Chapter Forty-Eight: The Ranking Controversy
Li Shang, his eyes bloodshot, exited the game. Today had been another fulfilling day of playing "Spore Evolution." “Just another hundred or so rounds, and I should be able to fully unlock the first DNA sequence,” he murmured to himself.
He was broke, lacking the funds to unlock all achievements in "Spore Evolution," so he had no choice but to grind endlessly. Rubbing his weary temples, Li Shang opened the "Spore Evolution" comment section, intending to see what bizarre new creatures the omnipotent online players had evolved, or perhaps to find out if some expert had discovered a new shortcut for earning gene points.
However, before he could dive into the amusing stories, his attention was caught by a banner at the very top of the board.
[Congratulations to "Spore Evolution" for winning the second prize in the Qiyou Technology Game Contest!]
“It actually won an award!” A look of paternal pride blossomed on Li Shang’s face. He had witnessed the game’s rise to popularity, playing an indispensable role in that journey. Naturally, he felt as if the child he had painstakingly nurtured had finally grown up and flourished. He was deeply gratified.
“I want to see how Qiyou praises my child.” Then he corrected himself, “No, how they praise my teacher’s game.”
With anticipation, Li Shang clicked into the contest’s detailed results page.
“Hm?” But as he scanned the page, he was taken aback. He rubbed his eyes and looked again at the heading.
“It’s the list of winners for the science fiction game contest, so why is that trash game ‘Mecha Arms’ ranked first?”
“A system bug?”
Perplexed, Li Shang recalled his own experience playing "Mecha Arms." To put it bluntly, it was abysmal. While the game’s assets were of decent quality, the content was unimaginably dull and tedious—a rehash of decades-old interstellar combat clichés, simply reskinned, and even that new skin was unappealing.
Li Shang couldn’t comprehend how such a trash game had managed to take first place.
“There’s definitely something shady about this selection. It must be internal manipulation at Qiyou!”
He couldn’t help but feel his intelligence had been insulted. If they were going to rig the contest, couldn’t they at least pick a halfway decent game? To crown a game no one would touch with a ten-foot pole as the winner—who were they mocking here?
Li Shang felt indignant for Yin Jian. “Obviously, ‘Spore Evolution’ should have been first. Designers like my teacher, who make games free for everyone to enjoy, shouldn’t be treated so unfairly!”
“Qiyou is trying to break my teacher’s spirit!” The more he thought about it, the more stifled he felt.
“No, I must demand an explanation for my teacher! This is a battle between the players and Qiyou’s dark powers! I will see that Qiyou restores justice for my teacher!”
Determined, Li Shang closed the contest page and returned to the “Spore Evolution” comment section.
Title: [This is not just my battle, but a fight for all Qiyou players!]
...
Drawing on the hand speed of eighteen years of singlehood, Li Shang spent barely half an hour composing an eight-thousand-word manifesto detailing his thoughts, observations, and speculations. He posted it in the comments.
The “Spore Evolution” community was very active, so it didn’t take long for the first reply to appear.
CHOOD: OP, you’re being too narrow-minded. Not everyone shares your tastes. Just because you don’t like a game doesn’t mean others won’t. "Spore Evolution" is great, but there are plenty of games better than it.
...
But "Mecha Arms" really is trash—supporting OP!
Chaotic Sleeper: Screw you, who are you calling trash with "Mecha Arms"—
Chaotic Sleeper: Damn! Wait, you’re on our side. I almost attacked my own ally.
Silly Milk Powder: Give it a grand burial.
guidingstar: I suggest we all tip the teacher more, so he knows he has us behind him. We can’t let him lose heart!
...
[Notice: Emperor Eater tipped “Spore Evolution” 600 Cosmic Credits]
[Notice: Wanli tipped “Spore Evolution” 10,000 Cosmic Credits]
[Notice: Unyielding Immortal tipped “Spore Evolution” 15,000 Cosmic Credits]
[Notice: Still Sleeping In tipped “Spore Evolution” 500 Cosmic Credits]
...
“What the hell is going on?!”
Hearing the never-ending stream of tipping notifications from his neural net, Yin Jian was jolted upright in bed, utterly bewildered.
He’d received tips before, at least three times a day on average, but this constant barrage was unprecedented.
He had no idea what was happening.
He hurried to his computer and opened the backend. The total tips for the day left him dumbstruck. In such a short time, the day’s tips had already surpassed two hundred thousand, and the number was still climbing with no sign of stopping.
Yin Jian was completely stunned.
He quickly opened the comment section to find out what was going on. The moment he entered, he saw a pinned comment:
[This is not just my battle, but a fight for all Qiyou players!]
He clicked in and read the entire post, feeling a strange sense of comfort.
“This feeling of having fans defend you is just incredible.”
Smacking his lips in satisfaction, Yin Jian clicked over to the contest results page mentioned in the post.
“Second place? That’s not bad.”
He nodded, satisfied. In such a vast world, there were plenty more talented than him; getting second was enough to make him happy.
As for first place, Yin Jian glanced at the details of “Mecha Arms.”
“It actually looks pretty decent.”
He didn’t feel any resentment. These were big data comparisons—if someone else beat him, there must be a reason for it.
As for the negative comments from his fans about that game, he understood their feelings. Love is blind, after all. Seeing a beloved game overshadowed by another would naturally make one upset. It was only natural to want to vent.
“Oh, these fans…”
At that, Yin Jian even felt a bit sorry for the designer of “Mecha Arms.”
“I’ll give them a little bonus in the next game.”
In high spirits, Yin Jian closed the game backend and got up to freshen up.
Knock, knock, knock!
“Uh…”
Hearing the knocks at his door, Yin Jian paused, then quickly realized—it must be Zhou Shun coming to congratulate him.
With a smile, he opened the door for Zhou Shun.
“Brother Yin, don’t take this to heart. It’s not worth getting upset over.”
Yin Jian was baffled.
He was overjoyed—why would he be upset?