“Lately this game called Mao Pian has been so popular! Almost every uploader in the gaming section is streaming it!”
Blue Star, a dormitory at Jingzhou University.
After browsing Bilibili for an hour, Wang Zixu found that the gaming section had practically been taken over by videos of a game called Mao Pian.
Unable to stop himself from muttering, he skillfully switched to QQ and typed the same sentence into a group chat.
His group nickname was “King of Freebies,” which looked completely out of place beside the group name “Pay-to-Win Persuasion Club.”
As a standard broke student, he was poorer than poor, and even eating on ordinary days was a struggle, so when he played games, he only grinded and never spent money.
The brothers in the group usually affectionately called him “Freebie,” or teasingly called him “Old Wang Next Door.”
“It’s popular, all right! It’s even on the trending searches. I heard Penguin Group plagiarized some tiny workshop. (popcorn)”
Seeing the group chat message, Chen Jiajun smiled faintly and immediately replied.
He was the group owner. His group nickname was a single character, “Jun,” and the goofy netizens in the group often called him “Handsome,” “Brother Jun,” or “Pretty Boy.”
Sun and Moon Alike in Error (Admin): “I knew it. Those guys at Penguin Group never do anything decent. (smile)”
Novice Player (Admin): “It’s not like this is the first or second time. Always imitating, never surpassed! (smirk)”
Getting Ready to Quit: “I watched this game. It’s a pretty good idea, but then Penguin copied it. If nothing unexpected happens, it won’t be long before they start milking it like crazy!”
Got Burned in the Cornfield: “LMAO! I think it’s great for Penguin’s team to make it. Their strength is right there for everyone to see, and the game they produce will definitely surpass the original!”
Novice Player: “What the hell, bro? It’s already plagiarism. Who’s still going to bother making original stuff properly?”
Sun and Moon Alike in Error: “666. You’re whitewashing Penguin this hard—how much per post? Give a brother a chance! (expectant)”
Got Burned in the Cornfield: “I’ll whitewash your mother, you????”
[Group owner “Jun” recalled a member’s message.]
[Group owner “Jun” removed “Got Burned in the Cornfield” from the group.]
Seeing someone whitewash Penguin Group and curse the moment he opened his mouth, Chen Jiajun kicked him out without hesitation.
“Everyone, eat your popcorn rationally. Don’t curse at people.”
“I looked into this matter. What Penguin Group copied was Seal Studio. This company has been established for less than a year, and they were counting on using Mao Pian to participate in the TIG Independent Game Development Competition. In the end, right when they were about to begin public promotion, the game got copied—and they didn’t even bother changing the game title!”
King of Freebies: “That’s tragic. This boss really ran into terrible luck! (shocked)”
Novice Player: “The theme of this year’s TIG Independent Game Development Competition is anti-fraud and fraud prevention. Mao Pian is in a league of its own there. What a pity.”
“The prize money for this competition isn’t much, but if they can win the top award, the state will cover a year of advertising and promotion. And when the time comes, it’ll definitely attract lots of bosses to invest. Calling it an instant rise to the heavens wouldn’t be an exaggeration.”
More and more people in the group started popping up.
Although some people did not speak, they were also watching the screen with great interest.
There were over a hundred people in this group. It had originally been created back when they were playing Legend and attacking cities. Later, everyone moved from game to game, but they would still chat from time to time.
Seeing everyone chatting enthusiastically, Chen Jiajun spoke at the right moment:
“Actually, after Seal discovered that Mao Pian had been copied, they immediately activated Plan B and devoted all their energy to developing their new work, Blood-Red Golden Triangle: Survivors. It has now entered the testing phase.”
The game title instantly caught Wang Zixu’s interest:
“That title sounds kind of interesting!”
“But I feel like it’s more of a survival game. Does it have anything to do with anti-fraud and fraud prevention?”
The others’ curiosity was also piqued.
Getting Ready to Quit: “I just went to Seal Games’ official website and searched, but I couldn’t find this game? (confused)”
Novice Player: “I couldn’t find it either.”
Sun and Moon Alike in Error: “Brother Jun just said the game is still in the testing phase. It’d be a miracle if you could find it. (eye roll)”
Just as everyone was feeling somewhat regretful, Chen Jiajun sent a string of messages.
“The game is indeed still in the testing phase, but it’s not like there’s no chance to experience it.”
“I have a friend who works at Seal Games and participated in the development of Blood-Red Golden Triangle: Survivors.”
“He has a few closed beta slots on hand. Is anyone willing to try it?”
As soon as the message was sent, it received many responses.
“For realsies? If it’s true, of course I’m willing to try it.”
“As expected of Brother Jun. Powerful connections. Let me ask weakly—does it cost money?”
Wang Zixu somewhat suspected that Brother Jun’s QQ account had been hacked.
Making up some random game title and trying to scam money in the group?
Seeing many group members asking questions, and even some expressing doubt, Chen Jiajun immediately replied:
“It’s free to try, but before reserving the game, you need to submit a physical examination report from within the past year.”
“This game is a one hundred percent fully immersive game. It can allow players to experience the game as if they were truly there, so minors and players with heart disease or mental illnesses are prohibited from trying it.”
Not long after the message was sent, the group seemed to have coordinated in advance, and a string of messages popped out.
“Brother Jun, aren’t you bragging a little too hard?”
“You need a physical exam report to play a game? (confused)”
Wang Zixu lay on his bed and rolled his eyes.
A one hundred percent immersive game?
How real could it be?
Wasn’t that just nonsense?
Penguin had previously tried to make a 4D game, claiming it could simulate the real world in every aspect and let players feel as though they were inside the game. But what happened in the end?
It had all been a gimmick to milk money.
Although 4D film technology had already matured, applying that technology to the field of gaming still involved many difficulties that needed to be overcome.
Even a behemoth like Penguin Group had not fully solved them. How could a tiny workshop like Seal Games dare claim one hundred percent realism?
Brother Jun, however, did not explain. He directly threw over a URL.
Wang Zixu used 360 to scan it first, then cautiously clicked the URL.
This was the official website of Blood-Red Golden Triangle: Survivors. The interface of the official website was extremely crude; one glance told you it was the kind of tiny workshop that could not even afford to hire an artist.
But the necessary certificates and registration information were relatively complete, proving that this website was not a scam site, but a legitimate website that had passed the relevant departments’ review.
Scrolling down, there was a large “Reserve” button at the bottom of the page.
[The world’s first 4D game, one hundred percent virtual reality!]
[Blood-Red Golden Triangle: Survivors sincerely invites all players to experience the game. Reservations are welcome!]
[Current reservations: 0]
“Heh…”
Wang Zixu laughed. Brother Jun had been shouting in the group for half a day, and it turned out he was trying to pull in referrals.
He just didn’t know how much commission he got for each person.
But credit where it was due—the number of game reservations was quite realistic. At least they hadn’t done something like making people queue for reservations and then labeling it as ten million players online at the same time.
“Bro’s going to test whether you’re human or ghost today.”
After Wang Zixu clicked “Reserve,” a new window immediately popped up. He needed to submit a physical examination report before proceeding to the next step.
Some time ago, their school had just conducted physical exams. With the mindset of giving it a try, he uploaded the electronic report.
After waiting a few seconds, the review was approved. But the registration page he had expected did not appear. It was just that the current number of reservations changed from 0 to 1.
“Holy shit, that’s so realistic!?”
“Tsk, you don’t even need to register an account?”
“Does this count as a successful reservation?”
——
P.S. Judging from the title, it isn’t hard to guess that, at its core, this is a northern Myanmar story wearing the skin of a game. Even the real-world portions may not have that many face-slapping show-off scenes. I know many readers are here for the counterattack against the Golden Triangle, the satisfying slaughter of telecom fraud criminals, and the content mentioned in the synopsis—even players taking over the entire nation of Myanmar and expanding toward the world—and all of that is being advanced step by step. If I directly wrote kill, kill, kill, it might not be immersive. In addition, regarding the early plot about fraud and the compounds, it was written after reading a good amount of material. The book explains things very clearly, so even if you have never been to northern Myanmar and do not understand fraud, you can read it without obstacles.
New book—please add to favorites~ please keep following~