Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 56 How did you manage to support the Han Dynasty?

Chapter 56: Chapter 56 How did you manage to support the Han Dynasty?

Chen Tingquan stroked his non-existent long beard in a very pretentious manner, "Heh, Lü Bu is nothing but a thrice-servile wretch. With a mere flick of my hand, I can take his life!

"Hm? No triggering of the plot dialogue this time, what a pity.

"I was looking forward to seeing what Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu would say!"

Clearly, the algorithm behind this fake-AI technology is quite enigmatic. When event dialogues are triggered, when they’re not, and how they are conducted are somewhat esoteric.

This time, Dong Zhuo’s killing of Lü Bu didn’t trigger any dialogue.

Chen Tingquan even felt it was quite a shame.

Before, he found the AI’s scripted dialogues in the game very annoying. He would hardly ever click to read them, and even on the off chance that he accidentally did, he would quickly click to skip them like a speedrunner.

Mainly because those plot dialogues were disjointed and uninteresting.

But now, he was actually looking forward to them!

The quality of the AI hadn’t changed; those generated dialogues were still a mix of classical and vernacular, riddled with holes, but the plot was different now, and so was the audience’s perception of these dialogues!

The comments section was boiling over again. Although there were no dialogues this time, everyone could easily guess why Dong Zhuo killed Lü Bu.

"Nice one, killing two strong rivals, Cao Cao and Lü Bu, with a single ’Observing Stars,’ huh!"

"I’m dying of laughter here. Just imagine, Dong Zhuo was already pissed when he saw Cao Cao’s hated generals and biography, and then he takes a look at Lü Bu’s loyalty and background..."

"Actually, if ’Observing Stars’ only revealed loyalty levels, Lü Bu could’ve lived a couple more years because his plummeting loyalty to Dong Zhuo started after the incident at Fengyi Pavilion. Alas, it’s hopeless when you’ve got the generals’ biographies as well..."

"Things are getting messy, chaotic, it’s all turning into a big, confusing stew..."

Players were already vaguely aware that Chen Tingquan was about to cause some mischief.

This "Brocade Bag" + "Observing Stars" bug was just outrageous!

It allowed specific generals’ AIs to access a target general’s attribute panel directly, which included not only the Seven-dimensional attributes but also vital information like the hated generals and biographies. Coupled with the learning and communication abilities possessed by the fake-AI, this was enough to significantly influence these AIs’ decision-making!

Activating ’Observing Stars’ was akin to activating the God’s-eye view.

So, by selecting the right moment for a particular person to start ’Observing Stars,’ that person would go off to take down a current, past, or future enemy. Even if they were not strong enough to win, it would be enough to affect that character AI’s future decisions.

Chen Tingquan had seized on this very point to make Dong Zhuo an unwitting pawn, taking out Liu Bei’s biggest threats, Cao Cao, and Lü Bu.

In the subsequent gameplay, Chen Tingquan completely unleashed himself.

At this time, he was controlling an eight-year-old Zhuge Liang, executing only three actions per turn with his ’Wolong Strategy’: Observing Stars, Brocade Bag, and Warding off the Star!

Since the effects of ’Observing Stars’ could last a year, he would usually start with applying one to himself and then depending on the situation arrange it for other hostile generals.

As for ’Warding off the Star’? He used it every turn!

Sure, the success rate of this thing was really low, but what of it? The dude had all the time in the world now!

Chen Tingquan estimated with fingers pinched, "My fellow treasured viewers, check this out. Zhuge Liang is now eight years old, and he has a normal lifespan of 53. Let’s calculate it for 45 years, at four turns per year, assuming ’Warding off the Star’ has a success rate of one-eighth, no, let’s go even lower, one-tenth!

"By the year 234, we will have extended Zhuge Liang’s life by at least 18 years!

"And then, what if we continue with ’Warding off the Star’ in those 18 years? That will add another 7 years!

"Extend it further over 7 years, and you add 3 more years, extend those 3 years, and you get another year...

"In short!

"If we start ’Warding off the Star’ on Zhuge Liang at the age of eight, we can extend his life by 29 years!

"Originally, Zhuge Liang would have lived until he was 53, but with this extension, he is guaranteed to live until he is 82!

"If we get a bit more optimistic and take a somewhat idealized Whales’ probability where ’Warding off the Star’ has a success rate of about one-fifth...

"Well, now, that’s a different ball game—it can extend the Prime Minister’s life by over 150 years, pushing his lifespan past 200!

"That means the Prime Minister could live until the year 381 AD!

"With a little more effort, he might even witness the Battle of Fei River between Former Qin and Eastern Jin...

