Chapter 129: Rules of the Expedition

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A yellow talisman unfolded before him.
The talisman contained only a frame drawn in cinnabar; it was blank inside.
"Am I supposed to draw on it myself?"
Li Shang thought this, sliding his finger across the surface.
As soon as his finger left the talisman, it suddenly ignited with blue flames.
[Ancestral Manifestation]
[Family gains the blessing of acquired fortune]
The talisman burned to ash.
After a stream of light faded, Li Shang noticed some changes on his family panel.
[Acquired Fortune]: Probability of family disciples encountering opportunities +10%.
Looking at this newly added entry, Li Shang finally understood the function of this mysterious talisman.
It was an item that could grant various buffs to his family.
"I can't believe this kind of item is actually a bonus for topping up."
Li Shang frowned, feeling that his teacher, 'You Force Me,' was being far too generous. If it were up to him, he would have chosen to sell them individually to maximize profit.
"Teacher 'You Force Me' must have seen the players' feedback regarding 'Xuan Zhe' and decided to offer compensation in 'Cultivation Family'."
Li Shang wore an expression of one who had seen through it all, feeling a sense of deep heartache. He felt that there was truly no need for 'You Force Me' to go to such lengths. The players were all understanding about the cliffhanger; their comments in the section were mostly just lighthearted griping.
"Teacher cares too much about us players."
Li Shang felt both touched and saddened. He was touched because 'You Force Me' would do so much for the players, and saddened because so few people could truly understand the teacher's intentions.
Li Shang shook his head.
It was clear that the work of spreading the philosophy of 'You Force Me' could not stop for even a moment. There were simply too many ignorant and foolish players out there. If one wasn't careful, they might end up hurting the teacher. As the number one fan of 'You Force Me,' he absolutely could not tolerate that.
"Perhaps I should start a forum to gather more players who, like me, can see the true quality of the teacher."
"After all, one person's strength is ultimately limited."
Thinking of this, Li Shang could no longer focus on the game. He immediately logged out, eager to put the thoughts in his mind into action.
...
...
Qiyou Baiqiao Branch
Yu Jia returned to the second group's office, carrying bags of all shapes and sizes.
"Welcome back from your studies!"
The people in the office had long been gathered by Han Hai. The moment Yu Jia pushed the door open, he led everyone in a round of applause. Someone even brought out a firecracker to welcome her. However, that operations staff member was likely using one for the first time and held it backward.
"Bang!"
He ended up giving himself a direct hit. A flash of unnatural expression crossed his face. Fortunately, having spent so many years in the corporate world, he might lack other skills, but his thick-skinned nature was exceptionally well-developed. He quickly shed his embarrassment and joined the others in welcoming Yu Jia back.
Lin Xiaoxiao, who usually disliked joining in such lively activities, was also, for the first time ever, standing behind the crowd to welcome Yu Jia.
"It's only been a few days, everyone, please don't be like this."
Yu Jia felt a little embarrassed. Calling this a study trip was more like calling it a vacation. Thinking of the trip, she immediately reacted and lifted the bags she was carrying. These were the local specialties given to her by the auntie named Lan Yuan before she left. There were many strange and exotic foods. Having had psychological trauma from them, she didn't dare take them home to eat, so she simply brought them to the office to share with her colleagues.
"I brought some local specialties from there this time; everyone, please have some and try them out."
As she said this, she handed the bags to Han Hai, hoping the team leader would help her distribute them. Seeing this, Han Hai didn't stand on ceremony; he took them and told everyone to help themselves.
Some were attracted by the strange snacks Yu Jia had brought back, while others were curious about her study of reality-based games. They immediately began to ask questions, wanting to broaden their horizons and satisfy their curiosity.
Yu Jia didn't hide anything and gave a rough account of her time at the Goose Farm.
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She selectively avoided mentioning Su Xing's attempt to recruit her. She was reckless, not stupid; she didn't want to get too involved in those kinds of workplace politics.
