Chapter 162: Other Card Games Are Panicking 12/17
As soon as this Weibo post went live, the players of *Onmyoji* were dumbfounded.
"What the hell? This is a friendly reminder?"
"The most important thing in this game is your face? This game doesn't have SSR? Oh man, is this official trolling?"
"Hahaha, why is Chen Mo roasting himself? This is hilarious."
"Chen Mo is full of mischief, saying the more cringey the incantation, the easier it is to pull an SSR? And you have to shout 'Balala the Little Fairy'? I almost believed it!"
"Chen Mo is really good at self-deprecation. I was planning to trash *Onmyoji*, but I found out he trashes it better than I ever could!"
Amidst the laughter and joy, countless card game players stepped right into the trap Chen Mo had so carefully laid.
...
The sustained popularity of *Onmyoji* quickly spread to the player bases of other card games.
At some company.
"Have you played *Onmyoji*?"
"No, I've just heard it's been popular lately. Have you? How is it?"
"It's addictive! I've already uninstalled all my other card games."
"What? No way, right?"
"Yes way! This game is too fun. I stare at my phone every day, and before I know it, work is over. Before I know it, it's time to sleep. I have neither the time nor the mood to play other card games."
"No way, right?"
"Seriously, just try it and you'll see. After playing *Onmyoji*, all those other card games feel so shoddily made, I just can't play them anymore."
"Alright, I'll give it a shot too."
...
At some school.
"Holy crap!!!! I pulled an SSR!! Great Tengu!!!"
"Damn, seriously? How did you pull it? Did you spend money?"
"No money spent! After lunch today, I just felt like doing a single pull, and it gave me Great Tengu!"
"Let me see. Wow, the skills, the effects, the design—awesome! I want one so bad!"
"You pull too."
"Pull again? I've already spent over two hundred bucks and haven't even seen a single SSR! Forget it, I'll recharge another three hundred later. I refuse to believe it!"
...
In some player group.
"Umbrella-Feathered Crow is the king of PvP. Fight me if you disagree!"
"My Serpent, Vampire Bat, and Mirror Maiden disagree!"
"What are you guys even talking about? I only have one SR, Snow Woman."
"Non-Luckies, get lost!"
"I don't know what you're all arguing about. My five SSRs are just silently watching you all without saying a word."
"Wow, Lucky One, please let me latch onto your leg!"
"Rich guy, please support me! Do you need any leg hairs?"
...
Official forum of *Onmyoji*.
"Chen Mo was right—this game has no SSR! I feel cheated!"
"Just started today. Can someone help me build a decent lineup?"
"Screenshot your shikigami and send it to me. I'll take a look."
"Lucky Ones can do whatever they want. Non-Luckies can't do anything no matter what."
"Actually, after some research, I found that a lot of R-rank shikigami here are really strong. Some are even better than SSRs after awakening, and they're easier to raise."
"Didn't Chen Mo hint at it? SSR just indicates the card's rarity, not its strength. So it's normal for R-ranks to be strong."
"I've beaten all kinds of SSRs in PvP using just R-ranks. So I think this game is pretty fair. It's not like other card games where you just pay to get rare cards and dominate!"
"But even if you beat an SSR with an R-rank, so what? You're still a Non-Lucky."
"Stop it, upstairs!! Someone drag him out of here!!"
...
Official forum of *Demon Calamity 2*.
"Who's played *Onmyoji*? I think it's way more fun than *Demon Calamity*..."
"Here comes another shill. How much did Chen Mo pay you? I'll give you double from Imperial Dynasty!"
"Damn it, shill my ass. Can we talk properly? This game is genuinely fun."
"Upstairs +1. I've played it too. It's better than *Demon Calamity 2* in every way, especially the story and art quality. It makes me wonder if I'm even playing a mobile game."
"Damn mods deleting my post? Screw this, I'm pissed!"
"Forget it. Everyone says *Onmyoji* is fun, so I'll go try it too. See you all around."
"Upstairs, it's been three days. Is *Onmyoji* good or not? Can you give us an answer?"
...
Soon, the designers of all major card games realized the impact *Onmyoji* was having. The daily active users of every card game on the market had dropped significantly.
*Demon Calamity 2*, with its large player base, fared relatively better. But other card games with poor quality and outdated mechanics saw their daily active users plummet.
As active users crashed, the server ecosystems deteriorated rapidly. Many servers became ghost towns, with no one talking for hours. In player groups, large numbers of people were quitting their old games and flocking to *Onmyoji*.
Naturally, the revenue of these card games also began to plummet.
The designers were running around like ants on a hot pan, but no matter how frantic they got, it was useless. Even Imperial Dynasty Interactive's *Demon Calamity 2* could only watch helplessly. What could they do?
"Daily active users dropped by tens of thousands again today! This is impossible to sustain!"
"Yeah, the revenue numbers are unreadable. At this rate, we'll probably have to shut down the servers in a month at most!"
"The players have all gone to play *Onmyoji*."
"Damn, is this game really that addictive? Even when *Demon Calamity 2* launched, it wasn't this terrifying, was it?"
"Yeah, I don't get it either. Card game players are supposed to have much higher stickiness than other mobile game genres. These players have pulled so many rare cards in our game—are they really just abandoning their accounts?"
"I heard *Demon Calamity 2* is also taking a hit, but we don't know the exact numbers yet."
"It's only been a few days since *Onmyoji* launched, and it's already this fierce?"
"I think *Onmyoji* will soon break into the official app store's bestseller list, even though it launched on both the official app store and Thunder Game Platform."
"I feel the same. *Onmyoji*'s metrics are definitely not bad. At this rate, surpassing *Demon Calamity 2* is just a matter of time!"
"Is Imperial Dynasty Interactive just going to sit there and watch?"
"What else can they do? Buy shills or spam negative reviews? That won't work. This game is at its peak right now, and it has tons of organic fans. Besides, even if they spam negative reviews, it's useless. Card games already have low ratings, and free-to-play game ratings don't matter anyway!"
"Sigh, there's no stopping these crazy players from throwing money into *Onmyoji* now!"
...
Many people were keeping an eye on *Onmyoji*'s progress, but few knew the game's real data.
Because it had only been online for a short time, outsiders could see download numbers and roughly gauge its popularity through search trends and topic buzz. But specific data—like retention rates, daily active users, and monthly revenue—remained unknown.
Many were waiting to see when *Onmyoji* would break into the official app store's bestseller list. Or even knock *Demon Calamity 2* off the top spot?