Rebirth 08: Can a mobile game company also build a tech empire?

Before the game even officially started, Lant's attention was completely drawn to it.

According to the tutorial, Lant holds the bird and gently pulls it back, making the slingshot taut, then releases it.

"Hey!" With a mischievous chirp, the bird traced a graceful parabola in the sky and crashed into the house the pig had built.

However, since Lant had never played this game before, the first bird flew over his head and disappeared from the screen.

"Oh no!" Lant exclaimed in deep regret, "I actually missed!"

Fortunately, the tutorial gives players three chances.

This time, Lant changed his direction based on the trajectory left by the previous bird.

Draw the bow, then release it.

This time, the bird flew straight to the house made of wooden planks and eliminated the green pig hiding underneath, hitting the bullseye!

"Yes!"

Seeing that he had achieved a three-star victory in the game, Lant excitedly pumped his fist!

"This game is so much fun!"

Why didn't I discover this sooner!

Lant was completely engrossed in the game at this point.

In the following game levels, there are birds with different abilities, such as a yellow bird with the ability to dash, a blue bird with the ability to split, a black bird with the ability to explode, and so on.

The green pigs, not to be outdone, used wooden planks, stone slabs, glass, balloons... all sorts of strange and wonderful building tools to make their fortress extremely sturdy.

With different combinations, each map is full of novelty and challenge.

Some levels are designed to be very difficult, and Lant can only barely pass them with one star after repeated attempts.

"F*** you! Why am I always just a little short?! I could have easily killed this damn pig!"

This completely ignited Lant's competitive spirit.

As Lant tirelessly tried again and again, dawn broke before he knew it.

"twitter……"

What people who stay up late fear most is hearing birds chirping outside the window while they are engrossed in something!

???

Lant looked up at the window in horror and saw that it was already bright outside.

"Oh shit! I actually stayed up all night playing games!"

Lant frowned and scratched his messy hair, still not recovered from the game.

At this moment, his mind was filled with the "Ah-hey!" sounds of birds being launched by slingshots, and the "heh-heh" laughter of pigs when he lost the game.

"Oh no! I have class this morning!" Lant exclaimed in surprise.

He then remembered that he had classes this morning.

Lant hurriedly grabbed his textbook and stuffed his phone into his pocket, intending to play with it during class.

I flung open the door to find my roommate Robert dressed and ready to leave for class.

Robert looked at Lant in surprise. Why was he up so early today? Usually, this kid wouldn't get out of bed until the very last second.

Seeing Lant's short, messy hair and heavy dark circles under his eyes, he immediately understood.

"Hey, Lant, you don't look too good. Didn't you sleep last night?" Robert asked.

"Oh, yes, don't even mention it, I played all night last night!" Lant replied.

"Huh? There wasn't a party yesterday. Where did you go?"

"No, no, no, Robert, I played games all night!"

"A game? What game?"

Robert's interest was piqued.

"This Angry Birds game is so much fun!"

Seeing that Robert was interested, Lant's desire to share was instantly aroused, and he immediately took out his phone and put it in Robert's hand.

"You do this, then this, and then this, and see, you've wiped out all those green pigs!"

Lant then demonstrated it to Robert.

"Hmm! This does seem quite interesting!"

Robert was also drawn to the game's visuals and took the phone to try it out himself.

Similarly, Robert, on his first attempt, didn't even touch the green pig's skin; the bird crashed headfirst into the wall.

"Hey! You need to aim carefully before you let go!"

"Watch me!"

Seeing Robert's clumsy movements, Lant anxiously jumped around on the side.

"I know! It was a mistake the first time! I'll be serious this time! Let me try again!"

Robert, unwilling to be underestimated by Lant, decided to start the level again.

"Hey!"

Accompanied by bird calls, Robert wiped out all the green pigs with a single black bomb bird.

Robert received a three-star rating in the game, higher than Rant's score after staying up all night.

"Ha! Look, I cleared the level with three stars, I'm better than you!"

"How is that possible? I refuse to accept this. It's my turn, I'll try again!"

Not to be outdone, Lant took the phone and challenged the level again.

And so, as the two played a game of tag, time slipped by unnoticed.

After an unknown amount of time, the two finally came to their senses when they heard a commotion of people going up and down the stairs inside the dormitory building.

"Oh no! We're going to be late!" Robert yelled.

Upon hearing this, Lant panicked.

But after swiping down his phone's status bar to check the time, he plopped down on his seat again.

He patted Robert on the shoulder.

"Professor Alton's class has ended, so we won't be 'late'."

"Oh no! My scholarship..."

Robert sat back down in his chair, looking dejected.

"Relax, it's all in the past anyway, let's keep playing."

By the way, what kind of phone do you have?

Lant had absolutely no interest in studying and went straight to asking Robert if his phone could play games.

"Can I play this game on my iPhone?"

Since things had come to this point, Robert didn't care anymore and took out his phone.

"Of course! You can upgrade your system, and then the App Store will appear. Find Angry Birds there!"

"Okay, I got it. Wait until I finish downloading, I'll definitely get a higher score than you!"

The two of them became completely engrossed in the game.

……

the next day.

Robert and Lant both appeared in the classroom with identical dark circles under their eyes.

Lant's friend Roger immediately spotted the two of them.

"Hey! Where have you two been partying? You even dared to skip Professor Alton's class!"

"Ha—" Lant let out a long yawn, "We played games all day yesterday!"

Hey, did you know there's a game called Angry Birds that's absolutely hilarious!

We both forgot about class!

Roger asked in confusion:

"Angry Birds? What's that?"

A new game for mobile phones!

I remember you went with me to try and snag a new iPhone 3G the day before yesterday. Look for it in the App Store!

I swear you'll love it!

Lant was eager to promote the game to Roger, wishing the whole world would know about it right now.

Lant tirelessly recommended it to others.

Angry Birds quickly spread like wildfire across the campus!

……

Professor Alton has been quite troubled lately.

For some reason, the students in the class suddenly started to frequently daydream.

They don't even complete their homework properly after class.

Even Robert, his most promising student, dared to skip class!

"Hey Gina, how was your day?"

Professor Alden greeted his colleagues as usual.

"Don't even mention it, Alton. I don't know why, but suddenly the students in our class have stopped doing their homework!"

Gina said, distressed.

"Your class is experiencing this too?!"

Alton said in surprise.

"You too?"

Gina was also somewhat shocked.

They may never realize that a gaming craze has suddenly swept across university campuses recently!

And a game that is sought after by countless young men and women.

It's just a simple Angry Birds game!