Ch. 4 - Spending the Rest of Your Life in Federal Prison
We Agreed to Create Casual Games, What the Hell is this World War Nonsense?This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Shen Qinghan's eyes widened as she stared at Zhao Ming in shock.
Creating a game about experiencing war for the Six Major Federations' [Anti-War Competition]. Would it be popular? Without question, it would definitely be popular. After all, Zhao Ming would be the only one doing this—how could it not be popular?
Even if it didn't become popular, those troublemaking war fanatics would strongly support Zhao Ming's game, eager to watch the spectacle. But what would happen after it became popular? He'd probably be sent straight to prison... Was he insane?!
After a long moment, Shen Qinghan finally recovered, her voice seething. "Are you crazy? If you want to die, don't drag me down with you."
She was the company's second shareholder. If something happened to the game, Zhao Ming would go to prison and she wouldn't escape backlash either. She might be fine personally, but she feared implicating her family.
Her family had people in all sorts of positions. If they really provoked federal anger, her family's elders might all be implicated. The Shen family had plenty of political enemies too. Once opponents seized this political leverage, the consequences would be unthinkable. This was something Shen Qinghan couldn't tolerate.
"No, absolutely not. Even if we lose all the money, you're not allowed to participate in the competition. This idea of promoting war is too dangerous."
Zhao Ming looked at Shen Qinghan, who was acting like she was facing a formidable enemy, feeling completely baffled. It was just a game—was this reaction really necessary?
Thinking he might not have explained clearly, Zhao Ming spoke up. "It's not promoting war—it's letting players 'experience' war."
Shen Qinghan frowned deeply. "Is there a difference?"
"The main purpose of the [Anti-War Competition] is to appease the populace and oppose war. Other people's gunfight games are mainly competitive combat. You're creating a game that lets players experience war. Those war fanatics will probably celebrate wildly. When those war fanatics mock the federation, you'll be implicated and recorded by the federation too."
Zhao Ming's expression turned peculiar as he rubbed his chin. "Celebrate? They probably... won't be able to celebrate?"
Players would be playing as cannon fodder—where was the celebration in that?
However, Zhao Ming understood where the communication gap with Shen Qinghan lay. The perspective was different. Zhao Ming thought for a moment and began explaining.
"The game I'm making might be different from what you're imagining. According to normal people's thinking, or those war fanatics' mindset: If war begins, I'll command thousands of troops, I'll become a lucky survivor of countless battles, I'll become a hero who's killed countless enemies. Right?"
Shen Qinghan listened and nodded. "That's right. What about it? Is there a problem?"
Wasn't that how war should be? A trace of confusion flickered in Shen Qinghan's eyes.
Hearing Shen Qinghan's response, Zhao Ming's lips curved upward.
"There's a huge problem. You think this way, others think this way too. So here's the question... Who's going to die? Not everyone can be generals commanding thousands of troops, not everyone can be lucky survivors of countless battles, not everyone can be heroes who've killed countless enemies. These achievements require people to die to highlight them."
Blue Star had no history of a world war. Their understanding of war could only remain at surface-level fantasies. Even when the Six Major Federations occasionally had border conflicts, they tried to suppress them. Under these circumstances, they simply couldn't comprehend war's brutality.
"Bullets are light—only ten or twenty grams. But they're also heavy. Heavy enough that those few grams of lead can destroy a child that a mother raised for eighteen years, destroy the family's breadwinner, destroy a happy family of three, leaving white-haired parents to bury their black-haired children.
What I want to do is let players experience war's brutality. And the cruelty of having their flesh and blood destroyed under gunfire. Only by understanding war's brutality will people resist war from the bottom of their hearts. How is this not anti-war?"
After hearing Zhao Ming's words, Shen Qinghan was deeply shaken. This was an angle she'd never conceived of.
Previous games had been mainly about competition and combat. When you died, you respawned—there was no real feeling at all.
If she followed Zhao Ming's sophistry, this could indeed be considered a form of anti-war.
After a moment of silence, Shen Qinghan took a deep breath, her expression grave:
"If that's the case, then it's indeed feasible, but is there enough time? Can it be completed in nine days?"
Though this idea was good, according to Shen Qinghan's understanding, except for crudely made games, no good game could be created in just a few days.
With only nine days until the competition began, wasn't that insufficient time?
In reality, what Zhao Ming lacked now was just Emotion Points. He could directly download film segments from the system and render them into games that could be used immediately. He wouldn't even need much computing power—just set up some gameplay mechanics and rules.
Zhao Ming replied, "Creating it in nine days isn't a problem. The game CG is almost ready. What we're lacking now is attention. We need to hype up Emperor Penguin Group plagiarizing our game, plus some other things to stir up buzz. It's best to gain massive attention before the competition begins."
In actuality, Zhao Ming only wanted to gain some Emotion Points. He'd just researched this.
Exchanging films and materials like "Normandy Landing" and "Battle of Stalingrad" required hundreds of thousands of Emotion Points each. Without the game being released yet, where could he get that many Emotion Points?
However, extracting just text materials or film segments individually didn't require many Emotion Points.
As long as he hyped things up and generated discussions about him, the Emotion Points gained should be enough for the exchange.
After hearing Zhao Ming's requirements, Shen Qinghan said, "I'll handle the attention. I'll get some internet trolls to post about it online."
Zhao Ming nodded, then asked thoughtfully, "Can you get some reporters to come?"
Given Shen Qinghan's influence, this shouldn't be a big problem.
Indeed, it wasn't.
However, Shen Qinghan didn't agree immediately.
"What do you want reporters for? An exclusive interview? They can just write it directly—no need to come in person."
