From gaming to becoming the richest man, it all started with his counterattack against XunTeng.

Yang Yi was secretly pleased to have gained another valiant general under his command, and was planning the team's future strategy when he suddenly heard a series of crackling sounds.

The sound was exceptionally jarring, completely different from the usual demo sound effects in the exhibition hall, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

Turning my head, I saw two men playing a heated game of pool around a mini billiard table on the empty space of the next booth.

It was supposed to be a game of billiards, but the scene was outrageously absurd. Each swing of the cue left a wisp of smoke, and as the balls collided and rubbed against the table, tiny sparks flew all the way. The scene was so lively and exaggerated that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a passionate duel.

Yang Yi's eyelids twitched as he watched. He just couldn't understand how someone could make such a spectacular play, like a game of billiards.

Master!

As expected of the Chinese booth, everyone here is a hidden gem!

Just as Yang Yi was lost in thought, his opponent cleared the table with one shot, ending the trial. Yang Yi took the cue from him and unleashed a powerful shot with a flick of his wrist.

Snapped--

A sharp impact rang out, and the ball shot out, leaving behind a trail of sparks. The exhilarating force made one feel refreshed all over.

A faint smell of gunpowder filled the air, and Yang Yi instantly understood.

Gunpowder, gunpowder was added to the gun powder!!!

The billiard balls were probably custom-made too!

He gripped the club, looking at the person next to him with surprise: "Bro, is this club even legal?"

Zhou Jie clearly recognized President Yang and proudly waved the golf club in his hand: "President Yang, this is a Mosinna club, how is it illegal?"

Private First Class—Gan!!! You're a genius!!!

That Mosin-Naga club is absolutely divine!

Shen Xiao found it hilarious and laughed so hard she almost fell over.

Who would have thought that such a small exhibition area could gather all the legendary talents, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong? It's truly outrageous.

Unfortunately, while the imaginative prop design is stunning, the core gameplay of the billiards game is rather unremarkable, lacking memorable elements that make it easy to play repeatedly.

Yang Yi was slightly tempted. Such a promising talent was worth recruiting into the company, but Beehive Company did not currently have a suitable position for him, and forcibly placing him in an unsuitable position would bury his talent.

After considering it for a moment, Yang Yi decided to let it go, but he still admired Zhou Jie very much.

He simply pointed out the shortcomings of the game, and then explained to Zhou Jie the fun gameplay ideas of Wanning Billiards, which are unconventional, physically overpowered, and full of creative antics.

After listening to the advice, Zhou Jie felt enlightened and understood the future development direction of the game. He admired Yang Yi even more.

Amid Zhou Jie's words of gratitude, Yang Yi left the booth with the Mosin-Nagant rod he had gifted her.

After a fun-filled morning, Yang Yi returned to his loyal booth.

But the scene before him left him stunned on the spot.

It was supposed to be a media day exclusively for industry professionals, and the number of visitors should have been far less than on a public open day. However, after he left for only a morning, the queue in front of the booth not only didn't get shorter, but it got longer and longer, winding around several bends and stretching as far as the eye could see. Not only were most of the aisles in the venue occupied, but there was also a considerable queue on the overpass next to it.

If he remembered correctly, those familiar players in the middle of the line had been queuing up to try the game before he left, and they should have finished their experience and left long ago.

Could it be that they've gotten so caught up in the fun that they don't want to leave?

Yang Yi inwardly groaned; this was truly disastrous.

The media day is already packed to the brim; if the public open day officially starts tomorrow, won't the scene just get out of control?

As the game's lead designer, he will be stationed at the booth for the next few days. Given the level of attention, he probably won't even have a chance to take a break or have a drink of water.

"President Yang!!!"

Just as Yang Yi was secretly racking her brains over the long queue, an exceptionally loud and easily recognizable shout pierced straight into her ears.

Yang Yi subconsciously looked up in the direction of the sound and immediately spotted three figures in the middle of the group.

Teacher Ma, Teacher Piao, and Eggplant, three top-tier game streamers in China, formed a small team to create hilarious content. They were squeezed into the queue and streaming, interacting and joking with the chat while slowly moving forward.

Judging from their listless expressions and exhausted postures, they had clearly been queuing for who knows how long, and their energy was almost completely depleted by the long queue.

Especially Teacher Ma, whose dark circles under her eyes are frighteningly heavy.

Eggplant wasn't much better off; it squatted down right next to Teacher Ma's feet, slumped over, looking like it was about to go numb from queuing.

Teacher Piao was in the best condition; he was the one who just called for Yang Yi.

Seeing Yang Yi approaching from the sound, Qiezi was the first to stand up, grasp Yang Yi's hand, and speak excitedly.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you in person. You're much more handsome than I was when I was young."

He then pointed his phone camera at Yang Yi.

"Brothers, those hours of waiting were worth it! Did you see the real deal? It's Yang Yi himself! This is a huge win!"

Upon seeing Yang Yi suddenly appear on screen, the live chat instantly filled with a dense barrage of comments—

"Eggplant is right, President Yang is indeed even more handsome than he was in his youth."

"Husband!" ×999

"Hello, Mr. Yang!" ×999

"Mr. Yang, I also want to play Overwatch."

Oh no, the eggplant fry drank the first batch of soup.

Not to be outdone, Teacher Ma adjusted his glasses, his previously slightly tired expression instantly brightening. He raised his hand and waved steadily at the camera, perfectly capturing the classic tone:

"Hey, Mr. Yang, wow! We finally caught you in person. The three of us have been waiting in line for ages, and if we hadn't seen you by now, the chat would have thought we were in jail."

Teacher Piao took half a step forward, his plump body pushing through the crowd, grinning mischievously, and gesturing jokingly at the camera:

"What do you guys know? The hottest game at Gamescom right now is Yang's Overwatch. His opening speech yesterday was absolutely thrilling. This isn't jail time; I, Pigskin Bully, am willing to stand all afternoon just to play Overwatch. It was totally worth it!"

The three of them showered the live stream with compliments, causing the chat to explode with comments that nearly covered half the screen.

"These three are really licking the boots, what about the dignity of a top streamer?"

"Haha, can dignity put food on the table? The hype is skyrocketing right now, you go and fawn over them!"

"Say a few nice words and get a lot of free attention, isn't that a good deal?"

"You should all learn from the host's character and conduct!"

Yang Yi was both amused and exasperated. She stepped forward, glanced at Qiezi, whose legs were numb from squatting, and then looked at the two listless, exhausted people. She said helplessly, "You three really know how to join in the fun. You dare to stay up this long on media day. Tomorrow is public day and it will be crowded. You probably won't even be able to get close to the booth."

"That's not true. If you can't get a spot today, you might not even be able to see the booth tomorrow."

Eggplant rubbed his numb calves from squatting, complaining with a bitter face: "President Yang, your game is incredibly popular right now. The live stream is full of comments urging us to see the gameplay. We just had to bite the bullet and jump in, but who knew the queue would be so long! Damn it, my legs are practically numb. Why didn't I bring a small stool?"

Teacher Ma followed up, his tone slightly tentative: "Mr. Yang, since we've already run into each other, could we pull some strings? We'll just broadcast about ten minutes of gameplay footage to give domestic viewers a glimpse, and we won't take up too much of the demo slot. That's reasonable, isn't it?"

Teacher Piao nodded repeatedly in agreement, looking like he was determined to stick to it: "Yeah, yeah, we're all on the same side, just sneak us into the beta testing slots, don't make us stand here in the sun in line, I'm going to fall asleep right here if we keep waiting."

Seeing the three of them acting silly, and glancing at the rapidly scrolling comments in the live stream, Yang Yi instantly made up her mind.

These three top streamers broadcast live, bringing with them a massive audience. Their cameras allowed domestic viewers to directly witness the overwhelming popularity of Overwatch at Gamescom, making it a truly free form of promotion.

However, Yang Yi couldn't just give the three of them special treatment. A hint of consideration flashed in his eyes, and then he gently shook his head.

"So many players are patiently queuing up. If I just take you through the back door, it will be too conspicuous. If someone with ulterior motives takes a picture and posts it online for malicious interpretation, it will only cause more trouble and be counterproductive."

The three were taken aback upon hearing this, and instantly realized the implications, causing their initial anticipation to wane slightly.

But the next second, Yang Yi changed the subject, her tone calm and composed: "However, we can't let you waste your time here. We can find a workaround."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out his phone and dialed the booth number, casually giving a few instructions.

Before long, a staff member carrying a folding stool quickly came over and stood steadily in the line behind the three, naturally taking their place.

"Let him take your place in line. When it's your turn to try out the game, I'll have someone call you in advance. You can come with me through the staff entrance to the backstage area to rest, enjoy the air conditioning, and have a drink. You don't have to stay here doing nothing."

This brilliant move, which achieved the best of both worlds, immediately caught the attention of the three of them.

Eggplant immediately slapped his thigh hard, his eyes and brows lighting up: "Take off! President Yang's vision is truly magnificent!"

Mr. Ma adjusted his glasses and sincerely praised, "President Yang's move was top-notch; he took care of both appearances and substance."

Teacher Piao flashed a victory sign at the camera and burst into laughter: "Brothers, did you see that? That's what real prestige looks like! Following Boss Yang, we took the shortcut directly—this is a guaranteed steal!"

The three of them happily followed Yang Yi through the employee entrance to the backstage area.

