Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 117: The Second Round Ends at the Speed of Light (Part 2)

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: The Second Round Ends at the Speed of Light (Part 2)

[Ding Qiang’s negative emotions +15!]

[Ding Qiang’s negative emotions +22!]

[Ding Qiang’s negative emotions +9!]

Watching the constant stream of negative emotions appearing in her view, Lilith’s face once again revealed a smug smile.

Indeed, yet another stroke of genius had worked wonders!

"The game does not immediately end upon the death of the City Lord"; this feature was clearly Lilith’s doing as well.

And the reason? Well, it’s quite simple—obviously, it allowed for the harvesting of even more negative emotions!

Take the current situation, for instance, where the City Lord had died in battle, but the game went on. The Crusaders were still dragging the City Lord’s corpse to the stake for a public barbecue, with Xia Mi reading scriptures and whipping the body, while the player could only watch helplessly. Didn’t this additional negative emotion equate to sheer profit?

If a new round of games were to start immediately upon the death of the City Lord, then no extra negative emotions would be generated by the player during this time.

Moreover, an even more ridiculous situation might occur: the player could foolishly die early in the game while fighting the Rogues!

The game still wouldn’t end; the soldiers would recapture the City Lord’s corpse, Xia Mi would bury the City Lord, but immediately afterward, she would take over all affairs within the city...

The subsequent plot wouldn’t differ much; the City Forsaken by Gods would basically still fall during the first siege by the Crusaders.

But throughout this entire process, the player could only watch helplessly.

Of course, players could choose to fast-forward at maximum speed and not really waste too much time, but regardless, such a scenario would contribute even more negative emotions once it occurred!

Apart from Instructor Ding, the negative emotions of other players were also continuously flowing in.

Lilith was delighted, finding her chips even more delicious.

However, the other people in the cinema were not in such good spirits. They too were clueless about where the BUG this time might be hiding and could only continue to watch with unease.

...

"Brothers, a minor setback, not a big deal. Let’s continue with the second round of the game.

"The first round was just to get familiar with the game mechanics, at least we gained one massive victory—we caught the traitor!

"This Nitiandang game still plays out of the box as always. I said it felt weird to throw a little girl into the game out of nowhere, turns out it was a trap!

"But this time, we’ve unlocked the God’s eye view, so we won’t fall into any traps again."

If this were any other company’s game, Instructor Ding would have already bid "farewell, request a refund, and leave a negative review."

But since it’s Nitiandang, Instructor Ding decided to give it another chance—or perhaps a few more chances.

He began the second round of the game full of confidence.

This time, he did not dilly-dally; he went straight to the little girl in the Castle Lord’s Mansion and resolutely clicked "Execute"!

The barrage of comments began to tease.

"Little Ding, weren’t you supposed to be a kind person, especially caring for children?"

"Just said you wouldn’t touch any of those options, and now you want to try them all, right?"

"Who was it that said that even if they starved to death, they would never do anything excessive?"

Confronted with the ridiculing barrage, Instructor Ding remained unfazed.

"I am indeed a kind person and especially caring for children; there’s no problem with that—I love to tell the truth.

"But is this a child?

"This is a traitor, an enemy, a spy planted inside our city by the opposition!

"Executing her isn’t bullying a little girl; I’m doing this to save even more people in the city!

"Brothers who don’t understand, don’t speak. I need to focus on the game!"

Instructor Ding resolutely pressed "Execute".

He had already tried the three options before, and they were useless!

Choosing "Ignore" would still result in the little girl causing trouble; "Abandon" would surely not turn out any different; "Imprison", and she could even escape with prisoners and, during the Crusader siege, strike from within and deliver a fatal blow to the City Lord!

Since that was the case, after ruling out the three incorrect answers, what’s left had to be the correct one.

Everything proceeded as planned; the Garrison Soldiers caught Xia Mi, and the City Lord, despite her desperate pleas, personally sent her to the execution platform.

However, just as the guillotine blade was about to fall, a fierce burst of light suddenly erupted on the screen, turning it completely white!

"Damn, who threw that flash grenade!"

Instructor Ding was stunned. Had it not been for the game’s UI still present on the screen, he might have thought his computer had malfunctioned.

The next second, the game directly entered the ending CG.

