Restart life

Chapter 562 0550 [Giving the Koreans a History Lesson]

Airport, VIP lounge.

Chen Guiliang and several staff members were having tea before he flew to Busan to attend G-Star (Korea Game Show).

This isn't GameSpot's first time exhibiting, but previously they simply set up a booth to sell games. Now, however, the responsibility for promoting GameSpot's various game products has been delegated to its Korean subsidiary.

As the chairman, Chen Guiliang still needs to go and see for himself.

"Mr. Chen, Wang Tao, the CEO of Sohu Changyou, has also arrived."

"That's quite a coincidence."

Sohu Changyou's exhibition team had already flown to South Korea in advance, with CEO Wang Tao only departing close to the opening ceremony.

“President Chen is here too.” Wang Tao came over and shook hands with him.

Chen Guiliang tried to poach him as soon as they met: "Old Wang, whenever you don't want to work at Sohu anymore, you're welcome to switch to our Youke anytime."

Wang Tao laughed and said, "Would you dare say that to Charles's (Zhang Chaoyang's) face?"

Chen Guiliang joked, "What's there to be afraid of? His depression hasn't fully healed yet. Let's take advantage of his illness and kill him."

The two often meet at various events and have become quite familiar with each other.

The talk of poaching people is just a joke; nobody takes it seriously.

Even if Zhang Chaoyang heard it, he wouldn't take it seriously.

Because Wang Tao's current position at Sohu is practically second only to the CEO. He is only responsible to Zhang Chaoyang, and can even disregard the Sohu CEO's authority, while the CEO has to curry favor with him.

This position, of course, was earned through real hard work and battles.

Especially after Zhang Chaoyang became depressed, he let Wang Tao make all the decisions, which actually made Sohu Changyou even more successful.

Sohu Changyou's market share is already very close to NetEase Games'!
It's worth noting that NetEase currently boasts two major strengths: Fantasy Westward Journey and World of Warcraft.

Wang Tao went to South Korea because "The Deer and the Cauldron" became a hit in the South Korean market.

Currently, the most popular Chinese game sold in the South Korean market is Yuke's "Oracle Era", followed by Sohu Changyou's "The Deer and the Cauldron".

Wang Tao naturally wanted to strike while the iron was hot and sell more Sohu games to South Korea, so he personally went to attend the South Korean game expo.

"When will Youke's 'My Own Swordsman' be released in South Korea?" Wang Tao asked tentatively.

Chen Guiliang smiled and said, "The localization for South Korea is complete, and we started internal testing last month. After this exhibition, we will choose a date for the official public beta."

Wang Tao said, "Then I wish your company great success."

At this time, the MMO game market in South Korea was in decline, but the number of competing products was increasing. This led to the MMO market becoming more fragmented, and a game that could reach 20 concurrent online users was considered a phenomenon.

Meanwhile, "The Deer and the Cauldron" maintained a consistent online user count of over 5 in South Korea, directly breaking into the top ten of the charts.

The distributor, Nexon, was very satisfied with "The Deer and the Cauldron," and not only did they promote it extensively, but they also lobbied the organizers to award "The Deer and the Cauldron" this time.

Given the quality of "Wulin Gaiden," it's sure to attract attention in the South Korean market. As long as its operation isn't too disastrous, it will be a long-term competitor to "The Deer and the Cauldron."

However, "The Deer and the Cauldron" also has an inherent advantage, namely that Jin Yong's novels are widely known in South Korea!

……

Chen Guiliang and Wang Tao arrived in Busan that day and attended a dinner at the hotel that evening, where they also met some representatives from global game companies.

In fact, most of them were familiar faces; I had seen them many times at the CJ exhibition.

The following morning, I attended the opening ceremony.

At the main forum, most of the speakers were representatives from South Korean companies. The only speakers from non-South Korean companies, besides Chen Guiliang, were the vice president of Blizzard.

Chen Guiliang's ability to give a speech was confirmed six months ago, and there's a reason why that $500 million was spent.

Moreover, as "Oracle Era" becomes increasingly popular, the guys at the Korea eSports Association are making more and more money.

Putting aside game quality, the reason why Blizzard's StarCraft 2 and Riot Games' League of Legends couldn't beat Oracle in South Korea is largely because they were unwilling to give the Koreans a break.

In contrast, Yuke is much more astute, taking no revenue from esports-related activities and leaving all profits to the Korea eSports Association. Wouldn't those scoundrels then aggressively promote "Oracle Era" as if it were their own game?
"Please welcome Mr. Chen Guiliang, China's richest man and chairman of Game Science and ByteDance, to give a speech!" The host deliberately dragged out the last syllable of the key words.

Although the audience members came from all over the world, half of them were representatives of South Korean companies.

Because of the immense popularity of "Oracle Era" in South Korea, they were already very familiar with Youke. But they were actually quite unfamiliar with Chen Guiliang, even after he became the richest man in the country.

Just like if you randomly ask a Chinese business owner in 2012, they will certainly know that Samsung is very powerful. But if you ask them what the chairman of Samsung is called, they may not be able to answer quickly, or they may simply answer that they don't know.

"Respected leaders and guests..."

"I am very pleased to be here to speak. I have a great love for Korean culture and have studied the history of the Korean Peninsula. During the Joseon Dynasty, there was a scholar named Yi Hwang, whose courtesy name was Toegye. He was hailed as the 'Zhu Xi of the East' at that time..."

"Mr. Li said that 'li' (principle) is the fundamental rule of the universe, and 'qi' (vital energy) is the basis of matter and emotion. He also proposed the theory of four fundamental principles and seven emotions..."

