It wasn't just the ordinary players who had mental breakdowns, the celebrity players were losing it too.
On X, Megan Fox posted an in-game screenshot of the exact moment the Fireworks ship was obliterated by the alien cannon, accompanied by the caption. [New Game Studio, do you guys even have a heart?!!!!!!!]
The massive string of exclamation marks was enough to show just how shell-shocked and frustrated Megan Fox was while playing this game.
The comment section below was absolutely bustling.
[Don't be sad, Megan. Keep playing and you'll realize you got sad way too early. There's way more traumatic story coming up!]
[Don't worry, after getting tortured enough times, Megan will get used to it, HAHAHA!]
[I was wondering why you've been so quiet lately. Turns out you were addicted to a game!]
It wasn't just Megan Fox. Other celebrities who usually enjoyed gaming were all frantically venting on Weibo too.
Hugh Jackman.
[I went completely numb when I reached the part with the Fireworks ship. Why couldn't I feel even an ounce of joy watching these festive fireworks? This really is such a healing game.]
Mark Hamill.
[I was just eating hotpot and singing a song, and suddenly the Fireworks ship got blasted by a cannon!! So can the developers come out and explain what's going on here?]
The comments below him were equally hilarious.
[Haha, the devs won't explain a thing. The devs loves seeing players get tortured! they are probably grinning from ear to ear right now!]
[The moment the Fireworks ship exploded, I really wanted to go put a bullet in developers head!]
[You want to beat up the devs? Then you'll have to get in line! There's probably a whole mob of people wanting to beat them up right now (funny face).]
[I watched Jenny Sinclair and Benjamin streams, so let me warn you in advance. There's even more heartbreaking stuff coming up, so brace yourselves!]
[Honestly though, setting aside the traumatic plot, there are some incredibly badass weapons and vehicles later on. It's exhilarating, the kind of thrill that sends men over the moon!]
[Damn, you sure got us, Developers. Thrilling us one second and torturing us the next. Are you trying to train us players into becoming masochists!?]
[All I can say is that we players really are about to be molded into the Developers shape! Pain and pleasure combined, ah!]
↳ [That 'ah' of yours is very evocative, HAHAHAHA!]
The netizens discussed it fervently. Whenever any celebrity vented about Subnautica, the comments below would easily break ten thousand, filled to the brim with the resentment of the players. In no time at all, the words 'Fireworks ship' skyrocketed straight to the top of Weibo's trending searches!
This left the celebrities who didn't usually play games a bit bewildered. Was this game actually that fun? Had it really reached the point of universal participation?
They immediately started pondering whether they should try playing the game themselves.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the netizens' topics anymore! How were they supposed to piggyback off the hype like that?!
However, among this group of celebrities addicted to Subnautica, there was only one whose X remained peaceful and quiet.
That was Nicolas Cage.
Nicolas Cage could be considered New World's most loyal fan. Every day, he would post a X update about Subnautica, announcing his game progress. His most recent post was a screenshot of the alien building on the island.
[I just successfully landed on the island and was blown away by this magnificent alien architecture. I'm looking forward to the upcoming story even more now!]
Unlike most players, Nicolas Cage had racked his brains trying to save the woman in Lifepod 2 right at the start. Because he had delayed so much time, his story progress lagged far behind the other players. Therefore, when the majority of the players were witnessing the Fireworks ship turn into actual fireworks, he had only just set foot on the island.
This created a bizarre phenomenon. The other players were all having their minds shattered one by one, yet he still wore a look of utter anticipation.
The fans were thoroughly amused by Nicolas Cage post.
[Nick, even though you're very optimistic right now, you need to hang in there for the upcoming suprise!]
[lmao, I really want to spoil it for you, but nvm. Some things are better experienced firsthand when you're caught completely off guard! It will absolutely be unforgettable for the rest of your life!]
[Exactly, Cage absolutely must experience the despair and pain that I had to go through!]
[Knowing Cage's personality, I feel like he won't be able to handle this wave.]
[Yeah, he worked so hard just to save the woman in Lifepod 2. Won't this Fireworks ship flip his whole world upside down?]
↳ [You know what flip his world upside down? it's when Real Estate Market crashed, he found himself burdened with debt and was hit with a $6.3 million tax by the IRS.]
