Chapter 27: Massive Employee Benefits!

Half a month ago.

Zhang Yang was still an obscure nobody.

Half a month later.

His game, Desert Bicycle, had become a standard single-player game in every major internet cafe.

Even if you hadn’t played it, as long as you were online or played games, you had basically heard of Desert Bicycle, along with the news of many people successfully withdrawing cash.

An all-night regular opened the official Universe Technology website.

Then…

He saw the photo of Ge Yumiao holding a trophy, which was still displayed on the homepage.

He felt a twinge of envy.

Ge the Great used to be just like him, one of the three legendary internet cafe bums of Xingxing Internet Cafe. They had all lived dark, miserable lives, despised by polite society.

But now!

Not only had Ge the Great won the prize money, but he had also landed a job.

Every time he came to the internet cafe now, he was dressed all professional and respectable. He didn’t even smoke five-yuan cigarettes anymore, instead opting for ten-yuan Baisha¹.

Especially that set of white teeth…

Qian Cai remembered that before Ge the Great struck it rich, his teeth had always been a waxy yellow because he wouldn’t brush them for weeks at a time…

And now…

The guy had definitely gone to get them professionally cleaned!

These things stung Qian Cai to his core.

He felt that Ge the Great had betrayed their shared faith.

“Write about people who annoy you to vent?”

“There are way too many people who annoy me…”

“…”

Inside the internet cafe.

The noise was deafening.

Qian Cai clicked on the entry for the new game idea collection on the Universe Technology official site.

At this moment, he felt himself filling with spite.

After glancing at the prize money again, he immediately began clattering away on the keyboard.

“People in libraries who ignore warnings and keep being loud…”

“People who suddenly cut in line…”

“People on buses who recline their seats without any regard for the person behind them, even after being asked multiple times…”

“And people in internet cafes who constantly blow smoke at others, whether on purpose or not!”

“…”

In one breath, Qian Cai furiously wrote four or five short scripts based on life experiences. After finishing, he felt the hostility in his heart ease significantly. He then uploaded all the scripts to the official website in one go.

In real life…

When you encountered people like that, you seemed to have no recourse at all.

But!

In the world of a game, you could do whatever you wanted!

At this moment!

Qian Cai suddenly really wanted to see the things he wrote turned into a small plot in the game, so he could beat those people senseless!

Just the thought of it felt incredibly satisfying!

Not long after he finished writing…

The Universe Technology official site immediately sent him a reply.

“Thank you for your participation. Please look forward to future adaptations. If you have more creative ideas, please continue to submit. The more you submit, the higher your chances of winning. Many great prizes are waiting for you!”

“…”

…………………………

“How did you put this proposal together!”

“Sigh…”

“Are you a pig-brain? This is what you come up with after staying up all night?”

“…”

Mingxuan Decoration.

Inside the manager’s office.

Xu Yin, who had only recently started working, listened to a barrage of scolding from his superior.

He felt both angry and wronged.

What was he angry about?

He had already revised this proposal over a dozen times according to the manager’s demands!

He had basically stayed up every night to do it.

But no matter how he changed it, the manager was never satisfied.

What was he wronged about?

The manager’s requirements were always ambiguous, changing from one thing to another. It was a nightmare. He had gathered his courage to ask for specific requirements, but the manager just snapped back, “If you can’t even do this well, you’re asking me? Why did I hire you!”

Xu Yin returned to his seat…

Thinking of the manager’s sour face, he wished he could slam the proposal right into the man’s face…

This was too much bullying!

But in the end, he didn’t dare. After all, in a place like Yanjing where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, it would be hard to survive if he lost his job.

Night fell.

After the manager left, he happened to see the “Game Idea Collection” advertisement online.

As if possessed, he opened the official site and clattered away at his keyboard.

After he finished, he felt it wasn’t enough, so he wrote a very detailed description of his manager’s physical appearance!

After finishing the description, he uploaded the script immediately!

His mood instantly improved, and he didn’t worry about anything else.

Around ten o’clock that night, he saw a small pop-up window appear on the official website…

Then…

A Q-Dog chat button appeared…

He instinctively clicked it.

Not long after, a customer service representative popped up.

“Hello… Congratulations, after discussion, your creative idea has been selected…”

Seeing this, he suddenly jolted!

Holy crap!

Was this for real?

He instinctively added the representative’s Q-Dog account. Then, amidst a flurry of excitement and anticipation, he provided further details for the description.

……………………….

Qiandu Tieba.

The attention on “Beat the Grass Mud Horse” was growing at a wild pace.

It went from one or two thousand at the start to ten thousand, and two days later, the follower count had broken fifty thousand. It even showed signs of surpassing Desert Bicycle…

In the forum.

All sorts of script ideas were emerging one after another. Many people who harbored grievances in their daily lives seemed to have found an outlet. They flooded the forum and began venting their frustrations!

Zhang Yang saw the various kinds of spite in the forum and was truly enlightened.

Conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, conflicts between teachers and students, conflicts between bosses and employees, conflicts in public places…

Countless small stories born from conflict were practically making the entire forum explode.

What made Zhang Yang even more dumbfounded was…

He actually saw a matrilocal son-in-law² conflict!

