Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 798: Chapter 757: The Big Move on the Wild Island!

The second [Peak War] came to an end amidst the cheers of Daxia players.

But its influence will not fade quickly.

—In player forums in Cloud Dream, the moment the match ended, players from all countries gathered to analyze the reasons for Daxia’s victory.

Because Daxia won this match too easily and too steadily.

If they don’t figure out what’s going on and find a solution or countermeasure, it’s possible that the third, and fourth editions will also have the same outcome!

They can’t let all the countries compete for the runner-up in every future competition, right?

How can they accept that?

So the current situation is that global players have joined forces to find Daxia’s weakness, the “Big Demon King.”

Especially the 17 “ducks” who were forced to be cannon fodder by Daxia players during the competition; they are deeply depressed and have put all their energy into this task.

*

An hour after the end of the second [Peak War], the final round of the [Card King Fight] also officially came to an end.

For netizens who didn’t watch the whole game, the champion is somewhat unexpected—Jennifer, the 52-year-old who had the most pre-game buzz as the “Card Demon,” didn’t win the championship.

The title of [Gambling King] went to a young player with the ID “Leopard” instead of any of the players over forty years old.

However, when the audience saw the photo of the champion standing on the podium, they had a feeling of “sudden realization” and “it’s as expected.”

Because the person standing on the podium just won his ninth world Go championship this year!

The World Go Champion Nine Times, came to play Landlord…

This is undoubtedly a downgrade smash!

It’s hard to say whether he came to participate in the competition or collect the prize money.

—The championship prize is a whopping four million, which is not a small amount.

By the way, Jennifer, the Card Demon, also received a hefty two million in prize money, enough to bring significant changes to her life.

…

The [Mahjong God Fight] ended later than the [Gambling King Fight], but it also came to a conclusion in half an hour.

Unfortunately, the title of [Mahjong God] did not stay in Daxia but went to a player from Temasek.

Daxia players won the runner-up.

The third place unexpectedly went to Gladys, a young girl genius Mahjong player from Izumo, shocking everyone.

At this point, this long competition finally came to an end.

For many young players and netizens, the [Card King] and [Mahjong God] competitions became less visible after many popular figures and anchors were eliminated.

But in fact, the heat of the competition has always remained at a considerable level.

Especially among middle-aged and elderly users, the enthusiasm is so high that Night City’s numerous chess and card rooms are always full, becoming an important place for entertainment and socializing for a large number of middle-aged and elderly users.

This strong user base has led to the second competition being planned immediately after the conclusion of the first one.

Cloud Dream is even planning to establish a dedicated [Chess and Card Group] to take over this part of the work.

The goal is to make [Card King] and [Mahjong God] long-term competitions.

The ultimate goal is to make the titles of [Gambling King] and [Mahjong God] the highest honors in their respective fields, with great significance!

With Cloud Dream’s financial strength and influence, they can completely achieve this!

…

…

In the cheering and noisy atmosphere, time quietly passed, and the last night of 2030 came to an end.

*

On the morning of January 1, 2031, Lincoln lay in bed and didn’t get up until 8 o’clock.

Since getting the consciousness chip technology, he’s been working hard at the company during the day to push forward the production of “Chang’an,” and studying in the virtual world at night, which is really exhausting.

With Mavis’s full support, his focus mode is even more effective than the [Focus Headband], which is a significant learning boost.

However, despite this, the technology of the consciousness chip is not something that can be mastered in a short time.

If he wants to digest the technology sooner, he has to work overtime.

But Lincoln’s enthusiasm lasted only for two days before his laid-back attitude kicked in again—

“The consciousness chip is indeed important, but it doesn’t seem urgent now?”

It just so happened to be New Year’s Day, and all the employees were on holiday, so he gave himself a guilt-free break.

Only after finally feeling well-rested did he stretch and ask, “Mavis, is there anything important going on today?”

Mavis, wearing a nightgown adorned with small dinosaur prints, sat on the quilt, also looking groggy as if she had just woken up from a nap.

