Chapter 14: Aren't You Going to Eat Something?
Just then, Chen Mo's phone rang.
Chen Mo glanced at it. It was a call from one of his close buddies from college, Zhao Zihao.
"Hello?"
Zhao Zihao's somewhat flippant voice came through the phone: "Chen Mo, you son of a gun, game design competition champion? And you didn't even tell your bro? That's not cool!"
Chen Mo chuckled: "I just got settled in, there's been too much going on. How did you find out?"
Zhao Zihao said: "You're asking me how I found out? You're about to blow up! The video of you clapping back at the judges at the competition has already spread all over the internet!"
Chen Mo was speechless: "Huh?"
Zhao Zihao continued: "Go check it out yourself. By the way, do you have time tonight? The three of us haven't really hung out properly since graduation. Now that you've officially got your game designer status and scored an experience shop for free, doesn't that mean you're treating us?"
Chen Mo smiled: "Alright, I'll treat. Then make sure to bring Lin Mao along too."
Zhao Zihao said: "Got it, it's settled then. I'll pick up Lin Mao first, then head straight to your experience shop, and we'll figure out where to eat from there. Let's set it for four in the afternoon. See you there, no matter what."
Chen Mo replied: "Okay, see you there no matter what."
In the memories of this parallel world, Chen Mo had two very good buddies from his college days. The three of them weren't in the same major, but they all ended up in the game industry.
Zhao Zihao was a rich second-generation kid. His family seemed to be in traditional industries. Chen Mo wasn't sure about the specifics, he just knew the guy never seemed short on money.
However, Zhao Zihao wasn't a game designer. He ran his own studio, a game guild, with services including but not limited to: power-leveling, gold farming, game channel promotion, and so on.
The company wasn't big, but the employees' salaries were pretty high, and every single one of them was a top-notch gamer. Anyone who wasn't good at games wouldn't be hired.
These employees were basically there to play games with Zhao Zihao. Any other work was just a side business. No one really cared if the company was losing money; Zhao Zihao was just running it for fun.
A while back, Chen Mo heard that Zhao Zihao was thinking about starting a club, but the investment was too big, so he hadn't decided yet.
Zhao Zihao didn't put on any airs at all. He wasn't like the typical rich second-generation kid. He spent all his time thinking about playing games. In college, he often hung out with Chen Mo and the others at internet cafes, and was frequently teased by Chen Mo's other buddy, Lin Mao, as: "A rich second-generation's body, a loser's heart."
As for Chen Mo's other buddy, Lin Mao, he was a game designer just like Chen Mo. He had actually obtained his D-level designer qualification right after graduating from college and was now focused on developing his own independent game.
Among the three of them, Chen Mo studied literature, Zhao Zihao studied finance, and Lin Mao was the only one who had formally graduated from a game design program.
The three of them had met in a college gaming club during their freshman year and had been very close ever since. They were among the few good friends Chen Mo had in this world.
...
Around noon, Chen Mo went for a walk nearby to get familiar with the area around the experience shop. Then he found a small eatery, went in, and ordered a rice bowl with toppings.
While he ate, he pulled out his phone and checked the news.
Sure enough, the game competition was covered by the gaming sections of many media outlets, and there were quite a few comments.
"Game Design Competition Concludes, Who Won the 300,000 Prize and the Experience Shop?"
"A Strange Bird Snatches the Game Design Competition Championship!"
"Audience Member: Felt Like the Most Brutal Mini-Game Ever"
"Hours of Gameplay, This Game is Addictive!"
"Judge Rages: This Counts as a Game?!"
"Flappy Bird Designer: Judges Lack Objectivity"
"Founder of Hengyou Network Praises This Mini-Game to the Skies"
Chen Mo scrolled through these news articles. They basically recreated the scene of the competition, but the media had all focused on his argument with Shi Huazhe, obviously trying to use it as a gimmick to stir up the topic.
