The 12th floor of Guangyi Interactive Entertainment was a different universe compared to the basement. The air was filtered and cool, the carpets were plush, and—most importantly—the coffee machines dispensed actual coffee, not the synthetic sludge Zhong Ming had been surviving on.
Team 7, now officially designated as "Project Department 1," had been given a glass-walled suite overlooking the central plaza. It was a mark of status, but it also came with the crushing weight of expectation.
Zhong Ming stood at the head of the conference table. On the whiteboard behind him, he had drawn a complex diagram. It wasn't about code or art assets. It was about *people*.
"The future of gaming isn't just playing," Zhong Ming addressed his team. "It's watching."
Li Wei, now sporting a slightly cleaner shirt but still looking like he hadn't slept in a week, stared at the board. "Watching? You mean like the simulation replays on the military channel? People watch those to study tactics."
"No," Zhong Ming shook his head. "I mean *entertainment*. I mean *Esports*."
The room went silent. The term "Esports" was archaic. In the pre-war history books, it mentioned competitive gaming, but in the post-war era, with the stigma against AI and simulations, the concept had died. Games were solitary escapes or training tools.
"We are going to organize the first official *Survivor's Dawn* Tournament," Zhong Ming announced. "The 'Survivor's Cup'."
Su Qing raised a hand. "But... it's a single-player game. How do we make a tournament out of that? There's no versus mode."
"Time and Score," Zhong Ming tapped the board. "It's called a 'Speedrun' or 'Score Attack'. Ten players start at the same time on the same seed. The first to survive 30 minutes, or the one with the highest score when the timer runs out, wins. It's simple, it's fair, and it's incredibly tense to watch."
He pulled up a holographic feed of the District Net forums.
"The community is already doing it," Zhong Ming pointed out. "They are racing in internet cafes. We just need to give them a stage, a prize, and a spotlight. We turn 'players' into 'stars'."
He looked at Chen Hao. "I need a bracket system on the launcher. Li Wei, I need an observer mode—a camera that can fly around the game world so commentators can watch the action. Su Qing, I need a gold trophy sprite for the winner."
"But the firmware update..." Li Wei hesitated. "Zhou Kai controls the hardware side. If we push a new patch with 'Observer Mode', he might interfere."
Zhong Ming's eyes narrowed. "Let him try."
...
**Two Days Later – The "Optimization" Patch**
True to Li Wei's fears, Zhou Kai hadn't been idle.
At 4:00 PM, just as Team 1 was finalizing the patch for the tournament client, a system-wide alert flashed across the company network.
**[URGENT: Firmware Update 5.0 for Omni-Handhelds]**
**[Release Note: Enhanced Security Protocol and Driver Stabilization.]**
In the server room, Li Wei watched his monitoring tools turn red. "He did it! The update blocked our 'Direct-Input' API. The game is now registering as 'Unresponsive' on the new firmware. The touch controls are lagging by 200 milliseconds!"
A 0.2-second lag was a death sentence for a game based on precise movement. If the players updated their handhelds, *Survivor's Dawn* would be unplayable.
Zhou Kai walked past their glass office, holding a cup of coffee. He caught Zhong Ming's eye and raised his mug in a mock toast, a smug smile on his face.
Zhong Ming didn't flinch. He walked over to Li Wei's station.
"Can we reverse it?"
"No," Li Wei said frantically. "It's a kernel-level driver update. It prioritizes 3D rendering pipelines for his simulations. Our 2D engine gets shoved to the background process. We'd have to rewrite the entire engine to bypass it."
"How long?"
"Weeks. The tournament is tomorrow."
Zhong Ming closed his eyes. He accessed the **[Universal Search Tool]**.
**[Query: Low-level Hardware Bypass / Input Latency Fixes for Legacy Games on Modern Architecture.]**
Knowledge flooded his mind. He didn't need to rewrite the engine. He needed to trick the hardware.
"Don't fight the driver," Zhong Ming said suddenly. "Trick it."
"What?"
"The new driver prioritizes 3D calls," Zhong Ming explained rapidly. "It thinks our game is a low-priority background task. So, we make the game *look* like a 3D task."
Li Wei stared at him. "But it's pixel art."
"Render a dummy 3D mesh behind the 2D layer," Zhong Ming instructed. "An invisible cube that rotates rapidly. The driver will see the 3D calls, think it's a high-priority simulation, and allocate the resources. Then, our 2D engine runs on top of it, piggybacking on the priority thread."
Li Wei's jaw dropped. "That... that's hacks. That's dirty."
"It's optimization," Zhong Ming corrected. "Do it. We have four hours."
...
**The Night of the Survivor's Cup**
The tournament wasn't held in a stadium. It was held in a rented warehouse in District 9, converted into a "Cyber-Cafe" style arena by Zhang Kai and his crew. But the real audience was online.
The livestream, hosted on the District Net's new "Entertainment Channel," went live at 8:00 PM.
Zhang Kai, wearing a headset and sitting in a makeshift commentator booth, looked nervous.
"Uh, hello everyone! This is Zhang Kai, welcoming you to the first-ever Survivor's Cup! We have... wow, we have 50,000 viewers already!"
The chat was scrolling so fast it was a blur of text.
*User: Is this the pixel game?*
*User: I updated my handheld today and it runs fine! Lucky!*
*User: Look at the stage! They have ten players!*
The ten finalists, a mix of teenagers and young adults from the outer districts, sat on stage with their handhelds. They were the top of the leaderboards. The "Stars" Zhong Ming had promised.
"Okay, players!" Zhang Kai shouted, gaining confidence. "The rules are simple. Survive 30 minutes. Highest score wins. Seed is randomized. Ready... START!"
On the giant projector screen, ten small windows showed ten different runs. The chaos began instantly.
Because of the randomized seeds, some players got lucky spawns, others were swarmed immediately.
"Player 4, 'NightWolf', has taken the lead!" Zhang Kai yelled, mimicking the energetic casting style Zhong Ming had briefed him on. "He got the Fire Wand! But look at Player 9! He's going for a speed build! Risky strategy!"
The audience wasn't just watching; they were analyzing. They were cheering. The tension was palpable.
*In the VIP booth (a balcony above the stage), Lin Wan watched silently.*
She had seen Zhou Kai's sabotage attempt. She had also seen the patch notes for the "Hotfix 1.01" that Team 1 released two hours later—the "dirty hack" that made the game run smoother than ever. She sipped her wine. Zhong Ming wasn't just a designer; he was a survivor.
**The Climax**
At the 25-minute mark, the game difficulty spiked. This was the "Death Wave."
Four players were already dead. The remaining six were sweating.
On the main screen, Player 'NightWolf' was cornered. His health bar was flickering. 100 HP. 50 HP.
"He's going down!" Zhang Kai screamed.
But then, the crowd gasped. NightWolf didn't run. He ran *into* the enemies.
"He's using the knockback! He's invincible for a split second!"
It was a glitch? No, it was a technique. A mechanic the developers hadn't explicitly explained but the players had discovered. "I-frames."
NightWolf weaved through a sea of reapers, his screen flashing red, his score counter racking up kills with every second he survived.
**[TIMER: 30:00]**
**[MATCH OVER]**
The screen froze. The scores popped up.
**1. NightWolf - 1,240,500**
**2. IronWall - 980,200**
The warehouse erupted. It wasn't the polite applause of a corporate gala. It was a roar. People were shouting, jumping out of their chairs.
"WE HAVE A WINNER!" Zhang Kai shouted, his voice cracking. "NIGHTWOLF IS THE FIRST CHAMPION!"
...
**The Aftermath**
Zhong Ming stood backstage as the players filed out, shaking hands, flushed with adrenaline. He grabbed NightWolf—a skinny kid with messy hair—by the shoulder.
"Good game," Zhong Ming said.
The kid looked at him, eyes wide. "You... you're the developer? The jump mechanic... was that intentional?"
"Every mechanic is a tool," Zhong Ming smiled. "You used it well. Get ready for the next tournament. The prize pool will be bigger."
He walked away, checking his bracelet.
**[System Notification]**
**[Event Success: Survivor's Cup]**
**[Cultural Impact: High.]**
**[Effect: 'Esports' concept established. Community engagement increased by 300%.]**
**[Reward: 100 Culture Points.]**
**[Total Balance: 350 Points.]**
**[New Item Available: Advanced Sound Engine (Spatial Audio).]**
Zhong Ming ignored the item store for a moment. He had another notification.
**[Company Internal Mail]**
**[Sender: Lin Wan]**
**[Subject: Relocation.]**
Zhong Ming opened it.
*"Pack your bags, Zhong Ming. You've proven the mobile market. Now, the board wants to talk about the next fiscal quarter. They want a 'Flagship' title for the holiday season. They want you to compete directly with Zhou Kai's 'Frontline Duty'. Do not disappoint me."*
Zhong Ming stopped walking. A Flagship title. A triple-A game. He wasn't going to just make a mobile hit anymore. He was going to war.
He looked at the cheering crowd in the warehouse, still celebrating the pixelated victory.
"Console war," Zhong Ming whispered. "It's time to bring out the heavy hitters."
He knew exactly what game to make next. It wouldn't be a shooter. It wouldn't be a simulation. It would be something this world had never seen. A game about *hope* and *farming*.
But first, he had to crush Zhou Kai completely.
He typed a message to Li Wei.
**Zhong Ming:** "Start researching open-world engines. We're going to need one."