Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 414: 398: Metropolis News – Night City Special Edition!

Translator: 549690339

The special episode doesn’t start in the studio.

Players are calm about this though.

The production team always likes to do some mischief, and the opening of the program is especially restless. Everyone is used to it.

[Night City Travel Diary·01]

Zhen and Qiang sit on the edge of the church, watching the priest solemnly deliver a sermon.

Qiang nudges Zhen with his knee and whispers, “I told you, right? I knew right away that this place is worth visiting!”

“Shut up!” Zhen also whispers back, “Be careful not to get kicked out.”

But Qiang doesn’t care, he keeps looking around.

It’s not until he sees a man in a black coat with a beard, who looks like bad news, enters the church and goes straight to the priest without saying anything.

Qiang couldn’t help but poke Zhen again, “Jenny, look at that guy …”

Just as he points with his finger, he sees the man pulling out a big gun a meter long from his coat!

And without hesitation, he starts shooting right into the crowd!

At the same time, the people who had been calm and devout inside the church all go crazy and rush towards the man with the gun!

“Oh my God!” Qiang immediately pulls Zhen and throws himself to the ground, covering his head and fleeing away from the crowd, muttering, “God, please save me, I’m right under your eyes!”

“If you save my life, I’ll buy your absolution ticket tomorrow.”

“As long as I survive, I will never run around or travel again. I won’t leave the hotel one step!”

Next to frantic Qiang, there is no panic on Zhen’s face, as she emotionlessly watches the wild battle behind her.

[Night City Travel Diary·02]

The background is still the intense sound of gunshots, and the gunshots are very close, almost beside their ears.

Zhen and Qiang are in the same room, and Qiang is very uneasy: “I knew it, we shouldn’t have booked a room here!”

Zhen, as indifferent as she was in the church, says lightly: “Since the company reimburses, why not enjoy the most expensive and luxurious place?”

“Luxurious, yes, but let’s be clear, there’s a casino downstairs! How can it be safe?!” Qiang is a bit panicked, “Listen to the gunshots outside!”

As Qiang speaks, he carefully opens a crack in the window and looks down at the street below.

An astonishingly intense melee is taking place on the streets, with countless people frantically shooting, and people dying every minute.

What’s even more crazy is that, the next moment, a pickup truck with two desperados drives into the battlefield and starts shooting indiscriminately at everyone!

“A bunch of lunatics!” Qiang mutters quietly.

“Holy sh*t! Is that me?” Yi exclaims, “This is the casino battle the night before last?”

Although the perspective has changed, many players still find out that it is the battle two nights ago and the barrage instantly becomes lively:

“Hahaha, Qiang was there that night, how ridiculous!”

“Is this how NPCs see us?”

“Why are these two sharing a room? Have they gotten together?”

[Night City Travel Diary·03]

Zhen and Qiang have obviously moved to another place, but there are still “bang bang bang” intense gunshots outside the window.

Qiang holds his gun tightly and looks nervously at the window, “Didn’t they say that the Continental Hotel has not had any shootings in decades, not even fights?”

“Why is it that as soon as we come here, a fight starts?”

“Who knows,” Zhen cuts her nails calmly, “Maybe it’s because of you? You’re a jinx, so wherever you go, chaos follows?”

“How could it be!” Qiang shakes his head, and watches the window nervously.

Not far from the window, players of different factions are fighting around temporary respawn points; gunfights and hand-to-hand combat are underway.

“Sh*t! Is that me again??” Yi is a bit irritated, “What are the odds.”

The live broadcast room is filled with laughter.

Many players who had participated in both battles could not help watching the video at 0.25 times speed, trying to find themselves in the crowd.

The lens switches again, and the two finally make their way to the studio in formal attire.

Netizens also finally put away their schadenfreude and get ready to watch the main feature.

“Hello, dear viewers, and welcome to ‘Metropolis News – Night City Special Episode’! I’m Jenny.”

“I’m Johnny.” Qiang has dark circles under his eyes and looks uncomposed, not showing the usual energy to tease Zhen at any chance.

Jenny has witnessed three large-scale gunfights in three consecutive days, but her condition is unaffected.

“One week has passed since Metropolis and Night City opened for traffic.”

“We are delighted to see a large number of Metropolis residents coming to Night City and adapting and integrating into Night City life very smoothly.”

“Their presence not only bridges the communication gap between the two cities, but also contributes to the prosperity of Night City.”

Countless comments instantly flow across the screen: “Prosperity!”

Qiang interjects with a gloomy tone: “They’ve integrated so well that the firepower of the weapons and the scale of the gunfights have become frighteningly dangerous.”

“After we arrived in Night City, we were also touched by the simplicity of the local customs and understood why everyone is so passionate about living here,” Zhen doesn’t budge.

“That’s too simple! There are gunfights happening on the streets, and people don’t hide; instead, they rush up, as if they don’t value their lives.” The eagerness of Night City residents to fight has clearly opened Qiang’s eyes.

