ca-book Chapter 446: Long enough is fine too
Chapter 446: Long enough is fine too
Lu Ran suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils contracted sharply, and the clothes on his back were soaked with sweat, sticking to his skin in a cool and sticky way.
He stared at the ceiling, fragments of that dream still lingering in his mind.
There was nothing in my dream.
Shen Yuege is gone, the company is gone, and he stands alone in a vast, white, empty field. There is nothing around him, and no one responds when he calls anyone's name.
He sat up abruptly, the movement so sudden that it woke Shen Yuege, who was sitting next to him.
Shen Yuege was also startled awake and quickly asked what had happened.
Lu Ran found the dream he had just had bizarre and couldn't figure it out himself, so he didn't tell Shen Yuege for the time being, afraid that she would worry.
After confirming that Lu Ran was alright, Shen Yuege went back to sleep.
Lu Ran didn't lie down. He raised his hand and slapped his face hard.
The sharp crack was particularly clear in the quiet bedroom, and even he felt a little pain.
He slapped it again, this time harder, and his cheek burned with pain.
Shen Yuege was completely awakened by his two slaps. She opened her eyes and looked at him, her expression changing from dazed to confused, then to wary: "What are you doing? Sleepwalking? Slapping yourself in the middle of the night?"
Lu Ran did not answer immediately.
He sat on the bed, staring at his reddened palms, then raised his hand and pinched his thigh.
This time it hurt even more, and he winced in pain.
He let out a long breath, and his whole body slowly slumped down like a deflated balloon, leaning against the headboard.
"I had a dream. A very vivid dream, it scared me to death."
Shen Yuege sat up in bed, reached out and touched his forehead. It wasn't hot. She then touched his face; it was a little warm—warm from the two slaps she'd given him. She withdrew her hand, leaned against the headboard, and turned to look at him: "What dream scared you like that?"
"I dreamt that I woke up," Lu Ran said.
Shen Yuege was taken aback: "You're awake? Aren't you awake right now?"
"It wasn't that kind of waking up. It was that kind of... I realized that everything I had experienced before was fake. I'm not in this era at all, I'm still in my original world, you don't exist, the company doesn't exist, nothing exists. I'm lying alone in my rented room, covered with a thin blanket, it's raining outside, and the ceiling is leaking."
After listening, Shen Yuege remained silent for a while.
She didn't ask Lu Ran what he meant by "the original world," attributing it to Lu Ran's overworked mind.
Writing games, writing scripts, handling paperwork, taking care of her—all these things piled up together would break a normal person, let alone someone like Lu Ran who takes on everything himself.
She reached out and pulled Lu Ran's hand over to place on her stomach.
Although it has been two months, my belly has not changed much.
"Can you feel it?" she asked.
Lu Ran placed his palm on her stomach, feeling the warmth of her skin.
After a while, his palm was gently nudged by something. Although he felt it was probably just his imagination, Lu Ran still felt a connection between them.
The baby moved.
Lu Ran stood there, gently stroking Shen Yuege's belly.
They moved very gently, even their breathing was slowed down, for fear of disturbing what was happening inside.
"Do you still think it's a dream?" Shen Yuege's voice was very soft.
Lu Ran shook his head.
He dared not speak too loudly, for fear that his voice would tremble as soon as he opened his mouth.
He placed his hand on Shen Yuege's belly, feeling the fetal movements inside, and feeling the solid warmth and contours under his palm.
It took him quite a while to breathe normally again.
He turned to the side, pressed his face against Shen Yuege's stomach, closed his eyes and listened for a while, but heard nothing, and he didn't care.
He stayed there until Shen Yuege reached out and pushed him away, saying, "It's a little itchy."
He lay back down on the pillow, put his hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling.
The streetlights outside shone through the gaps in the curtains, casting a thin yellow line on the ceiling.
He stared at the yellow line, the fragments of the dream in his mind slowly dissipating, like sugar being poured into hot water, fading more and more.
"Still can't sleep?" Shen Yuege asked.
"You're not sleepy anymore now that you're awake. You should go to sleep."
Shen Yuege didn't sleep.
She turned over, lying on her side facing him, one hand resting on his chest, the warmth of her palm seeping through her pajamas.
She said, "Let's chat for a while, and then go to sleep when we're sleepy."
