Chapter 8

Why is America stronger than China? Some say: because when the Chinese are sleeping, Americans have already started working. Of course, after saying that, the person was killed.

While Wang Fubu and Xia Ci were sound asleep, on the other side of the world, the United States was experiencing a small sensation due to *Rage*.

From FC games to computers, shooting games have always had their loyal fan base. However, constantly following the designer's predetermined path, killing the designed monsters, and receiving the designed rewards—this monotonous process had become tiresome.

In *Rage*, however, players could achieve their goals in various ways, completely breaking the fixed pattern. This was not just an unprecedented game but also brought a brand new gaming model.

Therefore, when the first few curious American players downloaded *Rage*, they were immediately astonished and quickly recommended the game to their gaming friends.

Thus, one by one, ten by ten, in just a few hours, the download count for the *Rage* Beta version exceeded 1,500, far surpassing the initial popularity of *Counter-Strike*.

At Valve Corporation, Li Ming and the two founders were both excited and worried. They watched the continuously increasing download count while repeatedly sending messages to the account that released *Rage*, expressing their interest in collaboration. However, those messages seemed to disappear into the sea, with no replies at all.

"Li, you were once an independent developer. Do you think that person will collaborate with us?" the marketing founder asked anxiously.

"Mr. Gab. I think he might just not be online," Li Ming analyzed. "I studied some of the in-game dialogues and don't think the game developer has a native English-speaking background."

"Then, where do you think he's from?" Gab asked curiously.

"I think he's from Asia. At this time, people in the East are sleeping, so it makes sense that he's not online," Li Ming said.

"Li, what's your reasoning?" Gab asked in surprise.

"When I was an independent programmer, I often analyzed the nationality of the programmers out of boredom," Li Ming explained. "European languages are similar to English. If the developer were European, the errors would likely be in spelling, not grammar. However, this developer has no spelling errors but very awkward grammar. So I think he's from the East, where the grammar is completely different from English."

"Then, where do you think he's from? Is it Japan?" Gab guessed.

It's not surprising that Gab thought so. The world's gaming industry started in the 1970s, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese games dominated the world. Gab himself grew up playing Japanese games. It wasn't until recently that the American gaming industry surpassed Japan.

"No. I think he's likely Chinese," Li Ming said surprisingly.

"Impossible! Are you joking, Li?" For Westerners, China was a land shrouded in mystery. The only concept they had of it was cheap goods labeled "Made in China." How could someone from there create a game like *Rage*?

"I can speak a little Chinese, and I stand by my judgment," Li Ming said seriously.

Gab was surprised, looking at Li Ming carefully, finally confirming that Li Ming wasn't joking. He then called his secretary and instructed her, "Find out what procedures are needed to travel to China."

...

At 7:00 AM, Wang Fubu woke up. For him, sleeping until this time was already considered a late start. In the past, he had bought a small house on the outskirts of the city with a mortgage. To go to work, he had to walk 15 minutes to the subway station, spend 35 minutes to reach the city center, and then walk another 10 minutes to the company. To be on time, Wang Fubu usually had to wake up at 6:00 AM.

Beside him, Xia Ci made a sound like a kitten and also woke up. She had indeed slept with her hair tangled, and with a red face, she ran to the bathroom to wash it again.

"Cici, shall I make breakfast?" Wang Fubu asked, thinking it would take a long time for her to finish washing.

"Um!" Xia Ci, with her face full of foam, couldn't speak and could only hum.

Wang Fubu rummaged through the kitchen and found leftover rice and eggs. He asked, "Do you want fried rice?"

"Um!" Xia Ci hummed again.

So, it would be fried rice. Wang Fubu was confident in his cooking skills, honed from years of living alone. He poured oil, cracked the eggs, broke up the rice with his hands, and stir-fried it, adding salt, all in one smooth motion. By the time Xia Ci came out with her hair dried, two servings of fried rice were ready.

"Amazing! You can conquer the peanut crystals that fall in high temperatures just like Mother! It seems my training isn't enough yet," Xia Ci exclaimed.

Wang Fubu thought for a while before realizing that Xia Ci was amazed that he wasn't afraid of the oil splattering while cooking. He thought it was no big deal and asked, "So, you didn't cook at all these two years without your mother? How did you eat?"

"I couldn't conquer the peanut crystals, so I always boiled my food. It wasn't as fragrant, but it was still good," Xia Ci said, her eyes shining as she looked at the fried rice.

