Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 122: The Pressure Monster! (Three more - s for monthly tickets!)

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: The Pressure Monster! (Three more Chapters for monthly tickets!)

Instructor Ding unleashed a barrage of verbal fire, and it felt great!

He was well aware, though, that this behavior was probably just a way to satisfy his urge to speak and was unlikely to have any fundamental impact on the game’s mechanics.

Even though the game, like "Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon," used fake-AI technology, the gameplay of both seemed to have significant differences so far.

In "Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon," all NPCs were directly controlled by fake-AI, characters were based on historical figures and had their own set of behavioral logic, with minimal interference from the game’s mechanics.

But in "City of the Abandoned Gods," the vast majority of NPCs weren’t distinct characters but tended more towards being tool-persons with simple thoughts, also subject to many in-game parameter limitations, such as populace satisfaction, Good-Evil Value, Faith Value, Charisma, and so on.

It seemed the most distinctive NPC was Xia Mi, but Xia Mi was unfortunately locked by the official design, as an Angel’s Human World body, she was a born Holy Mother, hardly influenced by external factors in her AI decision-making logic.

Moreover, Instructor Ding’s speech was manually typed into the chat box.

Despite the strength of fake-AI technology, it too had many limitations; for instance, in "Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon," even if it happened to generate some interesting plots and dialogues, the probability would at most be 30%.

In any case, Instructor Ding knew that his behavior was far more effective as a show than it was in practical terms.

But so what? As a streamer, having an effect on the show was enough!

Even if Instructor Ding did nothing but follow Xia Mi around and continually mock her, he could still feel the joy.

Regardless of whether you understood or not, I mocked, and I enjoyed it!

However, to Instructor Ding’s surprise, his speeches as a player actually managed to elicit some reactions from the NPCs!

For example, when Instructor Ding mentioned "starving citizens can’t get enough to eat," these NPCs really did cooperate with him.

Frail starving citizen: "So hungry..."

Sick starving citizen: "Is there any bread, or, even just a bowl of hot porridge would be good..."

Anxious starving citizen: "City Lord, please save my child..."

Previously, these NPCs also randomly said such phrases, displayed in the chat box at the bottom left corner.

But when the player spoke, it seemed the fake-AI would automatically select some fixed response templates based on the context, so Instructor Ding’s comments triggered more feedback.

Chat bubbles over the NPCs’ heads popped up one after another, and the chat box at the bottom left kept refreshing.

Xia Mi’s AI would also respond accordingly.

[Father! I’m sorry, I’m trying my best!]

[Please wait a moment, we’re currently short on grain supplies, but as soon as there’s more, I’ll send it straight away!]

[The shelter needs more craftsmen! Are there any craftsmen here?]

Instructor Ding kept asking, the nearby NPCs kept urging, and Xia Mi started to run around more frantically.

"Huh? Is it actually useful?"

Instructor Ding was astonished, could the game really affect the fake-AI’s decision-making?

Let’s try!

With that thought, Instructor Ding started to put pressure on Xia Mi.

He followed right behind her, continuously typing away, the more people there were, the more he talked, even feeling slightly tempted to start copy-pasting.

To his surprise, Xia Mi’s reactions really started changing!

[Father, I know, I’m working hard already!]

[Father, you’re right, I must provide relief to all the starving citizens!]

[We’re running out of grain, where is grain, where is the grain...]

[Why, why are there still people freezing to death on the streets...]

Actually, if it were just the current state of affairs, Xia Mi could persist for a long time, as the death of a few from hunger or cold would not have too serious an impact.

But soon, a more severe crisis appeared.

The plague broke out!

Because Xia Mi had been blindly accepting all the refugees, and there were not enough shelters, food, or medicine in the City Forsaken by Gods, the mortality rate among these refugees was quite high.

In addition, practically the whole city was starving, naturally decreasing everyone’s Health Value and weakening their resistance to the plague.

Once bodies began to accumulate, the plague erupted!

Xia Mi had already used up much of the city’s medicine to treat the disaster victims. Now that the plague had arrived, it spiraled out of control!

Infected citizens fell in batches, and Xia Mi, no matter how much she rushed about, could not change the current situation.

Instructor Ding had been persistently pressuring Xia Mi initially, but upon seeing the scene before him, he started to feel a pang of guilt.

