Ke Ming frowned when he heard this. “Why do you look like you’re in a panic? What happened?”

“The technical department called and said there’s another problem with the servers!” The secretary took a quick breath and quickly handed Ke Ming a cell phone that was still on a call. Team Leader Zheng is on the line.”

Ke Ming took the phone and spoke in an unhappy tone, “Tell me clearly! What happened!”

The technical team leader on the other line braced himself and explained, “Mr. Ke, listen to me, we just received news—”

“The two A4 and A5 cabinet servers in the old computer room have experienced operational failures again. Based on past experience, the conservative estimate is that they will take nearly an hour to repair.”

“If it weren’t for the opening of the in-game transaction channel, I wouldn’t be so anxious to call you and report it.”

The two sets of cabinet servers in the old computer room retained the most basic login data and user information. It was conservatively estimated that nearly one million users were unable to log into the “Destroy the Alien Beasts” app interface during this short time.

Ke Ming gritted his teeth. “Why didn’t you move such important data to a new server! Your technical team doesn’t know that the old servers have problems, and dared to make such a low-level mistake?!”

Team Leader Zheng complained without end, “M-Mr. Ke, you can’t blame us for this, ah.”

Once the servers in the new computer room were put into use, they were all used for game creation and core operations.

Three new units were originally to be put into operation next, reserved just for backing up the basic user data of “Destroy the Alien Beasts” —

But before the equipment was in place, Ke Ming announced that it would be released for public beta in advance!

It wasn’t as if Team Leader Zheng didn’t object to the proposal at first, but what was the use? Who could resist the boss’s wishes?

With no choice but to think on the bright side, he prayed that their old servers would be powerful enough, and that they could wait until “Destroy the Alien Beasts” was stabilized before transferring the data to new machines.

But what a pity!

The game “went on strike” less than four days after it launched, and was stuck at the point before the game fully released new props and stimulated players to spend money.

Naturally, Ke Ming would not admit to his mistakes. He pressed his throbbing temples, “If this problem cannot be solved within an hour, you can send your resignation letter directly to my inbox tonight!”

After saying this, he hung up the phone abruptly.

Ke Ming tossed the phone back into his assistant’s hands. Gritting his teeth, he made concessions, “Announce immediately that the event time will be changed from six to seven o’clock, and game coins for all game props will be discounted by 10%.”

They would make money later, so it didn’t matter if less money came in now. The key was to stabilize the enthusiasm of the participating gamers.

He must win this difficult battle to seize the market!

Knock knock.

There was another knock on the door.

The team leader in charge of online publicity came in and said, “Mr. Ke, this is bad!”

The exact same opening sentence made Ke Ming’s temples beat even harder.

“What do I need you for? What else can you do except say this?”

The online publicity team leader did not expect to receive a heap of criticism, and a hint of embarrassment flashed in his eyes.

It was the secretary who smoothed things over. “What is it?”

The team leader put the tablet he had brought on Ke Ming’s desk, his tone much calmer. “The boss of Mufeng Games just posted a long Weibo, and the official Weibo and original game design competition of our studio was featured.”

“He openly questioned the organizers of this competition for their shady activities and for giving our game a back door.”

“……”

Ke Ming’s expression tightened, and he quickly picked up his tablet to check the news. “Why are they suddenly suspicious of us?”

Deng Mufeng’s questioning Weibo was very long, and the main content could be summarized as—

He had a friend outside the industry who was responsible for advertising channel exposure. About a month ago, he was invited by the organizers to cooperate.

While negotiating, the person in charge of the organizers singled out “Destroy the Alien Beasts” as an example of a subsequent game that should win an award, and also specifically named the other party as a valued project of the game giant Xunya Technology, which was a guaranteed profit.

It was the first time for that friend to participate in an investment invitation for this type of game. He didn’t think it was strange at first, until he saw what Deng Mufeng said on the internet three or four days ago—

That friend belatedly realized that something was fishy!

