[Eh? Why does it ask me if I want to continue the Tutorial? Hasn't it ended?](Beatrice)
To answer her question, no, in fact, it didn't end. Rather, it was only the beginning.
Under the urging of her viewers, she chose to continue.
First, she learned about how to better use her gold coins and what some of the stronger items did.
Then, she learned about the MAP function and how to activate it.
According to the A.I., this will be extremely important for future updates, where multiple players could fight against each other.
Next followed a Tutorial about the debuffs hero abilities could cause a player and how to avoid or lessen their impact.
To everyone's surprise, a divine creature named Shenlong was introduced next. This green serpent with a surprising body length appeared to be a monster they could face and kill.
Both the viewers and Beatrice's fighting spirits were immediately doused in cold water after being told they had to wait until future updates for that to happen.
Finally, Beatrice was forced to take a backseat as two A.I.-controlled heroes began fighting against each other.
A live commentary was provided as well, explaining in detail what the A.I. Marcy was doing and why.
Much to everyone's shock, the fight was more brutal and fast-paced compared to when Beatrice participated, showcasing her lack of understanding of the Secret Realm.
It was understandable, though, as this was her first playthrough.
A third Tutorial scenario then started, explaining the concepts of Last Hitting creeps in order to get more gold or deny your own creeps to reduce the enemy's experience gain, how to pull creep agro and what use doing this had, as well as a very in-depth explanation of what each item did.
Then, just as everyone thought this was the end, the final Tutorial started!
In these scenarios, Beatrice and the viewers learned about how to disjoint projectiles and abilities thrown their way, by especially making use of certain advanced items.
Now, with the final bits of knowledge perfectly crammed inside her pounding skull, the streamer decisively chose to fight for another round.
[ Please select your difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard, Insane. ]
[Eh!? Uhm... what difficulty did I previously fight on?](Beatrice)
[ The previous chosen difficulty was Easy. As a result of this setting, the enemy hero receives a 15% attribute penalty, and their prowess is similar to that of an early Qi Gathering realm cultivator. ]
Under the chat's incessant mocking, she gritted her teeth and selected the Hard difficulty. As for Insane... there were already instructions in the email she received this morning about NOT being foolish enough to select it.
The first true match ended with a 0-3 loss.
The second was a 1-3 loss.
So was the third.
During the fourth, she reached the 7th level of Qi Gathering and learned how to better synchronize the use of her hero's abilities. She still lost 1-3.
It was already the fifth game, and she was tied 2-2 with the enemy hero, Tiny.
The stone golem caught up to the same 7th level of Qi Gathering and grabbed one of the nearby trees, smacking her into the ground.
After the dreaded combo of being tossed and then buried alive in rocks, she lost again.
[That's it! I'm done! I can't do this anymore... I'm so damn tired!](Beatrice)
[It's understandable. Being pounded so many times in a row takes a toll on the body.]
[KEK!]
[I just realized that I've been watching for six hours!]
[Damn! When is the Secret Realm going to be released on the market!? I have some things I want to do!]
[Do you also want to be tossed high into the air and then buried deep under the ground?]
[I would prefer being buried under Luna's thick thighs...]
[What a degenerate! *Cough* When is the Secret Realm available for purchase again?]
[Don't be mistaken, fellow immortality seekers! I want to purchase this Secret Realm with pure intentions! I definitely am not interested in the over ten beauties shown during the Tutorial!]
Having enough of these bastards' nonsense for the day, Beatrice ended the stream after promising to continue tomorrow with the same product.
By the time her stream had ended, her viewership had increased to 8,000+ at its peak.
It was an incredible progress for someone who usually got only around 5,000 on average.
[Hahaha! I got the equivalent of 800 spirit stones in donations today! This is amazing! I normally get around 50 to 100 when the Secret Realm is difficult or when I embarrass myself in one way or another.](Beatrice)
Having decided to stream this new Secret Realm for at least a week, she downloaded the recording of her full gameplay and emailed it to the sect master of the Bright Moon sect, as instructed by the contract.
The future looked promising!
----------Scene Break----------
Back in Riverview's City 3rd Bright Moon sect branch, on the 67th floor, apartment 12, Michael and Mildred finished watching Beatrice's stream.
"Mhm. That genuinely went better than I expected it would."
[That is correct, sir. I've been monitoring the chatroom and running background checks. More than 60% of the viewers were normal people who expressed their interest in our project for various reasons. Statistically speaking, there is a 90% chance that the remaining cultivators should all buy our product.](Mildred)
"What about their comments regarding the quality and concept of the Secret Realm?"
[The main keywords used were 'interesting,' 'innovative,' and 'exciting.' We can conclude with confidence that our goal has been met.](Mildred)
"Excellent! However, let's not drop the ball before reaching the finish line. The full recording should arrive in a bit. Please review it and check if any minor adjustments need to be made."
[Understood, sir.](Mildred)
----------Scene Break----------
After Michael granted Beatrice the first three-day monopoly, twenty other small and medium-time streamers were offered the opportunity to cooperate.
This time, no payment was involved nor needed. Clips of Beauty Bia playing the new Secret Realm made the rounds in the online forums, shocking everyone.
Interest in this new product appeared everywhere, from young to old, and it wasn't restricted to Riverside and the two neighboring cities.
Michael selected three average streamers from bigger cities with a viewership similar to that of Beatrice and proposed collaborating with them.
Beauty Bia's popularity rose tremendously after these three days, allowing her average viewership to rise to 15,000.
Put into perspective, Riverside City had only about 40,000 citizens. So, even if not all these viewers were locals, at least 70 to 80% were.
