Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 520 - 503: Filling the Position

Chapter 520: Chapter 503: Filling the Position

As soon as he said this, Li Wenhao almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

The two players, however, fell into a long silence.

Finally, it was Urbanization who spoke first, "Yes, I think this brother makes a lot of sense!

"If you’re straight, you won’t fear your shadow slanting, buddy, you are the strongest king, so if you’re not up to any tricks, what are you afraid of being monitored for?

"These technology points will only make our cooperation more transparent and efficient, allowing us to better establish mutual trust and eliminate suspicions, which is a good thing.

"Besides, I see a lot of content in these technology points that can help me share the workload; the governor’s job in this game is too busy. I think it’s perfectly fitting for the leader to help share some of it.

"So buddy, you really shouldn’t take it too much to heart. We always trust each other, just focus on building the Comet well, and that’s it!"

Clearly, after some simple reasoning, Urbanization immediately understood Li Wenhao’s intention and accurately caught the bag he had thrown.

The two together cornered Mouth King.

In this technology tree, at least half of the content limited the governor and enhanced the leader’s power, the same technology tree Li Wenhao had chosen.

At the end, the leader could even execute the governor for a very arbitrary reason.

As the governor, Mouth King naturally was not happy. Even though it was just a game, he was not happy.

Why limit me?

So, Mouth King timely launched a counterattack, trying to permanently cut off the other party’s attempts without any hidden data found by the monitor.

And his reasons were twofold:

First, this would increase mistrust between us.

Second, it would also waste some resources.

However, Li Wenhao’s words didn’t directly contradict these two statements but instead extended them.

First, if you’re straight, you won’t fear your shadow slanting. If you are honest and upright, then these measures will only enhance mutual trust between you two. How could they possibly affect you?

Second, investing these resources isn’t entirely useless. Not to mention the technology points that can indeed boost public sentiment and production efficiency, there’s another important point: the leader taking on more responsibilities can share your workload, making it easier for you.

Moreover, the game’s mechanics, from the get-go, were not quite reasonable.

The leader has great power but doesn’t take responsibility for specific tasks, which is obviously unreasonable in game mechanics.

The leader sharing more workload will not only make the game mechanics more reasonable but also lighten the load for the governor, allowing him to do the remaining work better.

Of course, Mouth King was not foolish; this whole thing was a strategy to decommission his military power in disguise!

Hidden under the flag of "You’re too tired, let me help share some of it," he was actually trying to seize his power. Who could tolerate that?

Mouth King was most unwilling, to the tune of a million times no.

"Don’t give me this runaround!

"The game mechanics distribute work this way for a reason. I don’t find the governor’s job burdensome at all, I enjoy it.

"I appreciate your good intention to share my workload, but often when there are more people working, it becomes chaotic and might even decrease efficiency; it’s not necessary, really not necessary.

"And speaking of which, though I’m upright and unafraid of slanted shadows, it doesn’t mean I won’t get annoyed if you keep checking on me.

"Even if it were Zhuge Liang, wouldn’t he be unhappy if Liu Shan was overly cautious and guarded around him?"

Obviously, neither side was biting the bait, both trying to manipulate the other into doing so.

After all, whoever conceded at this moment, things afterward would become difficult.

Because retreating one step would lead to retreating forever.

If Mouth King agreed to a proposal limiting him now, then when more restrictions were proposed later, he would find it hard to oppose vehemently;

Conversely, if Urbanization gave up trying to pass proposals that limited Mouth King now, it would also be hard to bring up old matters later.

As they talked, the discourse between the two began shifting from initially rational to somewhat irritable.

Urbanization: "No, I just don’t understand. I’m helping you share the workload, that’s a good gesture, why wouldn’t you let me?

"Do you have a guilty conscience?

"If you have no skeletons in your closet, why won’t you let me supervise?"

Mouth King: "Do I need your kind of kindness? Haven’t I said that I can handle it all by myself, without needing your help?

"You have plenty of things on your plate as the leader too. Can you at least handle your own affairs before talking?

"Still going on about having a guilty conscience. Whether I have skeletons or not, does that mean you can doubt me recklessly?"

Seeing the conflict between the two gradually intensifying, Li Wenhao knew it was time for him to step in again.

He hadn’t spoken for quite a while now, and the reason was simple—to minimize the impression of fueling the fire.

But he would not miss any crucial statements during key moments.

