Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 616 - 599: Skipping Three Stages

Chapter 616: Chapter 599: Skipping Three Stages

Zhuge Jun patiently waited for the scene to switch again.

Although the boss kept attacking, and various Area of Effect damages persistently appeared on the field, it was relatively easy if he only considered self-preservation.

After another agonizing three minutes, the boss finally transformed again, and the Emperor made her reappearance.

Ice rain fell from the sky, and the rocks on the ground, previously ablaze with flames, gradually began to extinguish.

Zhuge Jun tried to grasp them but, as expected, could not.

"Confirmed, these Molten Rocks can’t be grabbed while on fire, but can be grabbed once extinguished.

"During the transition from the Emperor to the Deep Flame Demon, there’s a few seconds of time. The Emperor won’t leave the stage immediately, and the Molten Rocks on the field will reignite.

"So, what I need to do is simple: seize this window of opportunity, grab the rocks in advance with Wind Element Power, hurl them at the Emperor who hasn’t completely left the stage, and ensure they re-ignite before hitting her!

"...It might not work, but all I can do is hope it aligns with Nitiandang’s brainwaves!"

Zhuge Jun was unsure if this tactic would succeed, as it seemed too fantastical even to himself.

In any other game, the success rate would be virtually zero.

But this is Nitiandang’s game, where nothing is certain.

Were those bizarre bugs or mechanics in the past not also stumbled upon by countless players through wildly imaginative ways?

In fact, looking back, these methods all had certain specific patterns, or rather, a uniquely special thought process. If one could accidentally align with this thought process, then the success rate would dramatically increase.

After waiting a bit over a minute, this time luck was on his side – the stage transition to the Deep Flame Demon happened a bit early.

"Good, now is the time!"

Before this, Zhuge Jun had made some preparations.

He had used Wind Element Power to gather all the rocks on the ground, and then used Water Element Power to glue them together.

After gluing, these rocks formed a giant, irregular rock, temporarily placed in the middle of the field.

As the Deep Flame Demon made his entrance, the Emperor began her exit animation, and the rocks on the ground started to smoke, soon to catch fire.

"Now is the moment!"

Zhuge Jun realized that his maneuver had a very short window of opportunity, so he couldn’t afford any mistakes.

If he messed up, he would have to wait at least another five minutes.

He quickly attached a Fire Elemental Bomb to the large irregular rock, and then used Wind Element Power to lift it up, moving it above the Emperor.

Seeing the smoke on the rock getting thicker and about to ignite and break free from the control of the Wind Element Power, Zhuge Jun decisively released the Wind Element Power and switched back to ignite the fire.

A perfect "Justice from the Sky" maneuver was executed.

If nothing unusual occurred, this "Justice from the Sky" would only cause minor damage to the boss, similar to a light scratch.

However, before the rocks hit the Emperor, they suddenly burst into fierce flames, a result of the scene’s Element Transformation triggered by the Deep Flame Demon’s entrance!

In the next second, the Emperor let out a brief cry of agony, and her long Blood Bar was instantly emptied!

A string of incredibly long numbers exploded on the screen, but because there were many rocks and numbers, Zhuge Jun couldn’t see the exact figure.

"Damn, she got one-shot!"

Hou Ji, who had witnessed the whole process, was shocked, his eyes as wide as brass bells.

Zhuge Jun clenched his fist excitedly: "YES! I guessed right!

"The rocks on fire are special scene props, inherently possessing a very high damage multiplier.

"They hurt me if I touch them, and standing nearby for two to three seconds would kill me, but it hurts the boss just the same!

"With so many rocks smashing down, a complex melting reaction is triggered, where fire meets ice causing excessive melting damage, plus the additional damage from the initial impact of ’Justice from the Sky’...

"This long Blood Bar of the boss is simply not enough to withstand it!

"Wait, what’s going on, why did the screen go black?

"Oh no, don’t tell me the story got stuck, I might have encountered a bug!"

Zhuge Jun was initially thrilled, but seeing the change on the screen next second made his heart sink.

Because the screen went black without showing the regular boss stage transition animation!

Normally, after defeating any boss at this stage, the game would progress to the second phase where the two bosses merge.

The merged form would primarily feature the boss that wasn’t defeated.

After the second phase, there’s still a third phase of purely mechanical battle, followed by a transition animation.

However, the black screen lasted longer this time and didn’t proceed to the second phase transition animation.

Zhuge Jun was a bit panicked; if the worst-case scenario happened, his account might end up irreversibly stuck on this scene due to the bug.

Although theoretically, he could ask Nitiandang’s customer service to help get unstuck, finding Nitiandang’s customer service was another question entirely.

