Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 376 - 385: The Balance Between Accompaniment and Non-Intrusion

Chapter 376: Chapter 385: The Balance Between Accompaniment and Non-Intrusion

Hou Ji opened the "Ascension" page on the official gaming platform.

"Are you also a fan of action games? I really like ’Ascension’ too. Sometimes I wonder whether everything I see in real life is also an illusion."

Hou Ji then opened the City of the Abandoned Gods page.

"Ah, City Forsaken by Gods. I know Xia Mi, and we are good friends. However, I think she is sometimes too naive, and we often disagree."

Hou Ji casually opened the Against Heaven Blocks page.

"Oh, finally a game I know how to play! Can I play it with you?"

Every time a new game page was opened, Elios would provide some feedback, mostly evaluations of the games, and occasionally she would even suggest playing with the player.

Just like Against Heaven Blocks.

This game allows two-player online co-op, and integrating an AI is quite simple. If the player is willing, they really can play with Elios.

After playing, Elios would even come up with some new dialogue based on how the session went.

Of course, many of Elios’s remarks inexplicably gave one a profoundly unsettling feeling, like when she wondered if her world might also be an illusion while discussing "Ascension."

However, such dialogues were not frequent, and judging by the tone and expressions Elios used when speaking, she seemed to be musing rather than seriously contemplating the issue.

Therefore, Hou Ji just treated Elios’s remarks as some sort of Easter egg and didn’t think too much about it.

"So, does it mean that Heavenly Games has optimized this desktop companion to provide a unique evaluation whenever it mentions Heavenly Games?"

"But if that’s all, there’s nothing much, right?"

With this thought, Hou Ji casually opened pages of games from other developers on the official platform.

However, to his surprise, Elios had evaluations for these games too.

"Oh, do you also like playing World of Star Spirits? I haven’t played it, but I’ve watched its videos, and it looks fun."

"Although many people think it’s not as good as Shadow World, I think it’s also a great game."

"If there’s a chance, can you take me along to play?"

"Real Battlefield? I haven’t played this game either because my shooting skills are terrible. I’ve watched some videos, but it’s too shaky, and I get a bit dizzy."

"Though I don’t understand why attackers must place a bomb on a deserted plane in this game. There’s clearly nothing here apart from defenders."

As Hou Ji broadened his experimentation, he was astonished to find that not only games would elicit reactions from Elios.

Many actions on the computer would trigger some responses from Elios.

For example, when the player was writing a document or making a PowerPoint presentation, Elios would say, "Are you starting to work? Then I won’t disturb you. I’m going to study as well."

When the player listened to music, Elios would provide some simple comments on the songs or the music, and she would even put on headphones to listen along with the player.

When the player read books on the computer, Elios would also interact based on the content of the books.

For books she had already read, Elios would directly offer her evaluation; for those she hadn’t read, she would ask a question or express her doubts based on the plot she saw.

Even when the player opened the task manager, Elios would respond accordingly.

"Oh! Is there something wrong with your computer?"

"It’s okay, I believe you can fix it!"

"...It couldn’t be because of me, could it?"

"If it really is because of me, it’s okay to turn me off for a while, I won’t mind."

...

After a simple chat, Hou Ji roughly figured out the functions of this desktop companion.

First of all, Elios indeed lacked the capability to communicate directly with players; there was no chat box anywhere that could facilitate direct dialogue with her.

Their communication was one-sided.

Elios could only initiate conversation based on specific actions of the player. Their interactions resembled a player focusing on some task while Elios would sit quietly to the side, playing the supportive role in their dialogue.

At first, Hou Ji was quite uncomfortable with it, or rather, most players would probably feel the same.

After all, fake-AI had already matured significantly, and there were many AI that could converse freely with players.

But after experiencing it for a while, Hou Ji felt that this wasn’t too bad.

Compared to conventional dialogue, this mode had its distinct advantages, namely, a sort of...subtle beauty?

If players could continuously chat with an AI, they would soon experience a "demystification" effect, quickly encountering the knowledge limitations of AI, or receiving answers that were not so smart or agreeable.

Therefore, most people couldn’t continue using those AI chat programs for very long.

But Elios’ AI was different; she needed to be activated by various actions performed by the player.

Selecting a game, playing within a game, or other actions like browsing the web or listening to music could trigger Elios’ responses.

And it was precisely because of this reason that these triggered dialogues often felt surprisingly delightful.

It was like chatting with a girl on a date who suddenly talks expertly about your favorite game, catching you off guard: "You know about that too?"

Of course, since everyone already knew beforehand that Elios was an AI, the surprise wasn’t as profound, but compared to other AIs, there was still a sense of small wonder.

Besides, Elios’s AI had many other advantages.

For instance, her modeling was quite exquisite; her varying expressions and micro-expressions when looking at the player felt incredibly lively.

Beyond some standard dialogues, she often had surprisingly profound statements.

For example, when mentioning "Ascension," she would casually speculate whether her own world might also be an illusion.

While such occurrences were not frequent, when they did happen, they could still astonish the player, even giving them the illusion: "She seems to really have her own consciousness."

From the current situation, Elios managed a good balance between "companionship" and "non-intrusiveness" as a desktop companion.

She was quite attuned, intelligently concealing herself or engaging in other activities like reading or simply stepping off the screen when the player was engrossed in work.

Yet, when the player was clearly resting, she would always stay gently and lovingly by their side, engaging in conversation.

For most players, this balanced rhythm of interaction was very comfortable.

And for the minority who might not adapt well to this rhythm, they could make simple adjustments in the settings to either speed up or slow down the pace.

Overall, as a desktop companion, Elios didn’t have any particularly revolutionary, irresistible magic, but from her appearance to functionality, she was already sufficiently outstanding among similar products, even to the point of standing out distinctly.