Chapter 57: The Game of the Year Should Be Legends of Heroes, Right?

Xiong Kuohai, President of Crystal East, was also a veteran professional actor, displaying an expression of profound surprise at this moment.

With tears at the corners of his eyes and sobbing uncontrollably, he ascended the awards stage alongside those Maodou Best Actresses.

Gu Meng rolled his eyes inwardly. *Old thing, what the hell are you feigning surprise for?*

*Did you not know you were going to win?*

*Get a grip already.*

Those Maodou Best Actresses even greeted Gu Meng and looked somewhat embarrassed as they passed his seat.

Gu Meng had no idea what was going on in their heads, but it didn't really matter. Back when Maodou looked like it was completely sinking, it was perfectly normal for these big stars who could run away to do so, while the other minor stars simply didn't want to pay the breach-of-contract penalties and were just waiting for the company to go under.

When the hidden ending of "Pure Love" was leaked back then—revealing that the heroine was not a virgin but a public bus—Gu Meng felt like everything was over, and as the president, he had wanted to run away at the time.

Even earlier, right after he transmigrated before the system had even booted up, Gu Meng's plan was to abscond with the promotional funds.

After all, the situation back then was that the bank was still owed debts, the semi-finished product was unpresentable, and the old man was already dead. Without the system, Gu Meng would have had to run away on the very first day of his transmigration, and the fact that the original host didn't run away just showed how well he could handle high pressure.

Gu Meng had no personal grudges with them, though most of them weren't particularly close either; they had simply collaborated on acting projects in the past.

He gave them a normal nod in response.

Among the Best Actresses, a few—whether acting or genuinely harboring some lingering sentiment—stood a few centimeters further away from Xiong Kuohai.

Then, the acceptance speeches began.

Xiong Kuohai cleared his throat and, shedding emotional tears while speaking, said:

"...This game took a lot of time to film. Actually, the project was officially greenlit as early as last year before last..."

"The creative concept has some overlap with Youxuan's, but that is purely a coincidence..."

Gu Meng's inner monologue: *Even more shameless than me.*

"...It was truly no easy feat to bring this to life..."

"Thanks to the netizens who voted online, allowing the vote count for our 'Grandmaster' to take the first spot and surpass President Gu's masterpiece, 'Legends of Heroes'. I think this is a manifestation of confidence, and we Chinese gamers..."

Utterly brazen.

"Thanks to the judges for being willing to bestow the honor of Game of the Year upon this cinematic-gaming hybrid of ours. This perhaps also signifies that the golden age of cinematic games is about to arrive..."

Crystal East had plans to go public; were they trying to hoodwink investors?

Because it was the grand prize and they were all in cahoots, Xiong Kuohai could ramble on the stage indefinitely, whereas previous winners would have been cut off long ago for talking this much.

Gu Meng couldn't even maintain his business smile anymore. He chatted idly with Rupa for a while down below and began wondering what to eat later.

Originally, if they had bagged a minor award, after watching the fireworks tonight, he could have hosted a small celebration party with the colleagues who came along. But now, the mood didn't seem very suited for a party.

Several younger colleagues, including Rupa and Huan Shou, looked somewhat incredulous and shocked. They had all assumed the Game of the Year should have gone to Youxuan; they hadn't expected things to be this corrupt...

Gu Meng had already made peace with it. Recalling that the nearby Yoshinoya seemed to be open twenty-four hours, he suddenly felt a craving for it.

However, if he treated everyone to late-night snacks there on New Year's Eve, would they think he was too low-class and stingy?

Never mind; Gu Meng was the boss, so he could do as he pleased. Forget beef bowls; even if he ate at a street food stall, it would be considered tasteful and eclectic—not low-class, but down-to-earth.

It was better to hand out more year-end bonuses instead. An expensive dinner hosted by the boss wasn't as good as extra cash.

...

After the New Year's Eve gala, declining the utterly boring banquets and parties invited by industry peers and competitors, Gu Meng led the Youxuan staff and left the venue directly.

Gossip reporters snapped photos of them and rushed to publish headlines, frantically typing: "Dragon King Wins Nothing and Leaves in Anger."

The expressions of other Youxuan personnel when Crystal East's bandwagon-jumping "Grandmaster" won were also extracted and analyzed frame by frame.

Those with integrity focused on the facts, while those without began fabricating stories that Youxuan's crew was leaving en masse to throw a party and host a hookup appreciation convention.

Rumors spread that Maodou Best Actress XXX wanted to reunite with an old flame, but because she was already a successful transgender woman rather than an authentic *futanari*, she couldn't participate.

To clarify, all of Maodou's Best Actresses were authentic beauties; claims about transgender individuals were merely rumors spread by unscrupulous media outlets.

...

Yoshinoya.

"Zhongzhi! Why is it you? What are you doing here now?"

"Ah, I'm working here... to get in touch with more customers for material collection! It's definitely not because I failed at making a solo game and will starve if I don't work part-time!"

Rupa ran into an acquaintance—a short, skinny young man with very fair skin.

Meanwhile, Huan Shou on the other side wore a somewhat awkward expression, seeming to harbor a trace of guilt toward Zhongzhi.

Gu Meng knew that Huan Shou and Rupa had been together since childhood. Could it be that some sudden third party had disrupted their lives along the way?

Gu Meng cast a thoughtful glance at them, wondering what kind of history these three shared.

Did this little guy named Xiao Zhi just say he failed at making a game?

Both Huan Shou and Rupa were exceptionally skilled, quick learners, and basically gods at part-time work. Who knew what kind of caliber this Xiao Zhi possessed?

...

Just as Gu Meng had cast the awards ceremony to the back of his mind and was happily eating melons and watching the drama unfold, public opinion on the internet had already erupted.

"No, I don't understand. Why?"

"What else could it be? In the past, the art films produced by Maodou were so good, but when awards season actually rolled around, those Golden Rooster, Golden Horse, and Hong Kong Film Awards would only toss Big Sun Bro a nomination and some scraps if he was lucky; the grand prizes were always reserved for their own inner circle."

"Crows are black the world over. How could awards in the gaming circle be any better than the entertainment circle of the past?"

"That's true indeed. The Dragon King is exceptionally talented; when he was twenty, as long as he wasn't playing a domineering CEO, he could hold his own against anyone, and playing perverts, murderers, and crazy lunatics was an absolute specialty of his—he didn't even look like he was acting."

"As a result, apart from Emperor Dou, all the acting awards were just nominations, probably because he and his 'father' came from unorthodox backgrounds and had shallow seniority."

"No wonder Big Sun Bro wanted to create his own awards ceremony. He saw through it all ages ago. I heard that before Big Sun Bro passed away, he even wanted to apply for a genuine gaming awards ceremony dedicated to honoring cinematic games. Maybe he had already offended people back then."

"Let's not talk about that. Isn't this time even more corrupt? In the past, it was just standard operation, and the competitors were all strong, so giving it to anyone was reasonable. But giving it to 'Grandmaster' this time is something I truly cannot comprehend."

"What on earth does 'Grandmaster' even have going for it?"

"It has a good daddy!"

"What, are you not convinced?"

"I'm convinced. If I ever watch Game Star again, I'll eat shit."

...

...

All kinds of mocking reaction images were being generated rapidly, with Gu Meng's face painted in clown makeup.

Screenshots of him smiling and chatting with Rupa about "Palworld" were also captured and paired with various captions:

"I won the bet; it really wasn't us. Hand over the fifty cents."

"Brother, tell me, is it corrupt enough over here?"

The expressions of the Youxuan employees next to him were basically: "I don't understand, but I am deeply shocked."

And the eternal classic copypasta—

"Game of the Year should be 'Legends of Heroes: True'."

"Giving it to 'Legends of Heroes: Zero' would have been fine too. They're from the same family, and Zero came out earlier."

"‘War Noobs 2’, a mobile game sequel with massive popularity, is also acceptable."

"‘Pure Love Swordsman Simulator’, well-deserved, what a pity it didn't even snag a nomination."

"Giving it to the 'Ancient Divine Sword 3 Remastered Edition' is getting a bit laughable."

"Holy shit, whose game is Crystal East's 'Grandmaster'?"