Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 677 - 660: Benefits for Alt Accounts

Chapter 677: Chapter 660: Benefits for Alt Accounts

At noon, Li Wenhao logged in on time and started today’s training.

He glanced at his friends list; Liang Chun was also online, but not in the Tou Fangfang Cultivation Team’s multiplayer cave mansion.

"Bro, are you already in the Barbaric World? Wait for me."

Shortly after, Liang Chun replied, "No, I’m leveling an alt."

Li Wenhao was taken aback. Leveling an alt? Such an unfamiliar concept!

So far, although there were quite a few new players in "Reverse Heaven," very few people specifically leveled alts. The reason was simple: it’s not easy to do!

In this game, progress mainly comes from two aspects: self-cultivation and adventures in the Barbaric World.

If it were another game, you could level up by taking new players through dungeons or grinding in the wild, but not in "Reverse Heaven."

When adventuring in the Barbaric World, once both parties sign a cooperation agreement, resources are distributed according to the cultivation gap, and the alt might barely get any scraps.

So even if there were real-life friends ready to join the game, the best option was to give them some Spirit Stones and Nine Dragon Elixirs and let them cultivate on their own.

Liang Chun had been playing for quite some time, so he knew this too. Why was he still leveling an alt?

There must be something up, definitely something up.

As expected, Li Wenhao checked the Tou Fangfang Cultivation Team roster and quickly found a new member, with a name that seemed like a female player.

"Oh man, bro, are you dating online in this game too?"

Liang Chun was a bit speechless: "What dating? This is my wife. She found the game interesting and saw that it had a Tao Companion system, so she decided to play."

Li Wenhao felt like he took a thousand points of damage.

"Damn, should’ve known better than to ask!"

"You people who bring your real-life partners into games are really something else."

Ever since the Tao Companion system was introduced, these people benefitted the most.

They had the ultimate gaming setup: a girlfriend willing to play with them!

This was utterly infuriating.

What made it even more annoying was that Liang Chun’s cultivation hadn’t reached the Nascent Soul stage yet, so he couldn’t hold the Tao Companion ceremony for now.

But he was already starting to prepare and plan for it.

The game mechanics of "Reverse Heaven" are incredibly friendly to new players.

The game has a special catch-up mechanism that grants new players extremely high cultivation rates.

In other games, players who start on a new server get fixed resources daily, while latecomers lose out, so most players prefer playing on new servers.

"Reverse Heaven", however, adjusts cultivation efficiency for new players based on server start time until they catch up to about 80% of the fixed cultivation they missed. Only then does the new player bonus disappear.

So, in Liang Chun’s wife’s case, it was quite easy to manage.

No need for Nine Dragon Elixirs; just natural body refining would do.

After all, most female players didn’t like the King Kong Barbie body type. Natural body refining was not only aesthetically pleasing but also cost-effective.

The experience gain efficiency under the catch-up mechanism would significantly boost their cultivation progress, not bogging them down like pioneer players doing natural body refining.

Liang Chun’s plan was clear: he would strive for the Nascent Soul stage, and his wife would play normally. Then, they could become Tao Companions in the game and enjoy playing together.

According to the Tao Companion agreement, once formed, both parties would share cultivation gains and benefits like storage rings.

Even female players using natural body refining could have a lot of fun.

Li Wenhao finished his cultivation tasks for the day. With nothing to do while meditating, he opened Instructor Ding’s live streaming channel.

"Dear Instructor, my in-game master told me to take Nine Dragon Elixirs. What do they do?"

A crisp and pleasant voice immediately lifted his spirits.

Li Wenhao almost thought he had entered the wrong stream. After checking, it indeed was Instructor Ding’s channel.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a female player chatting with Instructor Ding, her ID was "Only Eating Cilantro."

"Oh, is this the Tao Companion Instructor Ding found?" Li Wenhao quickly understood.

He glanced at the chat.

"This one’s good! Little Ding made a smart choice!"

"Her voice is pretty nice, could she be a professional voice actress?"

"The previous one was too over the top and her words were tea-tea (pretentious). This one is great."

"Marry her! Marry her now!"

"Gotta admit, Xuanji Immortal Mansion really has something going on. Where do they find these female players?"

"She’s a newbie. Could she have been hired professionally for companionship?"

"Unlikely. This game needs consistent play. Hiring companions long-term isn’t practical. Even Xuanji Immortal Mansion wouldn’t indulge in such charity."

Li Wenhao roughly figured it out, realizing that Zi Su from Xuanji Immortal Mansion had said she would find a Tao Companion for Instructor Ding, and this was clearly one of the candidates.

Going by the reaction in the chat, Instructor Ding had probably chatted with a few candidates before, but none of them were satisfactory.

As the chat suggested, some female players’ voices might have been too forced or sounded insincere, triggering natural wariness.

But this female player, currently in the voice chat, seemed quite alright, with most viewers in the live stream showing their approval.

Upon hearing Only Eating Cilantro’s question, Instructor Ding rushed to answer: "Don’t eat that!

"The NPCs in this game can be very misleading, and you can’t trust everything they say.

"The Nine Dragon Elixirs will give you a lot of muscles, turning you into a King Kong Barbie.

"You just need to cultivate naturally. Foundation Establishment Pills and Strengthening Pills are fine; they’ll speed up your cultivation.

"When you’re done cultivating today, I’ll take you to the Barbaric World for a tour to broaden your horizons."

Only Eating Cilantro: "Alright, thank you, Instructor!"

Instructor Ding laughed so hard that the crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes crinkled: "Ah, no need for thanks, no need at all. Quickly reach Foundation Establishment; I have many magical treasures for the Foundation Establishment stage ready for you."

And the chat exploded: "Poor Tom is being played in the palm of her hand!"

Li Wenhao couldn’t help but chuckle; he couldn’t quite tell if Instructor Ding was being genuine or just playing it up for the stream.

If it was an act, it was so natural that it was almost indistinguishable. No wonder he was a top streamer; whatever he did had fantastic entertainment value.

"Wait a moment, I’ll check what is needed for the Tao Companion ceremony," Instructor Ding said.

Only Eating Cilantro: "No need, Instructor, isn’t it quite expensive? Maybe just sign the cheapest one."

Instructor Ding got excited immediately: "No way, how can we go for the cheapest? I can’t be outdone by Brother Li!

"Besides, only the highest and second highest tiers include storage rings. Don’t worry, sis, I need a storage ring too."

Li Wenhao couldn’t help but marvel: "Really, where does the Xuanji Immortal Mansion find so many female players from?

"Honestly, this one seems quite high-level.

"Whether she’s genuinely understanding or professionally trained, it’s hard to tell."

As a spectator, Li Wenhao saw things clearly. Despite the girl’s great performance, there was undoubtedly some acting involved.

How much acting there was, though, was hard to determine.

But even if there were acting involved, Instructor Ding probably wouldn’t mind. After all, he was a streamer looking for good content. Even if the other party was an actress, as long as the performance wasn’t too clumsy and had the desired entertainment effect, it was fine.

Besides, becoming Tao Companions would benefit both parties. They would enter a mutual benefit relationship, ensuring lots of entertaining live streams in the future.