The award results had not yet been released at that time, and the organizers had already begun to look for exposure channels for “Destroy the Alien Beasts?” Wasn’t this a clear indication of the default allocation of capital?

After some thought, he told his friend Deng Mufeng about it.

When Deng Mufeng was the chief game planner of “Exquisite Struggle,” he chose to leave alone because he couldn’t stand the prevalence of capital. 

Unexpectedly, the first game he restarted encountered this kind of capital manipulation again?

Deng Mufeng had real talent and knowledge, and he was also prideful in his conduct.

He was very confident that his “Dark Blue Sea” would win the award. After losing, he was passive and had suspicions, but because of the lack of evidence, he couldn’t speak out.

But now, the truth was coming out.

The game with the real possible backdoor and shady secrets was “Alien Beasts,” not the similar “Last Fog!”

Deng Mufeng took the initiative to not only question Chanming Studios and the competition officials in a long Weibo post, but also sincerely apologized to “The Last Fog” and YWY Studios—

He said that his preconceptions had caused a negative impact, and he was unable to come forward to explain immediately. He hoped that all game fans and netizens could discern for themselves.

“Don’t let the pure be obscured, and don’t let the impure steal the light.”

Deng Mufeng had a very good writing style, and all his comments were very inflammatory. It had only been ten minutes since he posted on Weibo, and the comments below had already been filled with support and outward criticism—

“Damn it! Did they actually go through a back door? Chanming Studios is too shameless!”

“I say, there’s no need for the official competition. The reputation gained in the first seven years has been ruined! Will it still have value in the future?”

“Support Teacher Deng! ‘Dark Blue Sea,’ a Chinese-style mobile game!”

“I’m speechless! Am I the only one who can’t log on to ‘Destroy the Alien Beasts?’ I originally wanted to go to Weibo to search for relevant news, but then I saw Teacher Deng’s post and it made me sick.”

“I can’t log in either! Why should such a low-quality mobile game win an award when it crashes even when logging in, ah? Did the officials of this garbage contest have money in their eyes?”

“Check it out! The boss of Chanming Studios is Ke Ming! This is a bedbug that hides in the gutters and sucks people’s blood! Get out of the Chinese gaming circle!”

. . . . .

More and more discussions occurred, and there were also boycotts of “Alien Beasts” and personal attacks on Ke Ming himself!

The curses came from all directions, turning into a loud slap that hit Ke Ming’s face hard.

The online publicity team leader became a little more cautious when he saw his boss’s increasingly stinky expression. “Mr. Ke, do you want me to contact Mufeng Games and Deng Mufeng privately to have him withdraw the post? Or use paid commenters to correct public opinion?”

“……”

The original plan to earn money through props had been postponed, and now such unfavorable remarks were being made at this juncture?

Ke Ming leaned back in the office chair, feeling that the worst was yet to come. He picked up the half bottle of red wine left on the table and drank two sips to calm himself down.

“No, you shouldn’t seek out Deng Mufeng privately.”

Deng Mufeng was obviously a person who was obsessed with fairness and honesty. To negotiate with him at this juncture to withdraw the post would undoubtedly put their handle in the hands of the other party.

“Then hire internet commenters?” The secretary at his side repeated the suggestion. “Right now, it’s just a few screenshots of chats and a long paragraph of Weibo text, which can’t be considered solid evidence.”

When the online publicity team leader heard this, a hint of indifference flashed through his heart.

Although he had just come up with this idea in passing, it was obviously futile in this situation.

Deng Mufeng’s Weibo post had spread very quickly once it was posted. There must be paid commenters stirring up public opinion, and they were completely aimed at Chanming Studios and “Destroy the Alien Beasts.”

If the studio followed suit and used paid comments to turn public opinion in their own favor, the agitated game netizens may uncover more clues and stir up greater controversy.

Ke Ming’s mind was still clear, and he knew that using commenters to redirect this wave of public opinion was just a useless waste of money.