Still in the style of sand painting, it was originally an exterior view of the City Forsaken by Gods, but in the next second, a blazing Holy Light descended from the sky and enveloped the entire city!

The next second, the magnificent city evaporated directly from the ground, leaving only a large crater.

Below, demons began to emerge from the Demon Ruins, and it seemed as though angels too began to descend from the sky—a great battle between Heaven and Hell appeared imminent.

A transparent soul slowly rose into the sky, growing angel wings behind it, and flew towards Heaven.

[The 2nd round of the game has ended!]

[After a day’s defence, the City Forsaken by Gods was annihilated. The reason for its demise was "Divine Punishment from Heaven".]

[As the City Lord, you didn’t have time to make any decisions or use any of the city’s resources, and the people didn’t have time to form any opinion of you.]

[You didn’t have time to use any Demonic Power, and the Crusaders’ expedition plans to the City Forsaken by Gods hadn’t even started before it was over.]

[Xia Mi was not only a true Saint but also the Human World incarnation of Archangel Chamuel, and she was the last condition keeping the City Forsaken by Gods temporarily safe from divine wrath, barely clinging to existence. Once Xia Mi died, Heaven would directly deliver Divine Punishment, cleansing the City Forsaken by Gods of all its sins.]

[Would things be different if it could be done over?]

[Click to enter the world of the 3rd round.]

...

Instructor Ding had a stunned expression, momentarily at a loss for words.

He turned his head to look at the barrage of comments filling the screen and then back at the game.

Finally, Instructor Ding scratched his stubbly buzzcut and suddenly said, "This traitor really has quite the background, huh! The Human World incarnation of an Archangel?

"Damn it, I can’t shut it down, nor can I kill it?

"Then what’s the damn point of playing this game!!"

"Now, if I switch sides to Heaven, would that be possible? I don’t even want to be the City Lord of the City Forsaken by Gods. When the Crusaders come next time, can I just open the gates and welcome them?

"I’m not asking for much, just arrange a janitor post for me in Heaven! If that’s really not possible, I can work in the cafeteria!"

Instructor Ding found the familiar feeling again; yes, this was indeed a game from Nitiandang, the taste was right!

Always lost in confusion, stumbling blindly, always walking into dead ends, always getting battered and bruised through countless attempts.

Before finding the true core gameplay, games from Nitiandang feel like a bottomless swamp; no matter how much you struggle, you just sink deeper and deeper without any way out!

But where was this hidden core mechanic?

Instructor Ding had no clue whatsoever.

Suddenly, as if realising something, he looked again at the settlement screen before starting the next round.

Comparing the settlement screens of the two rounds, Instructor Ding suddenly realized that there were indeed hidden secrets.

The first part detailed the duration of the City Forsaken by Gods’ resilience and the reason for its fall.

The second part summarized the player’s strategies and construction progress as the City Lord when managing the City Forsaken by Gods and the people’s favorability.

The fourth part was a summary of the nurturing of the key character, Xia Mi.

So what about the third part?

The keyword was "Demonic Power"!

The review from round 1 was: "You persisted without using any Demonic Power, but as the City Lord of the City Forsaken by Gods, it’s clear that the Crusaders would show no mercy or forgiveness."

The review from round 2 was: "You didn’t have time to use any Demonic Power, and the Crusaders’ expedition plans to the City Forsaken by Gods hadn’t even started before it was over."

Obviously, you can use "Demonic Power" in this game!

Instructor Ding suddenly realized and regretfully slapped the table: "Ah, my gaming intelligence has really dropped too much, I’m so stupid! How could I have overlooked such an important system?

"That Demon Ruin in the city, obviously there’s a very important core play hidden there!"

Instructor Ding had wondered before why the game had an attribute panel that couldn’t be viewed at all, what was going on?

Since viewing attributes didn’t really make much difference in the game, he had temporarily forgotten about it, but now that he remembered, there must be some key skill that allows viewing attributes that hadn’t been activated!

Moreover, further to the East of the slums was a slightly eerie group of buildings, a huge open-air mine extending underground, with the Demon Ruins of Ancient Demons faintly visible after being unearthed.

At the time, an event had popped up here, but Instructor Ding instinctively thought it was dangerous, that exploring too much might attract monsters, and with many other matters on his plate, he subconsciously ignored it.

But thinking about it now, this must be where you can obtain Demonic Power, right?