Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 159: The Test is the Main Event (Three More for Monthly Votes!)

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: The Test is the Main Event (Three More for Monthly Votes!)

Before I knew it, a month had passed.

November 28, Thursday.

In this month, the development of "Ascension" had steadily progressed.

Xia Shiqing was very efficient, working overtime and continuously churning out many concept sketches within two weeks, which Gu Fan immediately handed over to Lilith, so she could take them to Hell for the art team there to start production.

During this time, the previous games developed by Nitiandang had also continued to generate revenue, and amidst his busy schedule, Gu Fan found a moment to check in with the finance department to get an update on the current financial status of the company.

"Infernal Trajectory," "Sisyphus," and "Against Heaven Blocks" had previously seen stagnating sales, but they had warmed up slightly recently.

This was obviously because Gan Di had created MODs for these games, breathing a second life into them.

"Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon" and "Prometheus" had reached a minor peak, with sales reaching 470,000 and 390,000 units respectively!

The first month sales of "City of the Abandoned Gods" were 190,000 units, and the total sales so far had reached 240,000, but there was still room for continued improvement.

In addition, Nitiandang had also received all net revenue for "Hell Inferior Demon" from Hell Frontline.

Of course, since the quality of "Hell Inferior Demon" was quite poor, even with high popularity, it did not have a significant impact on sales, and so far, it had only sold a little over 70,000 units. Thus, after deducting the total cost of 630,000, the earnings were less than 200,000.

But no matter what, it was better than nothing.

All things considered, over the past nearly four months, these games had brought Nitiandang a net revenue of 59 million!

Compared to the 28 million net income when "Prometheus" first went on sale, there had been significant progress.

Gu Fan, of course, was the first to take his personal share of 5%, which was 2.95 million. After taxes, his personal savings had risen to over 4.1 million.

Gu Fan couldn’t help but reflect, he finally looked like a company boss!

Although this amount of money was far from enough to buy a house in the Capital City, it was a vast improvement compared to the penniless state he found himself in when he first crossed over.

The only pity was that, being constantly busy with work, Gu Fan didn’t have much time to enjoy or spend money, other than occasionally splurging on digital products for his villa.

Following the funds’ replenishment, after deducting the development and operation costs for "City of the Abandoned Gods" and adding the previous company balance, the funds for game development and operation were about 53 million, which was quite ample.

And this money was precisely the confidence Gu Fan needed to dare to develop "Ascension," an action game of such a large scale.

Apart from the company’s employees, Gu Fan had also contacted some outsourcing companies, handing over some of the more basic work directly to them, and he bought all the templates from the new engine that could be purchased and utilized.

In short, where money could solve problems, it was used in every possible way!

If it were any other project, this approach might not work, as the quality of outsourcing could be inconsistent, requiring plenty of time for checking afterward. Otherwise, there could be a lot of bugs, and the game quality couldn’t be assured.

But "Ascension" was different because these minor bugs didn’t really matter.

The more lice you have, the less they itch; the more debts you have, the less you care.

Even if Gu Fan didn’t outsource the work and wrote the code himself, it was dubious that he could amass 100 bugs.

After all, the game had to be tested after development to fix any bugs that significantly affected the gaming experience. Moreover, as a top-level programmer, the code Gu Fan wrote naturally had fewer bugs. With all this back and forth, it would be awkward if he couldn’t reach 100 bugs.

Considering the excess of funds on the books, Gu Fan began thinking about making some investments in the future, while ensuring a continued investment in new games.

So much cash couldn’t just be lying on the balance sheet forever, it felt somewhat wasteful.

Still, that would have to wait until after "Ascension" was officially released.

...

Noon.

Gu Fan returned to his villa for a lunchtime nap.

Xia Shiqing followed him and removed her glasses.

Gu Fan understood immediately and said seriously, "President Xia! Do you have any other instructions for me?"

Xiamiel sat down on the sofa, "Let’s cut to the chase. In short, concerning your situation, I’ve reported it to Heaven. Heaven has approved your request and is considering admitting you as an external member to enjoy the special allowances."

