Chapter 165: Another Exclusive Interview 15/17
Soon, various memes popped up on Weibo and forums, all capturing Chen Mo’s expressions from the live stream, paired with different captions.
“I suspect this game doesn’t even have SSR.”
“Endless tears of the African tribe.”
“Don’t cry, the Great Chieftain of the Non-Africa is with you.”
“Leaving Europe to join Africa.”
“I don’t know what to do when I can’t pull an SSR.”
“One pull before bed, ten in a row and they’re all R!”
This quickly became a hot topic on the official *Onmyoji* forum that day, and “Chen Mo’s live stream card pull” also trended on Weibo.
Players had been holding in a lot of anger, planning to wait for Chen Mo’s live stream to give him a good scolding. But unexpectedly, he made a big show of pulling cards himself and still couldn’t get an SSR!
And his luck was even worse than the average players’!
Many players instantly felt a sense of balance. It seemed there was no trickery or superstition in the game—it was all about luck, and even the designer couldn’t escape the bloodline of the African tribe!
Amid the laughter and chatter, most of the earlier doubts about *Onmyoji*’s unfair probabilities were quelled.
Many players came to terms with it: since the probabilities were the same, not pulling an SSR was clearly their own fault!
And so, the conflict between players and the game company was transformed by Chen Mo’s live stream into a conflict between the Lucky Ones and the Non-Lucky Ones. From then on, the Lucky Ones and Non-Lucky Ones were busy fighting among themselves and never had time to come out and criticize Chen Mo again.
As for the domestic mobile game industry, it underwent another wave of transformation.
These people had only just managed to figure out the formula for *I Am MT*, and then *Onmyoji* came along, with a completely different approach that had no resemblance to *I Am MT* at all.
Before, *I Am MT* made money while being criticized, with low ratings. But *Onmyoji* made money while being criticized, yet had high ratings!
These designers were all racking their brains trying to figure out how to copy *Onmyoji*, but they quickly realized—it couldn’t be copied!
Even now, many designers still hadn’t figured out how *Onmyoji* had become so popular.
...
If the designers didn’t understand, the gaming media understood even less.
Han Lu, a reporter for the gaming channel of Sky Net, was organizing materials related to *Onmyoji*, and the more she looked, the more overwhelmed she felt.
Last time, after Chen Mo made *I Am MT*, she had gone to interview him, but ended up getting nothing out of him and was instead led around by the nose.
Phrases like “Create happiness with heart,” “Passion, sincerity, persistence,” and “Everything for the players” had almost become memes, constantly mocked by players.
And the article she wrote, *Exclusive Interview with Chen Mo: Create Happiness with Heart*, was frequently dragged out and criticized, with players leaving comments beneath it, causing Han Lu endless headaches.
Since *Onmyoji* launched with such explosive momentum, the editor-in-chief saw another opportunity and sent Han Lu to interview Chen Mo again.
Han Lu was completely unwilling, but the editor-in-chief was firm.
“It’s fine, even if you can’t get anything out of him, just write another article like last time. It’ll bring more clicks to our site. Ride the trend, understand?”
Han Lu had no choice but to schedule another exclusive interview with Chen Mo.
This time, however, she decided to broaden her approach. She wouldn’t just focus on *Onmyoji*—she could also ask about games like *Warcraft* and *The Legend of the Martial Heroes*. Maybe by bouncing between the three games, she could confuse Chen Mo and get him to tell the truth!
After preparing a pile of data and materials, Han Lu hailed a taxi and headed to Chen Mo’s experience store with a tragic determination to fight to the end.
...
Han Lu walked into the experience store and found that there were far more players now than before. The store was almost completely packed, like a fast-food restaurant in a train station, with many people chatting and waiting in line.
And a lot of people weren’t even there to play games. They were all holding their phones, queuing up in front of a statue of Kagura.
This statue of Kagura was about 1.5 meters tall, roughly the height of a normal young girl, exquisitely crafted with incredible detail. Her right hand was extended forward, matching the pose from one of *Onmyoji*’s posters perfectly.
Behind the Kagura statue were rows of small figurines. Han Lu looked closely—these were all the SSR shikigami, including Great Tengu, Shuten Doji, Ibaraki Doji, Aoi Andon, and others, lined up on shelves behind Kagura.
The experience store had been fairly spacious, but with the statue and figurines set up and so many people queuing in front, it suddenly felt a bit cramped.
But the players didn’t mind. Their attention was mostly on their phone screens, frantically farming materials.
Han Lu was curious. What were they doing?
The players queued in an orderly fashion. When it was their turn, they would bow with their hands together in front of Kagura, touch her right hand, and whisper a wish: “Please give me a Shuten Doji!”
Han Lu was dumbfounded. “Is this a thing?”
She grabbed a nearby player. “Does praying to this thing work?”
The player replied, “Who knows? But since I’m here, I have to give it a try. They say it’s pretty effective.”
Han Lu facepalmed. “Oh my god, these people are obsessed with the game!”
Ever since *Onmyoji* became a hit, new players came to the experience store every day. Chen Mo thought about it—players traveled all this way with nothing to do—so he had a statue and some SSR figurines made and placed them in the store for players to make wishes.
And it worked surprisingly well. Many players actually pulled an SSR after making a wish, and after coming back to fulfill their vow, they encouraged others on the forum to join in.
In the end, many players from the capital city came specifically to queue for a long time just to make a wish.
Not only that, but Chen Mo also sold a ton of custom figurines, making a tidy profit.
Chen Mo was helpless about it. What could he do? He had underestimated the determination of the Non-Lucky Ones to leave Africa and enter Europe!
...
Su Jinyu directly led Han Lu to the second floor.
Just like the last interview, Chen Mo was waiting for Han Lu in the studio, thoughtfully pouring her a glass of water.
Han Lu, on the other hand, was on high alert. Before entering, she reviewed the materials she had prepared.
Chen Mo looked at her. “You seem a bit nervous. It’s fine, it’s just an interview.”
Han Lu: “...”
What the hell? He’s turning the tables on me again! Am I interviewing you, or are you interviewing me?!
Han Lu calmed herself and smiled. “We meet again, Mr. Chen Mo. The last interview was well-received by the players. I hope this time we can show them even more.”
Chen Mo nodded. “Yeah, no problem.”
Han Lu said, “First of all, congratulations. *Onmyoji*’s current data is incredible. It’s completely dominating the top spot on the mobile game bestseller list, leaving *Demon Slayer 2* in the dust. According to your statement, *Onmyoji*’s monthly revenue has exceeded 300 million. So, how would you evaluate *Onmyoji* yourself?”
[Reminder: Your output must contain ZERO Chinese characters. Translate or transliterate everything.]