"Alright, alright, gentlemen, let me say something fair."

As everyone knows, when someone says, "Let me say something fair," the underlying implication is mostly "I’m about to start taking sides."

"I think both of you have valid points, but to reach our common goal, we still have to seek common ground while reserving differences, right?

"On the basis of both having valid points, I think we should return to the original issue, starting from the game mechanics."

When it came to this, Mouth King got excited, "From a game mechanics perspective, it should be the leader’s responsibility to make plans and the executor’s job to carry them out!"

"So I’m asking to keep going, any problem with that?"

Li Wenhao quickly said, "No problem, of course, no problem."

"But this is just the initial game mechanism to help the two players cooperate more seamlessly. Mid-game, the mechanics change."

"You see, the game designer intentionally added a tech tree for adjusting authority, isn’t it obviously meant for players to adapt based on their own needs?"

Mouth King became even more unconvinced, "What if my need is to not adjust, wouldn’t that be okay?"

Li Wenhao continued, "Of course, you can, but let’s go back to the original game mechanism: in this game, the leader is ultimately the decision-maker, right?"

"So I think when no one can convince the other, we should, of course, respect the leader’s opinion as much as possible."

On hearing this, Urbanization got excited.

"Exactly! According to the game rules, the leader is originally the final decision-maker."

"I’m just communicating with you out of courtesy, you should realize this!"

"If you’re upset, why don’t you just restart a game and be the leader yourself?"

Li Wenhao’s words clearly played a critical reminder role.

It could even be said to have awakened someone who was dreaming.

Urbanization suddenly realized, who cares about this or that, I’m the leader, I should be the one calling the shots!

Out of respect for another player, I was discussing these issues with you, but instead, you ungratefully pushed back against me.

Do you even have a say in this?

Without realizing it, the tone became much tougher.

That made Mouth King even more intolerant, his anger completely exploded.

"Fine, I see what’s going on now, you just came here to make trouble, right?"

"Can’t you rest easy without causing division?"

"Does it bother you that much to see me about to beat the game?"

Li Wenhao sent an "I’m just saying" emoji: "Which one of my statements isn’t fair?"

Urbanization chimed in immediately, "Yeah, which word of his isn’t fair?"

"On the contrary, dude, do you have a persecution complex or what? You’re just clicking a tech point, something unavoidable if you play as the executor, what are you freaking out for?"

Mouth King was completely speechless; after cursing angrily for a bit, he went offline.

Obviously, he had pulled the plug.

"In-game ’pulling the plug’ doesn’t necessarily mean actually pulling the plug; it could also be quitting with alt+F4, or turning off the computer with the power button..."

In any case, he disconnected.

Although his ID was Mouth King, clearly he knew winning a Verbal Combat was unlikely.

Now it was clear it was two against one, and no matter how fast he typed, he couldn’t defend himself.

Besides, the game was still ongoing, if he had stayed, Urbanization could just advance the tech tree like Li Wenhao in the previous game, eventually judge him, and erect his monument in the tundra.

So, there was no benefit in staying; better to hit and run after cursing.

Now, Urbanization was speechless.

He was getting fired up, ready to battle it out with the strongest king, but his opponent disengaged with one hit, just like those online who block you after cursing, which was really frustrating.

True to his name, Mouth King indeed lived up to his title.

As everyone knows, being a Mouth King doesn’t reflect the speed of defending parents or the strength of the rebuttal, only the degree of stubbornness.

But now, a new pressing issue arose.

What about the game?

It originally required two people to play, but now one guy had disconnected and broken the game, leaving Urbanization unable to continue alone.

Just then, a pop-up appeared on Li Wenhao’s screen.

[Player disconnected, replace the offline player to continue the game?]

Li Wenhao was surprised, "Huh? There’s such an option?"

Clearly, the game itself had a replacement mechanism.

When a player goes offline or quits, the spectators in the match can fill in.

However, this mechanism has certain restrictions:

First, whether to replace and who should replace is decided by the other player.

That is, if the other player decides to wait or permanently save this Save, then other players cannot replace.

Second, the priority of replacement is: spectator players > actively matched players > passively matched players.

So, after Li Wenhao clicked confirm, he automatically became the highest priority replacement player in the normal matchup.

And with Urbanization clicking the [Agree] button, Li Wenhao automatically replaced him as the executor and continued the game.