Chapter 25: Call for Scripts

Chapter 25: Soliciting Scripts

June 27th.
The glow of the sunset drifted across the sky.
The "Desert Bicycle" forum on Baidu Tieba already had over fifty thousand followers.
The official game download count had officially surpassed forty thousand.
Although the download rate slowed down significantly after the grand prizes were distributed and similar pirated versions began to surface in the market, the attention surrounding "Desert Bicycle" remained formidable.
Furthermore, on the latest list of single-player games in China, "Desert Bicycle" had successfully broken into the top twenty and seemed to be steadily climbing.

Shen Yi stared at the download numbers, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth.
They might not be as grand as the large-scale single-player games developed by major corporations, but he felt that they were like wild grass, tenaciously surviving the wind and rain in the desert.
Up to this point, all these achievements were solely due to the marketing efforts of their team. Or rather, they were all thanks to Zhang Yang, that young man who was always chewing gum.
Such talent had to be valued; once he became a competitor to his company in the future, the consequences would be endless!

"Director Liu, even if our company doesn't have a vacancy, I still think we should recruit them!"
"Even if we just sideline them, we cannot let them become our rivals!"
"They are still weak right now..."
"And what if their new game becomes a hit?"
"If there's no position, we can create one for him. At most a year—we'll pay them a high salary, and I believe that within a year, internal conflicts will cause them to collapse..."
"After all, they are just a group of young people; they won't stay united forever!"
"..."
"..."

Two hours ago, Shen Yi had called Director Liu.
Director Liu had spoken very seriously on the phone, saying that the matter would be handled with caution and that he had indeed discussed it with some departments.
However, a few hours later, when Chi Rui, head of the development department, and Sun Ying from the marketing department left the office, Shen Yi felt a sense of foreboding.

"Director Shen, I think we should focus on Sheng Teng Network right now..."
"Our company needs to reduce internal friction and go all out to deal with what's to come."
"You haven't been involved in game development, so you certainly don't understand that the process from development to market launch is something a group of young kids can't possibly pull off. If there’s even the slightest mishap, our early-stage project could be on the brink of bankruptcy..."
"Director Shen, are you getting timid as you get older? Afraid of a few newcomers?"
"..."

As they brushed past him, Shen Yi heard snickers and sarcastic remarks.
In their eyes, these young people did not constitute a threat at all, nor were they even on the level of competitors.
Mustang Technology had reached a certain height; at this height, one should focus on high-level matters rather than wasting energy on trivialities, right?
When Shen Yi heard this, he felt an inexplicable sense of powerlessness.

As the sun set, Shen Yi lit a cigarette.
As the company grew and went public, it became less and less like the company it once was, seemingly losing the vigilance it should have had.
He didn't know if it was just his imagination...
He felt his authority was constantly shrinking. The entire company was like a carriage, racing wildly toward a destination he could no longer control.
Yes. That was exactly how he felt.
He remained silent for a long time, ultimately deciding not to call Zhang Yang and his team.
"Perhaps this is already a foregone conclusion. I hope the new management will be a bit more prudent."

Just as he was lost in thought, his phone received another message.
Liu Yun from the HR department had been officially appointed as the Deputy Manager of the HR department today.
His expression shifted slightly. Why had he been completely unaware of this?

***

"What on earth is going on with this game?"
"Why does it tell us we're 'too awesome' and immediately wipe all our data and scores the moment we turn on this cheat?"
"Why is it that when we use that other cheat, the game stays stable until the end?"
"This is such blatant discrimination!"

In the Eagle Cheat Studio, several young men stared fixedly at the "Desert Bicycle" cheat they had been developing for days.
Everyone was speechless!
They had intended to make a cheat for "Desert Bicycle" to make some quick money.
But... not only had their hard work been beaten to the punch by others, but their own program had encountered all sorts of issues mid-operation, resulting in a completely broken gaming experience!
What the hell was this?

***

After the game "Violent Alpaca" passed its review, the stone in Zhang Yang's heart finally settled.
In this world, many things were a bit more relaxed. Or perhaps, 2005 was just a bit more lenient?
As long as there wasn't any explicit profanity and the content remained within the realm of parody—and provided no parents filed a complaint—it generally passed.

In the office, Zhang Yang set aside the approval report and began to seriously look at the money he had earned.
"Desert Bicycle" was still generating income for him. In just a few days, he had made nearly twenty thousand more.
Of course, part of it came from the game itself, and the other part came from... the cheat software!
Yes! Although the "Desert Bicycle" cheat software was relatively expensive—ten yuan per download—there were a massive number of people buying it.
In just a few days, the download count had surpassed one thousand.

In 2005, despite the crackdowns, many people still chose to develop game cheats for the sake of profit.
It was becoming increasingly rampant. Zhang Yang took a quick look online and found at least five or six games similar to "Desert Bicycle."
Perhaps the gaming environment would improve in the future, but as it stood, ever since "Legend" became a massive hit, cheats were everywhere!
Mustang Technology had spent half a year banning them, only to find more appearing.
At this point, blocking was less effective than guiding.
Rather than letting other cheat developers reap the benefits, he might as well strike first and secretly pocket the money himself!
He made his cheat more refined and stable than the others, effectively leaving no room for other "Desert Bicycle" cheats to survive.
Hmm... cheats couldn't participate in competition, and cheat data wouldn't enter the leaderboards.
In a sense, it didn't affect the experience of normal players; it was effectively a private server.
Hmm... when the time was right, he could just cancel the cheat...
That was roughly the plan.

The night grew deep. Zhang Yang yawned.
Then, he checked the click count for the "New Game Script Competition" on the Universe Technology official website and the follower count of the newly created "Violent Alpaca" forum.
The official website's project page had already exceeded three thousand clicks. The forum had gained over a thousand followers in just two hours since its creation.
These were all good signs.
Of course, he couldn't get complacent.
Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes and then picked up his phone...

"Hello, is this Master Chen?"
"Yes, this is Zhang Yang. Master Chen, are you free now? Can you come to our company for a meeting?"
"Yes, the more taxi drivers, the better..."
"How about I treat everyone to a barbecue?"
"You have motorcycle taxi drivers too?"
"Even better!"
"..."
"Is this Boss Li from the Stars Internet Cafe?"
"Haha, are you free today? By the way, do you have the contact information for other internet cafe owners?"
"Haha, we'd like to talk to you about a collaboration."
"..."
"Is this Director Liu from Venture Advertising?"
"Yes, the more ads, the better..."
"..."