CH 33

The conference room was quickly filled with the relevant personnel.

In the four main seats in the front row were Song Ci, Yan Cen, Bo Yueming and Pei Yi. Ke Ming and Li Yuan led their respective teams to sit on the left and right sides of the second row.

Yan Cen’s assistant, Shen Na, was in charge of the competition process. After she confirmed that the relevant projection equipment had been turned on, she asked the people in charge of both project teams, “Which side wants to go first?”

Ke Ming raised his hand to gesture, giving up the initiative in a seemingly friendly way, “Young Boss Li, will you go first?”

Li Yuan didn’t care about the order. The sooner he finished speaking, the sooner he could relieve his inner tension.

He exchanged glances with Lou Yang next to him, but didn’t bother to pay attention to Ke Ming. he just looked at Shen Na and said, “We’ll go first.”

“All right.”

The neglected Ke Ming did not show much displeasure. During more than one week of preparation time, he once sent people to Dawn Games to covertly investigate it—-

Li Yuan’s “The Last Fog” project seemed to be a game of partnership with outsiders, and the company had not made any preparations for this.

Judging from the previous preliminary screening, they currently only had conceptual plots, and they had not even established character images or game models.

They dared to take out such an immature game to attract investment? Wasn’t this just trying to gain benefits with nothing in hand?

Ke Ming was very confident that the “Alien Beasts” produced by their Youming Studios was the highlight, so it was natural to put it in the later spot.

Only when there was a comparison could the advantages and disadvantages be reflected. This game must steamroll them!

Ke Ming seemed to have seen the result of this doomed competition, and there was a hint of carefreeness in his eyes.

Suddenly, he met an unexpected gaze—

Pei Yi rested his chin on his hand with one elbow on the table and stared at him with a slight tilt to his head. Those innocent and harmless eyes seemed to have insight into everything, and a cold light flashed through them, aimed at him.

“…….”

Ke Ming’s heart suddenly trembled.

When he was able to react, Pei Yi was sitting there obediently, using his fingertips to count the snacks on the table with a silly smile on his face.

It seemed that the brief eye contact just now was only his own illusion.

“Fuck.”

Thinking that he had been intimidated by a look from a fool, Ke Ming gritted his teeth and cursed very softly.

At his side, Pei Huan noticed his abnormality and asked in a whisper, “What’s wrong?”

Ke Ming leaned in and whispered, “Weren’t your foolish cousin and Bo Yueming just married? Why did the other party bring him along on such a serious occasion?”

Just now in the lounge, he got a rough understanding of the identities and relationship between Bo Yueming and Pei Yi.

Pei Huan shook his head and looked toward the head row.

He didn’t know how to describe it. The moment he left the elevator and saw Bo Yueming and Pei Yi, he felt a little uneasy inside.

“Ke Ming, tell me the truth, is there any problem with this competition?”

Ke Ming affirmed, “No problems. I’ve been developing Youming Studios for so long, when have I lost?”

Sitting on the far side, Xiang Nansheng listened silently to the discussion between the two. A moment of hesitation flickered in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

Pei Yi, who was sitting in his seat, ignored the movement on Ke Ming’s side. He glanced at Li Yuan, who was distributing materials and setting up his presentation, and actually thought that going first was very good.

After all, in the case of similar background settings, the first impression was the strongest. As for the creature models that the other party wanted to highlight, there may be “unexpected surprises” waiting to be revealed.

As he thought, Pei Yi took a sip of juice.

Sweet and sour~

Although it wasn’t as good as his favorite red wine, wasn’t it better than coffee? Very good!

Bo Yueming watched Pei Yi’s every move from the corner of his eyes. After hearing the sipping noise, he couldn’t help being distracted, and asked in a low voice, “Is it tasty?”

Pei Yi nodded slowly. He recalled the glass of juice that Bo Yueming drank in the restaurant last time, and pretended to protect his drink nervously. “Won’t, won’t give to Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming cooperated with his act. “En, you can have all of it.”

