Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  In the afternoon, Shanghai.

  Not long after Chrétien alighted from the plane and switched on his cell phone, he received a series of messages.

  Chrétien, who was dragging his suitcase out, stopped and frowned looking at the English and Chinese messages.

  It was all bad news!

  His expression turned ugly and his mood worsened.

  “Mr. Chrétien! Hello, we are meeting again.”


  “Welcome back!”


  There were already people waiting at the arrival gate.

  Chrétien looked up. He had an impression of this person. His name was Jin Yong. He was Zhao Xuming’s right-hand man in IOI’s operations and cooperation department.

  Since IOI’s operations and cooperation department was considered a key department in Long Yu Corporation, Jin Yong’s position was not low. He was considered a high-level manager even though he was not at Zhao Xuming’s level.

  When Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation had just reached a cooperation with IOI’s local server, Chrétien was the person-in-charge of the China region. That was why he had interacted with this group of people before.

  “Let’s get into the car first. We’ll talk as we walk. Many things have happened in the past six months…” Jin Yong sounded obviously emotional.

  Chrétien nodded and followed Jin Yonghe and the chauffeur to the parking lot. They took the commercial car.

  He had just been appointed a few days ago and became the person-in-charge of the China region again.

  However, Chrétien could not feel happy at all.

  That was because the situation this time was even worse than when he was the person-in-charge previously!

  At the very least, he was still ambitious when he replaced Eric as the person-in-charge of the China region. He worked with Long Yu Corporation to organize the first IOI global finals and the series of measures pushed forward because he firmly believed that his successful experience in the European market could resurrect IOI’s local server.

  Yet, now?

  There was no such fantasy at all.

  Chrétien returned to Finger Games to continue his old profession after Eric replaced him after the IOI Finals were not doing well and were in charge of the subsequent development of the game.

  To him, this outcome was not unacceptable. After all, he was already a little exhausted from fighting GOG on the local server.

  Of course, in his eyes, they were fighting and fighting. However, in the eyes of the upper echelons, it might be a one-sided beating.

  Thus, to Chrétien, going back and designing the game quietly was more comforting.

  However, he gradually realized that something was amiss.

  He began to receive frequent development requests from Dayak Corporation’s higher management, such as new payment content, operations, and so on.

  Immediately after that, bad news came from IOI.

  Chrétien and Eric might have different ideas but he knew very well that Eric was definitely a capable person.

  If Eric had studied Tengda for so long but still could not make any changes, even if there would probably not be any changes in the future…


  Dayak Corporation’s frequent interventions also revealed more and more intense profitable intentions. This made Chrétien feel uneasy.

  He was not promoted to be the person-in-charge this time because everyone knew that IOI’s local server had become a mess. The person-in-charge of China had become the scapegoat, so they were not willing to come.

  Chrétien knew very well that he probably did not have any say as the person-in-charge of the China region. He must be carrying out whatever task the upper echelons of Dayak Corporation assigned him.

  Take this event for example.

  Tengda’s 1024 Digital Day promotional event was happening at the same time globally. Dayak Corporation, Finger Games, and Long Yu Corporation had people watching them, so they received the news immediately.

  As the position of the person-in-charge of the China region was temporarily empty, Chrétien had not had the time to take over. Thus, the decision this time was jointly completed by the three upper echelons.

  After the three parties communicated remotely, they immediately decided to use this opportunity to launch the new skin that they had been preparing for a long time and increase the price.

  Of course, the opinions of Dayak Corporation’s upper echelons in this decision might account for more than 70%.

  Chrétien instinctively felt that this might be a trap. After all, he had interacted with Boss Pei before. Boss Pei’s unpredictable but fatal moves had left a deep impression on him.

  However, he had left his position for a period of time after all. He did not know the current situation and could not guess what tricks Tengda was going to play.

  What’s more, even if he expressed his worries, this suggestion was dispensable to the upper echelons of Dayak Corporation. It was impossible for him to give up the precious opportunity to increase the price just because of Chrétien’s worries.

  In the end, it became like this.

  Chrétien realized that the black pot was already hanging over his head before he even got off the plane. He could not help but break down.

  Chrétien sighed softly in the business car.

  No matter what, he had to take things as they came.

  If his fate was to take the blame, he could only carry this blame and move forward.

  He looked at Jin Yong. He was quite satisfied with this person.

