Chapter 98: The Wind Rises (Part 1)

“Why? Why did we lose?”

“Are the judges blind?”

“Racing 2? What the hell even is Racing 2? Even a dog wouldn’t play that trash. How could it beat our Road Rash?”

“It’s rigged!”

“Damn it, I used to hear that music awards were rigged, and I thought gaming was a sanctuary. I never expected there would be backroom deals here too…”

“Why? Why did we have to lose? I can’t accept this. No, I really can’t accept this…”

“Aaaah! Zhao Hang, what happened? What exactly happened in there?”

“President Zhang, are you okay? President Zhang…”

“Aaaaaah…”

“Ge Shen, what’s wrong? Ge Shen, what happened to you? Did they bully you?”

“Ge Shen! Don’t go!”

“Zhong Chongwen, Zhong Chongwen, are you alright? Zhong Chongwen…”

“…”

“…”

The moonlight lingered in the air.

In this foreign land of neon lights and bustling nightlife, many Huaxia players waiting outside saw Zhao Hang walk out.

His eyes were rimmed with red.

Zhao Hang did nothing but repeat “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” over and over. As his eyes grew redder, he didn’t even dare to linger at the entrance, hurrying toward the car.

Zhong Chongwen walked forward with his head down, not saying a word. He looked dazed, like a soulless walking corpse, woodenly following behind Zhao Hang.

Ge Yumiao was a picture of pure fury!

Before stepping out, he had been cursing up a storm. But when faced with the countless players from Huaxia, he suddenly bit his lip. Like Zhao Hang, he pressed his palms together in a desperate gesture of apology.

The players shifted from the anticipation of their long wait, to the surprise and excitement of seeing the team emerge, to shock, and finally to utter disappointment and bewilderment!

They had traveled thousands of miles from Huaxia to this land…

They had expected to see a Huaxia game leave its mark on the TCA stage. They had expected to see Zhang Yang holding a trophy, returning in a triumphant blaze of glory!

They had planned to wave their national flags together, sing their anthem, and proclaim their victory!

And yet…

At this moment…

They stood on the sidelines, watching. Some lowered the flags they had been ready to wave. Some players couldn’t help but cover their mouths, their faces masks of disbelief.

In an instant, it felt as if a dark haze had settled over them, an unbearable weight of oppression. It felt as if they had been dealt a sudden, resounding slap to the face.

Anger, resentment, disbelief…

Countless emotions echoed within them.

However, some players still held onto a glimmer of hope. They were waiting for Zhang Yang to come out.

Then…

Zhang Yang walked out, a calm smile on his face.

“I’m sorry for letting you down…”

With that final sentence, the ultimate outcome was declared.

In that moment, the hearts of countless Huaxia players suddenly went cold.

They watched Zhang Yang’s silhouette grow distant in the moonlight. Just as he was about to board the transport back, Zhang Yang suddenly stopped.

They saw him take one last look at the TCA venue.

He wore a smile that was difficult to read.

Then…

The game teams from other countries emerged…

First was the team from War of Warcraft.

The moment they appeared, they were treated like stars. Everyone swarmed them, crowding the area until it was completely blocked.

The lead creators of Racing 2 followed closely behind!

They were immediately surrounded by a sea of media…

Members of the team spoke excitedly about their struggles, sharing pre-fabricated behind-the-scenes stories…

Every word emphasized how hard they had worked and how they had been misunderstood. They claimed that before the competition began, they didn’t think they could win a prize and only hoped not to look too bad.

But they said they never could have dreamed they would actually win…

To the Huaxia players, these words sounded increasingly grating.

Autumn had arrived…

The weather was turning cold.

And their hearts were turning cold along with it…

…

“Road Rash Fails to Win Award: Was Arrogance the Main Culprit?”

“The Smug Zhang Yang, the Dejected Zhang Yang…”

“Pre-Award Interview: Zhang Yang Confident in Winning. Post-Award Exit: Utterly Disheartened?”

“Millions of Fans Devastated: The Disappointing Universe Technology!”

“…”

“…”

The night of October 2nd.

Before Zhang Yang had even returned to Huaxia…

Many Game Journals had already published similar press releases.

In these articles, Zhang Yang was shown being flattered by various Huaxia game companies, treated like a king among men.

Although Zhang Yang had remained very calm, the articles used photos to spin a narrative, making him look bloated with ego, possessing a cold indifference that looked down on everyone else.

