up the roadways. Come on, I don’t mind if you’re stuck for a few more hours.”

Even the comments couldn’t stand to watch, and they frenziedly ridiculed him.

“The number of toll booths is so dense it’s giving me a phobia, that’s freaking crazy.”

“Citizen: FFS, if my piggy bank gets touched, I’m out!”

“I just want to ask, is the money earned from going to work enough to pay the tolls?”

“Work? Might as well use your pension!”

“I suggest the citizens just don’t come back after leaving the city.”

“Don’t turn back, this isn’t home anymore!”

But soon, a dramatic scene unfolded.

Eggplant had thought these obstinate folk were just dumb beings controlled by AI, blindly following the program.

They had to take the shortest path to work, even if confronted by countless toll booths, they still had to reach the programmed destination.

However, after Eggplant had exhausted the city’s finances and even taken out loans to build over 40 toll booths,

the whole city suddenly fell silent.

The once-bustling streets turned eerily quiet in an instant.

After the residents returned home, they shut their doors tight as if in secluded cultivation, showing no signs of activity.

At first, Eggplant thought it was just evening, time for the citizens to rest at home after a busy day.

But even until the following morning (in-game time), when it was time to start work,

this city of tens of thousands still showed no sign of life.

This spectacle left Eggplant stunned, his eyes nearly popping out.

The audience, on the other hand, burst out laughing, with the comment section going wild.

“66666!”

“This AI is too smart, huh! I really want to know how the game designers realized this.”

“Was this in your calculations too, Baby Ke?”

“Citizens: I can hear the creak of your abacus through the screen, forget about going to work, just chill!”

“I always thought ‘deserted streets’ was a metaphor, but now I know it’s an actual description.”

“I declare, today is yet another victory for the obstinate citizens!”

“Watching Eggplant’s conflicted expression is killing me, hahaha!”

Originally, if it had stopped there,

the streamer’s cries of frustration, and the audience’s lively laughter,

would have made for a classic moment of entertainment.

But after a sweeping glance over the city interface,

Eggplant seemed to have an epiphany, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

Then,

he made a move that would leave a lasting impression on all present and coined a term that had never been popular in Blue Star’s gaming circle.

A war criminal of the highest degree.

Eggplant didn’t do much.

He simply opened the sluice gates of the dam at the wastewater treatment plant, which was located on the high ground.

Immediately, the dark brown wastewater that had accumulated for a long time and reeked to the high heavens began to flow down from the heights like a flood discharge.

In just a moment, the water flooded like a golden mountain, spreading crazily towards the center of the town.

The citizens who had stubbornly stayed inside, refusing to come out, were now at a life-or-death crossroads and had to choose life over money.

Countless citizens fled their homes in panic, pouring into the streets and alleys.

At this time, Eggplant’s years of practice in micro-management paid off as he instantly cut off all other connecting roads, leaving only the main roads leading to the 40 toll booths, and he cranked up the charges to the maximum at every booth.

Looking at the tens of thousands of citizens gathering together, with the surging sewage looming behind them,

Eggplant cracked a slight smile, his hands off the keyboard.

“Now, please start your performance!”

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At this moment, the comments section completely exploded!