After returning to his place, Meng Chang immediately took out his phone to check the online public opinion.

Whether he could get away with it all depended on tonight.

After posting that message as Tenda Games’ official account, there were quickly numerous comments from netizens, and the post was widely shared across major forums.

“Huh? So Tenda’s new game in development… is a fitness game?”

“What the hell! Got excited for nothing. I thought it was going to be some major production.”

“What kind of nonsense is a fitness game?”

“Got my hopes up for nothing, how disappointing!”

“Hmm, does everyone think it’s uninteresting? No need to jump to conclusions yet, right? A fitness game sounds quite innovative. Tenda Games has always had the power to turn trash into gold, so I think it’s still worth looking forward to!”

“Sigh, it’s not that I don’t believe in Mr. Pei, but mainly that few people like this type of game. Fitness games are ultimately designed to serve fitness purposes, so they’re rarely particularly fun.”

“The key issue is that Tenda Games has been working on this for almost half a year. I was expecting a masterpiece like ‘Turn Back to Shore,’ but instead they come up with a half-hearted fitness game? This is too hard to accept!”

“How has Mr. Pei started slacking off? Is it because he’s too busy with other industries?”

After scrolling through many comments, Meng Chang finally smiled.

Good, it worked!

Everyone’s attention had clearly been diverted.

Previously, many people were speculating about what type of game it would be, and some even correctly guessed the RTS theme, but the official statement had a “definitive” effect.

Although some people raised doubts that “the two images don’t look similar,” after all, neither “Mission and Choice” nor “Fitness Battle” had been released yet, so who could know exactly what they looked like?

Besides, most players couldn’t imagine that the official account would shamelessly release misleading information, so they were all led astray by Meng Chang.

Meng Chang let out a deep sigh of relief. That was close, but it worked out!

What had initially appeared to be a massive crisis had been successfully averted thanks to his clever maneuvers, and things were back on track!

This way, they should be able to keep the secret until the game’s release on May Day. Even if he couldn’t get the full commission, getting 70-80% shouldn’t be a problem.

However, just as Meng Chang was beginning to relax, several new replies appeared.

“Something’s not right! Everyone, look at this Weibo post!”

There was a screenshot in the comments. The post was from Fanqi Media’s official account, and it read: “Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster ‘Raging Sea Battleship’ hitting theaters during the May Day holiday!”

“A production costing $200 million, directed by a renowned director, starring an all-star cast, and featuring numerous real battleships!”

The Weibo post also included various promotional images for “Raging Sea Battleship,” presented in a nine-grid format.

Just looking at this Weibo post itself wasn’t an issue; it was normal promotional material.

The problem was the first highly-upvoted comment below the post.

“I heard a certain domestic sci-fi film was so scared that it immediately changed its release date? (dog emoji) (dog emoji) (dog emoji)”

Most of the hot comments below were expressing excitement about the film, making this top comment seem out of place, yet impossible to ignore.

Soon, this comment had several hundred replies.

“Changed the release date out of fear? Haha, does anyone know which film it is?”

“Although changing release dates is normal, I still can’t help but laugh, hahaha…”

“An insider revealed that it seems to be Tenda’s film!”

“What? Really? Tenda is releasing a new film? What’s it called?”

“Bullshit, would Tenda Film change its schedule because it’s afraid of a foreign blockbuster? There should be limits to riding on others’ fame!”

“Exactly, ‘Beautiful Tomorrow’ was a box office and critical success, and that was just Fei Huang Studio’s first film. Their second film would definitely be even better with the experience they’ve gained! I might believe other companies would fear Hollywood blockbusters and change their release dates, but Tenda? Don’t make me sick!”

Soon, arguments erupted under this highly-upvoted comment.

This was clearly the work of paid commenters who had boosted this comment’s likes, then started arguments under it. As people fought with each other, wouldn’t that increase the post’s popularity?

Plus, this account was disguised as an ordinary user, allowing Fanqi Media’s official account to distance itself. If any problems arose later, they wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.

Meanwhile, amid the heated arguments, the paid commenters were subtly releasing relevant information bit by bit.

“Don’t be skeptical, just look it up. ‘Mission and Choice’ is Tenda’s new film. It was originally scheduled for May Day release but was urgently moved up to this weekend.”

“Obviously they chickened out. Otherwise, why would they give up the golden May Day slot and actively choose a garbage weekend slot instead?”

“I think it’s a wise move. They clearly know they can’t compete during May Day, so they moved it up to grab whatever box office they can.”

“I looked it up! It’s true! Tenda quietly made a new film? How come there hasn’t been any promotion? It’s even listed way down on ticket booking apps. I hadn’t even noticed it before!”

“And Lu Zhiyao is starring! Wait, why is he the only one listed as the main cast? Is that a mistake?”

