I Inherited 5,000 Years of Family Property

"Old Zhang, what's going on? Why aren't you talking?" Wang Ling couldn't help but speak out amidst the silence coming from Zhang Menglong's end of the voice call.

"Just open the map and see for yourselves!" Zhang Menglong said coldly.

"The map?"

Hurriedly, Wang Ling and the others opened the game map, and instantly, their faces darkened too.

Although to avoid sensitive international issues, all the country and city names on the game map were altered—for instance, Huaxia in the game is called Dragon Continent, America is called Dun Continent, and Kaibong is called Nin Continent.

Despite the names, as everyone looked at the layout of the map, it was inevitable for them to make the associations—the mighty, proud rooster was unmistakably Huaxia.

At a cursory glance, this map almost had no significant differences from the actual map of Huaxia, but a closer look revealed many discrepancies.

For example, the island at the very bottom of the Dragon Continent had been separated out into its own region and was named Nanzhou.

An island in the eastern sea territory of the Dragon Continent had even been drawn within the boundary of Ren Zhou Country.

Even if this was just a game and the names were different from current nations, Zhang Menglong couldn't stand it; it was obviously a sneaky way of causing trouble!

"Smash!" Zhang Menglong heard the sound of a cup being slammed down; it was from Qin Feng.

"Motherf*cker!" Qin Feng cursed vehemently, "The territory my grandfather fought for with his own hands, you bastards dare to mess with it in this game? F*ck your game!"

"Damn it, Balor games, I'm going to call them right now and give them a piece of my mind!"

They had started out with the intention of enjoying a new game; who would have thought they'd encounter something like this right at the beginning? Were they supposed to just put up with it? Their mood was instantly ruined, and they even felt like killing someone.

"Calm down," Zhang Menglong said, "What's the use of roaring about it here? Only the powerless express their emotions with words," he added, suppressing the anger in his heart, but that didn't mean he wasn't furious.

"No way we can play this game today."

"Indeed, even if you gave me a million US dollars to play this game, I'd still feel disgusted."

"Shall we do something about it?"

"Definitely!"

"I'll check out the situation first," Zhang Menglong said, "I remember during the open beta, over 10 million Huaxia players had registered accounts for 'Era Overlord.' Given the current situation, tons of players must be aware of it by now. Anyone with a High-Grade education would definitely not turn a blind eye."

Zhang Menglong opened the internet, and sure enough, the topic had already exploded by then.

Countless posts were furiously dissing Balor's actions, accusing them of disrespecting history, their country, and the world.

"I just called Balor's headquarters to complain, and they actually told us that everything in the game is virtual content and asked us not to make direct associations. BS, are they seriously ill? Do they think we gamers are idiots?"

"Good lord, I've seen shameless, but never this shameless."

"Keep calling, don't expect peace until we get a proper explanation!"

"F*ck, their desire to screw us over never dies, brothers, charge!"

That night, Balor's phone lines were almost constantly busy. Initially, rational Huaxia gamers simply questioned the meaning behind this map and demanded an immediate halt of the open beta and a correction of the map.

But Balor's response remained, "Everything in the game is virtual content; please do not associate it with reality."

Almost simultaneously, Balor's official website and social media issued public relations statements, echoing the same line, urging Huaxia's gamers to be rational and to halt their extreme actions, threatening legal action to protect the company's interests if necessary.

However, these words clearly didn't satisfy Huaxia's gamers. You think just because it's a game, you can mess around? If you have the audacity to create a game based on the world's map, then you must respect history and the facts.

This response directly detonated all the Huaxia players.

You're not playing fair, are you? You're acting like a hooligan, huh? Fine, you think we won't play the hooligan too?

Huaxia's players continued frantically making phone calls, and as soon as one got through, they wouldn't reason with you but would instead unleash a torrent of Zaun-style insults.

"Hello, this is the customer service center for Kaibong Games, how may I help you?"

"I bought a watch last year, and I'm your dad!"

"Is this Kaibong? I've just booked a cremation slot for your boss, I'm calling to ask how well-done he wants to be?"

"Tell your boss, my mom's gone."

"Tell your boss to hurry up and buy two koi fish to bless his dear mother so she doesn't kick the bucket tonight."

"My little koi fish really tm wants to have an adventure in your damn stinking high."

...

"Boss, the players from Huaxia are making a lot of noise," said the head of marketing at Kaibong Games, in a luxurious office building, passing feedback to their boss.

"No problem, they're just impotent fury, just ignore them. It's just a game, they shouldn't take it personally, it's ridiculous," the boss replied dismissively.

"But boss, we could lose our Huaxia users, and you know Huaxia could be our biggest market," the marketing head argued.

"Don't worry, that won't happen," Michel, the president of Kaibong, said confidently. "Don't forget, this is a competition among global players. The Huaxia people are very competitive. If they stop playing this game, there'll be no place for Huaxia players in 'Era Overlord', and they'll soon be invaded by players from other countries."

"By then, they'll lose more than just those two places. If the entire Dragon Continent falls, they'll become the joke of the world," Michel chuckled. "So, they absolutely won't give up on this game."

"You always think ahead, President," the marketing person said. "President, may I ask a question? Was this a designer's mistake, or did we do this deliberately?"

"Hmph!" Michel scoffed. "That's not something you need to know."

The marketing head was startled; it was indeed a sensitive question.

"Sorry, President, I spoke out of turn." he said. "Aren't you afraid of any special actions from the players' side? Don't forget, Huaxia has that person."

"You mean Zhang Menglong?" Michel replied. "He's nothing to be afraid of. Apart from having money, he has no other skills. Kaibong is now state-owned; he can't buy us with his money. The gaming industry has a high entry barrier, they have no capability to develop a game company that can compete with us now, so it's impossible to affect us through market competition!"

"As for poaching staff or striking," Michel continued, "the country already amended the new labor law last month. His tactics can no longer pose a threat to us. So even if he has money, he can't do anything."

"Then we can rest easy."

...

Indeed, as Michel said, it was just a game. Everything was virtual, and even if they borrowed elements from the world map, they could always find an excuse to say it was just a map adjustment, not to be linked with reality.

Strictly speaking, there were no loopholes to be found.

The Huaxia players were indeed taking the boycott of the game very seriously. For a solid two weeks, the activity of Huaxia players in the game was less than a million.

Yet, this game sparked a craze worldwide, especially in Kaibong and the treasured island region of Huaxia. They were only too eager to see this kind of map.

Because the Dragon Continent was vast and rich, it naturally developed more slowly under the game's balancing mechanics. With fewer Huaxia players, while the Dragon Continent was still in the primitive age, some countries had already advanced to the Bronze Age. If the gap continued to widen at this pace, it would only get bigger!

At this point, the Huaxia players panicked. For the dignity of Huaxia players, they had to endure quietly.