Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 418: 402: A Series of Evil Deeds!

Translator: 549690339

Those who arrived at the comments section first were already owners of the Mirage Console.

They didn’t need to worry about the console issue and were just waiting to attend the concert next week, and naturally had time to express their joy here.

They were also the happiest group of people. It felt like they were attending their favorite singer’s concert without spending a penny.

Unlike many fans, who would have to spend ten thousand yuan on a Mirage Console if they wanted to attend the virtual concert.

If they had no interest in virtual reality games and bought the console solely for the concert, it would be much more expensive than a ticket to a real-life concert.

But the strength of Alex lay in many fans being willing to spend the money.

As long as the fans really bought the console and entered the virtual world, Lincoln and Cloud Dream’s employees had at least a 70% chance of retaining them and converting them into users.

Regardless of how exaggerated and absurd the internet and media made virtual reality appear, those who weren’t interested still remained uninterested.

However, once they logged into the virtual world and experienced a fully immersive concert that might even be better than a real-life one, their perceptions were bound to change drastically.

Afterwards, having a stroll in Night City – they had already spent 500 dollars on the console, so there was no reason not to explore the city, right?

After gaining unique experiences that were nearly impossible in reality, the chances of them staying would undoubtedly increase.

Even if they still didn’t enjoy conflicts and battles, “Paradise” and “Light Encounter” were free games with zero cost to play, so why not give them a try?

After all, whether you loved warfare or preferred peaceful casual games, Cloud Dream could satisfy you!

Alex’s substitute assistant, Xiao Tong, was dumbfounded to see that the public opinion changed drastically upon the announcement of the collaboration.

Visibly, the entire internet began to fill with gratitude towards Lincoln and Cloud Dream.

There was also a misunderstanding: Alex’s fans believed that she was originally prepared to quietly disappear from the media and retire, making it so they would never see her again.

Then, Cloud Dream suddenly reached out to Alex, putting in great efforts to persuade her to come out of retirement and host the concert.

Although everyone knew Cloud Dream was doing this to promote their console and games, in any case, the final result was Alex coming out of retirement and singing again.

As long as Alex resumed singing, her fans would see it as a good thing.

So, the fans attributed all the credit to Cloud Dream, especially to Lincoln.

So much so that the gratitude and praise completely overshadowed the previous debate about the pros and cons of VR and virtual reality games –

“Lincoln, you did great!”

“Cloud Dream rocks! This is how money should be spent! Keep smashing! It’s best to have Alex perform every day!”

“You want Alex to perform every day? Are you trying to tire her to death?”

“You don’t understand! In the virtual world, there’s no fatigue!”

“We strongly urge Cloud Dream to create a custom virtual character for Alex, striving for everyone to have one sooner or later!”

“That’s a bit creepy…but I like it! Hurry up, hurry up!”

“Cloud Dream is selling the console, Alex is making money, and I get to see Alex! Perfect!!”

Assistant Xiao Tong, after witnessing all this, suddenly understood.

The previous online chaos seemed terrifying; the stars she had worked for before would have been in big trouble if involved and would have been dragged into the mud.

But for Alex, it was a completely small-scale event.

Alex was on a completely different level from other stars, even from many famous singers.

Moreover, Alex’s influence had never been restricted to just Daxia.

Nishino Chizuru jumped up and down in her room, shouting excitedly.

In the live broadcast room, Nandong saw the news and cried out of happiness and excitement.

Izumo, Baekje, and Southeast Asian countries were all filled with joy from Alex’s fans!

Especially in Izumo and Baekje, where 5 million Mirage Consoles had been made available today, players who managed to get a console were overjoyed at the news.

Orders for consoles from Southeast Asian countries suddenly surged in number.

Of course, after the Java netizens saw the news, the number of people scolding Suharto also increased significantly.

By lunchtime, comments discussing the pros and cons of virtual reality games had almost disappeared.

Only NetDragon’s Water Army and the media in Cloud Dream’s blacklist continued to tirelessly post.

It seemed that they were determined to fight to the last moment.

Until – famous esports professional player and core member of the Burned Boat Club, Lance, who had just won a match last night in the “Assassins’ Alliance” and successfully advanced to the finals, retweeted a Spiritual Rhinoceros post once again.

This was a small and somewhat familiar account – the same account that had uploaded a video of Princess Camille Victoria playing virtual reality games last time.

This time, it was once again about her interaction with the Princess!

This mysterious female netizen clearly had a close relationship with the princess.

Last time, the princess had used the Mirage in front of her to log into the virtual world without any reservations, and she had no qualms about “sneakily filming” the princess playing games.

This time, the two of them logged into the virtual world together and leisurely wandered around an enormous circular building with no one else in sight.

Many players of “Speed Chase” could see at a glance that this place was the Night City Circular Concert Hall.

No other players being there meant they had closed the public connectivity system and were gaming privately.

“This is where my teacher will perform next week,” said Princess Camille Victoria.

