Chapter 82: The Road to Slaying Gods (Part 1)

When Ding Ziguang heard the news, he was completely stunned.

He subconsciously logged onto Universe Technology’s official website.

When he saw the announcement that Road Rash would be officially available for download on September 26th, his mind was filled with nothing but question marks.

So fast?

He had thought his team was already fast enough at making games.

After all, on the second day after receiving the project, he and his team had started working through the night to plan the gameplay, plot, and production schedule.

By the third day, they had completed the entire game’s proposal and entered the development phase.

But!

Even so, they still needed more than twenty days just to complete the preliminary model framework for the entire game!

And that was without even starting bug testing!

Yet Universe Technology!

They had finished the game so quickly that it was already available for download?

Seventeen days!

This…

What kind of state could this game possibly be in?

Ding Ziguang couldn’t even imagine what Universe Technology could have turned this game into in such a short amount of time!

Was it just shoddy craftsmanship?

Did they just slap a new skin on an old FC racing game¹ and port it directly to the PC as a standalone title?

So many possibilities popped into his head!

For the sake of speed, was Universe Technology just phoning it in?

But what was the point of that?

The ultimate goal of a game was for players to play it!

There were actually many shoddy racing games on the market. Although some sold reasonably well, was there any meaning in that?

Where did Zhang Yang get the confidence to use such a poorly made game to compete with their Dadi Technology?

Even if your promotion was incredible and the hype was sky-high…

Did it matter?

Furthermore, this was a game invested in by the BMW Group. After taking their money, weren’t you afraid of destroying your company’s reputation?

Who would dare to cooperate with your company in the future?

Logically speaking, Zhang Yang shouldn’t be the kind of person who blindly pursued sales figures, right?

Did he want to win at the starting line with download numbers first, capturing early sales and then slowly optimizing it later?

That was a possibility, but…

If there was a problem with the overall framework of the game, no matter how much you optimized it later, it would all be for nothing!

Ding Ziguang sat in his office, his mind racing through various possibilities.

But…

No matter how much he thought about it, he still couldn’t understand what Zhang Yang was trying to do!

Meanwhile, in the various departments outside the office, bursts of loud laughter broke out…

Everyone was dying of laughter again!

“No way, right? No way! Does anyone actually think Zhang Yang is taking game development seriously?”

“Zhang Yang’s essence is all about promotion. Haha, he must have been too successful with his previous games, so now he thinks he can just throw something together and players will praise him… He’s gotten arrogant!”

“Haha, whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. Oh man… a game finished in just over ten days, that’s just insane!”

“I bet the graphics are just like Beat the Alpaca²…”

“The essence of a game is player immersion and experience. Zhang Yang is going to have to take responsibility for his arrogance this time!”

“…”

“…”

……………………….

“An era of shoddy work will never achieve anything.”

“Games that players truly revere must be meticulously crafted…”

“Zhang Yang has indeed caused many stirs before, but according to my analysis, he is someone who likes to take shortcuts. Compared to the game itself, he values marketing strategies more. He is a typical businessman. A game finished in just seventeen days, combined with sponsorship from BMW – putting everything else aside, the marketing gimmick is indeed huge. Some curious netizens and players will definitely download it just to see what kind of game can be made in seventeen days…”

“I believe the download volume on the first day, no, even the first half of the day, will definitely not be small. But after that…”

“I’m sorry… I’m not optimistic!”

“In fact, I’ll make a bold guess. Zhang Yang’s success during this period has caused him to lose his original intent. He’s become flighty…”

“…”

One stone stirred up a thousand waves.

When they saw Universe Technology’s official website suddenly announce that the game was finished and ready for download…

All the netizens were shocked.

So fast?

From the moment the plan was announced to the start of downloads…

It had only been seventeen days!

Don’t you need to test for bugs?

Don’t you need post-production checks?

After the initial shock, some people began to come forward with pessimistic views!

A very famous user on the game Tieba named “Changhong” posted an analysis thread.

He analyzed every step Zhang Yang had taken since starting his business to dissect Zhang Yang’s personality, and from there, he speculated on the purpose behind Zhang Yang’s claim of developing a standalone game³ in seventeen days!

Because it was impossible and incredible, people would pay attention and there would be discussion!

He felt that Zhang Yang was marketing again!

