Chapter 23: New Game

“You’re lying again! You don’t have a classmate like that at all!”

Zhang Yang stared at the reply on the Q-Dog screen.

He sat in front of the computer for a long, long time, still unable to figure out what had gone wrong with his side of the chat.

And…

The most important thing was that he was the one giving out the prize!

That was twenty thousand yuan in cash!

These days – and even if it weren’t now, even in 2021 – plenty of people would be salivating over twenty thousand yuan, wouldn’t they?

What the hell did that have to do with who was in my profile picture!

My avatar was just a random internet photo, that “glasses girl” who had been popular on all the major forums a few years back.

So what?

Does that stop you from taking the twenty thousand?

Has this person’s brain short-circuited?

Why are you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong?

Player Liu Ye: “I think it’s very wrong of you to use someone else’s photo to gain attention for yourself…”

Seeing that Zhang Yang hadn’t responded for a long time, another message popped up from the other side.

Zhang Yang glared at the chat box.

???

Had he run into a “Saint Mother¹“?

Player Liu Ye: “I think you should apologize to the person involved, and then obtain the rights to use her photo. You can only use it if she agrees…”

“…”

The Saint Mother was at it again?

The person involved?

I don’t even know who the hell she is, so what am I supposed to apologize for?

What does it matter to you if I use someone else’s photo?

After staring at the chat box for a long time, Zhang Yang took a deep breath and turned toward Wu Zhuang, who was also sitting nearby with a dazed expression, seemingly holding something back.

“Old Wu, when you run into a player like this…”

“Actually, the world is full of all kinds of players. The online world is just a miniature version of the real world…”

“Of course, we can’t rule out this ‘Saint Mother’ type of player. These players are always worrying about the victim this and the victim that, even when there isn’t a victim at all…”

“For example, after watching some movie about aliens invading Earth, some Saint Mother players with weird logic will say, ‘Oh, the aliens are so pitiful, we shouldn’t be on guard against them’…”

“Of course, it’s possible that our use of an internet photo is indeed a bit inappropriate…”

“When facing someone like this, you can’t reason with them. You can only go along with them…”

“…”

Zhang Yang gave a light cough, then let out a long sigh of relief.

And then…

Customer Service Xiao Wei: “I’m sorry. If I ever meet the person in the photo, I will ask for her permission and give her a proper apology… For now, can I proceed with awarding your prize? Can we arrange a meeting in person?”

Player Liu Ye: “Change your profile picture first!”

“…” A row of black lines appeared on Zhang Yang’s forehead.

I’m the one giving you money, so why does it feel like I’m the one begging to give it to you?

Take it or leave it!

I’m not putting up with this anymore.

Customer Service Xiao Wei: “Sir, are you confirming that you want the reward? If you forfeit the reward…”

Player Liu Ye: “That’s not what I mean. My point is, you must take responsibility for this!”

Customer Service Xiao Wei: “Beep beep beep. Switching to automated AI chat. If no confirmation is received within ten seconds, it will be considered a forfeiture of the prize…”

Customer Service Xiao Wei: “Ten, nine, eight, seven…”

Player Liu Ye: “…”

Customer Service Xiao Wei: “One… The player failed to respond with confirmation in time. The system has defaulted to a forfeiture of the reward. Thank you for your support of our company. Goodbye!”

Player Liu Ye: “Hey, hey, hey?”

Customer Service Xiao Wei: “Notice: The system will issue the reward to the next player who completes the task…”

After Zhang Yang sent that last message, he immediately exited the chat page. He turned his head to look at Wu Zhuang. “Old Wu, when we hold the initiative, we must never let ourselves be led by the nose, especially by players with such bizarre logic. What we need to do is stick to official business. We’re the ones giving away money; are we really afraid we won’t be able to give it out? In the future, if you run into a situation like this, minimize your chatting with these people. It’ll lower your IQ. Alright, Old Wu, take a screenshot here. If any forum members actually ask, show them the screenshot. This person gave it up voluntarily; it’s not that we didn’t give it to them…”

“Alright, President Zhang.”

The big man from the Northeast, Wu Zhuang, nodded subconsciously after watching the exchange.

Then he sat back in his seat.

Under the lights…

The moment Zhang Yang turned to head back to his office.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that person was a total freak!

How could there be someone in this world who meddled so much in other people’s business and had such strange priorities?

A person like that was simply…

Enough…

Recalling the chat from just now.

Zhang Yang suddenly felt like giving that person a good thrashing.

If you’re such a Saint Mother, why don’t you go save the world?

“A pity… as a refined man, I really can’t do anything when I run into such a weirdo in reality…”

Then…

Zhang Yang opened his computer and browsed through the sales figures for Desert Bicycle.

As he was looking…

He suddenly saw a news headline: “Bratty kid smashes car window. Owner goes to discuss it, but the kid’s mother yells back that the owner shouldn’t have parked in that spot because it severely interfered with the child’s play. When she couldn’t argue her way out, she flatly refused to pay compensation…”

The netizens in the comments section of the news were absolutely disgusted by this kind of thing!

Zhang Yang shook his head.

He suddenly felt that there really were a lot of weirdos in this world…

Then!

He suddenly froze, and a spark of inspiration flashed through his mind.

Finally, he immediately grabbed a pen and paper and began scribbling away.

Once he finished writing, he looked it over, then picked up the phone.

“Old Zhao, Old Zhong, get over here. We’re starting on a new game…”

“…”

………………………………

“What is wrong with this person!”

“I never said I didn’t want the reward!”

“I was just discussing the facts. Was I wrong?”

“Using someone else’s photo however you want is just wrong!”

“I reminded him, but instead he acted like I was the one being unreasonable. What’s that supposed to mean? I wasn’t being unreasonable; I was fighting for proper rights. I only asked you to change your profile picture. You’re the one stealing someone’s photo, and you think you’re in the right?”

“Wait, this guy doesn’t seem to know he’s using my avatar?”

“So…”

“…”

In a hotel room.

The young girl was so furious that she kept pummeling her pillow, staring at her laptop with gritted teeth, wishing she could drag the person inside out and tear him to pieces.

She had tried to send several messages, only to find that the other party had already blocked her. Her messages couldn’t get through.

This made her so angry she wanted to smash the computer.

But then, as if she had suddenly realized something, a wave of embarrassment washed over her.

Looking back at her own chat history, it did seem like she was the one being unreasonable and making a scene for no reason.

Forget it, forget it!

Don’t think about it anymore.

Next, she would try out some works from other domestic game companies.

She pushed up her glasses, casually tidied her hair, and then curled her fair, slender legs up on the bed. She opened her laptop again and downloaded another hit game released just this May by Dadi Network, titled War of Warcraft².

Although this game had only been online for a short time, it already showed signs of dominating the Huaxia gaming circle.

She absolutely had to play and review it.

The night passed quickly.

War of Warcraft was indeed very addictive. The girl was still charging through dungeons until the early hours of the morning, and it wasn’t until dawn that she reluctantly logged off.

Her mind was filled with exquisite 3D production concepts and countless monster simulations…

“It seems that Mumaen’s biggest rivals right now are War of Warcraft and Dadi Network’s Interstellar Mission…”

She pushed up her glasses, made a few notes in her laptop about the appealing aspects of these two games, and then let out a yawn.

Time to rest.

After she woke up, she would secretly go to these two companies for a field inspection to see if there were any loopholes in their management.

Before heading to sleep, she followed her usual routine and browsed the forums to check on player sentiment.

Right at that moment…

“Universe Technology’s new game project is launching! Is another hit game about to be born?”

“…”

She subconsciously clicked on the link.

Then…

“Do you absolutely loathe those spoiled brats who constantly cause trouble and create problems for you? And then, when you say the child is wrong, the parents say, ‘He’s just a child!'”

“Do you hate that boss who always makes you work overtime and acts like a total jerk all day long?”

“Do you despise those ‘Holy Mother’ characters in TV shows? The protagonist is clearly about to kill the villain, but the self-righteous female lead stops them, eventually leading to a massive disaster?”

“Do you hate those busybodies who stick their noses into everyone’s business? You accidentally use someone else’s stuff, and before the owner can even say a word, this person jumps out and starts lecturing you? Telling you that you must apologize and whatnot, meddling in things that are none of their business?”

“…”

“…”

“Do you often face these people you hate but can’t punch in real life!”

“Come to me!”

“I’ll give you pure catharsis! It’ll be a total blast! You’ll be flying high with satisfaction!”

“…”

The moment she saw those promotional lines, especially the part about “busybodies”…

Her eyes widened!

She was instantly jolted awake by anger!

Wait!

Is this guy talking about me?

Saying I’m a busybody meddling in things that are none of my business?

Did this guy put me into his game?

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes