To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Chapter 332: Chapter 209: Crushing Defeat (Part 2)_2

The first day of the competition ended in an extremely depressing atmosphere. The victors didn’t seem particularly happy, while the defeated players weren’t especially despondent either.

The originally planned raffle and post-match interviews wrapped up hurriedly. Media reporters didn’t even feel like going through the motions; they asked a few questions before rushing to the other side, where they began excitedly taking notes.

The venue, which had just been bustling, became exceptionally desolate, and the staff responsible for wrapping up seemed to lose their souls as they listlessly went about their tasks, stealing glances at the match happening across from them.

James had wanted to scold them, after all, it was my money that was paying for their work!

Even if it wasn’t much, they were still paid!

But he himself was so dispirited that he didn’t even want to speak; he could only sit on the steps in front of the venue, watching the surge of excitement across from him.

If he dismissed the disruption caused by his competitors, he had to admit that “Spirit Vessel” was truly amazing.

“Spirit Vessel” was naturally suited for VR, with the overwhelming presence of the mechas and their ferocious impact, something only a VR headset could convey.

On top of that, the cool holographic projection meant his side had lost utterly.

With a long sigh, James opened his phone and looked again at Druid Entertainment’s stock price.

The current price was 92 US dollars per share, the highest it had ever been.

However, he believed that the price would plummet rapidly after the market opened the next day, all the way to the floor.

As an executive, he held some shares that couldn’t be traded on the market as well as some he had bought himself.

By entrusting all these shares for sale, he could only hope to break even, ensuring his retirement life wouldn’t be too miserable.

Suddenly, a car stopped in front of him, and several company executives hurried out; seeing the nearly empty venue, they turned pale with shock.

“James, what happened? Where did everyone go?”

Seeing the disheveled executives, who reeked of alcohol and had only just arrived, James felt a sudden surge of schadenfreude.

If he had suffered a terrible loss, surely these fellows would fare even worse.

It felt like drowning but discovering that someone else was sinking deeper, and even though death awaited both, there was some happiness before the end.

Pointing over to the other side, James said, “Look across.”

Turning their heads, the four executives were collectively petrified.

At that moment, “Spirit Vessel” was right at the scene where a blue mecha was brutally pummeling a red mecha, which had been pinned to the ground, its armor torn open, artificial muscles ripped apart, signalling an inevitable defeat.

But suddenly, the red mecha dodged fiercely and then snapped its head up to bite the opponent’s neck, firing its hidden heat lance ferociously, piercing the blue mecha from the top and achieving an unexpected reversal.

The sudden turn of events made the spectators cheer loudly, and a bystander among the staff couldn’t help but start clapping before walking away sheepishly under the stern gaze of the executives.

They stared dumbfound at the scene before them for a long time before finally turning back to James and asking, “Why didn’t you… why didn’t you inform us?”

“How many times do you think I called?”

“Then… then you could’ve come to find us!”

“Did you tell me where you were?”

“But…”

“There are no buts. Better think about how to remedy this.”

These executives were becoming increasingly inept when it came to gaming, but they were more and more sensitive in matters of capital.

After seeing the holographic projection, they realized how strongly it would affect the stock price. Profit-driven capital would consider this promising newcomer, and no one would want to take on Druid Entertainment’s stocks anymore.

Leaving the mess to the executives, James walked all the way to the top floor of the venue.

This was his temporary office, complete with his favorite reclining chair and a fridge stocked with perfectly chilled beers.

He opened a beer for himself, adjusted the position of the reclining chair so that he could take in the full view of the holographic projection in front of him.

With a magnificent piece of music playing, James took a gulp of his beer, half-finishing it, and couldn’t help but exclaim as he watched the performance opposite him, “This is great.”

The bubbles in the beer were popping.

It was a swan song for the old era on the eve of its end, and a salvo to hail the arrival of the new age.

The next day, when Druid Entertainment’s stock opened, it saw some elevation, reaching a hundred US dollars at one point, only to take a dive during the course of the day and plummet sharply.

Before others could understand why, James had already sold off all the stocks he could use, barely preserving his retirement fund.

However, the other executives were not so lucky.

The stock price halved, diminishing their fortunes overnight; the profits brought by “Fallen Mecha” were wiped out in one fell swoop.

Worse still, the company had prematurely bought back a batch of shares with cash, thinking to make a tidy sum, but now the loss was so severe that it was unrecognizable even to one’s mother.

What infuriated them even more was that on Little Blue Book, Fang Cheng Studio also registered an account and posted their first message.

[Loyalty is the most precious quality, a pity you don’t deserve it.]

The accompanying image of the message was of Wang passionately commentating on the game competition.

In the photograph, Wang looked spirited and handsome while commentating, a stark contrast to his previous dispirited appearance.

The slap previously dealt by Druid Entertainment finally returned boomerang-style, leaving a bright red mark.

Furious and unable to contain themselves, Druid Entertainment began looking for trouble with Fang Cheng Studio, starting with visa issues, venue arrangements, staff configuration, and equipment permits, but unfortunately, they couldn’t find any problems.

Cayman Company was vouching for them, Kirin Industry provided the work visas, and all the paperwork from various parties was completely in order, leaving virtually no room for faultfinding.

Even some domestic departments were actively cooperating, and the mysterious authorities seemed to be extremely dissatisfied with Druid Entertainment’s recent actions, which presented an excellent opportunity for revenge.

Currently, the domestic environment was testing the waters for opening up the gaming market, and Druid Entertainment’s actions were a slap in the face of the authorities.

If they didn’t retaliate, everyone would learn that the Huaxia gaming circle was just an ATM; overseas gaming industries would only become more unscrupulous afterwards. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Moreover, simply retaliating was not enough; to rectify the situation, they had to make the other party bleed, or it wouldn’t be considered settled!

Druid Entertainment’s top executives began desperately trying to save themselves, increasing the prize money, intensifying their marketing efforts, and pouring more into gaming media, but the clause “Huaxia players are restricted from participating” remained uncancelled.

Since they had already offended that group of players, they had to follow through to the bitter end.

Meanwhile, Fang Cheng Studio would make them understand what it meant to reap what one sows and respect the fate of others.

As the “Fallen Mecha” competition lasted one day, the “Spirit Vessel” competition also carried on for the same duration.

Midway through the schedule, the “Fallen Mecha” venue had almost no spectators left.

Groups of extras were invited to the front rows to create the illusion of a bustling crowd for the media; however, the lack of buzz on social media and video platforms indicated that Druid Entertainment had utterly lost.

With stock prices plummeting and all previous preparations in vain, “Spirit Vessel” began to encroach on “Fallen Mecha”‘s ecological niche with its new PVP system, and being replaced was almost an inevitable outcome.

Moreover, this type of competitive game had almost no chance of becoming a substitute; if it wasn’t good, it would lack popularity, players would find it hard to match, leading to player attrition and a vicious downward spiral.

Lacking cash flow, Druid Entertainment was also unable to attract players, and peak online numbers were plummeting daily, eventually dropping to just over a hundred online players.

Finally, battered Druid Entertainment had no choice but to announce the premature end of the “Fallen Mecha” tournament, terminating this painful competition.

However, by now, no one was paying attention to the “Fallen Mecha” event anymore.

Across from it, the “Spirit Vessel” competition was in full swing, showcasing the charm of mecha to the whole world.