I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!-Chapter 44 - 24 Designer Ke is still producing_1

The damage was a mere 5 points.

Inflicted on a Treeman with 200 health, it scarcely made an impact.

Moreover, the Treeman moved one tile closer to the Goblin.

Gou Chehua then realized that the Goblin also had a health bar, starting at 100/100.

“So, if the Treeman reaches the Goblin before I can kill it, it will start attacking the Goblin?”

This setting brought a sense of urgency.

Especially since Gou Chehua’s subsequent shots weren’t living up to expectations.

A touch of anxiety crept up, causing Gou Chehua’s brows to furrow slightly.

Finally, after another round of Marble fusillade had taken down the Treeman close at hand, the first level was finally cleared, and Gou Chehua let out a slight sigh of relief.

“But… there’s something peculiar about this game.”

It straddles the line between delightful and not so delightful.

If your Marble accumulates enough damage to take out the monsters in one hit,

then you’ll be thrilled.

On the contrary, watching the monster steadily advance triggers anxiety.

Once you’re killed by a monster, all your efforts are in vain.

This deep sense of defeat is intensified.

“Are games featuring Marbles too reliant on randomness? Indeed, even a talented Designer Ke can’t quite tackle this problem well.”

As Gou Chehua muttered under his breath,

a selection interface popped up before his eyes.

[You have defeated the monster and may freely choose a special Marble!]

“Hmm?” Gou Chehua took a closer look.

Unlike the ordinary Stone Marbles at the start,

the three marbles offered as rewards this time were special.

There was a Critical Hit Marble, whose effect was ‘inflict massive damage after hitting a Critical Hit Nail’

and a Penetrating Marble, which was also easy to understand – it could attack all enemies on the field at once, but at half the damage.

There was also a Matryoshka Marble, which would split once after the initial impact with a nail.

Suddenly, Gou Chehua’s eyes lit up.

“I see…”

The Stone Marbles at the beginning were highly unstable, resulting in players inflicting random amounts of damage.

This was actually a negative point.

But what if, after defeating monsters, players could acquire more types of Marbles?

Then the Stone Marbles would become a positive feature.

They primarily served as a point of comparison.

Making players feel a sense of ‘I have been empowered.’

“Makes sense, regular MMORPGs let you acquire weapons and such, so why should Marble games forget to include ‘weapons’ as a feature?”

“It’s got to be the brainwork of Designer Ke.”

These various special Marbles could just as well be seen as this game’s weaponry.

Choosing from the three, Gou Chehua picked the Matryoshka Marble.

Its splitting trait already looked mighty strong.

And in actual play, it performed remarkably well.

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In the second level, against several Bat Monsters with only 50 health but faster speed, and a Slime Monster in the back row with 350 health,

the Matryoshka Marble split into two upon launch, and the two marbles bounced and refracted continuously, hitting more nails.

And, as long as one of them hit the Critical Hit Nail,

the damage from both marbles would double!

Besides, the second level introduced Bomb Nails.

Detonating after two hits, they dealt -50 health in AOE damage to all enemies on the field.

Following the bomb’s detonation, the Goblin at the top of the screen also pulled out a bomb from his pack and tossed it forward.

“Boom!!”

With a screen-shaking effect, a series of -50 damage numbers floated up.

-300!

Instantly taking out the front row of Bat Monsters, the damage from the Matryoshka Marble followed suit.

-387!

It outright killed the seemingly health-robust Slime Monster.

The second level, smooth sailing, cleared in one go!

Watching the monsters being obliterated, Gou Chehua felt a burst of pleasure growing inside.

And to his surprise,

after clearing the second level, Designer Ke continued to ramp up the excitement!

The Matryoshka Marble could actually be upgraded!

Through the Gold Coins accumulated after each level, players could complete upgrades to its features.

After choosing to upgrade without hesitation, the trait of the Matryoshka Marble went from splitting once to splitting twice.

Meaning, a single launched Marble would quickly divide into four.

Causing a wider range of impacts on the nails in the field.

“OMG… quickly, onto the next level,” Gou Chehua felt his anticipation being reeled in.

He couldn’t wait to see how much damage a Marble that split four times could inflict.

By the third level, dividing once and then fourfold, the Matryoshka Marble proved its formidable power as expected.

Even though the monsters now had 500 points of health, they couldn’t withstand the onslaught of the splitting power.