Chapter 54: Sudden Change (Happy New Year!)

Qi Tongping deliberately brought up a few names, all of whom had solid backgrounds.

Perhaps none of them could compare to Qi Tongping individually, yet they were all figures of extraordinary lineage, or veteran seniors with immense seniority.

There were also the co-organizers of this grand tournament, including key players from the Writers' Association and other related institutions.

Some of them might genuinely be upright, casting their votes solely based on the quality of the works and personal preference.

However, a vast majority of them operated under a different rule: you might not accept things, but you could not fail to give them; otherwise, you were breaking the unwritten code.

In their logic, if they gave you face, you owed them face in return—human favor was always a two-way street.

Even if a particular individual didn't accept anything, his disciples and followers certainly would.

Regardless of whether this mindset was right or wrong, it undeniably held significant sway in the industry.

Beyond that, there was the matter of the "Cool Play Game Star" committee.

They had permitted Gu Meng to jump the queue and promised him the most prestigious accolade.

Part of this was due to Qi Tongping spending his own social capital. Gu Meng truly owed Chairman Qi a debt of gratitude; with no blood relation and hardly any prior friendship, Qi had proactively run errands and smoothed over relationships purely out of a passion for gaming.

It was enough to move the entire nation of Huaguo.

While the game's popularity and quality were indisputable—virtually no mobile game released this year could rival its traction—and it was fair to bestow the mantle upon *Legends of Wuxia*, the Game Star organizing committee had been remarkably generous, granting Gu Meng an immense amount of face.

Otherwise, they could easily have tossed the grand prize to an artistic game from the Moth faction that had received favorable reviews this year, or perhaps to some other moderately popular new mobile game of the season.

Had they done so, nobody would have been able to raise any objections, presumably.

Qi Tongping had pushed for it because he genuinely wanted to accomplish something meaningful, and *Legends of Wuxia: True* was overwhelmingly formidable.

Just take this competition, for instance: even the judges who hadn't played games before had to admit, after experiencing it, that this was a height never before reached by Huaguo Wuxia games, one destined to be recorded in the history of Huaguo gaming.

Its astonishing motion-capture choreography was outstanding even on a global scale, and one could easily foresee it capturing a dedicated niche audience abroad once the overseas promotional campaigns kicked off into high gear.

By now, it was no longer a matter of *Legends of Wuxia* needing this championship title to prove its intrinsic value. Its contemporaries were merely a bunch of small fry, falling short even of *Legends of Wuxia: Zero*. Instead, the Wuxia game tournament now needed *Legends of Wuxia* to win the championship to legitimize its own prestige.

"That's how it is. The championship and the grand prize are already well within your grasp, but as for the formalities, little brother, you'd better make sure you cover all the bases... I have another list here, which I've marked in red for you: these are the ones you really should visit, and those are the ones you can skip..."

"If you don't know how to handle it, little brother, you don't have to go in person. You're so young and such a busy man; they won't hold it against you. I recall your father used to handle these things; you could consult the veteran staff at your company and select a professional representative on your behalf..."

Qi Tongping said a great deal, practically crossing the line of the industry's unwritten rules. He spoke with such blunt candor that he didn't even bother to verify whether Gu Meng was carrying a recording device.

It was a profound level of trust.

Gu Meng was no fool; naturally, he understood every word, though unfortunately, he could only pretend to remain clueless.

For the time being, he feigned the appearance of "understanding on the surface, only to supposedly misunderstand later on as Qi Tongping would discover," agreeing to each point one by one.

Qi Tongping and Gu Meng chatted for a long time, both feeling a strong intellectual rapport, and naturally poured a few drinks along the way.

Carried away by the high spirits, Qi Tongping uncorked a bottle of 1984 Maotai—an absolute loss financially, as those eight boxes of milk worth a few hundred yuan combined didn't even equal a fraction of this single bottle of liquor.

The alcohol content was quite high, and after the buzz set in, Gu Meng began airing his grand ambitions.

Gu Meng was already looking ahead to his next tournament opponent—ah, no, he was already pondering what game to make next.

The game had only been on sale for a few days, yet its sales had already surged to four million copies, propelled by *Legends of Wuxia: Zero*, the Wuxia tournament, the earlier live-action PVs, and Gu Meng's numerous music videos featuring classic Wuxia themes.

As competing works were announced simultaneously without any pre-sales, these four million copies were driven purely by raw demand, and it was projected that the numbers would continue to climb significantly.

Being able to recoup this much capital—and unlike his previous title *Pure Love*, which leaned closer to a mid-sized production—meant that Game Occultism had planted over half its body into the tier of large-scale game development companies.

Just as Gu Meng had anticipated before creating this Wuxia game, even before winning any awards, the release of *Legends of Wuxia: True* had firmly established Game Occultism's reputation throughout Huaguo. Following the explosive success of *Pure Love* and the subsequent rebranding of Edamame Games, they had forged a new path of brilliance, successfully stepping into the ranks of major industry giants.

At least in terms of fame and status, they had arrived. The industry's chain of contempt was very real; while their mobile game portfolio might require time to accumulate, Gu Meng's game quality was peerless among domestic single-player titles, granting him unassailable status.

If they took the championship in the tournament and secured Game Star's Game of the Year, a Bronze Treasure Chest would unlock, the dimensional motion-capture studio could remain in continuous operation, and they would be able to expand their workforce further down the line to create even better games.

