Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 557 Business Warfare: No Bottom Lines Required

Cheng Yi had lived through his past life, so he understood what this game brought him.

To put it nicely, this is a platform rife with profanity, virtual marriages, displays of wealth and status, inducements for minors to make large purchases, and even a breeding ground for immoral offline transactions.

To put it bluntly, it fostered the so-called "fairy culture," which used cheap sensory stimulation and virtual social relationships to make online dating, meeting in real life, and sending gifts from afar seem like commonplace. It changed the views of many young people on marriage and love, making true love cheap and material things seem like a given.

A girl as innocent as a blank sheet of paper can get a three-piece set just by playing Audition Online for three months.

[First, Martian language; second, profanity; third, honesty in choosing a husband.]

In the media of my past life, many conscientious journalists pointed out these issues, and even "Focus Interview" reported on them multiple times.

What they got in return was a dismissive statement from the game developer that games are innocent.

Is it truly innocent?

Indeed, she is innocent.

It's just a platform.

However, in the eyes of many internet professionals, it is a sin, and a serious one at that.

Compared to malware, Audition Online seems dazzlingly brilliant.

The popularity of Audition Online is strange; it's popular only in China, and its presence in other regions is very low.

Undeniably, its playability has indeed broken new ground.

But Cheng Yi doesn't want this damn culture to happen again.

Therefore, last year he strictly ordered domestic game manufacturers to ban Audition Online. Of course, there was also a selfish factor in banning Audition Online.

Because this damn game is such a keyboard killer, and keyboards are ridiculously expensive these days.

Internet cafes are already incredibly popular, so why go to the trouble of replacing keyboards every day?
Millions of computers, with keyboards replaced every week, that's an expenditure of hundreds of millions.

Only an idiot would install this kind of game in an internet cafe.

Besides the two important reasons mentioned above, he had another reason for banning Audition Online.

That is, he wanted to leave a loophole for Microsoft and Samsung.

In a duel between masters, if you don't even leave the opponent a weakness, how can they make a move?

Without any flaws, are these two masters just posing and facing off like that?
With proper guidance, Audition Online is a game that can easily achieve scale. Moreover, it's produced by a South Korean company. As long as Microsoft and Samsung aren't blind, they will surely discover the explosive potential within Audition Online that is invisible to ordinary people.

Cheng Yi likes to put himself in others' shoes. If he were in Lee Jae-yong's or Johnson's shoes, he would also choose Audition Online.

Opposites attract.

Winning over the girls' market is equivalent to indirectly winning over the boys' market.

This thing will eventually transform from quantitative change to qualitative change.

Then, some special guidance is given, such as boys earning money to spend on girls, and if they like her, they should send her messages on social media. They also create reasons to spend money, such as Valentine's Day, preferably every month. In their previous lives, they created many Valentine's Days.

Valentine's Day, Diary Day, Traditional Valentine's Day, White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, Kissing Day, Silver Day, Green Day...

There's a Valentine's Day almost every month, plus the Qixi Festival, and we make a limited edition couple's outfit for each festival.

That's enough to empty the wallets of these clueless boys.

In its previous life, Audition Online launched its open beta in May, and by July, it had a staggering 780,000 concurrent users.

Furthermore, the fact that it has been explicitly labeled as a music and dance game suitable for minors by the highest cultural authority in China has given this game a protective shield.

Now, Microsoft and Samsung have finally taken the bait.

Audition Online was a furnace that Cheng Yi deliberately set up.

He wants to lure Microsoft and Samsung into the battlefield where Momo Group excels, and then unleash the Furnace Strategy.

This battle must be a protracted one, exhausting Microsoft and Samsung's energy and resources as much as possible.

With a ceasefire agreement in place, Microsoft and Samsung certainly won't directly intervene. This battle is essentially a war between Momo Group and their proxies.

As long as Microsoft and Samsung don't get involved directly, they can be slowly worn down.

Cheng Yi looked around at everyone and said slowly, "This time, we're going to have a real fight with them. In the gaming industry, if we can't even beat a newly released game, we might as well go home and sleep."

Kong Feng saw the determination in Cheng Yi's eyes and immediately fell silent.

At Momo Group, once Cheng Yi makes a decision, no one dares to easily overturn it.

