Gaming
Before the release of Black Myth: Wukong, I once considered jumping on the bandwagon and purchasing it. However, given that I don’t have the appropriate hardware at home, I had to let it go.
My PS4 Pro can’t handle the game, and my laptop’s graphics card is too weak. At 1080P with all settings on low, it only manages 100 frames, and once I enter the game, I doubt it would even maintain 50 frames.
I’ve never been much of an RPG player, mainly because they require too much skill. Although I’ve collected quite a few on my PS4, I’ve barely touched most of them.
Looking at my PS4 game library, the last time I opened a game was over half a year ago. The last time I seriously played an RPG was when I used my 3DSLL to play Monster Hunter 4.
As I’ve grown older, my preferences for video games have noticeably shifted. I’ve become more inclined toward smaller, simpler, and turn-based games, rather than the marathon gaming sessions I used to have when I was younger, where I could spend an entire day immersed in a game’s story.
In recent years, Honor of Kings and CSGO have remained the two games I play the most. However, they exist in a seesaw relationship—when I play one more, the other gets less attention.
For example, since July this year, with the kids on summer break and no longer needing to shuttle them around early in the morning or late at night, I’ve been playing CSGO continuously for two months. During this time, Honor of Kings has been completely forgotten.
Novels
In recent years, alongside gaming, I’ve also developed a passion for reading novels.
I used to rarely read fantasy, xianxia, or cultivation novels, preferring instead short and medium-length science fiction works.
However, since the rise of short videos, I’ve been led into this rabbit hole by various video recommendations.
Since the pandemic, I’ve caught up on quite a few popular fantasy novels.
Recently, with the buzz around Black Myth: Wukong, I stumbled upon a video on Douyin titled The Sorrowful Wukong. It essentially copied the first few dozen chapters of the web novel The Return of the Great Sage, using a contemporary fantasy setting to continue the story of Journey to the West.
After watching the Douyin video for half an hour, I immediately sought out the original novel. I discovered that the entire book is only 2 million words long and is already completed, so I spent a few days reading it.
Overall, I think this continuation is quite successful, similar to the initial setup in Black Myth: Wukong, where Sun Wukong has disappeared after the events of Journey to the West.
However, the novel’s world-building is far more expansive than the game’s. It broadly consists of three parts:
- The Three Realms: The heavens, earth, and human realm from Journey to the West, created by Pangu, who is considered the most powerful being in the Three Realms.
- The Chaos Realm: The Three Realms are just one of many worlds created by Pangu. In the Chaos Realm, there are numerous beings like Pangu who can create worlds.
- The Divine Realm: Pangu’s birthplace, a place far more vast and magnificent than the Chaos Realm, where Pangu is only of average strength.
In terms of power levels, Sun Wukong’s initial strength is indeed modest, as he hasn’t undergone much cultivation. In Journey to the West, many demons could hold their own against him.
- Mortal Immortal
- Heavenly Immortal
- True Immortal
- Taiyi Golden Immortal (Sun Wukong’s level when he caused havoc in the underworld)
- Great Luo Golden Immortal (e.g., Yang Jian, the Victorious Fighting Buddha)
- Quasi-Saint (e.g., Bodhi, Buddha, Jade Emperor)
- Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortal (e.g., Nüwa, Dao Ancestor)
- Divine King (the peak achievable by gathering the power of the Three Realms)
- Divine Emperor (e.g., Pangu)
- Celestial Emperor (various emperors of the divine realm)
- Immortal King (the height Sun Wukong ultimately reaches in the novel)
Additionally, there’s a sequel to this book. It roughly extends the power levels beyond Immortal King, including Quasi-Immortal Emperor, Immortal Emperor, Sacrificial Dao, and beyond. The world-building also expands from the Chaos Universe to an even larger universe. However, I only skimmed through it and didn’t delve deeply.
