In modern society, people’s lives seem to be wrapped up in an invisible force, and the digital and virtual worlds have become new cages. In the game “Mingchao”, a character named “Xia Kong” has become the object of pursuit for many players with a long list of materials. The seemingly complicated “low-frequency”, “medium-frequency” and “high-frequency” materials are nothing more than a projection of the spiritual anxiety of real life and a reflection of the era’s exploitation of human nature.
Games are tools for escaping reality and having fun, but today’s virtual world has become another place of labor. That long list of materials, like an iron chain, imprisons players in endless collection and repetitive tasks. Everyone thinks that games can bring comfort, but in fact, this comfort is slavery at the cost of time and energy. Nowadays, people shuttle through “low-frequency” materials, just like the hard labor in the old society, repeating day and night, and it seems that there is no rest.
“Tidal Sail Core”, “Crystallized Phlogiston”, “Burning Phosphorus Bone”, these seemingly strange names are just words used by designers to beautify boring things, but in fact they are traps that consume manpower and material resources. Players are willing to invest time and money, but they don’t realize that they have fallen into another modern spiritual slavery. The power of capital is everywhere, and the “recharge discounts” and “discount codes” in the game silently force people to increase their investment. Behind people’s pursuit of character growth is the powerless resistance to reality and helpless compromise.
This collection of materials in the virtual world actually reflects the living conditions of contemporary people. Time is scarce and anxiety is frequent. People invest their limited lives in this seemingly harmless “cultivation” game, but gradually become factory workers in another sense. The difference is that the machines in the factory are iron sheets, while the machines in the game world are invisible data and desires. They cleverly weave rules to make people indulge in them and lose the real control of freedom.
This long list of materials is also a list of the mental state of modern people. Low-frequency materials symbolize trivial daily affairs, medium-frequency materials represent important nodes in life, and high-frequency materials represent those unattainable dreams and pursuits. People struggle between these three, trying to find a balance, but endless tasks and pressure make it difficult to maintain this balance.
What is more thought-provoking is that the “Sighing Ancient Dragon” and “Golden Fleece” in the material names, these profound words, seem to silently tell the confusion and loneliness of modern people. Sighing is the youth crushed by time, and chasing is the ideal that is difficult to obtain. The virtual “Golden Fleece” has become a bait, tempting people to keep paying, but never really satisfying their inner desires.
“Stuffed Meat Tofu” and other short-term enhancement props are nothing more than sugar-coated bullets in the spiritual world of game manufacturers, trying to relieve players’ fatigue with short-term rewards. But this comfort is nothing more than a drop in the bucket. Players will eventually return to the long material collection and continue this marathon with no end in sight.
People fight and struggle in the virtual world, ostensibly for a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, but in fact it is an escape from reality and a silent accusation. Lu Xun once said: “There is no greater sorrow than the death of the heart.” Does this virtual “cultivation” process also make people’s hearts die invisibly? Their time is deprived, their spirits are hollowed out, and they eventually become passive machine parts.
But this is not hopeless. Recognizing the truth of this game is the first step to break free from the shackles. Only when we see the slavery relationship between time and desire in the virtual world can we truly find ourselves and regain freedom. Games should be a spice of life, not the whole of life. People should find a path between virtual and reality, rather than being dragged into the quagmire forever by the list of materials.
Xia Kong’s list of cultivation materials is not only the structure of the game system, but also a true portrayal of the spiritual dilemma of contemporary people. It reminds us that if we are not vigilant, the virtual shackles will gradually become real chains. Only by breaking free from this invisible slavery can we keep the freedom in our hearts and maintain the dignity of life.