DD# 284 Another Summer Sale Arrived

Hi, everyone. It seems we just reached another year's Steam Summer Sale. That means our 22nd anniversary will be soon as well. About that, I will talk about it next week. For this week, let's just go over what we got this week.

First, an assassination plot against an ex-Ukrainian official. Background: It has been 4 years since the war in Ukraine started. In March 2022, a "Confident Old Man who Likes Smiles" arrived in the Grand Bazaar. Since then, he has been recruiting players to start operations such as "Ghost of Kyiv" and "The Special Tractor Operation."

He has been in the game for quite a long time. Sometimes, it makes you wonder what the Russian side is doing, allowing him to just do what he does for all those years. Even Budnov got two dozen assassination attempts. Technically, I believe if the Russian side really wants to eliminate Budanov without considering any consequences, they could. Even I know that not too long ago, he appeared in the center of Kyiv as part of a social event at a university. The location is known, and I don't think he can survive a few nukes. But as we know so far, Russia is not going to use nukes right now, no matter how many times Medvedev threatened to use them. Now, let's go back to the game. What is going on? When you walk in the Dark Alley of Liu, you can now find a dead body dumped near a dumpstar.

According to the government data, approximately 11.31 million people died in China in 2025. (Including three of my close family members.) That's about half of the current Ukrainian population, just for comparison. So, in a dark sense, finding a dead corpse is nothing special at all. People die in this Dark Alley every day, especially when facing unspeakable supernatural horrors. But if you dig a bit deeper. You will find a document on him.

He was a Russian operative. He got the poisoned tea. But he was killed by an unknown third party. Who did it is unknown. It could be some local gangs. It could be the Ukrainian. It could be a rival Russian faction. It could be a random agent from another secret organization who just happened to pass by. Anyway, that's not important right now. What's important is how you handle this situation.

From here, the two paths you can choose are very clear. The game does not judge your choice. It has tons of freedom. You can be pro-Ukraine by sending out the warning so that the Ukrainian officer can survive, and you gain some Karma and relationship points with certain characters and factions. Or...

You can continue this failed assassination attempt yourself, gain some relationship points with the Russian factions, and receive $500000 paid in cash by another Russian agent. Yes, only $500k for a life. It's lower than the yearly salary of many jobs in many Western nations. But you can probably spend much less to hire an assassin in some other nations. Can you imagine a worker in China attempted suicide on his shift just so his family could receive $100000 for compensation? Life is simply unfair, isn't it?

Of course, the Russians are not the only group that wants to kill him. Even before the Ukrainian officer arrived in the Bazaar, another very paranoid character had already been living there and had a contingency plan for every resident. That was more than 5 years ago in real life. The Ukrainian official has been here for more than 4 years; he certainly qualifies to be a resident. So, that horrible document of < > just received another paragraph.

From the game design point of view, that's a clue that leads you to the Dark Alley and finds the real mission.

When looking back, sometimes, I am surprised even by myself. The fun fact here is that this document from May.27th, 2021, already described a way to kill another character in the Bazaar by framing him as a Nazi so that random mobs can be encouraged to murder him. You get the joke? Well, my friend Elon got it this week.

"The reason they call me a Nazi is to encourage people to murder me." --- Elon Musk

Now, talking about Elon. I heard his SPCX just went public, and it's been quite bumpy over the past few days. I figured I should get involved to stabilize the situation a bit.

NEOLITHIA Vanguard (the real-life version, not the one in the game) has arrived on this battlefield. There is a risk of being encircled. But, hey, SPCX is a great company. I don't mind holding it for decades. Plus, my main force is still standing by. I have certain tax advantages compared to U.S. investors. That's part of the reason for choosing not to be a US citizen myself. (Even though I have been paying the US government taxes for more than a decade because of all those US-sourced incomes.) Anyway, this operation not only prevents SPCX from a panic fall but also provides additional funds for game development if I can force it to success. So, why not do so?

Just to make all those covert operations inside and outside the game a bit spicier. Here is a new gun.