In less than half a minute, Li Yuan, having finished his preparations, gave his opening remarks. “Good afternoon, everyone. I am Li Yuan, the project leader of the game ‘The Last Fog.’”

“Next, I will elaborate on the core competitiveness of ‘The Last Fog’ and market advancement planning, and also touch upon investment channels that may be involved in the future.”

Li Yuan’s voice leaned toward being cold, and after being rendered by the microphone, it had a detached seriousness that was very suitable for such occasions.

The background setting of “The Last Fog” had not changed much, but in order to increase the player’s choices, as the world architect, Pei Yi had expanded the “game protagonist” from a single character to six characters with different backgrounds—

There was a retired special forces officer, serious and capable, familiar with various terrains, firefights, and close combat.

A talented scientist, rigid and rigorous, familiar with the composition and power of various types of chemical ammunition.

A sassy accountant, smart and courageous, who possessed the most powerful mental arithmetic ability and logical power.

There was a cute child, pure and friendly, who could easily communicate with any creature without being attacked.

And also a rich man who was timid and cowardly when things happened, but was well-informed and had the most accurate sixth sense.

The most mysterious character was a human zombie who had been recruited. With red eyes, white skin, and green blood, he was bloodthirsty but restrained. He maintained the basic thinking ability of a human, but forgot his memories before his “death.”

These six different game characters had different attributes, but they would start at the same point, and their first goal remained the same—

Arrive at China No.1 Underground City before June 16th.

“The Last Fog 1.0” was a single-player, multi-level game. All kinds of tools could be obtained and used in the form of cards, and the adventure dungeons were divided into six levels.

Generally speaking, the production difficulty would be far lower than that of general mobile games and web games, and the initial investment would not require much start-up capital, the server requirements were not high, and the focus would be on broadening the market channels.

Of course, if version 1.0 went well, various extensions and refinements could be made in version 2.0 within two or three months. And after the internal testing, public testing, and official launch—

Players could choose to integrate their achievements in version 1.0 into version 2.0.

Li Yuan prepared well in advance, and even if there were loopholes, they had been tightly plugged by Pei Yi’s “Will” vest.

He gave full play to being an investment major in university. When it came to the external expansion and internal upgrades of the game, he attached the most clear and concise investment amounts as auxiliary content.

Although their momentarily inadequate technical level was brushed over, it was almost perfect in all other aspects.

When Li Yuan finished and stepped down, Pei Yi used his “playing the fool” mask to applaud especially enthusiastically.

Although he couldn’t provide help on the surface, he at least couldn’t fall behind in action.

“…….”

Bo Yueming heard the kitten beside him clapping, and deliberately teased him, “You understand the game? Clapping so loud, be careful of your hands hurting later.”

On the surface, Pei Yi shook his head and said nothing, but inwardly, he held his head high—

As the master of the game and plot, how could he not understand it?

It was simply amazing!

Pei Yi had no problem with soliciting votes for his game, so he tugged at the corner of Bo Yueming’s clothes, trying to sneak through the ‘back door.’ “Er-ge, this one is good.”

Bo Yueming had his own considerations in mind. 

But after all, this was company business, and he couldn’t be too decisive before the comparison between the two was formally presented.

“I know, be good.”

The last two words were spoken very lightly, as if there was a trace of pampering in them.

Pei Yi’s ears reddened. He took a sip of juice at once and obediently stopped talking.

Yan Cen got up again and gestured, “Mr. Ke, it is your studio’s turn.”

Ke Ming smiled and nodded, motioning for Xiang Nansheng next to him to go on stage together. Before leaving his seat, he also patted his friend Pei Huan on the shoulder with a calm and confident expression.

After some preparations, Ke Ming spoke first as the general manager of the project. “Hello, everyone. First, allow me to briefly explain the basic concept and plot of the game ‘Alien Beasts.’”

Ke Ming adjusted his collar and put on a serious expression as he confidently explained, and it was just as Pei Yi had predicted—

“The Last Fog” and “Alien Beasts” had similar background settings, and the latter even had nearly the same game setup.

