Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 119: Bestowing Hell Knowledge! (Four more - s for monthly votes!)

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Bestowing Hell Knowledge! (Four more Chapters for monthly votes!)

"Ah, it truly is ’once a thought to descend into Hell arises, in an instant heaven and earth become vast.’"

"Ever since I became mentally ill, my mind has been much better; when others slander you for betraying your faith, you’d better have truly betrayed it!"

Having played for so long, Instructor Ding had finally experienced a bit of the fun of this game.

In the fifth year, the Crusade Siege event was triggered once more.

But this time, Instructor Ding handled it with much more ease. Just a mere bunch of Crusaders, he could deal with them!

I am a Demon Lord now, with well-trained forces and abundant supplies; am I supposed to be afraid of you?

The Crusader Paladins came knocking again. However, what awaited them wasn’t the usual human army, but a terrifying Demonic Legion.

The Summoner who had obtained Demonic Knowledge stood atop the city walls, continually summoning Undead Soldiers; Inferior Demons from the Hell Portal charged head-on like a tide, clashing with the Crusader soldiers; there were also Plague Catapults in the rear, launching dreadful demonic plagues toward the Crusaders’ rear ranks, cloaking them in toxic fog, and making swathes of Crusaders fall in bouts of coughing.

And there was Instructor Ding, controlling the City Lord, who after invoking Demonic Power, wielded the Demon Greatsword as if he were entering an uninhabited land!

The Crusader Paladins indeed tried to purify the City Lord with Holy Light, but the damage from the Holy Light was utterly negligible.

It’s said that Holy Light overcomes evil, but conversely, evil can also corrupt the holy.

In the end, it’s all about who has the greater power.

After being empowered by Demonic Power, the already formidable City Lord’s attributes continued to inflate, giving Instructor Ding the feeling of playing a game with cheats.

Finally, after controlling the City Lord to behead the last Crusader Paladin, the remaining Crusader forces retreated in a panic.

Instructor Ding then led the Demonic Legion in pursuit, and in the end, only a mere dozen or so managed to escape across the map’s boundary.

"Heh! Is that all?

"My verdict is, come again! I want to fight ten at a time!"

After the triumph, Instructor Ding was in a good mood.

But then he took another look at Xia Mi’s attribute panel in the Castle Lord’s Mansion, and Instructor Ding’s heart skipped a beat.

Oh no!

This affection level, how did it become hatred so quickly??

Didn’t I see it was still cold before the battle started?

"Hatred" in this game is almost the worst affection level. Of course, there’s worse, which is "Irreconcilable," but once it goes into the worst state, the affection level can’t be redeemed, and no matter what you do later, it won’t ever increase again!

"Hatred" is the last chance to save their relationship.

"Fellas, what should I do now, bros?

"Although I don’t know what will happen after entering the ’Irreconcilable’ state, I have a bad feeling about it. I think it’s best to try to save it a little...

"How do I save it?"

Instructor Ding thought about it and decided to try raising Xia Mi’s food standards first.

Could offering food work?

Instructor Ding felt it probably wouldn’t work, because when he lowered the food standards before, Xia Mi didn’t show a noticeable drop in affection. This meant that Xia Mi truly didn’t care much about personal living conditions.

But Instructor Ding still subconsciously wanted to try, what if it turned out to be "surprisingly delightful"?

However, to his surprise, an exclamation mark immediately popped up above Xia Mi’s head.

[You evil demonic incarnation, trying to ingratiate me with food stolen from the disaster victims?]

[You wish to repair our relationship, but which of those disaster victims does not have parents or relatives? How many people have you left dead in the wilderness because of you?]

[I’d rather starve than eat a demon’s food!]

[（Xia Mi’s affection has dropped significantly!）]

[（Xia Mi has begun to starve himself!）]

Instructor Ding was shocked: "Damn! Can it be like this? Is this a fake-AI?"

He originally thought that giving some food, even if it didn’t increase affection, wouldn’t matter; it was just a trial anyway.

But to his dismay, it ended up causing a big drop!

"Then should I try getting someone to teach him again?" Instructor Ding summoned the priest responsible for education.

Yet this time, Xia Mi did not appreciate the gesture.

[You incarnation of a demon, don’t pretend and disguise your faith falsely!]

[You have people teach me about the Bible and the gospel, don’t you find it laughable?]

[（Xia Mi’s affection has dropped significantly!）]

"Damn it! Not taking the carrot or the stick, huh!"

