Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 107: Someone is Coming to Steal Our Business! (Second Update)

Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Someone is Coming to Steal Our Business! (Second Update)

Clearly, this was an unexpected joy for Lilith.

"Infernal Trajectory" had been released for more than half a year now, and sales had basically stopped showing significant growth, with its online discussion heat also very low.

Lilith was always busy with new games, and she had almost forgotten about this inaugural work of Nitiandang.

Who would have thought that the collection of negative emotions could actually rebound?

However, Gu Fan had anticipated this.

The reason was simple: the game had no subsequent updates!

"Infernal Trajectory" may look like an upscale FPS game, but in truth, it is strictly speaking a novelty mini-game that sells on "Bullet Bending" and is not expected to have a long lifespan like those major FPS releases.

Moreover, due to the special nature of the Hell Contract, the game could not be altered once released, or it would result in serious consequences of "violating the contract." Hence, while Lilith had no way to fix the bugs in the game, Gu Fan also couldn’t update the gameplay.

Therefore, after the initial popularity of "Infernal Trajectory," the players who remained in the game, as well as new players, gradually started to experience more negative emotions.

This seemed like an unsolvable issue, but Gu Fan had already thought of a solution.

However, this solution couldn’t be executed by him personally; he needed to create a suitable opportunity, and more importantly, let someone unrelated take action to absolve himself of suspicion.

So Gu Fan was still waiting.

"What about the bad news?" Gu Fan asked.

Lilith’s expression immediately turned serious, even somewhat ferocious: "Someone has come to compete with me for business!"

Gu Fan raised an eyebrow: "Oh? You mean, other Hell Demons have come to the Human World to start businesses and collect negative emotions?"

Lilith nodded fiercely: "Yes!

"Old Lu specifically called me over to talk about this matter. Although he spoke very euphemistically, his attitude was very firm. It’s clear that this was a notification, not a discussion!

"He thinks that Nitiandang’s collection of negative emotions in the Human World is not going well, possibly due to a lack of competition. Therefore, he has decided to start anew, appointing another Hell Demon, Azazel, to establish a new company called ’Hell Frontline,’ to develop games and collect negative emotions alongside us!"

Gu Fan found it rather difficult to comment; Lucifer and Lilith really seemed to be cut from the same cloth, both equally fickle.

One moment, Lilith was thanking Gu Fan for his contributions; the next, she was raising a fuss over bugs.

And Lucifer? One moment he was praising Lilith for her outstanding promotional contributions, the next he was sending another demon to collect negative emotions.

Lilith’s face turned even gloomier: "Half of my staff from Hell’s art and music departments have been poached, and what’s more excessive is that Azazel even wants to steal my creativity!"

Gu Fan was somewhat surprised: "Steal your creativity?"

Lilith nodded and said fiercely: "Exactly! I’ve obtained their game plan through internal connections.

"Isn’t this my creativity!"

As she spoke, Lilith took out a design proposal and handed it over.

Gu Fan reached out to take it, and after just a glance, he couldn’t help but respect it.

This Azazel... really came prepared!

The first game this company called "Hell Frontline" intended to develop was named "Hell Inferior Demon."

The gameplay of this game was quite simple: players had to play as an Infernal Inferior Demon climbing up a Hell Volcano that was ablaze with roaring flames.

In the process, players could climb, jump, and sneak past patrolling Angels, finally summoning the powerful legions of Hell after climbing the volcano.

During this process, the Inferior Demon could repeatedly fall off the mountain or die, most of which could lead to starting over from the beginning.

"This is plagiarism! This is copying!

"This is all my creativity from ’Sisyphus’!!"

Lilith was obviously furious.

After a thorough review of the gameplay, Gu Fan said, "Unfortunately, under Human World laws, this probably doesn’t constitute plagiarism.

"Human laws only protect the expression, not the idea.

"In the gaming industry, if such gameplay similarities were deemed plagiarism, then there could only be one FPS game in the world, and all other games featuring first-person shooting elements would be considered copies, which is clearly unreasonable.

"As for ’expression,’ I don’t think they’d be foolish enough to directly use the art resources and materials of ’Sisyphus,’ but instead would make a separate set.

"So Human laws can’t sanction them. Could your Hell contracts be of any help?"

