Chapter 70: Zhang Yang’s Free Game is Coming (Part 1)

One should have perspective, be humble, and keep a low profile…

The true quality of a good person is to repay grievance with kindness.

That is the magnanimity a successful person should possess.

Magnanimity?

Magnanimity my foot.

Zhang Yang was not that kind of person.

He felt he was more like a petty man who had finally come into his own.

When he was weak, he was cowardly and kept his head down. But the moment he had the slightest ability to disgust you, this fellow would run over and parade right in front of your face until you wanted to vomit up last night’s dinner.

Did I endure all that frustration for nothing?

I’m not some damn saint…

Me, magnanimous?

Who was ever magnanimous to me?

I’ll be magnanimous only after I’ve vented this spite, alright?

Most of the time, the world we live in is like a jungle; it is always a state of the strong devouring the weak.

………………………………

Night.

Zhang Yang had set himself up with a little alcohol and some peanuts.

He sat alone on the edge of the rooftop, reminiscing about the expression on Liu Yun’s face. He was still enjoying the memory even now.

He wouldn’t go so far as to say one must enjoy life to the fullest while they can, but he certainly felt a secret sense of satisfaction.

“Cheers!”

The night scene of Yanjing was a blur of neon lights and wine.

Looking out at a glance.

You could see rows of cars jammed in the middle of the road, with the occasional chorus of honking horns.

He could hear the sounds even from the rooftop.

He raised a glass to the sky and let out a long, deep breath!

As the beer went down, he felt a sense of complete exhilaration wash over him!

Ever since he crossed over into this world, he had been far too damn frustrated!

Before he could even figure out what was going on after his arrival, he was facing expulsion from school, his house being sold, and all his most valuable possessions being stripped away. Not only did he have nothing, he was also burdened with a massive debt.

His gambling addict of a father had fled into the night to escape the creditors!

He was left behind to deal with those ferocious debt collectors.

What kind of people were those thugs?

In his early memories, Zhang Yang had heard that these people had no sense of restraint. They had chopped off people’s hands in their youth and were no different from common gangsters!

If this wasn’t “Hell Mode” difficulty, what was?

The only reason he could even get to Yanjing was because he used his last hundred yuan to strike a deal with a pig farmer. He had sat in the passenger seat, surrounded by a foul stench, as they drove into the city.

He had thought that by coming to Yanjing and relying on his knowledge, he could carve out a place for himself. Instead, he found that because of his lack of education, he couldn’t even find a job.

Those days!

They were truly miserable.

Looking back now, Zhang Yang wished he could grab his gambling addict father from this world and give him a violent kick. Of course, if he could deliver a slap, he’d want to do that too.

It was just too damn infuriating!

“Whew!”

After drinking two bottles of beer, Zhang Yang’s eyes were slightly red. He let out a long sigh of relief.

Then he lay back on the rooftop, looking up at the star-studded sky.

He was somewhat surprised!

In the Yanjing of 2005, one could actually still see a sky full of stars!

Brilliant, vast, and beautiful…

Mm…

Maybe a little liquor too.

Zhang Yang glanced at the bottle of white liquor¹ beside him…

Today, he would drink until he forgot everything!

………………………………

In the dead of night.

Just as Liu Ruohan was preparing for bed, her phone rang.

She looked at the caller ID.

It was Zhang Yang.

She found it a bit strange. Why was Zhang Yang calling her so late at night?

She answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello… who is this?”

“President Zhang, you called me, and you’re asking who I am?” Liu Ruohan’s beautiful face was frozen in shock.

She could hardly believe her ears.

“Oh, President Liu. Hello, President Liu… I just had a bit to drink, I’m a little fuzzy. I probably hit the dial button by mistake.”

“Alright, how much did you drink?”

Hearing the slightly dazed voice on the other end, Liu Ruohan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

This guy…

“Not much, just some liquor, then some beer. I didn’t expect it to hit this hard…”

“Drink less and get some sleep. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

“Okay… wait, President Liu…” The voice on the other end suddenly paused.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing, President Liu. Is your team at Legend internally considering going free-to-play, or staying with the subscription card² model?” Zhang Yang suddenly blurted out this question over the phone.

“What! How do you know? Who told you!” The previously calm Liu Ruohan suddenly widened her eyes.

Then, a chill ran down her spine!

This was a company secret!

How did Zhang Yang know?

Could there be a spy for Zhang Yang inside the company?

“I guessed… President Liu, I feel like you’re a pretty good person, so I’ll run my mouth a bit. For those of us making games, the player experience is always priority number one. Even if it’s free, you have to look after their feelings and their experience…”

“I know that.”

“Good, that’s good then. Goodnight.”

“Mm, goodnight.”

After hanging up, Liu Ruohan felt it was all very bizarre.

She didn’t know what that sentence was supposed to mean.

She didn’t take it to heart…

………………………………

After August 8th.

Following the record-breaking success of God of Conquest, the Huaxia gaming circle welcomed another major event!

God of Conquest breaking records and creating a myth for single-player games was naturally a big deal.

However…

Compared to the sheer scale of Legend, God of Conquest was really nothing.

Legend, which originally operated on a subscription card system, suddenly announced on August 10th that it would be completely free. Players would no longer need to top up their time cards periodically.

