Xiakong in the game “Mingchao” is very famous. As a newly promoted five-star resonator, the materials required for her cultivation are complicated and numerous, which makes people think of the alienation and consumption of people in modern society. Her growth path is not just the improvement of character attributes, but more like an endless labor and waiting. This phenomenon is actually a microcosm of modern game culture and capital-driven, and also exposes the struggle and helplessness of the player group in the virtual world.

A closer look at Xiakong’s breakthrough materials, “low-frequency, medium-frequency, high-frequency, full-frequency tide erosion sail core”, although the name is novel, it is just a threshold cleverly set by the game designer. In addition to “burning phosphorus bones”, “golden wool”, and a large number of crystallized phlogistons, from impurities to high purity, the complexity of the number and the extreme heavyness all indicate a kind of consumption logic: players must continue to pay time and energy in exchange for a little improvement. Here, time has become the heaviest shackle, not just entertainment.

For each material, players need to repeatedly swipe copies, challenge bosses, or even spend real money to buy it. The so-called “Krypton Gold” has become an inevitable phenomenon in the game ecology. Modern people are just like the players of “Xia Kong”, trapped in invisible shackles. The iron chains of capital are linked together. Whether in the game or in reality, they cannot escape the fate of being exploited. Game manufacturers take advantage of players’ desire for a sense of achievement and belonging, and transform this desire into unlimited “liver” tasks and recharge temptations.

In this process, the subjectivity of players is weakened and becomes a part of the game machine. Brushing monsters, brushing materials, waiting for resurrection, charging money… These repetitive mechanical actions can easily make people feel tired and numb, but they are difficult to give up. As Mr. Lu Xun said: “The backbone of the Chinese has been bent.” Today’s virtual world seems to continue this social oppression, torturing the will of players in another form.

Although the purchase limit of “Golden Fleece” and the props of “Stuffed Meat Tofu” to improve efficiency seem to be humanized designs, they are actually traps that deepen players’ dependence. Players have to invest more time and energy, or more money, to make up for those gaming experiences that should be fun rather than burdensome. Such a cycle is a wake-up call: Why has entertainment become a burden? Why has a free game become a place of slavery?

“Condensate Domain·Confession Abyss”, a mysterious and religious name, is actually a copy that players must brush every day, and has become the “labor church” of modern games. Players repeatedly “confess” here and constantly purify the so-called “crystallized phlogiston”. Behind this is the desire for purity and the silent accusation of tired souls. The sacredness of virtual space is just another exploitation field covered by market logic.

Advertisements for recharge channels appear frequently, and players’ money is continuously sucked away. Platforms such as Treabar provide preferential and convenient services, but no matter how “smooth” the transaction process is, behind it is still the exploitation of players by capital. Players’ account and wallet security is what they care about most, but they may ignore that the game design itself has fallen into the capital trap, and any safe transaction comes at the cost of endless consumption.

This phenomenon reflects not only the problem of games, but also a microcosm of modern society. Capital logic penetrates into every corner of life, and consumerism has become the main theme of people. Virtual games have become the modern “new factory”, and players have become “new workers”, mechanically repeating, exhausted, just for the short-term sense of accomplishment and illusory satisfaction.

We need to reflect on whether we are willing to be kidnapped by games and capital and become slaves of endless liver brushing and krypton gold? Can we find the essence of games: entertainment and relaxation, rather than pressure and anxiety? Should game manufacturers assume social responsibility and design a more humane and respectful game experience for players’ time and psychology?

Xia Kong’s development materials are not just a string of data, but also a mirror that reflects the confusion and struggle of our time. We should be alert and not be blinded by the virtual halo, let alone let entertainment become a new shackle.

Lu Xun said, “Real people are those who dare to face the bleak life and dare to face the blood.” Facing the giant wheel of the game industry, we players should also have such courage to examine the virtual world we are addicted to, refuse alienation, and pursue true freedom.