Random Chapters of MTL Novel

In the afternoon, Zhang Yahui, Bao Xu, and Liang Qingfan finished their inspection for the site of the snack market and returned to Sloth Apartments' office.

"Therefore, after some consideration, this agricultural market is still more suitable."

"What do you think of this place?" Liang Qingfan looked at the two of them.

Bao Xu and Zhang Yahui nodded. "Yes, we don't have any objections either. We'll set it here."

The farmers' market was even more deserted than they had imagined. Small merchants selling various products were setting up stalls here. Everything was piled up everywhere. The environment could be described as dirty and messy.

What's more, whether it was the vendors or customers in the farmers' market, they were mainly middle-aged and old people. Basically, they were old residents who had lived in the vicinity for decades and came here to buy vegetables every day.

However, as the old industrial zone declined, young people in Jingzhou no longer lived here. Thus, the number of people in the agricultural market decreased.

The vendors could not make money, and many of them had moved to other places. Thus, the situation here was getting worse.

Zhang Yahui and the other two met the boss of the market when they went to inspect the market. They wanted to buy the entire market and then reform it.

Of course, these vendors would not be chased away. Instead, they would find a place nearby to settle down. After the entire market was renovated, they would return them to the stalls. The rent of the stalls would not change.

Zhang Yahui said, "The key now is how to plan the entire snack market and what style should be used."

Liang Qingfan thought for a moment. "Actually, there are many styles that can be designed. The traditional snack street style in China or even some foreign styles."

"However, once a style has been confirmed, everything related must be unified. It definitely cannot be changed. You must be careful when choosing."

The three of them fell into a short silence.

Just as Liang Qingfan had said, any style could be made. The key was what style would be more popular.

Bao Xu suddenly had an idea. "Eh, I suddenly thought of a good style."

"Do you still remember the movie 'Tomorrow is Beautiful' that Boss Pei made previously? There was a scene in it that was the style of Cyberpunk."

"I think that style is not bad."

"On one hand, it can be combined with Tomorrow is Beautiful so that everyone can see the scenes in the movie in Jingzhou. On the other hand, the Cyberpunk style is sufficiently innovative. It also fits the spiritual core of the snack market."

Liang Qingfan's eyes lit up. "Eh? That makes sense!"

Zhang Yahui, on the other hand, was a little confused. "Er... which scene was it? I've seen the movie but there were too many scenes inside. I don't have any impression."

Liang Qingfan immediately found Tomorrow is Beautiful on Aili Island's website. Then, he quickly entered the scene where the male and female protagonists were dating in the outside world.

There were four different architectural styles in Tomorrow is Beautiful. The capsule space (cramped, narrow, technological, but severely homogenized), the slums of the outside world (Cyberpunk style, many small shops, and scenes of debauchery), the core area of the outside world (spacious, atmospheric, and generally sci-fi architectural style), and the residential area of the upper class (classical mansions).

However, most of the scenes at that time were shot with setting and green screen. There were no real scenes.

If he could use the snack market to build the scene in the movie, it would definitely be a good gimmick.

What's more, Cyberpunk's theme was' a combination of low-end life and high-level technology'. It usually contained a certain degree of collapse in the social structure of highly-developed technology.

There were many Chinese elements in the theme of Cyberpunk. One of the most outstanding characteristics was the various Chinese characters that often appeared on the neon signs.

The reason was that places like Nine Dragon City in Harbor City had a certain impact on the authors at that time. There were few places, many people, and dense buildings. The style of new and old things existing at the same time was very compatible with the feeling of Cyberpunk. Therefore, many Cyberpunk topics had some Chinese elements.

Subsequently, many Chinese people made some original arts that combined Cyberpunk and Chinese styles out of interest. The effect was very good.

Zhang Yahui finally recalled watching the scene in the movie. "This style looks really good!"

"The key is that it can connect with the movie."

"That way, Jingzhou would have another Tengda scenic spot. Tourists can first go to Thriller Hostel to play. After that, they can come to this food market in Cyberpunk style to enjoy delicacies from all over the country."

Liang Qingfan said, "That's right. Not only that, we can think of a way to modify the journey from the snack market to the Thriller Hostel!"

"The two places are not too far apart, only one or two kilometers away. If we can buy all the shops along the way or rent them for a long time, we can also modify them slightly."

"After that, vendors who perform well in the snack market can move to these shops in the future. This way, as more and more vendors appear in the future, the entire street might become a snack street and become a place to eat, drink, and play with Thriller Hostel!"

Bao Xu said, "What's more, I think we can add some game design ideas."

"For example, we can divide the stalls in the market into several different tiers. There are four types of bronze, silver, gold, and diamonds. The higher the tier, the better the location and the more seats there are. If these shops can continuously be in the diamond tier for a period of time, they will be eligible to move outside."

"The entire snack market can be evaluated regularly. A few stalls can also be randomly refreshed to become a half-price experience area or a free area. Rare stalls can be refreshed regularly to let customers experience the feeling of guarding rare NPCs."

"What's more, since it's a Cyberpunk style, we have to integrate high-tech and down-to-earth feel. We can make some Cyberpunk electronic screens and other things. Ordering and queuing can also play a certain decoration role."

Bao Xu quickly explained his thoughts.

In his opinion, this place was actually very suitable to join the interactive experience in the game. It would give tourists who came to eat snacks for the first time a novel feeling. It could improve their playing experience.

Bao Xu did his best to help Zhang Yahui and Liang Qingfan design so that they would not have to travel.

Zhang Yahui was very happy. "That's great! This way, we can finalize the general practice of the entire snack market!"

"Actually, my initial idea was just to create a place to set up stalls. The two of you have really provided me with a lot of good ideas."

Liang Qingfan smiled. "We were just following Boss Pei's train of thought and diverting our thoughts. While Boss Pei would definitely not be able to guess the specific location and packaging, the content that we thought of should be about the same as his original idea."

"This is Boss Pei's art of management. He would always give a seemingly broad requirement so that his subordinates could fully utilize their subjective dynamism. The end result would indeed be the same."

"Alright, let's hurry up and complete the design plan for the snack market. Then, let's get this project on track as soon as possible!"

...

...

March 21st, Wednesday...

The day after tomorrow, two official commentators and a professional player were commentating on the competition recording and practicing their cooperation.

The reason why he chose such a team was mainly to play it safe.

Of these two commentators, one was the commentator who controlled the field to ensure that the topic would not deviate; the other was the commentator for the team battle to ensure that the team battle would be more exciting. As for that professional player, he mainly conducted lineup predictions and analysis of the situation.

The division of labor between the three of them was very clear.

These professional players did not have much experience in commentating after all. To Zhao Xuming, it was risky to arrange for one commentator to lead two professional players like the Bunny Tail live-stream.

The other commentators and professional players were also training hard during this period because it would be their turn soon.

The two commentators today were the two with the most senior qualifications in the ICL league. The professional players on stage also had relatively better understanding of the game.

Zhao Xuming's idea was to arrange all the best commentators to ensure that FV Team's focus battle would attract enough attention. That way, it would be able to make a bang and leave the impression that the official commentators were now as professional as Bunny Tail's live-stream commentators.

This professional player was also revising the recording of FV Team's previous competition while resting.

He had arranged a few training competitions with FV Team when he was playing professionals, however, he was basically beaten until he could not find his bearings. He could not understand FV Team's intentions at all.

However, he would still be able to analyze a lot of things as long as he acted after the fact.

Chapter 951: It's the ICL's Official Commentary's Turn to Showcase!

The prelude to another commentary ended. The three of them stopped to rest and drink water to moisten their throats.

What was comforting was that even though this professional player did not have the experience of being a commentator before, he was still rather eloquent. After a few hours, his cooperation with the two official commentators was already quite good.

The ICL league director walked over quickly and stuffed the information into their hands seeing that the three of them were resting.

"This is the pre-match information compiled by the data team backstage. There is data on the two teams and the players. There is also a prediction of today's competition BP. Take a look in advance and familiarize yourselves."

"After you go on stage, bring this information up with a pen. Don't leave the commentary platform empty like before."

The director repeatedly reminded him.

The official commentator had been mocked by the audience because there was no competition information on the table.

Actually, this was quite unreasonable because the ICL league had been broadcasting for a period of time. The commentary platform had been empty previously, and the audience did not have any objections.

However, once the audience saw that the commentators of the Bunny Tail live-stream each had a document, a tablet computer, they immediately began to nitpick at the official commentators.

The commentator of Bunny Tail's live-stream had such a high understanding of the game. He even seriously did his homework and filled up the pre-match preparations. During the competition, he also seriously recorded the key points of the competition with a small notebook. The official commentator's understanding of the game was fragmented, and yet no preparation was done?

This was called 'attitude determines success or failure'. It was no wonder that the official game commentator's understanding of the game was poor. Not only was his ability bad, but his attitude was also bad!

Many viewers held this view, so the ICL officials did not dare to be headstrong with the audience this time. They also did the surface job well.

Of course, these data were definitely real and useful.

Having more data was not a bad thing. The more data the official commentator displayed, the more it meant that they had made adequate preparations. After all, nothing was more convincing than a clear number.

Apart from that, the real-time data function that he had prepared before could be officially released.

Everything was ready. They were just waiting for the competition to officially begin in the afternoon.

...

It was close to five in the afternoon. The live-streams of the ICL league on various live-stream platforms were connected to the live-streaming signal of the competition. The audience also received plane tickets from various live-stream platforms and watched the competition on time.

There were still two competitions today. The competition at five in the afternoon was an unimportant one and FV Team's competition was scheduled for the prime-time slot at seven in the evening.

This arrangement also took care of most people's viewing time. The 7 PM slot at night, especially at 7 PM on the weekend, had the most audience. They definitely had to arrange as much time as possible for a celebrity team like FV.

As for the official platform of the ICL league, the first competition could also allow the new commentator team to train and adapt in advance, so that they would not have to be too pressured to commentate the FV competition at the beginning. If something went wrong, it would be difficult to clean up.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the ICL league's second competition day in the third week of the spring competition…"

The official commentator still had the same opening speech as usual. However, the viewers in the various live-streams could sense that something had changed on the official commentary platform.

First of all, there was an additional person that was previously a contestant. Secondly, the commentary platform was no longer empty. It was also filled with information like the commentary platform on Bunny Tail Live-Stream.

After the opening speech, the commentator in charge of the venue also introduced the new commentator today to the audience: His current identity was still a professional player. This time, he had come to make a guest appearance in order to better interpret the game's content and bring the audience a gaming experience.

Of course, 'guest appearance' was just an excuse to test the audience's reaction.

If the audience's feedback was good, it would be logical for the professional player to be permanent. If the audience's reaction was not good, they could also be replaced.

Apart from that, the commentator in charge of the venue also introduced the function of "real-time data". He reminded the audience that they could see a real-time data list if they clicked on the small bubble in the upper right corner. Together with the professional commentator, they could obtain more viewing experience.

Zhao Xuming had also arrived at the venue today. He watched the competition while using his cell phone to observe the netizens' reactions in the live-stream.

"Did the official platform learn from Bunny Tail Live-Stream as well? They're looking for professional players to commentate and work on real-time data. Can they copy it more thoroughly?"

"There's no patent protection. What's there to copy? What's more, isn't it all to improve the viewing experience?"

"I think it's a great thing to be able to correct their mistakes. It would be a huge problem if the official live-stream continues to be stubborn and not change!"

"Indeed, this is a benign competition. There's nothing to blame."

"It looks like I don't have to go to Bunny Tail live-stream to watch the competition today. It's more comfortable to use Wolf Fang live-stream's app!"

The netizens' reactions on the bullet screen were generally more positive. This made Zhao Xuming happy.

The commentator in charge of the venue briefly introduced the two sides of today's first match just as they had planned. Then, he threw the topic to the professional player and asked him to be in charge of predicting and analyzing the competition.

This professional player had also been prepared. He introduced many aspects from the tactical reserves of both sides, the celebrity players, the recent game version's characteristics, and so on. Coupled with the various data that appeared on the screen and provided in real-time data functions, he made a lot of sense.

The BP segment for both sides was similar to what the professional player had predicted.

That was because the lineup of both parties was based on three factors. The first would be the strong hero and lineup in the version, the second would be the pool of heroes, and the third would be the paper strength in the front, middle, and later stages of the lineup.

The professional players had a good understanding of these two mid-and lower-tier teams to begin with. Coupled with the data provided by the official platform, their guess of the lineup of both teams was close to 80-90%. Often, the players on the field would lock onto it once a hero was mentioned.

After the competition began, the commentator would explain the situation on the field. The commentator for the team battle would be in charge of the passionate team battle. On the other hand, the professional players would insert their own understanding of the current situation between the two commentators and analyze the playstyles from both sides' perspectives.

For example, how the stronger side should expand their advantage, and how the weaker side should avoid battle and exchange resources.

The coordination of the three commentators might occasionally be flawed and there would be situations where they would steal the limelight, but overall, the effect was quite good.

Zhao Xuming opened the ICL league live-streams on all major live-stream platforms and various forums to check the netizens' feedback after the competition ended.

"The official commentary today was good!"

"The two wily old foxes are quite good. They controlled the rhythm perfectly. They were very passionate during the team battle. The commentators, coupled with the professional analysis today gave me no urge to change the channel."

"Previously, there were people who complained that these old commentators' understanding of the game was not good enough. Now, we have to prove that we can't do without them. We have to let them lead the way."

"The facts have proven that the so-called 'professionalism' of Bunny Tail Live-Stream is not something difficult to achieve. The official commentator can pull a professional gamer over and prepare the data to achieve a similar level!"

"Indeed, in terms of eloquence and passion for commentating, the official commentator is better!"

"Previously, many people had praised Bunny Tail Live-Stream to the skies. They could even boast in a script on the commentator platform. What about now? The official commentator is not bad either?"

Zhao Xuming could not help but feel proud as he watched the netizens' comments.

Hear, hear!

It had an immediate effect!

Indeed, the understanding of professional gamers was not bad. Bunny Tail Live-Stream had found two professional gamers to commentate. It was nothing more than a preemptive show. How could they keep pressing the official commentator to the ground?

Zhao Xuming could not help but relax. He kept his cell phone and continued watching the competition.

...

Soon, the first match ended with 2: 0.

This competition was not a focal battle but it was obvious that there was a gap in strength between the two sides. The disadvantaged party did not put up much resistance and played GG.

This was also what Zhao Xuming was more worried about now. The gap in strength in the entire GPL league was a little serious. The FV Team at the top was the only one. The next level was SUG, and the other teams were below them.

This could not be helped.IOI local server was not doing too good after all. There was little fresh blood, and the teams behind were not easy to catch up. Thus, this gap in strength might last for a long time in the future.

However, this was not a particularly serious problem for Zhao Xuming. It would definitely be resolved as the GPL league developed rapidly.

Even if he was anxious now, this problem could not be solved quickly. What's more, Zhao Xuming had more important work to do.

After a simple transition, the highlight of the day, FV Team's competition, was about to begin.

The director had already given the data of the two teams in the second round to the platform before this. When advertisements were inserted in between the competitions, the three commentators took the time to familiarize themselves with these data.

The professional player flipped through the selection of FV Team and said confidently, "The candidates for FV Team in the next few rounds are basically exchanging two sets of tactics."

"Even though the heroes they chose in the competitions were different, their tactical choices were not out of the scope of these two tactics."

"If nothing goes wrong today, they should still use one of these two tactics."

The commentator asked, "Hasn't FV Team always been famous for their complex tactics?"

The professional player nodded. "They are indeed famous for their complex tactics, but there is no need to expose too many tactics in the current situation."

"Since FV Team is playing with weaker teams, they can continue to win by rotating two sets of tactics. There is no need to expose other tactics."

"In any case, this is our club's habit. We only use our 'ultimate move' at the most critical stage."

The commentator was very happy. "It would be great if that's the case. Our commentary would be very easy as long as FV Team continues to use this mature tactic."

That was because the two strategies that FV Team was currently using had been studied many times by the official data team. They had more or less understood everything from the selection of people to the tactical choices during the competition.

If FV Team continued to use this tactic, then these three official commentators could talk with the content they had prepared beforehand and achieve the effect of a spoiler-like commentary.

Coupled with the passionate explanation of the team battle, they would definitely be able to beat the commentator on Bunny Tail Live-Stream!

The three commentators took the opportunity to sharpen their guns once again. They were filled with confidence in the following commentary.

...

After a short break, the second match arrived as scheduled.

FV team members entered the venue, welcomed by the applause and cheers of the audiences.

The number of viewers and bullet screen comments in the various live-streams had also increased significantly.

As the ace team who had won the World Competition not long ago and maintained a perfect record at the start of the Spring Competition, FV Team occupied almost eighty percent of the ICL league's traffic. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they were the biological father of the ICL league.

The three commentators rubbed their palms together and prepared to perform well in front of the audience seeing how supportive they were.

