Recently, a new five-star character “Xia Kong” was launched in an online game called “Mingchao”. The list of materials required for its development is several pages long, which is jaw-dropping. Various names such as “Tide Eclipse Sail Core”, “Crystallized Phlogiston”, “Burning Phosphorus Bone”, “Sighing Ancient Dragon”, etc., like a seemingly complex and detailed task blueprint, actually expose the barrenness and anxiety of the spiritual world of modern people, as well as the double slavery of people in the virtual world.
In this fast-paced era, people’s spiritual life is gradually impoverished, and the heaviness and helplessness of reality make many people put their feelings in the virtual world. Games should be tools for decompression and entertainment, but the complicated list of materials in “Mingchao” has become another kind of shackles: players are no longer free “tourists”, but “laborers” driven by countless tasks. In order to let “Xia Kong” climb to a higher level, they have to invest a lot of time, brushing monsters, brushing materials, and recharging in order to get short-term satisfaction. Such “cultivation” seems to be a free choice, but in fact it is a spiritual coercion and a kidnapping of time.
The game industry uses exquisite design to firmly trap players in a bottomless material cycle. Those “low-frequency”, “medium-frequency” and “high-frequency” materials are like invisible chains that bind people tightly. There are also temptations of “recharge discounts” and “discount codes”, which make it difficult for players to extricate themselves financially. The ruthlessness of capital and the bottomlessness of desire make games no longer pure fun, but a tool of profit and control. As I once said: “Hope is attached to existence. If there is existence, there is hope. If there is hope, there is light.”
But this light seems to be just an illusory mirror. Behind those gorgeous material names is the spiritual emptiness and confusion in reality. Modern people are eager for achievement and the meaning of existence, but they are drowned by fragmented life and information torrents and lose their perception of reality. Games have become a shelter to escape reality, but they have also increased the burden on the spirit in the process of escape. We see that the anxiety of reality is transformed into an endless pursuit of “cultivation materials” through games, which is ultimately another cage.
I can’t help but ask, does such “cultivation” really make people successful? Or does it push people into a deeper nothingness? Mental slavery is often more cruel than physical slavery. People swipe in the virtual world, but forget the footsteps of the real world. We blindly pursue upgrades and enhancements, but ignore the growth and awakening of the soul.
The symbolic names of “Sighing Ancient Dragon” and “Golden Fleece” in the list of materials may be a satire on our spiritual world: those beautiful myths and legends have now become consumption symbols in the game of capital. They decorate boring tasks and make people temporarily intoxicated, but they cannot cover up the deep desolation.
At this moment, I think of the characters in my works who struggle in the conflict between feudal ethics and modern civilization. Their difficulties and pain seem to be similar to the situation of modern players. Only the carrier has changed, and the spiritual shackles are still heavy. Each of us is playing a “role” arranged by the times, playing a set script, and losing freedom and reality.
I hope that while enjoying technological progress and virtual entertainment, modern people can keep a clear mind, not be kidnapped by the “cultivation materials” in front of them, and learn to be responsible for their time and spirit. Life should not be just an endless pile of tasks, and spirit should not be just a gorgeous decoration on the surface. Real growth is to seek awakening in adversity and to find direction in confusion.
The meaning of the game should be to make people relax and happy, rather than creating new anxiety and slavery. The progress of society should not be that capital exploits people more covertly and more comprehensively. We look forward to a more humane and warmer entertainment and life, rather than such mechanical and indifferent “cultivation” and consumption.
Taking this as a lesson, I hope that all people immersed in the virtual world can break free from the invisible shackles and regain spiritual freedom and the true nature of life.