Cheng Yi said, "President Kong, Audition Online's first stop will definitely be China. Our domestic gaming industry is used to a comfortable life. If a wolf suddenly rushes in, it will definitely have an impact. You need to take precautions in advance. Announce all kinds of in-game activities in advance. We should do things like sign-in activities. Even if players play Audition Online, at least make sure they take a few minutes each day to sign in in our game."

"Yes!" Kong Feng quickly replied.

Cheng Yi then looked at Ma Huateng and said, "Mr. Ma, this time you are the main battlefield. The most affected should be QQ Games Hall and QQ Tang."

"Hmm." Ma Huateng's mood was somewhat heavy.

This is also why he suggested recreating Audition Online, which is also one of the strengths of their Tencent Group.

Having lost this strength, he was somewhat at a loss as to how to defend himself.

If Cheng Yi agrees to let them replicate it, he guarantees he can beat Audition Online to a pulp within three months.

Cheng Yi said, "Set up keywords related to Audition Online in your QQ account. Any group chats that involve Audition Online will be banned."

"Huh? Could this cause problems? This seems to involve unfair competition." Ma Huateng was taken aback.

Cheng Yi said, "Didn't you set the rules for QQ? Don't you understand the meaning of fabricated charges?"

Ma Huateng still didn't understand.

Cheng Yi said helplessly, "You can ban them for false advertising, but don't restrict Audition from placing paid ads on your site."

"???" Ma Huateng was even more confused.

On the one hand, they banned all group chats involving Audition Online, and on the other hand, they allowed Audition Online to run paid advertisements. This operation confused him.

Cheng Yi held up five fingers and said, "If Audition wants to advertise on the QQ platform, then charge five times the promotion fee. If they're willing to do it, then let them. Also, for group chat, you can add a VIP group chat function. They can talk about Audition if they want. The price doesn't need to be too expensive; 300 yuan a year is enough."

Ma Huateng stared directly at Cheng Yi, his eyes filled with admiration.

Look at that, that's what vision looks like.

What does it mean to be a businessman if you're willing to accept advertisements from even your strongest rivals?

"Businessmen are like this: as long as you don't kill me and the price is right, we can continue to negotiate." Cheng Yi's eyes sharpened as he spoke, word by word: "This isn't an ordinary business war, so don't worry about bottom lines. We only have one goal."

"Mr. Zhang, please inform all companies within the Momo group that they can accept any advertising or promotion related to Audition Online, but the promotion fee will be set at five times the original price." Cheng Yi looked at Zhang Lingyu and said, "Anyone who dares to undercut the price privately will be kicked out."

"Understood," Zhang Lingyu quickly replied. "What about the internet cafe part?"

Cheng Yi hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's skip the internet cafe. That game is very hard on the keyboard."

"Okay." Zhang Lingyu nodded.

Cheng Yi then looked at Lin Qingyin and said, "Qingyin, your team needs to find a way to develop a cheat for Audition Online, to be used in critical moments. The most difficult part of this game is the free dance moves. Once their free dance moves are released, you should focus on developing a cheat for those moves."

"Okay." Lin Qingyin nodded slowly.

"Alright, that concludes today's meeting. The New Year is almost here, so everyone relax and enjoy the holiday!" Cheng Yi laughed. "Then we'll just sit back and wait for our opponent to be defeated!"

Cheng Yi's confident words reassured the senior executives.

They didn't expect that Cheng Yi would know so much about this dance game.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory. They only knew the general gameplay of Audition Online, but their CEO had even figured out the core gameplay of Audition Online.

How could they possibly lose?
If Audition Online really comes, we can just close the door and let the CEO in.

Cheng Yi didn't stay at home for long this Spring Festival.

Having experienced this sensational annual meeting that resonated throughout Asia, he and Du Yusheng could no longer stay at home.

A huge number of classmates, friends, and even relatives they had never met in their lives, practically wore down their doorstep.

Even Du Yusheng, who loves excitement and flamboyance, couldn't handle this.

After paying respects to their ancestors on New Year's Eve, they briefly visited relatives on the first day of the Lunar New Year and returned to Jingzhou City that afternoon.

The rest can be left to the parents to handle.

Sometimes, returning home in glory isn't necessarily a good thing.