Lilith deflated immediately: "This matter was approved by Old Lu himself, what do you think!"

Gu Fan fell silent for a moment, "Then we’ll have to think of something else."

No wonder Lilith was so furious, a Hell Demon suddenly appeared, wanting to pick the fruit and reap the rewards that weren’t theirs. Who wouldn’t be angry?

Objectively speaking, the situation was indeed very unfavorable for Lilith at this moment.

From the design of "Hell Inferior Demon", there was no doubt it was an electronic trash, a cyber-defense. Anyone who played this game would probably only be able to describe it with four words, that is, "swimming in a cesspool"!

Clearly, this Azazel was very cunning; he was feeling his way across the river by trying to find stones to step on.

"Sisyphus" was only one step away from success when it fell through due to the "Rolling Stone Acceleration" and "Dragon Flapping Wings" bugs.

Therefore, for Azazel, as long as he could remove all the elements from the game that might lead to success, wouldn’t an excellent work that collected negative emotions be born?

So he simply deleted the "pushing the stone" setting, removed every thematic layer of Purgatory, and completely eliminated elements like the Hell flying dragon that may trigger bugs.

As a result, "Hell Inferior Demon" was tedious in scenery, monotonous in gameplay, where players could only control an ugly Infernal Inferior Demon, climbing and leaping repeatedly, until they finally reached the summit of the volcano.

Without a doubt, Azazel would spend money on promotion just like Lilith, seeking to deceive more players and then harvest a large amount of negative emotions within a short time.

Lilith felt very wronged, they were all using my phrases!

If Azazel managed to succeed with this scheme, it would be a devastating blow for Lilith.

And for Gu Fan?

That, of course, wasn’t good news either!

Because after suffering a severe stimulus, Lilith’s game designs might become more radical, even turning to learn from Azazel’s "successful experience".

Furthermore, her suspicion towards Gu Fan would only grow heavier.

The delicate balance at Nitiandang Games right now would be disrupted, gradually deviating from the direction Gu Fan had planned...

This was absolutely unbearable!

So, this time Gu Fan had to help Lilith, at least to unite against the common enemy, to take down this Azazel who appeared out of nowhere!

But the question was... how to do it?

Gu Fan pondered for a moment, "President Li, don’t panic, I’m here. As your top strategist, how could I let others freeload your creativity without paying a heavy price?

"However, before that, I need some intel on our opponent.

"What is Azazel lacking the most right now?"

Lilith thought for a moment, "What he lacks most, of course, is the same as us, negative emotions! Secondly, I suppose they are quite short on money as well.

"In terms of financial resources in the Human World, this junior, Azazel, naturally can’t compare with me."

Lilith said, and subconsciously struck a proud pose with her hands on her hips.

Gu Fan nodded slightly, beginning to understand.

For demons, money of course wasn’t important; what they wanted were the negative emotions of humans, the hard currency of all Hell, akin to gold in the Human World.

But this did not mean that money was completely unimportant.

Because to collect negative emotions in the Human World through video game production, it still required money, and a lot of it.

Not to mention anything else, just the current demons’ tactic of producing defense games and then frantically spending money on marketing, aiming to extract the maximum amount of negative emotions from players, each game’s marketing budget had to be at least tens of millions.

Lilith didn’t care because she had always held the position of "Hell’s Human Realm Negative Emotion Collection Office Director," and many of the Hell Demons’ industries on Earth were more or less connected with her.

So she didn’t care how much money a game lost.

But Azazel was different; he didn’t have much status in Hell to begin with, and was only entrusted with attention by Lucifer and given an opportunity to start afresh on Earth because of certain outstanding achievements.

The initial funding must have been very tight.

And since he had chosen the same route as Lilith, it was unlikely that a trash game like "Hell Inferior Demon" could make any money. Where would the funds for subsequent development come from? That was a big problem.

If they could grasp this weakness, perhaps they could strike a heavy blow to the opponent!

Gu Fan quickly had a plan, "I have a plan here, but I need you to cooperate a little."

Lilith nodded, "Sure, just say the word, and I’ll cooperate fully!

"As long as I can maintain my status as ’Hell’s No.1 Game Creator,’ everything else is negotiable!"