Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 393 - 402: Figurine Victim

Chapter 393: Chapter 402: Figurine Victim

"Damn!"

Three hours later, Zhang Qifeng angrily banged on his office desk.

Just outside his office were the desks of other editors; everyone instinctively clammed up, unsure of what exactly was happening inside.

Was it an editor’s draft that angered Zhang Qifeng?

Surely not?

Zhang Qifeng usually had a good temper, even able to keep his cool when faced with the kind of drafts from interns that could spike one’s blood pressure. Why would he lose his temper like this?

Everyone could only silently lower their heads, focused on their own tasks, while trying their best to be inconspicuous, in case they accidentally got caught in the blast radius if Zhang Qifeng lashed out.

They had no idea that Zhang Qifeng had been utterly frustrated by the game "Heartbeat Dream."

"These online reviews are spot on!"

Zhang Qifeng was annoyed; he opened the window in his office and silently lit a cigarette, his face full of dismay.

In fact, while downloading the game, he had searched online for many reviews of the game, especially the highly-upvoted ones, having read them thoroughly.

The most critical of these certainly was the long review, which suggested that Nitiandang had forcefully stitched together a romance and horror game but did it so poorly that it failed to please fans of both genres.

Initially, Zhang Qifeng had some doubts—how could Nitiandang make such a rookie mistake?

Even if it was an innovation that failed, there should be some limits, right?

The result he found upon playing was that this review was actually an understatement, too polite in its criticisms!

Another negative review was even funnier, with upvote data: 1094 players found this review helpful.

But following that there was another piece of data: 5833 players thought this review was hilarious.

This negative review was an emotional condemnation, claiming that Nitiandang was utterly inhuman!

Zhang Qifeng had eventually reconciled with the game, deciding to treat it as a horror game. But as he played, something felt off, always sensing as though the angle of the Elios figurine placed on his computer desk seemed to have changed!

At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but the more he played, the more it seemed like there really was some change?

Then, during a switch to a horrifying part of the game, the head of the Elios figurine suddenly turned, staring straight at him!

Then the poor guy nearly scared himself to death, suddenly leaning back in a tactical retreat, almost falling off his computer chair.

And then his headphones got yanked off, and he accidentally knocked over the water cup on his desk, ruining a mouse worth over a hundred yuan.

Clearly, this was a victim of the figurine package.

The game "Heartbeat Dream" didn’t have anything like a collector’s edition, but it could be bundled with a figurine for sale.

If players purchased this bundle, not only could they get the figurine, but they would also receive a specific activation code to activate the "Heartbeat Dream" game on the official platform.

What players did not expect was that this activation code allowed Nitiandang to precisely track the game data of this batch of players!

Logically speaking, the idea of a figurine moving was quite outlandish—how come nobody noticed until the game was released?

Players who bought the figurines were mostly terrified, with only a fortunate few having seen the news online that the figurines could move before they started playing the game, thus narrowly avoiding a shock.

So, they immediately conducted thorough research on these figurines.

It was clear that the official had used the activation codes of these figurines to locate the players’ game data, and chose to remotely control the figurines to perform specific actions during the players’ gaming sessions.

When the player was normally playing, the figurine would only make very slight movements, which could hardly be discerned unless closely watched.

But as soon as the player encountered the horror parts, especially the particularly terrifying scenes, the figurine would make significant movements!

At this point, the player’s focus was highly concentrated, and placing the figurine in a conspicuous spot on the computer desk, among other still objects, made its head-turning action very noticeable, scaring the player severely in an instant.

Of course, the figurines were divided into three different models with varying actions; in fact, only their heads could move, and the range was quite large. Other individual parts could also move, but the range was smaller.

Moreover, the official had clearly made many preparations to disguise this fact.

For instance, if the head of the figurine could move, there would definitely be noticeable connecting traces at the neck, a black line. As long as the players saw this line, they would know that the figurine’s head could move, and even be replaced.

But Nitiandang officially cunningly hid it with the figurine’s outer clothing, and made it almost impossible to dismantle. Once a player wanted to check the figurine’s neck, they would have to remove much of the upper body clothing, which was too much of a loss, and generally not worth it.

The other movable parts of the figurine were mostly hidden using this method as well.

Besides, the figurines contained built-in batteries, but there was no battery compartment or charging port anywhere on them. Obviously, the battery and the micro motors were hidden inside the figurine, nearly making it a one-time use as the battery life wouldn’t last very long.

Everyone speculated that there must be some mechanism inside the figurine, intentionally activated to start moving and consuming power only after the player officially started the game.

Given that the figurines were priced quite cheaply to start with, if they were to add all these complications, it was almost certain they were losing money.

So, putting all this together, what conclusion can be drawn?

Nitiandang intentionally spent a considerable amount of money to produce a batch of disposable, battery-operated figurines.

Then, they disguised these figurines as stationary ones and sold them to players at a huge loss, just to precisely target these players and give them a sudden scare while they were playing the game.

Listen to this, does this sound like something a person would do?

But it lacked moral integrity!

As the situation escalated, players generally felt that this wasn’t just a game, but more like a premeditated prank.

It seemed as if some mischievously minded boss inside Nitiandang suddenly came up with this idea on a whim.

Just like when you were a child walking home from school, and some malicious classmate would deliberately jump out at you when you passed the classroom door shouting "Boo," and then burst into laughter: Did I scare you!

It wasn’t funny at all, and it was very childish!

Zhang Qifeng couldn’t help but sigh. He had also wanted to buy one of those figurines when they came out, but they sold out quickly, and by the time he decided to buy one, it was already too late.

Looking at it now, it was fortunate he didn’t buy one, or he might have been scared too.

"This looks like there’s absolutely no chance of turning the tables!"

Zhang Qifeng scratched his head in frustration but, after thinking it over, he decided to grit his teeth and keep playing, hoping there might be a twist in the tale.

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