The legendary KGB assassination pistol. At first glance, it does not look great. It's small and has less firepower than even an M1911. But what really makes it stand out is its great armor-pen. It ignores 75% of the target's ballistic defense, and you can modify it further with various modules. Maybe you can even use poison bullets to make up for the low raw gun power and focus on status effect damage after it penetrates whatever defense your enemies may have.

That's a major plot of this week. Meanwhile, further preparation for the main story also continues. A new cutscene has arrived. I guess this is the first time you actually see the President of the Nise Federation in action. Her name has also been revealed in the Gallery of Memory: Naelithara von Kuen. Yes! A von Kuen! I guess that explains a lot to many players from the SAPC++ era about why she can be the president. Just like in real life, it has been almost 22 years, and many of us already have the second generation succeeding us on this long journey. It's only fair to get a second generation of colorful characters in the game as well. Maybe there will be some mention about her father as well, just as I mentioned Tanya's father last week. Some would say he is arrogant, somewhat stupid, and always makes questionable decisions. But he was the high commander in the darkest hours of the Nise Federation. Some compared him with Chiang Kai-shek. I found that very amusing.

Anyway, the legacy goes on! If I remember correctly, some of you are already in your 30s and 40s, right? But, hey, it's our hearts and souls that matter. To end this diary before our 22nd anniversary diary, let us remember the teenagers inside us, unleash your protagonist syndrome, unleash your Chūnibyō, in this new faith tenet! Nobody can defeat us in our own BGM! (I basically weaponized the boombox.) Whenever you go to war, whenever you see fit, play your personal anthem, and you can declare you come back once more.

For the path ahead of us is endless evolution and legends. In the deeps of the North Peak, another enemy awaits to be defeated.

Thank you for being part of this story along the way.

This week's full update log: 20260621 English ##########Content############### 【Special Attribution】Two new Special Attributions have been added, which restore HP and MP whilst thy customized BGM playeth. 【Faith】A new Tenet hath been revealed: Personal Anthem (If thy faith be strong, none shall defeat thee whilst thine own BGM resoundeth!) 【Wiki】The faith page hath been updated. ##########System################ 【BGM】When the BGM is restored after battle, the old customized BGM flag shall now be reset. ##########Debug################ 【BGM】A bug hath been fixed which caused the customized BGM flag to not reset when the music was stopped. 【Battle】Various crashes have been corrected when issuing the killing order after defeating a human enemy. Happy genocide! 【Battle】An additional check hath been added: the killing order shall no longer crash the game even if the parameter be trash. In such case an error message shall appear, and the game shall continue running, though it may lead to unexpected results. 简体中文 ##########Content############### 【特殊属性】加入了两个新的特殊属性，在你自定义的BGM播放时恢复HP和MP。 【信条】新信条：角色主题曲 （只要你足够虔诚，没有人能在你的BGM里打败你！） 【维基】更新了信仰页面。 ##########System################ 【BGM】当从战斗中恢复BGM之后，之前的自定义BGM标签也会恢复。 ##########Debug################ 【BGM】修复了某些情况下自定义BGM的标记没有在BGM停止后重置的BUG。 【战斗】修复了战斗结束后对某些人类敌人下达杀死指令时的各种崩溃问题。种族屠杀愉快！ 【战斗】额外的判定在对人类敌人进行战后处刑时加入。就算输入的参数是垃圾现在游戏也能正常恢复。会有错误的提示信息。但是游戏会继续运行，就算结果无法预测。

