Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 89: Lost Ones Cleansing Plan (10/10)

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Lost Ones Cleansing Plan (10/10)

A few minutes later, "Tooth Decay" logged on.

"I already quit the game, what do you want with me..."

He moved forward on his long, thin legs, approaching everyone.

Instructor Ding glanced at him, "Forget it, you can log off now..."

"Tooth Decay": "???"

Liang Chun made a "facepalm" gesture, "I really overthought it, the core mechanism isn’t here!

"I forgot, there are two Lost Ones in this game! One inside the Divine Realm, and another outside of it.

"Obviously, when players re-enter the game, they’ll respawn by default in the body outside of the Divine Realm.

"That’s settled then, you can log off now."

"Tooth Decay" was completely confused, "I mean, what are you all mumbling about? Forget it, since I’m already online, I’ll hang out with you guys a bit longer."

Instructor Ding shook his head, "No need, you should just quit the game. We still need to continue studying the mechanics of the Lost Ones!"

"Tooth Decay" was at a loss for words. He made a "middle finger" gesture and then logged off.

The moment he logged off, his character disappeared, and it took ten minutes before he turned back into a Lost One Manual Laborer.

Liang Chun pondered, "It seems the ’Lost Ones’ mechanism in this game is more complex and stringent than I thought. It seems you need to be offline for more than a dozen hours to be initially identified as a Lost One, then a Lost One will be replicated both inside and outside the Divine Realm, and upon logging back in, players default to outside the Divine Realm...

"The good news is if we exploit this mechanism, all sixteen of us can become Lost Ones after quitting the game, and we can continue to do the grunt work while we sleep."

Instructor Ding frowned, "What good does that do?! Lost Ones can only carry bricks, they can’t build stuff, and there’s not enough brick carrying work to employ them all!"

They had thought that the core mechanics of the game would be hidden with the Lost Ones, but after much research, they found that all loopholes had been plugged.

So frustrating!

Michelangelo said, "I’ve done some minor experiments in the Divine Realm as well. I found that the pickaxes in the game can not only dig into the ground but can also carve stone. And depending on how long you press the left mouse button, the force of the strike varies, allowing for detailed carving."

Liang Chun thought for a moment, "But the pickaxe is the Flame Thief’s tool, which can’t be taken out of the Divine Realm."

Michelangelo nodded, "Exactly! Therefore, I’ve been thinking that all the current absurdity boils down to one point, ’Players can’t freely enter or exit the Divine Realm.’ If players could move freely, then the game would actually be quite enjoyable.

"At least if we could take the shovel out, we could do some sculpting.

"So I tried digging a hole with the shovel to see if I could bypass the Divine Realm’s high walls by digging a tunnel.

"But the walls are very deep, I dug for a long time and still didn’t hit the bottom. Plus the walls are so hard, sparks fly when you hit them with the shovel, it’s impossible to dig through.

"I’m afraid the hidden mechanism isn’t here either."

Liang Chun also felt dejected, "Ah, it seems this game’s hidden mechanism is buried very deep! After all this running around, we’re back where we started."

...

The speaker meant one thing, but the listener took another.

Upon hearing Michelangelo’s words, Lilith almost crushed the can of cola in her hand.

But soon, she let out a sigh of relief, and turned to Gu Fan again, "Did you do this as well?"

Gu Fan nodded somewhat helplessly, "Yeah! Your design document didn’t specify how high, how thick, or how deep the walls of the Divine Realm are, so I thought about it and just extended them to the boundaries of the ground.

"Otherwise, if players could dig their way out, wouldn’t that make your whole Divine Realm teleportation rule meaningless?

"Sigh, as a programmer, this really isn’t my job, but I’d say I’ve worried myself sick over the cause of Hell..."

Lilith felt a bit embarrassed but also somewhat touched.

"Don’t worry, as Nitiandang’s number one hero, I’ll keep all this in mind! Once our Negative Emotion Collection Office expands, when the time comes to reward contributions, you’ll definitely be at the top of the list!

"I even doubted your loyalty before; that was my mistake!"

Gu Fan coughed lightly, "Well, it’s good enough that you’re aware of it."

It seems that the rewards for achievements will have to wait; I just hope they don’t give me extra time when I’m thrown into the frying pan.

With the crisis averted, Lilith looked at the live stream once more.

