25: At the forefront of the storm

As soon as the game started, Tong Ye happily picked Qin Shi Huang.

The current gaming environment was still very harmonious; no one would start hurling abuse just because someone was playing poorly.

After all, there was no Ranked Mode yet, and players mainly focused on the fun of playing with friends.

"You bought the new hero so fast!" the marksman, In-game character, typed.

As Tong Ye controlled Qin Shi Huang, she felt that this hero truly matched her temperament.

It was just that his voice lines were always 'Zhen, Zhen'—she didn't quite know what that meant.

But it was still very cool.

"Doing as one pleases—that is the prerogative of a monarch!"

"Be crushed by Us with utter delight!"

"Hahahaha!" Tong Ye happily poked away with Qin Shi Huang.

Once she reached level four, she couldn't wait to try out his Ultimate.

The opposing Bian Que was chased all over the place by Qin Shi Huang's Ultimate.

Only after dying did he type, "Pay-to-win heroes are indeed powerful; that Ultimate has such long range."

Tong Ye: "Naturally."

With the launch of Qin Shi Huang and Miyamoto Musashi, the game's activity level surged instantly.

That night, almost every single match featured these two heroes.

Some people even started trying out the jungle role because of Miyamoto.

When midnight struck, countless players began picking out their favorite skins.

Those who liked playing Bian Que naturally had to get 'Pupil of the Red Lotus'; then there was another skin for 288, and after signing in for seven days, they could even get In-game character's 'Rose Lover'.

It was practically a giveaway!

In an instant, a large number of players flooded Ye Bai's lan zhi account to praise him.

[So generous, truly too generous, they're actually giving us skins for free.]

[I've pulled several friends in to play Honor of Kings, and now we have a blast playing every day.]

[To be honest, I used to have a mild emotional illness. Since I started playing Honor of Kings, I went for a check-up and found I've fully recovered. Thank you, Honor of Kings!]

[Anyone want to play together~]

[The skins are so good-looking. In-game character's skin is really beautiful. Are they really giving something this pretty to us for free?]

[I've decided to support you as the true King of Games!]

[Wait, I just realized the Noble System gives out skins too. Noble Level 4 gives a Xiang Yu skin. This game is really awesome!]

Ye Bai curled his lips into a smile. Be happy for now.

In the future, when you're on a losing streak, there will be plenty of time for crying, hahahaha.

He looked at the revenue in the backend with a calm heart. He estimated that in about another year, he would be able to achieve complete financial freedom.

By then, he could film whatever shows he wanted.

With such beautiful expectations, Ye Bai drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Honor of Kings had already appeared at sixth place on the monthly sales charts.

At the same time, it was rapidly climbing the monthly revenue charts.

Late at night.

A post quickly appeared around the twentieth spot on the trending searches.

【Do mobile games lower the standard of gaming?】

[As everyone knows, most people on Blue Star suffer from emotional illness. To solve this problem, we gradually began learning to make various games, achieving a way for people to experience the joy of another world within holographic pods.]

[But does the emergence of mobile games signify a regression in technology? Will players playing such crude games on mobile phones lead to more serious emotional illness?]

[Has the Producer considered this, rather than blindly seeking quick fame and a fast buck? What we, as Producers, should do is bring joy to everyone. Does setting up so many paid items deviate from a Producer's original intention? @God of Games]

Many netizens clicked in out of curiosity because of the mention of mobile games.

When they saw it was posted by a Producer with hundreds of thousands of followers, everyone smelled the scent of drama.

The comment section was immediately filled with countless comments.

[Support Luke! This kind of game that only knows how to grab money has no reason to exist at all!]

[Leaving my mark here in the front row.]

[Mobile games? You're basically mentioning Honor of Kings by name at this point. What's wrong with mobile games? Did they eat your rice? I'm having a lot of fun playing.]

[God of Games? What a disgusting name. A mere college student being so arrogant.]

[I also feel like playing mobile games is a bit embarrassing, but all the friends around me are playing it.]

[Wait, Honor of Kings only has a few skins, and if you top up a hundred, they give you a skin right away. Why don't you mention that? Do Producers not need to eat? I see your games have fees too.]

[Woof woof woof, so many Honor of Kings dogs. Did the God of Games pay you?]

[Honor of Kings gave us skins, so I'm happy to be its dog. So what? I don't see your master giving you any skins. Oh, I forgot, you have to spend several hundred just to buy one of your games, while our Honor of Kings is free, la la la.]

[Boycott Honor of Kings. Anyone who plays this game, please take the initiative to end your friendship with me.]

[I see you're so salty you can't stop. Is it because Honor of Kings' monthly downloads exceeded your new game? Oh, I took a look; your new game is ranked somewhere in the hundreds. That's pure jealousy.]

[How can you talk about Luke like that? Do you know how hard he worked to make this game? He traveled across mountains and rivers just to create better game environments. He didn't even have time to sleep while making this game. You guys are too much.]

The comment section was arguing incessantly, and the hashtag gradually climbed higher.

At this moment, Luke, who had caused the stir, was happily watching the popularity rise.

To him, he was indeed a little bit jealous.

But the most important thing was to boost the popularity of his own game. His game had been online for half a month, and the current download numbers were simply embarrassing.

In that case, he naturally had to stir up some hype.

There would always be people who would check out his game because of the trending topic.

As for Honor of Kings?

Either everyone would eventually despise Honor of Kings, and he'd lose a competitor.

Or, if the tide turned, he would apologize, make peace with the God of Games, and then also make a mobile game to rake in money.

Either way, he would profit.

In this world, the scariest thing wasn't failing to make a good game, but having no fame.

Like Qin Yushan back then—wasn't he also at his wit's end? He made some bullshit like moonlit mountain villa, sold it for 100 a copy, and still sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

He made a fortune.

That's the importance of fame. If no one knew who Qin Yushan was, could he have sold it?

Luke thought indignantly, then turned to happily watch his post climb to the front of the trending searches.

Great, it was worth the large sum he spent to get on the trending list.

Once the God of Games responded tomorrow, the popularity would likely surge again.

He lay down to have a good sleep; as for the comment section, there was no need to worry—his fans would naturally fight the battle for him.

The next day.

As soon as Ye Bai woke up, he saw a bunch of calls and messages on his phone.

He clicked to take a look and realized that Honor of Kings and he had been pushed to the center of the storm.

Chen Chen and Grom looked worried. "What do we do now? Should we issue a statement?"

Ye Bai went to look at that post; it had already reached third on the trending list.

After reading it, Chen Chen was afraid he might suddenly snap, but Ye Bai's calm and unruffled demeanor made him even more worried.

"Are you okay? If not, I'll go help you curse him out!"