Gu Fan was somewhat surprised, "Huh? An external member? Special allowances? Could you elaborate, President Xia?"

Xiamiel explained, "First and foremost, about your previous request to increase the Positive Emotion Value of speedrun gamers. That can be done.

"But to amplify the Positive Emotion Value (PEV) for this type of player, one first needs to consume a certain amount of PEV as a cost. I can only provide you with a quota of one million PEV. As for how much PEV you can leverage with them, that depends on your skills.

"However, you’d better not make me operate at a loss."

Gu Fan nodded, "Of course! I guarantee the completion of the task!"

Xiamiel continued, "Moreover, Heaven considers you talented, so it acknowledges you as an external staff member of Heaven and grants you a special allowance.

"The specific reward is...

"You can earn a commission of 10% of the Positive Emotion Value."

Gu Fan was stunned for a moment, "Ah? It’s not money?"

Xiamiel’s expression was somewhat embarrassed, "This... you might have some misunderstanding about Heaven.

"I know Hell has some industries in the Human World, and we have some too. However, Heaven’s industries in the Human World are mainly charitable endeavors, and we don’t have much in terms of funds on paper. Most of the time any profits are quickly spent.

"But in Heaven, Positive Emotion Value is the real hard currency, which is far more useful than the currency of the Human World."

Gu Fan asked, "Then what exactly can PEV do?"

Xiamiel explained, "In the hands of powerful Angels, it is essentially equivalent to power itself. However, you’re just a mortal, and there isn’t much high-level application available to you for now.

"Currently, you can do two basic things with PEV: happiness and luck.

"You can consume these Positive Emotion Values to increase the extent of positive emotions that a person or group of people gets from certain events, like making speedrunners experience more positive emotions when playing through a game quickly.

"Or, you can consume PEV to boost your own luck for a certain period of time.

"Of course, like I said earlier, to make the impossible possible, the amount of PEV consumed would be astronomical, and that’s definitely not something you can afford.

"But if it’s just about increasing the probability of certain low-chance events, that’s totally doable."

Gu Fan’s face showed shock, "That strong? Then PEV is indeed more useful than money, since it can buy things that money can’t. Xia General Manager, you should have told me about these great deals earlier! How could I not go through fire and water for Heaven?"

Xiamiel frowned slightly, "Hmm? If there weren’t any good deals, would you not be willing to serve Heaven?"

Gu Fan coughed lightly twice, "That’s not the case. I’ve always had a heart for justice! Even if Heaven didn’t reward me at all, I would still stand on the side of righteousness!

"Actually, things like Positive Emotion Value... those really don’t matter much; I simply want to contribute to Heaven.

"However, Xia General Manager, you should still mention these deals earlier next time; otherwise, if word gets out, people might think that Heaven just freeloads."

Xiamiel shook his head slightly, "Ah, there’s nothing I can do about that. I am, after all, a part of the system, and I can’t promise you anything without the backing. What if I can’t deliver? That would be a serious mistake!

"I can only expedite requests to my superiors. After getting approval, I can confirm your status as an external staff member and grant you access to use the Positive Emotion Value."

Gu Fan gave a dry laugh, "Of course, Heaven is more official and has strict regulations; I understand that. But next time you ask for approval, could the process be a bit faster? Look, a month has almost passed, and ’Ascension’ is nearly a third of the way to being complete."

Xiamiel heaved a sigh, "Ah, I’m already trying my best!

"Anyway, let’s leave it at that for now; I’ll come back after your next game is completed."

...

...

January 8th, Wednesday.

’Ascension’ was officially completed!

The game was done, but it was still not clear when it could be released.

Because the hardest part about this game was the testing.

All employees at Nitiandang treated the situation with the utmost seriousness; not only the testing team was tasked with testing the game, but other staff also had to test it.

And Lilith would show up like clockwork every night at Gu Fan’s villa to playtest the game.

Then, when Gu Fan was asleep on the second floor of the villa, he would often be woken up by the sound of an angry Lilith banging on the table downstairs.

At those times, Gu Fan would silently take out his cellphone and buy her a few more spare keyboards or controllers.