Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 453 - 436: Two Magical Agreements

Chapter 453: Chapter 436: Two Magical Agreements

Three days later, in Capital City.

Li Wenhao sat down in a café near his home, ordered a cup of coffee, and waited for the staff from Nitiandang to meet up with him.

"Strange, what’s so important that it has to be discussed face-to-face? It feels like some kind of underground operation, truly incomprehensible."

Muttering to himself, Li Wenhao always felt like Nitiandang was making a big fuss over a small matter this time.

A couple of days earlier, Nitiandang’s staff had contacted him, mentioning that they had a business proposition. Of course, Li Wenhao was very happy about it - after all, everyone knew that Nitiandang was always generous with its offers, and its games were mostly hit after hit, with a very low chance of failing, making them quite popular.

For them, the streamers, it was highly likely they would play Nitiandang’s new games anyway, and now they could earn money while playing - it was like picking up money off the street.

What was even more astonishing was that Nitiandang’s business offers didn’t usually come with any forced requirements; they never asked the streamers to overpraise their games.

The only requirement was for the streamers to play for a sufficiently long time.

Such clients were truly too precious.

But this time, the business proposition seemed different because the staff hinted that the situation was complicated, with a number of terms that needed to be adhered to, and there was even the possibility of having to travel.

As for the specific details of the business offer, the staff wanted to come in person to the city where the streamer was based to discuss face-to-face.

While most of the top streamers were concentrated in top-tier cities like Magic Capital and Capital City, with only a few scattered across second-tier cities or small counties, such effort seemed rather troublesome.

Did Nitiandang’s staff really need to go to such lengths?

After waiting for less than two minutes, the staff from Nitiandang arrived on time.

"Hello, we’ve spoken before, I’m from Nitiandang’s business team, Guo Zhao Sheng. You can just call me Xiao Guo.

"Here’s my work badge."

As Nitiandang expanded, so did its staff across various departments, and of course, Li Wenhao couldn’t possibly recognize all Nitiandang’s internal employees. However, as they had talked online before, there was no doubt about the other party’s identity.

Li Wenhao had never doubted the other party’s identity and didn’t expect him to verify it proactively.

"There’s really no need for that, nowadays, no one would impersonate a game company’s staff to talk business, right?"

Guo Zhao Sheng smiled, "Well, you never know. Our President Gu reminded us time and again to bring all kinds of identity verification documents.

"Mainly because this time’s business terms are quite numerous, we’re afraid you might not believe it."

Li Wenhao became even more speechless, "You’re joking, right? How many can there be?"

Unexpectedly, Guo Zhao Sheng really pulled out two sheets of paper, "These are the first part of the terms. If you agree to these, then we can discuss the second part in detail."

Li Wenhao was stunned, "There are two parts?"

He took the two sheets and saw that there were indeed quite a number of terms. While some were obviously detailed rules to mitigate legal risks and not closely related to the main terms, there were also quite a few important ones.

Could it be that not offering an electronic version and showing a paper version instead was to keep things as confidential as possible?

It can’t be that serious, right? Like some sort of clandestine operation?

It can’t be that they expect them to be burned after reading, right? No, that’s too much.

Li Wenhao quickly started to review them seriously, but just the content on the first page was enough to make his brain struggle to catch up.

"Nitiandang is organizing a live-streaming event with a sports drink brand?

"The event location is in Coconut City, mainly focusing on outdoor activities, including at the beach and on yachts, with internet streamers and UP hosts participating...

"It includes some business elements, such as starting live streams, promoting the sports drinks and other sponsors...

"The time frame is one month, and the event has strict requirements on participation time.

"The aim of the event is to encourage players to ’step out of their homes,’ participate in outdoor activities, improve their health, and embrace nature...

"Wait, dude, isn’t this event a bit too abstract?"

Li Wenhao couldn’t suppress his urge to spit out what he really thought; obviously, this event seemed totally nonsensical.

You have to realize that this event’s cost must not be low - inviting many streamers and UP hosts to Coconut City, covering round-trip plane tickets, yachts, accommodations, as well as various venue fees, all represents a significant expense.

Moreover, according to the event’s description, it will offer different hosting fees based on the various streamers and UP hosts’ popularity, and clearly, these fees are higher than usual business rates.

Adding it all up, the investment in this event is indeed not small.

But what benefits could it bring to the organizers? That’s still not very clear.

The streamers and UP hosts just need to play outdoors, and although there will be live streams, they only need to recite a few ad lines.

Li Wenhao himself is a gaming streamer, and if it were about playing games, he might attract some attention, but live-streaming outdoors...

How many viewers are interested in watching a homebody streamer play on a yacht?

What if they invited many attractive female streamers to broadcast in swimsuits on yachts? That might work, but according to Nitiandang’s selection criteria, it seems they didn’t consider inviting such streamers at all.

