Chapter 220
Half a month later.
Shenzhen, Penguin Headquarters.
The atmosphere was so stifling that it was hard to breathe.
Liang Dong stood in the center of the conference room, his eyes sunken, his usually refined face written all over with exhaustion.
He had not had a good night's sleep in a week.
On the large screen, the interfaces of two apps stood side by side.
On the left was the WeChat V1.0 that their team had spent countless hours painstakingly recreating pixel by pixel.
On the right was the latest V1.2 version of WeChat.
Just three days ago, WeChat had undergone a major version update.
Besides a complete optimization of the UI, they had also launched two brand-new features.
People Nearby and Message in a Bottle.
These two features ruthlessly hit the restless hormones of young users.
...According to our data, WeChat's registered users have surpassed five million in the past half month. Daily active users are stable at over three million.
Liang Dong's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing together.
They used the most simple and brutal cash-burning method to almost monopolize the social market of all key universities nationwide in an extremely short period.
Although our WeChat is almost identical in function to their V1.0 version, we... we have missed the best time to enter the market.
At the conference table, the executives were dead silent.
Looking at the comparison chart, a sense of powerlessness washed over them.
They had finally finished copying the homework.
Only to find out that the other guy had already finished the next set of exam papers.
This feeling was too frustrating.
In the main seat, Pony Ma's face was grim.
He stared dead at the two new features of WeChat on the screen without saying a word.
People Nearby... Message in a Bottle...
What lay behind these two seemingly simple features was a profound insight into human nature and social needs.
Just what was the background of that young man named Gu Ran?
Pony Ma...
Tony Zhang spoke cautiously.
What... what do we do now? Should WeChat still go online as planned?
Launch it!
Pony Ma slammed his hand on the table, his voice carrying an uncontrollable fury.
Not only launch it, but push it with every means possible!
QQ pop-ups, bundled installations, forced upgrades! I do not care what methods you use, within a week, I want WeChat's installation numbers to surpass WeChat's!
I refuse to believe that with eight hundred million users, I cannot beat a team of students!
Pony Ma's eyes were bloodshot.
It had been a long time since he lost his composure like this.
Since founding Penguin, he had always been the industry leader, the rule-maker.
He was used to looking down on everyone, used to using his own sheer size to crush all opponents.
But this time, he actually felt fear from a nameless young man.
...
WeChat officially launched.
Overwhelming promotion, accompanied by QQ's almost thuggish forced traffic diversion, swept across the entire internet.
Countless users, upon logging into QQ, would be greeted with an unignorable pop-up.
Congratulations on obtaining the WeChat closed beta qualification.
Whether they clicked it or not, the green icon would appear in the bottom right corner of their computer, forcibly taking up residence.
This overbearing and unreasonable promotion method.
Allowed WeChat's installations to break ten million in just three short days.
When the data was reported to Penguin Headquarters, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
I told you so, in the face of absolute traffic, all tricks are just flashy gimmicks.
That WeChat is probably crying in the bathroom right now, right?
Heh, he is still too green to fight us.
However, just when everyone thought the war was over.
A new data report extinguished everyone's passion.
[One week after WeChat's launch, the active user retention rate is less than five percent.]
[Over ninety percent of users, after experiencing WeChat, chose to uninstall it or never opened it again.]
In the conference room.
Pony Ma looked at the report, his hands trembling slightly.
Why?
He looked up, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
Who can tell me, why on earth is this?!
Liang Dong stood up, his face paler than last time.
Pony Ma, I did some user research.
Most users' feedback is—my friends, classmates, and teachers are all using WeChat. Why should I use a WeChat that has the exact same functions but where I do not know a single person?
The core of a social app is not its functions, but... the relationship chain.
They lost.
Lost completely and utterly.
The so-called traffic advantage.
Was vulnerable and weak in front of the solid social barrier that WeChat had already built.
They could force users to install WeChat.
But they could not force the users' friends to migrate with them.
That young man named Gu Ran, he used half a month.
To dig an insurmountable moat that the Penguin Empire could not cross.
Good... well played, Gu Ran...
Pony Ma slumped back in his chair, his eyes losing focus.
...
Qinglin, GR Games Company.
The boss is awesome! We won!
Hahaha, I knew it! If we follow the boss, we will feast!
Penguin is nothing! In front of our boss, they are just little kids!
A group of tech nerds held up their sodas, cheering and jumping for joy.
Gu Ran stood by the window, quietly looking at his phone.
On the screen was a Moments post that Ye Zhenzhen had just updated.
[Dr. Ye: The weather is great today, the sunshine is great, and you... are also great. [Picture]]
The picture was a selfie of the young girl.
She was wearing a sky-blue shirt and white jeans.
Standing in the sunlight, smiling with her eyes curving into crescents.
Gu Ran looked at that smiling face, his eyes unconsciously softening.
He tapped on the comments and replied.
[Silly Bear: How great?]
Ding dong.
The phone quickly received a reply.
[Dr. Ye: So great that... I want you to stay by my side forever.]
Gu Ran's heart skipped a beat.
He put away his phone, turned around, and said to the crowd still celebrating.
Everyone.
Everyone quieted down and looked at him.
Defeating WeChat is only the first step of our Long March.
Our journey is the sea of stars.
He raised the soda in his hand and spoke loudly.
To our opponents.
And to... this great era.
Outside the window, a bright moon hung high in the night sky.
A new legend had only just begun.
......
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
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."
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.