He stroked the wine bottle and squeezed out the only solution he could. “Listen, make an announcement on the official website, Weibo, and the game — just say that our server has been maliciously attacked.”

When the secretary heard this casually composed remark, he was stunned, and said, “M-Maliciously attacked?”

“Yes! Say there has been a malicious attack, which caused the login bug to appear!” Ke Ming seemed to have thought of a way to kill two birds with one stone, and immediately became energetic. “Aside from the server problem, we will not admit to using any back doors or the like!”

Not only would they not admit it, but they would also openly and covertly attribute this wave of public opinion to malicious competition and manipulation by their peers.

The secretary and team leader looked at each other, both understanding the real situation in their studio.

Although they had to take orders from their boss in order to work and make money, they still felt a bit of aversion.

“Mr. Ke, are you sure it’s okay to clarify like this? Will the organizers of the competition be forced to come forward to explain this matter?”

“Are you the boss or am I the boss?”

Ke Ming looked over coldly. “I told you, just do it! Go out and do your work!”

The investor behind this competition was Xunya Technology, the owner of Nanchan Games. How could the organizers admit fault and offend a major game company just because of the suspicions of netizens?

What’s more, if they admitted to the “backdoor” incident, the competition would lose its credibility. Could it still be held in the future? Could it obtain money and fame?

Confirming this answer, Ke Ming picked up his cell phone on the table and dialed the number of his partner You Chang again.

On the surface, he had established a relationship with Xunya Technology through Nanchan Games, and had a big company as his backer. But in fact, since the partnership, You Chang had been responsible for communicating with the senior executives of the major manufacturers. 

In order to avoid unnecessary complications at this critical moment, he must communicate with You Chang about this matter.

. . . . . .

At YWY Studios, there was still a faint sweetness floating in the air.

Pei Yi took out the last two egg tarts and divided them. “Pear Garden, here.”

Li Yuan glanced at Yan Cen, but before he could act reserved and serious, his friend directly stuffed the egg tart into his hand.

“Eat, ah! What are you doing standing there?”

With that said, he took half a bite of egg tart.

Bo Yueming took out a wet wipe and wiped the hands of his lover before him. “How can you have one stomach and eat another stomach full of dessert?”

Yan Cen’s eyes were still on Li Yuan, and he asked, “Didn’t you say you had something serious to do tonight? Why are you so relaxed?”

They had originally thought they would have dinner on Friday night, but Pei Yi and Li Yuan both said they had business to take care of and must stay in the office to work overtime.

Bo Yueming and Yan Cen feared that the two business-minded people would forget to eat, so they could only come to the door with food.

Li Yuan took a bite of egg tart core, and signaled toward Pei Yi with his eyes. “The commander-in-chief is over there.”

Pei Yi glanced at the time and finally cut back to the situation. “Lin Zhong, how are things going now?”

“Little Sir, don’t worry. After Deng Mufeng published that long Weibo, the high-level commenters were arranged in advance infiltrated the ordinary netizens to guide public opinion, and the news has also penetrated into major social forums such as Youtu.”

Ke Ming’s guess was correct. There was indeed someone behind Deng Mufeng’s incident—

Except for Pei Yi, who had a grudge and was using the same troll tactics to fight back, the leader on the other side was actually a senior executive at Weiyi headquarters.

Ever since he learned that “Alien Beasts” would be released in advance, Pei Yi and Li Yuan not only contacted Deng Mufeng, but also Gu Jianshen far away in Haishi, and asked him to help them make contact.

Weiyi and Xunya Technology had been tit-for-tat for a long time, and even their subsidiaries were fiercely competing with each other. On the surface, the situation was like fire and water.

Now that there was an opportunity to defeat the opponent, how could Weiyi’s senior management be willing to let it go?

The reason Deng Mufeng and his people were willing to stand up and voice their suspicions was not only for fairness and to vent their anger, but also to reach a game-and-business-related cooperation with Weiyi.