Human nature is complex. People are more concerned about inequality than scarcity. If you help one person, you have to help everyone else, otherwise you'll be drowned in criticism. The worst part is that even if you help everyone, you have to treat everyone equally. If the level of help is uneven, for example, if you give him a salary of 5000 and give him a salary of 2000, you'll still get criticized.

If you favor one side too much, to put it bluntly, you might not even be able to save your family's ancestral graves.

So Cheng Yi's father followed Cheng Yi's instructions and gave red envelopes to all relatives and friends who came to visit.

Everyone received the same New Year's greeting red envelope: 1000 yuan for every relative or friend who came to visit.

Everyone gets a share, and everyone is happy.

As for finding a job, they were all assigned to Dongcang County, which was nearby.

Upon returning to Jingzhou City, Cheng Yi began visiting leaders and friends. He first visited Jiang Zhixue, then several key leaders of the Handong Provincial Political Affairs Association, and later had dinner with Huang Fei in Yantai City. Du Yusheng, on the other hand, was also visiting various levels of government without stopping.

By the time they finished their work, it was already the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.

On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Audition Online officially announced its open beta launch.

During this period, thanks to the laissez-faire attitude of Momo Group, coupled with the full-scale offensive of giants Microsoft and Samsung, Audition Online instantly ignited the entire Asian gaming market.

Samsung flagship store in Myeongdong, Seoul.

Early in the morning, before the store even opened, a long, winding queue had already stretched out two blocks from the entrance.

The group consisted entirely of young men and women, their faces beaming with excitement and anticipation after staying up all night.

On the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, giant posters of the latest spokespeople for Audition Online, Kim Hee-sun, Lee Hyori, and Chae Yeon, gleamed in the morning light.

The moment the store doors opened, the crowd erupted in cheers and surged inside like a tidal wave.

The Audition Online experience zone was already packed with people.

On the high-spec Samsung computer screen, colorful virtual characters danced wildly to energetic K-pop music, while the spacebar on the keyboard was pounded away.

The crowd gasped and cheered, captivated by the dazzling light effects on the screen, the characters' gorgeous costumes, and their precise dance moves.

Wow! This pink dress is so cute!

"Look at that combo! Six Perfects in a row! He's amazing!"

"Quick, please sell me an installation disc! I want to go home and play!"

Samsung's offline channels have demonstrated their inherent strength.

In China, from the electronics mall in Xinjiekou, Jingzhou, to the digital plaza in Xujiahui, China Overseas, and then to Tianhe City in Guangzhou and Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen.

Overnight, huge posters and experience points for Audition Online sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

Samsung promoters, dressed in uniform, enthusiastically handed out beautifully printed flyers and cards containing activation codes to every young person passing by.

The latest Samsung Anycall phone and Yepp MP3 player come with a game installation disc printed with "Audition Online Limited Edition Outfit Activation Code," which has become the biggest surprise for countless young people when they open the box.

On the day of the public beta test, at noon, countless personal computers using Windows XP experienced an unexpected pop-up window in the lower right corner.

Audition Online Global Open Beta Launched! Dance with millions of players and experience youthful energy! Click to claim your newbie deluxe gift pack!

A simple clip of a K-pop dance song plays automatically, showing stylish virtual characters dancing energetically on a dazzling stage, with a huge "Download Now" button flashing enticingly below.

At this moment, whether users are browsing the web, processing documents, or playing other games, they are all attracted by this forced push of advertisements.

For young netizens, especially young women, who have never played this type of game before, the novel and cool visuals and dynamic music have a fatal attraction.

The mouse clicked involuntarily, and the download link launched instantly.

The online community saw an explosive surge in popularity.

The entertainment sections, gaming forums, and even some women's fashion forums on major portal websites were flooded with topics related to Audition Online.

The discussion forum was filled with screenshots and boasts:

"I just bought a beautiful permanent outfit, I love it!"

"Looking for a handsome older brother to dance to a song at 124 bpm! I'm terrible at dancing."

"Looking for a husband! East China Region 1, gentle and considerate, ugly bastards get lost!"

"Any sisters out there who want to play together? Let's create a clan!"

The game's social attributes were brought to their fullest potential at this point.

(End of this chapter)