Offside game

On November 1st, three companies—DreamGames, Tiandi Software, and Yubi International—simultaneously held a press conference in Yanjing to announce that Pangu Studio, a subsidiary of DreamGames, would release its latest game, *Mechanical Civilization*, following the hugely successful sales hit *Historic Evolution*. A game CG trailer was shown at the event, and it was announced that Tiandi Software and Yubi International would again be responsible for the PC version's distribution in Asia and outside Asia, respectively.

At the press conference, Liu Jun, who also serves as the general manager of Fantasy Games, announced that after the game's release, he will authorize Lechang Network Platform to release enhancement patches for the game and enable the binding service between the official CD key of "Mechanical Civilization" and Lechang account, realizing online battle functions similar to "Historic Evolution".

In response to a reporter's question about the game engine, Liu Jun revealed that *Mechanical Civilization* uses the same Pangu Engine as *Historic Evolution*, a top-tier game engine developed by Pangu Studio. The official website of the game will provide dedicated testing software that can test a player's computer hardware configuration, recommending an appropriate game performance level, and automatically adjusting the game settings accordingly to ensure smooth gameplay. This game engine's performance is broadly divided into four levels; most mainstream configurations can achieve full Level I performance, while some high-end configurations can achieve some Level II performance.

This press conference also attracted attention from the industry and players. Some media outlets used headlines like "Another Miracle?" to report the news, marveling at Pangu Studios' efficiency and strength. However, others pointed out that games from well-known companies like Blizzard take several years to develop before being released, while Pangu Studios released two games in just three months, thus questioning the quality of the new game. Although *Prehistoric Evolution* created a sales miracle, *Mechanical Civilization* seems to have many similarities to *Prehistoric Evolution* in terms of gameplay, so the new game's performance is not viewed favorably.

Regardless, many players have expressed their anticipation for "Mechanical Civilization" on various gaming websites and forums, while Tiandi Software and Yubi International continue to sell "Historic Evolution" and have also begun busy preparations for the release of the new game.

The Lechang-Free Man Cup CS Tournament, which lasted for half a month, has finally come to an end. In the final round-robin stage, the Dragon and Beauty team won the championship with a perfect record of four wins, receiving a prize of 5 RMB. At the final award ceremony, Han Xue, the public relations manager of Lechang Network, presented the prize money to Ji Feng, the team captain. It was also announced that the five members of the Dragon and Beauty team will sign contracts to join "Dream Professional Gaming Club" under Dream International, becoming members of the first professional CS team in China.

This news has also attracted the attention of many players in China. After all, in this competition, the strength of the Dragon and Beauty team was fully demonstrated to all players who care about the competition. Both the strong strength of their individual members and the tacit cooperation between the teams were recognized by everyone.

Meanwhile, on Lechang Network's forums, many players expressed their hope that Lechang could organize similar competitions in various regions. In response, the official website issued an announcement stating that Lechang Network would organize similar competitions nationwide at an appropriate time to select outstanding players to join the Dream Club, which has been highly anticipated by many players.

After all, at that time, computer games were still largely seen as a waste of time and not recognized by the mainstream. This was a source of frustration for many game enthusiasts. This atmosphere contrasted sharply with the government-supported gaming industry and esports in neighboring South Korea. Many gamers found the professional gaming environment in South Korea very appealing. The recent Lechang Network competition, especially the establishment of professional gaming clubs, gave many players with this mindset a glimpse into the possibility of realizing their dreams.

Then, on November 6th, Dream International and Freeman Internet Cafe Chain jointly held a press conference. At the conference, the five members of the Dragon and Beauty team officially signed contracts to join the Dream International Professional Gaming Club, becoming professional players with a monthly salary of 11 yuan, and additional bonuses based on their competition results. Freeman Internet Cafe Chain also signed the Dream International team as its brand ambassadors. The team members will participate in some of Freeman Internet Cafe Chain's events, and all Freeman's internet cafes will display large posters featuring the five members.

Ji Feng and his four companions appeared at the press conference wearing the Dream Team uniforms. The front of the uniforms featured the logos of Dream International and Lechang Network, while the logo of Freeman Internet Cafe Chain, one of the club's sponsors, was also displayed on the left arm of the uniforms.