Countless internet trolls seized the opportunity to bash Zhang Yang. The general sentiment was that Zhang Yang and his Universe Technology had let all the players down, especially those who had traveled all the way to Japan.

They spoke of Zhang Yang as if he were a criminal who deserved to die in Japan!

Furthermore, many of the troll posts were misleading. Some brainlessly accused Road Rash of plagiarizing Racing 2, posting side-by-side screenshots of the two games to mock them. They claimed Zhang Yang had brought shame to the country on an international stage. For those who didn’t actually play the games, these posts were very effective at swaying their opinions.

Inside the game Tieba…

The trolls were rampant, seemingly intent on taking over the entire forum. Many players who tried to speak up for Zhang Yang were drowned out by the flood of hate posts.

Anyone with half a brain could see what was happening!

Someone was pulling strings behind the scenes to take Zhang Yang down, to destroy him.

In truth…

Within the gaming industry, Zhang Yang was indeed deeply hated!

His company’s policies directly affected the “happiness index” of employees at other game companies, making many CEOs loathe him.

Even Zhang Yang’s unique free-to-play model had caused many game companies to suffer a PR disaster!

By doing things that way, he got to be the “good guy” and build a virtuous reputation for himself.

But how were the rest of them supposed to play the game?

A person who was so anti-capitalist, who defied all the unspoken rules of the gaming industry, shouldn’t be allowed to survive in this circle. They wanted nothing more than for Zhang Yang to vanish immediately.

Osaka.

“We can’t do this!”

“Why? What did Zhang Yang do wrong? We can’t do this to him!”

“Dad… what has happened to you? I feel like you’ve become a completely different person. You aren’t the man you used to be at all!”

“You’ve become selfish, a stranger… you’ve even become disgusting…”

“When you kicked Uncle Shen out of the company, I stayed silent. I knew you wanted to consolidate power. When you turned Legend into a predatory cash-grab¹, I didn’t object because I knew games need to make money… but now…”

“Why? I don’t understand! Have you become so intolerant that you can’t stand even the slightest opposition? Are you even my father anymore!”

“You’re like a monster swallowed by capital. Your eyes see nothing but profit, nothing but money!”

“This is a matter of our national honor! We aren’t in Huaxia right now, we’re in Japan!”

“…”

Inside the hotel.

Liu Ruohan looked at the countless comments on the Huaxia Tieba forums…

She was shocked and furious!

Tears streamed down her face as she roared at Liu Zhongshan.

Liu Zhongshan, however, sat on the sofa, expressionlessly smoking one cigarette after another. The room was already thick with a hazy shroud of smoke.

“I’m going to apologize to Zhang Yang!”

“I’m going to make a public apology…”

“…”

Liu Ruohan picked up her laptop and began writing an apology to Zhang Yang on her social media.

Liu Zhongshan glanced at her but did nothing to stop her.

“Go to sleep early after you post it.”

“This is a game of capital. Without enough strength, you’re only there to be played…” He simply stood up, opened the door to let the smoke dissipate, and finally uttered those words with a sense of helplessness.

“Dad, who did you actually vote for? I just want to hear the truth. The real truth!” Liu Ruohan stared at Liu Zhongshan, forcing herself to calm down.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Liu Zhongshan shook his head and left the room.

……………………

“We are very sorry about the result, Mr. Zhang Yang…”

“Mr. Zhang Yang, this was a failure on our part. Regardless of the outcome, I know that Road Rash is a truly exceptional game!”

“I don’t expect to earn your forgiveness, but I still must apologize to you…”

“I’m sorry!”

“…”

Before the plane took off.

A young American man in a sharp suit rushed over, ignoring the attempts of others to hold him back.

His name was Thomson.

He was the organizer of the TCA and one of its original founders…

Back when the gaming market had no prestigious awards, he had created the TCA with his own two hands.

Furthermore!

Because Road Rash had only been out for a month, it wasn’t technically eligible for the awards. It was Thomson who had pushed past all objections to include Road Rash in the selection.

He thought very highly of the game, and he had even cast his own vote for it, hoping to see it win.

But…

Although he was the founder and initiator of the TCA, he could not control the final direction the awards took.

He never expected that this game would instead lead to such a disaster!

This incident would have a lasting impact on the authority of the TCA officials.

