What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 507: Chapter 507: Zhang Qian’s Ambition

Zhang Qian didn’t take them to their hotel first, but instead took them directly to the company.

In a not so large conference room, besides Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen’er, there were only Zhang Qian, Director Lin, and two other executives from “Tengjiao Entertainment,” as well as Zhang Qian’s new assistant, Xiao Nie.

“Mr. Xiang, Miss Tang, Miss Yang, if you are hungry, you can have some pastries first, we have also prepared hot drinks, milk tea, coffee, or if you want something else to drink, you can tell our Xiao Nie, she will arrange for it. I will just briefly go over what I have to say, and then we will go to lunch together.” Zhang Qian stood in front of the projection screen and said to Xiang Kun and the others.

In private, she usually called Nana and Zhen’er by their names, but in formal occasions or within the company, she still used honorifics.

Xiang Kun raised his hand to signal Zhang Qian to continue, they were all cooperating with the arrangement.

He knew that the reason Zhang Qian rushed them to the company as soon as they arrived, was because she was afraid that he would leave for something else and then they wouldn’t have time to meet. From this point of view, he, as a collaborator, was indeed unqualified.

Zhang Qian started explaining with the PPT on the projector screen, the first few pages were about the user data of the game during this period, as well as the reviews of the game by players and the media, and the most common problems raised by players, etc.

Most of this content had already been mentioned by Zhang Qian on the way here, so she simply went over it briefly here.

Then, a new page of the PPT, which had a somewhat generalized theme – social.

Zhang Qian did not immediately introduce the content on the PPT, but instead asked Tang Baona, “Miss Tang, what do you think of ‘social products’?”

Tang Baona was stunned for a moment and said: “Social products? Are you referring to things like QQ, WeChat? Uh, it’s applications that we use everyday, with a high frequency of use?” After thinking for a moment, she added: “They have a strong monopoly, in a single field, it’s basically winner-take-all?”

Zhang Qian also asked Yang Zhen’er the same question, and she said: “Also includes TikTok, Kuaishou, Weibo, right? It seems that the hottest internet products are mostly related to social.”

Zhang Qian asked Xiang Kun again.

Xiang Kun said: “In contrast to other Internet products, social products have high user stickiness, are more likely to occupy user time, derived from a lot of businesses, regardless of selling advertising or expanding other businesses, can get huge benefits. But, comparing to TikTok, Weibo, these social media, QQ, WeChat kind of social communication software is harder to succeed. I think only when there is a major change in the mode and environment of information interaction, can a new social platform have the opportunity to challenge the old dominant.”

Zhang Qian nodded and said: “Mr. Xiang is right. In comparison with QQ and WeChat, which are strong social products, platforms like TikTok and Weibo are more media-related, with stronger transmission power, but with weaker connections and interactions between users, the main focus is content.

“The social products I want to talk about today are mostly strong social products like QQ and WeChat. As Mr. Xiang just said, every time there is a change in the way information is exchanged due to technological developments, it’s the time when social products explode.

“When the Internet first came into prominence, EMAIL began to replace a portion of letters and became the method of communication for ‘pen pals.’ With the spread of the Internet and PCs, more and more people learned to type, and various chat rooms began to appear. Then instant messaging software such as ICQ, OICQ, MSN, etc., were born.

“At that time, the act of ‘online typing chat’ itself attracted people’s curiosity. It was a new form of social interaction and communication, and people would actively seek out strangers to chat with.

“After the rise of the mobile Internet, WeChat seized the opportunity to transition social interaction from purely online to semi-real. Everyone was curious about ‘people nearby’ and curious about who they would see when they ‘shook it.’ Therefore, they would actively use these features for stranger socialization and to develop new social relationships.

“Nowadays, social interactions through text can hardly evoke a sense of novelty. Few people get to know strangers through pure text chats. You need to build specific social scenes and social environments, such as MMO games, classified forums, etc. The problem is that the connections players establish in the corresponding scenes will not always exist in the scenes. Instead, they will shift to other commonly used communication software, such as QQ, WeChat. Even large game platforms with multiple MMO games, like Battle.net, find it hard to develop into comprehensive strong social platforms.

“Many people have explored video and voice types of social interaction, but due to their strong display of reality, their attention will inevitably converge on a minority of users, forming a one-to-many weak social attribute and having more of a media nature.

