Chapter 5: Can't Help but Want to Click on This Game!
Most of the players didn't start playing right away. They were all watching the big screen, waiting for the host to introduce these games, and only planning to try out the ones that seemed interesting.
The male host's deep, resonant voice echoed throughout the venue.
"Designer No. 7, entry: Flappy Bird."
"In this game, players can control a bird's flight by tapping the screen, navigating through a series of obstacles. Each time the player passes an obstacle, they earn one point."
"The game features online connectivity and a ranking function. Mm, a ranking function."
The host's voice noticeably stumbled. Clearly, he wanted to say something grand to hype up this game, but he failed.
With the professionalism of a well-known host, he still couldn't find a single thing worth praising about this game. In the end, he could only dryly repeat that it had online and ranking features.
Well, at least it was an online game.
A burst of snickers came from the audience. Indeed, among the previous games, there had been some simple ones, but none had been this simplistic!
Judging from the demo video on the big screen, this could barely be called a game, but... it was a real stretch!
A pixel art style that was painful to look at.
Absolutely no gameplay to speak of.
Only one type of mind-numbing boredom.
The guy nodded. "Alright, I think it's pretty boring too. But which one should we play?"
The two of them scanned the twenty games on the screen, and somehow, their gazes inexplicably landed on the fat, stupid bird icon of Flappy Bird.
The girl said, "This game seems to have online and ranking features. How about we give this one a try?"
The guy hesitated for a moment. "Sure, but is this game any fun?"
The girl replied, "Whether it's fun or not, we'll only know after playing. Besides, it has an online ranking feature, right? Let's see who gets the higher score."
The guy nodded. "Alright!"
The two of them opened the bird icon for Flappy Bird.
The effect of the Super Focuser was immediate. All five hundred people inexplicably opened Flappy Bird and started playing.
Even the three judges were no exception.
Shi Huazhe was still fuming. When he saw Flappy Bird being introduced on the big screen, he nearly stood up to demand that Designer No. 7 be disqualified.
After all, Shi Huazhe was the oldest among the three judges, and with age came conservatism. In his view, could this even be considered a game? It was pure nonsense, an insult to game designers!
How had this person even passed the preliminary selection? Had the organizers not properly reviewed his abilities?
Or... was he someone's pet project?
Such a competition, and there were already shady dealings—it was truly disheartening!
But as angry as he was, Shi Huazhe found that his gaze seemed to be slipping out of his control. Among the twenty game icons on the tablet, he just felt that the stupid, fat bird was incredibly eye-catching, as if it occupied the entire screen.
"..."
"I'll just see how bad it can really get."
Shi Huazhe tapped the stupid, fat bird icon and entered the game.
He felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that playing such a game was beneath him. But when he secretly glanced at the other two judges sitting beside him, their game screens were also showing Flappy Bird!
Shi Huazhe: "..."
It seemed he wasn't the only one.
The other two judges, Lin Hai and Qiu Hengyang, were also playing Flappy Bird.
As for why Qiu Hengyang was playing, it wasn't entirely due to the Super Focuser's influence. When the host introduced this game, he had keenly noticed a problem.
Why would such a simple, monotonous little game bother to include online and ranking features?
It seemed completely unnecessary. With that effort, they could have made one or two more levels or developed one or two more characters.
With this question in mind, Qiu Hengyang tapped the stupid, fat bird icon.
The game's start screen was very simple. It prompted the player to tap the screen to make the bird fly upward, with no other instructions.
At the top of the screen was a "0," which was presumably the score.
The game's visuals were identical to the demo video on the big screen—an extremely crude pixel art style. The bird looked like a ball, with two lifeless big eyes, a sausage-like mouth, and two tiny wings. It looked utterly stupid.
Strangely enough, it had a certain inexplicable charm.
Qiu Hengyang tried tapping the screen.
That stupid, fat bird struggled like a dying salted fish, fluttering upward just a tiny bit before immediately plunging headfirst, crashing into a pipe and dying.
Qiu Hengyang: "..."
What a rip-off!