  From his previous experience working together, Zhao Xuming was obviously a slippery old fox. He might be smart but he was good at pushing the blame away.

  Chrétien was born a designer and his concept was inherently different from Zhao Xuming’s. After working together, he had a lot of opinions on him.

  On the other hand, Jin Yong was more pragmatic and efficient. He had left a good impression on Chrétien when they worked together previously.

  At that thought, Chrétien said, “There’s something I’m hesitating whether to say.”


  Jin Yong was stunned for a moment. “Just say it. We’re old acquaintances. There’s no need to be so polite.”


  After some consideration, Chrétien said, “I want to talk to the upper echelons of your Long Yu Corporation and let you take over as the person-in-charge of IOI’s operations and cooperation department. To be honest, Boss Zhao and I don’t seem to have a tacit understanding. If we continue working together, it might be a burden to both of us. It would not be conducive to working.”


  He was being more tactful. He was actually despising Zhao Xuming for not being helpful.

  Zhao Xuming might be good at pushing the blame, but he only did it to show the superiors.

  In the eyes of the management, Zhao Xuming had indeed thrown all the blame away. He was clean and had no problem. However, his partner, Chrétien, had thrown the blame onto himself!

  Thus, Chrétien had a lot of opinions on Zhao Xuming. The first thing he did was to change him.

  That was not a ridiculous request.

  Previously, Long Yu Corporation had a very good attitude towards Finger Games. Basically, they would accede to any request. After all, IOI was a project that Long Yu Corporation attached great importance to. Finger Games had a lot of say in this game.

  Chrétien did not want to push Zhao Xuming to the end. He only wanted him to change jobs to a more suitable position.

  The upper echelons of Long Yu Corporation should be able to satisfy this requirement.

  After hearing this, Jin Yong fell silent.

  He hesitated for a moment before saying, “Mr. Chrétien, there’s something that I’m also hesitating if I should say.”


  Chrétien could not help but smile. “Didn’t you just say that we’re old acquaintances and don’t have to be so polite? Just say it.”


  After some consideration, Jin Yong said, “I’m now the person-in-charge of IOI’s operations and cooperation department.”


  Chrétien looked pleasantly surprised. “Really? What about Boss Zhao? Has he been transferred to other departments?”


  In his opinion, this outcome was not very surprising.

  How many times had Zhao Xuming been defeated?

  He had made so many mistakes, but he was still in the position of the person-in-charge. It was ridiculous.

  He did not know what the upper echelons of Long Yu Corporation saw in him that was so guaranteeing.

  However, Long Yu Corporation was finally enlightened now.

  Changing Zhao Xuming might not be able to fundamentally change such a situation, but Chrétien felt very happy when he thought that the person-in-charge was changed to Jin Yong. Not only could he cooperate in peace, but he would also save himself the trouble of looking for the upper echelons of Long Yu Corporation.

  That was the only good news recently.

  Jin Yong looked slightly awkward. “Er… I’ll be direct. Boss Zhao has been poached by Tengda. He’s now the person-in-charge of GOG’s local server…”


  Chrétien’s eyes widened in disbelief. He froze.

  He was beginning to doubt his own ears.

  What the hell?!

  Zhao Xuming had been poached by Tengda and was now the person-in-charge of GOG?

  Tengda wanted something like that?

  Why did Boss Pei want to poach his defeated opponents? What’s more, they were defeated more than once and had never won before.

  If not for Jin Yong’s serious expression, he would have thought that Jin Yong was joking with him.

  In order to prevent any misunderstandings, Jin Yong quickly finished speaking at once. “It seems like Eric has been poached by Boss Pei as well.”


  Chrétien fell into a long silence, as if he was fully digesting this information.

  It was so unreasonable that he would subconsciously resist it. It was unacceptable.

  After a long time, he asked weakly, “Don’t they have an anti-competition agreement…”


  Jin Yong explained, “I only know that Boss Zhao’s competition agreement has been resolved appropriately. Boss Pei will definitely not forcefully poach people. He will not ignore things like the competition agreement.”


  Chrétien fell silent again with a complicated expression.

  He was still despising Zhao Xuming, but Zhao Xuming had gone to GOG to be the person-in-charge!

  Why, does that mean I am weak?

  I’m dragging Zhao Xuming down?

  Is the Clown is actually myself?

