Chapter Fifty-Five: Entering the Game

“Giving back to the players, an entirely new mode?!” Li Shang murmured, then his spirits lifted as realization dawned on him. “This is my mentor, feeling grateful, creating a brand-new mode exclusively for us fans.” With this thought, Li Shang felt that all the hardships he’d endured were suddenly worthwhile.

“My mentor has always been watching us, just unsure how to show his gratitude, which is why he’s been tirelessly updating the game.”
“All of this is to give back to players like us who speak up for him.”
“This is his unique way of saying thank you.”
“My mentor is the best!”

Li Shang was deeply moved. Designers who always keep players in mind are rare, not just in niche games, but throughout the entire gaming world.
You have my back now, mentor—I'll protect your legacy!

With that silent vow, Li Shang excitedly launched the game to check out the details of the new update.

...

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

In a luxury villa’s gaming pod on a small island overseas, Li Shan stroked his chin as he began his livestream, gazing at the two new modes in the latest update of “Spore Evolution.”

“Standard Mode and Frenzy Mode.”

“Standard Mode’s gameplay is the same as usual, except now you compete against other players. Simply put, it’s a hundred-player multiplayer mode,” Li Shan explained to his fans after reading the introduction.

After reviewing Standard Mode, he clicked on Frenzy Mode. His eyes lit up as he read the description.

“This mode seems pretty interesting.”

[Frenzy Mode]
Capacity: 100 players
Gameplay:
1. This is a standalone mode; there are no races.
2. There are six initial creature types: mammals, birds, reptiles, arthropods, fish, and plants (note: plants can only be selected once the first DNA in the game is fully unlocked).
3. Evolution is simplified—devouring other creatures grants you a random gene for evolution.
4. If killed by non-player monsters, you revive instantly.
5. After entering the game, a hunger bar will appear beneath your character. The hunger bar depletes faster over time; when it reaches zero, your character dies and cannot be revived for the rest of the match.
6. The mini-map shows the direction of the 100 nearest creatures.
7. The last survivor wins, earning a large number of rank points and evolution points as rewards.
[Click here for more details on Frenzy Mode evolution]☜

‘This is a bit like a free-for-all duel mode.’
‘Old Devil, check out the details—I have a feeling this mode is going to be wild.’
‘Let me log on, I want to compete with Old Devil. I’ve been looking forward to knocking him out.’
‘Team up to take down Old Devil (2/99)’

Seeing the comments, Li Shan didn’t keep his audience in suspense and clicked for more details.

[Frenzy Mode Evolution Details]:
Creatures are divided into eight primary taxonomic ranks: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
For example:
Human: Eukaryota/Animalia/Chordata/Mammalia/Primates/Hominidae/Homo/Homo sapiens
Cabbage: Eukaryota/Plantae/Spermatophyta/Magnoliopsida/Brassicales/Brassicaceae/Brassica/Brassica rapa
Macaque: Eukaryota/Animalia/Chordata/Mammalia/Primates/Cercopithecidae/Macaca/Macaca mulatta
Base success rate for gene devouring: zero percent.
For each primary taxonomic rank shared between your base creature and the one you devour, success rate increases by 10%.
(Note: Only creatures within the same domain and kingdom can be successfully devoured; others are invalid and yield no genes.)

“Seems pretty hardcore, but it should be much simpler in practice,” Li Shan explained after reading through Frenzy Mode’s rules.

His live chat was full of all kinds of viewers, and he couldn’t be sure everyone could follow the details.

‘Hardcore? I think it’s pretty simple. There can’t be anyone who doesn’t get this, right?’
‘We’ve found one! Someone who doesn’t get it!’
‘No need to explain so much, just start a match—playing a couple of rounds will make everything clear.’

“True, once you’ve played a bit, it all makes sense,” Li Shan agreed with a nod.

“I’m opening a room—five slots, I’m taking one, so there are four left. If you want in, hurry up.”

‘I’m in!’
‘Shocking! Top streamer Baiqiao opens a room during the day, all for…’
‘Dammit! The room filled in three seconds—where did you all get those lightning-fast fingers? You could be mining diamonds bare-handed!’
‘I’ll try queueing up with Old Devil, maybe I’ll get matched with him.’

“Ahem.” Seeing the room fill up instantly, Li Shan cleared his throat. “Those who missed out, be faster next time. Enough talk, let’s get into the game.”

With that, Li Shan queued up. Less than a second after hitting match, he was in.

He entered Frenzy Mode, arriving in the creature selection chamber.

A blue sky stretched overhead.
Eggs of all sizes and colors were arranged in dense clusters.

Scanning the area, Li Shan’s gaze landed on the very center of the space, where six creatures floated:

A rooster, sparrow, gecko, mantis, octopus, and burdock.

“These must be the six basic creatures,” Li Shan said.

‘Weren’t there supposed to be bonuses? Why haven’t we seen anything after entering the game?’

‘By the way, how does a plant devour and evolve? My imagination just can’t stretch that far.’

‘Old Devil, look in the center among those six creatures—isn’t there an egg glowing?’

“Hm?”

Prompted by the chat, Li Shan quickly spotted the giant egg glowing gold.

[Would you like to claim your first-play bonus?]

“Yes.”

[Bonus claimed]
[Exotic Beast Egg x1]
[Would you like to open the Exotic Beast Egg now?]
(Note: The creature you get is completely random—it all depends on luck.)

Li Shan stroked his chin and opened it at once.

As he made his choice, cracks rapidly spread across the golden Exotic Beast Egg.
Moments later, a mighty eagle burst free, soaring into the sky and freezing mid-flight as a new selectable creature.

‘No way! How does Old Devil, with his usual bad luck, hatch an eagle, while I only get a worm? This is so unfair.’

‘Not bad—just a regular animal. I got a special species.’

‘You can open one of these Exotic Beast Eggs for only a hundred gene points. Old Devil, why don’t you buy a few more?’

“It’s buyable?”
Li Shan was surprised by the comment, then walked up to an egg and reached out.

[Prompt: Spend 100 gene points to unlock a new character?]

“It really works.”
Without hesitation, Li Shan confirmed.
He still had millions of gene points and had been wondering how to spend them.

He opened the Exotic Beast Eggs one after another.

There were ordinary creatures—mice, eels, loaches, mudfish…
And some rarer ones, like glow clams, fire serpents, and ion birds.

Even though these rare creatures had special abilities, they didn’t upset the game’s balance. After all, this was an ever-evolving mode; your starting creature didn’t matter much in the endgame.

[Prompt: You’ve obtained ‘Hallucinogenic Spore’ from an Exotic Beast Egg.]

“A spore?!”

Li Shan’s eyes shone. The game was called Spore Evolution, after all…

In other words, the spore is the game’s true essence.

“Alright, folks, I’m picking this Hallucinogenic Spore for this round.”

“Let’s get this show on the road!”