“I actually saw it before, but the name turned me off so I didn’t click on it. I had no idea it was produced by Tenda!”

With just a bit of flame-fanning from Fanqi Media’s paid commenters, the topic took off.

Many people didn’t believe it at first, but upon checking, it turned out to be true!

Tenda really had produced a film called “Mission and Choice,” and they had indeed moved it from May Day to this weekend. Everything in that top comment was true!

But many Tenda fans found this even harder to accept.

Fei Huang Studio, which had produced “Beautiful Tomorrow,” was already well-established, and while “Raging Sea Battleship” was a Hollywood blockbuster, it didn’t seem to be among the most elite productions.

Could such an opponent really make Fei Huang Studio back down and change their release date?

It didn’t make sense!

The Tenda fans, who were being mocked and used for popularity by the paid commenters, were furious. They argued online while desperately searching for evidence.

It absolutely wasn’t because of fear that they changed the release date—that completely contradicted Tenda’s usual approach!

Finally, someone revealed the truth.

“Look at the film’s title and plot synopsis. Isn’t this the same ‘Mission and Choice’ that was called the ‘shame of Chinese gaming’? It’s all about an alien invasion plot. The more I look at it, the more similar they seem!”

“Oh, right! I thought it was a coincidence at first, but looking carefully, the name is exactly the same, character for character!”

“A remake? Or did they buy the rights?”

“Are they crazy? Even if they bought the rights, they’d obviously make a game, not remake it as a film!”

“Hmm… have you considered one possibility—that they might have made both a game AND a film?”

“Huh?”

“Do you remember that image from the official interview earlier? Many people had guessed it might be an RTS game for two reasons: First, the image showed a god’s-eye view, and second, Tenda rarely makes games in the same genre twice, and they haven’t made an RTS game yet. All things considered, the possibility of an RTS game was actually quite high!”

“But wait, didn’t the official account say the new game is ‘Fitness Battle’?”

“But they didn’t explicitly state that! Tenda is a marketing genius; what’s strange about playing with the players a bit? If they really wanted to promote it, wouldn’t it be even stranger that the film is about to be released but there’s no promotional material to be seen?”

“Indeed, the more I look at these two images of the game, the more I think they’re completely different!”

“Exactly, for a fitness game, how could it possibly take almost half a year to develop with Tenda’s efficiency?”

“Could it be… something big is coming?!”

“Don’t tell me Tenda’s new game is really ‘Mission and Choice’? Don’t mess with me!”

The players, each seemingly possessed by Sherlock Holmes, immediately swarmed upon finding a breakthrough!

The message Meng Chang had posted as the official account had temporarily led the players astray, but unfortunately, Fanqi Media’s Weibo post had directed attention to the “Mission and Choice” film. As a result, the players’ diverted attention returned, and even more intensely—they were now more convinced than ever that the game was an RTS!

Meng Chang’s expression froze, his mind going blank.

For him, this wasn’t even the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying thing was that, according to the information online, “Mission and Choice” was scheduled for release on April 14th—this weekend!

What did this mean?

Although Meng Chang wasn’t clear on the specific plot of “Mission and Choice,” he knew that the game and film were like conjoined twins. If the film was going to be released, the game would definitely need to be released on the same day.

Otherwise, after the film’s release, the plot would be thoroughly discussed, and players would be completely spoiled. How could anyone enjoy the game then?

Moving up the film’s release date meant that the game’s release date would definitely be moved up as well.

“This can’t be right. How come nobody told me about this?”

“I still thought the film was releasing on May Day!”

“This is ridiculous!”

“So that means the game also…”

Meng Chang didn’t dare think further.

So he had humbled himself to ask Mr. Pei for another ten million, pulled off all those tricks, and it was all for nothing?

Wait, maybe not for nothing—he might have actually exposed “Fitness Battle”…

“Are they insane?!”

“The May Day slot was perfect, why change it?!”

“With the film releasing and the game launching on the 14th, what commission am I supposed to get?! There’s no way this won’t be discovered!”

It wasn’t that Meng Chang had let his guard down; the key issue was that no one had told him about this. Besides, Meng Chang couldn’t have imagined that a film with such a huge investment would abandon the May Day slot and instead move up to a garbage weekend slot.

It made absolutely no sense!

Meng Chang’s mindset completely collapsed. Although he could still hope that the game would perform poorly after its release, even then, he wouldn’t get much commission.

The crucial point was that after all his maneuvering, he didn’t even know the release date had changed. It was like he had been fighting against thin air.

If he had known about the change, why would he have struggled at all? He should have just given up!

Meng Chang slumped on the sofa, as if his soul had left his body.

It was over, completely over!

He had been played by Mr. Pei again!