Screenshots of their conversation were quickly posted in the “Eternal Cycle” reader group, then shared back to Old Qiao’s large group.
“Confirmed! It’s confirmed!”
“Look at the dog author’s wording and attitude. Clearly something is really happening!”
“Wait, how exactly are you seeing this as confirmation? Didn’t the dog author say your guesses were wrong?”
“He said ‘SOME guesses are wrong’! That means the general direction is correct!”
“Ah, so which guesses are wrong specifically?”
“Let me check the chat logs… Old Qiao playtesting a new version of ‘Turn Back to Shore’ should be true; the new version being developed based on ‘Eternal Cycle’s’ plot should also be true… So that just leaves the last statement! ‘Every session of the Inspiration Class will have one work turned into a game’ must be wrong!”
“So that means there’s more than one work?”
“Exactly! It’s definitely not just ‘Eternal Cycle.’ Aren’t there several other books being heavily revised? This means all the books being revised might have plans for copyright development!”
“I just came back from the procrastinator’s group! He didn’t respond to me directly, but with how evasive he was, something must be happening!”
“Everyone should stop asking more questions. This is clearly meant to be confidential, and there are definitely more works than just this one being developed. The authors in the Inspiration Class all know about it!”
“Now I understand why these authors are all working like they’re on steroids. If only ‘Eternal Cycle’ was being turned into a game, they might not have been so excited, but with so many works having plans for copyright development, the other authors must be especially stimulated!”
“Everything fits! It all fits together!”
“Come to think of it, does that promotional poster for Endpoint Chinese Web’s Inspiration Class have a deeper meaning?”
“What deeper meaning? Didn’t that poster simply list the performance stats of some Inspiration Class books? And the stats weren’t even good—it was like exposing their own shortcomings.”
“You’re only thinking at the first level. What if we elevate the thinking one level? Actually, the poster was showing, ‘Look, these Inspiration Class books may have terrible stats, but they can all be developed for copyright and turned into games or other forms. Isn’t that impressive?'”
“Huh? You can interpret it that way?”
“That’s definitely the only way to interpret it! That advertisement was everywhere, all over the internet and offline. Think about it—Tenda’s advertisements must be approved by the person in charge. Even if the people making the advertisements don’t understand these metrics, wouldn’t the person in charge at Endpoint Chinese Web understand? But the poster was still released and displayed for over two weeks. Doesn’t that explain everything?”
“I see, so the poster was building anticipation for the Inspiration Class!”
“And do you remember what all those fake accounts were posting after the poster came out?”
“Oh, I remember. It was all similar content like ‘Inspiration Class is the cradle of great authors, the source of inspiration, the place where dreams come true,’ and so on. The format was all the same—it was so cringeworthy.”
“Thinking about it now, weren’t those fake accounts actually correct? When it comes to the probability of works being developed for copyright, what else can compare to the Inspiration Class? These fake accounts repeating the same content might seem like high-level mockery on the surface, but in reality, every sentence was the absolute truth!”
“Isn’t this the ‘performance art marketing’ from ‘Game Producer’? Constantly repeating exaggerated advertising phrases to form a fixed impression in netizens’ minds, achieving a great promotional effect…”
“And most importantly, it doesn’t involve false advertising—everything is true!”
The wisdom of internet users is limitless. After finding a breakthrough point, everyone worked together and quickly found even more breakthroughs.
Many seemingly unrelated events were connected one by one, forming a complete logical chain!
So the facts became very clear.
Although the works from Endpoint Chinese Web’s Inspiration Class weren’t performing well, they had extremely high chances for copyright adaptation. “Eternal Cycle,” which had turned fan fiction into an official canonical novel, was a perfect example.
The promotion of the Inspiration Class was clearly focused on this aspect. On the surface, it emphasized that these works had poor metrics, but it was actually expressing that “even with poor metrics, they can still be developed for copyright,” highlighting the special nature of the Inspiration Class.
And “Eternal Cycle,” as one of the first works to be adapted, was almost finished with game development. Old Qiao, as a veteran player of “Turn Back to Shore,” had already been invited for playtesting!
In just one afternoon, internet users worked like detectives, carefully analyzing various clues to piece together what they believed to be the truth.
This “truth” spread like the wind.
Because “Turn Back to Shore” already had a massive number of die-hard fans.
Although it was already a two-year-old game, due to the scarcity of high-difficulty games and the many memes left by content like “Universal Salvation” in “Turn Back to Shore,” it still maintained extremely high popularity.
Even now, the sales of “Turn Back to Shore” hadn’t dropped below one-fifth of its second month after release, demonstrating its popularity.