Chen Guiliang spoke Chinese, and a Korean translator stood beside him. Moreover, this Korean translator was a scholar of Confucianism, because ordinary translators simply wouldn't know how to express it.

The representatives from various countries couldn't understand what Chen Guiliang was saying at all.

The South Koreans present didn't really understand either, but that didn't stop them from feeling proud and honored. Because the richest man in China was talking at length about the great scholars and ideas of the Joseon Dynasty.

Some Koreans are even thinking: So, in our ancient times, besides King Sejong and Yi Sun-sin, we also had such a brilliant thinker.

"I say this to express that China and South Korea have always been close and friendly, and culturally very intimate..."

"General Yi Sun-sin is probably familiar to many Korean friends. I also know another naval admiral from that time. His name was Park In-ro, a comrade-in-arms of General Yi Sun-sin. During the war, General Park In-ro witnessed the destruction of the country and wrote a very moving poem, 'The Song of the Norgye'..."

"On the battlefield, white bones lie uncollected; in the village, only broken walls remain in autumn. The land remains, but people have changed; tears fall in the west wind, and hatred lingers... I wish I could wield a long sword to sweep away the evil forces, so that the world may be at peace and every household may enjoy prosperity!"

"What a beautiful poem! It expresses General Park In's love for his country and people, as well as his hatred for war and invaders..."

After Chen Guiliang finished reciting the poem, the Koreans in the audience applauded wildly.

Aside from the translator, nobody knew this poem; it was Chen Guiliang, China's richest man, who recited it to them.

South Korean reporters already know how to report this; they'll definitely go on and on praising Li Huang and Park In-ro, whom Chen Guiliang mentioned. They'll also emphasize that China's richest man loves Korean culture, blah blah blah…

Chen Guiliang was, of course, promoting "Wulin Gaiden": "The era in which Mr. Li Huang lived coincides with the timeline of the 'Wulin Gaiden' game. In the game, players can meet an NPC named Li Huang in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. He is the envoy sent to the Ming Dynasty by the Joseon Dynasty..."

Wang Tao was also sitting below, listening to Chen Guiliang ramble on in Chinese. After only a few sentences, he was dumbfounded.

How can they promote a game like this?

Moreover, from which nook and cranny did you, Old Master Chen, dig up these ancient Korean civil and military officials, their academic thoughts, and their poetry?

After Chen Guiliang finished his speech, the Koreans once again gave him a warm round of applause.

He stepped off the stage with a smile and returned to his seat, feeling no remorse whatsoever. After all, he was talking about ancient Korea; what did that have to do with modern South Koreans?

After the main forum concluded, several South Korean media outlets interviewed Chen Guiliang.

These reporters didn't ask much about the game's content; instead, they pressed Chen Guiliang about ancient Korea, leading him to praise how awesome ancient Korea was.

As Chen Guiliang spoke, he steered the conversation toward "Wulin Gaiden" and "Oracle Era," discussing the historical connections between certain characters in these two games and Korea.

As they left the meeting, Wang Tao gave a thumbs up: "President Chen, you're amazing! You can even talk about these things with the Koreans."

Chen Guiliang turned his head and looked around. Finding that no one was with him, he laughed and said, "The Koreans are uncultured. They can't even understand their own history books. I'll give them a history lesson."

They each attended a sub-forum, and then went together to the game expo.

Wang Tao's gaze lingered on the showgirls, and he couldn't help but say, "The showgirls here are generally prettier than those at our ChinaJoy exhibition."

Chen Guiliang commented, "They dress up better than us, especially with this Korean-style makeup. Moreover, many of the showgirls here have had plastic surgery; their features and figures are amazing."

"You can tell they've had surgery?" Wang Tao asked in surprise.

“What’s so hard to see? It’s too obvious,” Chen Guiliang said.

As a time traveler, how could I not notice that these showgirls generally have had plastic surgery?
In a few years, a whole bunch of them will emerge in China as well.

Wow, it's quite lively up ahead.

"Is a girl group performing?"

"Go over and take a look."

Accompanied by their entourage, Chen Guiliang and Wang Tao strolled over to the public exhibition area to join the fun.

The stage was surrounded by a dense crowd, and on stage, the group Secret was singing and dancing. This girl group is incredibly popular this year, and they were even invited to perform at a game expo.

Chen Guiliang had never seen a girl group perform live before, but unfortunately there were too many people and he couldn't squeeze in, so he could only catch a glimpse from afar.

"It's too far, watching the big screen is pointless. I'm leaving," Chen Guiliang said.

Wang Tao said, "I'll watch for a while longer."

When Chen Guiliang returned to his own exhibition area, not only were there many people at the Oracle Era booth, but there were also many players queuing up at the Wulin Gaiden booth.

Wu Zhenhao, CEO of Youke's Korean subsidiary, said, "The response to 'Wulin Gaiden' is very good. After the official open beta, it should be able to reach a peak of 10 concurrent online users."

At that time, in the South Korean game market, an MMO game with a peak concurrent user count of 10 would easily rank in the top five, and might even have a chance to break into the top three.

It's not even a fraction of the Chinese market.

Chen Guiliang praised, "You've done a great job. I'm very reassured."

Wu Zhenhao said in a low voice, "Does the chairman have any favorite Korean celebrities? A gentleman wants to invite you to dinner, and we can invite a female celebrity to accompany you. As long as she's not a very famous one, we can get her here quickly."

Chen Guiliang really didn't dare to do anything reckless in South Korea, mainly because he was afraid of being secretly photographed, but he also had to give face to the person who was treating him: "I remember there's a very beautiful actress named Park Han-byul. Remember, just drink, don't do anything else."

(End of this chapter)