By leveraging this massive wave of hype, he would push up the first wave of downloads…

He even speculated in the article that after the first wave of marketing, the game would definitely suffer a cliff-like drop in performance. Then, when downloads slowed down, Zhang Yang would continue to introduce other marketing tactics to stimulate players for a second round of downloads…

This was Zhang Yang’s true area of expertise!

As for whether the game was good or bad? Whether players actually liked playing it? How the player experience was? Whether players would complain? Whether they would curse him?

These issues weren’t actually that important.

The target of his service was never the players; it was always capital!

What did capital want to see?

Hype, data, and influence…

He felt that from the very beginning, these things were the core of Zhang Yang’s focus.

Was the game Desert Bicycle fun?

Maybe it was playable, but was that game’s popularity really due to the game itself?

Never!

It relied on marketing!

The graphics of the romance version of God of Conquest were indeed exquisite, but was it really serving the players?

No!

He serves capital! Players are only gathered because of the game, allowing him to package them as products and traffic to be sold to those capitalists!

This netizen named “Changhong” analyzed Zhang Yang’s core objective with cold objectivity. With a self-righteous air, he meticulously connected Zhang Yang’s past actions one by one, like solving a puzzle, to expose the “scheme” Zhang Yang had supposedly orchestrated.

This post gained massive traction.

Within two hours of being posted, it had over ten thousand likes.

Some players, unaware of the truth, flared up in anger after reading the post, feeling like Zhang Yang had treated them as mere tools. Add to that a few shills who began stirring the pot using the post to drive the narrative, and a foul wind of criticism against Zhang Yang soon swept across the internet…

……………………….

While the internet was in an uproar, Zhang Yang was fast asleep in bed, snoring away.

He had been far too exhausted lately.

He never imagined that running a company would be this draining. In a sense, Zhang Yang even felt like stepping away from the company for a while to just relax.

This sleep…

Lasted from ten o’clock on the night of September 25th until noon the next day.

When he woke up, he found dozens of text messages and hundreds of missed calls on his phone.

The missed calls were mostly from unknown numbers…

Hmm…

Even Liu Ruohan?

There were a few familiar names among the text messages…

Lin Shou, a user from their company’s first game, Desert Bicycle, sent a message: “We believe in you. My whole family believes in you!”

His junior, Song Qingqing, sent: “Senior, are you okay? My classmates and I are looking forward to your game. We all support you!”

Liu Ruohan: “Zhang Yang… want to go out for coffee?”

Zhou Yang: “President Zhang, I believe in you. I’ve already cheered for you on my social media account. Just waiting for the game download!”

The effeminate director, Zheng Chen: “President Zhang, when can we meet?”

“…”

After seeing these messages, Zhang Yang was a bit bewildered.

Believe in me?

Believe in what?

Whether you believe in me or not, what does that have to do with me?

Zhang Yang stretched, grabbed a quick lunch, and then turned on his computer…

Once the computer was on and he saw the massive wave of boycotts, he finally understood why.

Boycotting me?

Just because we made the game too fast?

He knew it was likely some rival company secretly stirring up trouble and driving the narrative again…

Still…

That kid Zhou Yang was pretty loyal.

Zhang Yang saw a post on Zhou Yang’s blog that said, “I believe in President Zhang. I will download President Zhang’s game!” A small smile played on his lips.

The online sentiment seemed to have been steered toward a boycott, yet Zhou Yang was still willing to stand up for him. This guy was alright.

As for that girl Liu Ruohan…

Why was she inviting him for coffee?

She couldn’t have a crush on him, could she? Was she trying to pursue him?

Well, it made sense. It was only natural for someone as handsome as him to have secret admirers. What girl could resist his charming, devilish smile?

Zhang Yang checked himself in the mirror. After giving himself a brilliant smile, he nodded subconsciously.

Finally…

His gaze settled on the message from the effeminate director, Zheng Chen.

A sudden chill ran down his spine!

This guy couldn’t have a crush on him too, could he?!

Damn…

After imagining some messy scenarios, Zhang Yang suddenly didn’t dare to think about it anymore!

……………………….

“Zhou Yang, I think that online post is right. It’s obvious that this time Zhang Yang is just doing a capital-driven publicity stunt… You were too impulsive to post that blog supporting him. Why didn’t you consult me? This kind of thing could easily become a stain on your future career…”

“President Zhang isn’t that kind of person.”

“How long have you even known Zhang Yang…”

“Sister Li, there are some things you don’t understand…”

“Fine. There’s a fan meeting tonight, and the investors are taking it very seriously… I want you to get ready for it.”

“Alright, it’s still early.”

“You need to take this seriously. Even though you’re Taiwan’s Little Heavenly King right now, you have to realize many people have reached your position only to fail because they couldn’t stay grounded…” Li Ziwen couldn’t help but remind him again.

“Alright, alright, Sister Li. You go ahead and get busy!”

“Fine, but put some heart into it!”

“Tomorrow, Sister Li, don’t worry!”

In the room.

The manager Li Ziwen watched as Zhou Yang finished a series of quests in God of Conquest and then stared at the download page for Road Rash…

Meanwhile, his various schedules were tossed aside, completely ignored.

She shook her head, a faint sense of worry growing in her heart.

She felt that ever since Common Jasmine Orange became a massive hit, Zhou Yang had become increasingly distracted by non-essential things.

Zhou Yang was a very talented singer.

At the very least, he was the most promising singer she had ever managed, with the potential to reach the status of a true Heavenly King!

But in the end…

She shook her head and left the room.

“Why hasn’t it been released yet? Isn’t it today?” Zhou Yang stared at the download page for a long time.

The download button was still grayed out.

“Is something really wrong?” He was starting to feel a bit worried as well.

…………………………

“Zhou Yang, are you ready yet!”

“Ah, almost…”

“You’re going to be late!”

“Okay! Okay, give me five more minutes!”

“Zhou Yang!”

“Give me fifteen more minutes, I’ll be ready soon, soon…”

“Zhou Yang!!!”

“Alright, alright!”

“…”

“Zhou Yang!”

“…”

“Zhou Yang?”

The evening sun dyed the sky red.

Li Ziwen felt like she was about to stomp her feet in frustration.

All afternoon…

Zhou Yang had kept himself locked in his room.

No matter how she called, he wouldn’t come out!

She checked the time!

At this rate, there wasn’t even time to do his hair. If they waited any longer, he would be late for the fan meeting!

After she had shouted several times!

When she no longer heard any response from inside the room, she finally reached her breaking point!

She immediately ordered several bodyguards to smash the door open!

“Boom!”

After the door was forced open…

She was stunned!

She saw Zhou Yang wearing headphones, staring at the screen, playing a game at his computer. He hadn’t even realized the door had been smashed open!

“Zhou Yang!”

She screamed at the top of her lungs!

“Ah, Sister Li!”

“Are you coming or not?”

“I’m coming, I’m definitely coming! Let me just finish this round first. This game is too addictive, I can’t stop now!”

“You…”

Li Ziwen looked at the computer screen.

She saw a BMW motorcycle on the screen, rampaging through the streets. The driver would occasionally pull out a steel pipe and smash the surrounding cars…

On the screen, various scenery rushed backward at high speed.

Because the scenery was so detailed, the game’s visual impact was incredibly intense, creating a truly immersive feeling!

Li Ziwen’s eyes widened…

…………………………

Dadi Technology.

The single-player department was deathly silent.

A few hours ago, even just a few minutes ago, bursts of laughter had been erupting throughout the office…

The scene had once been very cheerful.

But a few minutes later!

The smiles on everyone’s faces froze. They all stared at a single screen as if they had seen a ghost…

Their faces were filled with shock!

Chen Hao, the project team leader, had his mouth hanging open so wide he couldn’t close it!

“Tell me, this isn’t real!”

“I don’t believe it. I really fucking don’t believe it!”

“Shit, is this guy using hacks? How…”

“A game can be made this exquisitely? I don’t believe it. A game made in seventeen days? I really don’t believe it!”

“Is this Zhang Yang a human or a ghost? I fucking…”

“Am I dreaming?”

“This…”

“…”

“…”

After a long, death-like silence, a series of panicked cries suddenly erupted, sounding like the end of the world!

Ding Ziguang, the head of Dadi Technology’s single-player department, walked silently out of his office.

His expression was equally complicated.

A man who rarely smoked, he had already gone through five cigarettes in a row!

But…

He simply couldn’t understand how the other party could produce such a sophisticated game in such a short amount of time.

(End of chapter)

Translator’s Notes