Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 421 - 417: The Unsolved Mystery After Unpacking_3

Chapter 421: Chapter 417: The Unsolved Mystery After Unpacking_3

It was clear that the multitude of "weird theories" in the video made it difficult for most players to accept right away.

After all, such things sounded like sheer fantasy.

But when it came to this, average players didn’t have much say in the matter; whether the code contained anything special or not, it was up to those coding experts to unpack and peruse every line, and to speak with facts.

This video quickly leveraged the popularity previously accumulated by "Heartbeat Dream" and had a profound impact.

Players soon began their own investigations!

Some discussed in forums, others shared their discoveries on video platforms—in short, everyone had the same goal: to figure out exactly how this GM panel was accessed!

And how the true ending was achieved.

Which parts were written by Nitiandang’s developers, and which parts were accidental occurrences?

And without any surprises, the debate was likely to last a long time, at least three days or up to a week.

Zhou Yang was dumbfounded: "President Gu, the players are actually taking it seriously and analyzing it earnestly!"

In fact, during the development of "Heartbeat Dream," Zhou Yang had once discussed privately with Gu Fan.

Zhou Yang was initially unsure about how the true ending of "Heartbeat Dream" could be achieved.

If the true ending were to be achieved through coding, it was evidently easier, with significantly less workload.

But if it were to be achieved stealthily through AI, it would be much more troublesome and riskier.

Zhou Yang initially leaned towards assisting achievement of the ending with some code, after all, President Li might not scrutinize that much, right? Moreover, President Li didn’t understand code; it shouldn’t be too hard to deceive her.

Yet Gu Fan insisted, over and over, that the ending had to be achieved stealthily through AI, without leaving any evidence in the code.

As for how to achieve it with AI?

Obviously, the only way was through early and repeated training, making the AI adopt the same responses with high probability when encountering specific scenarios.

The advantage of this method was that fake-AI is a black box itself, made up of massive amounts of code and decisions. Pulling a result was easy, but figuring out why it made such a decision was difficult.

Just like with a top-level Go AI, you can only tell that its move is the optimal solution, but you can’t explain why it is the best move.

You can only memorize and learn by rote.

Any attempt to crack the AI’s thought processes was doomed to fail. Even the strongest coders couldn’t achieve it.

Clearly, this was how Gu Fan sealed the game’s intricate ending within the black box of AI, leaving not a single trace of evidence.

Even the developers of the fake-AI themselves couldn’t find any flaws if they tried.

Zhou Yang couldn’t help but wonder, "President Gu, did you predict this from the beginning...?"

Gu Fan shook his head: "No, I just wanted to play it extra safe."

Was there a chance that Lilith could be fooled without doing a thorough verification? Certainly, it was possible.

Was there a chance that players wouldn’t unpack the game and delve deep into the method of achieving the true ending? That’s possible too.

But Gu Fan had to consider the possibility of Lilith and the players being persistent. During development, he went the extra mile and made some detours to nip this danger in the bud.

As it seems, safety is reserved for the prepared.

Gu Fan didn’t need to continue monitoring the situation intensively for the time being, as it was highly unlikely they would find a flaw.

After all, to those unpacking YouTubers, it was only a hobby, whereas Gu Fan was betting everything he had on it.

How does that saying go? Never challenge someone’s livelihood with your own hobby; besides, for Gu Fan, this was more than just a livelihood.

...

Soon, as the second batch of Elios figurines officially started pre-sales, discussions amongst online players rapidly picked up.

Although the promotional page had many questionable points, this clearly couldn’t extinguish the enthusiasm of the players.

The attitude of most players was one and the same: buy! Just buy it and that’s the end of it!

While some players did raise questions, amidst the high tide of consumer enthusiasm, these doubts didn’t attract much attention from other players.

"There are no effect images for this second batch of figurines?"

"There weren’t any for the first batch either, right? It was all about opening the blind box. Anyway, no matter which pose it is, it’s likely not bad."

"Yes, judging from the situation with the first batch, it’s just a matter of different poses. All three poses are exquisite and each has its uniqueness; there aren’t big differences."

"What if I want to collect all three types?"

"Are you dreaming? Getting one is good enough, let alone three. Why don’t you just reach for the sky?"

"Why is the price so much higher?"

"It’s okay, actually, the first generation is being sold at a loss. With the price upgrade this time, the figurines should also be upgraded, right?"

"Does it mean a larger size or a more delicate model? At the very least, they should offer a few different sets of clothing, right? This promotion page doesn’t write anything, it’s really frustrating."

"No worries, from what we’ve seen with the first generation, a blind purchase definitely won’t be a mistake. The cheap price was like compensation from Nitiandang for our emotional distress."

"Order now, or you’ll miss out!"

"I have a feeling that the second batch won’t be as generous as the first, but it doesn’t matter. As long as there’s a slight change in style and the size is a bit larger, the price is still reasonable!"

Players spread the word, and news about the new figurines quickly circulated, with the first batch selling out instantly.

The official shipment of the first batch would be in five days, during which the factory would continue production. If you missed out on this batch, you would have to wait for the next production schedule.