Zhao Ming smiled. "No, it's for something else. To stir up some buzz. Just the game incident alone isn't attractive enough."
Seeing this, Shen Qinghan didn't probe further.
"Alright, I'll arrange it. Is there enough money left?"
Zhao Ming replied, "There's still over a million Federation coins worth of computing power—enough for making the game."
Hearing this, Shen Qinghan's mouth twitched...
"Over a million? Isn't that a bit too little? Are you sure you can beat Emperor Penguin Group's side? Even though they're plagiarizing, they still spent five hundred million making their game."
Zhao Ming waved his hand, "Those are all flashy unnecessary things. What I want is to give players the most realistic experience. Over a million is more than enough. I'll send you the game CG once I finish it. If there are no problems, we'll release it riding the wave of hype."
Shen Qinghan agreed to this with her naturally decisive personality.
After Zhao Ming finished speaking and confirmed there were no issues, Shen Qinghan left to arrange for internet trolls and reporters to come.
After sending Shen Qinghan to the elevator.
Zhao Ming returned to the company, looking at the many employees in the office, scanning them one by one.
Recalling the original owner's memories, Zhao Ming already had suspects for the leak. As Zhao Ming's gaze swept over the room of employees, the others seemed fine, but only Hao Wen, who designed the game's core storyline and gameplay, had somewhat evasive eyes.
Seeing this, Zhao Ming felt certain.
After all, the company didn't have many people—including Zhao Ming himself, there were only nine.
Each person handled one area.
There were voice actors, modelers, artists, and only Hao Wen was involved with the game's core mechanics.
Though information could be pieced together from other areas.
Hao Wen was the most suspicious, and with his evasive gaze, it was obvious who the mole was without saying it.
Originally, when he'd been thinking about this in his office, he hadn't felt much.
But now seeing this Hao Wen guy, whether it was the original owner's instincts or being screwed out of over fifty million Federation coins, the anger in Zhao Ming's heart surged upward.
Perhaps it was related to the original owner's resentment.
Zhao Ming wanted to kick this guy to death right now, but he tried to suppress his anger and looked toward the receptionist Xiao Wen.
"Xiao Wen, when reporters come later, just bring them to my office.
Hao Wen. Come to my office."
The company receptionist Xiao Wen nodded.
"Okay, Director Zhao."
Hao Wen was somewhat anxious and uneasy. Under everyone's puzzled gazes, he gritted his teeth and followed Zhao Ming's back into Zhao Ming's office.
Snap!
The door closed.
Inside the office, after Zhao Ming closed the door, he walked to the window and took two deep breaths of the cool air blowing in from outside, but the anger in his heart still hadn't subsided one bit. Having just transmigrated and almost inheriting tens of millions in debt made it really difficult to calm down.
Zhao Ming turned around and looked at Hao Wen, "Was the salary I gave you too low?"
Hearing this, Hao Wen immediately understood. He gritted his teeth.
"I'm sorry Director Zhao, I... plan to resign. The breach of contract fee and compensation will be paid by Emperor Penguin Group."
This was his confidence.
Emperor Penguin Group would pay his breach of contract fee and compensation, and it was written in a contract—Emperor Penguin Group couldn't renege.
After speaking, Hao Wen wanted to leave, turning to open the door.
Seeing this, Zhao Ming reached out and grabbed the vase from his desk, rushing to the door in a few steps. Looking at the terrified Hao Wen, he raised the vase in his hand.
Crash—!!!
Flying shards exploded from Hao Wen's head.
Zhao Ming's furious voice rang out, "Fuck you!
Making me liable for tens of millions in Federation coin debt, and you still want to run?!"
Punch after punch landed on Hao Wen.
"Breach of contract fee? Compensation?"
"Even if I don't want any of it, I'm still sending you to prison. You can spend the rest of your life in Federal Prison!"
"Damn!"
Boom.
The office door shook violently, as if something had been kicked against it, causing a loud crash.
Everyone outside jumped in fear.
But no one dared to go check.
Soon after, the two reporters arranged by Shen Qinghan arrived and explained their purpose.
The company receptionist quickly led the two reporters to Zhao Ming's office door and knocked.
"Director Zhao, the reporters arranged by Director Shen are here."
Zhao Ming's voice came through, "Come in."
The two reporters entered and were immediately startled.
The room was in complete disarray, with a bloodied person lying on the ground struggling and writhing—clearly beaten badly. There was also a small knife on the floor. Zhao Ming sat on the sofa, gesturing for them to sit down.
Since they were arranged by Shen Qinghan, the reporters didn't dare disobey Zhao Ming's command. They walked to the sofa and sat down, looking at Hao Wen lying in the distance groaning:
"Director Zhao... this is..."
Zhao Ming pressed the button on the coffee table, revealing a small knife scratch on the back of his hand. Two cups of water rose up. After drinking both cups, he suppressed some of his anger.
After venting, his thoughts became clearer, and his body felt lighter. Zhao Ming spoke.
"This guy is the mole—he's the one who leaked the game's core elements. He even tried to attack me with a knife but I fought back and subdued him. Unfortunately, while working on the computer today, I accidentally unplugged the camera's power, so there's no video evidence. I've already called the police.
You guys can use this for headlines—Emperor Penguin Group’s plagiarism, company mole, the boss's fury, beating, threats to send him to prison, stuff like that. Help me stir up some buzz and draw traffic over here."
Zhao Ming was blatantly lying, and the two reporters were amazed.
Looking at Hao Wen groaning on the ground unable to get up—you're sure he attacked you?
How desperate would someone have to be...
But this also saved them a lot of work, so they immediately pulled out their laptops and started writing.