  Otherwise, why would I be forced to take over this business while Zhao Xuming climbed up step by step and even became the person-in-charge of GOG?

  Anyone with eyes could tell that being the person-in-charge of GOG’s domestic server was much more promising than IOI’s domestic server.

  After all, one was at the peak of his career and was winning steadily. He had entered a perfect virtuous cycle. The user group was expanding. The other was on his deathbed.

  After a moment of silence, Chrétien decided to change the topic and stop discussing it.

  After all, the more they discussed, the more dejected they felt.

  “Actually, as the person-in-charge of the China region, there is not much that we can do. However, we still have to complete the task that should be completed. We have to cooperate and do our job diligently.”


  “Of course, to be honest, it will probably be a little difficult to turn the situation fundamentally. I can only hope that the higher-ups will make some moves.”


  Chrétien knew that if he wanted to reverse the current situation, not only would the quality of the game have to keep up, but more importantly, Dayak Corporation had to be willing to give him resources and continue to spend money.

  Otherwise, given GOG’s spending power, this tragedy would probably happen more than once.

  It was just like marching to war. Apart from the army’s combat ability, the key was in terms of logistics supply. Tengda had always been leaning towards GOG’s huge resources. They were willing to give up huge profits to seize the market. It was simply a heavenly jinx to Dayak Corporation’s eager desire for profits.

  “Wait a minute.”


  “Could Eric and Zhao Xuming be the ones behind the recent event?”


  At the thought of this event and the fact that Zhao Xuming had been poached, Chrétien suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of this possibility.

  He did not know the details of this event. He was on the plane after all.

  However, after reading the message briefly, he understood the cause and effect.

  He was in despair to clean up this mess when he just took over.

  The key was that there was no way to clean it up. What could they do now? It was impossible to apologize and reduce the price because it was difficult to salvage the reputation that had been damaged. It would be impossible to increase the price in the future after lowering the price.

  If gamers were to benefit from it, they would scold them crazily once the price of the skin increased. What should he do?

  If he really did that, he would definitely not be able to answer to the upper echelons of Dayak Corporation.

  What’s more, he could not say anything about lowering the price.

  The final outcome of this matter would probably be to pretend that nothing had happened. He would not apologize nor change the price. He would only be scolded.

  At the very least, the price of skins had risen.

  At most, Chrétien would organize some activities to compensate the players. There was no other way.

  At the thought that such a fatal blow had come from Eric… Chrétien’s mood was very complicated and even a little sour.

  Jin Yong thought for a moment and said, “I’m not sure about that. However, Boss Zhao has only been gone for a week. He shouldn’t take over the job so quickly.”


  Chrétien felt slightly better.

  If he knew that Boss Zhao was killing everyone, his mentality would collapse!

  Jin Yong continued, “As for our side, don’t worry. I’m very clear about the current situation. I’ll definitely do my best to cooperate with you.”


  In fact, both of them knew IOI’s current situation very well. However, some things could not be said even if they were true.

  While Jin Yong could not feel the change in attitude from Dayak Corporation’s upper echelons from Finger Games like Chrétien, he could feel the change in the attitude of the upper echelons of Long Yu Corporation.

  The current IOI operations and cooperation department were no longer that important.

  That was because IOI’s local server was about to collapse. There was no point in investing more resources and energy!

  GOG had dealt a heavy blow to IOI this time. IOI’s local server had also been greatly affected.

  Logically speaking, Long Yu Corporation was the party whose interests had been damaged. They should hate this matter to the core. After all, IOI’s domestic server’s income would probably be severely affected.

  However, the upper echelons of Long Yu Corporation were indifferent to this.

  So what if he was angry? IOI’s local server was hopeless in its current state.

  Since that was the case, he might as well keep the resources and prepare to hand them to Sun Strike Studios and Tengda for the new game.

  Thus, using Zhao Xuming to exchange for a new game would be very profitable as long as the new game could succeed and replace IOI’s local server’s position in Long Yu Corporation.

  Long Yu Corporation would transfer most of IOI’s resources over as long as the data for this new game was not bad.

  Jin Yong knew about this as well. Thus, he was the same as Chrétien. They had the mindset of doing what was expected of him and completing his tasks step by step.

  Chrétien nodded. “Alright, let’s go to the office first…… I have to familiarize myself with the work here.”