As the group entered the backstage area of ​​the Beehive exhibition hall, the cool air conditioning instantly shut out the noise and heat outside.

The three of them were already starving from queuing for hours, so they didn't stand on ceremony and grabbed the Coke, snacks, and desserts prepared on the table and started eating and drinking heartily. Their legs were aching from standing all the way, and their stomachs were rumbling with hunger. Now that they could finally replenish their energy, they ate with great relish.

After filling their stomachs and recovering, the three of them finally relaxed completely and chatted casually with Yang Yi.

Eggplant looked around the spacious and well-organized backstage area, its gaze sweeping over the separate rest area, equipment maintenance room, and media interview corner, and couldn't help but let out a sigh:

"Mr. Yang, your backing is really impressive. I visited many exhibition halls last year, and the backing of other booths was probably less than half the size of yours."

This question struck a chord with Yang Yi.

"Of course! I helped design this backend system; it'll be very useful in the next few days!"

As soon as the words were spoken, Teacher Ma, Teacher Piao, and Eggplant instantly perked up, their ears all sticking up.

This was firsthand insider information from Cologne, and the viewers in the live stream immediately started flooding the screen with comments. The three of them quickly asked for the reason, their eyes full of curiosity.

Seeing that the others' curiosity had been completely piqued, Yang Yi stopped keeping them in suspense and slowly posed a question.

"Guess how much a regular bottle of Coke costs at the convenience store inside the exhibition hall?"

Teacher Piao deeply understood this sentiment, and almost without thinking, he retorted with a pained expression:

"I know that all too well! Last year when I was at the exhibition, I was so thirsty that I had to bite the bullet and buy a bottle. It cost a whole 6 euros, which is almost 48 yuan in RMB. It was practically robbery!"

Yang Yi picked up the iced cola beside her, took a sip, and hid the smile in her eyes. She only revealed seven-tenths of what she meant, leaving the rest for the others to interpret.

"Cologne officials have clear regulations that booths cannot arbitrarily distribute drinks and snacks to ordinary visitors during the exhibition."

He paused slightly, then added the second half of his sentence with a meaningful tone.

"However, we can provide essential drinks and snacks for our core players."

That's enough. There's no need to elaborate on the core strategy; those who understand will grasp it immediately.

The three members of Eggplant have all become top-tier streamers because they are all shrewd and quick to grasp the key point in those words.

Eggplant's eyes lit up, and he leaned forward, asking, "So, Mr. Yang, what defines a core player in the beehive? We want to benefit from it too!"

The live stream chat was flooded with comments, and everyone realized the hidden meaning behind it.

"Don't overthink it. I'm just telling you about the rules of the Cologne trade fair and mentioning the divisions in passing. There's nothing else going on."

All three were shrewd and immediately understood, quickly responding smoothly and tactfully.

"Absolutely! As game streamers, we genuinely support our favorite game companies and are purely drawn to the quality of BeeHound's games."

"What 'core gamer'? To put it bluntly, it's just a special recognition title given by the company to us for doing more promotion and generating more buzz for the game. Those who know, know."

The group tacitly agreed, and none of them dared to break the unspoken agreement.

Yang Yi slowed down her speech and, addressing the three of them, calmly dropped a bombshell through the camera lens.

"The game pre-order bundle will be available on the Qunfeng Games platform at 8 PM tonight."

"The collection includes four titles showcased at Gamescom: Overwatch Deluxe, Vampire Survivors, Engraving Evil, and Stardew Valley."

"Purchase during Gamescom and you can also receive an exclusive Overwatch mousepad and a special Core Badge from the Hive booth!"

"The pre-order bundle is priced at 150 euros, which is equivalent to 1200 yuan. After Gamescom, it will be sold separately in China for 500 yuan until August 31."

Teacher Ma and his two companions were overjoyed. Before they even had a chance to try out the actual game, they had already obtained a bombshell leak that was unique to the entire internet, and the popularity of the live stream skyrocketed.

Only then did the rapidly scrolling comments on the screen belatedly realize what was going on and finally understand—

"Wait! I understand! Mr. Yang means that if we buy a combo pack for 150 euros, we can eat, drink, and snack as much as we want during the exhibition?"

"My God, this is like a savior!"

"General Manager Yang is magnanimous" × 999

"Only 150 euros can solve all the food problems during the exhibition, what a bargain! Mr. Yang is so generous!"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're all focusing on the wrong thing! The important thing is that besides Overwatch, there are three other new games launching simultaneously!"

"I'm guessing it's not some mainstream blockbuster game, maybe a small game similar to 'Plants vs. Zombies'."

"Wouldn't that make it even more anticipated? 'Plants vs. Zombies' is practically a god-tier game; it's basically guaranteed to be the king of casual games for the next five years."