Shi Peiran called Lin Qingwan.
Seeing the caller ID on her phone, Lin Qingwan frowned. "That's all for today. You may leave now," she instructed the subordinates in her office.
"Yes."
After they left, only Lin Qingwan remained in the office.
She pressed the answer button and held the phone to her ear. "What is it?"
"President Lin," Shi Peiran cautiously glanced around, ensuring no one was nearby before continuing in a hushed tone, "Tianmu Group's 'King's Pesticide' has finished development. They're planning to start the beta test today."
"What? So soon?" Lin Qingwan's eyes widened. "What's going on? Why am I only hearing about this now?"
"President Lin, just two days ago, they mentioned there were still minor bugs to fix and that it would take at least two weeks. I have no idea why they suddenly decided to launch the beta test."
Shi Peiran hastily fabricated an excuse and added, "You're the eldest sister of our boss. You know how strong his programming skills are. He visited the company yesterday—maybe he fixed all the bugs then."
"Alright, I understand."
Lin Qingwan's brows remained tightly knit.
After ending the call with Shi Peiran, she immediately strode in her high heels—click, click, click—toward the chairman's office.
Lin Chang was still reviewing documents, with Lin Li also present.
"You've done an excellent job with this report," Lin Chang praised with a smile.
"Thank you for the compliment, Dad. It's all thanks to your guidance." Lin Li responded with humility.
Lin Chang looked at him with satisfaction.
Lin Li was talented and filial—if not for the fact that he had become a eunuch, he would have been the perfect successor for the company.
What a shame.
Lin Chang shook his head.
Lin Qingwan pushed open the door and entered the chairman's office.
"Wan'er, what brings you here?" Lin Chang frowned in confusion.
"Dad, I have urgent news."
Since Lin Li was family, Lin Qingwan spoke directly. "Shi Peiran just contacted me. Tianmu Group is about to begin beta testing for their game, 'King's Pesticide.'"
"What?"
Lin Chang abruptly stood up from his chair.
"Our game has only just been completed," Lin Qingwan suggested. "Should we also start beta testing?"
"No, it's too late for that," Lin Chang rejected the idea.
"Our game is identical to Tianmu Group's. If they launch before us, they'll flood the market with promotions, especially with their platform, Hu Yin, backing them. They'll dominate the market in no time. All our efforts and investments over the past year would go to waste."
"Our entertainment division is already struggling against Tianmu Group. We can't afford another misstep in gaming!"
Moreover, if Tianmu Group's game succeeded, they would rise to unprecedented heights.
Starlight Group would never be able to compete with them again.
And any hope of forcing Lin Xuan to return to the family would vanish entirely.
Lin Chang's expression darkened.
Lin Qingwan frowned. "Dad, then how do we beat them to the market?"
Lin Chang said firmly, "Skip beta testing. Release the game directly, backed by massive marketing. That way, we'll secure the user base first."
"But Dad, what if there are issues with the game without beta testing?" Lin Qingwan voiced her concern.
"There shouldn't be any problems," Lin Chang asserted confidently.
"We hired top-tier programmers and spent over a year developing this game. How could anything go wrong?"
"Still..." Lin Qingwan remained uneasy. "Dad, I think we should play it safe."
Hearing her words, an inexplicable sense of foreboding crept into Lin Chang's heart, as though something ominous awaited.
He relented with a nod. "Fine, I'll be cautious. But we won't waste time on beta testing. Instead, I'll hire internationally renowned gaming and programming experts to inspect the game. If they find no issues, we'll launch immediately."
"Alright."
Lin Qingwan didn't object further.
This was indeed the best course of action.
"Dad, I'll get back to work now."
She left the chairman's office, her expression clouded with worry.
Under her breath, she murmured, "Xiao Xuan, don't blame your elder sister. Starlight Group is Dad's life's work. I only acted against your company to protect it."
"Your company's Hu Yin, entertainment, and literature divisions are thriving. Losing 'King's Pesticide' won't hurt you much. Xiao Xuan, you're so capable—you'll develop another game."
As she spoke, the weight in her heart lightened somewhat.
She was in the wrong this time, but she would find a way to make it up to Lin Xuan later.
Lin Chang personally spent a fortune hiring world-famous programming and gaming experts.
He tasked them with identifying any potential flaws before the official launch.
Meanwhile, Lei Hui had been monitoring Starlight Group's movements on Lin Xuan's orders.
He immediately reported their actions to Lin Xuan.
"Boss, they've brought in experts to inspect their game. What if they find the hidden flaws?" Lei Hui asked anxiously.
Lin Xuan smirked coldly. "The vulnerabilities I planted aren't something they can easily detect."
"Let them search all they want. All we have to do is sit back and watch their game collapse on a massive scale. Then, we'll reap the rewards."
This way, they wouldn’t even need to spend on marketing.
A dark glint flashed in Lin Xuan's eyes.
The program he had embedded appeared flawless on the surface.
But once he triggered it with a few lines of code, the game would crash—permanently.
This would teach Lin Chang and Lin Qingwan the consequences of stealing someone else's work.
Hearing Lin Xuan's words, Lei Hui finally relaxed.
Of course. Why should he doubt his boss?
"Got it."
Lei Hui nodded, then couldn't resist adding, "Boss, you're downright ruthless."
Who else could promote their products without spending a dime—relying entirely on their rivals to do the work?
Take Palm Treasure, for example. It gained fame by piggybacking on Leap Website, not to mention hacking Weibo's backend to secure a top trending spot.
Their movies rode on Starlight Group's promotional campaigns.
And now, this game would benefit from Starlight Group's marketing budget while they swooped in for the kill.
The cost of advertising alone probably exceeded the game's development expenses.
Lin Xuan knew exactly what Lei Hui meant. He chuckled.
"No, I'm a good person. I'm just giving them a taste of their own medicine."
Thank you to... Huaqi..., Huameng Manshuo, Beimu Shuangfeng, Shiguang Yinyu, and other dear friends for your gifts.
Something happened... My heart aches, and I feel like crying. I couldn’t sleep at all last night...
Uu.
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'!"
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
