At 11:00 PM on the night of the public beta, Xie Yunfan went to bed after a shower, just as he usually did.

His daily routine had become very regular recently—early to bed and early to rise. Having died from overwork in his previous life, he cherished his new life dearly.

Because he fell asleep early, he was unaware that at 11:00 PM, a heated debate had erupted on Weibo, with several related topics climbing the trending search lists.

It started when a gaming influencer who had played Palace Storm raised doubts about the presence of intelligent NPCs.

“Intelligent NPCs can learn through big data to imitate human behavior, which is why the NPCs in Palace Storm look exceptionally realistic!

“Since they have the ability to learn, improve, and improvise, can players really ignore their ‘intelligent attributes’ and treat them as a pile of soulless data?

“The NPCs in other games are fixed programs, so I don’t form any emotional attachments to them, making it easy to distinguish between the game and reality.

“But Palace Storm has launched an intelligent NPC mode. They are too real. I simply cannot play this game. I find it somewhat terrifying to encounter so many ‘overly real’ people in a game.

“Will they monitor my data, imitate my behavior, or even read my memories? Can player privacy be guaranteed?

“I believe the emergence of intelligent NPCs is a huge hidden danger!

“In the future, once this intelligent AI is applied to the internet, you won’t even know if the people liking your posts, replying to your Weibo, or even arguing with you online are real humans or just lines of code!

“If one day an intelligent AI can perfectly imitate your behavior and speech habits, it could even completely replace you online when you aren’t around.

“This is terrifying! I suggest everyone avoid playing games filled with intelligent AI to protect your privacy.

“Boycott intelligent AI, starting with me.”

As soon as this post was published, likes and shares exceeded tens of thousands. Many people began analyzing the pros and cons of AI in the comments section.

Some argued, “We shouldn’t introduce intelligent NPCs into games.”

Others felt, “What’s wrong with making a game more realistic to provide an immersive experience?”

The two sides engaged in a heated debate, pushing the topic #TheHiddenDangersOfIntelligentNPCs to the trending list. The topic garnered over 100 million views within a single hour, with tens of thousands of original posts related to it.

Netizens voiced their opinions, and the pro and con sides argued incessantly.

At the same time, another topic, #PalaceChroniclesValuesAreTwisted, was gradually fermenting in a corner.

It began with a player who, after playing the game, published an aggressive critique:

“Palace Storm, the background of this game is too disgusting. A dynasty centered on the Emperor, where everyone has to bow to him? You get executed for saying one wrong word in front of him? Are they sick!

“Women in the harem fighting and schemes against each other, brothers in the court killing each other for power? What kind of foul worldview is this supposed to promote? Are they trying to teach players how to scheme and scramble for power?

“The planners have lost their humanity just to make money. A game with such twisted values shouldn’t even exist.

“I’m furious after playing for a day. Already reported. You’re welcome.”

The topic was quickly pushed to the trending list by a large number of comments in a short time. Some players cursed viciously, while others were left confused.

…

By Saturday morning, many students and office workers who stayed up late online saw both trending topics.

Players who hadn’t played Palace Storm were terrified and felt they should wait and see before deciding whether to jump in.

Others followed the trend by posting comments like, “I am very disappointed with Yangfan Studio’s new game,” or “I’m a fan turned hater.” Some even went to the Yangfan Studio Weibo page to spam, “Refund.”

At this time, Public Relations Manager Xie Ni and her entire PR department were working overtime through the night to deal with this public opinion crisis.

Xie Ni had set up public opinion monitoring online; it was a habit she had developed after years of being a PR manager, ensuring she would be alerted immediately to any negative sentiment.

Right at the game’s launch, Xie Yunfan had warned her: “Our game is the first in the world to introduce big-data intelligent NPCs, pioneering the path for holographic games. After launch, we will likely face joint attacks from various forces. Be prepared for PR at any time.”

This was a bitter battle.

Can intelligent AI replace humans? This topic has always been sensitive.

Yangfan Studio was the first to use intelligent AI in games, placing them at the forefront of the industry, which naturally drew the jealousy of competitors.

The massive wave of negative topics trending on the night of the launch was clearly intended to catch them off guard.

