Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 535 - 518: Protracted Battle

Chapter 535: Chapter 518: Protracted Battle

Li Wenhao had practically finished a game without realizing it.

Since both players were veterans and had strong rapport, the game time was compressed too.

It wasn’t even midnight yet.

On a brand-new planet, Li Wenhao went all out with his hand speed, drastically shifting from his usual leisurely pace to frantic construction.

But in his rush, more mistakes happened, the more he tried to speed up, the more snarled the production line became.

For a player with a slight touch of OCD, this was even more agonizing than killing Li Wenhao himself, he had no choice but to go back and fine-tune the production lines, further delaying his progress.

Just when he thought he could finally wrap things up, he suddenly felt like he couldn’t control the screen anymore.

The game had ended again!

"Damn it! Just one last step! Couldn’t you give me five more minutes?!"

Even the usually good-tempered Li Wenhao couldn’t help but curse out loud.

This time, his completion time was good, and he estimated he would have ample "infinite resource time" afterwards.

So, Li Wenhao planned to build a medium-sized industrial base.

He also allowed himself some spare time, intending to perfectly round off by constructing this mid-sized industrial base on the new planet, at least to make this save look complete from start to finish.

It’d be worthy of being preserved in a museum as a finished structure rather than an unfinished building.

But alas, man’s calculations fell short of heaven’s, his time estimation was still off, resulting in the project remaining unfinished.

Just one step shy of completion, yet it was precisely these final buildings that turned the whole project’s builder, Li Wenhao, into a clown again.

The critical issue was that the game didn’t indicate how much time was left until the save was closed, without a countdown, it was tough for players to estimate based solely on their feeling.

Li Wenhao sighed. Looks like today’s live stream was going to end imperfectly again.

But he hadn’t come out entirely empty-handed, at least he learned more about the game mechanics and tried some new tricks.

However, just when he thought about ending the stream, he noticed that many viewers in the chat weren’t discussing his gameplay.

Instead, they were still focused on Mouth King’s situation.

"Those two really have perseverance."

"Has anyone counted how many markers they’ve placed? It must have reached the thousands by now?"

"Mouth King really knows some trick, implementing moves I’ve never heard of."

"Two abstract artists."

"They actually played a game of ’you draw, I guess.’"

These comments made Li Wenhao stare in confusion. What was happening?

He had been engrossed in his own game the entire time, so he hadn’t paid much attention to Mouth King and his friend’s situation.

How could it be that in the span of a game, he couldn’t understand the chat anymore?

Was the pace changing this fast?

He hurriedly clicked on his friend’s ID to check the live stream and encountered quite a ludicrous scene.

On the surface of Comet, neither the Governor nor the leader seemed to care about the fate of their silicon-based dwarves, each busily engaged in their own affairs.

The leader was busy pushing bills, then sentencing the Governor to death, setting up tombstones in the wild, arranging them into specific words or shapes.

Equally unyielding, each new Governor seemed to come back to life, continuing to build with limited resources.

Except what they built wasn’t a substantial industrial zone, but instead, using the Manufacturing Machine, conveyor belts, production lines, and heating facilities to assemble specific shapes or words.

One set up one project, and the other set another.

Even the friend displayed some artistic Talent; the things he arranged were no longer limited to simple verbal insults.

For instance, the pattern he was currently drawing: from the outline, one could vaguely make out it was a dead duck, but there were many close-ups of the duck’s beak, especially drawn using the game’s strongest "safety fortress."

It gave off a "very tough" vibe.

Without a bit of an artistic cell, one really couldn’t understand such abstract art.

With the leader and the Governor competing in setup, of course, the game round ended in a quick failure.

But neither cared, quickly returning to the initial interface and both clicking confirm simultaneously to start another round.

Just like that, both of them were adamantly at loggerheads, neither willing to back down first.

Li Wenhao yawned.

This was just too boring!!

But, it had to be said, it takes a rogue to beat a rogue.

If it had been someone like Li Wenhao, with his personality, facing Mouth King’s relentless nagging, he really had no good solutions other than to avoid it.

However, that would give Mouth King the illusion of "having won."

Although this was merely a pyrrhic victory, such was the unique logic of internet trolls.

But now, without a clear outcome to the duel, Mouth King couldn’t declare a mental victory.

"Forget it, I’m going to sleep."

Li Wenhao didn’t ponder much further, reckoning these two would probably hold up until around 2 or 3 a.m., then one of them would likely give up.

