Chapter 70: Why Did a Traitor Appear?

With matters having developed to the current situation, it was certainly not as simple as an insider leaking information.

To claim there was no hidden hand pushing things forward, fanning the flames, and seizing the opportunity to stir up hype—others might believe it, but Qin Qin Xiaoyu definitely did not.

The reason he made such a judgment...

... was not because Qin Qin Xiaoyu suffered from persecution complex or possessed an overly dark mindset.

If this were merely an insider leak causing players to feel dissatisfied with Zhongli's character settings, at most they would vent a few words to express their discontent.

Then they would demand the officials come out and provide an explanation or something similar.

There was absolutely no possibility of the topic escalating to the level of slandering the Chinese people.

Currently, the various videos and discussion topics on Bilibili were no longer just about Zhongli's character strength.

This was clearly abnormal; it was obvious that a large group of ordinary players had been manipulated emotionally.

However, for the moment, Qin Qin Xiaoyu could not figure out exactly who was manipulating all of this from behind the scenes.

Moreover, given the current situation, the urgent task was not actually to identify who the mastermind was, but first to stabilize the players' emotions, preventing them from continuing to be exploited and thus allowing the situation to escalate further.

Therefore, the response could not be delayed too long, and it could not simply be a matter of issuing a brief announcement.

It would be best to interact with the players face-to-face.

Compared to a cold announcement, face-to-face communication with the players would better express the game officials' sincerity and attitude.

After some deliberation, Qin Qin Xiaoyu decided to host a live stream himself on Bilibili to provide comprehensive answers to the players' doubts and confusion.

Additionally, regarding the matter of a version preview live stream, he had already planned this before, but due to an overwhelming number of trivial matters...

... he had never found the time to implement this plan.

With today's incident occurring, it was the perfect opportunity to finally accomplish what he had always wanted to do.

Just as Qin Qin Xiaoyu had guessed.

After the clarification announcement and the live stream notice appeared on Bilibili and the official website, the players' angry emotions finally began to gradually calm down.

"Holy crap, so what was exposed was only the closed beta strength; I actually thought this shit was real!"

"Brothers, let's all calm down first; since the officials have said so, let's just wait for tonight's live stream!"

"Right, it's better to hear what the officials say during tonight's live stream!"

"Actually, I'm someone who cares only about looks; whether Zhongli is strong or weak, this sister couldn't care less. Mainly, seeing you all ranting, I felt like if I didn't rant a couple of sentences too, it would seem very inappropriate..."

"I just feel something is off; it seems like we were inexplicably pushed by someone. Actually, I didn't intend to rant in the first place!"

"I couldn't accept it only after hearing in that video that a god modeled after the Xia Kingdom was set to be much weaker than Barbatos, who doesn't do his proper job. So, Mihoyo, you'd better not disappoint me."

"The big brother upstairs is right; I also can't accept such a bizarre setting. That's why when I first saw that video exposure saying Zhongli was the God of War and the ceiling of combat power, I got excited for a long time. Then, hearing words like 'his damage is worse than a wild boar,' I flew into a rage on the spot!"

"..."

Looking at the comments below the announcement, Qin Qin Xiaoyu gradually breathed a sigh of relief; the players had finally become rational for the time being.

However.

What the players said was also correct.

A god modeled after the Xia Kingdom being weaker than gods from other nations—such a setting, let alone the players being unable to accept it, even he, Qin Qin Xiaoyu himself, could not accept it.

Back on Earth, when he finished designing this character, his stats were already those from the enhanced version 1.3.

But those planners, whose brains were clearly flooded with water, insisted on nerfing him into a Muggle under the excuse of power creep, ultimately triggering the "Zhongli Incident."

The ridiculous part was that, forced by player pressure, those guys eventually had to change the data back to its original state.

Euphemistically calling it a "buff."