The competitors were clearly well-prepared; the PR drafts were written in advance. On one hand, they brought up the dangers of intelligent AI to make players afraid to try new game modes. On the other, they frantically attacked the game’s worldview, equating it with “unhealthy values” to create a negative impression among the general public.

It had to be said, this “joint attack” was truly vicious.

Xie Ni guessed that several companies had likely acted together, each attacking from a different angle and coordinating with each other to pour cold water on “Little Sailboat” (Yafan Studio).

The topic squares for #YafanStudio and #PalaceChronicles were completely swamped with negative public opinion… There were more hit pieces than one could read!

Beyond Weibo, the reputation on Station A (A-Zhan) was also terrible.

The homepage of Station A featured a popular rant video: “Look at the bizarre settings in Palace Storm,” specifically clipping scenes of ministers bowing to the Emperor and concubines paying respects to the Empress.

The uploader said venomously, “What era is this? How can there be such absurd settings in a game? Playing a stupid game, only to be terrified and forced to act subservient—are the players masochists?”

Short video platforms also saw a flood of negative clips.

This was the most terrifying PR battle Xie Ni had fought since entering the industry, because it was a “one against many” situation. She didn’t know how many companies had joined forces to try to crush Yangfan Studio’s new game.

The existence of intelligent NPCs was a revolution in the gaming world… It clearly scared them!

If this public opinion was handled poorly, it could easily lead to a large-scale boycott by players. Therefore, the PR phrasing had to be meticulously chosen.

While editing the prepared PR drafts word by word, Xie Ni also contacted media outlets and marketing accounts she knew to start flooding the square with positive articles.

Many media accounts that shaped public opinion were paid to do so.

Writing hit pieces costs money; writing positive pieces also costs money.

In an opinion war, you need to use positive content to counter the negative. Since the opponent came prepared, Yafan’s PR department would not fight an unprepared battle.

At 1:00 AM, Yangfan Studio released a statement.

“Since the launch of the holographic role-playing game Palace Storm, it has received widespread attention. Introducing a big-data system and intelligent NPCs into the game is a bold attempt by Yangfan Studio and Qihang Games. We hereby promise:

“The intelligent NPCs in Palace Storm are role AI trained by the system. Their role is simply to act out a character within the game. They can be understood as ‘actors with a certain level of intelligence’ who are completing a ‘role-playing game’ together with the players.

“The character AI does not have the ability to read players’ memories or imitate players’ behavior; they only respond to different player actions.

“There is absolutely no need to worry about privacy issues.

“In addition, Palace Storm is a ‘survival game.’ We set the background as a ruthless dynasty with strict hierarchies, which is the same logic as setting games in apocalyptic or wasteland worlds.

“The game’s worldview exists only to serve the gameplay, not to guide players to learn from or imitate it.

“As the world’s first holographic role-playing game, Palace Storm has high freedom. Players struggle to survive in this world, can use their imagination to achieve different endings, and can even become the highest authority of this world to completely change its rules.

“We hope everyone finds a different kind of fun in the game.

“Yangfan Studio will continue to improve, listen to players’ opinions and suggestions, and constantly perfect the game’s mechanics.

“Thank you all for your support!”

Night owls who stayed up late on the weekend were shocked when they saw this statement.

[Holy cow, resurrection in the middle of the night?]

[The statement came just in time! I’m relieved now.]

[Is Little Sailboat on a ghostly schedule? Posting a statement at 3 AM!]

[The negative sentiment felt really overwhelming this time. Hang in there, Little Sailboat, don’t shut it down; I haven’t played enough yet!]

In addition to the official statement, a large number of positive articles appeared on the Weibo topic square. Many media reporters and game bloggers expressed their views and showed support for the gameplay of Palace Storm.

Both sides fought back and forth, making for a lively night.

The next morning, Xie Yunfan woke up and found several topics high on the trending list. He clicked in to take a look—

The competitors were indeed aggressive.

He had anticipated that the game would cause controversy. However, he hadn’t expected the tactic of deliberately exaggerating the impact of intelligent AI to incite panic.

A role-playing game, where NPCs are just “actors”—how could it possibly involve player privacy?

Intelligent NPCs reading memories, imitating players, replacing players… If your imagination is that wild, why not make a sci-fi game about AI replacing humans?