All players, both new and old, were eagerly awaiting its sequel.
And now, with news of the sequel out, how could people not be excited and thrilled?
Of course, they had to immediately share this good news with everyone!
As internet users discussed, various gaming media outlets also followed up.
Because these media outlets knew that as long as the keyword “Tenda new game” was involved, the click rates and reading volume would absolutely explode, and the discussion and popularity would definitely not be low!
Many unscrupulous media outlets even embellished the story, with increasingly outrageous clickbait headlines, using every trick to attract readers.
And these outrageous contents would fill the entire internet in just a day or two, spreading the news to even more people…
The situation instantly spiraled out of control!
…
June 16th, Saturday.
Qiao Liang, at his residence, clicked through these wildly circulating reports online, his face full of confusion.
“BREAKING NEWS! Million-follower content creator Old Qiao exclusively reveals Tenda’s new game!”
“‘Turn Back to Shore’ sequel exposed! Sneak peek at the original novel ‘Eternal Cycle’!”
“The seemingly ordinary promotional poster of the Inspiration Class hid such an enormous secret…”
“Sequel to the most difficult domestic game coming soon! Are you ready to suffer?”
He was completely baffled.
What was all this about?
Who told you I was playtesting a new version of “Turn Back to Shore”?
I was playtesting Chi Xing Studio’s “Animal Island VR”!
This has nothing to do with “Turn Back to Shore”!
But according to these media articles, he was apparently the source of the leaked information.
Qiao Liang even doubted himself, thinking he might have let something slip, and specifically went back to check the chat logs.
The chat logs were crystal clear. Qiao Liang had only said he was playtesting Tenda’s new game and nothing else.
He never mentioned the Inspiration Class or “Turn Back to Shore” at all!
But as he continued scrolling down and saw the discussion records in the group, Qiao Liang understood.
There had been a mix-up!
These people had combined his previous playtesting of “Turn Back to Shore” with the major revisions to the “Eternal Cycle” novel, and after a series of complicated deductions, thought he was playtesting a sequel to “Turn Back to Shore”!
It was just a guess originally, but everyone thought it was very reasonable, so as it spread, it became “truth”…
Rumors spreading as facts—who could reason with that!
Qiao Liang felt helpless, but there was nothing he could do.
If he came forward to clarify now, it would seem like he was covering something up, and there was no need for that anyway!
After careful consideration, Qiao Liang decided to ignore it.
Let people discuss however they wanted…
Besides, this shouldn’t count as leaking confidential information, as he hadn’t even mentioned the name “Animal Island VR.”
Meng Chang’s requirement at the time was for Qiao Liang to keep the “Animal Island VR” project confidential, and Qiao Liang thought he had done a good job of that—internet users didn’t even know the project existed.
It was just that everyone mistakenly thought Qiao Liang was playing a sequel to “Turn Back to Shore.”
If people overthought and misunderstood, that couldn’t be considered his fault, could it?
Qiao Liang thought about it and concluded that even if there was blame to be assigned, it shouldn’t fall on him. So he continued playing his games with a clear conscience.
…
Meanwhile, Meng Chang was also checking these reports at his residence.
He was clearly not as calm as Qiao Liang; his hand trembled slightly as he held the mouse.
Each article was like a dagger stabbing his heart.
“What’s going on? What the hell is going on?!”
“Where did all these rumors come from?!”
“Damn it, I would have received the minimum commission after this weekend. Why?!”
“Calm down, calm down.”
“There still seems to be a way out.”
“Find the source of the leak. Mr. Pei gave me a written agreement that if internal leaks caused the promotional effect to explode, regardless of the outcome, I would get a 30,000 yuan commission!”
“That’s even better than the 2,000 yuan minimum commission for holding out for two weeks!”
In this critical moment, Meng Chang’s mind actually became clearer.
First, he found the written agreement Mr. Pei had given him and carefully confirmed its contents.
That’s exactly what it said!
Next was to identify the source of the leak.
Meng Chang quickly found the two most crucial dissemination nodes: one was the screenshot of Qiao Liang’s chat in his fan group saying he was playtesting Tenda’s new game; the other was Yu Fei’s private chat screenshot with one of his administrators.
“This should count as an internal leak, right?”
“Although Old Qiao isn’t a Tenda employee, he was playtesting the game! Yu Fei is a signed author with Endpoint Chinese Web and a direct participant in the Inspiration Class, so he definitely counts as a Tenda insider!”
“Um… but Old Qiao wasn’t playtesting ‘Eternal Cycle.’ He was playtesting ‘Animal Island VR,’ which has nothing to do with this…”
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. It’s definitely an internal leak!”
