The decline of Sou Ben Games’ status was evident to all, while Ruili Games’ strength had been steadily rising.
Especially after players of <Forest Elves> finally managed to capture high-level elves in the slums, unlocking a more open-ended adventure mode that attracted even more players.
Of course, that high-level elf capable of transforming into a ‘bear cub’ had been secretly added in by Lou Yan.
A month later, Sou Ben officially launched the beta test for a new game.
This holographic game, called <Explorer>, catered perfectly to the needs of hardcore gamers. Players only needed to lie in a game pod, connect via brainwaves, and enjoy a time ratio of 1:24 between reality and the game, allowing for unrestricted immersive gameplay.
Previously, there had been no leaks about this game at all. The sudden rush to beta testing was an attempt to win back players.
The idea for <Explorer> had come from Lin Jielin. She had also participated in designing the game’s backstory, rules, and various interactive elements.
While there were many holographic games on the market, <Explorer> stood out with its novel story setting and fresh leveling mechanics, making it highly appealing to players.
At the Ruili Games development department, a tense anger filled the air.
“Xiao Yan, this game’s planner is Lin Jielin. Has she had her eyes on you for a long time?” The speaker was a bald man named Ai Lun.
Despite being bald, Ai Lun had strong, masculine features—he was quite the handsome man. It was said that every time he shaved the heads of the development team members, he would shave his own as well.
He was also the biological brother of Ai Rui and the boss of Ruili Games.
Two years ago, Ruili held a well-known game planning competition, attracting countless participants. The winner not only secured a position in Ruili’s development team but also had their game, <Forest Elves>, developed and launched—an idea conceived by the champion, Qin Yang, which had indeed gained a solid player base.
Several other high-quality entries were also purchased at high prices by Ruili, waiting to be developed.
Lou Yan’s <Explorer> was one of them.
“I only met her six months ago. No one had access to my game plan,” Lou Yan stated firmly. Two years ago, he had needed money, so he sold the <Explorer> concept. However, Ruily lacked the funds to develop it at the time and wanted to maintain secrecy, so they prioritized <Forest Elves> instead.
Now, Ruily was fully focused on developing <Explorer>.
“I deleted all the documents after selling the plan,” Lou Yan added, his expression unreadable.
In the end, everything led back to that woman.
Since she got involved six months ago, his life had been thrown into chaos.
No, he had also gained something valuable.
His optical computer suddenly emitted a soft blue light, as if sensing his turbulent emotions.
“Fuck, Sou Ben is absolutely shameless!” Airi cursed, kicking a chair. “Since that woman was able to scheme with your so-called ‘friend’ to steal <Palm Pet> before, who knows what underhanded means she used to get this game plan?”
“No need to panic. The original concept is with us, and we have two years’ worth of related development files. Even if this goes to court, we’ll have the upper hand. Sou Ben, on the other hand, can’t afford a legal battle.”
“Should we contact Sou Ben first?”
“No. Let’s take it straight to public opinion.” Ai Lun smirked coldly.
Even through the screen, Wan Tong could feel the ominous gleam reflecting off Ai Lun’s bald head.
She was also a bit confused. The plot never mentioned Lou Yan’s participation in the competition. It only stated that <Explorer> was his second hit game, independently developed by his company.
So, in the original plot, Lou Yan must have sold the concept, then later bought it back when he had the funds and technical capability to develop it himself.
If that were the case, then Lin Jielin, as the Raider, likely had no idea about this. Seeing Lou Yan inactive on new game projects, she probably just submitted a proposal to Sou Ben to develop a game.
The biggest scandal of recent days: just as <Explorer> launched, Sou Ben was sued by Ruili Games.
The game’s backstory, world-building, mechanics, and even character designs were all suspected of plagiarism!
Ruili Games posted evidence on their official website, proving <Explorer> bore a staggering 90% similarity to a game concept they had purchased two years ago, including identical background images, character designs, names, and even the game title itself.
Did the original contestant secretly sell the concept to Sou Ben?
Not long after, Ruili dropped another bombshell: <Explorer> was Lou Yan’s creation!
Lou Yan. Lin Jielin.
Previously, Lin Jielin had colluded with a friend to deceive Lou Yan, an incident that had been left unresolved. Now, a plagiarism scandal had surfaced again!
With her past misconduct, public sentiment was overwhelmingly on Lou Yan’s side.
Discussions flooded the internet, employees at Sou Ben were in turmoil, and Lin Jielin sat in her office, utterly blank.
She had planned for this new game to restore Sou Ben’s reputation, never expecting it to backfire so disastrously.
She thought Lou Yan had been drowning in depression ever since <Palm Pet> was stolen from him and had no energy to work on a new game. So, she wrote a proposal for <Explorer> based on its description in the storyline and submitted it to the company.
