164: Chapter 161 Argument
"What the hell..."
He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
He looked carefully for two seconds—the icon was indeed there. It was black and white, sitting quietly in the bottom left corner of the holographic projection screen.
It didn't flicker, didn't glow, and didn't pop up any notifications.
It was as if it had always been there.
Fang Yifei poked it twice more.
No reaction.
"Forget it." He muttered, entering the next match.
But this small discovery was like a pebble thrown into a calm surface of water.
8:15 AM.
Symphony Realm · World Echo.
[Fang Yifei (Yanhuang Civilization): Has anyone noticed an extra icon in the bottom left corner of the life ring screen? It's a little black and white humanoid figure, looks like an alien. I saw it accidentally just after finishing a Sequence Battle; I tapped it several times, but it wouldn't budge. It seems this thing wasn't there before, right? Does anyone know what it is?]
A minute after the post was sent, someone replied below.
"What are you talking about? Let me check."
"...Holy crap, it's actually there! How did I not notice it before?"
"I see it too! I thought I was the only one!"
Immediately after—
[Lin Xiaobei (Yanhuang Civilization): I also discovered this icon. But I saw it when I got up this morning to tinker with the life ring functions. I thought it was some new feature being released, so I tapped it excitedly, but there was no response. I long-pressed it, still no response, so I just ignored it.]
[Zhao Dali (Yanhuang Civilization): I caught a glimpse of it last night while playing a Sequence Battle! The fight was intense, and I caught a glimpse of a little thing in the bottom left corner of the life ring screen out of the corner of my eye, but I was busy fighting a Teuton at the time, so I didn't have time to look closely. After the battle, I looked again, and there was indeed a small humanoid icon. I tapped it and nothing happened. I thought it was a teaser for a new feature, but no matter how I poked it, it wouldn't move, so I didn't pay it any mind.]
[Angela Barker (Teuton): I saw it when I was eating lunch... Can't tap it +1.]
[Little Taro (Yanhuang Civilization): Me too! I thought it was some kind of Easter egg for the life ring! Turns out it's just a decoration???]
[Bette Logi (Gaul): It's there. Bottom left corner, a little black and white humanoid figure. Honestly, when I first saw it, I thought it was a bug, because this thing really wasn't there before.]
[Fang Rui (Yanhuang Civilization): Confirmed, all five members of our squad have this icon on our life rings. The shape is exactly the same. None of them can be tapped.]
For a time, more and more people began to pull out their life rings to check, both Yanhuang Survivors and Survivors from other civilizations, then swarmed into the post to confirm.
"It's there!"
"I have it too!"
"Can't tap it +1!"
"What the hell is this thing?"
The discussion quickly moved from simply "confirming its existence" to the "guessing its function" stage.
Around 9:30, the first wave of guesses appeared.
[Blue Whale Traveler (Yanhuang Civilization): I think it's just a normal logo for the life ring. You guys are overthinking it. Just like phones and computers before Transmigration, there are always some System icons on the desktop that can't be tapped, or are purely decorative. This kind of design is too common.]
[Raymond Lilith (Fog City): Agree with the above. If you can't tap it, it's an icon; only things you can tap are features. This should be common knowledge.]
[Desert Starfish (Yanhuang Civilization): That's not right. The life ring's holographic projection screen didn't have this icon before. I turned over every corner when I got my life ring on the first day, and I clearly remember the bottom left corner was empty. It appeared suddenly, so it can't be just a decorative logo.]
[Tide Watcher Li (Yanhuang Civilization): Agree with the above. Things that appear suddenly must have a purpose. Everyone think back, ever since the Fate Master started updating the Fate Platform, from the first version to the current 4.0, when has he ever done anything useless? Never. Every update has had a clear purpose. So this icon won't be an exception. It's just possible it's under development, so it can't be tapped for the moment. My personal judgment is that this is most likely a placeholder icon for some new feature the Fate Master is preparing.]
This analytical post drew agreement from quite a few people.
"Makes sense! The Fate Master never does anything useless!"
"So this is a teaser for a new feature? Kind of looking forward to it!"
"What kind of feature could it be? It looks like a little alien, could it be the mascot for the Fate Platform, hahaha—"
But soon, voices of dissent arrived as well.
[Storm Eye (Yanhuang Civilization): @Tide Watcher Li, you said the Fate Master never does anything useless, so this icon can't be decorative. Fine, I'll accept that logic for now. But then you say "it might be under development so it can't be tapped for now"—let me ask you this: when has the Fate Master ever released a feature that wasn't fully developed? From Fate Platform 1.0 to 4.0, every update has been a finished product, fully functional, ready to use immediately. When has he ever put a half-finished product on the Fate Platform? You say the Fate Master doesn't do useless work, I believe that. But you also say the Fate Master would put unfinished things up first—doesn't that contradict what you said earlier?]
The comments below this post instantly exploded.
"Holy crap, it really is a contradiction!"
"That makes sense! The Fate Master truly has never released a half-finished product!"
"So is it a decorative logo or a new feature? I'm even more confused now!!!"
[Tide Watcher Li (Yanhuang Civilization): @Storm Eye, what you said has some merit, but the life ring and the Fate Platform are different carriers themselves; perhaps the Fate Master adopted a different update strategy for peripheral terminals...]
[Storm Eye (Yanhuang Civilization): You're just forcing an excuse.]
[Tide Watcher Li (Yanhuang Civilization): You're just being argumentative for the sake of it.]
The two looked like they were about to start a fight.
Then—
A post appeared.
[Fisherman Song (Yanhuang Civilization): Everyone. Before you guys argue about this issue, has anyone actually looked at the Fate Platform's inbox?]
The comments section went quiet for three seconds.
[Fisherman Song (Yanhuang Civilization): I'm truly speechless. The Fate Master sent an email notification last night, the title is written clearly—'life ring Basic Function Debugging Notice'. The content says that the life ring will undergo a micro-basic function iteration at 24:00 last night, during which the life ring will randomly go silent for about 0.01 seconds before automatically recovering. Where are your eyes? The Fate Master has already told everyone, and you guys are still here guessing and guessing. This alien icon didn't appear suddenly; it was added after the Fate Master iterated on the life ring at midnight last night. The Fate Master himself said it was basic function debugging, so this icon is clearly the product of that debugging. Can everyone stop arguing after reading that? Are you all stupid?]
Once this post came out, the comments section was dead silent.
Then—
"..."
"Inbox? Oh, there really seems to be a little red dot."
"Yeah, yeah, it's in the top right corner of the personal page..."
"I know! But the inbox has always been just random junk mail sent by strange Survivors, who checks the inbox!!!"
"Holy crap, I checked, there really is this notice. Sent last night. The title is right there. I'm truly blind."
"I see it too... 'life ring Basic Function Debugging Notice'... The Fate Master wrote it so clearly... It's our own fault for not reading it..."
[Tide Watcher Li (Yanhuang Civilization): ...Sorry to bother you. Goodbye. [Social death.jpg]]
[Storm Eye (Yanhuang Civilization): ...I'm leaving too. [Disappearing on the spot.jpg]]