Chapter 55: Is the Kasaya About to Fly Away?

"Hello, is this Brother Gu?"

"Speaking."

Gu Meng answered the call, sensing a hint of anger in the caller's tone, though it didn't seem directed at him.

What had happened?

"There is something I need to tell you."

The person on the other end took a slight breath, hesitating as if finding it difficult to speak.

Huh? This felt somewhat familiar. The last time they spoke on the phone, he had won an award. Could it be about that again?

Was there a problem with the cassock?

Gu Meng suddenly felt a mild sense of foreboding.

Actually, it wasn't entirely out of the question. His recent frenzy of delivering milk was a genuine expression of gratitude from Gu Meng, but there was no guarantee some people wouldn't view it as an insult.

"Brother Qi, could it be... something has changed regarding the awards?"

"You guessed it? ...Indeed, that is the case."

"Have you noticed that a new game has suddenly jumped the queue and entered this competition?"

"You mean that bandwagon-jumping new release from Jingdong Film & Gaming, *Legends of Jin and Gu*? My secretary mentioned it to me, but I've been too busy these past two days to play it yet."

Wu Mengyou had told him about this.

In fact, Wu Mengyou had also mentioned another matter: a trending search topic over the past few days reading, "The Dragon King is worked to death, flying all over the country."

Clicking on it would show photos of Gu Meng rushing about carrying cartons of milk, and remarkably, they weren't even photoshopped—someone had actually witnessed it in person.

The marketing team at Telunsu had even reached out to ask if Gu Meng was interested in doing an endorsement deal, with the price open to negotiation.

Gu Meng felt it was free money and was somewhat tempted to take it.

However, he had practically retired from acting and pulled back from the entertainment circle. More importantly, his status was different now—as the CEO of a gaming company and a man destined to conquer the world in the future, wouldn't it look a bit low-class to still be taking on endorsements and shooting other brands' commercials?

In his past life, even when miHoYo's Raiden Shogun was wildly popular, nobody saw the company head endorsing other enterprises...

Besides, Gu Meng wasn't particularly short of cash right now, so he declined the offer.

Putting aside the milk endorsement, *Legends of Jin and Gu* was about a transmigrator entering a mashed-up world of Jin Yong and Gu Long novels and running amok. The plot had numerous similarities...

Or rather, it was already very close to plagiarism. Not to the extent where web novels just share the same trope, but to the extent where every branching storyline and piece of dialogue could find a direct counterpart.

However, the parts they plagiarized were adaptations of the original plots, and they hadn't copied everything—only similarities, altering the word order. The protagonist's persona was also different, being a middle-aged handsome uncle rather than a young man, so a lawsuit would probably be very difficult to win.

Gu Meng was still considering how to respond later on.

Jingdong Film & Gaming used to be a mortal enemy of Maodou Games. Unlike Maodou's family-run business where the "Big Sun" brother wholeheartedly pushed his own son, Jingdong's CEO personally took the field to shoot borderline erotic content.

There were also unorthodox titles designed to rival Maodou's comedic sketches, such as *The Overbearing CEO Falls in Love with the Big-Bellied Me* or *The Returning Holy King Falls in Love with the Menopausal Me*.

Their CEO, Xiong Kuohai, was uninhibited and could stomach heroines over sixty years old with great relish.

Gu Meng suspected that even if Aunt Meng were presented to him, he would still be able to bite—Gu Meng was inferior to him in this regard.

The heroines in Gu Meng's dramas had to be young and beautiful.

They were former enemies, but now Jingdong was still making interactive films and was no longer a direct competitor in the same racetrack as the newly born Yuxuan.

Moreover, although he hadn't played it, he dismissed an interactive movie lacking any new creativity. Even with a huge budget, rumored to have mobilized an excessive number of actors, could it possibly compete with Gu Meng's *Legends of Wuxia: True*?

"Brother, actually, it's great that you were willing to visit and thank them in person, but what they might want is more than just your verbal thanks and milk. Why didn't you..."

In truth, Qi Tongping had also seen the trending searches and had half a mind to suggest that Gu Meng shouldn't bring milk, but rather bring a dairy cow.

The kind of dairy cow with massive udders and a plump backside, where the judges had to milk it on the spot to get the real flavor.

Mid-sentence, Qi Tongping suddenly realized something.

It was probably not that Gu Meng didn't understand, but that he was unwilling to understand.

In this wave, he would rather snap than bend—he was much stronger than himself.

Back then, when he failed to secure investment to make games, he had gone home and swallowed his pride.

Yes, how could a genius designer who far surpassed the vulgar crowd, like Gu Meng, ever be willing to let dust stain his trophy?

Being willing to deliver milk in person was already an act of giving them massive face; it was just that some people didn't cherish it.

Gu Meng also understood that Qi Tongping had probably figured out he was playing dumb.

Right, the man wasn't a fool.

"Brother Qi, regarding this matter, I actually also have..."

Gu Meng wanted to say he had his hardships, and asked if those gifts could be made up for later, to see if there was a way to bypass the system.

"Say no more, Brother Gu. I understand everything."

Qi Tongping felt he fully grasped Gu Meng's unyielding conviction.

"Rest assured, they are merely a swarm of lowly insects."

"Brother, there's no need, it's just a cassock."

"What cassock?"

"Oh no, I haven't been resting well lately and got confused by *Journey to the West*. I meant it's just a trophy."

"You may not care about this honor, but I do. The championship of this competition must go to you. If anyone other than you wins, it's a disgrace to the competition, and it means losing face to me and putting me on the spot."

"As the chief judge of this Wuxia game competition, as long as I don't budge, it will at worst turn into an ugly spectacle. This championship rightfully belongs to you, and I will definitely secure it for you."

"What I mainly want to talk about is the 2nd Playful Gaming Star. The forces behind Jingdong Film & Gaming have a huge overlap with the organizers of this Playful Gaming Star, and I've already checked it all out for you."

"They originally intended to rush out that interactive movie plagiarizing *Legends of Wuxia: Zero* to ambush you, and then use the awards to make you carry their sedan chair—giving you the runner-up and Best Action Game, while giving themselves the championship and Game of the Year to boost their own profile."

"They just didn't expect your *Legends of Wuxia: True* to be so extraordinary that even passerby judges with the slightest bit of principle would stand by your side..."

Qi Tongping didn't mention that the main reason was his own intervention, providing Gu Meng with a decent backing.

Only then could a relatively fair contest take place.

"They had already thought of giving up on this approach before, but they didn't expect you, Brother, to be so unyielding, which made them see an opportunity again and rally a bunch of insect-like fellows."

"The current situation is that if things turn ugly, I can call the shots on the Wuxia competition championship, but as for the Gaming Star side..."

Hearing Qi Tongping's analysis and support, Gu Meng couldn't help recalling that night.

Nothing actually happened, right?

Why was Brother Qi being so good to him?

Considering Qi Tongping's age, his current status was already extremely high, with no room left for further promotion. Logically speaking, the next step was simply putting in time to build seniority, and Gu Meng had nothing he could offer in return.

What was he after? His eight boxes of milk?

He must genuinely love games, right.

Of course, aside from enthusiastic judges like Brother Qi, there were also many people who fit Gu Meng's stereotypes, including those who grew blatantly sarcastic and put on airs after finding out Gu Meng hadn't brought any heavy gifts—all sorts of characters existed.

Gu Meng's side quest required winning a Game of the Year award from a non-shoddy organization within the year. Realistically, the only one he could catch in time was the New Year's Eve Gaming Star.

However, this side quest carried no penalty. Even if he failed, he would only lose a Bronze Chest... yet he was still quite annoyed.

That award was hosted by the official authorities and Goose Factory. When making his milk-delivery visits earlier, Gu Meng had also interacted with a few senior executives from Goose Factory.

The other side didn't react strangely to the milk delivery; they merely brought up topics about game metaphysics and whether he would be open to accepting investment.

Gu Meng brushed it off without a direct answer—which essentially meant he wasn't willing. The other side clearly understood Gu Meng's stance and didn't bring it up again.

Although Goose Factory won entirely by comparison with their peers and was already considered an angel investor in the gaming circle—caring only about money without directly meddling, and possessing abundant channel resources that made them look much more palatable than the Alibaba and Cat-and-Dog factions—

Gu Meng had a system, after all. Many major domestic mobile game developers grew without Goose Factory's investment and without going public; precedents existed, and Gu Meng didn't want outsiders meddling in his company.

It was the naive mindset of a transmigrator, one that would not change until he was beaten down by society.