Chapter 142: Chapter 141: Our Company Only Has Two High School Students
April arrived in the blink of an eye.
It was time for the morning exercise break.
Lin Ruoxi was on the field with dark circles under her eyes, groggily going through the motions of the eye-protection exercises. While everyone else was already massaging the acupoints at the base of their necks, she was still pinching her earlobes, her head nodding sleepily...
"You’ve been working so hard lately. Go home and get some rest today," Xue Rui said with concern.
The game’s servers had been under constant attack lately. Lin Ruoxi had spent nearly every day in front of her computer doing maintenance and upgrades, giving herself dark, panda-like circles under her eyes.
He had a word with Director Wang, asking him to send Lin Ruoxi home to rest.
Thankfully, they had finally weathered that storm.
The explosive popularity of Happy Elimination had exceeded his expectations. It kept climbing higher on the free app charts, and last month’s revenue from a single platform was over 300,000.
As the saying goes, a tall tree catches the wind. Its success had likely drawn the jealousy of its peers.
He had considered reporting it to the police, but that was almost useless in these situations. The attackers used hit-and-run tactics, so all he could do was bolster their defenses.
However, he had finished the trademark registration process.
Game companies back then didn’t pay much attention to legal matters, so the registration process had been surprisingly smooth. He wondered if Gu Qingshan had pulled some strings for him.
His original plan had been to auction off these trademarks. But since his competitors were playing dirty, they would have no one to blame but themselves for what came next.
His game had already achieved some renown, and the market was flooded with copycats featuring similar elements. Now that he had a fistful of trademarks, he planned to sue every last one of those damn copycats and make a tidy sum from the damages.
...
「Meanwhile, at Le You Company headquarters.」
The conference room.
"Qingfeng, what about that match-three game you proposed before the New Year? Why are you still sitting on it? The market is getting flooded with similar games," a middle-aged man in a sharp suit demanded. He was the CEO of Le You Company.
"Boss, we built it, but it’s far too similar to Happy Elimination," explained the man whose work alias was Qingfeng.
He had tried Happy Elimination last year and was convinced that this type of casual game was incredibly engaging and had a massive future market.
After getting his superiors’ approval, he and his team had buried themselves in development for over a month. However, they kept unconsciously gravitating toward Happy Elimination’s design, and the resulting product was remarkably similar.
It was true that perfect solutions often converged on the same design, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were living in Happy Elimination’s shadow.
The competitor’s design seemed simple on the surface, but in reality, every element was a stepping stone for future development...
In reality, the mobile gaming industry was still in its infancy. Even the major studios were just feeling their way forward, crossing the river by feeling for stones. In contrast, Xue Rui’s product—built with a dozen years of future experience—was deeply thought-provoking in every aspect.
Now, the Le You team was torn by infighting, and the product still hadn’t been launched.
"I think we should release the web version first," someone proposed.
"Happy Elimination has already proven the market. What’s the point of a web version? What’s going on in that head of yours?"
"Isn’t that how we’ve always done it?"
"Just stick to your keyboard and stay out of marketing decisions."
Seeing his subordinates start bickering again, the man at the head of the table slammed his hand down. "Quiet! Qingfeng, continue."
Qingfeng had been with him the longest and had an incredibly sharp nose for the market. Most of Le You’s most popular overseas products had been hand-picked by him.
After the boss laid down the law, no one dared to speak. Qingfeng mulled it over for a moment before speaking.
"I believe we should cooperate with Happy Elimination. Better yet, we should acquire them."
The man chuckled. "I don’t think that’s necessary. Who doesn’t copy these days? Even the big studios do it. What’s the point of originality? The real business is getting the product online and making money as fast as possible."
"The boss is right. If a tiny studio like that can get so much traffic, how could we possibly do worse?" someone chimed in, eager to flatter.
Qingfeng was lost in thought for a long while. "The future of the gaming industry will be built on standardization and intellectual property..."
The room fell silent. Qingfeng’s talent was undeniable, but he was too principled for such a lawless, competitive market.
Someone interrupted him. "So, have you managed to contact them?"
Qingfeng’s eye twitched. ’Of course he’d contacted them. He’d tried long ago, using several different email addresses. Not only had he been called an "idiot" in response, but they had also blocked every one of his accounts...’
He’d even tried calling a while back, only to get cussed out by some guy on the other end.
"Their attitude is..."
Suddenly, a knock came from the office door.
A young man from the legal department walked in. "Qingfeng, here’s the information you requested."
Qingfeng stared at the files, then let out a long sigh. "Boss, you should see this. They’ve registered nearly every usable name imaginable."
He slid the documents across the table to the man.
The man stared at the papers for a long time before sucking in a sharp breath. "What the hell? Why would an old lady in her seventies register so many trademarks?"
Qingfeng glanced at the company’s legal representative information, and his eye twitched again. The birth year was listed as 1940...
"There has to be someone else behind this. Get in touch with them, and fast," the man said, finally understanding Qingfeng’s point.
For a game company, a catchy IP and trademark could save a fortune in advertising and prevent a host of legal troubles.
Now, he had no choice but to seek a partnership with this small company registered in Hedong.
...
「8:00 PM. Lin Ruoxi’s home.」
BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ~
The phone’s vibrations were getting on Xue Rui’s nerves.
"Damn it, another spam call."