Meng Chang decided that when Monday came, he would go to Mr. Pei and have a good talk, waving this written agreement, determined to get that 30,000 yuan!
…
June 18th, Monday.
Pei Qian had just arrived at his office when Meng Chang knocked and entered.
“Mr. Pei!”
“I want to state first that this situation is 100% due to an internal leak, absolutely not a problem with my promotional plan!”
“We have a written agreement to prove it!”
Meng Chang waved the small note in his hand, very much like a creditor collecting a debt with an IOU, completely self-righteous.
Pei Qian hadn’t been following this issue over the weekend and was still a bit drowsy early in the morning, unable to immediately sync with Meng Chang’s emotions.
He made a cup of tea and said, “Don’t rush, explain slowly. If it’s really a leak, I’ll definitely keep my promise.”
Meng Chang recounted what had happened over the weekend, emphasizing that it was Qiao Liang and Yu Fei’s leaks that had caused a chain reaction, leading to the failure of the Inspiration Class promotion.
After a weekend of fermentation, the news that the Inspiration Class authors’ works were being developed for copyright had been widely discussed, especially “Eternal Cycle” being developed as an official sequel game, making countless authors green with envy, all desperately trying to get into the Inspiration Class.
And Meng Chang’s ugly poster had fully exploded with all the accumulated attention.
By current standards, this promotional plan had definitely failed—it hadn’t even lasted two weeks, with no commission at all.
But if it was due to a leak, Mr. Pei would have to give Meng Chang a 30,000 yuan commission according to the written agreement.
This was Meng Chang’s last hope.
Pei Qian silently took a sip of tea. “You say these two leaked information, but how exactly did they leak it? Do you have evidence?”
Meng Chang immediately nodded. “Yes! I have screenshots!”
With that, Meng Chang handed over his phone, showing Pei Qian the two screenshots.
Pei Qian looked at them and fell into deep thought.
Just these two images were clearly insufficient to reconstruct the whole truth.
“Please wait here for a moment and have some tea. I’ll make a couple of phone calls to thoroughly investigate this matter! If it truly was an internal leak, I’ll definitely clear your name!”
Pei Qian spoke with righteous indignation, and Meng Chang even felt a little moved.
“Alright, Mr. Pei! I’ll wait right here!”
After saying this, Pei Qian pushed open the door and left.
He planned to call both Qiao Liang and Yu Fei, then ask those who knew the inside story to fully reconstruct the truth.
He couldn’t just believe everything Meng Chang said. After all, Meng Chang was now desperate for his commission and would resort to any means necessary, so embellishing was quite normal.
It wasn’t that Mr. Pei was reluctant to part with the 30,000 yuan; the key issue was that if there was no leak, this money simply couldn’t be given out.
Pei Qian’s agreement with Meng Chang was viewed by the system as “a special employment agreement,” and the money given to Meng Chang also needed to be approved by the system. In this “special employment agreement,” money didn’t have to be paid in the conventional way, but it had to comply with the terms stipulated in the employment agreement itself.
In other words, the system had special standards in this regard, with much more flexibility than other employment agreements. Pei Qian could come up with many creative operations, but these operations were still not absolutely free and were subject to some restrictions.
Just like this time, it had to be a genuine leak for the money to be given; he couldn’t turn a blind eye.
Pei Qian sympathized with Meng Chang, but there was nothing he could do—rules were rules.
…
Meng Chang waited anxiously in Mr. Pei’s office.
After about half an hour, Mr. Pei finally returned.
“How did it go, Mr. Pei?” Meng Chang immediately stood up, extremely concerned.
Pei Qian coughed lightly, gesturing for him to remain calm and sit down.
“I’m very sorry, but after investigating from multiple sources and communicating with both parties involved, I’ve finally confirmed… this doesn’t count as a leak.”
“Old Qiao only said he was testing a new game. He didn’t mention ‘Animal Island’ or the Inspiration Class or ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ so this doesn’t count as a leak. As for Yu Fei, that’s even less of a leak—not only did he not leak information, he actually hinted to internet users that they were wrong and that Old Qiao wasn’t playtesting ‘Eternal Cycle.'”
“The problem this time was mainly because internet users misunderstood and made some incorrect associations, using wrong known conditions to derive correct conclusions…”
“So… I’m sorry, but according to the rules, this commission cannot be given, because it wasn’t a leak.”
Pei Qian looked at Meng Chang with a pained expression.
“However, on the bright side, your basic salary this month is 5,000 yuan…”