Xie Yunfan rubbed his temples helplessly.

Fortunately, the PR department did a great job, responding quickly and suppressing the negative trending topics in the middle of the night.

When Xie Yunfan woke up, the Weibo square was mostly filled with positive posts, and many players said they would continue to play.

Public opinion was gradually improving.

The PR manager he hired at a high salary was very decisive in handling emergencies. Xie Yunfan called Xie Ni and said, “Sister Ni, go get some rest. You worked hard staying up all night.”

Xie Ni’s voice was hoarse: “Boss, it’s okay. We in PR are used to working overtime in the middle of the night. I’ll keep an eye on the sentiment; I’m worried they’ll keep buying paid trolls to stir up trouble.”

Xie Yunfan said gratifyingly: “Alright, thank you for your hard work. Take two days off for the PR department on Monday and Tuesday. By the way, I’ll log into the Weibo account.”

Xie Yunfan had already handed over the Yangfan Studio official Weibo account to the PR and publicity departments. He rarely posted on it himself now.

In such a large company, it wasn’t necessary for the boss to post whenever something happened. He had opened a private account called “Little Sailboat” to share his daily life freely.

Xie Yunfan called Luo Hang and asked: “President Luo, is the two-player online mode definitely launching before September 10th?”

Luo Hang said: “The AI training and the program team’s progress are going very smoothly. We are testing the two-player mode next week. September should be no problem.”

Xie Yunfan breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s great. When the time comes, join me for a live stream to demonstrate to everyone how to play, okay?”

Luo Hang said decisively: “No problem, I’ll listen to your arrangements.”

At 9:00 AM, Xie Yunfan logged into Yangfan Studio’s official account and posted another Weibo:

“Since the launch of Palace Storm, it has received a lot of attention and support. Currently, only the single-player mode is open. Everyone can play the single-player mode first, understand the rules of the game, interact more with NPCs, and learn about their personalities, preferences, and relationships.

“The online mode will open in early September. Two players can team up and choose two characters to coordinate.

“At that time, Yangfan Studio’s Chief Planner @LittleSailboat and Qihang Games’ CEO @VastStarSea will hold a live stream together to demonstrate the specific gameplay of the two-player online mode.

“We will add more characters for everyone to choose from in the future, and an Faction PK mode will be launched before the end of the year. Stay tuned! ^^”

Players: “…”

Wow, there’s a two-player mode? The two bosses are going to live stream personally? There’s even Faction PK later? This is so exciting!

Little Sailboat? Is this the boss’s private account? Better follow him quick.

Countless players swarmed into the Weibo accounts of @LittleSailboat and @VastStarSea to follow the two game company bosses.

After Xie Yunfan posted this, the players who were arguing in the square shifted their focus: Hurry up, let’s beat the single-player mode first.

Only by familiarizing themselves with the single-player mode and understanding the relationships between the characters in this world would they avoid becoming “pig teammates” in the two-player mode and being despised by their partners.

Xie Ni posted a statement in the middle of the night, used positive articles to wash the square, and suppressed negative public opinion. Xie Yunfan took the initiative to change the topic and increase player expectations.

The pile of “Intelligent AI hidden dangers” and “Twisted values” hit pieces from competitors felt like a punch into cotton…

Because they hired a professional PR team, this PR crisis was handled very timely, making many competitors grit their teeth in anger.

As the first game to introduce intelligent AI, Palace Storm still had many controversies.

But no matter how much controversy there was, it couldn’t stop the players’ curiosity.

The world’s first holographic role-playing game—many people wanted to try it out. After the public opinion storm in the early hours of the morning, by Saturday noon, the total number of logins for Palace Storm exceeded 10 million.

At 2:00 PM on Saturday, Xia Ku Cao went to a nearby Qihang Games experience center to start his reserved gaming pod.

He logged into Palace Storm again and simultaneously opened his live stream channel.

Just as he opened the streaming site, he was startled by the information in the upper right corner—his channel had gained 300,000 new followers?!

Did someone maliciously buy trolls for him? That shouldn’t be right; he’s such an obscure streamer that not many people know him, so who would waste money buying bot followers?

Xia Ku Cao opened the live stream room, puzzled.