And also where I will be singing next week, she thought to herself.

“It’s so beautiful! I want to sit in the VIP seats and listen to the songs!” said the disguised Shuihua.

The two of them shamelessly went on stage, with the princess playing the piano and Shuihua playing the drums, performing a short piece together.

Of course, the princess was playing the piano very seriously, but Shuihua wasn’t at all.

Shuihua didn’t know how to play the drums…

She held a drumstick in one hand and listened to Camille Victoria’s performance, randomly hitting the drums as she felt like it.

It was all about participation.

Netizens watching couldn’t help but ridicule the scene.

“Why don’t you sing a song?” After the “ensemble” was finished, Shuihua suggested.

Camille Victoria looked hesitant, but Shuihua shook her arm back and forth, “Just sing one for me, please.”

“Well… Alright then.” Camille Victoria couldn’t resist her pleading, nervously walked up to the microphone.

She gently tapped the mic to make sure it was working and finally carefully leaned in towards it.

Just a second ago, netizens were mocking Shuihua for “blindly hitting” and “ruining the princess’s performance,” but they instantly changed their tune, grateful to this unfamiliar “female saint”!+

However, just as everyone adjusted their moods, ready to listen to the little princess sing with gratitude, the screen unexpectedly went black!

The video, ended.

“Fuck!”

Who knows how many people swore in unison!

Even though this “stranger woman” had brought them precious footage of the princess’s life twice, at this moment countless people wanted to smash her home’s windows:

“Eating alone! Such a heinous crime!”

“Hurry up and release it! We want to hear the little princess sing!”

“Be a human being!! Please! Can you be a human being?!!!”

“I’ll write a letter in blood, begging for the full version!”

Tensions were high.

Shuihua looked at Camille Victoria beside her and said smugly, “See, I told you it’s better to use a small account!”

Camille Victoria was speechless: “If you hadn’t teased them on purpose, they wouldn’t be so anxious.”

“Ah! You don’t understand!” Shuihua laughed proudly, “This is emotional manipulation. Surprises and accidents, followed by anger and unwillingness, can instantly mobilize everyone’s emotions and encourage them to interact more, raising the popularity!”

“Just be careful not to get discovered…” Camille Victoria couldn’t argue with her and could only advise caution.

“No worries, it’s just a small account, and I have plenty of those.” Shuihua didn’t care. “The only people who know the truth are you and Lance, so it won’t be exposed.”

“Seriously though, your singing is so good! Sing another one for me!”

Having sung once before, Camille Victoria didn’t refuse this time, as there was no mental barrier left and she treated it as an early adaptation to the performance venue.

She walked to the center of the stage, picked up the microphone, thought for a moment, and turned to look at Shuihua: “Find ‘Party in the Rain’.”

“Leave it to me!” Shuihua immediately perked up and started looking for the accompaniment on the control panel.

—This was a convenient feature Cloud Dream specifically created for players, allowing them to experience a super luxurious upgraded version of KTV.

As such, they not only created a control panel similar to those in KTV, but also allowed players to choose between “play sound only” mode or having a full NPC orchestra perform live accompaniment.

Fortunately, the copyright for the songs had already been dealt with and no additional negotiation was needed.

In fact, ever since the big IP purchasing campaign, players have been amazed and delighted by the large number of comics, animation, movies, and even TV series added to the game world, with a 100% approval rate.

Some people even log into the virtual world just to watch these shows in their personal space instead of playing games.

Inspired by this, Lincoln instructed Jerome to form two separate teams within the marketing department to negotiate copyrights for movies, TV shows, animation, music, books, and other contents in the market.

If it’s available for purchase, get it without hesitation, as long as it’s not a ludicrous asking price.

Of course, everyone knows that the higher the profile and value of a copyright, the less likely it is to be sold.

In that case, negotiate for perpetual authorization or long-term authorization, and if that doesn’t work, short-term.

In any case, do it like a smart TV and music platform.

If all else fails, just throw money at it.

Who cares about the money anyway!

The netizens’ excitement lasted a while before they recovered from their disappointment of not being able to hear the princess singing.

After that, they immediately realized something — this was no coincidence!

It was clear that the princess was supporting Cloud Dream and the virtual reality games!

Last time it was Cloud Dream’s “Traveler of the Wind” that got caught in a storm of controversy, and the same account posted a video of the princess playing “Traveler of the Wind.”

And now that Cloud Dream is caught in another scandal, the same account has posted another video!

Last time they at least pretended to be “filmed secretly,” this time they don’t even bother!

It’s just too obvious!

Everyone clicked on the previous video from the same account to re-watch the princess’s last appearance, and then discovered something else —

“Last time it was the same person who said they wanted to pinch the little princess’s face, but just as their hand touched her face, the video suddenly ended, and now they’re doing the same thing again?!”

“It’s outrageous, they even have a history!”

“Egregious deeds! Egregious deeds!!”