Then Wu Wei refreshed the page again!
This time, the posts that appeared made Old Zhang's jaw drop!
Why was Zhiyou deleting posts?!
"Music Master" was suspected of bribing Zhiyou to deliberately target "Dance of Ice and Fire"!
You dared to pull such underhanded stunts, but didn't dare let anyone talk about them?
I declare that everyone in charge of Zhiyou's Game Expo forum is trash! Go ahead and ban me!
You preach fairness and justice on the surface, then play favorites behind the scenes?
Zhiyou's behavior was downright disgusting, wasn't it?
Here's a joke: Zhiyou's fairness.
Zhiyou: Wuwuwu, I didn't want to do this either, but Music Master paid too much...
Countless posts sprang up, all unanimously condemning Zhiyou!
Old Zhang looked at Wu Wei in astonishment.
Yet Wu Wei wore an entirely unsurprised expression.
As though he had expected this outcome all along!
Seeing the surprise and confusion in Old Zhang's eyes, Wu Wei did not put on airs and began explaining.
"The streamers' broadcasts have ended, and the on-site demos are so popular. If you were a player, what would you do?"
"Buy the game and try it out."
"Exactly. But then you open the page that should have had that game, only to find that it isn't there."
Wu Wei spoke slowly.
"You're confused, so you enter Zhiyou's dedicated forum section to investigate."
"But the moment you open a related page, the post gets deleted."
"Unwilling to accept that, you open another one, and it gets deleted too."
"After this happens again and again, even though you never get to finish reading a single post, you still get a general idea of what people are discussing on the forum."
"Zhiyou, which held this expo under the banner of fairness and justice, had actually been bribed by a garbage game and was deliberately suppressing a high-quality game."
"And then you realize—if you hadn't discovered it, would this game, this team, this designer, and this concept artist have quietly died without a sound?"
"The country's largest gaming platform, behaving so disgracefully."
"And who could guarantee that this wasn't the first time Zhiyou had done something this underhanded?"
"Then there's Zhiyou repeatedly deleting posts, concealing the truth, only making itself look guiltier. You would—"
At that point, Wu Wei spread his hands, gesturing for Old Zhang to answer.
"I'd tear them apart."
Old Zhang slowly opened his mouth and gave the answer.
Wu Wei smiled.
There was a sharp, ruthless glint in his eyes.
"Sometimes, public opinion is like a cracked oil drum."
"All we need to do is throw a match beside it."
.
At that moment, in the office of the deputy director of Zhiyou's Marketing Department.
The smoke-filled office reeked of choking cigarette fumes. A middle-aged man sat at his desk, staring at the forum before him with a deeply troubled expression.
They could no longer delete posts fast enough.
The situation had completely spiraled out of control.
He was one of Zhiyou's executives, serving as deputy director of the Marketing Department and as the supervising leader of this Zhiyou Cup University Game Expo.
Sun Bin.
Not long ago, his old schoolmate Xiang Dahai had invited him out for a meal.
The two had known each other for years, and after entering the workforce, they had even worked at the same company. Their relationship was naturally quite good.
So, during that meal, Xiang Dahai—having somehow caught wind of the matter—said that he wanted his son to participate in this Game Expo and asked Sun Bin to look after him.
At first, Sun Bin had not wanted to get involved.
This Game Expo was highly valued by upper management. Even the big boss had asked more than once about its progress.
He had been at Zhiyou for many years and had always performed well. What he lacked was an opportunity for promotion.
And now, this Game Expo project, which the big boss cared so much about, had been handed to him.
Sun Bin knew that this was very likely his only chance to advance within Zhiyou.
If he handled it well, he could join the top management ranks and take part in the company's major decisions.
If he messed it up, he might remain where he was for the rest of his life.
So when faced with Xiang Dahai's request, Sun Bin's first thought had been to refuse.
But how could someone as shrewd as Xiang Dahai possibly let him say no?
A card loaded with two hundred thousand was placed before him.
Xiang Dahai had calculated it very well.
Two hundred thousand to buy support at a Game Expo might not have seemed worthwhile.
After all, the first-place game selected at the entire expo only received a two-hundred-thousand prize.
Judging by money alone, it looked as though Xiang Dahai was wasting his efforts.
But Sun Bin knew that Xiang Dahai did not particularly care about the two-hundred-thousand prize.
What he cared about more was his son Xiang Tianming's future.
The three universities jointly hosting this event were all known as cradles for China's new game development talent.
On top of that, there was the support of Zhiyou, the country's largest comprehensive gaming platform.
And it was the first expo to be publicly held.
So whether in terms of influence or prestige, it was of an exceptionally high standard.
Calling it the premier expo for rookie game designers would not have been an exaggeration.
If someone could win first prize at an expo of this caliber, their future prospects would be limitless.
They would become talent coveted by the nation's top-tier game companies.
Their starting position upon joining a company would be at the level of middle management, instantly leaving other rookie game designers in the dust.
If this worked out, Xiang Dahai would be using Zhiyou's money and his own game to pave a smooth road for his son free of charge.
Was there anything better in the world?
Faced with two hundred thousand, Sun Bin wavered.
The key was that the money came far too easily!
It was just a Game Expo!
They were all rookie designers!
No fame! No experience! No connections!
How could they compete with a second-generation game developer like Xiang Tianming?
All Sun Bin had to do was rank Xiang Tianming first and boost his sales a little.
Then toss that fool who had offended Xiang Dahai to the very bottom.
Something so minor would not even cause the slightest ripple.
He could get two hundred thousand with just a word. Faced with money that was practically within reach, Sun Bin could not resist.
He had never imagined it.
The involvement of four streamers from Shark Platform had turned the whole matter upside down!
What he had not expected even more!
Was that Wu Wei was the game designer whose action game had once topped their platform's sales chart!
If he had known Wu Wei was the designer of Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, then even if he had been given ten thousand times the courage, he would never have dared pull something like this!