After all, the show that made him popular was called "Trash Game Roast," and no game company looking to sponsor a video would dare have it featured in that segment.

So, William Clark created another series called "New Game Recommendations of the Month" for sponsorships, but the attention this series got was far less than "Trash Game Roast."

After recording the latest episode of "Trash Game Roast," William Clark still hadn't published it.

Because he kept feeling like something was missing.

Yeah, that's right, it was missing a bit of soul.

This time, the game seemed so trashy that it didn't even have any distinctive features!

After writing the script, carefully preparing the materials, and recording the voiceover, William Clark felt the episode was okay, but no matter how he thought about it, it just didn't seem like it would go viral.

This game, well, it's so bad that there's nothing to talk about.

This gave William Clark a headache. After all, this is how he makes a living—if the video doesn't get enough views, it's hard to land better sponsorship deals.

So, William Clark wasn't in a hurry to publish this episode. Instead, he habitually opened the official platform's new game recommendation list to start "panning for gold in the muck."

Before that, he felt a bit hungry, so he pulled out a pack of instant noodles and boiled a kettle of water to recharge a bit.

With the water boiling, William Clark continued searching for new games.

"'Lonely Desert Highway'? What kind of weird game is this?"

William Clark read the game's description.

"A simulated driving journey to reflect on life?"

"How do you reflect on life?"

This description piqued William Clark's curiosity a little.

As a full-time gaming content creator, William Clark would basically try out any game that caught his interest, even a little.

He clicked to download the game. Soon, the download finished and the game launched automatically.

Chapter 5: This Game Really Does Make You Reflect on Life

"Huh? It just starts like this."

The kettle hadn't finished boiling yet, but William Clark ignored it for now and entered the game.

There was nothing at the start of the game—no opening animation, no options, just straight into the scene.

In the vast desert, a winding highway stretched off into the distance.

The game was in first-person view from inside the car, with a simple instruction interface. The controls could be either keyboard or controller, just like mainstream racing games.

William Clark looked at the graphics and the controls—seemed decent enough.

After all, it's a template, so the ceiling isn't high, but the floor isn't too low either.

William Clark picked up the controller beside him, plugged it into the computer, and started the game.

The car started up.

William Clark drove along the desert highway.

In-game, it was morning. The sun had just risen, and the light wasn't too harsh yet.

Sandstorms swirled through the desert, and in the distance, you could see gusts of sand. These sandstorms affected visibility in the game, sometimes making it very hard to see.

The desert highway wound forward, not a straight line, but with a turn every so often.

"Ding." The kettle had finished boiling.

William Clark, meanwhile, was driving and lost in thought.

What am I doing?

What should I be doing?

What does this game want me to do?

He'd been driving for three minutes, taken a few turns, but...

Other than that, nothing had caught his interest.

Drive, turn, watch the sand blowing in the distance—other than that, there was nothing to this game.

There weren't even any other cars on this desert highway!

William Clark wanted to go make his noodles, so he instinctively pressed the menu button.

Nothing happened.

William Clark: "????"

In other games, pressing this button would pause, but in this game, it did nothing!

William Clark thought maybe it was a bug and the controller wasn't supported, so he tried pressing ESC, space, enter on the keyboard...

Still nothing!

This game can't be paused!

William Clark was completely stunned.

While he was in shock, he lost control of the car for a moment, missed a turn, and drove off the road, the tires sinking into the sand.

[Game Over].

Eight simple letters appeared on the screen.

William Clark's mouth hung open, and he was completely dazed.

This game had redefined his understanding of bad games!

No, strictly speaking, this wasn't exactly a "bad game."

"Bad games" are usually the result of the developer's lack of skill or funding, objective limitations that force compromises, leaving players with a sense of shoddiness.

But this game wasn't like that.

It seemed like it was deliberately trying to annoy people!

Otherwise, why wouldn't it even have a pause function, and every time you fail it's just Game Over, with no save points?!

"Wait, this game is actually kind of interesting..."

"If I make a roast video about it, maybe it'll go viral?"

William Clark quickly poured hot water over his noodles, then ate while researching the game's name and description.

"'Lonely Desert Highway.' And it even emphasizes 'lonely'!"