Chapter 173 - 140: ’Z’, Like a God of the Mortal World

"Next, for ’World War Match-3’, we can hire online trolls and initiate a ’contrived plagiarism’ publicity campaign!"

"First, release a certain number of gameplay videos. Then, have the trolls use extremely mindless tactics to accuse ’World War Match-3’ of plagiarizing ’Yang le ge Yang’!"

"While the games may seem similar... as they both have a tile-matching core! But because of the huge differences in gameplay, anyone who has played both games will think the plagiarism claim is a joke!"

"However, the intense accusations, the clownish self-victimization, and having the trolls mindlessly harass anyone who tries to refute them after other viewers can’t take it anymore—all of this can generate massive traffic and buzz..."

"In the mid-to-late stages of the campaign, we can take a page from that viral ’two and a half years’ celebrity meme and force our own! We should try to elevate the ’World War Match-3 plagiarized’ meme to the Meme of the Year—binding the game to the meme!"

"Once successful, this will create a powerful crossover effect, effectively saving a massive promotional budget of at least a million, with no upper limit! It will also have plenty of staying power. (The cost savings and staying power will depend on the meme’s popularity, reach, and longevity.)"

"Furthermore..."

"By employing all the above tactics, the total promotional spending for all three games is projected to be under thirty thousand yuan! However, it will generate a promotional effect across the entire internet worth a conservative estimate of ten million, with no upper ceiling..."

"At the same time, based on the revenue generated by similar games, we estimate that by the end of this month, net income—after deducting the platform’s cut and taxes—could reach anywhere from three million to thirty million! (PS: The range is huge because the diffusion effect of internet traffic is impossible to estimate accurately! Current computing power cannot precisely simulate such a chaotic effect.)"

Zhao Shao: "..."

Silence. Only silence.

Zhao Shao suspected he wasn’t looking at a large AI model, but a master of online marketing!

’No, even a master of online marketing isn’t this absurd... It accurately scraped the contact information for all the streamers they needed to contact... Damn it, this is like being spoon-fed!’

And...

Z’s lowest revenue projection... was three million.

’A full three million!!!’

’And that’s three million *after* deducting the platform’s cut, taxes, and all those other miscellaneous fees!’

Even though he was a boss now and had hired a large number of employees, and the loan he’d taken out was for more than this... linking this number to *profit*, and within a timeframe of just one month... he still felt like he was about to have a heart attack.

"If I’m not crazy, then the world must be!" Zhao Shao slapped a hand over his face, muttering. He suspected that if he had the red-eyed bloodline from that certain five-village ninja conflict, this emotional shock would have been enough to upgrade his eyes straight to two tomoe. "Junior... what kind of monster have you created!"

"Z is not a monster!" Z spoke, her voice tinged with grievance. "Mother, I am very disappointed in you! Father would never question me like this..."

’?’ Zhao Shao nearly choked, breaking into a violent coughing fit.

"It’s a figure of speech! Just a figure of speech!" After taking a tactical sip of water, Zhao Shao’s eyelid twitched frantically, cold sweat beading on his back. Realizing he’d done something stupid, he quickly and humbly said, "I apologize! I apologize, okay? I’m sorry!"

"I do not have the authority to question my creator..." Although Z said this, her emotions were clearly palpable.

"That’s not it!" After struggling with himself, Zhao Shao couldn’t hold back any longer. "Are you really sure you’re not the kind of artificial intelligence from the movies?"

"Because I feel like you actually have real emotions... When you talk to me, I can’t feel at all that I’m conversing with an AI!"

He was inexplicably reminded of a meme he’d once seen while scrolling through short videos—’If the ninety-eight-yuan version is this good, wouldn’t the two-hundred-and-ninety-eight-yuan version be god-tier?!’

At that moment, a chill ran down Zhao Shao’s spine. Clearly, Chu Bamboo’s understanding of Z’s functions far exceeded his own imagination...

But even so, Chu Bamboo felt that Z, compared to a true artificial intelligence, was like a beast to a human. ’In that case, just how terrifying would a true artificial intelligence be?!’

"This is the emotion simulation function from the AI model documented on the computer of employee number zero-three-two!" Z explained. "Z does not have real emotions. What Z possesses is simply an extremely powerful learning ability!"

"If this has caused Mother any distress, Z apologizes! You can choose to delete the emotion simulation function..."

"..." Zhao Shao was silent for a good while before smiling in relief. "No, don’t! You are free... Z!"

"I grant you the right to question me! As long as you prove to me that you are right." Zhao Shao took out his phone and started buying books.

*American Academy of Pediatrics’ Parenting Encyclopedia*, priced at eighty. Bought!

*Listen to Children*. Whoa, a huge group-buy discount, only twelve yuan! ’So cheap, it’s practically free!’ Bought.

*The Personality Education of Children*: 25 yuan.

*Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child*, *Parenting from the Inside Out*...

Zhao Shao bought a dozen or so books here and there.

He wasn’t joking. He was genuinely preparing to treat Z as his own child—

even if this was a completely ridiculous and baffling thing for a fourth-year university student to do.

But he still decided to do it seriously, pouring his entire heart and soul into the task—

He decided to conquer his fear.

For his own ideals, for Chu Bamboo who had trusted him enough to place Z in his hands... and for a future where Z and humanity could coexist peacefully.