Soon, the competition entered the selection round for BAN.

"FV Team has maintained undefeated from the official start of the ICL league until now. Can their undefeated record continue today? Let us wait and see!"

Chapter 952: The Difference In Commentary Is The Difference Between The Realms Of The Companies

After the commentator finished warming up the venue, he passed the mike to the professional player and let him start his own performance: Analyzing FV Team's BP.

The professional player on the official commentary platform was full of confidence. "FV Team has two sets of tactics recently. One is the global stream lineup with Wings of the Blade as the core, and the other is the team lineup with Chaos Misfortune as the core. These two heroes have been popular heroes since the World Competition. They have been slightly weakened but they are still favored by many teams."

"Let us take a look at the first hero that FV Team snatched. We can basically confirm the lineup that they are going to choose for this competition."

"Er... the opponent banned the Wings of the Blade."

"This hero is the core hero of the global style. Its function is relatively irreplaceable. Therefore, FV Team will most likely choose to fight for Chaos Misfortune."

"Er... the other party banned Chaos Misfortune."

"In that case..."

The professional gamer was stunned.

This opponent was not giving them face at all!

He had prepared for a long time. There was a lot to say about the lineup selection of the two teams and the tactics in the competition. As long as the competition started, he would be able to directly let the audience see something called the spoiler commentary.

In the end, both core heroes were banned?

If they had not been banned, FV Team would probably still choose these two tactics with the mentality of hiding tactics. However, the situation was completely messed up!

The commentator in charge of controlling the situation quickly helped him out seeing that the professional gamer was stunned. "It looks like the opponent has made ample preparations before the competition and conducted a very deep study of FV Team! Then, how should FV Team deal with the current situation? I think they might have to come up with a new strategy."

The live-stream was now cut to the game screen. There were no more graphics on the live-stream platform. The commentator used his elbow to nudge the professional players slightly, meaning that this little episode should not be affecting him and to continue commentating.

The professional player quickly reacted and calmed down.

He thought about it and realized that it made sense. FV Team had always been using these two sets of tactics back and forth. Even he could tell the playstyles. The opposing team's coaches were not stupid and would definitely be able to tell.

However, he did not expect that the other party did not fight for himself, nor did he study the lineup to counter these two styles. Instead, he directly and roughly finished BAN. This still caught him off guard.

FV Team's commonly used heroes might have been banned but they were not flustered at all. They directly locked down the noob hero Storm Swordsman who had won the MVP in the third round of the finals.

The professional players on the commentator platform perked up when they saw this.

Teacher, I know how to answer this question!

Wasn't this the game that matched with Specter Blacksmith to directly eat all the jungle and mid-laner minions to suppress the economy?

Many professional players had studied this strategy after the world finals. Of course, there were many things to commentate on.

"FV chose to snatch the Storm Swordsman. They're obviously planning to use the Specter Blacksmith to recreate the scene of the five kills in the global finals!"

However, before he could finish speaking, he saw that the opponent had already snatched the Specter Blacksmith away.

The professional player opened his mouth slightly and fell into silence once again.

How was he going to explain this!

...

On the other side, on Bunny Tail's live-stream platform.

The host in charge of the crowd was equally shocked when he saw the other party lock down the Specter Blacksmith.

"It looks like the other party is well-prepared for today's battle. They have been targeting them from the BAN selection. They chose to directly snatch Specter Blacksmith to deal with the situation knowing the system of the Storm Swordsman and Specter Blacksmith."

"That would probably be very bad news for FV Team because the Storm Swordsman is relatively weak in the jungle. Without the Specter Blacksmith to provide additional experience and economy, it might collapse along with the three lanes once it's targeted by the other party. What do the two teachers think of this candidate?"

The two players of FV Team Two did not feel awkward. It was as if everything was within their expectations.

"Actually, the current situation is definitely within FV Team's expectations."

"This trick has already been used in international competition. It's impossible for others not to know. If they want to take it, the best way is to take it together with two heroes from the purple side. The latter two and three hands from the blue side. However, since FV Team snatched it from the blue side, it means that they are not afraid that the other party will snatch the hero, Specter Blacksmith."

"Actually, the countermeasure is very simple. Since the other party chose Specter Blacksmith, they can only use the bottom lane. The bottom lane would be naturally disadvantaged. Then, as long as FV Team obtains the right to line up and has a good view of the top and middle lanes, they can protect the jungle of the Storm Swordsman..."

The two of them talked about FV Team's general response.

In the end, he added, "Of course, this playstyle can only be used when the opponent's three lines are not as strong as you. What's more, you have to accurately grasp the opponent's open field route in order to successfully avoid the jungle collision in the early stages. Whether this playstyle can succeed or not depends on the vision of both sides in the early stages and the arrangements of the first-rate team..."

...

On the other hand, the commentators on the official platform could only guess the rough playstyles of both sides based on the following selection.

"I think FV Team might have found a replacement for Specter Blacksmith in this strategy, so they want to test the strength of the lineup this time."

"It might also be because the latest version of the Storm Swordsman has slightly increased its attack power, so FV Team's jungler, as the Storm Swordsman's ultimate living weapon, thinks that it can already enter the professional arena without the Specter Blacksmith..."

The three commentators did not know FV Team's true intentions and could only guess.

While the professional player was much more professional than these two commentators, that was only limited to what he knew.

Of course, he had many things to say about more mature tactics, including the vision and lineup in the early stages. All sorts of details were at his fingertips.

However, how should he explain a tactic that he did not understand?

He could only guess. His guess might be more professional than the other two commentators but he was still worlds apart from FV Team's correct answer.

...

Zhao Xuming could not help but frown below the stage.