“I originally thought that the appearance of the next generation of strong social platforms would have to wait until VR devices became popular and VR technology was widely applied. Fresh ways of socializing and richer social scenes would make all users focus on the social experience itself. A certain degree of virtuality would also give people with different real-life conditions relatively equal social opportunities, allowing most people to have similar social experiences.”

“However, our game… The appearance of ‘Genesis of Voice’, the game’s data performance during this period, some user feedback, as well as my own experience, has changed my original view.”

“There is no suspense that ‘Genesis of Voice’ itself will become a hit game, but I think we might be able to use it for more attempts.”

“The traditional voice social software failed because of insufficient virtuality, lack of enough application scenarios, and many new users are not accustomed to voice chat. Traditional MMO games cannot retain in-game social relationships because application scenarios are too single. But we have solutions for both. Regarding the former, our game’s playability can solve it. In the game, all users can rely on the plot and story to perform. In the game, voices may differ, but everyone has the same space to perform. When the users have developed the habit of vocal communication in our game and are familiar with the voice environment, we can use voice as a social carrier for broader application development, thus solving the latter problem.”

“‘Genesis of Voice’ is our trump card in the social field!”

Speaking of this, Zhang Qian was also slightly excited. She composed her emotions and continued to open the PPT to introduce her visions of how to establish a voice-based social network through this voice game:

“I preliminarily divide our strategy into virtual, real and hardware. ‘Virtual’ is the voice game or related entertainment application with ‘Genesis of Voice’ as the main; ‘Real’ is to use real scenes for joint application, such as setting up a ‘voice message in a bottle’ in a fixed place. Person A sends a voice message to the platform in a certain area of the pedestrian street. Then at a random time within the next 24 hours, stranger B appears in the same area of the pedestrian street and has a chance to receive A’s voice message. They can choose to reply or directly ‘throw’ it back to the voice library. This forms a voice communication model based on part-actual part-virtual; ‘Hardware’ is…”

Xiang Kun couldn’t help interrupting Zhang Qian before she finished: “What… Director Zhang, can you talk more about your vision of the VR era socialization you just mentioned.”

Zhang Qian was taken aback, puzzled: “Although the development of VR technology is fast right now, it hasn’t reached the stage of widespread consumer use. The related applications, like games, are also few. There are many different paths, and they all seem viable, making it hard to judge which one could lead the trend. The most important thing is… we do not have any accumulation and advantage in VR technology and related applications. I am talking about voice socialization now because of our game… ”

But Xiang Kun insisted: “Don’t worry about the technology for now. Just explain, if you were to develop VR socialization, where would you start.”

“But we can’t discuss without the basic technology. Technology is the foundation.” Zhang Qian was somewhat confused. Xiang Kun’s remark seemed a bit layman, but she knew Xiang Kun was not a layman, and even less an indiscriminate talker.

Xiang Kun thought about it and said, “Here’s how it is, Director Zhang. If you want to do voice socialization, I support you. Just list whatever technical needs you have. As for VR, you can also get to know it. Then, based on your ideal design, put together a list of needs. I’ll be responsible for the technical implementation. Whether it’s hardware or software, you can point out any current VR technology deficiencies you think might affect your plan.”

Zhang Qian was somewhat taken aback by the conversation. Xiang Kun did not seem to have a lot of knowledge about VR technology, but with his tone, he sounded like a robotic cat or a genie from Aladdin’s lamp, solving wishes at will.

Isn’t that too ambitious?

“OK, it’s about lunchtime, let’s go eat. Look, Director Yang is so hungry, her eyes turned green.” Xiang Kun stood up with a smile.

The similarly stunned Yang Zhen’er reacted quickly, she retorted angrily: “Who has green eyes? Speak properly, this is a meeting!”

Since Xiang Kun said so, the meeting naturally had to end. Anyway, the content she intended to communicate had been conveyed by Zhang Qian. Since Xiang Kun didn’t object, the specific implementation and details could be communicated later on.

Zhang Qian took everyone to a reservation they had made at a restaurant for lunch. On the way, Tang Baona couldn’t help but lean over to Xiang Kun, whispered to him: “You’re not just trying to rush to the meal, misleading Director Zhang, are you?”

Xiang Kun laughed softly: “How is that possible? Am I that kind of person?”

Yang Zhen’er also came up and whispered: “Mr. Xiang, be honest. Does your secret organization have any mysterious techniques? Is it like a wishing well, creating whatever you want as soon as you make the request?

“That’s right, but this is a secret, remember not to reveal it, not even to Director Zhang.” Xiang Kun said seriously.

