Pei Qian silently stood behind Ma Yang, watching him flee in panic as enemy heroes chased him.
Hmm? Was this not another nine-to-one situation?
Pei Qian was a bit puzzled because judging by how ruthlessly the opponents were attacking, they didn’t seem like his own people.
In a team fight, both sides battled fiercely. Three teammates from Ma’s side fought against all five opponents in a deadlock. With exquisite skills and seamless coordination, they managed an extreme three-for-three exchange.
Another teammate was frantically pushing lanes, successfully destroying two towers during this team fight, threatening the opponent’s high ground.
As for Ma Yang…
Amid shouts of “Boss Ma, you go first,” he fled with full health.
Pei Qian looked carefully. Ma Yang was playing a strange beast that looked somewhat like a wolf, but with a stout build and a dragon’s tail. It had a massive head with two unicorn-like, sharp horns on top, and its huge, gaping maw made its head look disproportionately large. Nevertheless, it had a strange sort of cuteness to it.
Pei Qian had a vague impression of this hero. It was called Taotie, and its IP belonged to an old domestic animation. Of course, the image in this animation was inspired by the traditional mythological beast Taotie.
Taotie’s appearance varies widely with many different descriptions, and there is no correct answer.
The Taotie image from this domestic animation was relatively influential and highly recognized, so they had purchased this IP for use in the game.
In GOG’s design, this was a hero with both protective and initiating abilities. It could swallow both friendly and enemy heroes into its mouth, inflict control effects on a small range of enemies, and activate skills to enhance its damage reduction capabilities.
Theoretically, this should be a support hero quite friendly to newcomers. Even if you didn’t know how to play well, you could still contribute by blindly charging at the enemy backline in team fights or using the devouring skill to protect key teammates.
The hero had a high floor and a decent ceiling.
However, in Old Ma’s hands, this hero did nothing but flee with full health, decisively abandoning three teammates…
Pei Qian couldn’t help but marvel—he’d seen four-protecting-one often enough, but four-protecting-one-support was a first!
Looking more carefully, Pei Qian confirmed that the opponents were indeed not his people, but likely random enemies matched online.
During the previous nine-protecting-one sessions, although the opponents’ acting was quite convincing, Pei Qian could still spot traces of performance.
After all, to let Old Ma kill ten people in one game sometimes required some rather poor acting.
But now, these opponents seemed to be targeting Ma Yang mercilessly, not at all like current employees, more like former employees.
Fortunately, Old Ma ran fast; otherwise, he probably would have died miserably.
By now, other employees had noticed Pei Qian standing behind Ma Yang, but after seeing Mr. Pei make a “shh” gesture, they all cooperatively remained silent.
Ma Yang, wearing headphones and focusing intensely on the screen, hadn’t realized someone was standing behind him.
Of course, even if he saw Pei Qian, he would probably just greet him and then continue playing the game.
Old Ma might be a slacker, but he never went AFK and abandoned teammates.
In this respect, he was quite reliable—if you didn’t consider his in-game performance.
After all, Old Ma’s performance was essentially no different from being AFK.
Pei Qian found it quite entertaining.
If he were in this game himself, as Old Ma’s teammate, he might have already been unable to resist hurling insults.
But as an observer, Pei Qian had only one thought.
Got food?
Two bowls, please, I’m starving!
He couldn’t help but sympathize with Boss Ma’s four teammates. Despite being more skilled than their opponents, they were having such a difficult time.
However, as Pei Qian continued watching, the smile gradually disappeared from his face.
Joy turning to sorrow!
Wait a minute, this version of GOG… seemed a bit off?
With Ma Yang’s terrible last-hitting, why wasn’t his equipment lagging too far behind?
And wasn’t this hero supposed to be a support?
Ma Yang picked up a kill with the help of his teammates and immediately received an 800-gold bounty.
Since these settings were relatively familiar to Pei Qian, he didn’t immediately realize something was wrong.
But after a moment’s thought, he immediately noticed the issue!
This wasn’t how GOG was originally designed, because the game initially just copied “Divine Start”!
Looking more carefully, not only had the rules for last-hitting and bounties changed, but the map also seemed smaller than before, and elements on the map had undergone slight modifications!
Pei Qian’s heart sank, instantly chilled halfway.
What was going on?
Who modified this game? Why were the changes becoming more problematic?
Before he could look more carefully, the game had already ended.
Although they were essentially playing four versus five most of the time, Ma Yang’s four powerful teammates were too skilled, and they still secured victory.
