ROSGT Chapter 59: I'm from the United States, a Small Place Not Worth Mentioning (here yo go)
Volume 1
Chapter 59: I'm from the United States, a Small Place Not Worth Mentioning
TL:😅
Ye Chui chose Tetris to boost the fame of his game mall for two main reasons. First, it’s an incredibly classic game. It has remained popular for thirty years, becoming a legend. From its inception until now, it has held several Guinness World Records in gaming. Its achievements are unmatched by other games.
While games like Lianliankan and Xiaoxiaokan can become temporarily popular, Tetris will remain a timeless classic. Using it to promote Ye Chui's game mall is a perfect choice.
Moreover, Ye Chui chose it because he didn’t have much time left. Creating a high-quality small game in just two days to promote his mall was very challenging. However, Tetris was already a semi-finished product.
Roberta’s game, Building Blocks, had characteristics similar to Tetris. With slight modifications, it could become a genuine Tetris game.
At Wolverine Game Studio, Ye Chui found Building Blocks on the Software Alliance, downloaded it, and let Fang Xi and Fang Nan play it.
The game was currently unpopular, with only around three thousand downloads after several days, similar to the initial performance of Fang Xi’s Cat Adventure. This was a clear sign of failure.
When Ye Chui looked for it, the game’s post had already sunk to the last page.
“I contacted the author of this game. He said he would come to Yanjing to meet me. He seemed like a nice person,” Ye Chui said while letting Fang Xi and Fang Nan play the game.
But then Ye Chui frowned, “But it’s been five days, and I haven’t heard from him.”
When Ye Chui decided to use Tetris to make money, he sent a message to Roberta via the Software Alliance’s backend, but there had been no response. Ye Chui checked Roberta’s activity, and he hadn’t logged into the Software Alliance for five days.
“Could he have changed his mind?” Ye Chui worried.
After playing Building Blocks, Fang Nan and Fang Xi predictably found it uninteresting.
“Hammer, isn’t this game a bit too boring?” Fang Nan hesitated. “It’s just like Fang Xi’s Cat Adventure back then.”
“Yeah, Professor Cha, isn’t it too risky to use this game to promote the game mall?” Fang Xi also expressed his concern.
Ye Chui smiled calmly, “The concept of this game is actually very good. With a few tweaks, it can become a great game…”
He then introduced Tetris.
In fact, the concept of Tetris is quite simple, but this simplicity has created an enduring classic.
Hearing Ye Chui’s introduction, Fang Nan and Fang Xi’s eyes lit up, realizing that the modifications were brilliant, transforming the original poor game into one with great playability.
“Professor Cha, I’m impressed. These changes are as transformative as what you did with my Cat Adventure,” Fang Xi said, full of admiration.
Ye Chui laughed, “This game can be called Stack-Em-Up after the modification, joining the Look series to benefit from its fame.”
“But, Hammer, won’t the original game’s author sue us for infringement if we modify it?” Fang Nan asked, raising a concern.
“I’m a bit worried about that too, but we’ll take one step at a time. You two start modifying the game. Time is tight. I’ll try to contact Roberta again. We need to secure the copyright for Building Blocks from him,” Ye Chui replied.
“Alright,” Fang Nan and Fang Xi nodded and began working on the modifications.
Ye Chui sent several messages to Roberta but got no response. He decided to temporarily stop trying to contact him and instead reached out to a network service provider to register a software store.
A software store is like an online shop and needs to be set up through a network service provider.
In this world, every Guangnao system comes with some system services, including a list of software stores. Once the software store is set up with the network service provider, it can be found on every Guangnao system.
However, there are at least a thousand registered software stores, and without proper promotion, it’s hard to get noticed.
Ye Chui was confident, though.
He didn’t worry about advertising. He believed in Tetris, which would attract tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of players. Advertising in the game would boost the software store’s visibility.
Moreover, Ye Chui had another promotional strategy in mind—
He looked at Fang Nan, who was discussing something with her brother, Fang Xi. From his angle, Fang Nan, bending over and pointing at Fang Xi’s screen, looked quiet and elegant, giving off a pure and serene vibe... Well, Ye Chui knew this was an illusion, but the people online who idolized Fang Nan as a goddess didn’t know that.
About a month ago, when they released Find the Differences, they used Fang Nan’s photo, making her somewhat famous online. She was the pioneer of internet goddesses.
Using her to promote the game mall was perfect.
“Are you sure you want to open a software mall? Reminder: Opening a software mall requires a monthly network service fee of ten thousand yuan. If the fee is not paid on time, the mall will be automatically closed.”
After filling out a bunch of registration forms, a message appeared on Ye Chui’s screen.
The ten thousand yuan monthly service fee was one reason small companies or studios couldn’t run a software mall. It’s costly. Without sufficient capital, it’s impossible to maintain a mall.
This fee is like rent for a shop in a physical mall.
Besides this, maintaining a software mall requires regular updates. The servers are free for the first few months but need rent afterward.
Ye Chui didn’t hesitate and clicked confirm.
“Your application will be reviewed. If approved, your software mall will be opened within 24 hours.”
The prompt continued.
The application process was complete. Now he had to wait a day for the review, which mainly involved verifying Ye Chui’s identity. This wouldn’t be a problem.
Next, Ye Chui logged into the Software Alliance forum’s backend.
To his pleasant surprise, he finally received a reply from Roberta.
“Professor Cha, sorry for the delay. I’ve been busy with my travel arrangements for going abroad.”
“Going abroad?”
Ye Chui felt relieved and then asked, “Why are you going abroad? For work?”
“Oh, Professor Cha, I must have been unclear—I left my country and came to Huaxia.”
“You’re a foreigner? From where?” Ye Chui was shocked.
Roberta had always communicated in Chinese, so Ye Chui assumed he was from Huaxia. He didn’t expect him to be a foreigner.
“I’m from the United States, a small place not worth mentioning. Professor Cha, when you suggested meeting, I packed up and came to find you.”
Ye Chui was speechless. He had said that casually, but this guy actually packed up and came all the way to Huaxia… Was that necessary?
“Where are you now? Let’s meet up,” Ye Chui continued.
“I just got off the plane, currently in a coastal city in Huaxia. I’ve bought a train ticket and should reach Yanjing by three or four in the afternoon.”
“Alright, I’ll arrange for someone to meet you in Yanjing.”
Since Roberta had come all the way from the US, Ye Chui felt a bit guilty.
Because Roberta hadn’t yet set up Guangnao communications, they had to use the Software Alliance’s messaging system. After discussing the approximate arrival time, Ye Chui ended the conversation.
He told Fang Xi and Fang Nan about his conversation with Roberta.
“I was just saying it casually, but this kid actually came all the way here to find me,” Ye Chui sighed. “Is it worth it to come from the US to Huaxia?”
Fang Xi interjected, “The US? That backward place? Given the chance to come to Huaxia, of course, people would jump at it.”
“The US is a backward place…” Roberta had said the same thing, which puzzled Ye Chui. “How did the US become a small place?”
“Professor Cha, haven’t you studied history?” Fang Xi asked curiously. “During World War III, the US’s development was severely hit. Now their economy is fifty years behind ours. People there are desperate to immigrate here. Calling it a small place isn’t an exaggeration.”
“…,” Ye Chui rolled his eyes.
Well, that’s quite different from the other world.