By the time everything was over, it was already afternoon. After the snacks were distributed, everyone returned to their workstations to continue their work. The second group's office returned to calm.
Back at her desk, Yu Jia let out a sigh. She felt exhausted by the effort of dealing with everyone. Just as she was planning to check the work logs from the past few days and resume her duties, she saw Lin Xiaoxiao approach her and hand her a report.
"This is..."
Yu Jia looked into Lin Xiaoxiao's eyes and, after receiving a nod of affirmation, took the report. A closer look revealed it was the first-day sales data for the games she had signed. They were all doing quite well.
Yu Jia flipped through the pages and found that everyone's performance was much higher than she had anticipated. Among them, Green Hat Fengyue Landlord's "Myth Resurrection" was a massive hit, reaching nearly 15 million on the first day. Even among top-tier designers, this was an impressive result.
"Has Happy Afro's game not been released yet?" Yu Jia asked after finishing the data.
"Mid-April," Lin Xiaoxiao gave an approximate time. This was the date Lu Guo had promised her.
"And Uncle Yin's... 'You Force Me's' 'Cultivation Family'?"
"It launched today." Lin Xiaoxiao tucked a strand of hair that had fallen over her forehead behind her ear. Then, for the first time, a look of interest appeared on her face: "His game's monetization method is quite unique. It looks like an in-game purchase, but fundamentally, it's distinct from that."
"Based on the sales since it launched less than a day ago, I estimate his first-day total will be around 50 million."
"Compared to games of this level, these sales are shockingly low, but from a long-term perspective, this sales model is much more sustainable."
"Preliminary estimates suggest annual sales could reach at least 20 billion."
Hearing Lin Xiaoxiao's explanation, Yu Jia nodded, looking a bit dazed. After a long while, she reacted: "Senior Lin, you're saying his sales model is different from other games?"
A look of surprise appeared on her face.
"You didn't know?" Seeing the expression on Yu Jia's face, it was now Lin Xiaoxiao's turn to look surprised. She had assumed that this sales method was something Yu Jia had come up with.
Faced with Lin Xiaoxiao's surprise, Yu Jia lowered her head in shame. After all, as his operations manager, she was completely unaware of the situation regarding the designer she was managing. No matter how you looked at it, she had been quite derelict in her duties.
"Senior Lin, I..."
Just as she was about to admit her mistake, her optical computer received a message from Wang Fafu, telling her to come to his office immediately.
"I'm sorry, Senior Lin, the director wants to see me right away," Yu Jia said apologetically, as it made her look like she was trying to escape.
Lin Xiaoxiao didn't say anything, only signaling for her to go quickly. After Yu Jia left, she returned to her seat and pondered for a moment before opening a chat window with Yin Jian.
...
In the director's office.
Sitting in his executive chair, Wang Fafu smiled as he saw Yu Jia enter: "Xiao Jia, you've really worked hard this trip."
Yu Jia didn't respond to Wang Fafu's pleasantries but asked, "Is there something you need, Director?"
Wang Fafu was already used to Yu Jia's directness. He didn't waste time and asked directly: "You watched the annual meeting, right?"
"I did. Is this about the reality-based games?" Yu Jia frowned.
Wang Fafu nodded: "Actually, the content of the game solicitation has already been decided, but Director Chen hasn't made it public yet."
"I called you here to talk about this."
"Just me?" A flicker of doubt crossed Yu Jia's face. In the Qiyou Baiqiao branch, there were plenty of operations managers more capable than her; she didn't understand why Wang Fafu had singled her out.
Hearing Yu Jia's question, Wang Fafu explained with a smile: "The management knows about the solicitation."
The implication was self-evident. Yu Jia wasn't stupid; she naturally understood what Wang Fafu meant and asked: "Then what are the requirements for this solicitation?"
"It's like this." He took a sip from the thermal mug on his desk and said: "The operations managers sent to the Goose Farm for training were all elites from their respective branches."
