Chapter 157
Returning to his room, Gu Ran glanced at the battle report sent by Li Sinan.
Instead of getting angry, he was actually so furious he laughed.
This greedy behavior, it was the familiar recipe, the familiar taste.
Simple, brutal, using the terrifying traffic of the PC platform to execute a dimensional strike. Wherever they passed, not a single blade of grass was left alive.
If it were an entrepreneur with a weaker mental fortitude, they would probably already be searching for company bankruptcy liquidation procedures right about now.
But he was somewhat mentally prepared, though he didn't expect this penguin to act so fast.
The damn game hasn't even launched in the domestic market yet, and you're already copying it.
Click.
The bedroom door lock clicked softly.
The calculating look on Gu Ran's face instantly vanished. When he turned around, all that was left was his usual frivolous smile.
A small, fluffy head poked through the crack of the door.
Ye Zhenzhen was wrapped in a loose nightgown, the blush on her cheeks yet to fade, her eyes looking timid.
She had vaguely heard Gu Ran cursing in the room just now. Feeling panicked, she hurried over to check on him.
Gu Ran... did something happen?
Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying obvious worry.
It's nothing.
Gu Ran stood up, walked up to her in two steps, and reached out to mess up the hair on top of her head.
Feels so good, a perfect stress reliever.
Sensing the large hand making a mess of her head, the young girl puffed out her cheeks. However, she keenly sensed that the young man's mood was not as relaxed as it appeared on the surface.
So, she didn't dodge away, but instead silently stood on her tiptoes, making it easier for this guy to rub her head.
It's just that a major dog breeder over in Nanshan caught a whiff of our meat and wants to snatch it by force.
Gu Ran's tone was as casual as if they were discussing whether to have soy milk or fried dough sticks for breakfast tomorrow. I'm just figuring out whether to give it a whack with a stick, or just smash its dog bowl altogether.
A major dog breeder?
Ye Zhenzhen blinked, not understanding the metaphor, but she understood the arrogance in his tone.
Then... can you win?
Gu Ran leaned forward, his warm breath brushing against her ear, causing the girl to shrink her neck, the tips of her ears instantly turning bright red.
Student Ye, have a little faith in your private tutor.
A wicked smirk crept up the corners of his mouth as his fingertips gently brushed against the side of her face. In this world, other than you, no one can make me admit defeat.
Ye Zhenzhen's pretty face flushed slightly, and she glared at him in shy annoyance.
Smooth talker...
The stone in her heart fell away. She muttered softly and nodded obediently. Then you get busy, I won't disturb you. Good... goodnight.
After saying that, she retracted her head as if fleeing.
Bang.
The door closed, seemingly isolating two different worlds.
The smile on Gu Ran's face slowly faded. He sat back in his chair and dialed a number.
Beep—
It was picked up after just one ring, an absolute instant answer.
Gu... Boss, you finally replied!
Li Sinan's voice was trembling, the background noise filled with the frantic clacking of keyboards. I just asked someone to look into it. Penguin's Everyday Parkour is already in closed beta testing, and even the UI layout is exactly the same as ours!
They're even going to use QQ pop-up windows to promote it! That's hundreds of millions of users! Once it goes online, we'll be instantly submerged!
How... how about we send a lawyer's letter? Even though the chances of winning are slim, at least...
Fear.
This was the physiological instinct of all entrepreneurs in 2011 when facing that penguin.
Either get acquired, or get copied to death. There was no third path.
What are you panicking for.
Gu Ran calmly spat out these words.
His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a basin of ice water, completely extinguishing Li Sinan's anxiety.
The other end of the phone was dead silent for two seconds.
Boss, that's Penguin...
So what if it's Penguin? Does topping up Q-coins give you a Guardian Angel?
Gu Ran walked to the window, looked at the pitch-black night outside, and sneered. Teacher Li, you are the operations director who will be going to Nasdaq to ring the bell with me in the future. Are your legs going soft over this little scene?
Li Sinan took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. I'm sorry. It's mainly because the opponent is too strong...
Strong? No, they're stupid.
A trace of contempt flashed in Gu Ran's eyes. Rushing to push out a reskinned game at this juncture shows ugly greed and zero sincerity. They think it's a sure-kill, but in reality, they're just traveling a thousand miles to feed us a kill.
Take notes, I'll only say this once.
These words were full of an overbearing aura. Even through the phone, Li Sinan felt a bit awkward, but her hand honestly picked up a pen.
First, don't save money. Take all the money you have on hand, plus the three million I'll transfer to you tomorrow, and throw it all in!
Buy the best equipment, recruit the fastest hands!
Second, the domestic version of Temple Run will launch early. Not just on iOS, but the Android market will follow up simultaneously. Let them copy if they want to, but we have to be the first to eat the crab.
Third...
Gu Ran paused, his tone becoming playful. Don't send a lawyer's letter. That thing is just waste paper in front of the Nanshan Pizza Hut.
Go find the media. Find tech blogs, forum moderators, Weibo public intellectuals, big Vs, and gaming bloggers.
Make up a story for me.
Li Sinan froze, not having time to react to what this had to do with Pizza Hut, her attention drawn back again. What story?
Gu Ran narrowed his eyes, his tone faint. Just say that an 18-year-old poor student from an obscure little county town worked day and night writing code to create a genius game, all to earn medical fees for his severely ill father.
As a result, just as the game became popular, it was shamelessly and pixel-perfectly plagiarized by an internet giant worth hundreds of billions!
I've even thought of the title—The Boy and the Dragon: Penguin, Please Stop Your Plundering!
Gu Xiangcheng: ???
What a filial son!
Clatter.
On the other end of the phone, the pen in Li Sinan's hand dropped, completely shocked.
Her scalp tingled.
Selling misery?
Packaging the boss as a tragic genius boy bullied by capital?
This trick... was too wicked!
But also absolutely brilliant!
2011 was an era when Weibo public intellectuals ran rampant and netizens' resentment towards the rich was at its peak.
An unarmed boy genius vs. a notorious plagiarizing giant.
How was this business competition?
This was clearly a social ethics drama that would detonate the entire internet!
Boss, you're putting them on a spit to roast over a fire...
The fear in Li Sinan's voice vanished, replaced by a trembling excitement.
Roast?
Gu Ran chuckled softly, his fingertips lightly tracing across the desk. No, I'm going to borrow their fire to smelt my gold.
Didn't they want to leech off our popularity? I'll give them popularity.
I want netizens across the country to know that Everyday Parkour is a pirated knockoff! I want everyone who downloads that game to feel like they are aiding a tyrant!
Understood! Li Sinan gritted her teeth. I'll go contact them right now! I have a classmate who works as an editor at a portal website, and also...
Go.
Gu Ran interrupted her. The bigger the hype, the better. The barefoot have nothing to fear from those wearing shoes.
Wait until the public opinion ferments to its peak, wait until they are scolded to the point of bleeding...
He paused, a brilliant light exploding in his eyes.
Then we'll throw out the trump card Fruit Ninja and tell everyone—
"You can never finish copying a genius's ideas!"
Hanging up the phone, he casually tossed it onto the sofa.
Gu Ran pushed open the balcony window.
The night breeze was slightly cool, carrying the moisture from the river.
He took a deep breath, gazing out at the vibrant city lights in the distance.
Being targeted by a corporate giant was a terrible feeling. If only a wealthy sugar mommy would swoop in and say she had his back!
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