Ma Yang removed his headphones, saying with satisfaction: “Winning streak!”
“The special training from before has improved my skills. Now I can even win consecutive games against random players!”
The surrounding employees all applauded, showering him with exaggerated praise.
“Boss Ma’s improvement is miraculous!”
“Boss Ma’s skills were already very good; he just hadn’t met good teammates.”
“Although Boss Ma didn’t get MVP this game, he contributed the most among all five players on the winning side!”
Pei Qian: “…”
Oh, Ma, Arbor Day passed half a year ago, yet we still haven’t managed to plant a B-tree in your heart?
Besides, you’ve recruited a bunch of sycophants… I can’t even listen to this anymore!
Anyway, the sycophants weren’t important.
He needed to figure out what was going on with GOG first!
Pei Qian was speechless. Hadn’t Li Yada and Bao Xu already gone to the United States to play?
How could they still cause trouble from so far away???
Or did they deliberately plant a bomb before leaving the country?
Fortunately, he came to borrow notes from Old Ma today; otherwise, who knows how long he would have remained in the dark!
Pei Qian instinctively wanted to ask about the game, but then he thought again—how would these investment people at Dream Realization Venture Capital understand anything about GOG?
Forget it, he’d find the answers himself!
Someone had already pulled up a chair, letting Mr. Pei sit down next to Ma Yang.
Pei Qian coughed lightly: “Did you bring the stuff?”
Ma Yang quickly nodded: “I did, Brother Qian, here you go.”
As he spoke, he pulled out a rather understated black hardcover book from the drawer.
Pei Qian took it and handed it to Driver Xiao Sun, who had come with him.
Xiao Sun hurriedly placed the hardcover book in his business bag, securing it for Mr. Pei.
Nobody around dared to look too closely.
What was this book?
It was most likely some important business secret material!
Otherwise, why would Mr. Pei come all this way to personally receive it from Boss Ma?
Having secured the notes for the only closed-book exam course of the exam week, Pei Qian planned to find a copy shop to make a copy and find time to memorize it a bit.
However, the urgent matter at hand was solving the GOG problem.
“It’s been a while since we played together. Want a game?” Pei Qian suggested.
Ma Yang was delighted: “Sure, Brother Qian! Perfect chance for you to see the results of my recent special training!”
Pei Qian: “…”
He had no faith in Ma Yang’s special training results!
Four top players accompanying you, none of whom would flame you no matter how badly you played—if a seasoned slacker like Ma Yang could improve in such an environment, it would be like the sun rising from the west.
However, Pei Qian’s main purpose was to observe GOG’s current state.
Soon, a ten-player custom game began, entering the champion selection interface.
Looking at the array of heroes, Pei Qian felt a bit lost.
Of course, there weren’t that many—only about ten or so, since the game was still in development.
But for Pei Qian, who hadn’t played any of these heroes, there was naturally a sense of bewilderment. He had no idea whom to choose.
Pei Qian clicked on each hero, checking their abilities and descriptions.
When he came across a hero called “Righteous Guardian Modisster,” Pei Qian noticed a small line of text below the hero description: “This hero is dedicated in tribute to Mr. Pei, the chief designer of Tenda Games!”
Hmm?
Pei Qian’s mood instantly improved.
These unexpected compliments were always irresistible!
Since this was my exclusive hero, I might as well try it!
Pei Qian locked in the hero called “Righteous Guardian Modisster” without hesitation.
However, after locking it in, he noticed—why did this hero have so many weapons sticking out of its back?
Swords, spears, and halberds were one thing, but why were there pitchforks and brooms???
What did this mean?
Other people’s Gates of Babylon were hidden in a void, ready to be summoned at any time; was mine stuck on my back?
Other people’s Iron Thrones were something they sat on; was mine something I carried on my shoulders?
Wasn’t this design a bit questionable?
Pei Qian was about to ask when he saw Ma Yang turn his head.
“Huh? Brother Qian, you want to play the ‘Money-Spewing Hedgehog’?”
Pei Qian: “…”
Are you insulting me?
Pei Qian’s face darkened: “What Money-Spewing Hedgehog? Isn’t this the Righteous Guardian?”
Ma Yang said: “Yes, yes, yes, it’s the Righteous Guardian.”
“But it looks like a hedgehog, and it spews money when backstabbed. It’s so fun!”
Pei Qian: “…”
He now really wanted to know who designed this hero, not for any particular reason, just to give them an all-expenses-paid travel package to the Sahara Desert, Antarctica, or East African rainforests to broaden their horizons.