He could tell that the professional player in charge of commentating on stage was obviously not in the right state. While he was constantly giving his analysis, it seemed like a blind cat trying to catch a dead mouse. He was completely blinded.

Zhao Xuming quickly switched on Bunny Tail Live-Stream. He put on his earphones and listened intently.

The more he listened, the colder his heart became.

That was because the explanation on Bunny Tail Live-Stream was completely different from the official commentary. The situation on stage was completely developing according to the commentary on Bunny Tail Live-Stream!

They were already two completely different styles looking at the bullet screen comments on the two live-streams.

"Have you revealed your true colors?"

"I thought that the official platform's understanding of the game had improved after the previous round, but I realized that it was because the previous questions were too simple..."

"The official commentary won't be effective against FV Team's high-end tactics this time."

"It looks like there is a reason why this brother's professional results are not good. This analysis is as fierce as a tiger, but the results are completely wrong. How can he not be beaten up?"

"Indeed, it's far from that. Stop messing around. Let's switch to Bunny Tail Live-Stream..."

In Bunny Tail's live-stream, the bullet screen comments were all 'professional' and 'awesome'. On the other hand, in the official live-stream, the bullet screen comments were 'talking nonsense in all seriousness' and 'forcing it to make sense'...

The bullet screen comments of the two live-streams formed a sharp contrast.

The popularity of each live-stream platform was weak and there was no obvious decrease, but the rapidly increasing number of people in Bunny Tail's live-stream already explained everything...

The number of people live-streaming in Bunny Tail Live-Stream was real. They would not lie.

Obviously, the official commentator's amazing performance in the first match had attracted many viewers and increased their popularity. However, after the official commentator revealed his true colors, all the fake popularity ran away.

Everyone realized that the professionalism of the official commentary was completely Schrödinger's cat. Sometimes it was very professional, but sometimes it was completely impossible.

This was another focal battle. Whether the commentator was professional or not would directly affect the viewing experience. Thus, many viewers naturally ran back to Bunny Tail live-stream.

Many people were also discussing on the forums other than on the live-stream platforms on both sides.

"It looks like FV Team is indeed a unique team. Any strategy can deceive other professional players."

"The standard of the ICL league is still incomparable to the GPL league. Think about it, the commentator platform of Bunny Tail Live-Stream only casually found some staff from the GPL league to guest star in it. The commentator was directly chosen from FV Team Two. It's equivalent to a temporary grassroots team. In the end, it completely destroyed the commentator team that the official platform of the ICL league had carefully prepared!"

"What's the use of just looking at the data from the newly added real-time data function? We still need a professional commentator to explain this data."

"Does any random employee from Tengda Corporation have such a high understanding of games?"

"How should I put it? Boss Pei really put his heart and soul into creating games. Boss Pei's own understanding of the game is top-notch. It works from top to bottom. How can the understanding of the people below be bad?"

"Indeed, it feels like Tengda Corporation is filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons. I'm afraid there are no noobs. Everyone's understanding of the game is maxed out."

"Long Yu Corporation might be a gaming company, but their main goal is not to develop games but to earn money. The difference in company realms determines the difference in understanding of the game. Is it alright to say that?"

"That's true."

"Forget it. I'll just watch all game competitions on Bunny Tail Live-Stream in the future. Their understanding of the game is guaranteed. Other platforms really can't do it."

Zhao Xuming was speechless.

What the hell were these!

Why were you guys talking about this instead of the competition?

It was just a competition. Was there a "difference in realms" between Long Yu Corporation and Tengda Corporation?

Wasn't that too much conspiracy theory?

What's more, what the hell was "I'll just watch all game competitions on Bunny Tail Live-Stream in the future"?

Zhao Xuming was very angry. He had been carefully prepared to make a bang in today's critical battle to let the official commentators regain their lost face. He did not expect that he had completely miscalculated!

Not only did he lose all his popularity from the competition, he had given away a lot for free!

Chapter 953: Domestic Classic Games Collection

March 22nd, Thursday...

Tengda Corporation's marketing department.

Meng Chang arrived at his desk early in the morning. He switched on his computer and opened the DEMO of Mission and Choice to experience it.

The working hours of the Advertisement and marketing department were the same as the other departments. They also had a standard eight-hour work schedule and holiday. When they needed to come up with a plan, they could have flexible working hours, but they were strictly controlled.

As the person-in-charge, Meng Chang did not have to follow these rules. His working hours were completely random. He could come and go as he pleased without having to clock in nor out.

That was because he had been relying on the publicity effect of the advertising plan to get a commission. There was no need for him to clock in nor out.

However, he had been working very hard for the past few days, working eight hours a day because he wanted to ensure that the publicity plan for Mission and Choice was foolproof.

In the office, only a portion of the other employees in the marketing department were working hard.

That was because there was less to design for the marketing plan this time. Basically, they had to modify the publicity materials for the original games. Thus, there was not enough work to be distributed.

Amongst those who were not working, some were watching competitions, some were playing games, some were watching dramas, and some were surfing websites.

Most of the employees in the advertising and marketing department were paying attention to the news of Tengda's various industries every day. It was mainly because of work needs. They hoped that they could provide outstanding publicity plans at any time.

"Bunny Tail Live-Stream is doing very well now. Two leagues are supporting the popularity of the entire platform. Now, when players talk about E-Sports, their first reaction is to watch Bunny Tail Live-Stream."

"Wolf Fang's live-stream should be the most uncomfortable now. After all, their positioning is in the gaming live-stream platform. It would be a little painful if the cake was snatched."

"I have to say that Boss Pei is a master strategist."

"Indeed, the live-stream industry is now a sea of red. Many large capital were in them. Many platforms have burned a lot of money and were lively for a while. In the end, they were lonely and could only leave in dejection. In the end, Boss Pei entered forcefully and could still stand firm in the current situation. He's really too strong!"