After all, she was a young girl, and one does have a heart.

With this in mind, Instructor Ding typed and asked, "If you feel you can’t control the situation, let your father take over."

Unexpectedly, Xia Mi categorically refused.

[No! Father, I must take responsibility for these people! If you take over the city, I fear these refugees will have no chance of survival!]

Seeing this response, the fleeting compassion that Instructor Ding had felt quickly evaporated.

"You damn..."

"Can’t tell the good from the bad, huh!"

"I gave you a chance!"

"Fine, then I’ll continue to watch your performance."

Instructor Ding kept putting pressure on Xia Mi from behind, and the city lord’s speech bubble never stopped popping up.

Although NPCs were constantly moaning in pain from sickness, the chat interface in the lower left corner was completely dominated by the city lord’s messages.

At this moment, Instructor Ding’s typing speed was like protecting his loved ones in a ranking match.

Finally, Xia Mi’s condition underwent another change.

[No!]

[Oh merciful Holy Light, please tell me, why can’t I save everyone, even though I’ve given it my all?]

[I need... more power!]

Seeing this, Instructor Ding felt as if he had grasped a keyword.

"Could it be..."

He quickly typed a wild guess, "Yes, the Holy Light cannot save everyone. Do you see those ruins over there? There is a more powerful force... "

Although Instructor Ding didn’t have Demon’s Vision and couldn’t check Xia Mi’s specific status, he could vaguely sense from the conversation that many actions would affect Xia Mi’s attributes and fake-AI decision-making.

So, in such extreme circumstances, what would happen if he gave the teetering Xia Mi a gentle push toward the demon’s side...?

A Paladin turning into a Death Knight due to insufficient power—that’s a classic trope, isn’t it?

However, he was clearly thinking too much.

Instructor Ding hadn’t finished speaking when he saw a glow emanating from Xia Mi’s body.

The glow was much weaker than the one when she directly transformed into the Archangel’s human form but was still eye-catching enough.

After a moment, Xia Mi appeared to regain her composure.

[Thank you, merciful Holy Light, for blessing me with strength.]

[My blood will purify all evil.]

Xia Mi walked towards the plague-infected residents on her own and, after a few gestures, they were miraculously healed!

[(Xia Mi used the Archangel’s Pure Blood to purify the plague.)]

[(Xia Mi’s prestige value has increased.)]

Instructor Ding was dumbfounded: "Huh?"

He keenly noticed that the system notification wasn’t "Your prestige value has increased," but "Xia Mi’s prestige value has increased!"

In the interface, the satisfaction level of the people remained unchanged.

Yet, more and more residents began to voluntarily gather around Xia Mi, resolute even though they were starving.

Instructor Ding sensed something was wrong as he saw a segment of Xia Mi’s green health bar disappear, likely due to her using the Pure Blood to treat those infected with the plague.

He wanted Xia Mi to stop, but the current Xia Mi would not respond to his words at all.

[Don’t bother me! I still have to save more people...]

[There must be... more... Holy Light...]

Watching Xia Mi’s health bar drop lower and lower, her words became weirder.

Previously, she could be heard saying "My lord father," but later she completely abandoned this phrase and even later, Instructor Ding’s attempts to apply pressure were outright ignored.

Finally, an utterly exhausted Xia Mi, her health bar nearly empty, let out a painful scream.

[Aaaaaaahhhh!!!]

Afterward, her body burst into a strong glow of Holy Light. While it wasn’t as blinding as the divine punishment that whitened the entire screen before, it still formed a distinct bright spot in the center of the screen!

The Archangel Chamuel in human form descended once more!

Instructor Ding watched, astonished.

However, unlike last time, Xia Mi’s health bar didn’t turn red after Angel’s Descent; it remained neutral, and she continued to treat the citizens of the city.

As for Instructor Ding...

He was clearly sidelined!

Under the dual effects of "treating the plague" and "performing miracles," the vast majority of the city had switched sides, choosing to follow Xia Mi.

No matter how much Instructor Ding wanted to manage those affairs, it was now difficult to get anyone to follow his instructions!

"This... have I been ignored???"

All of a sudden, Instructor Ding felt the situation was eerily familiar.

Wasn’t this the state Xia Mi was in after he executed the "Indifference" operation on her?

What’s with this Reversed Celestial Firmament thing???

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