No wonder! Wang Fubu finally found the answer to his long-standing question. No wonder Xia Ci had enjoyed even the terrible food at "California Western Restaurant" yesterday. She wasn't a foodie; she was just craving it after two years!

"Hurry up and eat, don't let it get cold," Wang Fubu said.

Xia Ci immediately picked up the bowl happily and started shoveling rice into her mouth, mumbling, "I don't know why, but it seems better than what I ate yesterday at noon..."

Of course. Freshly cooked food couldn't compare to something frozen for ten to fifteen days and then microwaved.

Wang Fubu watched as Xia Ci finished half a bowl in no time, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. He thought that if he had a daughter, he would pamper her like a princess. Xia Ci's parents were really something, leaving such a cute daughter alone. He wondered what they were thinking.

This might be the reason Wang Fubu was here. Now, he not only wanted to realize his long-held game development dream but also wanted to make this little girl happy.

"Once I sell *Rage*, I'll make sweet and sour pork ribs for you. It's my specialty, and I only make it once a year," Wang Fubu said. Xia Ci was a bit thin and needed to gain some weight. It would be best if she got chubby, so no one would have any ideas about her.

"No way!" Xia Ci shouted, "You made me hungry again, even though I already ate a bowl!"

"Being hungry is good. It helps you grow," Wang Fubu said with a smile, pushing his untouched fried rice to Xia Ci. "Not only sweet and sour pork ribs, but I'm also good at braised beef..."

In the end, Wang Fubu ate half a bowl, and Xia Ci was stuffed.

Today was Sunday. As usual, after breakfast, the two went to the internet cafe. The manager at the entrance, clearly following his boss's instructions, warmly greeted the "god who brought a pretty little girl" and arranged for them to use machine 32A, not only for free but also gave them two bottles of drinks.

Yesterday, the internet cafe was filled with various games like Red Alert, StarCraft, and Age of Empires. Today, however, all the running computers displayed *Rage*.

Seeing his work so well-received, Wang Fubu was very excited.

A player who had seen Wang Fubu yesterday quickly shouted, "God, I'm stuck!"

Immediately, other players looked up and shouted, "God, I chose the salesman, and I keep dying!"

"God! I chose the veteran, and I keep encountering flamethrowers!"

"Right! Three flamethrowers focus on me, and I get killed instantly!"

Wang Fubu quickly said, "What you played yesterday was the initial version of *Rage*. I'm preparing to upload *Rage* 0.5 today. After this update, many issues will be resolved. Please wait a few hours."

Hearing that the problems would be fixed, everyone cheered.

The internet cafe owner, Sun Yifeng, stood up next to machine 32A and greeted, "God, I arranged for all the computers to download the game from that English website yesterday. Unfortunately, I only have a few machines, so the download count only increased by about 30."

"No problem. How is *Rage*?" Wang Fubu asked as he sat down.

"Great, really great!" Sun Yifeng praised. "After you left, I downloaded the game. It was around noon when I finished downloading, and I couldn't stop playing! When I looked up, it was 9:00 PM! I forgot to eat lunch and dinner."

If someone else heard this, they might shake their head, thinking this person was obsessed with the game and lost in the virtual world. But for Wang Fubu, Sun Yifeng's words were the best praise.

The purpose of a game should not be to educate or promote a certain ideology. A game should be a simpler thing, with its only focus being fun.

If a game can make people forget to eat and sleep, doesn't that precisely represent its fun?

Wang Fubu entered Valve's official website to prepare to release the *Rage* V0.5 update. This update was 200MB and would take about two hours to upload.

In just one day, the *Rage* Beta version post already had over 500 replies, mostly expressing amazement at the game's quality.

Some players also posted screenshots, mocking the low-level grammar errors in *Rage*. This was probably the only flaw players could find in the game, and it quickly turned into a carnival, with one player posting "He went straight forward," and another posting "Zombies fled in panic." Screenshots flooded in, creating a joyful atmosphere.

Wang Fubu felt depressed, thinking it would be better if these Americans just played the game instead of focusing on these minor errors. He had already been very careful to avoid errors like "kicking the old lady."

He wrote the V0.5 update notes, attached screenshots and the file, and then uploaded it. While waiting for the upload, he entered the official discussion board to note down some errors to fix later.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, a fiery red sticky post appeared, "Dear *Rage* developer, please check your message box."

The post was made by "Gooseman."

The page starts with an ad.

The page ends with an ad.