Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

"Um... I know a little bit about it."

"Then come here and show me what this game is all about."

Chapter 700 People are going crazy for civilization

"Supervisor, you can build wonders, which can greatly increase national revenue and are very beneficial. The downside is that the construction period is very long and consumes a lot of resources, so we need to make trade-offs and not build wonders indefinitely."

"Supervisor, you should produce some combat units. Even if you don't engage in acts of aggression, you should at least have the ability to defend yourself. Otherwise, someone will directly plunder your territory. A country without weapons is just someone else's money-printing machine."

"Manager, the environment here is quite nice, and it's perfect for building farmland. I suggest we seize this place and turn it into our own land. Anyway, it seems like the country that owns this land has no intention of developing it."

"Manager, you need to wait for the next round."

"Supervisor, please don't rush..."

In the department head's office, Curtis kept giving the headmaster pointers on how to play the game in a civilized manner.

"This game is interesting, let's play another round."

With Curtis's guidance, the department head gradually became familiar with the game's controls and gameplay, and before he knew it, he had been playing for quite some time.

His original job was actually quite easy, so he had plenty of time to do some relaxing things.

If his job weren't relatively easy, he wouldn't just be worried about the safety of the three missing employees; he would probably be frantic with worry by now.

The department head played for a full two hours straight.

During this time, he was completely unaware of the passage of time; it felt like only a blink of an eye had passed.

When he came to his senses, he suddenly realized that he had been playing for so long in one go, and he felt that he could continue playing.

Because he has only just emerged from the Stone Age, and the Bronze Age and many more eras of development await him.

However, he remained relatively rational and did not completely succumb to it.

However, he believes that if he were given a relatively relaxed environment, he could play for a very long time, even without sleeping.

This was somewhat unbelievable to someone in his forties like him. He had always been very careful about staying up late, but now he was thinking of staying up late to play such a game.

This made him realize something, and he turned to look at Curtis, who was now completely energized and had shaken off his fatigue.

This guy...

"Curtis, you seem to have been playing this game for a while now. I saw on the page that it was only released four or five days ago. You haven't been playing it all this time, have you?"

Curtis was excited right now. He found it very enjoyable to watch others play the Civilization game and to give them pointers.

Especially when giving your boss pointers on how to play the game, you get a truly unique experience.

However, upon hearing his supervisor's question, he immediately reverted to his true colors and became somewhat apprehensive.

"Ah, supervisor, I didn't... I didn't..."

The supervisor understood what was going on when he saw Curtis's flustered look; after all, no one is a fool.

However, he expressed understanding for Curtis's previous concealment.

He generously said, "It's okay, no need to explain. I understand. After playing this game, I found it to be very magical. I haven't done anything, and several hours have already passed. If I played it with a little more focus, I might not sleep for days and nights."

"I'm sorry, supervisor, I should have told the truth."

The supervisor said, "I told you it's okay. Now I basically understand why this game fascinates you all so much. But anyway, those three guys who haven't come to work for several days in a row are definitely not right. If they really haven't responded at all because of this game, I certainly won't let them off the hook."

Curtis shrank back, somewhat relieved that at least he knew to come to work.

As for those three guys, good luck to them.

"Go back and get some rest. You need to balance entertainment and work. After all, you don't want to be broke and unable to play games, right?"

"Supervisor, I understand. I will definitely pay attention."

After Curtis left, the supervisor stared at the screen of the Civilization game that was still running.

Then he couldn't help but reach for the mouse.

Let's have another round...

The time now... well, it's 11 a.m., so let's play until lunchtime, and then start working in the afternoon.

He has already made plans and arrangements.

However, reality is always more unpredictable than plans.

When he came to his senses, he found that it was already dark outside.

He looked at the sky outside and blinked.

Never mind, I'll focus on work tomorrow.

He took out his phone, and this time he called his wife.

"Hey honey, I'm a bit busy at work today, so I might be a little late coming home."

"Okay, you go eat with the kids. I'll just grab something to eat at the office."

After hanging up the phone, the supervisor once again immersed himself in the game of civilization.

He felt he had rediscovered his long-lost youthful spirit.

That kind of feeling where you can stay up all night and expend all your energy on something you love.

However, his body was still not as strong as that of a young person at his age. He fell asleep at his desk without realizing it, and was woken up by a phone call when he was awake.

"Hey?"

He answered the phone somewhat groggily.

"Hello sir, were you the one who reported three of your employees missing yesterday?"

"Yes, it's me."

