Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 108: Investment Contract (Three More)

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Investment Contract (Three More)

The next day, at 7 p.m.

Gu Fan and Lilith arrived at a community called "Xingwang Garden," located outside the northeast Sixth Ring of the Capital City.

"We’re here, get out of the car!"

After Lilith spoke, she pushed open the scissor door of the red Ferrari and got out of the car.

Gu Fan silently turned to take another glance at the Ferrari’s exterior, its specific model was beyond his knowledge, but he just felt the design was very stylish, and indeed, it turned quite a few heads.

Even in the Capital City, such luxury cars were not very common.

Let alone in such a remote community beyond the Sixth Ring.

Strictly speaking, Xingwang Garden should be considered resettlement housing for the nearby villages and towns. Located outside the northeast Sixth Ring, the rent here was very affordable, with a 90-square-meter two-bedroom apartment costing only 5,000 yuan, which really was a bargain price in the Capital City.

However, the transportation in this area was underdeveloped, with no subway stations around. It would take at least a 20-minute bus ride to reach the nearest subway station.

Azazel’s decision to locate the company here sufficiently attested to his strained finances and insufficient development funds at that time.

Lilith went straight to one of the apartment buildings and headed up to the seventh floor, knocking on the door of the middle unit.

The door was opened by a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties, somewhat unkempt, with a scruffy beard, and giving off an impression of submissiveness and caution at first glance. However, on closer inspection, one could discern a few traces of shrewdness and even slyness in his eyes.

Clearly, the submissive demeanor was just a façade deliberately put on, likely a survival strategy to make his enemies lower their guard.

This was undoubtedly Lilith’s competitor, the newly arrived Hell Demon, Azazel.

"All right, you can knock off early today," Azazel said to a programmer wearing glasses in the room.

The programmer looked quite young, probably in his late twenties.

He seemed a bit surprised by the early end to the day but didn’t ask any questions. Instead, he just said, "Alright, President Sa," packed up his things, and left.

It was only after the programmer had left that Azazel put on a different face: "Distinguished Lady Lilith, I hadn’t expected your esteemed self to actually grace us with your presence. I apologize for not greeting you from afar! Please come in."

Azazel bowed and scraped as he ushered Lilith inside.

Clearly, although the two were competitors, there was a significant gap in their status within Hell.

Gu Fan took a seat on the living room sofa and briefly surveyed the surroundings.

There were only two computers in the living room, one of which clearly belonged to the programmer who had just left.

"Hell Frontline," the company was currently in a similar state to Nitiandang’s initial situation: they had a demon producer responsible for the concept and just one hard-pressed programmer.

However, Gu Fan highly suspected that the programmer might be unaware of his boss’s true identity.

If he knew, it seemed unnecessary for Azazel to send him away.

Of course, this was just speculation and couldn’t be confirmed at the moment.

Azazel looked somewhat anxious, for a small fry like him didn’t have the privilege of interacting with high-ranking demons like Lilith in Hell. He indeed feared that Lilith had come to hold him accountable.

After all, the creative concept of "Hell Inferior Demon" was derived from "Sisyphus."

Of course, Azazel was confident that even if Lilith had come to hold him accountable, he would be able to handle it since Lucifer had approved of him setting up a company in the Human World.

Surprisingly to him, Lilith wasn’t looking upset, nor was she pursuing the issue of him copying the creative idea.

"You seem to be afraid of me?" asked Lilith.

Azazel quickly nodded, then shook his head: "Lady Lilith, your status in Hell is exalted. You are the first demon created by Lord Lucifer using human souls. It’s only natural for me to revere someone of your immense power.

"However, you seem to be quite approachable, gracing a small fry like me with your presence, which I find profoundly flattering.

"Perhaps some demons have been stirring up trouble, suggesting that I came to the Human World to steal your business deliberately... but those are all slanderous words! My presence in the Human World is ordered by Lord Lucifer himself, and I merely try to contribute to Hell in my modest way."

