Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 173: Seeing Through the Illusion

Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Seeing Through the Illusion

Wang Dawei observed his surroundings.

Li Huanzhen, with his Immortal Cultivation style, appeared in a cyber-tech world, which looked quite out of place.

The scene seemed to be stitched together from the rooftops of several skyscrapers, with cold steel pipes and a jumble of materials forming sky bridges that connected these rooftops.

Wang Dawei saw robots walking around, but they did not initiate any attacks on him.

"If they are NPCs, is it possible to ask them for directions?"

Wang Dawei thought as he moved forward, but only took a few steps before the whole screen began to shake, and Li Huanzhen’s steps became unsteady. He even had to stop.

A giant humanoid mechanical creature rose slowly from the top of a distant skyscraper, its eyes like searchlights, shining on Li Huanzhen!

It looked as colossal as if it towered into the heavens, covered in a dense array of mechanical arms that seemed to be able to transform and stretch freely.

The dark shadows bore down on him, startling Wang Dawei, who quickly made Li Huanzhen dodge.

"Boom!"

A loud noise as a huge mechanical arm smashed down where the shadow had been, scattering debris and creating billowing dust clouds!

With the next palm about to smash down, Wang Dawei hurriedly made Li Huanzhen run toward the front!

At the same time, Heilong was under attack by a large hand.

Although the two were separated into two different worlds, the situations they faced were similar.

The only difference was that Wang Dawei faced a giant humanoid mechanical monster, while Heilong faced a massive statue of a Thousand-Handed Buddha.

Heilong, a streamer who never paid attention to storylines or map mechanics, opted for brute force, proceeding directly towards the large Buddha and using Perfect Parry to deflect its palm strikes every time one came crashing down.

Wang Dawei, however, lacked such techniques and could only run frantically, trying to find shelter.

To make matters worse, the level was filled with various traps and mechanisms!

There were bottomless cliffs, dangerous log bridges, arrow volleys triggered by stepping mechanisms, and huge axes suspended in the air swinging back and forth...

Although Li Huanzhen was quite agile and the game had many grappling points that could be used, it was still easy to fail under the onslaught of the traps and mechanical arms.

What was even more outrageous was that this boss battle also featured a "Catastrophe" mechanism.

Every once in a while, the Buddha would rapidly strike with many palms in quick succession on a small scene, almost 360 degrees with no blind spots, leaving no chance to deflect all with Perfect Parry. If one could not leave that scene and run to the next quickly, death was certain.

If either of them died, both would exit the scene, returning to the nearest respawn point close to the Monastery of True Words and start over.

...

It must be said that the boss mechanism of the Monastery of True Words had become the biggest challenge for the "Blind Cripple Combo" since they started playing "Ascension."

This was a boss that combined puzzle-solving and map mechanics, requiring players to perform specific actions and avoid being crushed by the Buddha while also collecting information from the map to find the elements of the puzzle.

Heilong was as reckless as ever, but soon realized that even if he managed to barely reach the side of the Buddha, he could hardly inflict any damage at all, with a single slash only depleting a sliver of health.

Furthermore, approaching the Buddha meant facing accelerated palm strikes with an even lower margin for error, leading to a careless death and dragging Wang Dawei down with him.

After several attempts, Heilong realized that it was impossible to win against this boss with sheer force and had to place his hopes on Wang Dawei.

But Wang Dawei’s situation was not much better. His gameplay was erratic, barely surviving the Buddha’s attacks was already challenging.

As for the method to crack this level? There was still no clue.

The battleground of this boss fight wasn’t particularly large or complex; it was basically just five or six open areas connected by a dozen pathways that went in all directions.

They were characteristic scenes and pathways with notices like "On the Brink," "On Thin Ice," "Flickering Shadows," "Bustling Market," "Deafening Sounds," etc. posted at the entrance, nothing more than these simple four characters without further explanation.

However, combining the content of the notices and the situations within the scenes, one could roughly make distinctions.

"On the Brink" was a very dark scene with low visibility and a deep trench that one could easily fall into;

"On Thin Ice" had a floor made of precarious structures that could collapse if one moved too quickly;

"Flickering Shadows" was a special space with numerous lighting effects, room switches that controlled all lights alternatively, allowing one to turn all lights off in a particular sequence, which in the Immortal Cultivation World translated to candlelight;

"Bustling Market" was packed with NPCs and filled with various noisy sounds, with NPCs having collision volumes that restricted movement;

"Deafening Sounds" contained a variety of huge speakers that could be turned up to make a lot of noise, while in the Immortal Cultivation World it was reflected by bells, drums, and various musical instruments.