Lin Zhong continued, “Also, I just confirmed the latest news.”

“What is it?” Li Yuan asked.

“There is a problem with the servers of ‘Alien Beasts,” and many game players say they cannot log in. In addition, some players who logged in reported feedback—”

“There is a bug in the in-game dungeons. The NPC monsters in the dungeons can resurrect themselves even if their health bars are drained.”

Lin Zhong listed several complaints taken from the official website.

Pei Yi shook his head with a smile. “The reason a game must go through one, two, or even three rounds of internal testing is to fix minor programming loopholes.”

Ke Ming was so eager for a quick success this time that he ignored the importance of internal testing.

These might seem like minor issues, but would add up to an amount that would dampen the enthusiasm of game players, which was very fatal for a newly released mobile game.

Pei Yi looked at his friend. “Pear Garden, do you remember what I told you before in Haishi?”

Li Yuan replied tacitly, “I remember.”

How could Ke Ming lose all his wealth?

Of course it was if he spent all his money on a game, but when it was about to be recovered, the funding channels suddenly collapsed—

Therefore, they discussed with Deng Mufeng and others to counterattack today when “Alien Beasts” launched the in-game transaction channel.

Originally, judging from the time difference between things fermenting, “Alien Beasts” could still be recovered to some extent. But unexpectedly, so many players were unable to log in at the critical moment?

Eight or nine chances out of ten, there was something wrong with the servers. It seemed that even the heavens had chosen to side with them.

“Pear Garden, go downstairs and have the internet publicity team leader keep an eye on this. He’ll get double pay for any overtime worked today.”

Pei Yi’s mind was running very fast. “I bet that with Ke Ming’s temperament, he will have to throw the dirty water of the ‘login’ issues on us.”

“En, I understand.”

After explaining to his friend, Pei Yi remembered something else and looked at his off-field aid. “Er-ge, what I told you last time, you…..”

Bo Yueming grasped his fingertips and said, “Don’t worry, Director You will speak for me over there.”

Pei Yi chuckled. “That’s good. I’ll have another phone call with Gu Jianshen.”

The first round of traps had been laid. Once Ke Ming issued his clarification statement, the next wave of real face-slaps would follow!

“Pear Garden, let’s go downstairs.”

“Okay.”

Pei Yi and Li Yuan exchanged glances, feeling a long-suppressed excitement toward slapping that person in the face. They left their lovers behind at once.

The office door shut unceremoniously.

Yan Cen and Bo Yueming, who were left behind, looked at each other. They had always been busy, and at this moment, they actually felt the sort of boredom of having “nothing to do.”

“Mr. Bo, you look very idle.”

“Right back at you.”

. . . . . . .

Night fell again, and in the brightly lit office building, the staff of the Chanming Studios internet publicity team complained with downtrodden expressions.

Ever since Ke Ming announced that the game would be released in advance, the internet publicity department had been caught off guard. They worked overtime until midnight almost every day, and there was still no compensation.

They finally made it to Friday. They had initially thought they could happily get off work at 6 o’clock and go home to rest, but unexpectedly, bad news suddenly fell from the sky, and they had to work overtime to write statements and catch up on notifications.

“I really want to resign!”

“I’m also thinking about it, ah. Day in and day out, there are no breaks and no overtime pay.”

“Stop talking! Mr. Ke is here!”

Within three seconds, Ke Ming strode in with an angry look on his face. “Have you written the announcement? What kind of work efficiency do you think this is?”

The team leader suppressed his dissatisfaction and responded, “Mr. Ke, it has been written and was about to be sent to you for review.”

Ke Ming approached. “Bring it here, I’ll look at it now.”

“Okay.”

The team leader handed over the tablet. The announcement was quite concise—

First, it said that the servers were malfunctioning due to a malicious attack, and were expected to be repaired before seven o’clock. There would also be an in-game money bonus for that night’s “Destroy the Alien Beasts.”

