Chapter 20. Positive gaming experience?

Returning to the testing room, Michael watched the young master of the Bright Moon sect curse like a sailor as he punched, kicked, and smashed at the enemy hero, with no regard for how his weapon should actually be used.

Wiping the cold sweat formed on his forehead, he watched the screen together with 'Profesor' Morano, who just finished completing the Tutorial and wanted to take a break, both unable to utter any words.

[Fuck! Did you really think you could beat this Daddy!? Huh!? Why don't you spin some more, you fucking brute!?](Brad)

Watching the previously cultured gentleman kick his enemy's head as if it were a football and sending him back to the fountain while laughing maniacally, the two people immediately reacted.

[Pfft! *Cough**Cough**Cough* Elder Brad is still young. He still needs more training to temper his... *Cough*... temper.](Morano)

While the Tier 2 Programmer tried to mask his burst of laughter with coughs and polite words, Michael felt like running away.

'Would the sect master come and ask me how I broke their child? Also, who the fuck slaps enemies with their weapon instead of cutting it!?'

Ultimately, Morano couldn't take watching Elder Brad's abuse and getting abused and decisively re-entered the Secret Realm, where he laughed uproariously for five minutes straight.

Shaking his head, he looked at the three people, each immersed in their own gameplay, and wondered how long he would have to wait.

One hour passed, then the second, then the third... and then the fourth.

Just as Michael was bored out of his mind and mentally thanked Mildred for her suggestion of recording the gameplay of the testers, a new person entered the room.

Standing up from his seat and looking behind, Michael saw one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes upon in both of his lives.

Not daring to slight this beauty, he immediately bowed and greeted.

"Greetings, sect master!"

Even if it was his first time seeing the woman, the golden badge hanging from her waist was a clear indication of her identity.

With tens of thousands of 'disciples' in a sect, it was too much to ask newbies to remember everyone's faces. 

Furthermore, there was the problem of offending seniors and Elders because you couldn't remember their status and forgot to greet them politely.

So, instead, the sect insisted on learning what each badge represented.

Silver badges like that of Melinda, Roland, and the sailor represented the status of Elder.

A bronze badge like the one worn by 'Professor' Morano signified an Outer Elder.

Finally, there were only two golden badges in the sect, one belonging to the Great Elder, who was similar to a country's vice president, and the second to the sect master.

As for why this was the sect master and not the Grand Elder, it was because the latter was currently out of the country, trying to negotiate some sort of deal with an allied sect. 

It was something reported almost daily in the newspapers online, and the deal should be signed in the next month or so.

Unaware of the mental gymnastics done by the youth in front of her, Helena smiled gently and then turned to look at the trio.

Still wearing the headsets, each one was fully focused on completing their tasks.

Melinda was exploring the world and had already finished the Tutorial, now engrossed in reading the description of each hero.

After being scared out of the Secret Realm, he quickly recomposed herself and, without as much as a word to Michael, dived back in.

'Professor' Morano was currently controlling Beast Master, fighting with the Queen of Pain. Fortunately, he chose the Normal difficulty after finishing the Tutorial - something everyone is asked to set after completing it - and was holding his own against the incredibly alluring and mobile opponent.

He would've even made a good impression on the sect master if he didn't laugh like an idiot every couple of minutes or so.

Finally, the reason for Morano's behavior was now completing the Tutorial while grumbling, much to Helena's surprise.

Not that he was completing the Tutorial, as she had no idea what that was, but at her son's expression and the curses flowing out of his mouth like a river.

She knew how difficult it was for Brad to lose his composure, but seeing as he was still patiently exploring the Secret Realm, it was obvious to her that he had met a setback and was now trying to conquer it.

[It looks like this round of testing is rather successful.](Helena)

"You flatter me, sect master."

[You did a good job, seeing how all three of them are this captivated by your Secret Realm. Come. Explain to me the changes when compared to the previous showcased version.](Helena) 

"It would be my pleasure."

Calmly running the sect master through all the game mechanics and improvements he had made, Michael used live video footage whenever there was something to back up his points.

Almost an hour later, he finished the broad strokes, but the three game addicts showed no intentions of getting out.

[The Tutorial is indeed a nice touch. Since you plan to release this Secret Realm to the regular people as well, it would serve as an excellent learning mechanism for them. Obviously, this is also applicable to Qi cultivators. Did you say there are three difficulties?](Helena)

"Four, sect master. The Easy version has the enemy start with 15% fewer attributes than the player. Their fighting prowess throughout the round is also limited to the middle levels of the Qi Gathering realm. In Normal difficulty, there are no advantages or disadvantages the A.I. controlled hero has, and it is just business as usual. The Hard difficulty is where things change. 

While the attributes remain the same to avoid a noticeable imbalance, the A.I.'s combat experience matches that of an early-level Foundation realm cultivator. Not only that, but their mastery of the game mechanics is more profound, and they know tips and tricks I, as the Secret Realm's creator, left behind for the players to discover.

Finally, fourth is the Insane difficulty. As its name implies, the A.I. has access to all my knowledge about the game mechanics and can fully leverage it against the players.

As we both know, in a competition on the same playing field, an A.I. always beats a cultivator from a technical standpoint."

[So, it's impossible to beat the A.I.-controlled hero on this difficulty?](Helena)

"Not impossible, but improbable. I had Mildred - the A.I. helping me with the creation of this Secret Realm - run some calculations, and according to our predictions, unless it's Nascent Soul cultivators or Golden Core realm fighting prodigies, others stand little to no chance."