"Of course, if the Prime Minister really lives to that time, then there wouldn’t be such things as the Jin Dynasty or the Battle of Fei River, nor the War of the Eight Princes or the chaos of the Five Barbarians..."

The barrage audience cried out that it was preposterous. Wow, operating on perpetual motion now, are we?

For normal people, Rangxing is like a quick heart-relief pill, something to use sparingly in dire moments, and whether it works or not still depends on whether the heavens are willing to look favorably upon you.

But look at you, turning Rangxing into common cabbage, wholesaling lifespans!

The idea of "Using Rangxing to extend Zhuge Liang’s life and prolong game time" was something players had long considered, and Chen Tingquan had also tried it himself.

But it was basically only during the fourth stage that it could barely be used; in the first two stages, it was completely out of the question.

The reason is very simple: you can’t survive!

The difficulty of this game is too high, especially the "newcomer" start. If either Zhuge Liang or Liu Bei dies, it’s game over. Only after the two have joined forces and established a power can Liu Bei die.

If Liu Bei dies before that, it’s impossible to trigger the "Entrusted Orphan."

Players must protect the young Zhuge Liang and also find a way to safeguard Liu Bei. They’d desperately want to smash all three Brocade Bags to spend them, how could they afford the luxury of using "Warding off the Star" every turn?

But now things are different!

Chen Tingquan found a reliable method to protect both Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei. With just one use of the "Brocade Bag" + "Observing Stars" combo, he could eliminate the biggest threat at that time and win precious development time for himself.

Of course, he could then use Rangxing reliably every turn!

Certainly, this "Brocade Bag" + "Observing Stars" combo couldn’t 100% take down every enemy. If two generals don’t have much interaction or there’s no relevant historical record of them, even if one of them gained the Observing Stars skill, they wouldn’t come into conflict.

This actually tests the players’ historical knowledge a bit. They must use "Observing Stars" at the right time on the right person to achieve their goal of killing by proxy.

And Chen Tingquan happened to be someone very familiar with this historical knowledge!

Of course, players who aren’t very familiar with historical knowledge aren’t totally out of the game. They can also trigger Observing Stars for themselves, take the time to read up on the generals’ biographies, thereby brushing up on historical knowledge and simultaneously exploring ways to crack the game.

Who says biographies of generals in strategy simulation games are useless?

That’s where they come into play!

This time, Chen Tingquan’s game progressed very smoothly. In the first year, with the help of Dong Zhuo, he took out Cao Cao and Lü Bu. Afterward, during the campaign against Dong Zhuo by the allied lords, even though Dong Zhuo lost Lü Bu, the alliance was without Cao Cao, who had been the most willing to exert himself, so the outcome wasn’t too different. In the end, Yuan Shao almost effortlessly occupied most of the northern territories.

But the problem is, Yuan Shao himself didn’t live long—he died of illness in the year 202.

Many have the misconception that Cao Cao directly won and unified the North after the Battle of Guandu, but that’s not the case.

Although Yuan Shao suffered a defeat at Guandu, his foundations were not shaken, and Cao Cao couldn’t cross the Yellow River until after Yuan Shao’s death. Even in the third year after Yuan Shao died, Cao Cao still faced defeat outside of Ye City.

The main reason Cao Cao was able to unify the North so swiftly was that Yuan Shao died too early. Subsequently, the infighting between Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, combined with years of drought in the North, led to the complete disintegration of the Yuan clan.

In the game, without Cao Cao, Yuan Shao quickly took over most of the northern territories, but after his death, the infighting between Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan still occurred.

In such chaotic circumstances, Chen Tingquan decisively acted, helping Liu Bei take Xuzhou as his base and then expanded his territory tirelessly to the east and west, ultimately easily accomplishing the goal of "Aiding the Han Dynasty."

"Hah, I knew it, this game is too easy. It doesn’t require much thinking at all, what a waste of my high IQ.

"With just a bit of effort from me, the Han Dynasty is restored!"

As the last city was also captured by the Han forces, Chen Tingquan couldn’t help but feel smug.

However, to his surprise, along with the victory screen, there were also a few lines where he could fill in contact information.

[Congratulations on clearing the game!]

[Destiny’s Chosen, you have successfully aided the Han Dynasty, achieving what was unimaginable to all!]

[All of this seems unbelievable. Amid the havoc caused by demons and dangers lurking everywhere, how exactly did you do it?]

[To express our respect, the production team will present you with a small gift.]

[Please fill in your contact information in the blanks below (optional)]

[Player’s Name: ____]

[Contact Information: ____]

[Mailing Address: ____]

[Thoughts on Clearing the Game: ____]