Even more absurd is that according to the contract, Nitiandang actually wouldn’t be the event’s public sponsor at all.

They’re just funding it, with the sports drink brand being the official sponsor.

Are they really just making the bridal dress for someone else?

As for the event’s initiative, it’s even more humorous - encouraging players to "actively step out of their homes and embrace nature"?

It had a kind of "Why don’t they eat meat paste?" beauty.

Li Wenhao could even foresee how the players would mock, "Guess why I don’t attend the yacht party? Is it because I don’t like it?"

It was utterly baffling.

Fortunately, the agreement clearly stated the business price and the timing of the event, which would be legally binding once signed. Given Nitiandang’s reputation in the gaming industry, Li Wenhao wasn’t worried about being cheated.

No wonder such matters required staff to make a trip for face-to-face communication. If it were only discussed online, it would be easy for streamers to suspect a scam.

Guo Zhao Sheng smiled somewhat sheepishly, "To be honest, I was also confused when I first received this task.

"But I can assure you that this event is absolutely real and effective, and the rewards and timing of the event stated in the contract are completely correct.

"However, there’s just one thing...

"If you agree to this event, we have a hidden activity that we need your cooperation with during this period.

"This hidden activity will also be a month long, exactly the same as the public event, and will only take up your mornings and evenings. There are also some details, but we can only reveal them after you have signed this contract."

Li Wenhao asked curiously, "What if I sign this contract but refuse to participate in the hidden activity?"

Guo Zhao Sheng explained, "That’s not a problem at all, and even if you decide to participate in the hidden activity, you can drop out at any time.

"But there’s just one thing, once you participate in this event, you must keep all content related to the hidden activity strictly confidential, otherwise, there will be a very large penalty for breach of contract. This is also clearly stated in the public contract."

Li Wenhao roughly understood, "So, I can still attend the public beach yacht event and receive the public business compensation. And by participating in the hidden activity, I can get an extra reward.

"I can choose not to participate in the hidden activity, or even drop out mid-way, but only if I don’t reveal any content about the hidden activity to the outside world."

Guo Zhao Sheng nodded, "Yes."

Li Wenhao found the situation absurd. Was there really such a good deal?

By taking on this job, not only could he expense the beach yacht costs, but he could also eat, drink, and have fun with other streamers for a month. An offer like manna from heaven was indeed tempting.

As for what exactly this hidden activity was?

Li Wenhao couldn’t guess, but it certainly wouldn’t involve anything illegal or coercive, since there was the freedom to choose whether to participate.

"Alright, count me in!"

After triple checking that there was nothing wrong with the contract, Li Wenhao promptly signed his name. He was now quite curious about what this hidden activity was.

Guo Zhao Sheng took out a second contract, "Good, now I can tell you about the hidden activity.

"This hidden activity is a trial play of Nitiandang’s new game ’Blood of Lies.’

Li Wenhao nearly spat out his coffee.

"Pfft!"

How should one describe this?

Set in stone, double happiness on the doorstep?

Is Nitiandang really not a charity company? Or have streamers found their long-lost father?

The situation seemed absurd enough, as everyone knew the quality of games from Nitiandang, and most streamers would likely broadcast them even without any commercial deals.

Being given a chance for a trial play meant that streamers and video creators could be the first to seize the opportunity, whether in making guides or videos, thus gaining an advantage over others. Therefore, even without a commercial deal, everyone would clamor for such an opportunity.

What’s more, with this event, there’s money to be made, official accommodation and food provided, and beach yacht fun?

Did such a good deal need to be kept under wraps? Perhaps the streamers not planning on going are the ones with issues, right?

Seeing Li Wenhao’s confusion, Guo Zhao Sheng hurried to add, "You should first read through the details of the second agreement."

Li Wenhao browsed through the contract with a frown.

Um...

It required playing 8 to 10 hours a day and there would even be an assessment at the end, which meant one must be capable of completing at least two major bosses flawlessly, or a stable clearance of all bosses.

And after the official release of the game, must they pretend as though they haven’t played the game before?

Make the audience think the game is really easy??

Li Wenhao scratched his head, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

He sort of understood that this agreement seemed to want streamers to collude in deceiving players, creating the illusion that the game was very easy.

Since it essentially involved pretending not to have played before and deceiving players, it was a disgraceful act, hence the secrecy.

But the question remained... was Nitiandang just messing around?

Such a scheme was bound to be exposed, and it seemed unlikely to have much effect. After all, Nitiandang’s games had a pretty long refund period, often longer than other games. And when it comes to games, it’s one thing to hide a storyline, but hiding a combat system? That’s impossible to conceal!

Wouldn’t players see through it after half an hour of playing?

Going to such lengths just to deceive players into struggling for half an hour? Is that not just messing around?

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