This competition also brought significant benefits to the Freeman Internet Cafe chain. Firstly, their brand awareness increased considerably after the competition garnered nationwide attention, which will facilitate their future expansion into other regions. Secondly, during the competition, the revenue of Freeman's internet cafes increased significantly, naturally pleasing the chain's owner. Consequently, the owner proactively proposed a series of cooperation requests at the end. After all, maintaining a good cooperative relationship with Lechang Networks would ensure their participation in many of Lechang's future activities, achieving a win-win situation.

At the end of the press conference, Dream International also announced that it will jointly invest with Freeman Internet Cafe Chain to build a large internet cafe near the university town, where Dream Club will be located.

Everything went as planned, and Ji Feng, Ji Rong, and the other team members were all very excited, agreeing to have fun together that evening. Ji Feng naturally thought of Su Yi and called to invite him over. Su Yi had just finished dealing with the new game and had no other plans for the time being, so he agreed.

Besides the prize money from the competition, each member of the team now enjoys a substantial fixed income, and the newly acquired endorsement contract with the Freelance Internet Cafe chain also provides them with a share of the endorsement fees. Most importantly, having finally gone from ordinary gaming enthusiasts to professional players, they are all incredibly excited and have unanimously decided to celebrate wildly today.

Of the five members of the team, besides Ji Feng and Ji Rong, one was a student and the other two were young people already working. However, because of joining the club, they all quit their jobs and prepared to become full-time professional players. Two of them brought their girlfriends, so including Su Yi, there were eight people in total.

First, they decided to have a big meal. The five of them found a nice restaurant and ordered a variety of dishes to celebrate the realization of their dream. The atmosphere during the meal was very lively. Everyone drank some alcohol, but because there were other activities to come, no one drank too much. Su Yi already knew all of them, so there was no need for introductions. They chatted back and forth, mostly about the competition and their hopes for the future.

After dinner, the group went to a well-known disco nearby to relax. Su Yi had never been to such a place before, so he found it quite novel. However, the others seemed quite familiar with the environment; even Ji Feng seemed completely at home, his eyes scanning the beautiful women inside like radar. Everyone flocked to the dance floor and began to dance freely.

Ji Rong had a hot figure and very skillful dance moves, which attracted a lot of attention and showed her wild side. Su Yi gradually relaxed and blended into the crowd on the dance floor. He found it quite interesting. Seeing his perfect and handsome appearance, quite a few girls around him cast glances at him.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the crowd, and many girls cried out and retreated. Su Yi looked over and saw Ji Feng twisting the arm of a young man dressed as a thug and squeezing through the swaying crowd. Su Yi saw Ji Rong kick another man in the groin, and the man immediately clutched his groin in pain, screaming and curling up on the ground like a shrimp.

Su Yi didn't know why they were clashing with these people, but it seemed there were quite a few of them, seven or eight of them surrounding them. Su Yi stepped forward and kicked one of the men charging at Ji Feng from behind, sending the man flying and rolling on the ground with a howl. Ji Rong seemed to be quite skilled as well; her pointed high heels delivered a powerful kick to the knee of the man charging at her, a sight that amazed Su Yi. The man naturally clutched his knee, crying out in pain.

The crowd was chaotic; some ran towards the exit, while others watched the commotion. Su Yi pulled over a member of his team who was about to charge forward, and amidst the blaring music, shouted for him and the others to keep an eye on the two girls they had brought. He himself joined Ji Feng and Ji Rong's group. With the three of them quickly subdued the group, Su Yi didn't bother asking about the previous events and led a few people out of the disco. Because they dealt with the situation so swiftly, they didn't alert the security guards outside, as the place was already noisy.

They walked out of the disco and were relieved to see everyone was still there. Su Yi asked Ji Feng what had happened, and Ji Feng said he didn't know either; he just saw Ji Rong fighting with someone and went to help her. The others looked at Ji Rong questioningly, and Ji Rong pouted and said, "Those bastards were getting close to me and making advances, so I kicked the leader, and then the fight started."

No wonder, with such a hot beauty like Ji Rong appearing in that kind of place, it's inevitable that she would attract the attention of a bunch of wolves.