Instructor Ding was speechless; he’d tested several conventional options, but none worked. Usually, educational or affection-related activities would increase Xia Mi’s affection, but now, with Xia Mi convinced that Instructor Ding was a "demonic incarnation," anything he did would only decrease affection!

The silver lining in the misfortune was that once the affection level entered "Hatred," making it drop again required an exponentially higher number of points, otherwise, the affection would have already exploded.

"It looks like execution is the only option, but we’ve already tried that before, and Heaven would directly descend divine punishment, reducing the City Forsaken by Gods to flatland!"

"What to do?"

Just when Instructor Ding was at his wit’s end, he suddenly had a stroke of inspiration, thinking of a skill he had seldom used before.

"Demon’s Gift"!

This skill allowed the City Lord to temporarily bestow upon an NPC the four abilities of "Demon’s Vision," "Demonic Power," "Demonic Knowledge," and "Demon Summoning," granting the NPC the corresponding capabilities.

Instructor Ding had not used it much before, but now it occurred to him that this was essentially the "Brocade Bag" mechanic from Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon!

These sorts of layer upon layer mechanisms are the most prone to bugs!

Instructor Ding became instantly excited, feeling as though he had discovered a hidden mechanic and found the best breakthrough in the game!

With that thought, he immediately used "Hell’s Bounties" and stuffed "Hell Knowledge" into Xia Mi!

"Brothers, the moment for a miracle to happen is coming up!"

Instructor Ding had already fantasized the wonderful scene: Xia Mi acquiring Hell Knowledge, understanding the City Lord’s actions, even possibly siding with the City Lord, turning into the lead villain, or even becoming the top meow king under the Death Knight’s command...

But obviously, he thought too highly of it.

After receiving the skill, Xia Mi suddenly let out a series of agonizing screams.

[Ahhhhhhh!!]

Then, her body erupted in a burst of intense Holy Light. It wasn’t as terrifying as the Holy Light that whitened the entire screen during the previous divine punishment, but it formed a noticeable bright area in the center of the screen!

Instructor Ding was startled and it took a while before he dared to look at the screen.

"How is it? Did it work?"

Upon checking Xia Mi’s stats, Instructor Ding was stunned.

[Xia Mi (The human incarnation of Archangel Chamuel)]

[Life: 1000]

[Magic: 9999+]

[Strength: 16]

[Agility: 22]

[Intelligence: 99+]

[Good-Evil Value: 10]

[Faith Value: 99+]

[Charisma: 99+]

[Affection: Irreconcilable]

At this moment, Xia Mi’s portrait also changed. Her entire body was emitting Holy Light, especially her eyes, which had a distinct highlighting effect. Her face no longer looked human but seemed to retain only the pure divinity.

[You dare to defile an Archangel with the filthy knowledge of demons!]

[You are courting death!]

[Receive the purification of the Holy Light!]

Xia Mi’s health bar turned red, instantly becoming an enemy unit, and the game mode switched to battle state!

Instructor Ding was completely bewildered, what was happening?

Did I accidentally create a BOSS?

Although Xia Mi’s stats were unreasonable before, they were not this exaggerated. Back then, her magic value was over 5000, and her Good-Evil Value was 20, while her intelligence, Faith Value, and Charisma were all in the 90s.

But now, she had evolved further!

Her life had skyrocketed from 122 to 1000, and her Magic, Intelligence, Faith, and Charisma stats were all off the charts.

The most outrageous part was the Good-Evil Value; it even had room for improvement, going from 20 to 10!

This meant that the current Xia Mi, even if not the true incarnation of Archangel Chamuel, was not far off.

Many stats displayed 99+ or 9999+, which likely means the system can only display this much.

"Crap, protect the VIP, protect the VIP!"

Instructor Ding frantically controlled the City Lord to gather soldiers and rush to the Castle Lord’s Mansion to engage in a fierce battle with Xia Mi.

On the surface, Xia Mi’s life was only 1000 points, whereas the City Lord, controlled by Instructor Ding, started with a high life value of 3000 points, and after receiving the enhancement of Demonic Power, would randomly land within the range of 4300 to 4500 points.

So, Instructor Ding instinctively wanted to charge forward and behead her.

After all, with only 1000 points of life, all other attributes would be irrelevant once the life value dropped to zero.

However, just as Xia Mi’s health bar was about to hit bottom, she raised her hand and casually cast a quick Holy Light Spell on herself!

[Xia Mi’s life +999!]