To his surprise, over 100,000 people were waiting in his live stream room. Seeing him go online, the barrage section filled up instantly.

[Little brother, you’re finally here!]

[Here to check out the legendary powerful concubine path walkthrough.]

[Someone on the forum said you’re amazing, so I came to check it out.]

[I’m here from the forum too, following!]

Xia Ku Cao saw the barrage and realized where these new fans came from—someone on the forum had mentioned him, attracting a large number of onlookers.

Thank goodness they aren’t trolls. Xia Ku Cao breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: “Welcome new friends to follow this small streamer. Let’s continue from where we left off today.”

[Little brother, please help—how do I get out of the harem?]

[Same request +1]

Xia Ku Cao explained: “In the concubine start, you get framed as the culprit for the arson. My method is—seek death to find life. First, burn down your own residence, then get injured and act sick.”

“During the recovery period, many NPCs will come to visit. When the Empress, Noble Consort Xiao, and the Emperor come, talk less and pretend to be miserable. When Consort Xian visits, you can mention the connection to the son-in-law.”

“Princess Mingde’s husband is someone my father saved back then. Be careful with your wording—don’t mention the life-saving part, just call him an ‘old acquaintance.’ Ask about the husband’s situation. Consort Xian is very smart and needs help too. If you take the initiative to show favor, she will guess that you want to join her side, but she won’t accept you that quickly in the beginning.”

“Every day you survive in the palace, you gain skill points. We put all our points into ‘Chess’ because Consort Xian loves to play chess the most.”

“After maxing out your chess skill, the injury should be almost healed. You can find an opportunity to play chess with Consort Xian. With maxed chess skills, the system will prompt you on how to move. You can lose subtly and occasionally win a game or two to increase Consort Xian’s favor.”

“Once the favor with Consort Xian is over 80, use money to bribe a few guards to gather information at any time. Wait for Consort Xian’s birthday, when the Princess and her husband enter the palace for a visit, go to Consort Xian to give a gift immediately, and you will see the husband.”

“The husband knows you because your father saved him back then, so your initial favorability with him is already 80. Express your wish—to leave the palace.”

“Consort Xian’s son, the Fourth Prince, also lacks trusted confidants. She thinks you are useful and will try to help you. You can remind her to create an accident, use a fake corpse to replace you, and secretly send you out of the palace.”

“After leaving the palace, change your name, and take Consort Xian’s token to join the Fourth Prince. In this way, we have successfully transferred from the harem line to the court line.”

“Currently, I have become a guest of the Fourth Prince and am building his favorability. My goal is to coordinate inside and outside with Consort Xian, and with the help of Princess Mingde and her husband, eventually support the Fourth Prince in taking the throne.”

The new viewers: “…”

[There’s such a way to play?!]

[Oh my god, I feel like my brain is growing just listening to this~]

[Amazing! Is this how the game is actually played?]

[Taking the initiative to change, instead of waiting to die in the harem, it’s too epic!]

At this time, Xie Yunfan was also watching the stream in Xia Ku Cao’s room.

This streamer had found a unique path—fake his death to leave the palace and join the Fourth Prince, moving from the harem to the court. The line of thinking was indeed novel. In ancient times, he would definitely be the most precious strategist-type talent in an imperial power struggle.

Xie Yunfan believed that with Xia Ku Cao’s intelligence and strategy, the line of supporting the Fourth Prince to take the throne should be able to achieve a perfect ending.

…

At the same time, Xing Yue, who chose the “Seventh Prince” line, began using “Rebirth Cards” to reload and test the reactions of the NPCs.

He already knew it was a setup—bribing guards to shoot the Sixth Prince and framing the Fourth Prince to resolve two competitors at once. The method was brilliant.

After the rebirth, Xing Yue chose to take the initiative.

Three days before the hunt, he learned to ride a horse and, under the cover of night, rushed to the Sixth Prince’s residence to slip him a secret letter.

The next day at the hunt, the Sixth Prince was indeed very alert. At the moment the guards shot the arrows, he dodged immediately, though he was shot in the shoulder and bled profusely.

The Emperor was furious. Upon investigation, he discovered it was the Fourth Prince’s guard. Because the Sixth Prince was only injured and not killed, the Fourth Prince was grounded for “lax discipline.”