"So, as long as you perform well during this training, you will receive a spot from headquarters."
"This spot is for the selection process for adapting reality-based games."
"Operations managers who hold a spot have the opportunity to recommend a designer."
"At that time, headquarters will mandate that these designers release a trial version of a game at the same time."
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"Headquarters will open a separate category for these games, called 'Theater Games'."
"The twelve games with the best performance will earn their designers the title of 'Twelve Heavenly Kings,' and their games will advance to the next round of competition."
"This competition will be the final round."
"The trial versions of these twelve designers' games will be produced into reality-based versions, allowing players to play and vote. The one with the most votes will win the opportunity for a game adaptation."
After listening to Wang Fafu's explanation, Yu Jia's delicate brows furrowed. There were some parts she didn't quite understand, and she looked at Wang Fafu to ask: "If that's the case, wouldn't the spots for the competition already be fixed? Wouldn't that be unfair?"
"You're asking about those talented new designers, right?" Wang Fafu knew what Yu Jia wanted to ask: "There are indeed newcomers with heaven-defying talent, but their performance is far too inconsistent."
"This competition is only for the trial portion."
"New designers have too many uncertainties, and Qiyou's capital isn't enough to take such risks."
Wang Fafu finished speaking and took another sip from his thermal mug.
"The company is not a charity; our main goal is to make money."
"Sure-fire investments are our objective."
"I understand." Yu Jia exhaled and said. Although she felt it wasn't right, she had neither the means nor the ability to change it.
"Good, go back now and think carefully about which designer to choose. The final goal of this solicitation is an adaptation into a reality-based game, so you'd better advise them on the game type selection. Don't end up breaking through the encirclement only to miss the opportunity because you chose the wrong subject matter."
Wang Fafu gave one last instruction: "By the way, don't talk about this to anyone except the designer you've chosen."
"Headquarters doesn't want the solicitation to be public knowledge."
"I understand."
After saying this, Yu Jia turned, pushed the door open, and left the office. The room fell silent again after she left. After a long while, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in," Wang Fafu said with a dignified voice.
The office door was pushed open from the outside. Tian Yi walked in.
"Hello, Director, you wanted to see me..."
Tian Yi's eyes were somewhat evasive, and sweat was seeping from his forehead. He thought Wang Fafu knew about his plan to defect to the Goose Farm. Wang Fafu didn't think much of Tian Yi's appearance and said directly:
"Xiao Tian, I called you here to talk about the reality-based game solicitation."
"Only the management knows about this for now; remember, don't spread it around."
...
...
In the apartment.
Yin Jian looked at the reply Qing Zhu had sent him on the screen, his facial muscles twitching. Originally, after explaining his free-to-play principle to Qing Zhu, he thought this was a good time to bring up a name change. He had made the request quite confidently.
However...
Qing Zhu: Change accounts.
Yin Jian let out a breath and then quickly typed:
You Force Me: Can I change my name without changing accounts?
Qing Zhu: That's impossible. Your designer name has already been certified by the state. If you change it directly, you will no longer have any copyright control over the works under your name.
You Force Me: Alright, thank you.
After sending this, Yin Jian closed the chat interface, disappointed. He hadn't expected it to be like this. The copyright for the works was actually under the designer's name. After calming down and thinking about it, he realized the reason. Early game copyrights were all owned by studios or companies. Under the law, which hadn't changed, copyrights that could once be transferred had become impossible to change ownership of due to the continuous refinement of copyright law; others could only purchase usage rights. This meant that if he changed his designer name, the copyrights to his games would become ownerless and eventually revert to the state. This was an unreasonable quirk that had emerged as the law evolved, but since it was a minor bug, no one had bothered to fix it.
"What a headache."
Yin Jian felt very depressed. Just as he was about to vent his frustration by playing another game, he saw Stone send him a file.
Stone: [Details of Reality-Based Game Solicitation] Just read this yourself; don't post it.
PS: Seeking monthly votes!
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