[Mhm. That's good. A hurdle that's easy to pass through isn't a hurdle at all. This will serve as a good whetstone for all generations. What's your next plan?](Helena)

Remembering the schedule he created with Mildred, Michael smiled bitterly and explained.

"First, buying the Foundation and Golden Core-level Combat Packages. Only by having them fully integrated would the game mechanics be complete. Next, we will decide on a platform to use and release the game onto. It would be even better if they could provide a multiplayer package that allows two players to enter the game at the same time and compete against each other. Finally, probably six months or so into the future, release the full version of the game that allows people to compete in a 5v5 mode. That should be even more expensive, requiring ten players simultaneously connected to the same instance."

[You keep mentioning the words 'game' and 'players.'](Helena)

"Ugh... my apologies, sect master. In my eyes, the Secret Realms can achieve their true purpose only when properly used. Instead of pressuring the cultivators who enter them to continuously face waves of invading demons, I think my approach of having them treat it like a game is more reasonable for their psyche and overall growth. That's why I am referring to them as 'players.'"

[What about complacency? If all your 'players' are used to the idea of a 'game,' wouldn't they be mercilessly slaughtered once they meet the real thing on the battlefield? After all, real life is not a game.](Helen)

"Haha! With players being mercilessly beaten into a pulp by the A.I. in my games, which one of them can afford to grow complacent? Furthermore, once the multiplayer version is available and the cultivators can compete with each other, would the standard needed for being the one at the top increase even more?"

Hearing his words, Helen remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with his opinion.

Only time could tell.

Calmly walking forward, he ended the three instances, immediately creating a disturbance in the previous quiet room.

[Eh? What happened? Did the extension devices brought by young master... Bwahahahah! Phew! *Cough* *Cough* I wonder if it broke.](Morano)

[What's happening? I only finished reading a quarter of the stories detailing the heroes.](Melinda)

[What's going on!? I need to finish that damned Tutorial and then beat the shit out of that red-skinned brute! I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't!](Brad)

[Hoh? Is that so?](Helena)

Like little rodents seeing a large cat, the trio froze, their next words stuck into their throats. 

[[[Greetings, sect master!]]]

[Wow! You actually remember I am your sect master, huh? If that's so, why has it been almost six hours since the testing started, and I have yet to receive a report? I even had to personally come here and pull the plug, else you might've starved this boy to death before coming out on your own?](Helena)

Incredibly embarrassed, the three people bowed their heads and said nothing, wishing to find a hole to hide themselves in.

While the sect master hasn't said anything harsh to them yet, it was precisely because of this reason they felt even worse.

[Well... in a way, this is also a type of evaluation. Congratulations, young man. It seems that your product is indeed impressive.](Helena)

"I thank the sect master for her praise."

Waving him to dispense with the formalities, she asked him to join her for dinner after ordering the trio to prepare a VERY detailed report each.

Handwritten!

Following the gorgeous woman to the VIP section of the cafeteria, Michael couldn't help but sweat nervously. 

He didn't think his charm suddenly evolved to godly levels to attract this beauty. 

On the contrary, it seemed that she was the one trying to charm him, but from the position of a sect master rather than that of a woman.

By building a more intimate relationship with him, Michael would be more unlikely to leave the sect in the future.

As they enjoyed the fine cooking of Spiritual Chefs, Helena asked about his plans for the game from a marketing perspective.

Michael didn't hold back and explained the idea of introducing the Battle Pass and cosmetics as in-game purchases.

[*Sigh* A good idea, but one that doesn't apply to the current Secret Realms already on the market, I'm afraid.](Helena)

"Indeed. Unless the Programmers are willing to take the Secret Realms off and make the relevant changes first, it will be impossible. And even if they make the changes, there's no guarantee that this business model would work for them."

[That's indeed so. After all, only a genuinely captivating Secret Realm can convince them to bring out more spirit stones from their pockets. You might not know this, but similar concepts already exist on the market, but only for Tier 5 Secret Realms and above. By increasing the difficulty, as well as the quantity of Qi one can absorb from such Secret Realms, their creators can rake in large amounts of spirit stones.](Helena)

Mentally adding an 'as expected,' Michael nodded while patiently listening to the sect master as he ate.

He didn't consider himself a genius since whatever crossed his mind, hundreds, if not thousands, of people might have already tried.

Some bigshots might already have implemented his ideas to use Secret Realms for training and recreational purposes.

His only advantage was that those bigshots focused on the cultivation realms close to theirs rather than the measly Qi Gathering and Foundation.

[For your 'multiplayer' request, you can use our sect's platform. While it only connects Riverside and two other neighboring cities, it should be more than sufficient for your testing purposes. Furthermore, the sect will not provide you with this option for free. While putting up the version where the users fight against the A.I. won't incur any cost, it will if you want to connect multiple users.](Helena)

"And the cost?"

[Hmm... for your initial requirements of two people entering the same instance, probably around 10,000 spirit stones monthly. For ten people simultaneously, 100,000 or more.](Helena)

"This..."

[Furthermore, you cannot use the resources given to you monthly from the sect as payment. You can only pay for this service from the profits you make from the initial sales. When you successfully buy a year's worth for the two people instances, the sect will officially confer you the title of Tier 1 Secret Realm Crafter, raise your status to that of an Outer Elder, and increase your monthly allowance to 10,000 spirit stones. Any questions?](Helena)

Michael stared blankly at the ridiculous notion. 

According to this beauty's words, his first-ever project had to reach 100,000 downloads before it could receive her recognition!?

She was harder to please than the Heavenly Laws!!!