Yes, you guessed right. A user named “I am Qian Cai” had actually written a story that read like the beginning of a matrilocal son-in-law novel…

“Three years as a matrilocal son-in-law, and I’ve suffered every humiliation. I’ve been looked down upon by my wife’s family in every way, even beaten and scolded…”

Zhang Yang’s eyes widened as he looked at the screen.

It was as if he had been transported back to 2021 in his original world, looking at those webnovel advertisements found on every video app!

He clicked on the profile of the user “I am Qian Cai” and discovered that this person had posted over a dozen short scripts, all of them brimming with toxic, melodramatic energy.

The guy’s writing was actually quite good; every single script was enough to make a reader cough up blood in frustration!

“This guy is a real talent!”

“I have to recruit him!”

“…”

Thinking this, Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes.

After finishing with the forum, Zhang Yang checked the download stats for Desert Bicycle.

Total downloads had already surpassed 40,000.

However.

The download rate had slowed down significantly.

Now that the grand prize event was over, all the cash rewards had effectively stopped, except for the hidden level completion reward which remained in limbo because a certain someone had forfeited it.

The game itself was primarily a marketing tool. Once the stimulus of money was gone and the novelty wore off, the gameplay was actually quite mediocre.

Zhang Yang glanced at other similar games on the market.

They had downloads, but overall, their performance was quite dismal.

Many people were trying to copy Zhang Yang’s marketing tactics…

But whether it was due to luck or some other factor, these games only achieved minor success at best. They couldn’t break into the Single-Player Game Rankings at all. Some had high download numbers, but it seemed…

Zhang Yang took a closer look.

It seemed these games were actually losing money…

After turning off his computer, Zhang Yang walked out of his office.

Leaving the room, he saw a group of people in the main hall tapping away furiously at their keyboards.

Ever since Desert Bicycle became a hit…

The classmates Zhao Hang had brought over for a tour had all joined the team.

The first game they were currently facing was Beat the Grass Mud Horse.

Even with everyone on board, the entire team only consisted of seven or eight people.

Zhang Yang was playing a much bigger game this time…

The sheer volume of player feedback had completely overwhelmed both the official website and the forum.

It was obvious they were still understaffed.

“President Zhang…”

“We really can’t keep up with the replies…”

“Yeah, President Zhang, we’re operating like a mom-and-pop workshop right now. The sheer amount of information is making my head spin!”

“President Zhang, can we get more people?”

“…”

Zhang Yang watched as Zhao Hang stood up, looking both excited and helpless.

He was excited because the players’ enthusiasm was already exploding before the game was even released.

Once the game officially launched, it was bound to be a hit.

The helpless part was…

They didn’t have the capacity to handle the influx of players.

Even Zhao Hang, who was responsible for art textures, had joined the ranks of those replying to players.

And…

Zhong Chongwen?

Zhong Chongwen was constantly typing out various lines of maintenance code…

The server for their official website had crashed again from the traffic!

“Just bear with it for now!”

“We’ll be fine once we get through this period…”

“I’ll join you guys! Today, the Red Bull is on me. Drink as much as you want!”

“…”

Zhang Yang found a computer and sat down. Continuing to use his “little sister” avatar, he joined the busy fray.

Not long after, his phone rang.

He walked back into his office.

“Is this the boss of Kaidi Electric Bikes?”

“Haha, hello, Boss Zhang… I haven’t forgotten. I bought an electric bike from the shop next to yours a few days ago…”

“You saw the hype for our game? You want to collaborate? You hope we won’t buy from the shop next door anymore?”

“Sure, collaboration is great. You’re asking if I have a proposal?”

“Haha, you’ve asked the right person…”

“…”

Just as he finished that call…

His phone rang again.

When he saw the caller ID, his eyes lit up!

“Hello…”

“…”

Half an hour later.

Zhang Yang stepped out of his office.

“Comrades, stop for a moment!”

“To our new comrades, after much consideration, I realize that you’ll be working very hard in the future, and commuting every day isn’t easy…”

“So! Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I’m giving an electric bike to every comrade who doesn’t have one! For those who already have one, everyone gets an upgrade! We’ll add helmets, rain ponchos, and an extra battery. Also, give me your sizes later; I’m getting everyone a custom suit. From now on, you’re all people of status. Keep your backs straight and speak with some authority!”

“Oh, and I’m also looking into purchasing company phones. When the time comes, everyone will have a color-screen phone that can take photos and play music…”

“…”

As a wave of excited applause and cheers erupted in the hall…

Zhang Yang’s eyes crinkled into a smile.

Zhao Hang, Zhong Chongwen, and the others, however, hesitated for a moment…

The thought of everyone riding electric bikes while blaring loudspeakers was suddenly a bit cringeworthy.

“President Zhang, since it’s a benefit, about those loudspeakers…” Ge Yumiao took a deep breath.

“Oh right, I almost forgot. Why don’t we upgrade your loudspeakers too? We can even install an extra one…”

“President Zhang, I keep getting the feeling that we’re like those guys roaming the streets collecting scrap metal³. We’re game developers. Is it really necessary to be so… cough, cough… this could easily lead to social suicide…”

“…”

“…”

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes