Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 102
"First, let’s give a warm round of applause to welcome the representative of the Asia Esports Convention—"
"Vice President of the China International Digital Entertainment Association, Mr. Jiang Yingcai, to give a speech!"
Whoever’s game wins, their rep gives the speech.
Jiang Yingcai walked toward the dazzling stage, heart pounding with emotion.
Eight years!
A full eight years!
Since League of Legends, Golden Wind finally brought the Crown Award back to China!
And he was once again stepping onto the stage as a representative of the Asia Esports Convention!
Even though the distance from the guest seats to center stage was less than fifty meters—
Just before stepping on stage, he turned to glance at the developer section.
Every company participating in the convention was present today.
Though the lights were bright and dazzling, making it impossible to pick out any single face in the crowd—
Everyone knew exactly who he was looking at.
They also understood what that deep, meaningful smile of his meant.
It wouldn’t be long now.
The old president of Huayu Entertainment was about to step down.
And the only candidate from within the company—
Was Jiang Yingcai himself.
That glance... carried a heavy weight.
Whoosh—!
As thunderous applause filled the air, Jiang Yingcai stepped onto the stage and began his speech.
It was formal—representing not only Huayu Entertainment, but the entire Asia Esports Convention.
He first spoke about the origins and mission of the convention, then recapped the past events.
Finally, he offered encouragement to the companies that hadn’t won and wished the convention even greater success in the future.
As camera flashes flickered and applause rang out—
The DJ’s voice boomed once more:
“Thank you, Mr. Jiang Yingcai, for your speech.”
“Next, please announce the award results and present the trophies!”
Shhh—
The entire venue fell silent.
Everyone already knew who had won this year’s top honors,
But hearing it officially announced still sent chills down their spines.
Jiang Yingcai nodded, his smile growing even brighter.
He placed the speech draft on the podium and pulled out an envelope.
Tearing open the wax seal stamped with the convention’s logo, he removed the gilded letter and unfolded it:
“I hereby announce—”
“The winner of the Sixth Asia Esports Developer Conference’s 【Best Esports Game Crown Award】 and 【Best Esports Game Designer Award】 is—”
‘PUBG’! Gu Sheng!”
Boom—!!!
The home crowd went wild!
Roaring cheers thundered through the venue like a tidal wave!
Under the spotlight, all eyes turned toward the man at the edge of the stage—
Wearing a gray-blue suit and a Mickey Mouse watch on his wrist.
Click click click—
Flashes sparkled like a sea of stars—
All eyes on Gu Sheng!
He’d attended many large-scale conferences in his past life.
But a venue with tens of thousands of spectators—this was a first.
Naturally, he felt a mix of excitement and nerves.
Touching his watch, Gu Sheng smiled and walked up to the stage, steps steady, waving toward the audience.
At center stage, he shook hands with Jiang Yingcai, bowed slightly to put on the golden crown, then took the scepter handed to him with both of Jiang’s hands.
A new king was crowned.
The crowd roared in celebration—subjects of the realm called Golden Wind.
They posed for photos, shook hands, and then Jiang Yingcai exited, leaving the stage to Gu Sheng.
“It’s not plastic?”
Gu Sheng’s first line instantly cracked everyone up:
“My speech was going to start with: ‘Holding this heavy award, I’m deeply honored…’”
“But I was worried it’d be a letdown when I actually touched it. Turns out the organizers really shelled out—this thing is actually pretty heavy.”
A simple joke had the entire audience laughing.
Gu Sheng weighed the scepter in his hand. “Now I don’t feel any pressure starting my speech.”
“Holding this heavy award, I’m truly honored…”
Whoosh—!
Cheers erupted again, applause echoing throughout the venue.
Offstage, Shen Miaomiao was watching the man onstage confidently delivering his speech, each line stirring up a wave of applause—her eyes sparkled with delight.
Her big round eyes were practically crescent moons, and she couldn’t stop smiling.
The suit fit him so well.
And that watch—it was the perfect touch.
Hehe… I’ve got great taste, don’t I?
While she was basking in her joy, Chu Qingzhou nudged her with an elbow and coughed lightly:
“Hey, dial it back a bit, yeah? You’re looking a little smug. The media’s filming us.”
“Ah? Ah?”
Snapped back to reality, Shen Miaomiao jumped slightly.
“Wha… what? What’s wrong with my expression? I think it’s fine?”
“Can’t I admire my own game director? Without him, Golden Wind wouldn’t even exist. Am I wrong?”
Pfft.
Even someone as refined and classy as Chu Qingzhou couldn’t help laughing at her pompous tone.
“That’s admiration?”
Chu Qingzhou rolled her eyes.
“Girl, your eyes are practically dripping honey.”
Shen Miaomiao’s face turned bright red—
Like a kettle hitting full boil, steam puffing out of her twin buns.
“Wha—what kind of comment is that!?”
“How rude!”
“Who talks about their boss like that?!”
Seeing her flustered like that, Chu Qingzhou quickly raised her hands in surrender:
“Okay, okay, must’ve been the lighting. My mistake.”
“Yeah, exactly!” Shen Miaomiao nodded firmly. “It was the lighting. Nothing to do with me!”
“Right, right.”
Chu Qingzhou chuckled and shook her head slightly.
“Lighting. Totally lighting…”
“Exactly… just lighting…”
Shen Miaomiao fidgeted with her fingers, muttering to herself.
But she didn’t dare lift her head to look at the man on stage again—
The one with a crown on his head, a scepter in his hand, glowing with radiance.
She’d never been in a relationship.
No one had even tried to chase her.
Not because she wasn’t attractive—
Quite the opposite.
She was too dazzling.
Too perfect.
There’s a threshold in romantic pursuits—
Too far below, or too far above—it’s all the same.
Either way, no one dares to try.
She was like a porcelain doll—cute, delicate, flawless.
On top of that, she had a father like Shen Wanlin—a business tycoon who held power and influence.
Even the boldest punks had to think twice before going near.
Could they survive a visit from Shen Wanlin’s enforcers, wielding steel pipes?
So yeah, plenty of people secretly crushed on her.
But come forward?
Not a single one.
Yep. As of today, 23-year-old Shen Miaomiao’s entire understanding of romance came from TV dramas and stories from friends.
She had no clue what she was feeling right now.
And she didn’t want to think about it either.
Better to be an ostrich.
Ostriches are great.
Yep.
She scratched her face and peeked up again, sneaking another glance at the stage—
Just like a thief.
“…And finally, Golden Wind will keep moving forward, bringing fresh creativity and even more fun to players everywhere.”
“We will never stop exploring—”
“Because we’re—”
“Born this way!”
Cheers erupted again!
And then—
The lights went dark!
【Wu——emmmm——】
【Wu——emmmm——】
Soft humming, like a church choir, rose through the silence—
Brimming with power held in reserve, like the calm before a storm.
Then—
A voice emerged alongside the humming:
【Will you hold the line】
【When every one of them has given up and given in】
The energy built, gathering, brewing—
Snap!
The spotlight flared back to life!
And there he was—
A man with short golden hair, standing tall in a denim jacket, microphone in hand.
Behind him: a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer.
The moment this band appeared—
The cheers and screams that had just died down—
Exploded again!
Whooooosh—!!!
If Gu Sheng and Golden Wind were the expected climax of this closing ceremony—
Then Imagine Dragons performing live was the afterburner kicking in!
The entire arena shook with cheers!
At the same time—
The big screens around the stage lit up with a special PUBG closing ceremony trailer!
A hundred players parachuting into battle.
Gunfire and explosions, the struggle between life and death!
Pinpoint sniper shots from kilometers away—
Close-range lightning-fast takedowns!
A teammate pulling someone up in a smoke cloud—
An enemy roaring by outside on a dirt bike.
The music surged with the sound of engines, lightning, and thunder.
A carpet bombing strike lit up the sky—
Then—
Boom!
It crashed down!
All lights came on! Flames erupted on stage!
The crowd roared louder than ever, and—
Onstage, Dan Reynolds’s unique, raspy vocals burst out:
【And you're standing on the edge face up 'cause you're a——】
【NATURAL!!!】
Natural—the familiar track roared to life!
Its raw energy lit the place up like a match to a fuse!
The whole venue exploded!
Even Gu Sheng couldn’t help but get up, cheering with the crowd.
Holy sht!*
This is insane!
Now this is a real production!
He’d known the closing ceremony had lined up some big-name guests.
But Imagine Dragons?
Never saw that coming.
No wonder Jiang Yingcai had changed the last line of his speech to “Because we’re born this way.”
They’d planned this!
What a show!
As Dan Reynolds belted out the final line:
“Yeah, you’re a NA-TU-RAL!”
The crowd hit a second wave of peak excitement!
Then—
The DJ’s voice rang out:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby announce—”
“The PUBG Asia Invitational Exhibition Match—”
Begins now!”
Vrrrrooooom—SWOOSH——!!!
As the sound of a roaring airplane swept across the Bird’s Nest stadium—
A hundred motion-sensing pods lit up with dazzling lights at once!
Simultaneously—
All participating players saw their screens go black—
They were transported from the lobby to the game world.
“Hoo—Master, I’m getting nervous—”
A familiar Southern-accented voice echoed through squad comms—It was Tuanzi.
“No worries. Small stage. Today, we’re getting that chicken dinner.”
It was Ma-laoshi.
That’s right—
Among the final teams competing today were none other than the legendary culinary duo: Ma-laoshi and Tuanzi.
Of course—
Them making it to the finals had little to do with their actual skill.
Their MVPs were the other two in the squad: Liu Peiqie and XTT.
Peiqie needed no intro—a veteran FPS player since the days of CS, through the CrossFire era.
Even though age had dulled his edge, his fundamentals were still top-tier.
As for XTT—
Much like Tuanzi, he was a Gen-Z streamer who blew up during the PUBG craze.
One day, Peiqie’s regular teammate Xiaohei missed a stream—
XTT got auto-matched into their squad.
And he popped off.
Insanely accurate aim and cool-headed tactical calls. He blew up overnight.
At one point, he got so famous, viewers demanded Golden Wind investigate him for cheating—
Even though the VR pods were physically cheat-proof!
In the end, Golden Wind had to run a triple-round investigation and publicly clear him to calm the community.
Which, ironically, just made XTT even more popular.
So now this wild, ridiculous squad was here—
Two chefs, a boomer sniper, and a teen prodigy.
Win or lose, they’d made it to the big stage.
And they weren’t the only wildcards.
All 25 teams were cobbled together from influencers and casual players.
None could match a real pro team in raw strength.
But it was an exhibition match—
The audience just wanted a good show.
And they delivered.
Y City housing zone.
Swoosh!
Streamer Danu deployed his parachute and rolled onto a rooftop.
He sprinted to the loot pile—
Ammo, meds, a machete—but no gun.
Damn.
Even worse—
A Japanese streamer landed on the other side of the roof and immediately picked up a pistol.
The two locked eyes—
Danu’s face twisted. He bolted.
Bang! Bang bang bang!
Gunshots rang behind him—
Laughter followed:
“Hahahahaha~ shineee!!”
Blood sprayed from Danu’s back. His HP dropped by half!
Not good.
He hadn’t even started and was already about to die!
Then—idea!
He sprinted toward the roof’s edge—
Leapt—grabbed a window ledge—
Crash!
He dove into the next building through a window!
The crowd went wild!
Commentators shouted:
“An incredible parkour escape from Danu!”
But before he could even breathe—
Thump thump thump!
Footsteps echoed from below.
The Japanese streamer’s teammate was closing in!
Danu cursed under his breath and rushed into a side room, calling for backup while desperately searching for a weapon.
Nothing.
No gun.
Only a machete.
HP: 10%.
No backup.
The enemy was just seconds away.
Danu looked down at the blade in his hand…
“It’s a dead end!”
The shout of the commentator echoed through the arena:
“Despite an amazing escape, Danu is now cornered!”
“His teammates are too far to help—he has no guns—just a knife!”
“Are we about to witness the match’s first kill?!”
Crash!
The enemy kicked open the door, SMG raised—aimed at the kitchen suite.
The layout made it clear: Danu had to be in there.
But just as the trigger was about to be pulled—
THUMP—CLANG—WHOOSH!!
A machete flew out of the kitchen corner!
It ricocheted off the doorframe—
Spun—
THUNK!
Buried deep in the attacker’s neck!
Blood sprayed.
The Japanese player collapsed—
Dead!
First blood!
The commentators roared:
“OH MY GOD—Danu just scored the first kill with a trick shot!”
“He used the game’s physics engine to ricochet the blade—unbelievable!”
“What do you think the Japanese player is telling his teammates right now?” one caster asked.
“Probably this: ‘There’s a Draven on the second floor. Don’t go up!’”
The crowd lost it.
Laughter echoed across the stadium!
And with that—
The most imaginative first kill of the match kicked off a truly spectacular show!