Thus, after Ke Ming finished explaining, Bo Yueming and the other high-level executives appeared calm, and even the project team staff who were listening from the sidelines gave no extraneous reactions.

In order to reduce the burden on his eyes, Bo Yueming had them closed. He tapped on the table twice. “Continue.”

The single word had no emotional fluctuations.

“…….”

There was a crack in the confidence on Ke Ming’s face, but he quickly suppressed it. “All right, next, Director Xiang Nansheng of our studio will explain one of the core features of ‘Alien Beasts’ to everyone.”

Xiang Nansheng pushed up his thick black-rimmed glasses and took over the task.

The core of “Alien Beasts” lay in the modeling of various creatures. Compared with the flat display at the initial screening, this time, various three-dimensional models and animations were directly put on display.

There was the alien butterfly with its sharp-bladed wings, a fat rat with tusks, a giant anaconda drenched in venom, and a monstrous combination of hybrids.

The alien monsters flying in the sky, crawling on the ground, and swimming in the water were vividly displayed before everyone.

The modeling displayed in the animations was obviously more intuitive and stunning than a flat print on paper.

The staff members of the project team sitting in the back row were all surprised.

Standing on stage, Ke Ming took in everyone’s expressions and regained his confidence. He couldn’t help but interject, “Our studio’s art team and technical team have devoted themselves to research and design for more than half a year. Up to now, we have created twenty animal models.”

“Of course, they are all original designs.”

When he heard Ke Ming’s interjection, Xiang Nansheng’s eyes flashed unnaturally under his dark glasses.

Pei Yi listened to the whispered exclamations from the staff behind. He deliberately “dropped” two of the toffees in his pocket to the ground and bent over to pick them up, taking a quick glance to the side—

Li Yuan silently held the documents in his hands, and his expression that had smoothed out once again showed a trace of graveness.

He had always known that the opponent’s greatest advantage was their modeling, but it happened to be at a technical level that Dawn Games couldn’t reach in a short period of time.

In Li Yuan’s view, Will’s game setting was already in line with the basic plot elements of the release, and if this competition failed, the fault must lie with himself.

In the corner where no one was paying attention, Lou Yang stared at the modeling display on the screen. Her eyes had completely changed.

. . . . . .

The investment competition between the two groups came to an end.

Assistant Shen Na glanced at the time. “Let’s end here today. When the executive discussions come to an end, our company will notify you by email……”

Before the echo of her voice stopped, Bo Yueming opened his mouth and said, “There is no need to engage in those detours. We should just choose one of the two and vote directly on the spot.”

As the top shareholding executive of G.M., Bo Yueming always had the right to speak. Taking advantage of no one being able to refute, he directly stated his choice.

“I am more interested in the background setting of “The Last Fog” I think that the architect of this game world is more creative, and the control of the market audience is also very precise.”

Pei Yi at the side heard Bo Yueming’s praise and took a mouthful of pudding, smiling happily.

For every architect of a game world, there was nothing more gratifying than affirmation of one’s work.

Sure enough, he was the villain he was looking for. Not only handsome, but also with great aesthetic tastes!

Bo Yueming didn’t know what Pei Yi was thinking, and cast his vote after some consideration—

On the surface, this was because the story logic and sense of creativity in “The Last Fog’ were generally strong, and the “stepping stone” development style was more conducive to the expansion of the Chinese market.

Privately, it was also because Pei Huan had joined the main creative team of “Alien Beasts.” Regardless of whether the other party’s position in the studio was real or not, Bo Yueming didn’t want to have anything to do with this sort of calculating person. Besides, the other party even had a superficial business arrangement with Bo Guancheng.

Hearing that Bo Yueming was the first to stand in line for “The Last Fog,” Ke Ming frowned briefly, but due to the occasion and the identity of the other party, he only dared to complain silently in his heart—

Sure enough, he was a blind man.

Their studio’s modeling was unbelievably excellent!

