Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
At that moment, Chen Mo's phone rang. The caller was a buddy from uni, Zhao Zihao.
"Hello?"
Zhao Zihao replied in a casual tone, "Chen Mo, you're pretty good! First place in a video game designing competition? How could you leave your brothers so out of the loop?"
Chen Mo laughed, "I just settled down, there's been too much doing on recently. How did you know?"
Zhao Zihao said, "You're asking me how I know? You're going viral! The negative comments towards the judge during the competition are all over the internet!"
Chen Mo was speechless. "Huh?"
Zhao Zihao said, "You can check it out yourself. Also, are you free tonight? Us three haven't really met up since we graduated. Coincidentally, you just got your identity as a videogame designer, and earned yourself an experience store. You better be buying us dinner!"
Chen Mo laughed, "Sure, I'll buy us dinner. Could you get Lin Mao too?"
Zhao Zhao replied, "Sure, it's decided then! How about this: I'll pick up Lin Mao, then we'll head right over to your experience store, then grab some food. Let's do 4pm. We'll see you there."
Chen Mo said, "Alright, I'll see you then."
In his memory in this parallel world, Chen Mo had two close buddies from university. Although the three of them were studying different areas, somehow they all entered the video game industry.
Zhao Zihao had rich parents, his family was probably involved in traditional businesses. Chen Mo wasn't too sure about the details, all that mattered was that Zhao Zihao didn't lack money.
However, Zhao Zihao wasn't a video game designer. He acquired a studio for a video game guild, providing services such as boosting, gold grinding, promoting video games, and so forth.
The company wasn't big, but the pay wasn't low, either. Every single hire were elite gamers, they had a no pay policy if they didn't do a good job.
These workers could also be viewed as people who were hired to play games with Zhao Zihao, the other tasks can be viewed as extra work. Nobody cared if the company was losing money, as in the end it was something Zhao Zihao had started for fun.
Chen Mo had previously heard that Zhao Zihao was considering starting a clubbing business. However, as it was a considerable investment, he had yet to decide.
Zhao Zihao didn't give off the usual vibes of someone born with a silver spoon, as he wasn't arrogant, spending most of his time playing video games. He would often join Chen Mo and the others at the internet cafe, and was commonly referred to as having the body of a noble, the heart of a peasant by Lin Mao, another one of Chen Mo's buddies.
As for the other buddy, Lin Mao, he was also a video game designer like Chen Mo. He got his D-grade video game designer as soon as he graduated and was now focusing full time on designing his own games.
Among the three of them, Chen Mo studied languages, Zhao Zihao studied finances, and Lin Mao was the only one who actually graduated studying video game design.
The three of them met in the video game society in their first year and had been friends ever since. This gang was the few in this world whom Chen Mo viewed as close friends.
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When the afternoon came, Chen Mo went out to familiarize himself with the environment around the experience store. After finding a restaurant, he went inside to grab a meal.
Casually taking out his phone, he checked the news.
Indeed, many news outlets had written about what had happened at the video game design competition in their gaming section. Furthermore, there were many who participated in the discussion.
"Video game design competition concluded, the three hundred thousand prize money experience store belongs to?"
"A mysterious bird takes the crown at a video game designing competition!"
"Live audience: This is the most torturous game in history!"
"Seven hundred people three hundred and fifty hours playtime, this game is infectious!"
"Judge criticizes: Is this even a game?!"
"Flappybird designer: Judge incapable of objectivity."
"Founder of hengyang.com strongly promotes this game."
Chen Mo looked through the news articles, basically recounting the scene at the competition, putting emphasis on the confrontation between Shi Huazhe and Chen Mo. Obviously the journalists were trying to clickbait the article in an attempt to make it a hot topic.
There was also a video of when it happened. Shi Huazhe's review and Chen Mo's final remarks were being played again and again, becoming quite the hot topic.
Chen Mo didn't mind; to him, any publicity was good publicity. More gamers will now recognize him, cutting down the cost per user of his future games, and saving on advertising, too!
In this day and age, the attention economy was hugely prevalent, which was also applicable to the video game industry.
As information increased, the attention of the user base became more valuable. If there were two similar games, one with no attention and one with plenty before the game was released, even if the latter wasn't as good as the former, the profits of the latter would be much higher than the former.
If you had a fanbase of five thousand people and everyone of them listened to everything you say, you could reliably depend on your livelihood on the fans, be it through an online store, promoting games, or any other form of monetization.
At this point, Chen Mo noticed a video game media company released an interview with Shi Huazhe.
On the video Shi Huazhe was visibly upset, looking into the cameras and said, "What I said to contestant Chen Mo was advice based on my past. But he took it as an insult, it's really quite saddening.
"I still maintain my stance, the video game industry is a profession that requires sincerity and richness. Contestant Chen Mo isn't going to make it far. I think his next game isn't going to make it pass a hundred thousand sales in the first month."
Chen Mo laughed. Shi Huazhe was as stubborn as a mule, unwilling to surrender after so many attacks.
Chen Mo quietly opened Weibo.
His Weibo was now verified, updating his information after becoming a D-grade video game designer and the champion of the video game design competition.
Chen Mo reposted the interview, adding, "Aren't you gonna eat something?" after tagging the pages of several video game media.
-You wanna mess with me? Sure, I'll be here till the end!-
After a short while, Chen Mo's Weibo exploded!
The video game medias reposted after noticing that Chen Mo replied and sensed the opportunity of some breaking news.
Video Game Info Network, Tianji.com, Wechat gaming channel... even a higher-up of Emperor Dynasty Entertainment reposted!
After creating such a scene, a large number of gamers now had their attention on Chen Mo's Weibo!
"Chen Mo? Is this the video game design champion?"
"Is this account real?"
"Must be, it's verified."
"Wow, really? Did you have to create such a scene? Why didn't you just give in?"
"This kid has personality, I like this guy!"
"What did you mean by your last reply? What do you want Shi Huazhe to eat?"
"Previous comment, did your village just receive internet access?"
The gamers were having a heated discussion right on Chen Mo's Weibo.
Chen Mo's "Aren't you hungry?" was meant to be a joke. There are many who try to make predictions on the internet, and they always end it with," If I'm wrong, I'll eat my own sock" or "If I'm wrong, I'll eat my mouse", eating all sorts of weird things. Therefore next time someone encounters a prediction, many would reply with, "Aren't you gonna eat something?"
The meaning behind Chen Mo's reply was clear: Shi Huazhe, you said I'm not going to sell more than a hundred thousand copies in the first month for my next game. What if I do? Aren't you gonna eat something?
Soon, the replies and reposts under this post started to explode, a hundred, three hundred, five hundred!
Moreover, the friendly internet users were helping by tagging Shi Huazhe, probably just joining in the crowds, not considering the consequences.
Chen Mo was much calmer than Shi Huazhe, matters like this weren't a concern for him. Moreover, Chen Mo didn't feel bad about this publicity stunt. If it brought more attention to his next game, why not?
Soon thereafter, Shi Huazhe replied, "Get a life!"
Chen Mo was happy, seeing Shi Huazhe didn't dare take the bet.
The discussions under the post were full of disappointment. There were still people trying to start something, encouraging Shi Huazhe to take the bet and eat a keyboard or mouse.
Shi Huazhe decided to not reply, as if pretending he died.
After laughing, Chen Mo put his phone away. This was no more than a small interlude, no need to take it to heart.