Apart from "Bustling Market," one could see many NPCs on the other scenes and pathways, which mostly moved along set routes, normally not noticing Li Huanzhen, but if attacked they would retaliate.

Their health and attack power were low, roughly three strikes would take one down, but killing them wouldn’t yield any loot.

Wang Dawei was somewhat puzzled.

These scenes were clearly related to the mechanics of this BOSS battle. For instance, in the place called "On the Edge of the Abyss," one could hide for longer periods of time and was relatively less likely to be discovered by the great Buddha; while "On Thin Ice" was very dangerous, as a single slap could cause the entire scene to collapse, so it was best to keep one’s distance.

But was that all there was to it? It seemed to still offer no help in clearing the game.

After persisting for a while, the situation took a turn.

The Little Emperor from Great Liang had appeared!

Of course, from different perspectives, his appearance was also different.

Wang Dawei, controlling the cultivator Li Huanzhen, now saw a cyber-styled Mechanical World, where the Little Emperor from Great Liang was wearing a dragon robe.

On the other hand, Heilong saw something entirely different—a teenage hacking genius from a sci-fi storyline.

This Little Emperor, for some reason, had entered this illusory space. Unlike other NPCs, he would actively approach Wang Dawei and Heilong and lead them to specific places to hide, which conveniently allowed them to avoid "Catastrophe."

As long as they kept following the Little Emperor, the players could last a very long time in this scene.

Initially, Wang Dawei thought this was the designer’s mercy, but after following for a while, he began to feel that something wasn’t quite right.

The Li Huanzhen he controlled was constantly running for his life, and the best outcome was merely not dying, but he couldn’t inflict any damage on the great Buddha.

Yet he searched the entire scene and found no mechanism that could harm the great Buddha.

Suddenly, Wang Dawei had a stroke of insight; he made Li Huanzhen strike the Little Emperor with his sword!

The Little Emperor screamed in agony as his left arm was severed.

The Little Emperor instantly fled, and the mechanical monsters in the space Wang Dawei was in started to strike more fiercely and wildly!

On the other hand, Heilong asked in surprise, "Brother David, what did you do? How come the great Buddha on my side suddenly has a disabled arm?"

In Heilong’s world, the great Buddha’s left arm was heavily wounded and hung limp, unable to be raised again.

But then, the great Buddha continued to attack with its other good arm, and its attack patterns diversified, not just with slaps but also grabs and sweeps!

...

Wang Dawei suddenly realized, "I see! Brother Long! We’re supposed to kill the Little Emperor!"

"This game is really inhuman!"

Heilong was still confused, "What Little Emperor?"

Wang Dawei quickly said, "It’s nothing, Brother Long, just hold on and try not to die, I’ll take care of it!"

At that moment, Wang Dawei finally understood the strategy to fight this BOSS.

Clearly, the Little Emperor was a complete red herring!

First, they throw the players into an environment full of crises, where the players could easily die because of the great Buddha’s attacks and the map’s mechanics. Then, they throw in a familiar, friendly NPC to guide the players in dodging attacks.

That way, whether from an emotional standpoint or a practical perspective, players were more likely to rely on the Little Emperor and wouldn’t draw their swords against him.

But actually, the state of the Little Emperor was directly linked to the great Buddha in another world!

Every time Wang Dawei hit the Little Emperor, it reflected on the great Buddha in the other world.

However, after being hit once, the Little Emperor would quickly flee, and players would have to chase him down while dodging attacks from the great Buddha, using the map’s mechanics to keep up and attack him continuously.

The previous scenes were there to utilize different mechanics to weaken the Little Emperor’s visual, auditory, and movement attributes, allowing the player to catch up and attack more effectively.

Every time the Little Emperor was injured, the great Buddha in the other world would be weakened, but the frequency of its attacks and its attack patterns would change.

Luckily, Heilong’s skills were solid, and in this situation, he stubbornly clung to life, persisting for a very long time.

Finally, as Li Huanzhen plunged his sword into the Little Emperor’s chest for the last time, the entire scene thunderously collapsed!

The vast illusory world turned into nothingness, and the screen gradually faded to black.

The next second, Wang Dawei and Heilong found themselves back in the grand hall of the Monastery of True Words.

The originally benevolent old monk was now covered in blood. Under his robe, flesh pulsated wildly, as if on the verge of collapse.

"Congratulations, benefactor, you have penetrated the illusion.

"Only, I wonder whether what you’ve penetrated is reality or an illusion?"