Was this kind of person worthy of sitting at the top of the company? He should resign himself to his fate and stay at home to continue to be blind!

Upon thinking about it, Song Ci, who was the chief operations officer and a shareholder of G.M., also expressed her views. “From a publicity point of view, I am more inclined toward ‘Alien Beasts.’”

“Their creature modeling is outstanding and mature, and can be used as a highlight to attract game audiences in the future. As for “The Last Fog,” the setting is very good, but the text is far more conceptual than the currently visible content.”

From the perspective of marketing promotion, Son Ci’s words were very pertinent.

Both Pei Yi and Li Yuan knew the current shortcomings of their game, and respected her choice.

After Ke Ming heard Song Ci’s choice, the downturned corners of his mouth started to rise again. He had originally felt—

Making an on-site decision in front of both competing parties was too aggressive and bold. But after thinking about it, the more straightforward the result, the more it could highlight his success and Li Yuan’s failure on the spot.

Why not do it?

Ke Ming glanced at Pei Huan, who he had called in to listen and make connections, “Yes, Pei Huan of our studio also considered this aspect of publicity.”

“Moreover, a large part of the models for the twenty creatures we’ve created were actually derived from his suggestions.”

As he said this, he glanced specifically at Yan Cen, who went to the same school as Pei Huan.

“…….”

Seeing the gazes coming from all directions, Pei Huan, who had never received such information, paused in thought.

How could he understand such things?

But on this sort of occasion, he was temporarily unable to dismantle the other party’s stage, and if the competition was successful, his nominal title could also be a little more resounding.

Following Ke Ming’s confident fabrication, Pei Huan smiled and acquiesced to the rhetoric.

“It is a one-to-one vote right now.” Ke Ming took the initiative to start the process, and looked at Yan Cen, who was the only one who hadn’t made a decision yet. “Boss Yan, what do you think?”

“……”

This person was really shrewd to the bone, calculating all possible interpersonal relationships.

The cream-stained corners of Pei Yi’s mouth curved into a sneer, and after pursing his lips, he maintained his dazed expression.

Bo Yueming noticed Pei Yi’s short-lived true emotions, and his desire to investigate burned even hotter. Before he could think deeply, a slow but firm voice came from the far right.

“Before the result of this competition is officially released, may I express some personal thoughts first?”

Yan Cen, who was about to vote for “The Last Fog,” was taken aback when he heard this.

Bo Yueming spoke up instead, “Ms. Lou? Please speak.”

Lou Yang glanced at Li Yuan and then said, “Frankly speaking, the reason why “The Last Fog” should reach an investment partnership with G.M.—”

“Is because although the current funds are limited, that doesn’t mean there is no modeling ability and design innovation, and the marketing is not the only entry point. Ms. Song’s choice is understandable, but not necessarily right.”

When he heard his vote of support being denounced, Ke Ming asked first, “Ms. Lou, in what capacity are you saying this?”

She was just an employee who hadn’t experienced much of life and was recruited into the company by Li Yuan, yet she dared to spew such bullshit for Dawn Games?

What a big joke!

Lou Yang stood up. “Let me introduce myself again. I am the newly appointed project director of the “Last Fog” project.

“In the future, I will be responsible for image design and part of the modeling for the game characters and various NPCs in ‘The Last Fog.’”

Hearing this series of self-introductions, Ke Ming’s voice was like a needle hidden in cotton, “Ms. Lou, it’s not easy to hold two positions. Forgive me for my ignorance. It seems that our Chinese game circle has not had a project director who is a woman?”

When Song Ci in the front row heard this, a trace of disapproval flashed across her face, but then she heard Lou Yang respond confidently.

“Really? Then there is now.”

Hearing Lou Yang gradually revealing her sharpness, Pei Yi unconsciously sat up straight and began to look forward to the next developments. He was confident—

Since Lou Yang chose to stand forward at this moment, it seemed that his previous guess was true!

Ke Ming took in Lou Yang’s image and attire, still disdainful, but it was difficult to express it freely due to the occasion.