“We’ve found them. They’re all staying at home playing that game called Civilization. There have been a lot of similar incidents in the last couple of days. It’s really quite strange that a game can make so many people stay up all night for days to play it. When we came to their homes, they all looked exhausted.”

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, officer."

The supervisor hung up the phone and looked out the window, feeling slightly tired.

It was already dawn, and the time was now eight o'clock the next morning.

Surprisingly... he didn't go home all night.

Only now did the supervisor finally understand the magic of this game.

It's like watching the World Cup every four years or the Super Bowl every year; I'm willing to go all out for it, even if it means staying up all night.

At that moment, he gradually understood why those three employees had done what they did.

But whatever the reason, these three guys deserve to be punished.

Not coming to work, or even asking for leave, is their own fault.

……

Just as the police officer said, due to the release of the game, there have been many cases in the past two days where people have not contacted the outside world for a long time and have devoted themselves entirely to the game.

The police officers were also very surprised.

Does this game have such great magic?

Chapter 701 What's meant to happen will happen.

"Dear viewers, welcome to our new episode of the questioning program. Today we have invited a well-known sociologist, and we will be discussing a rather special topic: what exactly do video games bring us?"

In a program on a US television station, a young host is presenting the show with a smile on his face.

"Now I'd like to introduce you to sociologist Mr. Gene."

"Hello everyone."

An elderly man wearing glasses, with gray hair and beard, waved to the camera.

After a brief introduction and greeting, the host began today's topic: "Mr. Gene, have you been looking into the video game industry lately?"

"Video games? Of course I know a lot about them. My child loves video games. Even though he's over thirty now, he still remembers to play video games for an hour or two every day. Perhaps that's why I, as a sociologist, have become interested in video games and want to learn more about them."

"Okay, so Mr. Gene, what are your thoughts on video games?"

"This is an emerging industry, one of the youngest in the history of human industries, and it is constantly growing. In the eyes of capital, video games have great potential right now."

The host said, "Mr. Gene, are you referring to the perspective of capital?"

“That’s right.” Sociologist Gene nodded, then continued, “According to my research, video games are a very unique industry. It doesn’t produce any physical output, and in my opinion, it doesn’t even have any value to human development. But it’s gradually becoming mainstream.”

"Judging from what Mr. Gene said, you clearly have a great deal of dissatisfaction with video games."

"Of course, because of video games, my child doesn't do anything worthwhile every day. He could use the time he spends playing games to do more meaningful things, such as going to work, taking care of his family, or doing things that are meaningful to society, instead of wasting time on meaningless entertainment."

“Mr. Gene, but there are many similar things in this world. For example, the film and television industry seems quite similar to the gaming industry, doesn’t it?”

“That’s different,” Gene replied decisively. “The film and television industry is an art form. After so many years of development, it has brought many positive effects to people. Look at all the well-known inspirational films and television series that have greatly inspired us. That’s good. There are also many films and television series that express their own thoughts and feelings. I think these are all good. But video games don’t have any of these benefits. That’s the difference between the film and television industry and video games.”

The host nodded in realization: "It does seem to be true. The gaming industry does look like a rather terrible one."

Sociologist Gene continued, "And look at what video games are advertising! Let me give you an example, like Dragon Quest, which portrays the superstructure as corrupt and even evil. This is clearly a very simplistic misinterpretation."

"And then there's the game Monster Hunter, where people use weapons to hunt creatures that are already very rare. Doesn't that encourage people to destroy the ecological balance? Moreover, Monster Hunter also has the suspicion of encouraging people to use violence to achieve their goals. In addition, there are so many beautiful characters in the game, while ordinary faces can only ever be background characters. These all contradict sociology and many other disciplines."

"Wow, I never expected that."

The host suddenly realized something, feeling as if a new world had been opened up for him, giving him a new understanding of it.

Sociologist Gene was very satisfied with the host's reaction, so he continued, "There is another typical case, which should be quite famous recently, which I would call the civilization addiction case."

"Huh? That's a pretty new term."

"Yes, please remember that this is the name I gave it. Others can use this name in the future, as long as they include my name."

The host immediately asked, "Then what does this 'civilization addiction' incident mean?"

"This is closely related to a game called Civilization."

"Ah, I know this game. I've been hearing about it on social media and in discussions among people around me lately."

"This game is truly heinous. Some games in the past have a misleading effect on thinking and judgment, but this game is even more addictive, to the point of being unable to extricate oneself. I have heard of many people who have forgotten about life, work, and studies because of this game. Do you think this kind of thing is good?"