At Fish-Catching Internet Cafe…
“Teacher Qiao, are you sure you won’t appear in the video or have your name in the credits?” Zhu Xiaoce asked.
Qiao Liang nodded. “Yes, there is no need. Your studio is very professional. I just gave a few suggestions; I have no credits in it at all.”
Zhu Xiaoce shook his head. “Teacher Qiao, you are too humble. As a senior UP Master, your ability to control the audience’s psychology is indeed a strong point. The version we considered previously is not something they would want to see. It is indeed much better when we change your suggestion.
“However, if you insist on not being on the credits, we must respect your decision.”
Qiao Liang’s attitude was very firm. “Yes, thank you.”
Zhu Xiaoce stood up and said. “Okay, then I will go back to the studio to edit the film. You’ve worked hard during this period, thank you very much!”
“It is all part of my responsibility. It is everyone’s responsibility to expose such garbage companies!” Qiao Liang replied with a smile.
Qiao Liang returned to the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe again and sat back in his seat after he sent Zhu Xiaoce out.
During this period, Qiao Liang had been helping Zhu Xiaoce to produce a video to expose the formaldehyde-filled rooms in Home Corporation. However, he had neither appeared in the video nor participated in the shooting and its post-production.
That was because Qiao Liang discovered that Fei Huang Workspace was professional after all. Whether it was equipment or shooting techniques, it was far better than him being his own UP Master, which was really nothing that he could intervene.
However, Fei Huang Workspace’s original plan also had some problems.
Fei Huang Workspace used to shoot short videos, documentaries, and movies so it is more inclined to produce content efficiently and concisely. The method of storytelling would undoubtedly be the pinnacle.
However, the subject of this video this time was actually more like an evaluation, showcasing their opinion. At this time, the audience’s acceptance level had to be considered. The original plan of Fei Huang Workspace did not consider it.
When Qiao Liang made videos, he would take care of the audience’s feelings, expressed his attitude to the most acceptable level, and resonated with everyone.
Therefore, Qiao Liang simply corrected some details so that this video could be more grounded on the basis of objectively revealing the facts.
Volunteers had been found across the country. The staff of Fei Huang Workspace had contacted professional testing agencies and flew over to shoot the videos. The materials would be edited and released three or four days after they have been shot.
On the other hand, Qiao Liang suddenly felt lost after he was done helping out with the video.
Originally, he stayed in Jingzhou, intending to think carefully about what was missing in the Thriller Hostel.
However, he did not have a clue even after thinking for so long.
He heard that ‘Struggle’ was on sale so he went to play it but had yet to figure out what to do with a new video yet. The official Weibo post blocked Qiao Liang’s road.
This was disastrous!
Qiao Liang had given up on using ‘Products of the Gods’ to explain ‘Struggle’, but he still did not know what the Thriller Hostel lacked! Qiao Liang really wanted to ask Boss Pei about it.
For some unknown reason, that was a feeling of being deceived inexplicably.
If it was not because Qiao Liang trusted Boss Pei wholeheartedly, he would have thought that Boss Pei was a liar.
He opened his fan page, wanting to see what people were discussing.
“Old Qiao, come out quickly! Something big happened; someone is snatching your rice bowl!”
“Look at this Weibo post; it is now going viral online!”
“Is this He An famous?”
“He is not only well-known, but he is also a mountain in the domestically-produced standalone game circle. The Landlord Game was made by him! Such a boss actually came out to interpret Tengda’s game. I think Teacher Qiao is about to lose his job.”
“Tengda is really famous now!”
“I think this is a basic operation. The official website has been crazy blowing about ‘The National Hero of Games’. What is so weird about having veteran game designers praising it a little?”
“A little? Look at the wall of text—is that a little?!”
Qiao Liang was stunned looking at his fans’ heated discussion.
What did this mean?
What do you mean by I am about to lose my rice bowl?
Scrolling the chat history, Qiao Liang found a Weibo link. He saw that long post from He An after clicking it.
Qiao Liang’s first reaction was shock while his second reaction was dissatisfaction.
Someone was actually taking my business!
After the previous Tengda Games was released, Qiao Liang’s Products of the Gods was always the first to interpret its meaning and was also the best.
He could not give a 100% answer to Boss Pei’s true intentions, but he had at least given up to 80%. No one could surpass it.
As a standalone game UP Master, Qiao Liang had certainly heard of He An’s name. It was no exaggeration to say that he grew up playing He An’s games.