↳ [And it's when he outbid leonardo DaVinci or something for dinausaur skull only to find out it had been illegally smuggled into the country and had to hand it over to the authorities, HAHAHA!]
↳ [Nah, this is the funniest shit. It's when he starred in Leaving Las Vegas and they never paid him the $100,000 they owed him, even after he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.]
↳ [There's 30 advanced chapter in patreon.com/EdgyReader.]
↳ [Fuck you n'gga, i don't fucking care.]
Nicolas Cage was a bit baffled when he saw the comments under his post. What was going on? Why did these people seem to be pitying him?
Could there be another heartbreaking plot point coming up in the game?
This instantly piqued Nicolas Cage curiosity!
He instinctively wanted to reply to one of the people to ask about it, but he quickly stopped his hands. He never liked getting spoiled when playing games. In his eyes, the most important part of gaming was that sense of anticipation.
Whatever, I'll just endure it. He refused to believe there could be anything more heartbreaking than the woman in Lifepod 2!
Triangle Aquatic Center was one of the major training bases for the U.S National Swimming Team.
At this moment, the pool was closed off to the public. During this period, the venue would be used exclusively for the athletes' training.
All the swimmers, including Katie Ledecky, had returned to the team on time after their break to prepare for the upcoming Asian Games.
On the women's swimming team side, a total of twelve members gathered in the break room first, currently receiving a lecture from Coach Karen J. Romero.
"Your vacation is over now, so rein in your focus. There are only four months left until the Asian Games begin. We need to pour all our energy into this, understood!" Karensaid, sweeping her gaze across the athletes present.
"Understood!" A chorus of female voices rang out uniformly in the break room.
"Alright then, go change your clothes and assemble at the swimming area." Karen waved her hand and prepared to turn and leave.
"Hey, Coach, wait a second!" Katie suddenly called out to Karen.
"What is it?" Karen cast a questioning look over.
"Coach, well, during my break, I discovered a new training method. I think we should try it!" Katie said, rolling her large eyes as she carefully weighed her words.
"A training method? What training method?" Karenasked.
Therefore, Katie brought up the subject of Subnautica.
She had previously posted on X asking for advice from the general netizens, and they had all unanimously voiced their support. After thinking about it herself later, she realized it was genuinely feasible, which was why she mustered up the courage to bring it up on her first day back with the team.
"What did you say? Are you suggesting we use a VR game to train for swimming?" Coach Karenwas already in her forties, so she didn't play video games at all. It took Katie a tremendous amount of effort to finally make Karen understand what she meant.
"That's right, that's exactly what I'm thinking." Katie nodded. Hearing this, the rest of the athletes looked at Katie in bewilderment. The game Subnautica was massively famous right now, so they had naturally heard of it too. However, as girls, none of them played video games. Wouldn't it be better to spend that time shopping instead?
So the other female athletes were very surprised by Katie's proposal. A game could be used to train for swimming? That sounded highly unlikely.
Only one other female athlete, Diane Mixon, shot Katie a pleasantly surprised look: "Kate, are you talking about Subnautica? I played that game during my break too, and it's super fun. Hey, now that you mention it, I think it actually could work!"
"It could work, right!" Hearing someone support her, Katie instantly grew excited. Having found a kindred spirit, the two girls joyfully skipped together, bouncing up and down as they started chatting about their own experiences in the game.
"Are you kidding me?!" Seeing how thrilled the two girls were, Coach Karen immediately furrowed her brows. "Stop messing around. How could playing a game possibly train you for swimming!"
"Furthermore, breaks are meant for you two to relax your minds and bodies, not for you to get addicted to games. You shouldn't be playing games even when you're on vacation!"
Karen rebuked them sternly. For middle-aged people of her generation, video games had always been viewed as dangerous scourges, especially the Subnautica game that Katie mentioned!
Karen knew about this game. Her own son had been obsessed with it recently!
Even though she strictly limited her son to less than an hour of playtime a day, which wasn't much time, she still noticed something amiss.
Her son was getting increasingly bolder at challenging her. In the past, whenever she scolded or hit her son, he would only nod submissively. But now, he actually dared to talk back to her! He would even holler baffling things like, 'I'm not even scared of Leviathans, why would I be scared of you?' [TL/N: ????]
