[Will of Fire Version Update]
After finalizing this line, Yuto could officially announce... the game was on track!
Moreover, a series of new secret scrolls and summoning creatures were added.
As for the previously delayed combat power system, Yuto decided to scrap it entirely, retaining only the duel function from the original game, returning to its roots.
Although the Motou Village initially revolved around dungeon grinding, keeping only the arena made the interface much cleaner.
This time, two new Ninjas were added: Senju Hashirama [Edo Tensei] and Senju Tobirama [Edo Tensei].
If these were just normally released for sale, Yuto wouldn't casually claim the game was on track.
What he aimed for was to expand the game's reach to the common people!
He didn't have much money to sustain the system himself, let alone consider the future costs of replenishing items in the ranked matches, which would be a huge expense!
Although not many items had been exchanged yet, once players saved up enough points, there would definitely be a massive wave of redemptions!
This so-called 'game expansion' meant selling phones to the common folk.
But Yuto couldn't afford to lose money.
Thus... the [Will of Fire] version was born. The specifics were...
For every new player registered through a referral, the referrer would receive 10 shards of Senju Hashirama [Edo Tensei].
But why was Yuto confident this method would help the game reach the common people?
Because currently, 95% of the players were Ninjas, and these Ninjas had mostly joined because of other Ninjas' recommendations.
Perhaps after the Konoha Crush, they heard about this strange incident, found it interesting, and since 100,000 ryo wasn't much for a Ninja, they bought a phone and became players.
But looking at the results now, the average daily playtime for all players was six hours! And as a game designer, Yuto knew how staggering that number was.
Moreover, the player retention rate was almost 100%, because the fact that ranked match items could enhance real strength was even acknowledged by the Hokage.
So, whether for strength improvement or the game's fun, or both, Ninjas across Konoha had sparked a trend of playing on their phones, even influencing some civilians, though only a few...
Now, the number of Ninja players was nearing saturation. If these players wanted to get Senju Hashirama [Edo Tensei], they would need to recruit at least ten new players!
At first, they might have some relatives or friends who hadn't registered, but eventually...
Ninjas would realize that almost everyone they knew was already a player.
Thus, Konoha's Ninjas would have to target the civilian population.
But most civilians wouldn't actively buy phones. So to solve this problem, many Ninjas would likely pay out of their own pockets.
Based on the mission rewards shown in the anime, the amount of money for an S-Rank mission is over 1,000,000 ryo, an A-Rank mission is 150,000 to 1,000,000 ryo, a B-Rank mission is 80,000 to 200,000 ryo, a C-Rank mission is 30,000 to 100,000 ryo, and even the lowest D-Rank missions, like finding cats, dogs, or babysitting, ranged from 5,000 to 50,000 ryo!
A phone cost only 100,000 ryo. Almost any Ninja, even Naruto who had just completed a few simple missions, could afford it.
In fact, Naruto had earned enough from missions in a short time for Jiraiya to splurge at entertainment venues, and he even complained that Jiraiya only gave him a few thousand ryo, which was too little.
So, it was clear that for Ninjas, 100,000 ryo was roughly equivalent to a B-Rank mission.
And since most ninjas in Konoha were Chunin or above, money wasn't an issue.
Why wasn't Yuto worried that Ninjas might not be interested in this new event?
There are four reasons for this.
First, these Ninjas are not short of money.
Second, many Ninjas would likely enjoy the act of helping by recruiting new players, as Jonin like Asuma are quite enthusiastic about helping others.
Third, after Senju Hashirama [Edo Tensei] was released, equipping him with the Secret Scroll exclusive to Hashirama, his Wooden Human Technique will automatically turn into the Myojinmon, and he will also have a summoned shark or toad. A single combo could let their opponent hear, 'Are you hurt?'. It was incredibly fun
Fourth, as a Konoha Ninja, how dare they not obtain the Shodaime Hokage? Are they disrespecting the Hokage? Do they not believe in the Will of Fire?
That's right, it's the power of sentiment.
Moreover, Yuto estimated that even if he released the peak version of Senju Hashirama [Edo Tensei], who could one-shot opponents with a single combo, players would still grudgingly admit, "Yes, our Shodaime Hokage is just that strong!"
Fifth…
Well, there was no fifth.
Yuto named the version [Will of Fire] because, as a former Motou Village's planner, he deeply understood what the true Will of Fire was.
The so-called Will of Fire: No money? No money and you want to protect Konoha? Watch my 2,000 ryo Jiraiya teach you traitors a lesson!!
So, with this move, having wealthy Ninjas pay for phones for civilians would directly push the game's expansion to the common people.
He knew the plan would work.
Yuto had also set up a way to obtain Senju Tobirama [Edo Tensei].
That is... the top up money from newly registered players!
For this purpose, Yuto specially launched the recharge function.
For every 10,000 ryo that a new registered player recharges, the referrer would receive one shard of Senju Tobirama [Edo Tensei].
The maximum number of shards obtainable from a single new player was ten!
This way, veteran players could spend 1,000,000 ryo to get Senju Hashirama [Edo Tensei], then spend another 1,000,000 ryo to get Senju Tobirama [Edo Tensei]!
These two former Hokage could be obtained for just 2,000,000 ryo! So, what are you waiting for?
Even a Chunin could save up 2,000,000 ryo by doing missions for two months at most.
In this way, the game expanded to the common people, civilians got 100,000 ryo as startup funds, Ninjas who spent 2,000,000 ryo obtained Senju Hashirama [Edo Tensei]and Senju Tobirama [Edo Tensei], who were stronger than the average Ninja, and Yuto... got more money!