Chapter 83: Found a Bug

The twenty-fifth of the twelfth month, Tianba Studio went on holiday.

Chen Ba also packed his luggage and boarded the flight home for New Year, staying with his father for almost half a month.

No showing off, no relatives borrowing money...

Useless talk!

What Chen Ba was up to outside, the villagers had no idea. Last year he didn’t come home for the New Year, and people in the village once thought he had become a live-in son-in-law.

It’s not that no one came to inquire, after all, the Chen Family was going to build a new house after the New Year, and this news had spread throughout the village. Everyone was curious, what kind of business was Chen Ba doing outside to earn so much money seemingly?

"Just opened an online store!"

"I thought you opened a company, turns out it’s an online store! What are you selling in this store?"

"Selling some specialty products from the United States, like 3090, 4090..."

The older folks in the village mostly never went to school, and a few only had lower primary education, and had never used a computer, so talking to them about graphics cards or GPUs, they wouldn’t understand.

Chen Ba simply said they were U.S. specialties, so everyone could understand.

The young people in the village understood what Chen Ba meant by 3090, 4090, but these things were too high-end for them to afford or use.

That one from the Chen Family... opened an online store outside, I’ve heard they sell U.S. specialty products, really tasty, have you tried it?

Facing these villagers, Chen Ba only mentioned that he opened an online store and didn’t disclose information about Tianba Studio.

It’s not about hiding wealth.

The main thing is it’s hard to explain. Moreover, video games, to these villagers, are harmful things and might even affect his father’s reputation.

Most importantly, what if he disclosed that he opened a company, and villagers came to him asking for a job?

"You did the right thing!"

When Chen Ba returned to Jiangning after the New Year, upon knowing about his experience, Yang Dong laughed and said, "Just tell them you’ve opened an online store outside, that’s all you need to say."

This is some solid advice!

Isn’t Xianyu Digital an online store? Isn’t Chen Ba the owner? As long as these are true, it’s not considered lying!

"Alright, let’s not talk about this."

After finding a place to store the bacon, sausages, and chili baps his father had forcefully given him, Chen Ba hosted the studio’s first meeting after the year-end.

The meeting content was simple.

The development of the new game "Divine Grace Continent" needs acceleration, aiming to release an early access version next month.

Next is game marketing!

For the previous few games, including "Star Emperor", due to the studio’s lack of funds, there was almost no promotion before the game’s release.

Even if there was, it was just inviting some streamers to try it out, not reaching a wide audience.

This time we’re serious!

With the continuous sales of previous games and the extra income from Xianyu Digital, Tianba Studio’s pockets are not empty, we don’t have to be as frugal as before.

"The Steam Platform will give our new game a round of recommendations, but subsequent recommendations depend on the number of wishlists."

A round of recommendation is a favor.

As for further recommendations, it depends on the number of wishlists. The more wishlists, the more interested players, and the more recommendations the platform will provide.

It’s worth noting that "Divine Grace Continent" is already on the Steam Platform but cannot be purchased, only wishlisted, which is why Chen Ba cares so much about the number of wishlists.

Because the number of wishlist players essentially reflects the game’s popularity and expected sales data.

"Once the early access version is released, we’ll place some advertisements on short video platforms, live-streaming platforms, and major gaming news websites."

Chen Ba said somewhat painfully: "Don’t sign too big a contract, just test the promotion effect a little. If it doesn’t work well, we’ll pull out; there’s no need to pour all the money into it..."

Making money isn’t easy.

Xianyu Digital’s graphics card business, although doing okay, the store has just opened for a short time and hasn’t made much money yet.

Just these few ad slots require at least Xianyu Digital’s half-year earnings. Although Chen Ba isn’t stingy, he can’t help but feel pained.

He hasn’t even bought a house or car yet!

If "Divine Grace Continent" makes a profit, all’s good. If not, it’ll be disastrous, and even if Tianba Studio doesn’t close, it’ll at least be tough for half a year before recovering.

"How’s the testing phase?"

After discussing the subsequent plans, Chen Ba was most concerned about the game testing phase.

A new game will definitely have bugs!

This is unavoidable. He only hopes the bugs aren’t too many, are easy to fix, and don’t increase too much workload.

"So far, the testing phase has identified about 17 game bugs, out of which 12 minor bugs have been promptly fixed..."

Lu scratched his head and said: "But the remaining 5 bugs are a bit difficult to fix and can’t be resolved immediately."

"Are there any particularly troublesome bugs? Like the cow-herding incident in ’Cold Window Study Simulator’, which could change the nature of the game!" Chen Ba asked further.

"There’s one!"

Lu said with relief: "A bug from the favorability system, where under special circumstances, wild monsters can be wooed by players and then follow them."

"If this bug is extended, even the Demon King might not escape..."

Chen Ba’s eyes lit up.

Well done, Lu, well done!

He just knew the system wasn’t being honest and was sure to lay a trap, which is why he dared not relax during the New Year and frequently pondered on potential bugs in "Divine Grace Continent".

Don’t ask, if you ask, it’s because he’s scared of the system’s tricks.

As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy. If Chen Ba hasn’t learned from the repeated pitfalls of the Iron Fool System, would he still be a normal person?

Now he can be at ease.

Chen Ba breathed a sigh of relief and instructed: "This bug... is particularly serious and must be promptly fixed and adjusted. It absolutely cannot appear in the early access version."

Finally, he can sleep well.

Earlier, he was constantly worried whether the new game would hide any serious bugs, wondering what trap the Iron Fool System had secretly set?

Lu did a great job!

This bug is very serious; if even the Demon King could be wooed by the Hero into the harem, then is it "Hero battles Demon King" or "Hero woos Demon King"?

If Lu hadn’t discovered it...

Chen Ba internally rejoiced, luckily Lu had sharp eyes; if it hadn’t been discovered in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Lu gets double the bonus this month!"

"Everyone knows, since joining, Lu has been diligent, getting up earlier than the chickens and sleeping later than the dogs, so his salary needs a raise too..."

With a decisive wave, Chen Ba not only awarded Lu double his bonus but also publicly praised his hardworking efforts, stating he would get a raise.

This bug was discovered just in time.

As a contributor, he definitely deserves a reward. Without Lu’s assistance, how could Chen Ba have uncovered the system’s nefarious schemes?