An Unquiet Night; Xiao Dingdang's Secret Delight

Night.

Players weren't the only ones waiting for Starfield's new release. Other game companies in the industry were paying attention too.

Starfield's Minecraft had pioneered a new way to play games. If its new game, PUBG, could pioneer another, they could learn from it.

As long as they didn't copy it outright like fools the way Qisheng had, they could get a piece of the pie too.

Meanwhile, the lights were still on at Qisheng Game Company. No one had gotten off work.

Teng Hua sat in his office chair, keeping an eye on Starfield's new game, PUBG.

Lately, because their Shooting Simulator was the first shooting game, its player count had continued to grow. It wouldn't be long before they recouped their investment.

Tonight was the day Starfield released its new game. As long as they flopped, he could have the shooting game scene all to himself.

Beside him, Qin Shou sat shifting in his seat from time to time. He was terribly nervous too.

All the players were looking forward to Starfield's new game. As long as it disappointed them, they would all flock to Shooting Simulator.

When that happened, the game would break even, what he had done definitely wouldn't be discovered, and he would make a huge profit.

"Qin Shou, get the documents ready. As soon as PUBG shows any signs of copying our game, sue them!"

Teng Hua gritted his teeth as he said it. The thought of all the money he had paid out a while ago made his heart ache.

He had even taken out a bank loan to make Shooting Simulator. It was all because of Starfield, that struggling little company.

When the time came, he would sue Starfield hard. Ideally, he would get his hands on Minecraft.

He had to have a game that could keep making money in his own hands. What right did a tiny company like Starfield have to hold on to a cash cow like Minecraft?

Qin Shou sat to one side and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He hurriedly said, "Yes, President Teng. I've already prepared our game's data. As soon as Starfield's game shows signs of copying, I'll sue them right away."

Teng Hua nodded in satisfaction.

As time ticked by, Xiao Dingdang checked the time on his phone at the mall and hurriedly said, "Pipi, let's head back. The game comes out in an hour."

Pipi nodded. "Okay."

She had really enjoyed herself today. Not only had they gone shopping and eaten together, but she had also pulled a collector's-edition axolotl.

Someone else at the store had even offered her a thousand yuan for the axolotl, but she had turned them down without hesitation.

How could she possibly agree? The blind box had made it clear that there were only three collector's editions. How could she sell hers?

Besides, she wasn't short of a thousand yuan. She was definitely keeping it for herself.

Once they got home, Xiao Dingdang couldn't wait to get to the room where he worked. He turned on his computer and started streaming.

Tens of thousands of people quickly flooded into the stream.

[God Zuo, why are you only starting your stream now? Chen Ze and Dan started streaming ages ago.]

[I bet God Zuo went out with the missus.]

[Starfield's new game comes out tonight. I'm ready.]

[Me too. My VR is hooked up. I just need to download the game.]

[There's still no word from Starfield. What if they're not releasing it?]

[No way. Starfield is definitely reliable. They handled the server incident in ten minutes. How could they not be?]

Xiao Dingdang looked at the comments in his stream and reached for the creeper he had pulled from the blind box.

"Haha, guys, look what I've got!"

He held up the creeper figure and showed it off.

Although it was a standard model, he was sure plenty of people still didn't have one. That didn't stop him from showing it off.

After seeing the creeper in Xiao Dingdang's hand, the viewers asked about it curiously.

[A creeper? Whoa, where did you get it, God Zuo?]

[Since when did Minecraft have figures? How did I not know?]

[I know! There's a Starfield art toy store in a big mall. I bought a blind box myself, but I only pulled a standard model.]

[Huh? Starfield has a physical store? Really?]

Many people had no idea that Starfield actually had a physical store.

Xiao Dingdang smiled, brought the figure close to the camera, and showed them its base. "Look, isn't this star symbol Starfield's logo?"

With that, Starfield's logo appeared on the stream. It was a minimalist black-and-white design, depicting a faceted star surrounded by a planetary orbit, giving it a sense of space exploration and a tech-gaming aesthetic.

"I'm telling you, this is definitely official Xingye Company merchandise. There's a physical store in the mall."

"It's called Starfield Art Toys. You might see one if you go to the mall."

Having said that, Xiao Dingdang felt he hadn't shown off enough. He went to the living room and saw Pipi facing the axolotl.

"Pipi, let me borrow the axolotl for a bit."

When Pipi heard Xiao Dingdang, Zuo Zixuan, she pulled the axolotl into her arms warily.

"Y-you... what are you doing?"

Xiao Dingdang chuckled and said, "Um... let me show it on my stream for a bit."

Pipi rolled her eyes at him. She knew that was it.

She looked at the axolotl in her arms and pouted. "Just for a moment."

"Mm-hmm, just for a moment."

With that, he hurriedly took the axolotl from Pipi and returned to his stream.

"Ahem, everyone, look what this is."

"Hmm, though I don't want to say too much, it can't be helped. I might have pulled a collector's edition."

He showed the axolotl in his hands to the stream's camera. Just as he pulled it back, a hand reached in from the side and snatched it away.

"You said just a moment. I'm taking it back."

With that, Pipi slipped out of Xiao Dingdang's streaming room.

By then, the stream was flooded with comments.

[Holy crap! A collector's-edition axolotl! There are only three in total, officially.]

[Seriously? God Zuo, did you go sell it? Did Starfield buy it?]

[God Zuo, are you selling? I'll pay five thousand yuan for it. I'm serious.]

[Bro, forget five thousand. I'll pay twenty thousand yuan for it. As long as you sell it, I'll transfer the money right away.]

[I'm so jealous. Someone actually pulled a collector's edition. I'm green with envy.]

Xiao Dingdang looked at the comments in his stream and felt absolutely delighted.

Just then, a message window popped up on the Xingye Gaming Platform he had open.

[Pre-downloads for PUBG are officially available. Players can click to pre-download and get ready.]

After seeing the message, Xiao Dingdang quickly closed the window and refreshed the gaming platform. Sure enough, he saw a new game icon on the left.

It showed a man wearing a white shirt and a metal helmet. He wore a black tie and had a gun on his back, while orange clouds of smoke from explosions and flying projectiles filled the distance.

Xiao Dingdang's breathing quickened when he saw the icon.

Was it... finally coming?