Secondly, it justly explained that the production and operation teams of “Destroy the Alien Beasts” had made absolutely no violations of the moral bottom line!

They believed that ability was the foundation of expression, and originality was the source of confidence. They had been contributing their share to the future of the Chinese gaming industry.

The team leader looked at this “false” statement and asked doubtfully, “Mr. Ke, shouldn’t we discuss this with Nanchan Games?”

After all, the game “Destroy the Alien Beasts” was produced by their studio, but it was also jointly produced with Nanchan Games.

Ke Ming took a quick look and said, “It’s too late! Just send it!”

After ending the video call, he had been unable to contact You Chang. The calls he made just rang and rang, and then the phone turned off directly.

How could he find that person to discuss this?

Since You Chang had asked him to pay more attention to the game before the video call ended, he still had the right whether or not to post this harmless statement.

“In addition to Weibo, other social media accounts must keep up. Also, the paid commenters behind this statement should still be bought, so remember to maintain the popularity!”

Blackish red was also red!

As long and the competition officials didn’t come forward to speak the truth, and as long as Nanchan and Xunya Technology were still his backers, then after this crisis, their “Destroy the Alien Beasts” could still go on!

When the team leader heard Ke Ming’s order, he could only suppress the doubts in his heart and obey.

Five minutes later, this statement was sent out simultaneously on all platforms, and the team of paid commenters that had been negotiated quickly took their deposit and started to work.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Ke Ming sat in front of the computer screen, clutching his cell phone and dialing the numbers of You Chang and Nanchan Games again and again, but no one answered.

His inner uneasiness did not diminish after the statement. On the contrary, he had a strong sense of impending crisis.

—Zizi

His cell phone suddenly vibrated with a message.

Ke Ming quickly picked up his phone to take a look, only to find a WeChat profile picture in the message that was a bit unexpected.

It was Xiang Nansheng, his former friend and partner.

Ke Ming took a breath and clicked on the WeChat comment.

— Ke Ming, it was agreed that I would tell you that your great gift to him has been received, and in reciprocity, he also has a return gift for you.

— [Weibo link]

— In addition, I would like to add a personal statement: I am glad that I saw through you and left the studio. If you behave badly, you will inevitably spin a web around yourself. Take care!

“……”

Ke Ming looked at the three WeChat messages, gritted his teeth, and clicked on the other party’s link!

Three minutes ago, a well-known blogger with more than five million fans in the gaming community had published a long piece of news!

— Relying on plagiarism to make a comeback, and now relying on a backdoor to win awards, Nanchan Games is a huge pile of rat shit in the Chinese gaming circle!

Just reading the Weibo title, he felt a surge of fury.

Ke Ming clicked on the long article with pictures and text, browsing through it. The blogger concluded that there was plagiarism in the stand-alone games produced by Nanchan Games in the past three years.

It involved eight games, large and small, and three of them had become popular stand-alone games after overwhelming marketing!

The total number of players had reached 600 million, and the revenue generated through advertising and other activities was conservatively estimated to exceed 250 million!

With such huge profits, the production and promotion costs of Nanchan Games only cost a few million, and the copyright fees cost nothing at all!

The creators of the original works had toiled hard, but their efforts had benefited a shameless thief, and because Nanchan was backed by a large company and was far overseas, they had no way to complain!

Especially in the past two years, Nanchan Games had made a lot of money. After encountering suspicions, they either directly removed the games or refused to admit it and waited for the storm to end!

The boss behind the scenes was so thick-skinned as to wall himself away!

It should be known that many people could only save up a few tens of thousands in savings every year. 

In the face of data that directly represented money, the anger of gamers, but also ordinary netizens, was rising—

“Holy shit! I admit it, I’m jealous!”

“Keep this in mind, friends! Support genuine games! Stop encouraging this shitty company!”

“Did some research. Nanchan Games is one of the subsidiaries of Xunya Technology, and Chanming Studios, which recently launched the mobile game “Destroy the Alien Beasts,” just issued a statement not long ago. The two companies have a partnership agreement together.”