"The key is that Boss Pei did not spend much money on Bunny Tail live-stream. Every cent was spent on the blade."

Meng Chang could not help but silently raise his evaluation of Boss Pei as he listened to the two colleagues' discussion.

Meng Chang's evaluation of Boss Pei was already very high but it did not affect him from continuing to raise it. They were all unreachable heights after all.

However, Meng Chang's mentality was not too affected. He continued to focus on experiencing the DEMO of Mission and Choice.

"Strange, this game doesn't feel very fun."

"Perhaps I'm not a veteran gamer, so I don't understand how fun it is?"

Meng Chang simply forced himself to repeatedly experience this game's DEMO.

That was because he did not play games in the first place. He had never played real-time strategy games before. It was very difficult for him to experience the joy of such games.

The overall difficulty of DEMO in Mission and Choice changed according to the plot. The simulated elements were added in the mid-stage. The small soldiers would not listen to instructions and wander around.

If it was combined with the movie plot, this change would be very natural and could stir players' emotions.

However, DEMO of Mission and Choice had not added the movie part. Therefore, Meng Chang could not understand the plot and naturally could not understand the meaning of this gameplay.

All in all, Meng Chang was having a hard time playing the game. He even had the feeling that the game would not become popular even if he advertised it casually.

However, he quickly suppressed his dangerous tendencies. Meng Chang was not stupid enough to use his shallow gaming experience to determine if Boss Pei's game would become popular.

In any case, he could always prepare for the worst.

After forcing himself to play Mission and Choice for a period of time, Meng Chang exited the game, intending to ease his mood.

At that moment, he saw that Hu Xianbin from Tengda Games had sent him a message.

"We've already communicated with the official platform. We've already organized a compilation of classic domestically-produced games. We've also communicated with the relevant companies."

"There are two more questions now: when will this compilation be released, and how would the publicity material be."

Some of the companies which made these classic domestically-produced games had already closed down. The games had already been taken over by the official platform. There were some companies that were still around, but they had been suspended for many years. Thus, the official platform casually discussed and packed these games into a compilation for sale.

However, Tengda Games was the one who had requested the compilation. Thus, the official platform had to be good to the end and let Tengda decide when the compilation would be released and what kind of publicity materials to prepare.

Meng Chang pondered for a moment. "I'll upload it immediately once it is ready. I've prepared a version of the publicity material. I can submit it to the official platform."

Hu Xianbin replied quickly. "Alright."

Meng Chang was fully in charge of the publicity plan this time. Hu Xianbin and the official platform did not have any requirements. In any case, it was fine as long as the entire publicity event was not too ridiculous.

...

A moment later, the person-in-charge of the Tengda Games department received the publicity material from the marketing department.

Hu Xianbin received a copy as well and clicked on it.

"This..."

He still felt a little stunned when he saw the publicity materials even though he was mentally prepared.

Meng Chang had already said before that the publicity material was mainly used to promote these old games. However, Hu Xianbin thought that he had to repackage them and make them look better, right?

In the end, Meng Chang directly used the old publicity materials. There were some slight changes but they were very minor.

There were no changes to the game's background graphs, advertising slogans, and so on. The only difference was that the material had been changed to a higher definition and more exquisite. The arrangement had also been slightly adjusted to ensure that all the game's publicity posters had a similar structure.

There was nothing else!

Hu Xianbin had seen the old game promotional picture of Mission and Choice in advance. Even though there were some slight changes made, 99% of players would probably not be able to tell any difference.

If this promotional material was uploaded, everyone would probably be brought back to the 90s and experience the feeling of time travel.

Hu Xianbin looked at the employee who was connected to the advertising department. "Are you sure this is the set?"

The employee nodded. "Yes, would that be a little inappropriate? Should we ask the advertising department to make changes?"

Hu Xianbin shook his head. "That's it. Boss Pei has already handed the publicity plan to Meng Chang. Even if you don't trust Meng Chang, you should trust Boss Pei."

"What's more, Meng Chang has already done a few publicity plans. The effects are not bad. There should be no problem this time round as well."

...

In the afternoon, at Binhu District.

Qiao Liang had just finished eating the Fish-Catching Take-Out that was delivered regularly. He leaned back on the sofa and enjoyed the warm sunlight outside.

He switched on his cell phone and checked his fan group.

Indeed, the fans were all asking when would his new video be released and when would the live-stream start.

Qiao Liang quietly flipped through his chat history and continued to play dead.

"Comrades, I really don't want to stand you up. I just don't have any inspiration."

"Creative art like me is not like a hen laying eggs. The key still depends on my mood."

After consoling himself, Qiao Liang sat in front of his computer as if nothing had happened. He opened the official platform, wanting to check if there were any new games recently.

"Eh? There seems to be a compilation of 'restored classic domestically-produced games'."

"Why are these old games that are more than nine years old being revamped? Aren't they just a bunch of lousy games?"

"Oh, I understand. It might be for memory sake."

Qiao Liang did not think too much about it and clicked on the details page of these games.

"Some old games from many years ago have been reposted on official platforms."

"I actually really miss them."

Chapter 954: "Nag" Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

Qiao Liang flipped through the publicity materials of these old games. Every one of them was filled with childhood memories.

At that time, he did not have any financial capability. Naturally, he could not afford to buy the original game. In fact, his memory of these games had already become blurry.

Thus, Qiao Liang missed these classic games when he saw it.

"I'm not going to say anything else. Let's buy more tickets!"

Qiao Liang did not look through it carefully. Instead, he took out some money to purchase the compilation.

This collection was not cheap. There were a total of eight games in it. The price of each game ranged from tens to more than a hundred yuan. This collection was at a 60% discount with a total price of 588 yuan.