Fortunately, after a short while, the black screen ended.

But the scene that appeared was not the boss’s phase transition animation, but the boss’s death animation!

Emperor and Deep Flame Demon, both are dead!

Standing on the ruins, Zhuge Jun seemed a bit puzzled.

But the next second, he suddenly got excited and stood up from his seat instantly: "The Hero’s special abilities are still intact! They really carried over!

"Although I don’t know the exact principle, it indeed carried over!

"Perhaps it’s because I skipped the third phase’s terrain mechanism battle? The Hero was originally supposed to be stripped of these abilities during this stage, but since we skipped it, the abilities weren’t taken away?"

The original plot development was roughly like this:

After entering the pure mechanism battle in the third stage, the Hero, in order to defeat this powerful boss, used the world’s existing elemental power to purify evil, resulting in a huge drain of both elemental power and his own abilities.

But at this time, Zhuge Jun directly skipped the second and third stages, so from the plot’s perspective, the Hero didn’t need to consume a large amount of elemental power, and his special abilities were naturally preserved.

"From the plot’s perspective, it makes complete sense.

"Does this mean that Nitiandang reserved this mechanism or some kind of Easter egg?

"Not sure, the specifics of the principle probably need to be confirmed by those tech gurus.

"I’ll go enjoy the Hero’s special abilities in the big world for now!"

The recording continued, Zhuge Jun quickly went through the subsequent plot, then eagerly went to try out the Hero’s abilities in the big world.

It worked! Everything was normal!

Although the damage wasn’t great, it indeed allowed for a lot of fancy tricks, and there was still a lot of room for research and optimization afterward.

Of course, there were more plot updates in later versions, and the Hero had a lot of cleanup work to do, but Zhuge Jun felt that the Hero’s special abilities wouldn’t be taken away anymore.

That is to say, the status of this account has now "successfully broken out of prison," carrying out the Hero’s special abilities from the final boss battle!

"Cut the video, cut the video!"

Zhuge Jun finished recording and immediately started editing the video without hesitation.

He had already felt it - another work starting with a million views was beckoning him!

...

...

The next evening, Instructor Ding began his live stream as usual.

"Brothers, today I’ll play a bit of ’Endless Fantasy Legend 2’, complete some side quests, and then go shooting."

Like other streamers, Instructor Ding had already completed the main storyline of ’Endless Fantasy Legend 2’ two days ago, and was now mainly wrapping up some side quests and big map exploration of the current version.

Afterward, taking two or three hours each day to play would suffice to enter a brief idle period, waiting for the next version.

Regarding the last storyline drama, although it was hotly debated online, Instructor Ding didn’t mind and even thought the players were making a big deal out of a small issue.

The Hero’s abilities were taken away, so be it.

A game that sells characters, the Hero as the protagonist was supposed to be just a camera, getting a highlight in the final plot was already good enough, it’s not like he’s supposed to inherit all special abilities from ’Endless Fantasy Legend 1’ and become the powerhouse of Fantasy Continent, right?

How would they sell other characters then?

Of course, Gan Di also thought it would be best if they could inherit, but he could understand if they didn’t.

Game companies are generally more commercially oriented; this is just a choice that most companies would make, Nitiandang is no exception.

However, he was just about to start exploring when he saw everyone in the chat asking him to check out Zhuge Jun’s latest video.

"Zhuge Jun’s latest video?

"What’s up, has this guy got some new ideas?"

Instructor Ding was curious.

Recently, this new UP had been making waves and even seemed about to become the top streamer in the ’Endless Fantasy Legend 2’ game zone, mainly because he successfully caught several trends.

But during this period, due to ’Endless Fantasy Legend 2’ taking away the Hero’s special abilities, Zhuge Jun had also been criticized a lot.

Could it be that there has been a change in the situation?

Curious, Instructor Ding clicked on Zhuge Jun’s video.

Just two minutes in, his expression turned somewhat ugly.

"Dang!

"Doesn’t that mean my account is ruined? I can never activate the Hero’s special abilities again?!"

The content of this video was truly shocking.

Zhuge Jun detailed his research findings, which simply put, involved using the Hero’s special abilities to directly kill the Emperor with the Molten Rock on the ground during the first phase of the boss battle and skip the second and third phases.

If it could be executed, then the Hero’s special abilities would not be taken away, but could be carried out of the storyline.

Afterward, they could be freely used while exploring the big world.

This new discovery was like a bolt from the blue for players who had already completed the storyline.

Those saltier players who hadn’t yet managed to finish the main storyline were overjoyed.

Instructor Ding was clearly among the former.