“Ugh. These are all plagiarism veterans. Have the new mobile games also been plagiarized?”

“Don’t doubt it. It must be there, but just hasn’t been revealed yet. Dogs will definitely not change their habit of eating shit!”

“Ability is the foundation of expression, and originality is the source of confidence? Nanchan Games and Chanming Studios, let me ask you whether this statement is a slap in the face!”

“Let’s unite and complain to the relevant departments! This kind of game developer should not exist!”

. . . . .

Ke Ming read these angry comments and felt his face burning with pain. The suffocating anger in his heart was like a headless fly, flying around but unable to find a way out!

They were stuck before the opening of their in-game transaction channel, and Deng Mufeng’s suspicions and the alliance with paid commenters attracted the attention of the netizens, forcing them to come forward to issue a clarification statement.

This statement happened to be a self-created trap.

Since Nanchan Games and Chanming Studios were in a partnership, how could netizens distinguish so clearly?

Using the former’s past plagiarism scandals to stir up anger on the web, this successfully triggered everyone’s rejection of “Destroy the Alien Beasts.”

Each move of a chess piece was timed just right!

Was it Pei Yi?

— It must be Pei Yi!

The eyes beneath Pei Yi’s peaked cap reappeared in Ke Ming’s mind, and he finally realized that he had underestimated this person!

He had originally thought that the other party was just a kitten being raised in a greenhouse, and with the identity of Will, he might just be spending money to have some fun.

But now it turned out that the other party had strength and ambition, and even wanted to destroy his Chanming Studios!

The phone in his hand suddenly vibrated, causing Ke Ming’s hands to inexplicably shake.

He saw the name on the caller ID clearly, and with nowhere to vent the fire in his heart, it immediately rushed to his mouth. “Hey! You Chang!”

“Let me ask you, what’s going on with the online revelations about Nanchan Games? Do you know how this is likely to affect me…..”

Before this preemptive question could be finished, the other party responded with even stronger anger, “Ke Ming! Stop putting on airs! I ask you! When did you offend Bo Group?”

Ke Ming was stunned. “What?”

You Chang cursed again. “I’m going to be fucking killed because of you!”

We was from Wencheng. In order to avoid becoming a victim in the family disputes, he had decided to stay away and establish his own business. 

As for his cousin You Qinian, who now controlled the family, he hid far away from the man and didn’t dare to provoke him.

Not long ago, You Chang suddenly received a strange and frightening phone call—

Before he knew it, Ke Ming had already offended Bo Group, and the current chairman of Bo Group had a cooperative relationship with You Qinian.

A seemingly simple sentence sounded like a real threat to You Chang.

No matter how well-behaved he had been and how much money he had made in the past two years, compared to You Qinian, it was like an ant meeting an elephant!

“I’m telling you, the partnership between us up to now ends immediately! In two days, I will have my people terminate the contract with your studio!”

He didn’t want to get himself involved in trouble because of Ke Ming!

The phone hung up abruptly.

Ke Ming sat there blankly, his face turning blue and white, unable to understand You Chang’s inexplicable change of attitude.

There was currently turmoil on the internet, and Nanchan’s studio had been stigmatized because of past plagiarism. This situation was getting chaotic!

Now he had just gotten a phone call about ending their partnership? Was this like playing house?

You Chang and Nanchan could freely choose not to spend the money they invested in “Destroy the Alien Beats,” or even hide amidst the scorn like they had done in the past!

Then who would consider the crisis he was facing?

In order to release “Destroy the Alien Beasts” and to have more say, Ke Ming had proactively invested nearly 30 million in the early stages.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was all the wealth he and his studio had accumulated over the years!

Ke Ming’s eyes were about to burst out, his entire bodied overcome by an unprecedented panic—

If “Destroy the Alien Beasts” was really brought down by public opinion, wouldn’t he lose all his capital?!

---

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Chapter Eighty-Five <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Seven