Xue Rui’s phone was being blown up with calls. The moment he answered, they’d ask for a "Ms. Wang."
He just switched on Do Not Disturb mode, blocking all incoming numbers.
Xue Rui started to wonder. ’Did this unregistered SIM card used to belong to some deadbeat who owed money?’
He wanted to change his number, but Gu Muxue had topped it up with ten thousand yuan worth of credit.
The provider was a total scam, so there was no way he’d get a refund. He wasn’t sure if the credit could be transferred to another number, and it would be a huge waste to just throw the card away.
After much thought, he started using the credit to subscribe to services via SMS: QQ Membership, QQ Yellow Diamond...
He activated a whole slew of value-added services with the phone credit, hoping to burn through it as quickly as possible.
Just then, however, Xue Rui scrolled to a text message he’d previously ignored.
"Hello, Ms. Wang. We are from Le You Company and would like to discuss matters concerning the game Happy Elimination with your company..."
Xue Rui froze. Then he remembered—the company was registered under the old woman’s name, and her surname was Wang...
He’d misunderstood. These weren’t spam calls; they were trying to talk business.
Xue Rui stared at the row of prestigious, multi-colored, annual-fee diamonds hanging under his QQ profile picture and couldn’t help but curse, "Damn it, can I get a refund for these?"
These flashy, useless things were of no damn use to him. It seemed Lin Ruoxi liked this kind of stuff, but she was too frugal to ever buy it for herself.
’Well, she is just a kid, after all.’
Xue Rui figured it wouldn’t look right if he was the only one with all the flair, so he went ahead and bought a QQ Membership for Lin Ruoxi as well.
Then, he started looking up information online about the company that had contacted him.
"They don’t have any similar match-three games in their portfolio. They probably weren’t the ones who attacked the servers," Xue Rui muttered to himself.
He analyzed them for a long time. The company had good resources and a solid foundation; they seemed to be the type that was serious about their products.
After making up his mind, Xue Rui called Lin Ruoxi over.
"I’m thinking of selling the game," Xue Rui said.
He and Lin Ruoxi had developed this game together, so she had a say in the matter. While he could just make the executive decision, he didn’t want to hurt the girl’s feelings.
Lin Ruoxi hesitated for a long time, looking up at Xue Rui with her big, watery eyes. There was a hint of a plea in them. "Can we please not sell it?"
"Why not?" Xue Rui was taken aback. Lin Ruoxi had actually refused him.
"I... I don’t know..." Lin Ruoxi mumbled.
She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Hearing that the game might be sold to someone else made her feel as if the connection between her and Xue Rui would suddenly be severed.
When she thought about it, she realized most of the time she spent with Xue Rui was centered around running the game.
They had a few other apps, but their combined income wasn’t even half of what Happy Elimination made, and more importantly, those apps didn’t require constant maintenance.
’Xue Rui wouldn’t have to spend his time designing levels anymore. What if he stopped coming over?’
"If we sell the game, will you still come over for dinner? Will you still sleep in my bed?" Lin Ruoxi was so guileless that she simply voiced her worries aloud.
Xue Rui swallowed hard. ’This girl is completely transparent. No need to guess what’s on her mind.’
"What does the game have to do with us? I’ll still come over," Xue Rui said, ruffling her hair.
"Then sell it," Lin Ruoxi said, her face instantly breaking into a wide, happy smile.
’As long as Xue Rui would still come over, selling the game didn’t matter to her at all.’
"You’re the one in charge of the company’s email. Someone contacted you, and you didn’t tell me?" Xue Rui asked.
’Companies usually communicate through email. Who just calls directly?’
He’d been getting harassed for days, and it turned out Lin Ruoxi was partly to blame.
"Um, you told me during the New Year to handle everything. And on New Year’s Eve, you said I should ignore anyone who contacts us," Lin Ruoxi said earnestly.
"Did I say that?" Xue Rui asked, looking awkward. He didn’t doubt Lin Ruoxi’s memory, but still... ’Is she a human tape recorder or what?’
Lin Ruoxi seemed to operate like a pre-set program. Whatever he said, she did, no questions asked.
So, in the end, the blame landed right back on him.
Xue Rui opened the blacklist in Lin Ruoxi’s email account and found messages from numerous different addresses. Lin Ruoxi’s reply to each one was identical: a single word—Idiot.
"I can’t even imagine how the people on the other end felt," Xue Rui said, a strange look on his face.
The next day, when the call came again, Xue Rui answered.
"Hello, we’re from Le You Company—"
"Hello. I’m willing to talk, but I have one condition: you have to come to Hedong City to meet me," Xue Rui said.
In the Le You Company office, Qingfeng had put the call on speaker, and many of his colleagues were listening in.
Qingfeng considered this for a moment. He figured the other party wanted a home-field advantage, but he was sincere about communicating with them. "And your company’s address in Hedong City is...?"
"Nope, that’s a fake address. Our ’company’ is just two high school students," Xue Rui said with a laugh. He didn’t have an office. Someone else had handled the paperwork for him, and the address on the forms had nothing to do with him.
"Why don’t you come to us, then? Our company’s office is in a pretty good location..."
Xue Rui chuckled. "I’d love to visit the Capital, but I’m a high school student. I have classes to attend. The weekend would be the best time for you to come find me."
"What? Two high school students?"
