To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Chapter 327: Chapter 207: Unable to Protect (First Update)_1

“I feel like at this time, we should be evenly matched, both of us beaten to a pulp and then lying together looking at the stars. That’s more in line with how I’m feeling right now.”

Skyscrapers once filled the city, but it was now indented with a hundred-meter-deep pit, and Wang’s mecha was smashed to the ground by a blow from the Ape Demon Mech.

Spider-web-like cracks spread outward, and Wang, positioned at the center, was shattered into pieces, with engine coolant splashing everywhere. Only the cockpit remained intact.

The Ape Demon Mech squatted in front of Wang’s cockpit, scratching its head sheepishly and said apologetically, “Sorry, you charged at me so directly just now, I couldn’t help but strike. How about we go again? I promise I’ll go easy on you this time and let you last a full five minutes.”

“Can’t you be a little more sincere! You’re not supposed to say you’re going easy! Shouldn’t you make me happy with the tenderness of an unassuming spring rain?”

“It’s because I’m sincere that I said it.”

Wang Say Games felt there was some logic to what the other side said, but he was still irked.

Walking out from the respawn point, he had lost any desire to continue fighting, though his previous gloom had also dissipated.

I can pilot a mecha now, so why bother with the annoyance of the past!

And upon reflection, he realized his recent self-imposed isolation hardly made sense.

Was it just because the goddess of his childhood had deceived him? Making such a big deal out of it was absurd.

As he engaged in this self-stimulation, Wang heard Monkey say, “Three days from now, the ‘Fallen Mecha’ competition by Druid Entertainment is set to begin.”

“I know, what about it?”

“Our boss is also planning to hold a ‘Spirit Vessel’ competition and intends to have it on the same day, even at a venue right next door. The notices for the open selection have already been sent out in advance, and once the game updates, the selection will take place globally.”

Wang’s mouth fell open, disbelieving his own ears.

Had the headphones inside the VR headset broken? Why else would he hear such an incredible claim!

Hastily exiting, Wang scrolled through recent game reports and discovered Monkey hadn’t lied—the related announcements had indeed been made.

The game was still in demo version, and global competitions were starting before even charging money, which was unheard of before!

Moreover, after passing the open selection, participants would be given round-trip air tickets, even passports would be arranged in advance, and they would be sent to the United States to compete.

The entire process included all-expenses-paid hotel accommodations, a grand prize of five million US dollars, a reward of ten thousand US dollars for passing the open selection, and an overall approach that could be described as throwing money at the event.

By rough estimation, Wang figured this event wouldn’t cost less than thirty million US dollars to host.

Several million RMB was already enough to hold a major competition, but Fang Cheng Studio was clearly aiming for a super-sized event.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Having tallied up the costs in his mind, Wang couldn’t help but ask, “Does your boss have too much money?”

“You knew about this?” Monkey asked in surprise, “Every day our boss frets over having too much money in the books, and even when thinking of doing charitable donations, lamenting that recent channels are unreliable.”

“That wasn’t a question! Anyway, I know you’re loaded, but you can’t work for nothing. Can you even recoup your costs?”

“The boss doesn’t look happy, so probably not.”

“Then why are you still doing it?”

“The boss hasn’t said, but I feel he probably wants to let off some steam for everyone.”

Hearing this response, Wang felt a surge of emotion and his eyes moistened.

Fortunately, he was inside a VR unit, where his expression was invisible to others. Otherwise, Wang would have died of embarrassment.

Once he’d calmed his emotions, he said to Monkey, “Please thank Fang Cheng for me.”

“He knew you’d say that, so he asked me to pass on a message.”

“What message?”

“He said, since you probably won’t make it through the open selection anyway, come to the venue to commentate. We’ve got your plane ticket and visa ready; the salary will be as per the studio’s staff rate, just bring your voice.”

“Is he looking down on me?”

“Well… you might genuinely not make it through the open selection.”

“Are YOU looking down on me?”

Wang exited in a huff, found the selection rules, and began reading them.

The “Spirit Vessel” competition edition had already launched on all the major platforms; this version was free for a limited time and would become pay-to-play after the competition ended.

Besides the existing Infinite Mode and Sandbox Mode, the PVP Mode was also live, where players could enter a competition portal within the PVP Mode, enter the arena, and fight against AI trainers.

If they managed to defeat the AI, they’d be qualified to participate in the competition; e-tickets and competition certificates would be immediately delivered to their account.

The visa issues had already been addressed by the Cayman Company; beyond that, there were no conditions—all players worldwide could participate, with absolutely no discrimination against any country’s players.

Moreover, the open selection would continue even after the on-site competition began, allowing players to still participate in the open selection until the competition progressed to the finals.

After reading about the competition, Wang felt the timeline was tight with the open selection even needing to run concurrently with the venue competition, which was bound to cause some issues.

But the Cayman Company had ample experience in hosting competitions. If they were willing to go ahead with this, they must have made adequate preparations, so there was probably no need to worry about that aspect.

However, such an approach would further inflate the cost of the competition. Wang felt that doing all this just to vent was somewhat unwarranted.