“Is this for real? Legend is actually free now?”

“Is Mumaen Technology not planning on making money anymore?”

“Heavens, the game is actually completely free!”

“Wow!”

“It really is…”

“…”

Overnight, the news of Legend switching from a subscription model to a free-to-play system blew up across every gaming Tieba.

Even Zhang Yang’s own Tieba forums were filled with all sorts of news regarding Legend.

Every player was ecstatic!

That Sunday.

Countless users who had long since abandoned Legend flooded back into the servers, overwhelming them to the point of crashing.

Internet cafes across the country were suddenly packed with people grinding away at Legend. For days on end, the game was filled with new and returning players alike.

War of Warcraft, which had previously been neck-and-neck with Legend, was instantly suppressed. Even when they realized something was wrong and rushed out various welfare missions³ and rewards, they couldn’t hold back the tide of players defecting to Legend.

From August 10th to August 16th.

The user base of Legend surged by millions every single day!

The game experienced an unprecedented level of prosperity, even more frenetic than a year ago when it seemed like every single person in every internet cafe was playing Legend.

A free-to-play game!

To common players, this was undoubtedly a massive incentive.

Even people like Ge Yumiao, the legendary “Ge Shen,” rushed to an internet cafe after work to pull an all-nighter with the crowds.

It felt like a carnival for the common player.

However!

After the initial revelry, everyone discovered that while Legend had made the game free to play, they had introduced an in-game item shop. At the same time, some of the newly developed maps actually required players to pay real money to buy keys just to enter!

Initially, it only cost six or seven yuan to enter a map.

The players could accept this.

But in the series of events that followed!

Everyone realized the game was starting to feel wrong.

Every event seemed to offer incredibly rich rewards on the surface, but in reality, there was only one core requirement: spend money.

If you didn’t pay, you would never get stronger.

Even if you spent all night grinding, you wouldn’t get any gear.

Only by spending money to get various in-game items could you defeat the bosses. Only then would the bosses drop equipment, and the attributes on that gear were insanely powerful—more than several times stronger than anything seen before.

The swarms of common players were stunned.

…

August 28th.

Inside Mumaen Technology.

A new round of financial reports arrived.

The surge in users was delightful, and simultaneously, the game’s profitability was five to six times higher than in the past.

Moreover, the data seemed to be trending upward in a straight line.

Liu Zhongshan was overjoyed!

He was a businessman, and what a businessman valued most was money.

Seeing such pleasing reports, how could he not be excited?

Just after he finished praising the operations department, he heard a series of knocks at his door.

“Come in!”

“Dad! We can’t do this!”

Liu Ruohan hurried in, clutching a stack of documents.

Previously, she hadn’t understood what Zhang Yang meant.

His words had seemed nonsensical.

She had even thought it was just drunken rambling.

But now…

After seeing the massive wave of negative reviews online, she finally understood.

As it turned out, Legend was already standing on the edge of a cliff!

Zhang Yang had seen it long ago.

She immediately handed a collection of online comments to Liu Zhongshan.

Liu Zhongshan took the comments and glanced through them, then shook his head.

“Ruohan, you’re in the marketing department. You should know what an ‘effective customer’ is, right?”

“What do you mean?” Liu Ruohan was taken aback.

“Players who aren’t willing to spend money aren’t effective customers. They want to have a good time but don’t want to pay. Why should we care about their opinions?”

“Didn’t we go free-to-play to attract them and crush War of Warcraft? I don’t understand why you’re saying this…”

“We went free-to-play to attract customers, yes, but specifically to attract potential customers who are willing to spend money. Players are like leeks; once you harvest one crop, a new one will grow back.”

“But…”

“We are a game company, not a charity. Everything in this world comes with a price. We did indeed attract many free common users⁴, but their purpose is to provide enjoyment for the paying users.”

“…”

“A game is a world. When common users are unhappy, they will spend money out of frustration or spite. When that happens, they become VIPs who slaughter the common users. Look at this report. How much profit has our company made? It’s five times what we made this month last year, and the numbers are still rising!”

“…”

In the office.

Liu Ruohan heard Liu Zhongshan’s words.

They were filled with an air of absolute authority and impatience.

She was stunned.

She wanted to argue, but…

From a purely business perspective, she suddenly found herself unable to refute him.

Ultimately, she could only lower her head and walk out of the office.

As she left, she saw the technical department holding another meeting, discussing new maps.

Since the Korean developers were no longer providing updates, they were creating their own.

Back in her own office.

Liu Ruohan opened her computer.

She saw countless people complaining about Legend’s free-to-play model, accompanied by a torrent of abuse.

They felt cheated.

They were furious.

At that moment, Zhang Yang’s words echoed in her mind.

“The player’s experience must always come first. Even if it’s free, you have to care about their emotions and their experience!”

Those words kept ringing in her ears.

Just then, she saw another piece of news on the internet.

“September 1st!”

“Universe Technology is giving away free girlfriends (and boyfriends)!”

“Hurry up and sign up!”

“…”

She suddenly saw those words again: “free of charge.”

The characters were huge, bright red, and eye-catching.

She froze.

Zhang Yang…

Was that guy going to make a free-to-play game too?

But he was making a single-player game!

How could he make that free?

Translator’s Notes