Chapter 17: If You Aren’t Full of Yourself When You’re Young, What’s the Point of Being Young?

Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players 

Chapter 17: If You Aren’t Full of Yourself When You’re Young, What’s the Point of Being Young?

"That’s so infuriating! How can someone like this even exist?" Ruan Ningxue was visibly angry.

After all, she had also worked on Mirror.

"That guy is crafty. He just wants attention. It doesn’t matter whether people criticize him or support him," Yang Xin said, trying to calm Ruan Ningxue down.

"Exactly. People like him aren’t uncommon. Every industry has them," Chen Xu said with a smile.

"So, Chen Xu, are we just going to pretend we didn’t see this?" Ruan Ningxue felt rather aggrieved.

If they didn't fight back, someone else was practically stepping on their heads.

But if they fought back, wouldn't they just be giving him exactly what he wanted?

"Of course not. He wants a fight? Fine. Let’s give him one."

Chen Xu chuckled, opened the company's official Weibo account, and posted an update.

"To certain people who consider themselves senior veterans: games are art, but they are also products. Just like film, there are both art films and commercial films. Mirror has never claimed to be a work of art."

"Of course, certain veterans apparently consider their own works to be art. Perhaps they've been attacked by some disrespectful young people. After all, if a work truly qualifies as art, it would be rather difficult to explain its score."

After posting the Weibo update, Chen Xu also took the opportunity to update Mirror's store description.

The main reason was that his official Weibo account had very few followers.

There were only a little over a thousand, most of whom had followed him previously because of his manga work.

Although Mirror had achieved respectable sales, most of its gentleman-game players weren't particularly interested in the identity of its developer.

When Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue saw Chen Xu's post, both of them froze.

"Chen Xu, didn't you say he was doing this deliberately? Aren't you just giving him exactly what he wants?" Ruan Ningxue asked, puzzled.

"Someone's already getting in my face. If I don't respond at all, wouldn't that make me look too cowardly?"

Chen Xu shrugged with a smile.

Yang Xin, however, suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Undertale isn't a particularly large game. If we put in some extra hours over the next few days, we should be able to bring the production of the remaining assets forward!"

Chen Xu nodded.

"Exactly. I was still wondering how we should promote the game. But now... if someone is handing us free traffic, why wouldn't we take it?"

"That said, everyone's going to have to work a little harder over the next few days," Chen Xu said.

Just like in business, when the top two companies start fighting, it's often the third party that ends up getting crushed.

The game industry wasn't much different.

The most frightening thing wasn't being criticized.

It was being completely ignored.

And Chen Xu had considerable confidence in Undertale's quality.

...

While the three of them entered full-on overtime mode, Chen Xu's Weibo post gradually began gaining traction.

Although his official Weibo account didn't have many followers, Mirror had attracted a considerable number of players during this period, and many of them followed the link over to his account.

On top of that, Zhong Mei had specifically targeted Mirror in his original video, so quite a few people had been quietly watching to see how Mirror and Chen Xu would respond.

They didn't expect to actually catch something.

At first, Zhong Mei's Weibo post had mostly been treated as a joke by many people.

After all, this wasn't the first time he'd pulled something like this.

But Chen Xu's response immediately changed the nature of the situation.

Anyone could tell that Chen Xu's post was directed at Zhong Mei.

And it takes two to tango.

Once Chen Xu responded, countless spectators instantly flocked over to watch the drama.

Various media outlets began reporting on the incident, while countless players joined in as well.

The discussion quickly exploded.

"Holy crap, what’s going on?"

"They’re fighting! They’re actually fighting!"

"So Chen Xu is the developer of Mirror!"

"Hey, does this designer named Chen Xu have some kind of background?"

"No. Why?"

"Then why the hell are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"Hahaha, Chen Xu's response was absolutely savage."

"He's got a point. Zhong Mei has made two decent games, sure, but they're still nowhere near being works of art."

"I'm backing Chen Xu on this one. What's wrong with liking gentleman games? Give us the sequel and DLC characters already! GKD!"

“I actually feel that Zhong Mei didn’t really do anything wrong this time. A gentleman’s game really isn’t something that belongs on the main stage.”

“Bullshit! Of course you can talk tough after putting your pants on! Wasn’t Zhong Mei the one who started picking a fight in the first place?”

Following Chen Xu’s reply, the buzz surrounding the incident immediately exploded, attracting the attention of a large number of players.

Quite a few players supported Chen Xu. After all, whether within the game industry or among players, Zhong Mei’s reputation had never been particularly good.

At the same time, there were also people who disliked Chen Xu and sided with Zhong Mei. After all, the genre of Mirror was indeed prone to controversy.

But one thing was certain: Chen Xu and Zhong Mei had instantly become the focus of attention for numerous media outlets and players.

Calling it a sensation across the entire gaming industry would be a slight exaggeration, but with various media outlets competing to report on the incident, most players who had been following the recent developments in the indie game scene had already heard about it.

Chen Xu’s official Weibo account also gained more than a hundred thousand followers overnight.

………………

Meanwhile, over at He School Culture & Entertainment, Zhong Mei learned about the news after one of his assistants brought it to his attention.

He wasn’t angry at all.

On the contrary, he looked positively excited.

“Good! I knew we should target a young designer who’s just starting out but already has a bit of a reputation. That’s what young people are like! Full of fire! If you’re not hot-blooded, can you even call yourself young?” Zhong Mei said, his face full of delight.

Why had he arranged that interview online in the first place?

Wasn’t it all for the publicity?

And now, look at this.

The publicity had arrived.

How long had it been since someone had voluntarily jumped in and played along?

Having someone respond and having no one respond were two completely different things!

Just look at how enthusiastically the media were reporting on it now.

Earlier, he had deliberately paid for some promotional coverage in an attempt to stir up the controversy.

But it hadn’t caused much of a commotion.

And now?

With someone responding to him, the traffic was coming all on its own. He didn’t even have to do anything!

Still, he needed to add a little more fuel to the fire and make the controversy burn even hotter.

With a smile on his face, Zhong Mei opened his official Weibo account and posted:

“Certain game designers are quite skilled at taking things out of context. I have never said that my own game is art. I merely hope to develop a game that can truly be called a work of art.”

“But judging from the games developed by certain game designers, perhaps they will never understand in their entire lives how to develop a truly good game, rather than relying on a few clever… little tricks.”

After posting the message, Zhong Mei deliberately tagged Chen Xu.

What surprised him, however, was how quickly the other party responded.

About five minutes later, Chen Xu tagged him back.

“Those words are something I should say to you as well. My new game, Undertale, will officially launch on July 15. Perhaps certain designers could take a look and see whether a game like this can be considered a ‘real game,’ and whether it contains any artistic merit.”

The smile on Zhong Mei’s face suddenly froze.

This move…

Why did it look so familiar?