But she never expected that Lou Yan had already sold the rights two years ago.
That didn’t make sense. Why did the plot mention that <Explorer> was Lou Yan’s second big hit?
Her head felt like it was about to explode when someone suddenly kicked the door open and stormed in.
“Lin Jielin, are you trying to destroy Sou Ben?!”
Lin Jielin had originally been on the verge of getting fired, but thanks to her contributions and a higher-up speaking in her favor, the company had kept her—for now. Who knew she’d stir up yet another mess so soon?
She stood up, swept a cold glance at the intruder, and walked out.
It seemed relying on Sou Ben to suppress Lou Yan’s luck was impossible. And to think she had invested so much effort in the beginning, all for a bunch of useless dead weight!
Cowardly and hopeless at PR, they couldn’t handle anything properly. She’d better find a new company. She couldn’t let Lou Yan rise.
At the Ruili Game Development Department, everyone had been feeling much more at ease lately while observing the shifts in public opinion online.
Sou Ben Games had now started actively reaching out to them for information, adopting a tough stance. They had even tried multiple times to use their financial resources to suppress the matter, but Ai Lun, having had enough, directly took legal action. Only then did Sou Ben back down.
Development on <Explorer> was temporarily halted, and the team was enthusiastically researching <Palm Pet>.
Meanwhile, Lou Yan was thinking about how to build a private garden for Wan Tong.
Since she was always detected upon entering a game, she couldn’t stay for long, even if she really liked a game, because she’d attract too much attention from other players.
As he was contemplating this, a notification suddenly chimed.
Next to him, Ai Rui was the first to jump up. “A high-level elf!”
But when Lou Yan put on his VR glasses and opened <Forest Elves>, he found nothing around him.
“Huh?” One by one, the people around him, familiar faces, were just as puzzled.
“Is our system bugged again? The spawn rate for elves in the company was set to zero, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, weird. But back then, the spawn rate for slums was also set to zero…”
Lou Yan scanned the group of VR users, coughed lightly, and stood up to leave the room.
Inside the men’s restroom, Lou Yan tapped his optical computer.
Wan Tong appeared on the screen, lightly tugging at the hem of her dress, her lips slightly pursed as if pouting.
“Master~ Just now, Ai Rui and the others were saying that in <Forest Elves>, Ruili’s headquarters is a floating castle. I got curious… so I took a little peek…”
Since she had been detected inside someone else’s game headquarters, it wasn’t exactly appropriate.
Lou Yan’s voice dropped, tinged with amusement, but without a hint of blame. “Did you like it?”
Wan Tong was momentarily stunned, then broke into a bright smile. “I did! It looked like a palace where ancient deities would live.”
“I’ll build you one just like it.” Lou Yan gently traced his fingertip across the screen.
There was a way to let her enter games openly, but first, he needed to run some tests.
Wan Tong gazed at him through the screen, her joy nearly overflowing. “Lou Yan, I want to come out.”
Without a second thought, Lou Yan nodded. “Mm.”
Once Wan Tong was projected outside, she followed Lou Yan out of the small restroom stall, only then realizing that they were in the men’s restroom.
“What the hell! Lou Yan, that’s too much!” Ai Rui, who had just walked in, gaped at them in shock, then shot a suggestive glance at the stall they had just exited.
Wan Tong peeked out from behind Lou Yan and casually said, “Don’t bully Lou Yan, or I’ll tell Ai Lun about the 987GB of restricted content you’ve been hiding in your company-issued optical computer.”
Ai Rui stumbled back in horror. “No, please!”
His brother would kill him!
He didn’t even bother questioning how Xiao Wanwan knew about his secret.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?” A cold, familiar voice sounded behind him. It was Ai Lun’s.
Ai Rui spun around and frantically shook his head.
Ai Lun shot Lou Yan a glance. “Lou Yan, wait for me in my office. I have some family matters to deal with first.”
Lou Yan nodded and led Wan Tong away.
As they walked down the hallway, Wan Tong turned back and made a ‘good luck’ gesture at Ai Rui.
Ai Rui : ???
Why did he feel like this digital girl had a personal vendetta against him?!
“987GB. Impressive,” Ai Lun said coldly, enunciating each word.
Ai Rui’s will to live vanished instantly. With a thud, he dropped to his knees.
Meanwhile, in the hallway, Wan Tong stifled her giggles.
Lou Yan smiled down at her. “You don’t like him?”
“No,” Wan Tong shook her head. “He keeps calling me a digital character, so I thought I’d teach him a lesson.”
Most people had already begun treating her as some sort of advanced AI. Some even approached her for advice, but Ai Rui still dismissed her as just another game data.
Lou Yan’s smile didn’t fade, but his gaze darkened.
He could feel her now. He could even touch her. But the void in his heart only grew deeper.
Because what he wanted… was even more.