However, He An had retired from this world for many years. In the early days of the emergence of national games. Several of his standalone games were indeed a sensation by then, but he had gradually faded out of players’ sight after he switched to online games.
Qiao Liang was not convinced. The veteran was indeed a veteran, but you have not touched standalone games for more than 10 years, right?
Moreover, this Weibo post by Boss Pei had completely blocked many interpretations. You would undoubtedly fall behind if you were to just repeat the analysis from that of the other players.
You could steal my rice bowl even in this case?
I, Teacher Qiao, would rather die than to believe it.
However, that was just his opinion. He proceeded to click open the long Weibo post and read it carefully from start to end.
Qiao Liang was completely convinced after reading it.
There were only three words left in his mind: Dimensionality Reduction Attack!
Especially what He An said at the beginning of his long Weibo post: “This game is a textbook for game makers. If you don’t have professional knowledge of game production, you may not understand it.”
It was referring to Qiao Liang himself in his point of view!
As expected, a veteran would always be a veteran.
As a veteran game enthusiast, Qiao Liang had always despised these game makers previously and felt that these mediocre game makers were nothing more than that. Their understanding of games might not be deeper than his own.
However, he was totally wrong, seeing what he saw today.
He really could not use his own hobbies to challenge others’ jobs. There was still a huge gap between amateurs and professionals after all.
Of course, humans were always prone to making mistakes. When professionals make mistakes, people would look at them as though they were not as good as amateurs. However, professionals have proven that they could definitely do much better than amateurs since they could make it their jobs.
He An’s analysis made Qiao Liang understand the truth. The official Weibo post by Boss Pei did not block all his roads. It blocked all other roads, leaving only one.
This was the true way of interpretation for the true meaning of the game ‘Struggle’!
It was just that Qiao Liang did not realize it since he lacked professional knowledge in the game.
Let’s look at how He An analyzed it?
He directly used a basic theory of literary and artistic creation. He solved the labyrinth that Qiao Liang could not get out of thinking hard.
“No one will create a literary work aimlessly; any literary work will more or less project some of the author’s inner thoughts.”
Therefore, he found a thread end in the messy web and managed to have everything proceed smoothly!
Qiao Liang felt it was a pity while worshiping the big boss.
It would be great he could make a video for this issue!
Big Boss He An wrote the truth, but there was limited influence since it was a long Weibo post.
Society is relatively more impulsive nowadays. All sorts of things on the internet were frantically competing for people’s attention. A wall of text was less popular as compared to those with videos that had pictures, sounds, and special effects.
It would surely be able to spread on a large scale if made into a video.
Of course, if Qiao Liang had contacted He An on Weibo and asked him to authorize himself to make a video with a detailed explanation of the game Struggle, it should be feasible.
However, Qiao Liang was too embarrassed to do so.
Where would he find his pride if Products of the Gods used others’ manuscripts?
Qiao Liang was usually jolly and looked like a heartless fat ass, but he had extremely high requirements for himself in terms of game-related content. That was his pride.
There would always be a sense of picking others’ wisdom using others’ manuscripts to make videos even with others’ consent.
Therefore, Qiao Liang considered it for a short while but dismissed it.
This time, he really failed. It was completely crushed by the dimensionality reduction attack by Big Boss He An.
It became clear to him after he read the answer. He had no clue about it at all. He had to admit that he was just not good enough.
This was because only by objectively admitting that one’s strengths were lacking that one could make improvements.
If someone was always jealous seeing that others were better than them. They would never be able to improve if they always feel that they were alright.
Therefore, Qiao Liang closed the long Weibo post with a complicated mood and calmly accepted the fact that he had failed again.
Eh, why the word ‘again’?
Hmm… obviously, the video for Thriller Hostel had already failed once. It was not a very big failure, but it did not manage to get it very popular. It was a definite failure for the demanding Teacher Qiao.
This gave Qiao Liang, who had always been very confident, a blow.
“Eh, wait a moment…
“Speaking of the video, Boss Pei personally told me that I will be able to find what is missing in the video if I were to give up interpreting Struggle with the Products of the Gods.
“I have given up—given up completely, but I still have no idea what is missing!
“Could Boss Pei be lying to me?
“Impossible!
“There must be something missing since Boss Pei himself said that!”
Qiao Liang opened He An’s long Weibo post again and read it carefully.
He felt that he could use this long Weibo post as the key to the interpretation of ‘Struggle’ or even as a textbook to get new inspirations!
The battle was not over yet; Teacher Qiao refused to withdraw from it!
