Chapter 173: A Battle of Wits and Willpower
Everyone was pretty excited, after all, this was their own booth. It was a whole different concept from someone else's booth, and it was so well-decorated that it was completely on par with Imperial Dynasty Interactive and Zen Interactive.
Over at the *Onmyoji* side, there were a ton of phones and tablets, all with demo accounts. The entire SSR collection was unlocked, which thrilled the players to no end.
"Damn, so this is what having a full SSR set feels like? I'm literally moved to tears!"
"There are so many SSRs, which ones should I play?"
"Can I just steal this account and take it home? I don't want to leave!"
"Gods above, let me absorb a little bit of that luck!!"
The players were all lining up in long queues, waiting for their turn to try it out. The line kept getting longer, almost stretching all the way over to the Imperial Dynasty Interactive booth!
The staff at Imperial Dynasty Interactive were fuming. You can't beat us in making games, and now you're going to outdo us at running a booth too?
There's no way they could take that lying down!
If they just swallowed their pride, where would Imperial Dynasty Interactive's face be?
Chen Mu's players were just getting into it when suddenly, all sorts of lights started flashing over at the Imperial Dynasty Interactive booth. Along with a thumping dance track, a bunch of girls with exposed midriffs and legs started dancing!
This dance immediately drew over a lot of the wandering players nearby. The girls were putting in a lot of effort, clearly a professional dance troupe. Their bold moves had the male onlookers cheering wildly!
"Holy crap, that's amazing! I can't take my eyes off the girl third from the left!"
"Yeah, those long legs, dancing like that is just lethal!"
"Hurry up, hurry up, I'm recording this!"
"Imperial Dynasty Interactive really knows how to put on a show, awesome!"
"Forget playing SSRs, I want to watch the girls!"
Over at Chen Mu's side, everyone was expressing their indignation. What was this? A proper game exhibition, and they're turning it into a dance party? You're a big company, can't you just focus on making good games instead of resorting to these shady tricks? Have you no shame?
Shameful, utterly shameful!
Chen Mu wasn't having it. "Oh yeah? You think you're the only one who can do that? Bring it on! Hit the music!"
Chen Mu waved at the staff behind him, and the speakers over here started blasting music too!
As soon as everyone heard the intro, they felt something was off. Why did it sound so familiar?
Then they listened more closely and almost spat blood. Holy crap, *Guren no Yumiya*!
As soon as the music started, the cosplayers over at the *Onmyoji* booth immediately got into action, running to the front of the booth and starting to dance in perfect unison!
The bystanders who hadn't had their fill yet were drawn back over.
"Holy crap, Thunderbolt Interactive is joining in too?"
"Damn, using *Guren no Yumiya*! That's so shameless!"
"Damn it, this melody is way too catchy! I can't get it out of my head! I can't even watch Imperial Dynasty's dancing anymore!"
"Look, there's a girl over there who got caught up in it too, she's off the beat, hahahaha..."
"I have to go check that out. I've never seen so many cosplayers dancing *Guren no Yumiya* together."
"Yeah, let's go over there!"
As *Guren no Yumiya* played, many of the swaying bystanders were pulled back over to Chen Mu's side, and the crowd at the Imperial Dynasty Interactive booth actually started to thin out.
The staff at Imperial Dynasty Interactive felt like spitting blood. What was this? There was no way they could let this slide!
If they couldn't beat Chen Mu at making games, fine. But they absolutely could not lose at running a booth!
Soon, both sides finished their dances. Many of the onlookers were still gathered around the Thunderbolt Interactive booth, shouting, "Encore!"
But just as the dance ended, a staff member from Imperial Dynasty Interactive grabbed a megaphone and shouted, "*Oracle of the Moon* competitive challenge! All players are welcome to participate! The champion gets a top-tier gaming mouse!"
The crowd was in an uproar again!
"Wow, a competition? And there's a prize?"
"*Oracle of the Moon* is a mobile game, right? I've played it a bit, I'm pretty good!"
"Let's go check it out!"
"Top-tier gaming mouse, that's a pretty good prize!"
A bunch of players who had been hovering around the *Onmyoji* booth were drawn over by the competition.
Qian Kun was getting anxious. "Boss, we should do one too!"
Chen Mu was speechless. "I didn't prepare for that! Give me a second, let me think."
While he was pondering, Zou Zhuo, who had been quietly playing *Warcraft* since they arrived, came over. "Boss, Goph and the others are here. They're asking which hall we're in."
Chen Mu was taken aback. "Huh? They came to the game exhibition too?"
Zou Zhuo nodded. "Yeah, they all came together. I've been chatting with them in the group. They just found out *Warcraft* has a booth too and are heading this way."
"Great." Chen Mu was delighted. "Tell them to hurry over and save the day. We're in Hall N2, right next to Imperial Dynasty Interactive."
Not long after, A, Wan Feng, and Kaiser—all the old familiar faces from the ladder—had arrived!
Chen Mu shoved the megaphone into Qian Kun's hands. "Go, promote the hell out of it!"
"You got it." Qian Kun took the megaphone, stood on a high spot, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Attention all *Warcraft* players! The ladder gods are all here! Come over and get their autographs!"
Kaiser, Wan Feng, and the others were all quite popular on streaming platforms. Seeing them all together instantly drew a lot of attention.
"Hey? It really is them! All the ladder gods are gathered!"
"Holy crap, I just got Chen Mu's autograph and thought that was good enough, but now all these gods are here? This ticket was totally worth it!"
"Go get their autographs!"
"Are the gods going to play? I want to watch from their perspective!"
Before this wave of spectators, when Su Jinyu and the others hadn't even entered yet, many people had already gotten Chen Mu's autograph. They thought that was it, but then another batch of gods showed up, and all at once!
A large crowd of *Warcraft* players swarmed over. Wan Feng and the others hadn't even reached the booth before they were surrounded by fans!
Goph was speechless too. This Chen Mu, they had just arrived!
There was no helping it. The fans were enthusiastic, so the gods took turns signing autographs. It took over ten minutes to finish.
Goph walked up to the front of the booth and said to Chen Mu, "I've got to say, you're really something. We came all this way to support you, haven't even had a sip of hot water, and you're already using us to draw a crowd. How do you plan things so well!"
Chen Mu laughed heartily. "Don't be mad, don't be mad. How about a game?"
Goph rolled his eyes. "Screw you! I'm in a good mood today, I don't want to get tortured by you!"
As soon as these *Warcraft* gods showed their faces, they instantly stole the spotlight from Imperial Dynasty Interactive again. What was their little online game competition compared to having real, legitimate RTS gods?
The staff at Imperial Dynasty Interactive were practically fuming. What was going on? How did Chen Mu have so much pull?
And why did these RTS gods have to show up right when they were running their event? Couldn't they have come earlier or later?
No choice. Time to pull out the big guns!
A staff member grabbed the megaphone and shouted, "Imperial Dynasty Interactive's latest VR game, *Gun God's Journey*, is available for early access! Limited game pods, first come, first served!"
The bystanders hesitated again!
"What's that? *Gun God's Journey*? The shooter game that's been hyped for a while?"
"I heard the quality is really good, and it's a VR version!"
"I've got to go try that!"
"Forget it, I'll come back for autographs later. If I'm late, I definitely won't get a spot!"
Another wave of players was drawn away by Imperial Dynasty Interactive's new game!