Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch C.371 362: The Absurd Interview

This night, Warehouse Bird, Chasing Wind, and their teammates may have been eliminated, but they've also become famous.

All the teams that ranked first in their groups and advanced to the knockout stage started re-examining the "miscellaneous items" that would appear in the competition maps.

Before today, these things were completely ignored.

In fact, many teams even worked overtime that night, going into the game to test the effects of the Fire Dragon Fireworks.

It can be expected that in future matches, the appearance rate of these fireworks will not be too low.

As the one who discovered this unconventional weapon, Warehouse Bird was easily remembered by all the players who had watched the match.

However, at this moment, Warehouse Bird had no interest in paying attention to all of this.

Despite drinking and having late-night snacks with his teammates after the match, which took up a lot of time, he didn't go to sleep when he returned to the hotel very late. Instead, he fought off his tiredness, logged into the long-prepared "Speed Chase," and entered Night City!

── Naturally, the hotel rooms prepared by Cloud Dream for the contestants came equipped with the latest Mirage 2.0 consoles.

As a hardcore game enthusiast, Warehouse Bird had been paying close attention to the news of "Speed Chase."

He purchased it immediately as soon as the game was released.

However, since he had to concentrate on preparing for the last group match, he hadn't even had the chance to read any related news, let alone play the game.

Before logging in, his impression of the game was still mostly from the closed beta.

As for new information, Warehouse Bird only knew that there seemed to be a dog in the game, and many people seemed to be cursing Lincoln and Cloud Dream.

But he didn't care at all.

Please, he's a hardcore gamer, why would he care about a dog?

As for the cursing, Warehouse Bird ignored it completely.

── He had full trust in Lincoln and Cloud Dream's capabilities and sincerity! They would never deceive their players!

"I'm already a whole day behind! Without triggering the anti-addiction system, I should still have two hours to play, so I'll go in and explore first."

Warehouse Bird skillfully lay down on the bed, adjusted his waist position, and issued a command ──

"Log in!"

After the command was entered, the headband automatically activated.

"Night City, here I come!"

*

Saturday morning.

Warehouse Bird opened his eyes and removed the headband.

He didn't say anything, but his eyes were red. It was unclear whether it was due to bloodshot eyes from getting up too early and not getting enough sleep, or because he was so angry at Lincoln that his eyes were turning red.

"F*ck!"

Warehouse Bird succinctly cursed and then took out his mobile phone to log in to Spiritual Rhinoceros and edit a post:

"@Lincoln, damn it!"

But reason stopped him at the last moment, causing him to change three words before sending it out ──

"@Lincoln, are you human?"

Last night, he had only just started playing. Due to winning the match, his mentality was a bit inflated, and he got into a fight with a few gangsters at the gas station.

As a result, he was beaten up, his dog killed, and his antique car stolen.

After resurrecting, he didn't think he had lost due to poor skills but rather because he was drunk, which led to his slow reflexes. With that in mind, he decided to go to bed and fight again after waking up the next day.

Today, he got up early, logged into the game, and went to the gas station to seek revenge, armed with a knife and a metal pipe, leaving his dog at home.

However, his opponents also took out metal sticks. Outnumbered, he was beaten up again and had his car stolen.

Warehouse Bird refused to accept defeat and reset the timeline.

This time, he launched a sneak attack, stabbing one to death and injuring another. Just when he was about to win, his opponent pulled out a gun...

How frustrated Warehouse Bird was at that moment!

But he had to return home today, so he had to log off the game first, no matter how frustrated he was.

After cursing at Lincoln, Warehouse Bird changed his attitude from not taking the game seriously to logging into the game forum on his way home, starting to seriously read the guides...

*

[08:00]

Cloud Dream Spiritual Rhinoceros post updated.

This was the time for the new game consoles.

Many netizens who had set special attention to Cloud Dream were initially excited when they heard the notification sound, thinking that Lincoln and Cloud Dream were finally going to say something.

But when they saw the time, their interest quickly dwindled─

This was the time for the new game consoles.

Upon clicking, they found that it was indeed ──

"25 million Mirage 2.0 consoles, now available!"

Very perfunctory.

Before, when they announced new consoles, they would write a few lines about the advantages, achievements, and games that could be played on the consoles, and even include some pictures of the consoles and games.

But now, the announcements had become very laid-back, just a simple notification - even the exclamation point seemed routine.

Just when the disappointed netizens were about to close the page, they saw a new post pop up.

This time it was not a line of text, but a video.

The video title read -

"Cloud Dream 001 Pet Employee [Milkshake] Player Appreciation Meet and Greet"

Everyone was surprised and delighted, and they hurriedly clicked on the video.

In the screen, Little Milkshake obediently squatted on the table, waiting for Cheryl in front of it to give it its work badge.

──Cheryl had been appearing on the[Cloud Dream Office Daily]account from time to time and was already recognized as the "Cloud Dream Official Insider" with a not-so-low reputation. Many netizens recognized her at a glance.

Behind Milkshake, there were a few cats lined up.

Occasionally, some of the cats would lose patience and try to slip away. A hand would reach in from outside the frame, gently stroking the lined-up cats and calming them down to stay in place.

──That was the cats' owner.

The time-stamp in the top left corner of the screen read ──[09/23｜14:30]

It was more than a month ago, when the Cloud Dream Office had just moved.

Cheryl showed the little metal work badge for Milkshake to the lens, and then hung it on Milkshake's collar.

After that, the lens switched, and Milkshake was squatting on the small sofa, looking at the lens with great interest, sometimes approaching it and sniffing it curiously.

