I am a Big Player
Chapter 115 - 114, Definitely a scammer! (Eighth update)_1

Chapter 115: 114, Definitely a scammer! (Eighth update)_1

He had originally planned to complete some tasks but accidentally ended up taking an endorsement deal, which turned out to be quite profitable; now Ren He could be considered as someone with a net worth over ten million.

However, he could imagine that once he started making a game, the speed at which money would be spent would surely be like flowing water—there was no doubt about that. To make a game, just the modeling and effects would cost a hefty sum. But his original 8 million plus the 9 million from this deal, adding up to 17 million, would absolutely be enough to create a Dota! And not just a low-end version!

This did give Ren He an unexpectedly pleasant surprise.

The highest costs in game production are actually two parts: labor cost and marketing cost.

Labor cost includes the salaries of programmers, artists, and other staff, while marketing cost refers to the advertising expenses when releasing the game.

But actually, if Ren He chose to develop Dota, the marketing costs could be reduced to a very low amount!

This game had no publicity in its past life; it was purely word of mouth that naturally fermented and brewed, then became addictive and widespread among countless people. Back then, the creator was dirt-poor, having made just one map for the game Warcraft!

However, it wouldn’t make sense to invest zero in marketing like in the previous life. There’s no need to compare with the past, but inherently, this game has a very high virality, saving a lot more trouble than other games.

This has been proven by history.

Historically speaking, after Dota became popular for three to four years, imitative games like Qi Fan, League of Legends, and Heroes Evolved would appear. But so what? That just means a reduced market share. In fact, even when League of Legends was invincible in the gaming market in a former life, Dota was still thriving. This is evident from the 2016 Dota TI6 grand finals with prize money of $20,736,000, an amount not even League of Legends could match.

Ren He wasn’t aiming for monopoly; he was but a man of leisure and wealth, taking everything in stride.

He went to sleep after 7 a.m., missed all his classes for the day, and woke up to find it was already dark.

He checked his phone and saw that the endorsement money had been deposited into his account, and to his surprise, there was an extra two million plus in there. Puzzled, he called An Si only to learn that TK, being incredibly wealthy and generous, had counted his record-breaking cornering speed from yesterday as an additional challenge, paying an extra $300,000, which converted to more than 2.4 million RMB, as an additional reward. Starting next year, his endorsement rate would also be $1.5 million.

The way of the rich was indeed different, Ren He mused, realizing just how valuable the title of being "number one" was.

It makes sense, after all, as the trailblazing pioneer of the novice genre, Shenshu (’The God Book’) brought him extremely high profits and the promise of substantial royalties in the future. Those who followed in his footsteps would not receive such good treatment.

Kunlun too, as the originator of new school martial arts, being number one, meant that while typical film and television rights were still below one million, he received a staggering 6 million for the purchase.

Before he even set out to do the tasks, he received a strange phone call. The caller’s number didn’t show, just the words "Unknown."

Ren He was taken aback for a moment before answering, "Hello?"

A calm female voice on the phone said, "Congratulations, you have..."

Click, Ren He hung up. Any call that started with "Hello, congratulations," was obviously a scam; did they think he, a clever person, would fall for it? He didn’t even bother listening to the rest. They could go bother someone else.

These were conclusions that Ren He had come to. Calls that started with something like "Congratulations," "Do you want to invest..." "Hello, I am..." were either sales pitches or scams, and any scam that began with congratulations—like "Congratulations on becoming a gold client of our company, we’ll send you a gold medal, please transfer the postage of 388 RMB to us"—was definitely a sham.

Hehe, Ren He scoffed. Did they think he would fall for that? No way!

The calm expression on Xingchen’s face on the other end of the phone revealed a hint of astonishment, had the other party really just hung up the phone so abruptly?!

For a long while, she couldn’t figure out why Ren He had hung up on her! Why?! She wanted to tell Ren He that he had passed the file review and could continue to participate in Skydrive’s internal audit, but how was she to know she’d be mistaken for a scammer by Ren He?!

After giving it some thought, Xingchen considered the possibility that the connection might be poor, so she dialed the number again.

Just as Ren He was preparing to head out for dinner, he received another call from that unknown number. He let out a soft "Huh," are scammers really that persistent these days?

"Hello?" Ren He answered to see if the other person was going to try a different tactic.

"Good afternoon, congratulations to you..." began Xingchen on the other end, holding her temper.

Ren He didn’t bother to listen further, scammers weren’t even trying to change their ways.

Xingchen stood with the phone in hand, stunned for a full three seconds. What the hell, was Ren He sick or something?! Hanging up the moment the call connects every single time?!

For some reason, it seemed that misunderstandings always arose whenever Skydrive dealt with Ren He. Were they just incompatible?

Xingchen’s temper flared as well, deciding not to call Ren He anymore, she instead dialed Lin Hao and blasted him straight away, "Lin Hao! It’s bad enough that you can’t handle your own affairs, but even your nominee is unreliable! When will you start taking things seriously, nominating a middle schooler is one thing, but could you at least tell him to take the nomination review seriously?"

And with that, Xingchen hung up the phone.

Lin Hao, who was lying on the hotel bed, was utterly baffled. What on earth was going on? He was getting shot while lying down! Why unleash a tirade on me? At least explain what’s going on!

He tried calling Xingchen back, but the moment the call went through, the other side hung up in one second, treating Lin Hao just like Xingchen had treated Ren He. Lin Hao ended up making three calls in a row, all with the same result.

Lin Hao was instantly annoyed. Why did everything related to Ren He always go so wrong? That kid was like a curse!

He tried calling Ren He again, this number he had obtained through Yang En by asking Yang Xi, but this time the phone call wasn’t even answered!

Up to this point, Lin Hao was still somewhat traumatized by vomiting three times before, but given these recent events, he decided to go visit Ren He personally once more.

The reason he was still in Luo City was simply to continue his mission to protect Yang En, and he knew that after the kidnapping incident, no one would dare to take a risk against Yang En again.

The first attempt is always the easiest to succeed. If it fails, vigilance is heightened, and another try would be suicidal. So those foreign organizations aren’t dumb; it’s unnecessary to take that risk again.

Therefore, Lin Hao’s mission was quite relaxed now. Given his lazy nature, these past few days he’d been solely focused on enjoying the food of Luo City. As an ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, the city had an abundant variety of snacks.

Lin Hao drove leisurely towards Ren He’s home. With his capabilities, finding out where Ren He lived was a breeze. Despite having been on the losing end with Ren He several times, Lin Hao’s nature made him even more interested in Ren He.

He knocked on Ren He’s door upon arrival but received no answer after a long wait. What was going on? Where could one possibly go on such a late night?

Because he couldn’t meet Ren He, the reason why Xingchen suddenly lost her temper remained a mystery to Lin Hao...