In front of Zhang Yang, and in front of everyone else, he bowed deeply to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang looked at the young man and smiled, thinking the fellow seemed quite decent.

“It’s fine… don’t take it to heart.”

“Mr. Zhang, regarding your next single-player game – no matter what kind of game it is – I hope you don’t lose heart!”

“…”

Zhang Yang finally boarded the plane, flying back toward Huaxia.

The polar night spoke of its loneliness amidst the freezing cold.

The winners were cheering, celebrating, and frantically proclaiming the most beautiful things in the world.

The losers wandered through the cold world, searching for the way home.

But…

No one knew that things seemed even colder back at home.

……………………

Universe Technology was filled with a sense of loss and dejection.

An oppressive atmosphere hung over the entire company.

They had expected to welcome back a returning hero, but instead, they were met with an overwhelming wave of insults from internet shills across the web.

In addition to the shills’ verbal abuse, parents had appeared out of nowhere and started reporting Road Rash for no apparent reason.

The reason was simple.

The same old story…

The name Road Rash itself contained the word “violence,” and the gameplay was supposedly harmful to the physical and mental health of children.

Chains, bombs, kicking people – wasn’t this misleading people into committing crimes?

Games and parents.

They were naturally on opposite sides!

Perhaps this situation would only improve slightly once the children of today grew up and became parents themselves?

Sun Lili sat in her office, watching the flood of reports and insults on the internet. She was so angry her body was trembling.

She was trying to respond to the abuse, but for every word she wrote, the shills replied with two or three more…

Many players who supported Universe Technology were being drowned out by the shills’ posts.

This kind of thing truly affected everyone’s state of mind. For an entire day, everyone’s emotions remained in a state of extreme depression.

“Why are they doing this to us!”

“Did we do something wrong?”

“Argh…”

“…”

In the programming department, someone couldn’t help but shout out.

But what followed was a long, long silence.

At seven o’clock in the morning…

Zhang Yang and his group arrived at Universe Technology.

The moment everyone saw Zhang Yang, it was as if they had found their pillar of support. They all stood up and looked at him.

“President Zhang!”

“President Zhang!”

“President Zhang, what do we do now…”

“President Zhang!”

“…”

Behind Zhang Yang, Zhong Chongwen, Zhao Hang, and the others kept their heads down.

Zhang Yang, however, looked at everyone very calmly and gave a faint smile.

“Hey, did the game get reported again?”

“…”

Zhang Yang’s words carried a hint of humor, as if he were merely reflecting on the situation.

But no one in the company could bring themselves to laugh.

In fact, at a time like this, who could possibly laugh?

“Don’t look so glum… things aren’t as bad as you think. At least many of the brand partners haven’t canceled their contracts. If we have to overhaul the game, then we’ll overhaul Road Rash. We’ve already made the money we needed to make…”

“…”

Zhang Yang’s words didn’t have much of a comforting effect.

They had made money, certainly…

But…

Some things were about more than just profit; they were the product of their blood, sweat, and tears.

“Alright, enough!”

“Stop moping around like a bunch of sissies! What is this?”

“Buck up², all of you! If you don’t pull yourselves together, how are we supposed to fight back?”

“…”

Zhang Yang looked at everyone, his eyes narrowing.

Fight back?

Everyone stared at Zhang Yang blankly.

“The core gameplay of Road Rash won’t change. However, we’re going to make the characters cartoonish. We’ll swap out the knives and chains for bombs, shields, and water mines… At the same time, we’ll add nitro and a drifting system. The track effects will stay the same, but we’ll deepen the core mechanics. We’ll also launch systems for pets and decorative items, building a concept of drifting for everyone!”

“Road Rash is officially being renamed to Crazy Kart³…”

“Manager Wu, didn’t you say several car companies were looking to collaborate? Categorize the brands. Whether they’re motorcycle or car brands, as long as they’re a good fit, sign them all.”

“Oh, and one more thing!”

“Tell the Plants vs. Zombies team to pick up the pace… I want that game released early! Also, Manager Wu, even though we took a hit at TCA, I think the organizer, Thomson, is someone worth knowing. Reach out to him. We aren’t limiting this game to Huaxia; we’re targeting Europe, North America, and other markets…”

“…”

“…”

In the hall.

Zhang Yang spoke these words calmly to everyone present.

When he finished, he looked silently out the window.

“The wind is rising⁴…”

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes