Chapter 57: Is This a Learning Game?

“This game is too bloody and violent! Isn’t this just inciting people to commit crimes!”

“What’s with this game’s name? Beat the Grass Mud Horse? A homophone for a curse word? Isn’t this promoting profanity? Oh my god!”

“Gas tanks, kitchen knives, bricks, beer bottles… seeing these things appear makes my skin crawl, and they’re being smashed over people’s heads. I feel physically ill watching this…”

“I feel the same way. There are so many messy plot points that will mislead the values of teenagers!”

“How can these unscrupulous game developers mislead people like this? Don’t they have children of their own!”

“Exactly, it’s truly speechless. My son is addicted to playing this every day now and hasn’t done any of his homework. These games must be taken down, otherwise, they’ll really affect the next generation!”

“And these characters are so ugly. I feel nauseous just looking at them. Is this even meant for humans to play? It seriously impacts one’s values!”

“Yes, I agree!”

“The oldest of the post-90s generation are only fifteen right now. They’re facing all kinds of messy, trashy games. I really can’t imagine what this generation of children will become when they grow up…”

“Also, this Zhang Yang, he said games are E-sports? E-sports just like football? Games are worthy of that?”

“A deadbeat at such a young age, this person’s character must be terrible!”

“And Desert Bicycle, isn’t that just a pyramid scheme tactic? This is a money grab, a pyramid scheme! It’s practically a crime! How can a person like this make games!”

“…”

Inside the computer screen.

The internet was overwhelmed with all sorts of insults directed at Universe Technology’s Beat the Grass Mud Horse, along with various news reports about Zhang Yang.

This wave of abuse seemed to erupt all at once, sweeping through every major Tieba.

Even the Tieba forums for Beat the Grass Mud Horse and Desert Bicycle were completely flooded with vitriol.

These insults buried every other post.

From the game’s title to its content, everything was being torn apart inside and out. The public outcry seemed to grow more terrifying by the second as the number of people joining the fray surged.

Song Qingqing was stunned.

Fame brings trouble just as a fat pig invites the slaughter!

How did this happen?

She was especially incredulous when she saw the reports claiming Zhang Yang was a deadbeat!

In her memory, her senior was an excellent and very upright person. How could he be a deadbeat?

Impossible!

That was absolutely impossible, right?

He was only twenty!

When he was a minor, it would have been impossible for him to act as a guarantor or anything of the sort!

Unless…

He was already an adult…

Wait!

Could it have been after his senior year of high school?

She immediately picked up her phone and called Zhang Yang.

However, the phone kept showing that he was on another call…

No matter how many times she dialed, the line remained busy.

She left her dormitory immediately and ran toward the company.

The lights in the company were not out; instead, the building was brightly lit…

After entering the company, she saw many people coming and going, with several reporters surrounding the area…

“We want to see Mr. Zhang Yang…”

“Mr. Zhang Yang’s game has been reported to harm the physical and mental health of teenagers. I hope to hear Mr. Zhang Yang’s perspective…”

“Yes, the gaming market is currently full of condemnation. What does Mr. Zhang Yang think?”

“…”

Song Qingqing saw that Zhang Yang’s office door was tightly shut.

She was extremely worried!

“Sister Sun, President Zhang, he…”

“I don’t know. He’s been inside the whole time. He’s probably having a very hard time right now… I… I choose to believe in President Zhang.” Sun Lili also looked toward Zhang Yang’s office.

A flicker of worry flashed in her eyes.

She keenly realized that the sudden emergence and explosion of this public outcry was no accident. There was definitely some hidden hand pulling the strings behind the scenes!

In fact, several game companies on the internet had already immediately chosen to stand in opposition to Zhang Yang.

They all accused Zhang Yang of breaking the rules of the industry and concocting such misleading games, claiming it was simply blackening the reputation of the gaming world.

Liu Yun, the HR manager of Mumaen, along with Li Minghao, the former deputy HR manager of Dadi Company, also voiced their opinions on major social platforms immediately.

“We once interviewed this person, but he was timid and hesitant. Everything he said was just empty, grandiose talk, so we didn’t hire him. We felt this person was too unreliable!”

“Actually, my experience was similar to what Ms. Liu Yun said. He came and tried to tell us what the future of gaming would be like. His bossy attitude was very off-putting to me…”

“…”

“…”

When Sun Lili saw this series of comments, her lungs nearly burst with rage.

Weren’t these people just adding fuel to the fire and slandering President Zhang for no reason?

Was it not enough that President Zhang was already in a dire situation?

“Sister Sun, is there anything we can do now?”

“I don’t know. The insults are everywhere right now. This will be a very difficult hurdle for President Zhang to clear… If it were just the games being banned, that would actually be fine. With President Zhang’s ability, he should be able to rise again. But if President Zhang is crushed by these things, then…” Sun Lili shook her head.

A lot of dirt on Zhang Yang was being exposed online.

It basically claimed he had borrowed every cent he could from relatives and friends, and that debt collectors were coming to his door every day, even threatening his neighbors.

Even after selling the house, debt collectors still came every night, disturbing the neighbors’ rest!

Only then did Song Qingqing learn the truth.

It turned out Zhang Yang was from Erlonghu Village, Nanmin County, Zhangjiakou…

As it turned out, it was only a single li away from the village he had mentioned to her.

“There must be some misunderstanding in all this, surely… President Zhang must have been targeted by someone. And the opponent is playing for keeps, giving him no chance at all…” Nearby, Wu Zhuang squeezed through the bombardment of reporters. After driving them all out of the company and locking the door, his expression was exceptionally grave.

Those masterminds behind the scenes wanted President Zhang to suffer a total defeat and break him psychologically!

He had tried calling Zhang Yang, but the calls went unanswered.

From the moment the situation suddenly erupted until now…

Zhang Yang had locked himself in his office and hadn’t moved an inch.

Wait!

President Zhang couldn’t be…

Doing something drastic, could he?

Wu Zhuang’s heart trembled. He stared fixedly at the office door, on the verge of rushing inside…

Just then…

The office door opened!

Everyone swarmed forward immediately.

“President Zhang!”

“President Zhang, are you alright?”

“President Zhang!”

“…”

Song Qingqing looked at Zhang Yang, her heart feeling as if it were being twisted into knots.

But…

She realized that Zhang Yang walked out yawning, looking as if nothing had happened at all.

“What’s going on? I just took a nap and you guys blew up my phone?” Zhang Yang looked at everyone. “Weren’t you all off work? Why are you all back? Overtime?”

“President Zhang, you… you haven’t seen the news?” Ge Yumiao froze, asking with a stutter.

“News? What news? I was sleeping, I didn’t see anything…” Zhang Yang shook his head. “Why are there so many reporters outside?”

“This… well… they…” Ge Yumiao suddenly didn’t know what to say.

His mind was a complete blank.

“Let me check the news…” Zhang Yang still looked dazed. He walked over to a nearby desk, opened the news, and browsed through the overwhelming wave of abuse on the internet.

The entire office suddenly fell silent.

Everyone felt incredibly uneasy…

The atmosphere was stifling!

They were terrified that Zhang Yang would suddenly explode in rage, start cursing, or suffer an emotional breakdown…

But…

After a long while, they saw Zhang Yang turn around. He took a piece of gum from his pocket and started chewing, a beaming smile on his face.

“Ahem, cough…”

“I originally wanted to get along with you all as an ordinary person, but… it seems reality won’t let me stay low-key? Fine, since things have come to this, I’ll stop pretending. I’m laying my cards on the table… I’m a deadbeat debtor!”

“???” Seeing Zhang Yang clear his throat and suddenly start joking around, everyone was stunned.

In that moment…

Song Qingqing’s eyes welled up!

She was so worried she was about to cry!

What had her Senior Brother gone through all these years?

What was wrong with him?

“Why are you all looking at me like that? My dad gambled and got into massive debt. When I just turned eighteen, he used my ID as collateral for all sorts of loans and then abandoned me and ran away… What was I supposed to do with that mess?” Zhang Yang shrugged.

Scenes of despair flashed through his mind.

Even now, remembering them felt painful.

Sometimes…

He would look at the sky and curse, feeling that the world was too unfair to him!

Heavens had given him the worst possible start¹!

What could he do?

If this were a novel, he’d probably grab a knife and kill the author!

Damn it!

Starting with such a massive tragedy, how was a reader supposed to keep going?

Would anyone even subscribe?

“Senior Brother, you… you dropped out because… so that was why you…” Song Qingqing’s eyes were red, and tears began to fall uncontrollably.

“Sigh…” Zhang Yang shrugged again and let out a soft sigh. “These unscrupulous netizens really stripped me bare, didn’t they?”

Zhang Yang looked at the reporters outside.

Miserable images flickered in his mind once more…

He sighed deeply again, his eyes dimming for a moment before he shook his head.

“What’s with those expressions? I might have been a deadbeat before, but as of last night, I’m not anymore! Also, when I recruited you, I did exaggerate a bit, but I really did pay you…” Zhang Yang looked at their worried, funeral-like faces and shook his head. “So the game got banned. Big deal. It’s not like Mars crashed into Earth and we’re all going to die… We’re not missing any limbs or… cough, cough, Old Zhao, I wasn’t talking about you…”

“…”

Zhang Yang looked at everyone and shook his head.

His gaze fixed on the reporters.

“It sure is lively today. When I saw those parents reporting us just now, an idea suddenly popped into my head. I’ve been neglecting the children’s market. It’s the perfect time to make a children’s educational and social version of God of Conquest…”

While the dark clouds seemed ready to crush the city².

While everyone’s hearts were in their throats…

They watched Zhang Yang walk toward the door as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Then, he picked up a megaphone from the storage closet near the entrance—the same one he had used back at the internet cafe…

“Student Song, come here. Why are you just standing there? Help me out…”

“Huh?”

Song Qingqing stared blankly at Zhang Yang.

She followed him subconsciously.

“Old Wu, Manager Wu, is there any water left in the office? All those reporters are standing outside, and you actually kicked them out? We have to be polite, treat people with sincerity. One for all, and all for one…”

“????” Wu Zhuang was bewildered.

………………………………

“Thank you all for your support of Universe Technology!”

“I have reflected for a long time and thought deeply. I feel that children’s education is indeed a very significant challenge!”

“Although I am a debtor myself, I have my own grievances that are hard to speak of!”

“I will hold a dedicated press conference to discuss the details. I hope all my journalist friends will attend. Thank you for your attention and support. Thank you, thank you…”

“…”

The reporters saw Zhang Yang arrive on the scene with his hands pressed together in a gesture of thanks, a beaming smile on his face, looking as refreshed as a spring breeze.

Then they saw a burly man from the Northeast carrying a crate of mineral water, handing bottles out to everyone.

“Of course, what I want to talk about now is the issue of education!”

“There seem to be quite a few parents here, right? Even if there aren’t, it doesn’t matter. You’re all recording anyway, so I’m sure they’ll see this.”

“Indeed, education is the top priority, especially subjects like math and English. Many children find them incredibly daunting!”

“I personally have very extensive experience in education. Do you see this young lady beside me? She is a top student from the Law Department of Yanjing University…”

“Back when she was in her first year of high school, I used to tutor her. At that time, as I recall, your grades were quite average, weren’t they? At the very least, you had a long way to go before you could even dream of Yanjing University. Oh, and I remember I took on many other students for tutoring back then as well. It was through my tutoring that your grades saw such a rapid improvement, wasn’t it?”

“In fact, everyone…”

“I was very young back then, but I developed a set of fun learning techniques. These methods are incredibly powerful, capable of turning a student from the bottom of the class into a top performer!”

“Actually, during my high school years, I was a top-tier student. It’s no exaggeration to say that if I had focused entirely on my studies, I would have had a real shot at being the top scorer in the college entrance exams for Yanjing University!”

“Don’t believe me? You can check my grades. Go to my school…”

“…”

“Actually, over the years, I’ve been constantly thinking about the problems in education. How do we make learning fun? Gaming is a double-edged sword. It can make children addicted, but at the same time, it can help them rise…”

“…”

The reporters were utterly bewildered.

They watched as Zhang Yang suddenly started rambling inexplicably about the philosophy of education.

What was wrong with this guy?

What was he trying to do?

…

At the scene.

Liu Yun and Li Minghao stared blankly at Zhang Yang as he held the megaphone, grandstanding about his educational concepts and his unique learning methods.

This guy…

“For the sake of our children’s education! For the future flowers of our motherland³! For the future of our children!”

“I have decided to launch a fun, educational social game called God of Conquest!”

“This game includes spoken English practice, English vocabulary memorization tasks, and math formula challenges. It’s colorful and diverse…”

“Let the children fall in love with learning! Let them fall in love with the future!”

“I managed to go from an obscure, penniless deadbeat to building a company like this and clearing all my debts in just a few months…”

“Therefore!”

“I can just as easily make children fall in love with learning!”

“…”

Upon hearing Zhang Yang’s impassioned voice…

Liu Yun’s pupils shrank!

Her entire body went numb!

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes