Qisheng's Threat

Su Ye sat in his office, talking at length about the shrinking circle and airdrops, concepts that were vital to battle royale games.

The shrinking circle kept players from hiding to avoid a fight. Otherwise, there was no telling when a match would end.

Airdrops, meanwhile, were meant to increase conflict between teams, making the firefights more exciting and intense.

Beside him, Luan Le'an wrote down everything Su Ye said in his notebook, picturing the game President Su described.

Teams trading fire, moving into the circle, fighting over airdrops, tactical positioning...

All of it pointed to one thing: the emergence of a new, epoch-making way to play games.

He believed that the moment this game was actually made, it really could usher in a different era of gaming, just as President Su had said when he released Minecraft.

Their goal was the stars and seas of gaming, not to lose themselves in the world of simulators.

Just then, a phone rang at an inopportune moment.

Luan Le'an frowned and declined the call.

"Sorry, President Su. I forgot to put it on silent."

He had barely declined the call when his phone rang again.

Seeing this, Su Ye smiled. "Go ahead and answer it. They might need you for something."

Luan Le'an gave an embarrassed smile, stepped outside, and answered the call.

But he had only been outside a short while before he came running back with his phone.

He leaned close to Su Ye and whispered, "President Su, it's a call from Qisheng."

With that, he handed Su Ye the phone.

Su Ye narrowed his eyes slightly. As soon as he heard it was Qisheng, he knew what the other party wanted.

In this world, Qisheng was a game company that had long been notorious in the gaming industry. Like a bandit, it controlled the entire industry.

Either sell me your game, or I'll copy it and publish my own. Those were the only two options.

He took the phone and turned on speakerphone. Liu Nong's voice came through.

"Planner Luan, you can report what I just said to your President Su. The price we offered isn't low."

"Fifty million. That's definitely quite a bit more than your total investment in developing the game."

Su Ye couldn't help laughing when he heard that.

On the other end, Liu Nong felt humiliated when he heard the laughter over the phone.

"Planner Luan, I advise you to discuss this properly with your President Su before calling me back."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Su Ye's voice rang out.

"There's no need to discuss it. You want Minecraft? Qisheng still loves to daydream, I see."

Hearing another voice on the phone, Liu Nong knew who it was.

"President Su, the price Qisheng offered really isn't low."

"I hope you'll reconsider."

"Reconsider? You're daydreaming and expecting it to come true? Go find a fool instead."

Su Ye actually laughed at his words. This is what Qisheng's people are like? They love to dream so much, they think they can buy a game that makes me over thirty million in a week for fifty million.

Have they been the big boss of the gaming industry for so long that they think everything they do is a handout to other companies?

Are their brains broken?

On the other end, Liu Nong couldn't help throwing down the phone in his hand after hearing Su Ye's words.

He gritted his teeth. "Fine, fine, fine. Since that's what you say, President Su, we'll meet again in the marketplace."

With that, he hung up and sent a message to Zhang Shishan, a game planner at Qisheng.

[Begin plan B for Minecraft.]

[President Teng said we need to introduce in-game charges for all the games under our company. You need to handle that as well.]

[Also, find some paid posters online over the next few days and have them smear that game.]

After the two messages were sent, Zhang Shishan frowned as he read them.

He understood what the first one meant: reskin, imitate, plagiarize, and remake it.

But the second put him in a difficult position. Charging players again within the games-wasn't that a bit inappropriate?

[Manager Liu, isn't it a bit inappropriate to charge players again within the games?]

[Planner Zhang, this is President Teng's arrangement. Please follow his plan.]

[All right, understood.]

Jingshi University.

At that moment, in a dorm room, four people were huddled over a computer, so nervous they had even forgotten to breathe.

Qin Jiadong operated the mouse, clicking "withdraw" under earnings in the creator dashboard.

"Beep beep~"

A notification sounded on his phone.

He quickly opened his phone, and a text message from the bank appeared.

[Huimin Bank] Your account ending in 9527 received a deposit of RMB 762,355 on 07-18 at 14:22. Sender: Starfield Game Company. Current balance: RMB 768,215.

The next second after seeing the message, the four of them jumped up on the spot.

They embraced excitedly, shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Ahhh~"

"Guys, we did it!"

"Our modpack sold over three hundred thousand copies in half a day!"

"Yeah, I never thought modpacks could make so much money. The four of us have money now."

Li Geng, one of the four, still felt like it was all a dream. He really had money now...

Not so long ago, he had been going to work early for a free meal at the cafeteria. Now he had earned nearly two hundred thousand, and the modpack could keep earning money from sales.

Was making money really this easy?

Qin Jiadong said to the others excitedly, "Guys, I'll transfer your shares to you right now."

"Tonight we're going to a barbecue stall. Eat as much as you want."

"Haha, great!"

In a rare outing, the four of them went to the mall that afternoon. Each bought a few pieces of clothing and a few pairs of shoes.

Li Geng transferred one hundred thousand yuan to his parents back home.

He had just sent the money when his mother called him on video.

On the screen was a middle-aged woman who looked somewhat tired, her face marked by the passage of time.

"Son, why did you send me so much money?"

Li Geng found a corner and gazed gently at his mother on the screen.

"Mom, don't worry. I earned this money myself."

"Don't work so much anymore. I've started making money now."

He had no father and had been raised by his mother since childhood. Whenever he saw how increasingly tired she looked, his heart ached terribly.

"A hundred thousand yuan? Son, aren't you still in school?"

At that moment, Qin Jiadong and the others came over to Li Geng. Seeing his mother, they said, "Auntie, the four of us earned this money together."

"That's right. Li Geng led us in making a modpack online, and that's how we earned it. Don't worry."

They knew about Li Geng's family situation, so they all came over to help him explain.

Hearing her son's roommates say that, she felt reassured.

"All right, then. I'll keep it for you, so you can use it to get married later."

"Don't, Mom. Spend it whenever you need to. My roommates and I can still make money, so don't worry."

After chatting for a while, Li Geng finally hung up. His desire to have fun gradually faded, and now he wanted even more to go back to grinding away at modpacks to make money.