20260623 English ##########Content############### 【Relationship】Two more relationship values have been added to track: The Ukrainian faction and Yekaterina’s faction. 【Relationship】Slaying the NAFO Ambassador in the Bazaar now delivereth a great blow to thy standing with the Ukrainian faction. (No retroactive effect.) 【Dark Alley】The map hath been expanded. 【Document】A new Document hath been revealed: ОПЕРАЦИЯ «САМОВАР» 【Item】A new Quest Item is given: Special Tea for a Special Old Man (Lose it not, comrade. There is no replacement.) 【Bazaar】If a certain Ukrainian officer is assassinated, the Special Tractor Operation shall also be removed. 【Firearm】The Desert Eagle, M4A1, M249, and M1911 now bear the US flag upon their firearm modification UI. 【Firearm】The QBZ97 now beareth the PRC flag upon its firearm modification UI. 【Firearm】The AK-47, PPsh, and RPG now bear the Soviet flag upon their firearm modification UI. 【Firearm】The MP5 now beareth the German flag upon its firearm modification UI. 【Firearm】The AWP now beareth the UK flag upon its firearm modification UI. 【Firearm】The BerettaPX4 now beareth the Italy flag upon its firearm modification UI. 【Firearm】Thus have all firearms in the game now received their country of origin. 【Firearm】A new firearm hath been revealed: PSM (The legendary KGB assassination pistol. Low in power, yet extraordinary in armor-penetration.) 【Wiki】The firearm page hath been updated. 【Mission】A new Mission hath been revealed: ОПЕРАЦИЯ «САМОВАР» (I am most serious concerning the freedom of the game. Thus, if thou art pro-Russia, thou mayest undertake it.) 【Mission】Thou mayest now purge all Ukrainian influence from the Bazaar area shouldst thou go hard upon the pro-Russia path. 【Wiki】A new page for ОПЕРАЦИЯ «САМОВАР» hath been added. 【Wiki】The mission page hath been updated. 简体中文 ##########Content############### 【关系度】追加两个追踪的关系数值：乌克兰阵营和叶卡特琳娜的阵营。 【关系度】杀掉在巴扎的NAFO大使现在可以较大程度降低你和乌克兰阵营的关系度。（无追溯性。） 【暗巷】地图扩展。 【文档】新文档：ОПЕРАЦИЯ «САМОВАР» 【物品】新任务物品：为某个老人准备的特别的茶 （同志，别弄丢了。没有替代品。） 【巴扎】如果某个乌克兰官员被暗杀，特别拖拉机行动也会被移除。 【枪械】沙漠之鹰， M4A1, M249, M1911现在在枪械改造界面上有了美国国旗。 【枪械】QBZ97现在在枪械改造界面上有了中华人民共和国国旗。 【枪械】AK-47，波波沙，RPG现在在枪械改造界面上有了苏联国旗。 【枪械】MP5现在在枪械改造界面上有了德国国旗。 【枪械】AWP现在在枪械改造界面上有了不列颠国旗。 【枪械】贝雷塔PX4现在在枪械改造界面上有了意呆利国旗。 【枪械】至此，所有枪械的原产国均已标注。 【枪械】新枪械：PSM（传说中的KGB暗杀手枪。低枪械威力。但是超高穿甲。） 【维基】更新了枪械页面。 【任务】新任务：ОПЕРАЦИЯ «САМОВАР» （我对于游戏的自由度是非常认真的。所以，你如果确实想要支持俄罗斯，你显然应该可以这么做。） 【任务】如果你高度支持俄罗斯，现在可以在巴扎区域消灭一切的乌克兰影响。 【维基】加入了新页面ОПЕРАЦИЯ «САМОВАР» 【维基】更新了任务页面。

20260625 English ##########Content############### 【Gallery of Memories】The first cutscene for Naelithara hath appeared: < > 【Art Asset】Art assets for a new boss character have been added. 简体中文 ##########Content############### 【回忆的影集】首个奈莉莎拉的过场动画：《他们的恐惧甘之如饴》 【美术资源】加入了一个新Boss角色的美术资源。

20260626 English ##########Content############### 【Siberia】A PSM and some pistol ammunition have been placed within the Church basement. 【Bazaar】The document < > hath been updated to include the way to slay the Ukrainian old man, serving as a clue that leadeth thee to the Dark Alley and unto the true mission. 简体中文 ##########Content############### 【西伯利亚】在教堂地下室加入了一把PSM和一些手枪弹药。 【巴扎】更新了文档《不要相信任何人！》加入了关于如何暗杀某个乌克兰人的内容，包含了让你前往疁城暗巷接触到真正的任务的指引。