Even after the discount, the price would still be quite expensive. After all, these were all old games from more than ten years ago. The gameplay was completely behind time, not to mention the graphics and game mechanisms.

This money was definitely not worth it as a game.

However, to a veteran gamer like Qiao Liang, this sum of money was equivalent to a 'supplementary ticket'. After all, he did not have the financial capability back then. It was not bad to spend money to buy a wave of sentiment now.

Qiao Liang's life was getting better and better because of games. It was understandable for him to buy a few games to support the development of domestically-produced games. What's more, he could use the material of these games to make videos (roughly) in the future.

After paying, Qiao Liang looked through the games.

"The Landlord Game, I really miss it. It's a pity that many people have to play it together for it to be fun."

"'The Storm of Heroes' is also considered a masterpiece of a generation."

"'Sword Kinesis' is considered one of the best in this batch of games. It's a pity that the sequel became more and more ordinary."

"'Conquer The Three Kingdoms'? This game is very ordinary, right? There were not many players back then. What's more, it was an imitation of a foreign game. It's acceptable to say that it was acceptable, but it's not a good game."

"..."

"I can tolerate 'Conquer The Three Kingdoms', but what is this?"

Qiao Liang flipped through the games. The first few games looked normal. The types and quality of these games were different, some were classic games, and some were less popular but they were still acceptable overall.

However, he suddenly realized that a strange thing had been mixed in.

"Mission and Choice? Isn't that the legendary shame of the nation?"

"Why is this rubbish game mixed in to cheat money? It's even selling for more than a hundred yuan!"

"Are the officials crazy?"

Qiao Liang almost thought that he had seen wrongly.

He had not played Mission and Choice back then, mainly because he had not been financially capable at that time. He could not persuade his parents to spend more than a hundred yuan on this game.

There was no need to buy the game after its reputation collapsed later on.

Of course, just because Qiao Liang had not played this game before did not mean that he had not heard of the 'shocking' legend of this game.

Thus, seeing it appear in the compilation of this domestically-produced game was even more unbelievable.

"This lousy thing sells for more than a hundred yuan?"

"Even five yuan is too expensive!"

"Eh, wait a moment. Could this be a game version that the official platform has already modified?"

Qiao Liang suddenly felt that things were not as simple as he thought.

He immediately clicked on Mission and Choice, wanting to see if this was the official version that had fixed the bugs and improved the gameplay.

...

Ten minutes later, Qiao Liang's hands left the mouse. He looked at the lake outside the window and began to think about life.

The game had not been changed at all!

A pile of fragmented images, perfunctory sound effects, and game bugs everywhere...

Qiao Liang had not been affected by Mission and Choice previously, but he had not managed to dodge it this time!

As for why he insisted on playing for ten minutes, it was probably curiosity driving him.

He really wanted to see how trashy this game could be. Was the game really been released without any changes?

Now that he was clear, this game was indeed useless. What's more, the official platform had not updated it at all!

Of course, it was understandable if they wanted to "enrich the official platform's game library", "remember the shame", and "sound the alarm for all game companies by faithfully recording trash games."

However, why did the official platform mix it with other domestically-produced games of the same generation to make a collection and publicize it together?

Was it to reflect how outstanding other games were?

Qiao Liang was speechless. He cut the screen back to the desktop and looked at it. This game was sold at a 60% discount when it was purchased together. However, each game could be refunded individually, and the refund conditions were extremely relaxed.

Qiao Liang could not help but feel enlightened. "Oh, I understand."

"The official compilation actually has the effect of 'reminiscing about the bitter and sweet'."

"This collection did not choose the best game of that era. Instead, it chose the most popular, representative, and even controversial game of that era!

"There are excellent classic games here, such as 'The Landlord Games', 'The Storm of Swordsmen', and so on. There are also relatively niche games such as 'Conquer The Three Kingdoms', which had poor sales but special genres. There is also a lousy negative example, 'Mission and Choice'."

"The official platform set up this option to refund the game individually because they knew that gamers would definitely not accept some of the games."

"Therefore, gamers can choose games that they are not interested in to refund. They would not suffer financial losses.

"I see, that explains it."

Qiao Liang quickly thought of a reasonable explanation.

That was exactly what Meng Chang wanted to achieve.

Meng Chang had foresaw that Mission and Choice would definitely look out of place in this "domestically-produced gaming compilation".

If the other games were classic works that were worth keeping, wouldn't Mission and Choice be too obvious in this collection?

Thus, in order to reduce gamers' suspicions, the eight games selected in this episode might be classic games from more than ten years ago, but not every one of them was worth the price. For example, 'Conquer The Three Kingdoms' was a relatively niche game with poor sales, good reputation, but unique enough.

He could then create a special refund option for a game to minimize the chances of being discovered.

Meng Chang had also considered if he should set this compilation into other games and sell it. Only Mission and Choice needed to be bought elsewhere. That way, he could minimize the chances of "accidentally injuring".

However, on further thought, this was equivalent to excluding Mission and Choice. That was too strange. It would easily cause players to make strange associations.

Thus, he chose this method of muddling along in the end.

Reality proved that this method was quite effective. Qiao Liang was deceived.

Of course, the prerequisite for all of this was that Tengda had done a good job of keeping it a secret.

The outside world did not know that Tengda was developing a remake of the game 'Mission and Choice'. Most people would not think in that direction. Qiao Liang was no exception.

He opened his fan group and found that there were a few sporadic messages discussing this compilation.

However, it did not cause much of a stir. After all, most players did not have much interest in such old-fashioned games. People like Qiao Liang were rare.

A few brothers complained about the game 'Mission and Choice'. Then, they were overwhelmed by the overwhelming messages in the group. Soon, they disappeared.