There were also videos from the scene. Shi Huazhe's commentary and Chen Mo's final speech were being played on repeat, generating a lot of heat.
Chen Mo didn't really care about this. For him, having the media help stir up buzz was a good thing. The more players who knew about him, the lower the user acquisition cost for his future games would be, and it would save him a lot on advertising expenses.
There was a term in this era called "attention economy," and it applied to the game industry as well.
The richer the information, the more precious the user's attention became. For two similar games, if one went completely unnoticed while the other was already the subject of heated discussion before its release, then even if the latter's quality was inferior to the former, its revenue would far exceed it.
If you had a fan group of 5,000 people who did everything you said, you could rely on that fan group to support yourself, whether through a Taobao store, game channels, or any other monetization method.
Just then, Chen Mo noticed a game media outlet had published an exclusive interview with Shi Huazhe.
On the screen, Shi Huazhe's face was grim. He said to the camera: "What I said to this contestant Chen Mo was advice given from the perspective of someone with more experience. But he took it as me belittling him. How ridiculous."
"I still hold the same view. The game industry is one that requires great sincerity and accumulation. This contestant Chen Mo won't go far. I believe his next game won't sell more than 100,000 copies in its first month."
Chen Mo laughed. This Shi Huazhe was really a stubborn duck—hard-mouthed even when dead. No matter how much he was shut down, he just wouldn't admit defeat.
Chen Mo silently opened Weibo.
His Weibo account had already been verified with his real name. After becoming a D-level designer and the competition champion, this information had been updated.
Chen Mo directly reposted that interview on Weibo, adding a comment: "Aren't you going to eat something?" Then he tagged the official accounts of several game media outlets.
You want to mess with me, huh? Fine, I'll play along!
In no time, Chen Mo's Weibo exploded!
The official accounts of several game media outlets saw that Chen Mo had responded and, smelling a "big story," quickly reposted it!
Game Info Net, Sky Net, WeChat News Game Channel... Even a high-level executive from Di Chao Mutual Entertainment reposted it!
With all this commotion, a large number of players noticed Chen Mo's Weibo post!
"Chen Mo? Is that the competition champion?"
"Is this the real person?"
"It must be, look at the verified name."
"Whoa, what's this all about? Is he going to fight to the death?"
"This kid has some character, I appreciate him!"
"What does his sentence mean? What does he want Shi Huazhe to eat?"
"... Dude upstairs, did your village just get internet access?"
These players were having a blast in the comments section of Chen Mo's Weibo.
What Chen Mo said, "Aren't you going to eat something?" was actually a meme. Because people online often make predictions, and to create a gimmick, they often add "If I'm wrong, I'll eat shit" or "If I'm wrong, I'll eat my mouse," and so on. The things they eat are all kinds of weird and wonderful. So when encountering a prediction post, many netizens would reply: "Aren't you going to eat something?"
Chen Mo's meaning was very clear: "Shi Huazhe, you say my next game won't sell 100,000 copies in its first month. What if it does? Aren't you going to eat something?"
Soon, the reposts and replies under this Weibo post began to skyrocket. One hundred, three hundred, five hundred!
And enthusiastic netizens were even tagging Shi Huazhe, loving to watch the drama unfold.
Chen Mo was much calmer than Shi Huazhe. This matter wasn't enough to bother him. In fact, Chen Mo didn't dislike hype. If hype could bring attention to his next game, why not?
Soon, Shi Huazhe replied: "Boring!"
Chen Mo was amused. Shi Huazhe really didn't dare to take the bet.
Under the Weibo post, the onlookers were sighing in disappointment. Some were still fanning the flames, urging Shi Huazhe to bet with Chen Mo, saying he could eat a keyboard or a mouse.
Shi Huazhe simply played dead and stopped replying altogether.
Chen Mo smiled and put his phone away. For him, this was just a minor episode, nothing to take to heart.