What were they doing?!
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, tap tap!"
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, tap tap!"
"One two three four five six blank tap!"
"One two three four five six blank tap!"
"Tap tap! Tap tap!"
Cousin and Ah Yin were sitting in front of an experience machine.
Ah Yin was so focused that his head was practically buried in the monitor. He stared fixedly at the bouncing balls before him, not daring to lose focus for even a moment!
Cousin was even more exaggerated. Standing beside Ah Yin, he called out the beat while clenching his fists, looking even more nervous than Ah Yin!
On the other side, Dai Xiaomei sat beside Shi Liuliu, keeping time for Liu Liu. Her hands had turned red from clapping!
The four streamers had apparently split into two teams and were fiercely competing against each other!
Xiao You was dumbfounded!
Wasn't this a little too exaggerated?!
As a member of the media, she naturally understood the boundaries of attending an expo like this.
To ensure the fairness and impartiality of the entire event, media outlets absolutely could not give any game in-depth coverage or special praise.
Even media outlets producing recorded programs had to be careful, let alone streamers broadcasting live!
And these were four of Shark's top streamers!
Yet now, the four of them had paired off like gaming-addicted teenagers battling it out in an arcade!
They were glaring at each other, red-faced and thick-necked, shouting out the beat as if they absolutely had to settle who was better today!
Just as that visitor had said earlier.
The four of them were completely hooked!
.
.
What was going on?
Xiao You had been hosting the weekly show for two or three years.
In terms of seniority, she could be considered an experienced host.
Yet today, she didn't know where to begin!
Had these four gone mad?
Putting so much effort into playing a single game?
Yes, the contract did not strictly state how long they could play any one game.
Nor did it say they could not become too immersed in a game.
But this was still somewhat inappropriate!
And weren't they getting a little too absorbed?!
Xiao You's surprise was understandable.
At first, the four of them, including Ah Yin, had not held much hope or interest in the game.
After all, it was just a rhythm game.
But once they started playing, the four of them no longer thought that way.
This "Dance of Ice and Fire" seemed to possess some kind of magic!
Just like the backgrounds Shen Yunshi had drawn, a pair of ice-and-fire balls bounced across marble tiles like two cheerful little sprites!
With each strike from the balls, the tiles shattered into fragments, piecing together exquisite background scenes.
None of them could explain exactly what made the game so fun, but it was simply impossible to stop playing!
The four of them did not know that the moment they were drawn in by the "Fragment Puzzle" mechanic, they had already fallen into Wu Wei's trap.
That indescribable attraction came from Wu Wei's original core idea—
The appeal of collecting.
In this game, clearing a level had been made tangible.
A complete puzzle for each level was not merely a reward for the player's skill.
It was also the key to unlocking the next level!
With that cycle repeating over and over, it was only natural that players would become increasingly hooked!
Of course, the most crucial part of making this psychological strategy work was the quality of the background illustrations.
That was why Wu Wei had been willing to pay twice the market price for Shen Yunshi's illustrations.
The little campus belle's artistic skill was truly impressive!
Every picture was so exquisite that it never disappointed.
In other words, if the background illustrations serving as both rewards and keys had been drawn like garbage, players would never have accepted them.
Wu Wei understood this very clearly.
That was why he personally scrutinized every illustration across all fifteen levels of the game.
It could be said that half the credit for this game belonged to Platinum Studio, and the other half belonged to Shen Yunshi.
As the lead designer, Wu Wei understood all the twists and turns behind this game.
But the players didn't!
As the saying went, those involved could not see clearly!
So what if they were streamers?
Although they all knew at first that they had to remain rational and give the game a fair and objective evaluation.
Once they started playing, that was no longer the case!
Objective?
Objective my ass!
Today, I'm going to see what the end-of-level illustration for Stage Four, "Love Letter," looks like!
The background for this stage was mostly pink, and it was incredibly beautiful.
But the pink was unusually strange. It was not a pure pink; it seemed to carry the faintest hint of pearl white.
Combined with the subtle traces of pale blue, even rough men like Ah Yin and Cousin found it dreamlike and exceptionally romantic.
Not to mention Dai Xiaomei and Shi Liuliu, who were women!
What they did not know was that Shen Yunshi had applied no fewer than five layers of paint just for that base color!
The scene within was even more dreamlike and romantic!
Ah Yin was like a child collecting Water Margin cards from packs of crispy noodles, desperately eager to clear the level and obtain the illustration at the end!
The viewers in the livestreams had gone crazy!
Because just moments ago, Ah Yin and Liu Liu had reached an agreement with the designer of "Dance of Ice and Fire."
The streamers did not want the mouse pads made for themselves, but they wanted to take some to sign and give back to their viewers and the audience at the venue.
Upon hearing this, Old Zhang could not make up his mind, so he went backstage to find the hiding Wu Wei and ask what to do.
"Then what else is there to do? If they want them, give them to them."
Wu Wei was an old, shrewd businessman.
How much could a mouse pad possibly cost?
Compared to the traffic the streamers brought, it was practically nothing!
"Give them to them, but on one condition."
Wu Wei said, his eyes darting.
"What condition?"
"Like this—see how many levels they can clear. When they give up, whatever level they reach will be the basis for ten times the reward."
Before you continue