Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 138 The Battle for the Top Spot on the Negative Reviews Leaderboard!

Chapter 138: Chapter 138 The Battle for the Top Spot on the Negative Reviews Leaderboard!

Huang Wang hurriedly searched for the origin of this MOD.

Then he found that the MOD was published on a specialized website called "NEXTMOD." This is an overseas website, commonly referred to as N site, and it is currently the largest MOD resource station in the world.

N site also has a domestic section. Although "Hell Inferior Demon" had not been released abroad, it was automatically given its own section on the website because it was a domestic game.

So far, there are already three MODs in this section, and each MOD’s download volume is quite impressive!

The first MOD is a succubus skin replacement MOD.

The second MOD is a voice pack replacement MOD, which can replace the "Inferior Demons’" demon language with the sounds of a succubus.

The third MOD is a functional MOD, which allows players to save and load at any time with a shortcut key.

You see, "Hell Inferior Demon" itself only has very few save points, and often after falling off a volcano, you have to start from the beginning, causing many players to lose their cool in an instant.

But with this MOD, players can use shortcut keys to save or load at any time.

This is incredibly important for speedrunners!

It means they can repeatedly practice a stage that has a high failure rate, and this indeed greatly reduces the torment involved.

As for whether these MODs can help with game sales?

Believe it or not, they actually do!

Because players spread these MODs in chat groups, especially the succubus skin MOD.

And if other players want to try these MODs, they must first download the "Hell Inferior Demon" game.

Even though the game has 2 hours of free trial playtime, its price is not high, so many people are too lazy to ask for a refund for various reasons, and sales have vaguely risen!

"So, who exactly is this genius?"

Huang Wang hurriedly clicked on the MOD author’s homepage to check, only to discover that the person was quite mysterious. Their ID was a string of gibberish "llsdydyzzr," and the only history of uploaded MODs was these three.

Out of curiosity, Huang Wang downloaded the skin MOD and installed it in the game.

Afterward, he was shocked.

This is just too damn perfect!

Although the website lists nearly 3,000 games and over half a million MODs, most of them are not very good, and truly high-quality MODs are rare.

Take skin replacement MODs, for instance; not only does the model itself need to be precise, but the art style also has to resemble the original game.

More importantly, the binding of the movements is crucial!

Because the original actions were designed for the original model and were bound to its skeleton.

In the MOD, the new model’s body proportions may not match the original perfectly. If you forcibly bind the original skeleton and movements, it may look odd in the game, making it unbearable to play.

But the author of this MOD was clearly a top-notch expert!

He somehow obtained this set of succubus models, which not only had a high degree of precision but also had a size roughly similar to the original model, meaning that after replacing the original model, only minor adjustments were needed to make it fit perfectly!

Of course, if you looked closely, some minor mismatches between model and movement were still there, but the author cleverly used clothing to cover specific parts, making them nearly imperceptible to players.

The replacement effect was excellent, even better than what the official release of a new skin might achieve!

After all, Huang Wang was well aware of his own level, which was quite ordinary and could not compare with those awesome programmers, let alone the top guns on the internet.

Each of these three MODs, taken individually, can be considered heavyweight.

And if all three appeared together? They significantly improved the players’ gaming experience!

It was still a very torturous game, but with these MODs applied, it wasn’t completely unplayable.

However, the surge in popularity also further lowered the approval rate of "Hell Inferior Demon."

Even Huang Wang was shocked. The game’s approval rate was only at 7%. Was there room for it to decline further?

As it turned out, there was!

Because the videos and MODs attracted some new players, these players, after buying the game, left angry reviews, further worsening its rating.

Thus, the sales slightly increased, but the approval rate plummeted even further to 6%.

It’s only to say that when it came to being at the top of the negative review charts, it was in a league of its own, far ahead of the competition!

As for the approval rate, does anyone care?

Nobody had originally paid any attention to it.

"Hell Inferior Demon," as a purely trash game, couldn’t possibly have any loyal players or fans. And Huang Wang, the developer, was just an ultimate working drone. The game belonged to President Sa; he was only there to earn a meager salary—why would he care?

But what Huang Wang didn’t expect was that there really was a group that took the game’s positive review rate very seriously.

That group was the players of another game, "Three Kingdoms Stratagem"!

