Shepherding Humanity

The Bugapes haven’t recovered yet from the Great Flood and were only a small tribe living in a remote corner. They weren’t everywhere like before. This made it convenient for Xu Zhi to change the terrain without anyone noticing.

He picked a good spot, then poured down manure and mixed it with dead branches and leaves. This would decay and turn into fertile mud, which would be fermented by microorganisms, creating methane gas. And thus, a viscous swamp would be born.

He then placed the Evil Eyes into the swamp.

Since they had no competition at the moment, even if they were weak, they could still survive and reproduce in great numbers. Hopefully, they’d evolve to become this land’s first monstrous species, true Evil Eyes as found in the Cthulhu mythos.

Xu Zhi had nothing to lose even if they failed. If they could not evolve supernatural abilities, it was likely that they’d go extinct anyway.

The next morning, Xu Zhi leisurely sat in the yard with his legs crossed, cheerfully joking with himself as he ate an apple.

"As expected, it’s better to work with others. People are just full of surprises. Take this weird giant eyeball monster for instance… I really hate myself for not being retarded enough to come up with something like that. With my intellect, I’d probably never be able to evolve something that bizarre."

As he messed around, he looked at the small sandbox and was surprised to see it completely full!

It had the maximum number of players possible, and a hundred spores were evolving within the sandbox.

Xu Zhi had not intended to allow many players into the sandbox. It was only meant to be a casual niche game for people to provide him with inspiration after all.

Xu Zhi had not paid much attention to the game's entertainment value and did not expect it to become so popular. It had only been a day, and the sandbox's server was already full.

He checked the internet out of curiosity, and found the forum thread that had started it all.

The title of the thread was.

"Miracle technology! The most realistic simulation game! 100% realism! The most hardcore ‘casual’ sandbox game in the history of Chinese games, “Spore Evolution”."

At first, the posters who replied were all skeptical. VR technology was still too immature. There was no way such a game was possible. They were certain it was only empty propaganda.

But while they mostly scoffed, there would always be the curious ones willing to try anything. A few players tried the game, and then the thread exploded.

A returning poster said:

"It's true! It's amazing! There’s even the sense of touch! What kind of alien technology is this! I can not praise it enough!"

He immediately got derided as a scammer.

But then there were people who couldn't help but be curious after that. They tried the game, instantly got hooked, and never looked back. This cycle kept repeating until a player started to release screenshots of the game, along with the bizarre creatures that were the failed products of his evolution. A flurry of activity followed, and people soon found out that only one hundred beta testers could register. Any more, and you couldn't log into the game.

"There are only one hundred beta testers."

Countless people were heartbroken and envious.

The first group of testers who had successfully logged in were happy and excited.

They stayed up all night and praised this revolutionary game to the skies. And early this morning, the first "Spore Evolution" game guide and beta test impressions were posted, topping the game’s forum.

"Hello guys! I'm ‘Akina’s Speedster'. I was also the one who started the last thread. I'm very lucky to be the first one to discover this revolutionary game that had been released without any promotion. Now, I'll do a quick game review!

First of all, the point that people are most concerned about, does it really feel that realistic?

My answer is, yes!

It’s definitely true! I give you my word, it was as if I was really and truly in another world. I don't know how they did it, it’s a miracle!

There is also pain adjustment, I adjusted it to 100%, and the feeling of death was so realistic that I had convulsions! I took off the VR glasses in reality, and my entire body was sweating, shaking and convulsing.

I’m never ever going to try that again. This is the first scary part about this game. Players better pay attention, I'm going to list the scary parts of this game. I discourage you from playing if you don’t have what it takes!

First of all, while this game is billed as a ‘casual’ sandbox survival game, it is casual in name only. In fact, it is incredibly hardcore. When you log into the game, there is no Character Creation screen like in other traditional MMOs. There is only one option: start life as a spore and begin your evolutionary journey.

You might not believe me when I say this, but once you enter the game, the world is pitch black.

