C30: Who am I provoking?

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'Zhong the clown has been hacked (∥￣■￣∥) !' A user replied

'A reasonable clown can bring joy to people, but what about Zhong the Unreasonable?' Milky Way added

'Did he not bring some joy, Sorry (◞‸◟ㆀ) ?' Cat Empire Mocked

'Damm, Chen Xu. Now Whenever people read my quotes and messages, they are either trolling or sending memes in comments, while others laugh.' Zhong Dabao thought angrily.

'But, I'm now curious about what Chen Xu's new game is. I have a feeling it's unreliable! That may be my chance to get back at him for previous humiliation, Zhong thought.

'Is he getting overconfident?' Zhong was considering this question.

'It's hard to say, but after "Magic Mirror" and "Undertale" success, anyone will get some wings, will he fly arrogantly? Will I get a chance to clip his wings?.' Zhong continued with his thought

On Chen Xu's official blog, many players have been following him since "Magic Mirror" and "Undertale" exploded in popularity. But generally, most shared the same skepticism. The development period seemed too short.

Compared to the players, the industry and media were buzzing with excitement. 

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POV of someone~

Here, I am sitting in my studio at Net Dragon's Thunder Studio, looking at the news on the internet, my hands are trembling. I am trying to restrict these hands from doing something ridiculous. ( (;￣Д￣), why?)

I'm Meng Zuo, the lead designer at Thunder Studio, currently developing a sci-fi game called "Galaxy Hero." It's part of this sci-fi competition project. 

Sounds prestigious, right? Well, not really. NetDragon has too many internal project teams, and the one I lead is just one of them. 

Our budget is only in the millions, which is lower-medium sized by NetDragon's standards. 

This sci-fi expedition is my opportunity to prove myself to my peers and main management. Winning could mean a better position in the gaming world and within Net Dragon, as well as more resources for future projects. Everything was going fine—until Chen Xu decided to make a sci-fi game and enter the same competition. 

That threw my entire plan into chaos. 'But am I too wary?' I questioned myself

It's not like I'm scared of Chen Xu. I agree with many others—there's no way he could produce a quality game in such a short time. But, the problem is after the success of "Magic Mirror" and "Undertale,". Chen Xu is like a magnet with a strong attraction to attention. 

For the media, Chen Xu equals traffic. 

For players, the buzz around "Undertale" hasn't even died down, and they're all watching his next move closely. 

And let's not forget the drama with that scoundrel Zhong. That added more east wind to fuel this fire, boosting Chen Xu's visibility and attracting scrutiny toward his every move. 

This is where things get awkward for me. 

I've already set aside some funds for promoting "Galaxy Hero,". The campaign has started, and I don't want my efforts to be drowned in these waves. 

But, All the attention has been sucked away because of Chen Xu and that typing pig Zhong.

Sure, NetDragon is a leading company in the industry, but the marketing is handled by the operations department, and I'm in the R&D department. 

The operations team won't just hand us promotion time because we're all part of the same company. 

Want to use Net Dragon's channels for publicity? Sure, we'll give you an internal discount of 9.1%. 

Don't have the budget for it? Well, tough luck! 

Looking at all the hot news on the internet—headlines like "Chen Xu's new work to join the sci-fi competition" and "Is Chen Xu, the creator of 'Undertale', getting too cocky?"—I can't help but feel my heart sink. 

This little publicity money I had? Completely wasted! 

"Who has some beef with me?" I mutter to myself, clutching my chest in frustration. 

I even considered going after Chen Xu on social media, hoping to stir up some controversy and get attention for both myself and "Galaxy Hero." 

But I stopped. Not because I thought I'd lose, but because I'm in a different position from Zhong. 

Zhong has an indie studio, and since he is the boss, he can say whatever he wants. But I'm a producer under Net Dragon. If I jump into this fight, it'll be the end of me. 

In the old days, a rebel might rally the people by accusing the government of incompetence.

But if I go head-to-head with Chen Xu right now, it might feel good at the moment, but the consequences would be severe later on. 

Apologizing is a small matter, but I'm afraid the players' hatred for Net Dragon will end up being directed at me. I will thus become a scapegoat. And on top of that, I will be stuck helping other departments take the blame.

Meanwhile, others are making money while I'm stuck here facing various punishments. It's heartbreaking, for those who see it, and humorous for those who hear about it.

Being robbed of popularity is bad enough, but having to bear the blame as well? That's unbearable.

But now?

I'm in a really bad mood!

Especially when I think of Chen Xu, the one who indirectly caused all this. He doesn't even know what's going on, and worse, he wasn't even targeting me specifically. That only makes it more frustrating and unjust.

How wrong can one person feel?

Still, there's a saying that a gentleman's revenge can wait ten years. Even though I can't fully blame Chen Xu, it's all related somehow.

I've already figured out what I'll do when the time comes.

"You've stolen the spotlight for now, but when the contest comes around, we'll let the game and player speak for itself!"

"Honestly, I doubt he'll even pass the review stage, but I'm still hoping he will manage to snag some countdown award, so he'll be invited to the offline award ceremony by the game department."

"When that moment comes, I'll be there in front of countless players, the game department leaders, and the game media. I'll give him a handshake that's as cold as it gets, and I'll smile and say how much I've admired his work, praising his new game like it's something special!"

Closing the page of my little book with envy, I took a deep breath, mentally playing out the scenario of my perfect revenge. The red carpet, the media, the handshake, the speech—it'll be the perfect day of payback, two month from now!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, over at Neon Game, Chen Xu had no idea that someone was already plotting revenge against him.

He was buried in work, balancing the development progress of "To the Moon" while also conducting recruitment interviews.

He'd posted recruitment information on various forums and game development communities, and the title "Undertale" under his name certainly attracted a lot of game professionals.

But there were still too few candidates that met his expectations.

"Recruiting is tough!" Chen Xu sighed as he checked the complete establishment.

He planned to recruit an art deputy to help ease the workload for both him and Ruan Ningxue. In addition, he needed to find a good numerical designer and a level designer.

But none of the candidates he interviewed had potential.

Just then, there was a knock at the office door. After responding, Chen Xu watched as a middle-aged man in his 30s, Zhang Yi, walked in. Zhang is the manager of Neon's game marketing and is responsible for game promotion and related business.

"Mr. Chen, have you finalized the contact information for the relevant personnel?" Zhang asked with a mixture of admiration and hesitation on his face.

"Yes, let's get in touch directly," Chen Xu replied with a smile.

After a brief conversation, Zhang Yi left, and Chen Xu turned his focus back to his computer to continue working on "To the Moon."