Chapter Forty-Seven: Ranking of the Expedition

In the blink of an eye, three months had passed since the launch of the Sci-Fi Journeys contest.

Today was the day when the final results would be determined.

Inside the conference room at QiYou Tower.

After summarizing the performance figures for the month, Wang Fafu broached the topic of the contest.

"The third place has been decided, but the first and second places are extremely close in performance, so we'll need everyone to vote."

As he spoke, he issued a command on his neural terminal.

Instantly, a virtual light screen appeared before all the designers present.

On it was a direct comparison between two entries.

One was a game titled "Mecha Armory," and the other was Yin Jian’s "Spore Evolution."

"I remember 'Mecha Armory' was the game that broke out of its initial region early on, so how did its sales almost get caught up by this 'Spore Evolution'?" one of the operations managers asked in confusion after reviewing the data of both games.

It was common knowledge at QiYou that games which broke out into wider regions always vastly outperformed those that hadn't. Yet these peculiar numbers puzzled most of the operations staff in the room.

"Must be data manipulation. Look, 'Spore Evolution' only sold two million copies on its first day, then maintained daily sales of around seven hundred thousand. That’s clearly abnormal," said Lan Bai, leader of Group Three.

Hearing this, many designers nodded in agreement.

Lan Bai's words carried weight; even if he was wrong, as the veteran head of Group Three, no one would risk offending him.

"Leader Lan, I think the numbers for 'Mecha Armory' look a bit cooked as well," Han Hai chimed in with a sly smile, noticing Yu Jia’s uneasy expression and that the outcome seemed set. "Fifteen million sold on the first day, but the next day’s sales weren’t even one percent of that. Does that seem normal to you?"

This would certainly offend Lan Bai, but with one side being a fellow group leader and the other the Director, Wang Fafu, only a fool would pick the wrong side.

"Han, what you’re saying is that server crashes on launch day are perfectly normal occurrences, aren’t they? Nothing to make a fuss about," Lan Bai retorted. "In any case, in the world of virtual games, results speak for themselves. 'Mecha Armory' outperformed 'Spore Evolution.' I don’t see any grounds for debate over which should be first."

He glanced around at his colleagues, as if seeking any objections.

Everyone knew "Mecha Armory" was Lan Bai’s contracted game, while the operator for "Spore Evolution" was a newcomer, just a junior designer. So the crowd remained silent, neither taking sides nor voicing opinions.

Seeing this, Han Hai didn’t press further. After all, to continue would be to make an enemy of Lan Bai for good.

In the workplace, one must be adaptable.

You can afford to offend people—but not to the point of no return. There must be a sense of proportion.

"Ahem." Sensing the room had settled on the order of the two entries, Wang Fafu cleared his throat and reclaimed the floor.

"Since there’s disagreement, let’s settle the ranking by vote."

He cast a subtle glance at Yu Jia, and seeing no major reaction, finally felt at ease.

Under his direction, the voting concluded swiftly.

The outcome was no surprise.

"Mecha Armory" won first place by a landslide.

After all, Lan Bai, as a senior operator, had far more connections at QiYou than Yu Jia. Even with Han Hai speaking up for her, it only shifted a few votes, with no impact on the final result.

The die was cast.

Not even Wang Fafu could change it now.

"That settles it. After the meeting, I’ll arrange for the announcement to be sent out," Wang Fafu declared.

"Next, let’s talk about the Hall of Achievements."

"Upper management is taking this very seriously."

"It will include not only outstanding entries from our own company, but also phenomenon-level works from other platforms."

"This will be QiYou’s first step toward an all-channel strategy, and we—"

Wang Fafu continued for another ten minutes before ending the meeting.

He would have liked to wrap up quickly, but the official documents from above were long-winded and there was nothing he could do.

When the meeting ended, everyone left the room.

Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at Yu Jia’s notebook, filled to the brim with irrelevant details, and felt a headache for the first time.

The kid was fine in every way—just too earnest.

"Senior Lin, let’s head back," Yu Jia said, closing her notebook.

"Mm."

Lin Xiaoxiao wasn’t the type to lecture others; she nodded and left the conference room with Yu Jia, heading back to the office.

...

...

On the other side, Han Hai was summoned to the director’s office by Wang Fafu.

"Han, do you know how long it’s been since our Baiqiao branch produced a top-tier designer?"

Han Hai was puzzled by the question, not knowing why the director would bring this up out of the blue.

He’d thought Wang Fafu had called him in to discuss Yu Jia, but now he was nervous, though he answered cautiously, "Almost three years."

"Yes, nearly three years. We’ve funneled so many resources to the veteran designers, and yet none of them have managed to break through. Isn’t that frustrating?" Wang Fafu looked genuinely disappointed.

At this, Han Hai assumed the director was worried about his own performance and quickly responded, "Once designers become famous, they’re reluctant to try anything new for fear of failure. It’s hard to create a blockbuster that way, but sales do remain steady—unlike the other branches, which have wild ups and downs."

"Bang!"

Wang Fafu slammed the table.

"What’s the use of stability?"

"Without impressive achievements, who will remember you?"

"If the old guard is too afraid to innovate, then fine—I’ll allocate more resources to new designers!"

"Only young people with the courage to take risks can create something truly remarkable!"

"By the way, Han, you have a new operator in your group, Yu Jia, right?"

"Uh, yes..."

Han Hai was caught off guard, unsure why the director suddenly mentioned Yu Jia.

"I’ve noticed that newcomer designer under her wing has great potential—second place in the contest with only their second game."

"We need to nurture such promising talent."

"Here’s what we’ll do: although his production limit is currently at fifty thousand, I’ll grant a special privilege and raise it to one hundred thousand."

"Ahem..."

Only now did Han Hai realize what the director was doing—a backdoor compensation for Yu Jia that no outsider could criticize.

No wonder he was the director.

Han Hai quickly said, "Don’t worry, Director, I’ll personally inform Yu Jia and let her know about your strategic vision."

"Good. Off you go. Looks like I know who’ll be getting the performance bonus this year."

As Han Hai left, visibly excited, Wang Fafu turned to the assistant waiting at the door after a few seconds and said, "Go call Lan Bai in. I need to speak with him."