Chapter 76: The Players' "Affection"
Chen Mo naturally had no idea what was happening inside Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment. But even if he did, he wouldn't care at all. He had more pressing issues to worry about now.
The experience store.
Chen Mo, wearing sunglasses and a mask, walked in from outside. After repeatedly confirming that no one was following him, he finally relaxed.
Su Jinyu was speechless. "I said, store manager, do you really have to go this far?"
Chen Mo took off his sunglasses and mask, grabbed a can of drink from the beverage cooler beside him, and sighed. "Hey, how could I not? I'm just looking out for my own personal safety."
Wen Lingwei, while playing *I Am MT*, said, "Come on, you. Do you really think you're some big celebrity?"
Chen Mo replied helplessly, "Not at all. I'm not a big celebrity; I'm clearly a public enemy."
Chang Xiuya chuckled. "Store manager, stop adding drama to yourself. You're just a designer. Who's constantly thinking about you?"
Chen Mo said, "I don't like hearing that. Let me break it down for you. Right now, *I Am MT* has nearly three million players. My Weibo followers have skyrocketed to over two hundred thousand. I'm basically a small-time internet celebrity now, right?"
Wen Lingwei rubbed her forehead. "Are you still dreaming of being an internet celebrity?"
Chen Mo said, "What do you mean 'dreaming'? I am one now. Look at my Weibo—hundreds of people tag me every day. This is all the players' love for me."
Wen Lingwei gave him a "are you f***ing kidding me" look. "Those are all people asking for your address so they can send you razor blades!"
Chen Mo said, "The players can't help but want to send me gifts. Isn't that love?"
Wen Lingwei was stunned. After three seconds, she decided to ignore this shameless bastard and continued grinding the arena.
Su Jinyu said, "Oh, by the way, store manager, a player really did send another batch of razor blades. I put them by your bedside."
Chen Mo was startled. "What the hell?! Why would you put them by my bedside? Take them away, take them away. We'll sell them to a scrap collector another day."
Su Jinyu said, "Honestly, if we sold those blades, we could buy a few ice cream bars."
Chen Mo said, "That's why I say I need to watch my personal safety now. What if a passionate player actually ganks me? That would be bad."
Su Jinyu was confused. "Gank? What's that?"
Chen Mo paused for a moment, then said, "Oh, it's a dialect from my hometown. It means something like 'catch.'"
Jia Peng said, "But *I Am MT* is really popular right now. Yesterday on the subway, I saw four or five people playing it."
Chang Xiuya said, "There are also a lot of classmates playing it at school."
Wen Lingwei said, "Just go check Weibo and see how many people are cursing the store manager in the trending topics every day. That'll tell you how popular this game is."
Jia Peng said, "That trending topic is pretty funny too. It's called 'Chen Mo, give me back my hard-earned money.'"
Chang Xiuya snickered. "Yeah, a designer getting cursed into trending topics—there's no one else like that."
Chen Mo sighed. "I haven't logged into Weibo for days. Every time I do, my feed explodes with notifications. It's all tags or comments under my posts. I can't even look at it."
Jia Peng said, "And you're not happy about it? How many game designers wish they could get on trending topics but can't?"
Su Jinyu shook her head. "I don't think the store manager wants to get on trending topics this way. If it were me, I'd want to get there because players love me. Honestly, I still think this game is weird, even though the store manager has proven it makes a lot of money."
Chen Mo said, "You're overthinking it. I don't care about trending topics at all. As long as I'm making money, that's fine. Making a fortune quietly is the best."
Everyone: "...We really overestimated your integrity! Money-grubbing store manager!"
Su Jinyu asked, "Speaking of which, store manager, what's our next game? If it's another *I Am MT*, I'm going on strike."
Jia Peng also said, "Yeah, I agree. An anime adaptation is fine, but let's not make too many games like this."
Wen Lingwei said, "A unlucky person like you really isn't suited for this kind of game."
Jia Peng: "..."
Chen Mo waved his hand. "We're not doing this kind of game next. I need to recover. Making games like this all the time will shorten your lifespan."
Wen Lingwei said, "Oh? I didn't know you were superstitious, store manager."
Chen Mo said, "Hey, it's not superstition. If I make another game like this, I might accidentally create a few angry unlucky players who'll come after me with knives. That's what I mean by shortening my lifespan."
Wen Lingwei was speechless. "So that's what you meant by shortening your lifespan!"
Su Jinyu asked, "Then what are we going to make? Store manager, just tell us."
Chen Mo said, "Oh, I'm planning to take a week off first."
Everyone: "Meow meow meow?!"
Chen Mo was a bit surprised by their reactions. "What's wrong? I just made a game with a monthly revenue of twenty million. Taking a week off is perfectly normal and reasonable, isn't it?"
Wen Lingwei: "No ambition!"
Su Jinyu: "No dreams!"
Jia Peng: "Perish in comfort!"
Chang Xiuya: "Store manager, how are you any different from a salted fish?"
Chen Mo thought for a moment. "Well, I'm richer than a salted fish?"
Everyone: "Get lost!"
Su Jinyu said, "Fine, taking a week off isn't a big deal. But after that, store manager, you have to at least give us a hint about what game we're making."
Wen Lingwei nodded. "Yeah, give us a hint. Is *I Am MT* getting any updates?"
Chen Mo said, "Oh, here's what I'm thinking. For the *I Am MT* mobile game, I'll do slow updates. Add a new card or a new level every month or two. After that, I plan to take a break and first make two simpler games."
Su Jinyu was speechless. "What? Store manager, simple games again?"
Chen Mo nodded. "Yeah, even simpler than *I Am MT*. I can basically finish them by myself. As for the other one, I'll let you use it for practice."
Su Jinyu rubbed her forehead. "Store manager, not to criticize you, but you've got players, you've got money. How are you getting less ambitious? Everyone else makes games more and more complex, but you—starting from *Plants vs. Zombies*—each game is simpler than the last. What's going on?"
Wen Lingwei said, "Exactly. You're a salted fish with no dreams!"
Chen Mo said, "What's the problem? My motto is: if I can make money with a simple game, I'll never make a complex one! Why carry the team when you can win by lying down?"
Everyone: "...We don't really understand what you're saying."
Chen Mo said, "Alright, anyway, everyone's been working hard lately. Let's rest well this week. I need a good rest too. Don't worry, after I finish the next game, I'll start preparing a masterpiece—the kind that'll set me up for life."
Su Jinyu rubbed her forehead. "Oh no, the store manager is bragging again."
Wen Lingwei was speechless. "You can't believe a single punctuation mark of what he says."
Chang Xiuya: "Really? Is it really that kind of super amazing masterpiece?"
Wen Lingwei was speechless. "Xiuya, you actually believe him?! Are you a single-celled organism?!"