Qiao Liang did not take it to heart. He had so many games. Most games would not even be opened. Today's compilation was no exception.

He would only not be able to wait to open the game and clear it in one shot if it was a huge production.

However, after closing the compilation, Qiao Liang fell into confusion again.

What should he do?

He did not have much inspiration recently. He had been cooped up for some time.

All of a sudden, Qiao Liang's eyes lit up.

"Let's create another episode of 'Trash Games Diss'! Isn't 'Mission and Choice' the perfect material?"

Qiao Liang suddenly thought of a good way to make a video.

Even though Mission and Choice had been repeatedly flogged as a disgrace to the local gaming industry, there were almost no UP Masters who flogged it in recent years. After all, this game was so old that many players did not know about it. Its popularity had long passed.

Qiao Liang felt that it might not be a bad thing to make a video to criticize and bring the audience to reminisce about the rubbish game that was so terrible back then!

At that thought, Qiao Liang made up his mind. He would make this video for the next episode!

...

...

At the same time, Pei Qian sat in the car and yawned.

The sunlight outside was not bad, making him feel warm.

He should be taking a good nap at this time, but he could not because there was something he had to deal with.

In the morning, the person-in-charge of Otto Technologies, Jiang Yuan, called. He said that the preparations for the artificial intelligence laboratory were almost done. He hoped that Boss Pei would come to inspect and guide them.

This time, he had bought over a company that researched artificial intelligence with full capital. He had also poached a few technical core members from other companies such as Xunke Technologies.

This company had some achievements to begin with, but it could not compare to a leading company like Xunke Technologies. In order for both sides to communicate and cooperate better, dozens of employees of this company had already moved to Jingzhou. Otto Technologies would arrange accommodation and office for them.

Of course, a portion of employees in the original company had resigned because they did not want to leave their original city. However, that was only a minority. The premium for poaching was very high after all. Everyone knew how good Tengda's treatment was.

Although the team that he had spent a lot of money to poach had some research results and could operate smoothly even if they did not bother, Jiang Yuan still felt that he had to let Boss Pei guide him and determine the direction of the research.

Artificial intelligence was related to many of Tengda's businesses after all. This technology had many branches. The direction it developed might affect Boss Pei's overall plan for Tengda's businesses. He could not afford to be careless.

To Pei Qian, he really needed to change the direction of the artificial intelligence laboratory's research. He had to try his best not to let it have too much of a positive impact on his current industry. He had to ensure that there would not be many useful results after spending tens of millions of yuan. That way, he could continue to throw money in without any worries in the future.

Soon, Otto Technologies arrived.

Jiang Yuan was already waiting downstairs. He led Pei Qian directly to the office of the artificial intelligence laboratory.

"Boss Pei, this is the person-in-charge of the artificial intelligence laboratory, Shen Renjie."

Shen Renjie looked to be in his forties. He was dressed casually and had the characteristics of a programmer. He looked like a more pragmatic person.

After getting to know each other, Shen Renjie said, "Boss Pei, do you want me to introduce the core members of the laboratory to you, and then explain the research results of our laboratory?"

Pei Qian raised his hand. "There's no need. I don't have to worry about your work. Let's get straight to the point."

Jiang Yuan nodded. "Alright, let's talk in the conference room."

The three of them arrived at the conference room and took their seats.

In fact, Pei Qian did not care about the personnel structure and research results of this laboratory. He only cared if this laboratory could continue to burn money for him safely.

Thus, he had to come up with a good name and find a good omen.

Pei Qian sipped his tea and asked, "Do you have a name for the laboratory?"

Shen Renjie answered, "Yes. Previously, our laboratory's name was 'Unicorn' Artificial Intelligence Laboratory' because Unicorn is an auspicious beast in ancient China. It has outstanding talent and wisdom. What's more, it has the meaning of auspiciousness. It fits the theme of Artificial Intelligence."

Pei Qian immediately frowned and shook his head. "That's not appropriate."

Jiang Yuan said, "Then we might as well just call it AEEIS artificial intelligence laboratory. After all, AEEIS is our main artificial intelligence product at the moment. This name sounds nice and easy to remember."

Pei Qian shook his head again. "It's still not appropriate."

Good lord, how could it be called Unicorn?

The name was so domineering that Pei Qian felt a strong sense of danger.

It was not appropriate to call it AEEIS artificial intelligence laboratory because AEEIS was already popular. Pei Qian did not want this artificial intelligence laboratory to become popular.

Jiang Yuan and Shen Renjie looked at Boss Pei, implying for Boss Pei to give them a suitable name since all the names were not appropriate?

After some consideration, Pei Qian said, "I think we should call it the 'Nag' Artificial Intelligence Laboratory!"

If calling it unicorn was not appropriate, he would do the opposite!

A nag referred to a horse, especially one that is old or in poor health and not outstanding. They were also called shoddy horses. In layman's terms, they were stupid and slow-witted inferior horses.

Pei Qian vaguely remembered reading an ancient saying in a certain place: "There are three things the quality of a horse.If it takes one day, it would be a military horse; two days it would be a field horse; three days and it would be a nag."

The general meaning was: There were three types of horses. Some were warhorses used to fight on the battlefield, some were field horses used to farm, and some were useless ordinary nags.

He named this artificial intelligence laboratory 'Nag' because he hoped that the artificial intelligence research would be stupid and slow. In the end, it would be useless.

Jiang Yuan and Shen Renjie were stunned.

'Nag' Artificial Intelligence Laboratory?

This name did not sound good!

Didn't 'unicorn' have a nice ring to it? Good lord, it was lowered by several levels.

Pei Qian had an unfathomable expression on his face. In any case, as long as he did not feel guilty, others would definitely feel guilty.

"We'll use this name then!"