Xing Yue successfully saved the Sixth Prince and met him late at night. The Sixth Prince knew it was him who sent the secret letter and was very grateful; his favorability increased by 50.

Xing Yue said excitedly: “We saved the Sixth Imperial Brother. We can pull him over to our side and build up his favorability more.”

“By the way, the Sixth Prince’s mother, Consort De, is still in the Cold Palace. If we rescue Consort De, this mother-son pair should be even more grateful and help us.”

“I’ve decided to go into the palace to see my mother and ask her to help rescue Consort De!”

The viewers in the live stream were stunned.

[Can you even change the plot like this?]

[Holy cow, I thought the Sixth Prince had to die in the hunting quest!]

[Saving the Sixth Prince early, and then having his own mother rescue his real mother?]

[Old Seven’s mother, Lady Sun, is not favored; Old Six’s mother, Consort De, is in the Cold Palace. Two miserable people huddling for warmth—that’s a good strategy.]

[Not bad, streamer, you’ve got something!]

Xing Yue’s strategy was—banding together.

Playing the “Seventh Prince” line, because the Emperor’s favor for the Seventh Prince was negative at the start (due to his mother’s low status), if he didn’t find people to group with, he couldn’t survive in the beginning at all.

The Sixth Prince was just as pitiful, his mother was in the Cold Palace, and he wasn’t favored by the Emperor. This was the key reason the mastermind dared to kill them and frame them.

Having the two mothers cooperate in the harem, while he and the Sixth Prince covered for each other, greatly increased the chances of survival!

…

The girl playing the Consort De line, whose online handle was “Liu Bo,” was a small streamer with only single-digit followers. Her best friend insisted she start streaming, saying the game was popular lately and could attract followers, so she registered an account.

Many people came over from the forum to see how she played.

After Liu Bo came out of the Cold Palace—she decided to play the ghost-impersonation to the end.

She explained: “People in the harem are fighting endlessly, and 99% of them have done something wrong. They say if you haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t fear a knock on the door at night. But what if they did do something wrong? Wouldn’t they fear the ghosts?”

Liu Bo smiled and said: “Thanks to Ghost Realm for giving me inspiration.”

[Streamer 666]

[Hahaha, impersonating a ghost to the end?]

[What kind of bizarre playstyle is this?]

Liu Bo made a human-shaped kite out of white cloth and secretly went out at night to fly it. As a result, on the very first day she flew it, she scared a passing “Noble Lady Chen.”

As soon as Noble Lady Chen saw the ghost image, she staggered back a few steps: “Sister Shu, wuwuwu… don’t come looking for me, I didn’t kill you!”

Liu Bo: “Nice, got some juicy gossip.”

The viewers in the live stream were also surprised—could this even work?

Liu Bo: “Let’s scare her more and see what else she has to say.”

She continued to manipulate the white-clothed kite to float forward until Noble Lady Chen collapsed and screamed: “It, it was the Noble Consort who ordered me to do it! The debt has a debtor, the grudge has an owner, go find her, don’t look for me!”

After saying this, she fainted.

Liu Bo coughed lightly: “Okay, we have grasped an important clue—Noble Consort Xiao once ordered this Noble Lady Chen to kill a concubine surnamed Shu. Family members, we have started the palace investigation mode. Using the weakness of a guilty conscience, we will drag these killers out one by one!”

Viewers: “…”

There’s even this way to play?

When the game first launched, players were dying left and right.

But after figuring out the game’s rules, everyone was surprised to find that the open-world gameplay was simply breathtaking.

Some “faked death” to escape the palace to help the Fourth Prince take the throne; some played the Seventh Prince, saved the Sixth Prince who was ambushed, and huddled together for warmth;

Some even flew kites in the harem to impersonate ghosts to scare people, turning a palace intrigue game into “I’m solving cases in the harem.”

The players’ ideas were diverse, and the direction of the game would also change according to the players’ different choices.

Everyone could have their own playstyle, and everyone could achieve the ending they wanted—the world’s direction changed because of you.

After watching the streamers’ operations, the public was surprised to find how attractive a holographic world was where the direction could be changed by the players.

If you don’t try playing it, you will really regret it!