ROSGT Chapter 11: Whatever "Xiang" Is, I’ll Eat It
After sending an internal message to Lonely Seeker of Slimness, Ye Chui waited for a response. When none came immediately, he didn't mind. He began browsing the discussion boards on the Software Alliance.
Lately, the discussion boards had been bustling, naturally due to the popularity of Professor X’s Link-Up. As the game's developer, Ye Chui felt a bit proud and amused reading all the praise.
Having been reborn into this world as a cripple, Ye Chui had been feeling somewhat depressed, despite his normally cheerful nature. However, the release of Link-Up had significantly improved his mood. Seeing the game cause such a sensation made him eager to see how his more advanced game ideas would shake this world. This anticipation kept him in a state of constant excitement.
Just then, Ye Chui noticed a pinned post that made him narrow his eyes: “Professor X isn’t all that great; everyone, stop praising him excessively.”
In a sea of posts praising Professor X, this contrarian post stood out. Curious, Ye Chui clicked on it.
“I hope everyone can wake up and not be deceived by Professor X. I admit Link-Up is creative and I enjoy it, but it doesn’t deserve the hype it’s getting. I’m certain this is the peak of Professor X’s work, and he’ll never produce another software as entertaining. Moreover, from Link-Up, it’s clear that Professor X has no talent in programming, resulting in a very crude product with horrendous graphics…”
The post went on for over a thousand words, primarily criticizing Ye Chui’s programming skills and insisting he couldn’t create another game as good as Link-Up.
At the end, the poster added a scornful note—
“Those who know me are aware that I’m from SB Optical Brain Company. Let me tell you, after Link-Up’s success, Professor X arrogantly tried to join our company. It’s laughable. Although we acknowledge Link-Up’s brilliance, not just anyone can join SB. I officially declare that SB will not accept any future works from Professor X!”
Ye Chui checked the poster’s name: “SB Expert.”
Alright, upon seeing this name, Ye Chui’s earlier annoyance disappeared. A person who named themselves SB Expert was mocking him—how could he not find this amusing?
Ye Chui quickly deduced that the poster was likely Wang Zhaoming, who had been upset about their failed negotiation and decided to smear him on the forum.
The forum’s users were still quite naive. Wang Zhaoming’s articulate criticism, combined with his connections to the moderators, had made the post a sticky. It had already gathered hundreds of comments, many of which agreed with Wang Zhaoming.
“Now that you mention it, I also feel this way. Such groundbreaking software likely only comes around once. Professor X can’t make another similar product.”
“That’s not fair. Even if Link-Up is his peak, it’s still a remarkable achievement.”
“Remarkable my foot. No matter how great Link-Up is, it’s a small program and can’t make much money.”
“Professor X wanted to join SB? With Link-Up’s technical level, that’s really not enough.”
“I took a closer look. Link-Up’s code isn’t open source, but it seems pretty simple. If I had the idea, I could develop it in a day.”
Reading these comments, Ye Chui frowned. He realized a serious problem: “I need to make another game. Just one Link-Up isn’t enough. Even if I join Jian Fan Studio, they might not take me seriously…”
“Alright, I’ll make another game. But… which one?”
Soon, Ye Chui’s eyes lit up.
“Got it. I’ll make a match-3 game!”
Match-3 games, including titles like Magic Gems and Bejeweled, are well-known puzzle games. Players align three identical tiles to clear them from the board. These games started on consoles but became wildly popular when ported to computers, often considered on par with or even superior to Link-Up.
The best part was that match-3 games shared some similarities with Link-Up, so Ye Chui could use the same framework to develop it, which wouldn’t take long.
Ye Chui’s ultimate goal was to develop Tetris.
Among puzzle games, Tetris was the most famous, having been popular for decades. However, its programming posed significant challenges for Ye Chui. There were many difficulties he couldn’t solve yet, so he had to postpone it.
Having decided, Ye Chui enthusiastically opened his Cangjie programming language software and got to work.
He glanced at the post again and, inspired, left a comment:
“I’m about to develop my second game. If it surpasses Link-Up, SB, how about you eat three pounds of ‘Xiang’?”
Ye Chui felt a bit resentful. He had only briefly interacted with Wang Zhaoming. There was no need for such underhanded slander just because their business talks didn’t work out.
After posting the comment, Ye Chui eagerly began developing his new game.
Meanwhile, at SB Optical Brain Company’s headquarters.
“What? Professor X left a comment?” Wang Zhaoming was browsing the post comments. He was immensely satisfied by the support he was receiving. He soon spotted Ye Chui’s comment: “Eat three pounds of ‘Xiang’? What does that mean?”
No one in this world knew what “Xiang” meant.
But it was clear that “Xiang” wasn’t something good.
As for Ye Chui calling him “SB,” Wang Zhaoming wasn’t offended. He was rather proud of being associated with the company’s name.
“What arrogance!” Wang Zhaoming fumed and replied to Ye Chui’s comment, “You think you can create something better than Link-Up? Fine, whatever ‘Xiang’ is, I’ll eat it if you do.”
His comment received many likes, and several people were curious: “What does ‘Xiang’ mean?”
Wang Zhaoming closed the post with a disdainful smirk, deciding that Professor X’s comment wasn’t worth his attention.
Just as he closed the post, the original software download section appeared on his screen, where a new entertainment software called Little Cat’s Adventure 2.0 caught his eye.
“Huh? This software also calls itself a game. From the description, it seems interesting. It’s only been an hour, and it’s already downloaded over ten thousand times. Impressive. This software deserves attention… See? Professor X isn’t the only one who can innovate. Lonely Seeker of Slimness proves it!”
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