...

With the Divine Fire and materials secured, construction outside the Divine Realm got back on track.

The newly selected five Flame Thieves re-entered the Divine Realm, including Instructor Ding, Chen Tingquan, Liang Chun, and two supporters from the streaming audience.

Instructor Ding felt both surprised and a little annoyed to be chosen twice in a row.

"How outrageous, wasn’t the selection mechanism for the Flame Thieves supposed to prioritize the less skilled? Why am I selected again!"

Chen Tingquan couldn’t help but retort, "Little Ding, you should really get a clue. Why do you think you were chosen again? Isn’t it because you fed so many times last round! If you keep feeding like this, the Divine Realm won’t even be Divine Realm anymore, it should be called ’Lost Ones Paradise’!

"Can you please take better care of the Divine Realm’s environment? Don’t litter, what about the Flame Thieves who come after us?"

Instructor Ding was defiant, "They’re just some Lost Ones. Just you wait, this time I’ll shovel them one by one and wipe them all out!

"From now on, you guys can call me ’Divine Realm’s Sweeper’, I seriously don’t buy that the Lost Ones are a problem!"

Liang Chun sighed, "We probably do need to control the number of Lost Ones inside the Divine Realm. After all, the weaker you are, the easier it is to get selected as a Flame Thief. We need to do something soon, or if the number of Lost Ones gets too high, it might become unmanageable."

Instructor Ding struck a confident fist-clenching pose, "Don’t worry, the main reason we flipped last time was that we didn’t expect to be able to capture. This time, just follow my lead, we’ll all pick Warriors and bring shovels and picks!

"One person goes in for the capture to control the Lost Ones, the rest each with a shovel, and we’ll just flip them over!

"But be careful, don’t hit your teammates. This game has friendly fire."

After making their plans, the five of them set off with confidence.

"There’s a Lost One over there, go!"

At Instructor Ding’s command, everyone pounced like hungry tigers.

To be fair, the "Lost Ones Hunting Operation" started off quite smoothly. Liang Chun lured one to the front, then Instructor Ding circled behind the Lost One and ’Captured’ it!

The effect of ’Capture’ wasn’t to entirely immobilize the enemy but to grab the key parts of the opponent (for the Lost Ones, it was the neck, and for other creatures, it was the thinner parts of their bodies), and then lift them up.

During the ’Capture’, the controlled enemy could still move somewhat, such as the Lost Ones being able to infect a player, but they couldn’t turn around, and once their feet left the ground, they couldn’t move.

Therefore, ’Capture’ had to be done from behind, as it would be uncertain whether the player would capture the Lost One first or vice versa if attempted from the front.

Then, the rest just had to keep a safe distance, one shovel each from afar, and dealing with the Lost One was done.

In the process, everyone realized that the Lost Ones generated by Flame Thieves who died within the Divine Realm retained the skills of the players.

For example, the Lost One created from "Tooth Decay" when he quit had no skills, but the one created from Instructor Ding being infected could actually ’Capture’!

This, however, turned out to be a nerf for the Lost Ones since they inherently could infect players; knowing ’Capture’ was actually a downgrading of their abilities.

Luckily, players had stopped picking the "Jester" profession, as a Lost One capable of imitating friendly voices and breaking out into laughter for no reason would cause significant psychological damage to the players.

Soon, the team successfully eliminated six or seven Lost Ones, effectively cleansing the Divine Realm’s environment.

"We’re about done here; it should be broadcasted soon. Let’s collect some materials so that we don’t go back empty-handed," suggested Liang Chun.

Everybody agreed and began their search.

Just then, Instructor Ding’s eyes widened as he gestured emphatically ahead, "Damn! I see that number one Lost One! Don’t anyone stop me, I must take him down today!"

The so-called number one Lost One was the one that resulted from "Tooth Decay" quitting the game. Before, when Instructor Ding pursued him, he inexplicably encountered a Heaven’s Guardian, and then they merged, instantly turning the tables on Instructor Ding.

Now, with sworn enemies locked in gaze, animosity surged to the forefront!

Moreover, this Lost One wasn’t wearing the Heaven’s Guardian’s armor, which meant that their merger seemed to dissolve after a certain period.

"I will drive every single Lost One out of the Divine Realm!"

Instructor Ding’s blood boiled, and he charged forth with his shovel!