Lilith nodded slightly: "Hmm, I was indeed very angry at first. But..."

She looked at Gu Fan, "This is my chief strategist in the Human World, and he thinks that we can help each other and establish cooperation, so, I have changed my mind."

Azazel was somewhat surprised and looked towards Gu Fan.

Gu Fan nodded and said, "Both of you are talents from Hell, and also Lucifer’s right-hand men. There are so many negative emotions in the Human World, it could clearly be a win-win situation, there’s no need for tensions to escalate!

"As we say in our world, it’s not a zero-sum game.

"President Sa, although you may not care about human money, the subsequent game development and promotion all need funds, which are a bottomless pit, and with your current game design, earning enough to cover these costs might be very difficult, right?

"On the other hand, President Li has ample human world funds at her disposal, so there is a basis for cooperation between you two."

Although Azazel did not understand exactly what Gu Fan was getting at, he saw that the opposing party’s current attitude was very friendly, so he hurriedly nodded, "Thank you very much!"

Lilith took out a contract, "I know that your biggest problem coming to the Human World is the shortage of funds. Therefore, I have prepared an investment contract for you to look at."

Azazel hurriedly took it and glanced over.

The content of the contract was straightforward: Nitiandang Games would finance Hell Frontline, covering the game development and promotional costs.

Of course, the game development and promotional costs must remain "within a reasonable range," and what falls under "reasonable" would be determined in reference to the cost of developing games of similar scale by Nitiandang Games.

At first glance, there might seem to be traps, but in fact, there were none.

The emphasis was on the next part:

If Hell Frontline’s game incurred a loss, there would be no need to bear any financial loss, only a requirement to turn over one-tenth of the acquired negative emotions to Lilith.

If Hell Frontline’s game turned a profit, then all profits would belong to Nitiandang Games, and half of the acquired negative emotions would have to be turned over to Lilith!

Azazel frowned deeply, "Why do I have to share the negative emotions whether it’s profit or loss?"

Gu Fan spread his hands, "Because this investment agreement is originally in your favor.

"The chances of Hell Frontline’s game turning a profit are very low, something we all know deep down.

"Under normal circumstances, you can simply think of it as: by providing one-tenth share of the negative emotions, President Li will cover your game’s development costs, solving your critical funding shortage.

"This protection fee is worth paying, isn’t it?"

Azazel was still a bit confused, "If you know that the probability of making a profit is so low, then why include a clause for ’if the game turns a profit’?"

Gu Fan spread his hands again, "Contracts, of course, need to be comprehensive and cannot leave obvious loopholes. Although the possibility of your game making a profit is very low, it is not nonexistent."

Lilith nodded, "This business is very tricky, young demon; you may not be able to handle it!"

Gu Fan continued, "So, this clause is necessary because if you did make a profit, it would cause a significant loss to President Li’s investment, and naturally, you would have to be punished.

"What if you are an undercover agent sent by Heaven, specifically to disrupt President Li’s plan of collecting negative emotions?

"It’s not impossible."

Lilith immediately chimed in, "Wait a minute, Azazel, if you don’t even want to sign this contract, could it be that you truly are an undercover agent sent by Heaven?"

Azazel quickly waved his hands, "Please don’t joke like that, Lady Lilith. I have always been loyal to Hell, how could I possibly be an insider sent by Heaven?

"My determination to collect negative emotions through the game is seen by Lord Lucifer himself, otherwise, why would he entrust me with such an important task?

"It’s just this contract..."

He read it over several times, "May I make two small requests?"

Lilith looked at him, "Speak."

Azazel still had a pleading look, "First, after the game incurs a loss, could we lower the negative emotions to be turned over to one-twentieth? One-tenth is really a bit too much.

"Second, I would like to add a clause to this contract stating that if any ’major bugs that significantly deviate from the original design’ appear after the release of Hell Frontline’s game, my side need not turn over any negative emotions.

"What do you think of these two rules?"

Lilith’s expression darkened, "What do you mean by this?"