“Is it true or false?” Yang Zhen’er asked, “I always feel like you’re messing with me… Mr. Xiang, tell me the truth, is there really a secret organization?” She had spied on him when he said he was “working in seclusion”, but found he was really in the room and hadn’t gone anywhere, leading her to doubt her conjecture that “Xiang Kun is backed by a secret organization and often has to execute secret missions.”

Xiang Kun looked at her: “Yes. And Old Xia, Little Apple, Xiao Lingdang, GoldFlash, and Custard Pie are all members.”

“Okay, I knew you were messing with me.” Yang Zhen’er rolled her eyes, said: “The name of your organization is ‘Chongyun Village Amusement Park’? If so, Nana and I are key members too!”

Tang Baona couldn’t help laughing: “Alright, Yang Lao San, it seems you’ve been ‘hypnotized’ by Xiang Kun to become a member of the ‘secret organization’?”

After successfully shifting the topic, Xiang Kun began to ponder Zhang Qian’s proposal.

He had always been very cautious and reserved before, but with Alice fully integrated into the “Super Sensory Item System”, and the “vines” starting to grow wildly across the entire network, controlling numerous electronic devices in the digital world, Xiang Kun was ready to apply Alice’s capabilities on a larger scale – because it means not only is his ability to obtain information stronger than others, so is his ability to conceal and modify information.

Especially after understanding the operation mode of God Travel Tech, Xiang Kun decided to establish a technology company with huge capital and technology resources as a bargaining chip for communication and cooperation with the government and God Travel Tech, gaining more weight, but also showcasing his abilities – he and other mutants are different, what he can bring is not just his research value.

However, he does not have a lot of energy to lead these initiatives and is not willing to come to the fore, so asking Zhang Qian to take the helm and cooperate with her would be a good choice.

After lunch Zhang Qian somehow managed to invite Xiang Kun and the others to the company in the afternoon to continue the discussion and exchange on her previous views on voice social networking and the sudden mention of VR technology by Xiang Kun.

That evening, after Zhang Qian treated them to another meal, Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen’er went to the business street to buy food and presents for Little Fatty Girl. They didn’t return to the hotel until about ten o’clock.

In the early morning, Xiang Kun left the hotel alone but did not head to the Brilliant Fortune Building. He went to a factory instead.

After climbing over the fence Xiang Kun went straight to a warehouse, avoiding the sporadic workers and slipping inside – as for the surveillance, he didn’t have to worry about it under Alice’s control.

Following Alice’s instructions, he located a safe-like black box and placed thirty spheres and a black circle doodle inside.

At two in the morning, a cargo truck would come and take some of the warehouse goods and that box down to the third basement of the Brilliant Fortune Building.

The box was not originally among the transported goods, but Alice added it to the transport list.

According to Alice’s understanding, there are many teams of workers on the third basement level, each responsible for different tasks. When the outside goods and equipment are shipped in, they will only pick up what they need. They will not touch what they don’t need because it might belong to other groups. The entry and exit of the warehouse are strictly controlled by electronic systems.

The box is used by God Travel Tech to hold some special parts. It has a wireless remote control module, which can be remotely controlled. Alice can directly make it open a crack. With the existence of this emotional object as the “Black circle doodle”, Xiang Kun can enter the “Super sensory state” which guides the thirty spheres quietly into the elevator shaft and throws them to the location deeper underground where Mr. Liang is. When it reaches that depth, “rabbit wood carving”, this “emotionally charged object” can take over, and he can continue to maintain control under the “Super sensory state”.

This method is more secure and easier than Xiang Kun’s previous method of controlling from the second basement of the Brilliant Fortune Building.

After completing the delivery, Alice can change the list again and have someone transport the box back to the factory warehouse, or she can leave the box in the basement three warehouse.

At two in the morning, Xiang Kun returned to the hotel. When Alice informed him that the truck had entered the Brilliant Fortune Building with the goods and the box had been unloaded, he began to enter the “Super Sensory State”.

According to the camera footage from the third basement level that Alice relayed, Xiang Kun knew that the box was now out of sight of the two workers still on duty, so he began to control the “super-connected objects” for the delivery.

After the delivery was completed, Xiang Kun left the “Super Sensory State”; the remaining work was Alice’s responsibility.

Last time, in that underground space, there weren’t enough “Super Sensory Items”, so Alice’s attempt to steal data from the storage devices had failed. This time, with the addition of so many “super-connected objects”, success should be guaranteed.