As one of the executive shareholders in the office with the right to speak, Bo Yueming directly controlled the audience, “Director Lou, what did you want to say just now? Hurry up.”

The tone sounded stern and indifferent, but he changed her title from “Ms. Lou” to “Director Lou,” clearly recognizing Lou Yang’s self-reported identity.

Li Yuan realized something and called out, “Sister Yang?”

Lou Yang patted him on the shoulder, picked up the backpack she was carrying, and walked to the center of the conference room step by step. “Your company’s investment cooperation, in addition to the pure capability of the partner, should also consider moral integrity, right?”

Song Ci responded, “Of course.”

“Since this is the case, I will report on my own behalf. Youming Studios has borrowed, imitated, and even plagiarized the modeling of “Alien Beasts.” If the game is launched, there will easily be negative effects.”

“Nonsense!”

Ke Ming heard these words and the color of his face changed, then he quickly stabilized his mind. 

He looked at Li Yuan, who was still sitting quietly in his seat, and opened his mouth to ask, “Li Yuan, I still give you the respect of calling you Young Boss Li.”

“Even if we had a little bit of trouble over game copyrights before, you shouldn’t find a woman of unknown background and deliberately have her talk nonsense about investment! You are destroying the fairness of this competition!”

Pei Yi scoffed coldly in his heart, seeing everything clearly.

When a dog got desperate, it would jump over a wall.

If he didn’t have a guilty conscience, why such a big reaction?

Lou Yang put her backpack on the computer table and warded off Ke Ming’s questioning on Li Yuan’s behalf. “Mr. Ke, whoever speaks the loudest does not necessarily have the advantage.”

“The largest game forum in China, Youtu – as a game producer, you should have heard of it, right? There is a user whose ID is “Dehydration,” and your design modeling is highly consistent with the design screenshots uploaded by Dehydration.”

As Lou Yang spoke, her eyes swept across Ke Ming, Xiang Nansheng, and Pei Huan in turn, and finally asked them together, “May I ask, is this the original that you all swear by?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the audience collectively fell into silence.

A crack burst in Ke Ming’s solemn and trustworthy expression.

Sitting in his seat, Pei Huan realized that he was going to be forcefully implicated in a possible plagiarism incident, and embarrassment and annoyance suddenly rose in his eyes.

What irritated Bo Yueming most was this kind of dispute that touched upon the bottom line of morality, and his aura instantly cooled. “Lin Zhong, check this website and the related account immediately.”

Lin Zhong picked up the tablet at once. “Yes.”

Yan Cen, who was also sitting in a decision-making position, restrained his gentle expression with a frown and asked, “Mr. Ke, are Director Lou’s words true?”

Ke Ming’s pupils shook for a moment.

That “Dehydration” was a small account he accidentally discovered on the Youtu forum, and the address showed the registration as overseas. The number of fans was less than one hundred, and the popularity of various modeling screenshots was also very low, but the designs had a sense of spirit and innovation.

Ke Ming admitted that he got inspiration for the game from it, and privately asked the art and technical departments to more or less draw on it. 

He had originally wanted to wait until the investment was in his hands and before the game was launched to find a reason to change the modeling in order to cover up this matter, and he didn’t expect it to leak out at this critical moment!

Ke Ming saw the questioning eyes of the audience and lied desperately, “How is this possible? As for the user you mentioned, it might be an employee of my studio who uploaded the modeling screenshots privately without telling me.”

Pei Yi drank the last mouthful of sweet and sour juice and cursed silently: You idiot.

Hadn’t he realized that he had fallen into a “language trap?”

“Studio employee?”

Lou Yang also caught the loophole, and her tone became firmer. “Mr. Ke, wasn’t my self-introduction clear enough? May I ask, when did I become your employee?”

The firm and forceful rhetorical question turned into a slap, which instantly landed on Ke Ming’s face!

T/N: Ke Ming, no, you…..you don’t just present your face to the face-slapping king. Or queen. Can I just say that I love this new lady?