Or maybe they’d agree to battle another day.

Seeing such a scene would be completely pointless.

There were plenty of idle folks online always refreshing pages and bickering, one must be really bored to spectate such events.

...

The next morning, at a little past 10 a.m., Li Wenhao woke up.

He had a very comfortable sleep; it had been a long time since he had woken up so naturally and happily.

However, after having a simple brunch, Li Wenhao opened his fan group and found that the group’s activity was even higher than last night.

Why are you all chatting with 99+ messages this early in the morning, I’m a streamer with no work, but aren’t you all supposed to be at work too?

Li Wenhao opened the fan group with confusion and discovered that everyone was still discussing last night’s epic matchup between Mouth King and his fans.

They even screenshot some "classic productions" as if they wished to exhibit them forever.

Li Wenhao typed and asked, "What time did they cease fire last night?"

Group members quickly replied, "Cease fire? They are still fighting!"

Li Wenhao: "??"

He checked the time again. Last night, those two guys should have matched and started battling around eight o’clock. So, they have been going at it until now, after 10 in the morning?

That already makes it 14 hours!

What kind of person could be bored enough to endure for 14 hours straight, endlessly playing the game of "laying corpses"?

More importantly, this was an impromptu event, so these two probably didn’t get much rest during the day yesterday, and their biological clocks weren’t specially adjusted.

That means, they likely had been awake since yesterday morning and stayed up until now, which sums up to more than 24, perhaps even 26, hours.

At this point, Li Wenhao was somewhat impressed.

He had thought that these two would have given in by two or three in the morning, but it seemed he had underestimated the willpower of diehard fans.

He hurriedly went back to watch the livestream.

Compared to last night, both of them obviously appeared drained and lethargic now.

Initially, they had racked their brains to place various abstract patterns on the surface of the Comet, but now, both had wilted even though silicon-based dwarves were still active on the surface, occasionally forming a few words, but most of the time both of them had calmed down.

Only their typing fingers didn’t stop.

"Go on, you keep killing."

"You keep arranging."

"Keep killing."

"Arrange."

"Kill."

"Arrange."

The two of them continued this way, each typing one word, cycling them on the public screen, neither willing to back down.

Ultimately, it evolved from a battle of wits initially, to a contest of artistic skill, and finally it became a test of physical stamina.

And ultimately a competition of willpower.

By now, for these two to simply move their fingers to quickly type one word, they were already using up all their energies.

And indeed, the overnight livestream had an unexpectedly positive effect.

This fan was originally just a viewer in Li Wenhao’s streaming room, where initially there weren’t many followers, but now, early in the morning, it gathered tens of thousands of viewers.

And the barrage was incredibly popular.

After all, after collecting viewership overnight, many people had slept and then come back to watch.

"So awesome."

After sending this comment, Li Wenhao turned to attend to his other tasks.

After 12 pm, having had lunch, he opened the streaming room again and discovered that the enduring battle was still ongoing.

But both parties were admittedly reaching their limits.

Finally, under the watchful eyes of the public, Mouth King suddenly, without any warning, unplugged his network cable and disappeared.

The "Kill" typed by the fan had no response thereafter.

Barrages of "OHHHHH" flew across the screen!

It was even more thrilling than Li Wenhao actually winning a match in "Star Plan".

Various gifts floated across the streaming room. After thanking everyone for the gifts, the fan finally couldn’t hold on any longer and went off-stream to sleep.

However, the popularity of this incident was clearly going to continue spreading.

Li Wenhao was impressed. Although he saw that this guy received more gifts than himself, he didn’t feel upset at all.

This was truly earning one’s meal through sheer skill, undeniable!

Not everyone had that kind of perseverance.

Of course, the absurd design of "Star Plan" played a role in fanning the flames.

Imagine, if the game had a blocking feature from the start, the moment the two were at odds, just one of them needed to block the other, and the "duel application" would naturally be canceled.

It’s quite rare for both parties not to block each other.

Taking this incident, if it weren’t for the lack of a block feature, forcing Mouth King to incessantly harass Li Wenhao, the subsequent drama wouldn’t have occurred.

Could it be said that the strong never complain about their environment?

That’s a bit absurd too.

Li Wenhao searched forums and video sites, and as expected, this incident was starting to spread, with many players discussing it, and several snippets and "major documentaries" were in production.

This incident marked a significant moment, as an even more intense PPPVPPP drama was about to unfold.