That's right, you're just a single cell and have to evolve eyes to see the world. It’s too damn realistic! (My inner thought: at that moment, I realized that this so-called ‘easy-going’ and ‘casual’ free-to-play sandbox game was going to be something special.)

In the game, we start as a spore and the leader of a species. We can control the evolution of our species, but if the "king" we control dies, then no matter how many species members we have left, it’s Game Over.

It's worth mentioning that this virtual-reality game is so realistic that it’s scary. You have the senses of whatever creature you evolve. For example, if you become an insect, then you’ll have all the senses of an insect!

The first species I evolved was an eyeball monster with a huge eye. I found that I had an incredible field of vision. The second time, I evolved eight compound eyes, and guess what I saw?

The world as seen through compound eyes! It's so damn realistic!

It's just too amazing!

In this game, we can perfectly experience and perceive the world through the senses of other species. I think that if I could evolve into a dragon, I would be able to fly and experience the thrill of being a dragon, soaring through the clouds.

But in my longest game session so far, I’ve only managed to evolve into an amphibian, an oddly shaped eyeball monster that had just left the ocean. I didn't even make it through five hours of gameplay.

And, once you die in this game, you can only start over..

Right! That's the second hardcore part about this game!

Unlike other games, with respawn points after death, you only have one life, and the only way to respawn after death is to start over! You turn back into a spore, and everything you have previously evolved is gone! It's so f*cking hardcore. It does not follow any of the traditional MMO game conventions! It does whatever it wants and doesn’t even care if that discourages people from playing!

The third hardcore part about this game is that there is no such thing as a strategy! Don't expect me to write a strategy guide either, I have attempted to evolve into an eyeball monster again using the same method as last time, and ended up evolving into another species with compound eyes…

–This is also completely consistent with evolutionary theory, which says that each and every life form that appears in the history of evolution is miraculous and unique.

Even if you have the exact same environment and follow the exact same process, you might become another very different species due to butterfly effect. Although I don't know how this game was designed, it really feels like a real world, with real evolution, and infinite possibilities!

And, this game’s setting is quite interesting. Next to the mountains, rivers, and oceans where we spores live, there’s a colossal giant wreathed in a hazy halo. We evolve by the entrance to the giant's courtyard, and he often sits in front of his house on a wooden chair, peeling fruit, and quietly reading a book. Our creatures can sneak up on him, and even climb onto his body! When I was an eyeball creature, I tried to get close to look at him, and he stomped my "king" to death. I exited the game, and my followers were left behind, no longer under my control. They should be extinct by now.

Personally, I'm guessing he's an important NPC in this game!

He could be set up to be invincible, or he could be a boss, and we can challenge him later, after we've evolved into the strongest species. Anyway, it's food for thought. We're like insects evolving in the giant's yard.

Now for my closing words. This is the most hardcore game ever made! Super hardcore! Casuals need not apply! But it's also so much fun!

A great degree of freedom. Infinite possibilities. 100% realistic sensations, as if it were a real world. It’s so fun! I can’t praise it enough!

Honestly, my only goal right now is to survive for a long time, and escape the fate of dying constantly and having to start over. I’ll evolve into a powerful species with a solid place in the ecosystem, and perhaps even climb to the top of the food chain! Then I'm going to evolve into a dragon of legend and develop the dragon race. This is every Chinese person's dream! And then, I’ll fly above that apple peeling giant and shit on his head!!!

Oh yea! That would be awesome!

And like I said, there's really no strategy guide… My fellow players! If you want to play, then go read “The Origin of Species” and similar books. Knowledge is power! I also had to do some reading before I could evolve various organs. Students majoring in biology, you guys would rule at this game!

And that’s that. I got a headache from playing too long, that’s why I took a short break and wrote this guide. Time for me to head back in. I will absolutely live a little longer this time. I’m addicted aren’t I?"

You want to shit on my head?

Xu Zhi smiled. The last species that dared to provoke me that much, and called me Baldy, do you know how they’ve ended up?

Xu Zhi silently recorded this insult in his little notebook. Bro, we will settle this account later. He had completely forgotten that he had just called Akina’s Speedster retarded earlier. This was simply a case of give and take.