Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 320 The Continuation of the Utopian Story (Bonus Chapter)
Saturday, Shanghai.

Behind the back gate of Fudan University, there is a charming commercial street called University Road.

Located in the core business district of "Wuxingchang", and surrounded by several prestigious schools, this place is frequented by young people, most of whom are dressed in fashionable and stylish clothes.

Grab a Starbucks, find a window seat and sit all day. You'll see countless beautiful women; it's all about enjoying yourself.

In a coffee shop, Xiang You and Chu Xiang were drinking coffee.

"This Starbucks is different from the knock-off 'Starfunk' in the county."

"What's the difference?"

"Even more outrageous."

"Old Fan has a competition in Japan in May, do you want to go?"

"Of course I want to! How can I miss the chance to fight the Japanese! It's just a bit difficult to ask for leave."

"Don't even mention taking leave. The cost of going to Japan is higher than in Malaysia. We need to make more money from this business."

Starting last year, two young people from a small town came to Shanghai to study, nurtured by a utopian spirit. Instead of being suppressed by the atmosphere of the big city, they became more active and felt that opportunities were everywhere.

By chance, Xiang You took on a website building job. He used a template and helped register a domain name. In just one week, he earned several thousand yuan from the middle-aged boss who didn't even know how to use a mouse.

The job wasn't difficult, and it got easier and easier as he did it, but orders weren't always coming in. So Xiang You pulled in Chu Xiang, who was good at getting things done. The two of them lived in schools that weren't far apart, so they started working together.

Chu Xiang was in charge of finding clients, while Xiang You was in charge of processing them.

In 09, in Shanghai, a city with a strong business and entrepreneurial atmosphere, the two had more and more contact and met more and more people. Chu Xiang keenly realized that making games was far more promising than making websites.

One particularly unique approach is to imitate "legends".

They were all middle-aged guys, and they were really rich. They used to be dirt poor but they still got hooked on the games, and now that they have money, they're really willing to spend it.

Once the visuals, mechanics, and overall feel are right, you can name an item "Dragon Slayer Sword," a city "Shabak," and the classes "Warrior, Mage, and Taoist" as the classic trinity, and then watch them pour money into it.

He got himself into a fight and even called on his friends.

Chu Xiang discovered this business opportunity in an internet cafe, where everyone was playing private servers of the game Legend of Mir. There were legal risks involved, but if one had the ability to create a copy, it wouldn't be too difficult, since it was an old game and not very large in scale.

Numerical values, mechanics, and PvP don't need much innovation; in other words, the more similar they are, the better.

Of course, it wasn't something two people could do, especially since Xiang You was the only technician.

The two have been planning this recently, but they both know their own limitations. The ideological imprint that Zhai Da added with the [Young Straight Stick] is still effective. He won't waste money and will plan carefully before acting.

Just as he was thinking about it, Chu Xiang's phone rang.

Looking down, he quickly answered the phone: "Zhai Da? You were looking for me?"

Thousands of miles away, below the main building of Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhai Da, who had parked his car, did not get out. Instead, he sat in the driver's seat and finished talking about the matter.

"Yes, let me find out, is there any progress on your game company project with Xiang You?"

Chu Xiang turned on speakerphone: "We're together now, and there's some progress, but not much."

"for example?"

"For example, the direction has been set, but no action has been taken yet."

Zhai Da patiently listened to the two explain their game plan.

Legendary, middle-aged man, Dragon Slayer Saber.

After a while, a word popped into my head.

Isn't this just "Greedy Blue Moon"?

If you're a scumbag like me, come and chop me down! One hit deals 999 damage! All equipment is obtained through drops!

This is indeed a timeless genre, relying on the same generation to relentlessly exploit its user base. More than a decade later, it became the leading game in the browser game industry.

It's said that their profitability is terrifying. You laugh at their game for being low-quality, but they laugh at you for being poor and stingy.

Why do Hong Kong celebrities still endorse these games despite the criticism? Even Jackie Chan succumbed to the tyranny of these trashy games.

Rich!
They've found the right path! Chu Xiang does have some brains; he has good judgment.

Zhai Da: "So what's missing before we can start?"

"The only thing we lacked was courage. We both wanted to hesitate a bit more, since starting a company would cost a lot of money and we would also need to hire people."

Zhai Da smiled and said, "How about I give you some courage?"

"How to say?"

"I'll invest some money in you, give you a few more orders, and have you make a few small games for me. That way, you definitely won't fail in the early stages. As for whether you can make money, that depends on your abilities."