After hearing Lincoln’s question, she shook her head and quickly blinked through the latest news.

She couldn’t find anything important, so she listlessly replied, “Nope.”

However, as soon as her words left her mouth, Mavis seemed to have discovered something. She tilted her head and blinked again.

Then she suddenly became excited: “Wait, there it is!”

“Wild Island just released a new promotional video!”

“?” Lincoln was momentarily puzzled, almost forgetting which company Wild Island was.

Once he remembered, he became spirited, “Wild Island, eh! They’ve been quiet for so long, and now they’re finally making a big move?”

It’s no wonder Lincoln thought so. After NetDragon fell, Wild Island and Flying Fox were the only remaining “former giants.”

Flying Fox at least released the superb-quality “The Last Moment,” prolonging their life.

Wild Island, on the other hand, had been completely silent, and inexplicably never ceased factory production.

When Cloud Dream was negotiating a partnership with them, they were unwilling to put their latest game in development on the Cloud Dream platform. At that time, Lincoln realized that Wild Island had high hopes for its new game.

This new game could almost be considered their last-ditch effort.

If they couldn’t turn the tide, they really wouldn’t be able to make a comeback.

—Putting their old games on the Cloud Dream platform did expand their user base and brought a wave of new sales, but with the advent of the virtual world, the appeal of traditional VR games undoubtedly plummeted.

Moreover, it is well known: players like to stick together.

The hotter the virtual world becomes, the more it will create a vacuum effect on other game types, leading to fewer and fewer players for them.

So putting their game on the Cloud Dream platform can only prolong their life temporarily, but it can’t fundamentally change their predicament.

To “defy the heavens and change their fate,” they could only take a risky gamble!

This kind of “last-ditch effort” is undoubtedly very appealing.

Lincoln was naturally very interested: “Quick, play the video, let’s watch it together.”

“Mm-hmm!” Mavis nodded happily, pulled up a big screen, adjusted her position next to Lincoln, and they began to watch Wild Island’s promotional video together—

At the beginning of the promo, Lincoln was surprised to see:

The player using VR equipment in the video wasn’t wearing a helmet!

Instead, the game screen was displayed on a liquid crystal display in front of the player.

The omnidirectional treadmill and traction rope the player was using had also clearly undergone some special modifications, significantly different from Wild Island’s previous VR equipment.

“Isn’t it a new game?” Lincoln was puzzled, “Why did they also upgrade the equipment?”

“No, wait, helmets changed to TV, 360-degree view turned into 180 degrees, is this even an upgrade or a downgrade?”

Not only was Lincoln confused, but so were many players and netizens who were paying attention to Wild Island’s updates.

The promo continued—

On the screen, the player was standing on the omnidirectional treadmill, with several traction ropes attached to their body. They moved their feet quickly, making boxing moves.

In front of the player, the display showed a first-person view, with the player’s gloved arms visible and their opponent directly in front of them.

Every move that the player made was in real-time, captured by the traction ropes and camera and reflected on the screen. In turn, the enemy’s attacks within the screen were also fed back to the player through the traction ropes.

Following that was a fast-paced edit with passionate background music, showing the player’s fierce punches, dodges, and counterattacks, very entertaining to watch.

The impressive on-screen combat effects and real-time feedback from the traction ropes made the fighting even more intense and exciting.

As the player nimbly sidestepped to dodge an attack and then dealt a heavy blow to knock out their opponent, the game’s name finally appeared in the center of the screen—

“Iron Fist”!

Coming soon!

Then, two lines of slogan-like text appeared on the screen—

[Who says gaming and fitness can’t coexist?]

[At Wild Island, it’s not just about gaming!]

The screen went completely black, with white lines of text appearing and disappearing against the darkness—

[It’s been four months and eight days. Wild Island’s VR equipment upgrade plan is officially finalized]

[Starting today, all users with Wild Island’s second and third-generation devices can apply for home upgrades]

[No upgrade fees will be charged]

[Let’s embark on a new journey together!]