You see, as the former king of trash games, "Three Kingdoms Stratagem" had always dominated the top spot of the negative review rankings with its lack of respect for players, its frantic schemes to trick players out of money, and its anniversary recharge events.

The players of "Three Kingdoms Stratagem" had grown accustomed to looking down upon all others, seeing every other game as insignificant.

But what they absolutely did not expect was that their home was being stolen while the short National Day holiday wasn’t even over yet!

"Hell Inferior Demon" had ascended to the top of the negative review rankings with an incredibly dominant stance, pushing "Three Kingdoms Stratagem" to second place.

Could they tolerate this?

After being caught off guard in the past two days, the players of "Three Kingdoms Stratagem" finally woke up and geared up to restore the Han Dynasty!

To Huang Wang’s shock, "Hell Inferior Demon" had somehow gained some sales, and the positive reviews were struggling to rise again!

After all, according to the official platform rules, in order to review a game, you first had to buy it.

"Three Kingdoms Stratagem" was already a game with intensive monetization, and the remaining players were basically rich dudes who didn’t care about money—for them, 18 yuan was nothing.

To spend just 18 yuan to restore the Han Dynasty and reclaim the first place in the negative review rankings for "Three Kingdoms Stratagem"—wasn’t that worth it?

Soon, a flood of comments from "Three Kingdoms Stratagem" players swarmed the review section of "Hell Inferior Demon"!

"Dare to attack us, and we’ll make sure you’re met with a tide of positive reviews!"

"You even dare to snatch the throne of ’Three Kingdoms Stratagem’? You must not know the difference between heaven and earth!"

"The Han Dynasty is in decline, our negative reviews can’t be preserved—how can we sit back and wait for death?"

"It doesn’t matter if ’Hell Inferior Demon’ is first in the negative review rankings or not, it doesn’t affect its image. But if ’Three Kingdoms Stratagem’ isn’t first, then the game loses its soul! So we must defend it at all costs!"

"I admit, ’Hell Inferior Demon’ does have some tricks up its sleeve, deserving of being the thesis defense of the gaming world. But to bump against ’Three Kingdoms Stratagem’? Sorry buddy, I don’t think you’re qualified!"

"Sorry to the players of ’Hell Inferior Demon,’ I really want to give a negative review, but for the sake of ’Three Kingdoms Stratagem’s number one spot, I can only give a positive review!"

However, the players of "Three Kingdoms Stratagem" had clearly underestimated the players of "Hell Inferior Demon."

Did "Hell Inferior Demon" have no players at all? The game just got popular thanks to some streamers’ speedruns!

Seeing that their opponent was aggressive, they didn’t want to show weakness and started giving "Three Kingdoms Stratagem" positive reviews in return.

"’Hell Inferior Demon’ is the undisputed champion of the negative review rankings!"

"At least ’Three Kingdoms Stratagem’ is playable, a thousand times better than ’Hell Inferior Demon’!"

"Players of ’Hell Inferior Demon’ are here to leave a positive review—the throne should change hands!"

Of course, in the midst of this standoff, there were also those who tried to mediate.

"Everyone, please calm down—by giving each other negative reviews, can’t we both win?"

However, this suggestion did not convince the players of "Three Kingdoms Stratagem."

"That won’t do! Our player base for ’Three Kingdoms Stratagem’ is already large. If we both give negative reviews, wouldn’t ’Hell Inferior Demon’ be reassured of its first place? Absolutely not!"

The players of "Hell Inferior Demon" immediately responded.

"Nonsense, bring it on!"

The factions went back and forth in their respective game’s review sections, neither willing to back down, fighting an inextricable battle!

And this earth-shattering war attracted the attention of many YouTubers and gaming media, quickly turning into the hottest gaming news during the National Day holiday!

And upon hearing this news, most people’s reaction was: What the heck is "Hell Inferior Demon"?

Clearly, in their minds, "Three Kingdoms Stratagem" being number one in the negative review rankings was like the sun, air, and water—something that has always existed and was never to be questioned.

How could "Hell Inferior Demon" seize the first spot in the negative review rankings?

Just who could this be?

Driven by curiosity, more people began to learn about the game "Hell Inferior Demon," and were taken aback.

And just like that, the sales of "Hell Inferior Demon" actually experienced a slight revival, albeit in a manner completely unforeseen by Huang Wang...