The economic model was the way to go!

[Lightning Release: Lightning Technique!]

[Earth Release: Rock and Soil Technique!]

[Wind Release: Wind Summoning Technique!]

[Fire Release: Fire Control Technique!]

[Water Release: Water Control Technique!]

The names alone made it clear that these were all the most basic ninjutsu.

And the system's description confirmed it.

E-Rank!

But...

They were better than nothing!

Besides, the higher the system's level, the stronger the ninjutsu would become.

[Contribution Points System activated successfully!]

[The host may issue quests. The system will award contribution points based on how well players complete them.]

[Players may use contribution points to purchase ninjutsu, increase their chakra, and more!]

Ye Chen rubbed his chin.

Good.

With the contribution points system, the players now had motivation.

He wouldn't have to provide anything tangible himself, yet the players would be falling over themselves to work for him!

The perfect way to put players to work!

Having the system distribute contribution points also made the logic airtight, neatly preventing him from handing players huge amounts of points and exploiting a snowballing bug.

Ye Chen listed all five ninjutsu and chakra in the system shop.

Players noticed immediately.

"Look at the system shop! There's ninjutsu and chakra now!"

"They sound really powerful, summoning wind and rain and all. Are these the ninjutsu the village chief used earlier?"

"Whoa, these ninjutsu only cost five contribution points to learn!"

"So does the Chakra Refinement Technique! Just five points!"

"That's so cheap!"

"Wait, they look cheap, but look at this."

"The contribution points required double with every level."

"Take chakra, for example. The first upgrade only costs five points, which seems cheap, but after ten upgrades, the village contribution points you'd need would be unimaginable!"

"Eh, isn't that how other games work too?"

"Whatever, we need to learn chakra first. From what the village chief said, chakra is like internal energy. Without it, we can't learn anything."

"Exactly! How do we get village contribution points?"

Dai Xiaomei and the others were brimming with excitement, clamoring for Ye Chen to issue quests.

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes slightly and began to think.

His top priority was upgrading the village.

The requirements were straightforward.

1. The number and strength of its ninja.

2. The prosperity of the ninja village-in other words, its development.

3. The happiness of the ninja village.

4. The ninja village's reputation in the shinobi world.

The village could only level up after a comprehensive assessment of those four factors.

Of those four, two couldn't be improved overnight.

Only village development and the Ninja Village's happiness could be addressed right away.

Those two were simple.

First, build infrastructure.

Roads, for instance.

Hidden Jun Village had hardly any young people, and its roads were all muddy dirt tracks.

Whenever it rained, they became virtually impassable.

Road construction was the top priority.

With wide roads, they could do all sorts of things.

Open shops, trade with other villages, and so on...

If you wanted to get rich, you had to build roads first!

Second came the villagers' happiness.

That was simple too. The villagers had needs of their own.

Previously, Ye Chen had helped the villagers plenty in his bid to become village chief.

He knew what they needed in their daily lives.

That would be relatively easy as well.

Ye Chen immediately issued the quests.

[Daily Missions 1: Build village roads. Reward: 1 contribution point per meter!]

[Daily Missions 2: Help villagers reclaim abandoned farmland. Reward: 1 contribution point per square meter!]

[Daily Missions 3: Help villagers solve their problems. Reward: 1 contribution point per request completed!]

"The quests are here!"

"The first two are manual labor! Damn, the third one's the good stuff. Just solve villagers' problems? Perfect!"

"Guys, let's grind the third one first!"

Dai Xiaomei and the others rushed over and accepted quests at lightning speed.

There weren't many requests to help villagers solve problems, only a few dozen.

But they were easy to complete!

They were all trivial chores.

For example... someone had a damaged knife that needed sharpening.

Someone's sow had run away.

Someone needed a message delivered.

Someone needed a tree planted...

In short, they were all particularly easy quests to grind.

After accepting her quest, Dai Xiaomei took everyone wandering around:

"Wow, look at this mountain! It's so tall! Climbing it feels incredibly real!"

"Look at the river down there! It's exactly like a real one!"

"Guys, I've hit the jackpot!"

"Choosing to play Hidden Jun Ninja was the smartest decision of my life, hands down!"

Dai Xiaomei kept talking everyone through what she saw.

Her stream's viewer count kept climbing, and the buzz showed no sign of fading.

"Holy shit, this is so damn realistic! Every bit of feedback feels exactly like the real world!"

"I just don't get it. Who made this? How did they make a game this realistic?"

"Future tech. This is straight-up future tech!"

"This untouched scenery is just gorgeous!"

"Unbeatable. This game is absolutely unbeatable!"

"Forget the gameplay. The scenery alone makes going in there a vacation. Wouldn't it be more fun than a trip to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand?"

"Fuck, I actually called it a trash game earlier. Turns out I'm the trash. I want to play too!"

"Hurry up and download it!"

"Don't bother, man. I just got back from the official website. They really only have nine beta slots!"

"What??? There really are only nine slots??? That's... ridiculous!"

"I'm so fucking jealous!"

The viewers were consumed with envy and resentment.

They were furious!

Why?

Why hadn't they been invited?

Why did an old lady like Dai Xiaomei get a spot?!!!!

No.

More people had to feel this envy!

In an instant, many viewers uploaded recordings of the stream to Weibo and various short-video platforms.

"Mind-blowing! This year's best game: Hidden Jun Ninja!"

"You're telling me this is a game? They fucking traveled to another world!"

"Hidden Jun Ninja, when are you holding another closed beta??"

At first, everyone was puzzled when the videos went up.

Hidden Jun Ninja?

What the hell was that?

But once they clicked...

Everyone was dumbfounded.

This was a fucking game????

Why hadn't they gotten into the beta?!!!

Within half an hour, every major platform was flooded with mentions of Hidden Jun Ninja.

It dominated the trending charts.

Hidden Heaven Ninja's popularity exploded!

Even Dai Xiaomei's stream benefited enormously from the surge, with its viewer count skyrocketing.

That set off a massive butterfly effect.

Once the major streaming platforms discovered there were eight other players, they all posted announcements.

"Offering a fortune to find Hidden Heaven Ninja closed-beta players!"

"A top-tier streamer contract is waiting for you!"

They weren't kidding.

The people running these major streaming platforms were all shrewd operators.

They had quickly sniffed out a business opportunity.

Without a doubt, the future gaming market belonged to Hidden Jun Ninja.

Hidden Jun Ninja was bound to become a phenomenal blockbuster.

Besides...

Its potential audience was incredibly broad!

Players who liked tower defense could play.

Players who liked progression games could play.

Players who liked combat and mechanical skill could play.

Even...

People who didn't normally play games wanted to go in and enjoy the scenery.

Its audience potential was through the roof!

Signing Hidden Heaven Ninja's closed-beta players would let them seize a huge share of the market.

For a time, Hidden Heaven Ninja's closed-beta players became hot commodities.

Every one of them was immensely glad they hadn't turned it down and had chosen to enter the game.

As for those who had passed on it, every last one of them was losing their minds!

Hidden Jun Ninja had blown up!