Jenny is used to Johnny’s interruptions and continues without changing her expression:

“Within the past week, 17 million permanent residents of Metropolis have migrated to Night City. We can understand everyone’s curiosity and love for Night City, but please don’t forget about Metropolis; you can always come back home when you have time.”

Netizens immediately translate for their audience in the comments: “The online population of Metropolis players dropped by 17 million, all migrated to Night City. Terrifying!”

“Let’s take a look at the status of the Metropolis Indiscriminate Comprehensive Competition next.” Zhen lowers her head to look at the script in her hand.

“What kind of competition is that?” Qiang asks in confusion, “How come I don’t know?”

Jenny rarely interrupts the broadcast and softly says to Johnny, “You don’t need to worry about this, don’t be too concerned.”

For a rare moment, the program features a close-up of Jenny’s facial expression, a complex look in her eyes.

Qiang is full of question marks, but Zhen continues the broadcast, “Last night at 10:30, four teams successfully advanced to the semi-finals, and semi-finals will also begin tonight at 6 PM.”

“Tomorrow at the same time, the two semi-final winning teams will compete for the championship. Don’t miss it if you’re interested in the competition.”

Zhen’s performance leaves the players a bit bewildered.

“What’s the meaning of this? Did she find out her world is virtual?”

“NPC awakening?”

“Is Jenny’s calm face in the previous Night City Diaries because she knows there won’t be any problems?”

“Cloud Dream’s unique character setting? Great idea!”

And Zhen’s bizarre performance continues-

“Metropolis Honorary Citizen will officially be renamed as [Honorary Player] title. This title will also be officially open, and every month a new batch of players will receive this title. Now, let’s take a look at the list of title winners for November.”

The screen is split instantly, with the Honorary Players list from “Speed Chase” taking center stage.

“Traveler of the Wind”, “Light Encounter”, “Paradise”, and “Assassins’ Alliance” occupy the other four corners, with much smaller areas.

Names quickly scroll by, with the simple reasons for their selection listed behind their aliases.

As the names roll faster and faster, they all fly by in just five seconds before the lens returns to the studio.

-The program simply informs everyone about the event; the official list will be linked in the comment section, and selected players will receive individual emails.

This information is important as it’s a plan to maintain the long-term activity of the game, which Lincoln pays great attention to.

But he’s also aware that compared to Cloud Dream’s current hundreds of millions of users, selecting a few hundred players every month is hardly a drop in the ocean.

At least for now, only the selected players will be excited.

Most ordinary players probably aren’t that interested; they might give it a glance at most.

Therefore, Cloud Dream doesn’t go on about it in the program, as it would only annoy the audience.

-Annoying things like this are naturally left for game media and video uploaders to jump out and explain to the players.

Well, I don’t know if Super Tomato is interested?

His video output efficiency has been getting lower and lower recently…

It’s not a problem that the output is low; the problem is that his fans are all blaming Cloud Dream and Lincoln, which makes Lincoln a little bit unable to accept. Usually, he tries to find something for Super Tomato to do.

Of course, even so, many people immediately notice the first name on the “Speed Chase” Honorary Player list-

[Clark] (World’s First to Complete the Game Mainline, Ranked First among Assassins)

The final winner of the Daxia Izumo Speedrun Contest finally reveals himself to the players at this moment.

“Can we talk about something that’s on my script??” Qiang is confused, flipping through his script but not finding the content Zhen talked about after flipping back and forth.

“Now, let’s move on to Night City News Bulletin.” Zhen switches topics obediently.

“In the past week, Night City has welcomed 32 million new residents.”

“Meanwhile, there have been over 1.67 billion small-scale gunfights and over 320 million large-scale gunfights”, Qiang immediately follows up.

“The day before yesterday, the Paradise Hotel casino was robbed by bandits, with tens of millions of dollars in cash going up in smoke.”

“The next day, the casino cash transport vehicle was once again robbed by bandits and other unidentified armed forces. All the transport personnel were killed, and the whereabouts of 20 million dollars in cash remain unknown.”

“As a result, the casino is massively recruiting security staff to expand its armed forces, and its development trend is worrying.”

“Yesterday, Night City’s famous Continental Hotel, known for its safety, experienced an unprecedented shooting incident that broke its 45-year no-shooting record and lost the title of [Night City No-Shooting Demonstration Hotel].”

“Night City Circular Concert Hall is undergoing a comprehensive equipment upgrade. It is expected to be completed in three days, and the upgrade process will not affect normal operations.”

“The Indiscriminate Death Race has seen a surge in sign-ups. The organizers plan to officially start the competition on Sunday evening. Participants should take note of scheduling and not be late.”

“We’ve learned that a mysterious guest will also appear at the death race and compete alongside all participants. Please be prepared mentally.”