Once this Wuxia project was concluded, his next venture would be a *Three Kingdoms* title or another established IP.

When conditions matured in the future, he wanted to create mythological masterpieces that would elevate Huaguo gaming to greatness and conquer the global market. That was precisely what he envisioned.

Qi Tongping merely gazed with intoxicated eyes at this younger brother, whose passion grew increasingly fervent, his voice seemingly infused with fire, leaving the older man momentarily entranced.

This—this was quite literally the dream version of himself!

Say no more; let's drink up. A thousand cups of wine are too few when drinking with a bosom friend. Wobbling slightly, Qi Tongping stood up; he was going to fry another plate of peanuts.

...

The next morning.

Waking up, Gu Meng felt a splitting headache.

"Where am I?"

"This isn't my room, is it?"

"Did I time-travel again?"

"You're awake?"

The voice coming from beside him startled Gu Meng out of his wits.

Turning his head, he saw Qi Tongping collapsed on the sofa, bearing an equally agonizing expression.

Only then did Gu Meng recall what had transpired the previous night. Alcohol truly was a curse!

After finishing his drinks, he seemed to have acted like a megalomaniac, declaring time and again that he was number one under heaven, and that in the future, gamers would worship only one deity—and that deity would be Gu Meng...

No, no, that wasn't the main point. The crucial part was—

Gu Meng hurriedly patted himself down from top to bottom, letting out a sigh of relief only after confirming his body was entirely uncompromised.

Thank goodness Brother Qi wasn't Brother Jie, otherwise...

Gu Meng shivered involuntarily. He must never get drunk ever again!

...

At noon that very day, staring at the list provided by Brother Qi, Gu Meng pondered and pondered...

He let out a sigh. He knew full well what a normal person would do in his shoes.

Those specifically highlighted on the list were undoubtedly the type who were both greedy and possessed considerable influence.

Gu Meng could simply play along to a modest degree; they were all part of the same circle, and there was no need to make things ugly. Given how wealthy Gu Meng was, parting with a tiny fraction of his wealth would be enough to keep up appearances, and coughing up a bit more might even prompt them to lend a hand when needed... But.

But Gu Meng simply couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't bend the knee, nor could he even dispatch subordinates in his stead.

After all, the System Brother's quests took absolute priority; otherwise, if the system malfunctioned, he would lose his cheat codes.

Left with no choice, he simply purchased another van-load of milk.

To demonstrate his sincerity, Gu Meng personally went door-to-door to pay visits.

Delivering milk!

This endeavor was even captured on camera by a few media outlets. Some of the judges lacked official public profiles and were merely industry insiders.

Given the immense popularity of gaming in this world, paparazzi were bound to be lurking.

As everyone knew, Gu Meng's father had been dispatched by a runaway truck without any intervention from authorities, which clearly meant he lacked any influential background. Consequently, certain media outlets actually published photographs of Gu Meng running around hauling crates of milk.

Some commentators deduced that these individuals appeared to be judges of the Wuxia tournament, leading to suspicions: was President Gu trying to rig the competition?

However, more insider information leaked out shortly thereafter. Everyone was a person of standing—did they really have to carry this reputation even without receiving local specialties?

Utterly refusing to let the matter slide, certain individuals began complaining online that Gu Meng had genuinely delivered milk, proving that his brain must be full of dairy. The man was clearly out of his mind.

...

In the shadows, a series of clandestine meetings convened in secret.

A new interactive live-action video game titled *Tales of Jin Gu's Heroes* managed to queue-jump its way into the Wuxia game tournament.

When it appeared on the front page of several tournament-affiliated platforms, it caught numerous players completely off guard, prompting them to leave comments on the gaming forums.

"What game is this? Is it from Game Occultism too?"

"I don't think so. This is, oh—Jingdong Games, which used to be competitive with Edamame back in the day. They've been at each other's throats ever since their media company days. Word is they recently accepted some investment from the Moth conglomerate and hooked up with another giant, grabbing onto a massive pair of coattails..."

"Let me check the plot... Holy crap, how can it be this similar? Are they really trying to ride the coattails this blatantly? Aren't they afraid Edamame will sue them?"

"Edamame's copyrights are almost expiring, and the formula for *Legends of Wuxia* doesn't strictly qualify for a patent. Jingdong holds full copyright on their end, so they probably aren't worried. Besides, their backing must be rock-solid to parachute straight onto the tournament's front page. I suspect..."

"Still, I'm just a tiny bit curious. I even spotted several Edamame Best Actresses on the cover art; they've all jumped ship to Jingdong Games... Haven't seen them in ages, my kidneys miss all these teachers dearly."

"What are you planning to do? Are you going to defect to the enemy?"

"I'm going behind enemy lines to gather intelligence!"

"Count me in!"

...

Back at the headquarters of Game Occultism, Gu Meng felt utterly exhausted from playing milkman for the past two days.

Besides, interacting with strangers was emotionally draining, wasn't it? If there were tasks like this in the future, he should leave them to Wu Mengyou—no, she was far too busy and not suitable. Better send Rupa instead.

Unlike Huan Shou, who was purely dedicated to grunt work, Rupa was someone capable of both practical labor and slick social maneuvering.

While lying flat and contemplating the personalities of his subordinates, suddenly—

"Let me tear apart half a mile of this cosmic yin and yang..."

His phone rang. It was Brother Qi.