Chapter 5: Embarrassing the Entire Technical Department

Half an hour or so.

A brand-new Santana 2000 drove into the Imperial Capital Holy Great Network Training School.

Such a car that no one asked about twenty years later.

Yet at this moment it attracted countless gazes.

It can be said that in this era, only the rich or noble could afford such a car.

Along the way, even newly released mountain bikes automatically made way far ahead.

A slight bump and they couldn't afford to compensate.

Finally, the Santana 2000 stopped in front of a teaching building.

The car door opened.

A forty-year-old driver stepped out.

"Hello, Deputy General Manager Chen, I'm the driver, honored to take you back to Mo Du Headquarters."

"Hello, but… I'm not being taken back to Mo Du Headquarters, but this little guy and his mother."

Ah…

The driver was startled.

Yet he saw Chen Wu step forward, actively open the rear door, and then wave behind him… indicating He Sui to bring her son Lu Yu into the car.

"The Deputy General Manager of Grand Network personally opens the car door—such treatment is probably only enjoyed by those renowned domestic and foreign programming masters, right?"

What merit do this mother and son have?

Likewise.

He Sui's heart was also extremely nervous.

She held Lu Yu's little hand and quickly got into the car under countless gazes.

She even dared not close the door, fearing she might mishandle it and damage such a precious car.

Afterwards…

Chen Wu gave a few instructions to Manager Zhang, then got into his own Alto car.

Under the gaze of countless staff members.

Amidst everyone's envious looks.

The two cars slowly drove out of the Grand Network Training School.

At this moment, everyone merely marveled, a remarkable computer-savvy programming prodigy has emerged in Great Xia…

But they never imagined.

That such a prodigy would bring how much disruptive influence to Great Xia's online gaming world.

Lu Yu…

Such a legendary name, at this moment rises like the five-star red flag with the setting sun.

When the two cars disappeared from everyone's sight.

Manager Zhang then snapped back to reality.

"Don't just stand there, hurry, quickly transmit that 'Plants vs. Zombies' to headquarters…"

"Deputy General Manager Chen specially instructed that in Mo Du Headquarters, the comrades of the Operations Department, Testing Department, and Publicity Department are all waiting to try this game!"

In this era, game transmission is done via email.

However… the 59M size of 'Plants vs. Zombies' is indeed not something that can be sent in a single email.

They have their hands full here.

…

…

Mo Du, Grand Network Company Headquarters.

All colleagues of the Technical Department, Operations Department, and Publicity Department have been notified to work overtime tonight…

And the overtime content is rather odd—playing games!

This is a bit awkward…

You know, Grand Network Company, having shifted from 'cartoon' business to 'game' business, still has no original game to show off.

However.

The Technical Department, Operations Department, and Publicity Department are also not idle, having played almost all single-player and online games on the market.

Every day at work is playing games; some colleagues can finish 'Chinese Paladin 98 Tender Version' in just three and a half hours, almost setting a record at the time.

It can be said that the routines of market games have been figured out and grown tired of by them.

When others hear about computers and games, they get excited, while they are drowsy…

Working overtime to play games is simply a torment.

"Hasn't it been transmitted yet?"

"It's just a 50M game, why is email transmission so slow…"

Some female colleagues complained while yawning.

"Hey, it's normal for Mo Du's network to be unstable during debugging."

"Plus, the email transmission speed is inherently maddeningly slow!"

"Just wait a bit longer, it'll be fine soon."

Bored, Grand's colleagues started chatting.

"Have you heard? The creator of this game is a seven-year-old kid…"

"Hahaha… of course we've heard, Deputy General Manager Chen even specially dispatched a Santana 2000 to bring him to Mo Du!"

"No way? A seven-year-old kid can also make a game? Could it be… something like Minesweeper?"

"Don't underestimate Minesweeper; its programming difficulty is really high… Not to mention seven years old, even a twenty-seven-year-old electronics student might not be able to make it."

"Alright, alright… Anyway I don't believe a seven-year-old kid could make a decent game; Deputy General Manager Chen is just desperate, grasping at straws this time—this overtime is totally unjustified!"

"Discussion voices never ceased."

"It's mainly because everyone is really bored."

"But at that moment."

"Thump thump thump…"

"A knocking sound rang out."

""Come in," a voice called out casually."

"The transfer is already complete; the Technical Department colleagues are already playing, I brought the USB drive over for you to copy."

"He blurted that out."

"A colleague rushed in holding two USB drives…"

"USB drives from 2001 had just come out, with a pitifully small capacity of 30 MB; transferring a copy of Plants vs. Zombies still had to be done in two parts."

"Is the game made by this kid fun?"

"A colleague teased, "How are the Technical Department colleagues evaluating it?""

"He asked that offhandedly…"

"You'll know once you play it!"

"After transferring the game, that colleague shook his head, left that sentence, and ran toward the next Office, with a meaningful look."

"Um…"

"Everyone looked at each other, thinking it was probably too horrible to bear."

"Otherwise… there wouldn't be no comment at all."

"We've waited this long… let's play! Let's see if it's as fun as Minesweeper!"

"Hahaha… never mind, this icon is pretty interesting!"

"A zombie's hand clutched a white Xiao Hua."

"..."

"Ten minutes later."

"Hey, this game's graphics are not bad! The hit feedback and smoothness can be called perfect, and the engine is also not bad."

"Holy crap, I actually got eaten by a zombie!"

"Idiot, you need to plant more sunflowers, otherwise you won't have enough money to buy pea shooters… Also, put a big nut in front; zombies can't bite that!"

"Heated discussion sounds never ceased."

"..."

"Thirty minutes later."

"Silence, a silence so quiet you could hear a pin drop."

"Only the Operations Department and Propaganda Department could hear the 'click-clack' of the left mouse button!"

"Everyone could no longer bother to speak…"

"Everyone was completely immersed."

"At this moment, they forgot their purpose, focusing solely on clearing the game and unlocking new plants."

"While facing a wave of approaching zombies."

"They were all flustered…"

"They wished they had another mouse control."

"The entire Propaganda and Operations Departments inexplicably developed a tense atmosphere, as if facing a great enemy!"

"When the Technical Department colleague who had just copied the game passed by and saw their state, he couldn't help but shake his head again."

"Of course…"

"He shook his head not because the game was horrible, but out of shame!"

"The hundreds of staff members of the renowned Grand Network Technical Department, working overtime day and night programming, actually produced a game that couldn't even match a seven-year-old's game."

"The key is, even if given three years, or even five years, they themselves doubt they could produce a distinctive, quality game like Plants vs. Zombies."

"Ashamed, embarrassed…"

"Compared to that seven-year-old kid, looking at their own high salary, they simply have no face to meet people."

"..."

"..."

"."