The game had just launched, and Wang Yi had not even checked Mote yet. But from the screenshots reposted here, he could see comments and shares from several mathematics professors at Ivy League schools.
Harvard mathematics professor Smith, an elderly man with a bald-head avatar, commented:
"Oh, God, what am I seeing? Someone made a joking remark, and you actually went along with it and proved it? Are Easterners really this incredible? Interested in taking a position at Harvard?"
Stanford professor Mariam:
"I looked at the problem Yi presented before as soon as I saw it, but I had absolutely no idea where to begin. I never expected that after such a short time, he would prove it because of a joke from one of my students! This is insane."
Keke of Stanford:
"I was the one who made that reply. Honestly, I just blurted it out on a whim. I wanted to get a closer look at the genius who solved the Goldbach Conjecture. I'm losing my mind. Can you imagine what it feels like when a hypothesis you proposed as a joke is actually completed by someone else?"
Charles of Princeton:
"Mathematics truly is a field that relies on talent. Young people these days are terrifying."
Editor-in-chief of the Annals of Mathematics:
"Um, would Mr. Yi really not consider publishing a paper with us? 'Longing.'"
Compared to Wang Yi's previous post, which had sparked a storm of academic anti-discrimination discussion, this one was not as popular. However, it drew responses from many authoritative figures within the field.
In fact, this was the effect Wang Yi had caused after solving the Goldbach Conjecture.
It was hard to say about other areas, but at the very least, the mathematics world absolutely recognized Wang Yi's standing. Otherwise, so many people would not have been paying attention to him.
Seeing these screenshots, Wang Yi fell silent in thought for a moment.
Without a doubt, this further strengthened the halo around him while also raising his current buzz a little. The timing was just right.
Then Wang Yi felt that something was off. Looking more closely, he realized that Fang Chuan, his designated hype tool, had not tagged him.
How could that do!
Fine, if you won't come to me, I'll come to you. Wang Yi went straight to Fang Chuan.
He checked Fang Chuan's earlier posts and, sure enough, there were still plenty of snide, sarcastic comments.
It was only after some new comments from overseas websites appeared beneath them that things finally quieted down. Then Fang Chuan posted his latest message without tagging Wang Yi.
"Some people are clearly capable of achieving something academically, yet they cannot stand being lonely and insist on making money. What a waste of talent. Is this what the country cultivated such talent for? To make games? Misleading the younger generation!"
It had to be said that Fang Chuan's mastery of being argumentative had truly reached a remarkably high level. He could always find bizarre angles, and if someone followed his line of thought, it even sounded fairly reasonable at first.
This made Wang Yi tag Fang Chuan in return.
"That's right. The reason I study mathematics is to make money. You should be able to look it up—I graduated in computer science. Mathematics is just a hobby."
Meanwhile, Fang Chuan saw the message immediately after his fans alerted him, and he felt utterly stifled.
Here it came again!
The other side had admitted it outright! Just like when he suddenly brought up catching ghosts last time, once he put himself flat on the ground, there was nowhere lower to go. He was invincible!
He had admitted that he wanted to make money, and he was fucking really a computer science major?
It felt awful, like ants were crawling all over him.
Then Fang Chuan saw that Wang Yi had tagged him again in a new post.
"I recommend that you try this little game. If you can clear it, that proves you're better than me. Haha, though I don't think you can clear it."
Seeing Wang Yi's words and the screenshot of the game, Fang Chuan sneered. Did this kind of lousy provocation really think it could work on him?
How naïve...
He then opened WeChat and searched for the little game.
When he opened it and saw the first level—a simple screen that even someone mashing the keyboard with their face could clear—he nearly burst out laughing like a pig.
Could it be that this great mathematician was a gaming idiot?
It would not be impossible to attack him on that front.
You're so terrible at games yourself—how do you have the nerve to make one!
No wonder he made those dogshit pixel characters.
Thinking this, he casually cleared the first level, then stared at the second level and fell into thought.
The difficulty had indeed increased a little, but it seemed like he could still give it a try. It did not look that hard...
Three hours later.
With bloodshot eyes, Fang Chuan stared at the option asking whether he wanted to revive. His entire face twisted involuntarily.
He was already obsessive by nature. It was fine when he was not competing over something, but once he truly got caught up in it, getting out was far harder for him than for ordinary people.
The three helper items only required watching ads, and he had been using only those items before, silently restarting whenever he failed.
But the revive option required sharing the game.
Looking at the icon with only a tiny bit remaining, he fell silent for a moment before ultimately choosing to share it. He sent the game link to his fan group and added an explanation of his own, asking his fans to try and see whether they could clear it as well.
He refused to believe it. Someone had to be able to clear it. As long as someone did, he would take the screenshot and slap Wang Yi in the face with it!
After posting it, he clicked revive and began a new journey. He had not watched as many ads in an entire year as he had today...
Wang Yi had actually made a slight adjustment to Yang Le Le Yang. Every player's second level had one and only one correct order for clearing it.
Because the images blocked the view underneath, it no longer had anything to do with skill. It was purely a matter of luck.
As long as there were enough players and enough attempts, an extremely small number of lucky players would appear through probability.
Then, the screenshots posted by those lucky players, along with the in-game rankings, would form a new round of stimulation...
Penguin Building, data center.
"Old Hu, why does something feel off about this thing?"
A bespectacled man in a dress shirt looked at the suddenly abnormal data for the little game before him, feeling that something was not quite right.
Although this little game had been added, users had to search for it to find it. It had not been prominently promoted.
How much money had the developer spent on publicity?
Official Accounts had gradually begun posting links too, and it was starting to gain traction.
And this game's data...
How should he put it? It was unusually strange.
Were users opening it just to watch ads?
Why was the proportion so high?
What the hell?
It did not seem like bots either.
"Let me see. Didn't we just put this up? Right, it seems to have the same developer as Jump Jump. This..."
Jump Jump's data had been quite good. It had performed well after a trial promotion, with strong retention and interaction, as well as ads that did not affect gameplay.
They were preparing to increase its promotion, but what was this thing?
"Let me see what's going on."
Old Hu took out his phone and searched for the strange game as well...
A guide for clearing Yang Le Le Yang's second level was out!
A related video appeared on Little Broken Station, and Wang Yi reposted it on Weibo.
It showed a player clearing the second level.
Naturally, Lin Shiqin had made that video.
There was no helping it. Probability-wise, the first player to clear it had not appeared yet. They needed more people to fall into the pit and make more attempts before luck could produce one.
For now, Lin Shiqin could only cheat a little.
Then Wang Yi posted another update on Weibo, giving it a thumbs-up to show how awesome it was.
A clear recognized personally by a great mathematician and top student—was that not boast-worthy enough?
For a time, even more people became interested.
And in truth, the type of player this game, which had such a precise grip on player mentality, restrained most was the overly serious player.
Ordinary players might fail twice and toss it aside, getting fleeced once or twice at most. But if an overly serious player fell into it, they could be in trouble.
You thought it was a skill-based game, but it was actually a psychological game.
All players were, in fact, machines for clicking ads!
"Penguin has started actively promoting it."
Lin Shiqin, who had been monitoring the data all along, provided Wang Yi with the latest update.
This also meant that a huge pile of money was about to enter their pockets.
In terms of making quick money, this game was absolutely excellent. However, this kind of malicious monetization would also drastically shorten the game's lifespan.
But for Wang Yi, it was already enough...
Two updates done~ Please follow next Tuesday in advance, it's extremely important.
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