That being said, he will still offer advice and guidance. He always cares more about the friends in Utopia and will point them in the right direction when the time comes.

First, take down Nick Cheung! Then, capture Jordan Chan! Finally, let Uncle Jackie Chan bask in the sun with the Dragon Slayer Sword!

Zhai Da had actually thought of this move when he saw the Snake game, but having a programming genius like Cheng Mo make a simple game like Temple Run would be a complete waste of time and energy. He and his future team should focus more on operating systems. Wasting time on such a small game, like the B2 crashing into the World Trade Center, would be a pure waste.

Therefore, Chu Xiang and Xiang You became good choices.

Compared to Harbin, Shanghai has a larger pool of talent in the gaming industry, and it's also more convenient.

Moreover, they're all on the same side, so it's a way of supporting a friend. As long as the two of them aren't stupid enough to go to the museum, with Zhai Da providing advice and orders, it's basically impossible for them to lose money.

After briefly deciding on the direction and verbally agreeing on the amount, Zhai Da hung up the phone and headed towards the main building.

He came to see the principal today.

Meanwhile, the two people in Shanghai exchanged a glance after hanging up the phone.

I felt excited, but also a sense of responsibility.

Zhai Da's recognition and joining are a great motivation, but they also represent pressure, and we cannot let him down.

Chu Xiang summarized it as follows:
“Zhai Da invested 50 yuan for our initial launch, and we also received orders for two mini-games, each worth 5 yuan.”

“He only wanted 40% of the shares. We each contributed 100,000 yuan, and the rest was essentially us contributing as shareholders. Zhai Da was supporting our startup by taking on huge risks.”

They themselves don't believe that the two college students are worth hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Xiang You: "Do you think you can make money?"

Chu Xiang gritted his teeth and said, "I stand by my judgment, it's possible! And it will be incredibly profitable!"

Xiang You said in a deep voice, "Then let's do it! We're all brothers, so don't be afraid. Zhai Da dares to support us, and we dare to take responsibility! If we really lose his money, we'll just take out all our savings to pay Zhai Da back. If we can't pay him back, we'll find another way to work and earn money!"

"That makes sense, what's there to be afraid of!"

When you have the courage to take responsibility.

That also gives you the courage to set out.

Xiang You pointed to a spot not far away: "Let's get moving right away. Fudan University has a student entrepreneurship base called 'Smart Innovation Space,' which was built by a developer and given to Fudan University for use. We can apply for free office space. I'll go and inquire about it."

Chu Xiang: "Then I'll go recruit people. I've looked at several before, and the conversations went quite well. They all have experience in making games."

The two had been planning this for a long time, and their conversations revealed the general outline of their plan.

With the atmosphere already so lively, Xiang Youran couldn't help but sigh, "I never thought we'd be able to stand on our own one day. Before, Zhai Da was always the one leading the way."

Chu Xiang suddenly said, "By the way, during the Chinese New Year, I heard that Zhai Da and Wu Yue's company seems to still be continuing the essence of Utopia?"

"It seems so. Wu Yue said there have been some more professional changes, and it's no longer as rough as we used to be, but the core theme hasn't changed."

The core principle is to allow some to get rich first and then share the wealth.

Should we try this too?

Xiang You suddenly remembered that summer, those days, and that little courtyard.

That guy was standing on the chair, looking all high and mighty.

"Observe more, think more, and practice more. If—and I mean if—you also choose to use this money to start a business in the future..."

"Perhaps you will recall what happened here tonight."

They exchanged a glance with Chu Xiang and smiled in unison, saying:

"You're still young, why not give it a try!"

"Yes, we're still young, let's give it a try!"

"Give Wu Yue a call later and ask him. He's a big boss now, and he knows much more about managing a company than we do."

Utopia is over.

But the story of utopia continues.

--------

Meanwhile, at the main building of Harbin Institute of Technology.

Zhai Da knocked on Principal Wang Guochun's office door.

"Please come in".

Principal Wang's office remains unchanged, both retro and bright.

The principal skillfully got up to make tea. If it were an ordinary student, he would consider it a privilege if he could spare three to five minutes to talk to them; he wouldn't even offer a bottle of Wahaha.

But Zhai Da was always given special consideration, and they hoped he could sit and chat a little longer.

Of course, today had an extra significance. Principal Wang looked at Zhai Da differently, as if he was waiting for his holy son to confess something.

Little brat, you're still hiding it?
(End of this chapter)