After allowing the market to digest this new entry for a full week, Beatrice made a shocking statement on her stream on April 10th.
Just as she was about to end her stream for the day, reading her viewer's complaints, she smirked and calmly uttered.
[For all those of you sticking until the end of the stream, I have an announcement to make. Starting tomorrow at 8 a.m., The Battlefield of Heroes will be available for sale on the Bright Moon sect's online platform.
According to the information I gathered, the Secret Realm is available to purchase by both cultivators and regular folk alike.
As for the price... *Sigh*](Beatrice)
Hearing the beauty's sigh, most viewers sighed along with her. The Secret Realm was indeed crazily fun, and most people wanted to experience it for themselves.
But that didn't mean they had the funds to afford it if the price was ridiculous.
[... the price will be one spirit stone. That's right. I didn't make any mistakes. Bright Moon's sect magnanimity is as tall as the Heavens!
You've all seen the rate at which my combat standards improved after fighting against A.I.-controlled heroes. Even my cultivation base experienced an increase comparable to half a month of painstaking cultivation.
So, I advise everyone to buy it starting tomorrow and practice as if their lives depended on it!
Why? Because soon, those who bought it would be able to compete against each other in one versus one, or five versus five matches.
I don't have all the details, but a monthly competition with luxurious rewards for the top ten will be held by the Bright Moon sect.](Beatrice)
That night, the online forums and other streaming moguls experienced what insomnia felt like.
The public's opinion was split between those who praised the Bright Moon sect for their generosity and those who didn't want to believe such a profitable Secret Realm would be sold this cheaply.
Fortunately for them, they didn't have to wait long. At 10 p.m. that night, the sect master Helena came online and confirmed the rumors.
During her interview with one of the news outlets under the sect's influence, she described the sect's plan for the future with this Secret Realm and confirmed both the price and the future competitions being held.
Between licking their screens with one hand and typing to show their gratitude with the other, the netizens grew even more excited.
As a result, by the end of the next day, over 26,000 copies were bought from the sect's online platform.
----------Scene Break----------
Opening his eyes after cultivating for the entire day, Michael entered the virtual realm at 11 p.m. and checked the sales figures.
[Congratulations, sir. Even if the day hasn't yet ended, our first day's sales crossed 26,000.](Mildred)
Exhaling a long breath in relief, Michael felt as if a weight was removed from his shoulders. Even if he was confident in their work, a part of him was still worried it might flop.
Calming down, he immediately instructed Mildred to purchase the Golden Core Realm Combat Package and install it.
After Mildred worked tirelessly this past week, she was able to optimize the previous two Combat Packages to better suit the needs of their Secret Realm.
Now that the final piece of the puzzle could be bought, Michael immediately confirmed the 6,500 spirit stones purchase.
"Now, we can have our A.I.-controlled heroes properly exhibit the strength of a late Foundation realm cultivator, as well as that of an early Golden Core. Without cheating, that is."
[Sir, the remaining amount of spirit stones in your bank account is still above 20,000. Should we proceed with the purchase of the multiplayer package?](Mildred)
Opening his status page—the only good thing his trashy system did for him—he wondered if they should move this fast.
[ Host: Michael Lewis
Age: 19
Lifespan: 120.9 years (92.3 original lifespan + 28.6 added lifespan through cultivation)
Cultivation: 4th Level of Qi Gathering (54%)
Spiritual Roots: Primal
Assets: 1 Spiritual Pouch (1 cubic meter), 20,350 spirit stones, 18 sets of Qi Gathering pills, 2 bottles of Qi Recovery Powder. ]
His parents adamantly refused to take his spirit stones anymore when he tried sending the usual 2,000 this month, with Mother Silvia threatening to come over and beat him awake if he kept pushing this matter.
Fortunately, he no longer had to worry about them, as Silvia bought two new Foundation-level pill recipes and achieved initial mastery over the formulas.
Now, she could make a profit by selling them. Her cultivation also reached the peak of the Foundation realm, and she was preparing to break the shackles of mortality, so Michael didn't want to worry her too much and affect her state of mind.
The most puzzling thing was his younger brother, Roderick. That brat had somehow managed to cultivate at ridiculous speeds, reaching the 10th level of Qi Gathering.
With this, the large sect Descending Mountain confirmed his recruitment as an Internal Disciple.
Furthermore, one of the Elders - the one who first recruited him - would accept him as a personal disciple.
Based on his mother's words, if Roderick broke into the middle levels of the Foundation realm before he reached 18, he would be promoted to a Core Disciple.
Although there were only titles, the resource gap between the two was immense.
Shaking away these unrelated thoughts, Michael returned his attention to Mildred.
"Not right now. First, after you are done with the Combat Package, release a patch update for all our buyers and the version placed on the Bright Moon sect's platform.
Next, we'll start reviewing the recently received requests for cooperation from the other online platforms. After we make a shortlist, I'll discuss it further with the sect master.
Third, while we'll begin preparations for the full version release, we'll do it over time."
[What is the timeline you have in mind, sir?](Mildred)
"I think the initial version needs to be on the market for at least a month before anything else happens. After this one month ends, we'll start the true 1v1 version, by buying the multiplayer package.
We have already confirmed the ranking method and the analytics behind it, so it's time for our players to compete against each other.
Then, three months later, we'll release the beta version of the 5v5, with two players and eight A.I.s competing on the full island.
With the Golden Core Combat Package installed, our Shenlong's fighting prowess would increase considerably.
Then, finally, after another three months, the full version of the game will be launched."
As for the promised competitions, those wouldn't be forgotten either.