Because of this, Karen had subconsciously developed a psychological aversion to this game.
Hearing Katie Ledecky propose this game, she instantly wanted to lose her temper. However, considering that the other party was an athlete and not her son, she could only forcibly restrain herself.
Not to mention Karen, the other female athletes around them were also extremely confused. After all, this proposal simply sounded a bit too absurd.
"Coach, I think it really is possible!" Hearing Karen reject it without a second thought, Katie hurriedly said.
"I feel like it's definitely feasible. We should at least give it a try," Diane chimed in.
Both of them had played Subnautica, so they knew just how incredibly realistic the game's swimming mechanics were.
Katie had won a gold medal in the last Olympics, and Diane had won a bronze medal. Because of this, the two of them held some weight with Wang Mei. Outright refusing them so harshly would seem too unreasonable, so she pretended to consider it for a moment before saying, "Alright, then we will give it a try. But this is a swimming pool, we don't have a VR gaming platform here!"
As soon as she said this, Katie and Diane both frowned.
Indeed, we hadn't taken that into consideration!
To make it seem like she had genuinely considered the proposal, Karen added, "How about this, I'll go ask the pool's administrator. If he says they don't have one, then there's nothing we can do."
Saying that, Karen pulled out her phone and dialed the pool administrator's number. "Hello, Donna, what's up?"
"Donna, it's like this. Does your swimming pool have a VR platform? Two of our athletes here had a sudden whim and said they want to use a VR game for swim training."
"Oh, you mean a VR platform? Of course we have one!" Donna replied briskly.
Karen was instantly dumbfounded, unable to process it for a moment. "You actually have one?"
Hearing this, Katie and Diane both revealed excited smiles.
Karen had originally assumed it was impossible for a place like a swimming pool to have VR equipment, which was why she took the initiative to call and ask. Now, it seemed she had backed herself into a corner!
"Then does your VR platform have the game Subnautica?" Karen suddenly remembered this point and hurriedly asked. "You don't, right?"
This is so freaking cursed!
"Alright then, tell us where it is." Karen could only say this. After all, she couldn't think of any other excuse to refuse.
Soon, Karen led the group of team members to the swimming pool's VR experience zone, where the administrator, Donna, had been waiting for them.
Looking at the dazzling array of VR platforms, Karen was rendered utterly speechless. At the same time, she was somewhat baffled. "No, why would your swimming pool set up a VR experience zone?"
This was just as outrageous as an internet cafe popping up in a swimming pool!!
"Oh, that's an area we only opened recently," Donna answered. "Because a lot of citizens suggested we do this. Subnautica is so popular that when many people come to play, they go into the game to learn how to swim first before they actually dare to enter the real water."
"What use could that possibly have?" Donna scoffed.
"It's useful, incredibly useful. If you learn how to swim in the game, swimming in reality will be absolutely no problem for you!" Donna spread his hands and replied. "I've already seen plenty of landlubbers who have never swam before. When they come here, they can easily swim around on their very first try in the water. Going to the deep end isn't an issue at all either, and it's all because they've played Subnautica!"
"It's precisely because of this game's appearance that our swim coaches here barely have any opportunities to teach classes anymore. The students all learn how to swim entirely inside the game!"
"It's that exaggerated?" Karen was stunned. "Is this game Subnautica specially designed to teach swimming?"
"Of course not. Teaching swimming is just a secondary feature," Donna answered.
"..."
Now Karen was even more dumbfounded. A game's secondary feature could replace professional coaches?
Never mind Karen, the rest of the athletes were all a bit dazed. This truly sounded a bit too much like a fantasy.
You could really learn to swim through a game!
"Coach Karen, this game is truly incredible. I played it myself, you'll know once you try it!" Katie spoke up sincerely once again, while Diane beside her nodded continuously.
Hearing Donna's words, coupled with the two athletes saying the same thing, Karen could only grit her teeth and nod. "Fine, then I'll try it out first!"
Very quickly, Karen put on the haptic suit and stood on the VR platform. In her forties, she had never played this kind of game before, and she suddenly felt a bit nervous.