Opposite Milkshake, Cheryl held a microphone and pretended to interview Milkshake seriously—

"Miss Milkshake, hello! Yesterday, 'Speed Chase' was officially released, and by midnight, it has sold a total of 12.33 million copies, breaking the first-day sales record of 'Assassins' Alliance'. What do you think of this?"

Cheryl handed the microphone to Little Milkshake.

Little Milkshake: "Woof!"

Cheryl took the microphone back: "Well, with such an astonishingly high exposure, what do you think of this as your official debut?"

Little Milkshake: "Woof woof!"

Cheryl showed a slightly awkward expression: "Don't you have any more thoughts? Everyone wants to hear."

Little Milkshake: "Woof woof! Woof!"

Cheryl took the microphone back again: "We can see that your official debut has caused a huge sensation on the Internet, even occupying the top spot on the hot search list and staying on the trending charts for almost the whole day. Do you have anything to say about this?"

Little Milkshake: "Woof! Woof woof!"

Cheryl: "Oh! Really? You want to hold an offline handshake event to thank everyone for their support? There will be 100 signed photos given out at the scene? That's really great!"

Little Milkshake tilted its head: "Woof?"

But Cheryl wasn't looking at it anymore; instead, she was speaking directly to the lens: "To thank everyone for their support, tomorrow afternoon, Little Milkshake will hold an offline fans meeting... sorry, it's an 'Offline Players Thank you Meeting' to get close with everyone! If you're interested, you can click on the top link in the comment section to sign up for a chance to participate."

"Also, the development team of 'Speed Chase' will also be present at the scene to thank everyone for their support."

"So, the first episode of Cloud Dream Pet Employee Interview is over. We'll meet again if fate allows!"

The video ended.

However, after watching the video, netizens were a little confused.

What was the meaning of this?

Was this an interview? It was too outrageous!

For a time, comments were all over the place:

"Seeing Little Milkshake alive and well, I shed tears of gratitude."

"What does this mean? Is Lincoln up to something new again?"

"001! Is this the advantage of having the boss as your backstage? @Lincoln, is Boss Lin in need of more pets? How do you think I am?"

"Shocking statement found upstairs!"

"Little Milkshake is so cute, the interview was interesting, but the emotional damage I suffered couldn't be relieved. @Lincoln, I haven't forgiven you yet!"

"He slipped up at the end! What thank you meeting, it's obviously a fan meeting! But - I'm in!"

"Handshake event? Would it be shaking Little Milkshake's paw?"

...

This video was also simultaneously released on multiple platforms, and gradually, as more netizens participated in the interaction, the two most important questions also emerged.

The first comment on the video website was:

'100 quotas? You're bluffing ghosts?! Justice is not enough, people don't follow! Let me give you a number! 1 million!'

The first comment on the Spiritual Rhinoceros was:

'I don't mean any harm; I just want to confirm that Lincoln, as Milkshake's master, will be there, right?'

Below this comment were countless replies: "Same question, I have a little gift I want to give him."

The accompanied pictures were various outrageous "gifts."

Kitchen knives, razor blades, banners, etc., were nothing unusual.

However, strange items included wheelchairs, crutches, bandages, painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, pesticides, and even abortion drugs...

Lincoln immediately closed the comment section.

"Forget it, let Cheryl take Milkshake with her."

"As for the problem that most people don't have a sense of participation..." Lincoln thought for a moment, "Why not let Milkshake work a little harder, and get more signed photos? 1000?"

The so-called signed photos were actually Milkshake stepping on the back of the photos with its dog paw.

To be honest, with Lincoln's feeling, most players were just joining in the fun and would be more boisterous online.

Would they really fly to Xiajing City the next day just to touch a dog in reality?

There can't be so many dog enthusiasts!

If there were, they wouldn't lack dogs in their own homes. Why not just pet their own dogs?

So, having Fred and a few others go to the scene to thank players for their support would be the real essence of the thank you meeting.

Even the signed photos where Little Milkshake stepped on with dog paws, Lincoln doubted whether players were genuinely interested.

He thought 1000 was too many, even considering numbering each photo.

Otherwise, he was worried that nobody would want them, and the leftovers at the company would become a laughingstock...

"Let's leave it like that for now! Just ask Milkshake and Cheryl to work hard." Lincoln quickly picked up his mobile phone, wrote a memo, and asked Mavis to send it to Cheryl on Monday.

*

After finishing this task, he logged into the virtual world to find Mavis after eating breakfast.

Today, they were going to watch an important live broadcast together.

Before today, if one person could be described as "the entire player circle waiting for his live broadcast," it would have been Shuihua, barely fitting the description.

But today, it was true that there was someone entirely fit for this description!

Even Shuihua had to stand aside!

Definitely the center of anticipation! The center of the center in position C!

He was — Ye Lang a bit big.

Half an hour before Ye Lang's regular live broadcast time, a large number of players arrived to stake out the live broadcast room.

Even Lincoln was no exception, after having breakfast, he went to find Mavis, opened the live broadcast room and put it aside, afraid of missing it.

After all, watching a rough man who likes lewd conversation dressed in women's clothing, switching places with the object he used to tease, doing some "empathy" - it sounded interesting to think about.

With Ye Lang's current attention, the possibility of shirking was almost nonexistent.

During yesterday's live broadcast, countless audiences were constantly urging. If he didn't take action today, his popularity might start to backfire.

So for Ye Lang, dressing up in women's clothing had become imminent, a must-do!