The two of them lay there in the dark, chatting idly.
They talked about what to name their child after birth, when Shen Yuege would be able to sing on stage again, and when Lu Ran's company's games would be sold overseas.
As they talked, Shen Yuege's voice grew softer and softer until it became even breathing. Her hand, which had been on his chest, slowly slid down to his waist.
As Lu Ran listened to her steady breathing, he gradually relaxed as well.
He closed his eyes, and this time he didn't have a nightmare.
He slept so soundly that he was woken up by his phone alarm the next morning.
He picked up his phone, turned off the alarm, and glanced at the time: 7:30 in the morning.
Shen Yuege was still asleep, wrapped tightly in the blanket, with only the top of her head showing.
He tiptoed out of bed, went to the bathroom to wash his face, and looked at himself in the mirror. There was still a red mark on his cheek from last night's slapping, but it was almost gone.
He nodded to himself in the mirror, brushed his teeth, changed his clothes, and went downstairs.
Priscilla Chan was already busy in the kitchen. Porridge was cooking in a pot on the stove, and steamed buns and dumplings were being heated in a steamer next to it.
The elderly couple were mainly worried about Shen Yuege, so they decided to stay here for the next few days.
It just so happens that Lu Ran can also take some time to go to the company.
When she saw Lu Ran come down, she asked if he was going to the company today.
Lu Ran said he was going; there were a few things he needed to keep an eye on today.
Priscilla Chan nodded, ladled a bowl of porridge for him and placed it on the table, then put two steamed buns on a plate, saying he should finish eating before leaving.
Lu Ran sat down to eat, scrolling through his phone as he ate.
Zhou Mingzhe has already sent a message in the work group saying that the contact person from the Ministry of Culture has sent a list of materials, asking us to prepare company qualification certificates, project introductions, product descriptions, and other related documents.
Old Wang replied that the information was already being compiled, most of it was readily available, and the missing few would be added in the next couple of days.
Zhao Yiming posted a photo of the pile of documents on his workstation, with the caption, "See this pile of stuff? It's all forms to fill out today."
Lu Ran replied "Thanks for your hard work" in the group chat, then left the chat and sent Zhao Yiming a private message: "How's the progress of the CrossFire Biohazard mode?"
Zhao Yiming replied to a video call request instantly. Lu Ran answered the call, and Zhao Yiming's face took up almost half the screen. His dark circles were even more pronounced than when they last met.
He said the underlying logic of the biohazard mode has been working, the switching mechanism between the human and ghost factions is fine, and they are currently making balance adjustments.
The damage parameters for human weapons have been adjusted three times, and this is the third version. The test results show that the Ghost's win rate is around 45%, while the Human's is 55%. He thinks this ratio is acceptable, but he wants to adjust it again.
Lu Ran said there was no need to adjust it; 45% to 55% was already quite balanced.
The Infinite Firepower mode doesn't need balancing, but the Biohazard mode is different. The Biohazard mode needs to be competitive and can't be one-sided.
But this ratio is already sufficient; we can fine-tune it based on player data after launch. Zhao Yiming agreed, and then moved on to the stress testing phase.
Lu Ran asked him how long the stress test would take, and Zhao Yiming said it would take a week if it was quick, and two weeks if it was slow.
Lu Ran said one week, don't drag it out too long, and try to launch the biohazard mode next month.
Zhao Yiming said time was a bit tight, and Lu Ran said overtime pay would be doubled.
Zhao Yiming's expression brightened noticeably, and he said that was no problem, it would be done in a week.
After hanging up the video call, Lu Ran finished his meal, cleared away the dishes, and told Chen Huixian that he might not be home for dinner that night, and that she didn't need to wait for him.
Then I went out and took a taxi to the company.
When I arrived at the company, it was just past nine o'clock, and everyone in the technical department was already there.
Zhao Yiming was sitting at his workstation, busy working in front of three monitors, with a cup of coffee that had gone cold next to him.
Old Wang stood behind him, and the two of them were discussing something in front of the screen. Their voices were very low, but their tone didn't sound like they were arguing; it sounded more like they were working together to refine a plan.
Lu Ran walked over and asked them what they were discussing.
Old Wang pointed to a line of code on the screen and said there was a potential performance bottleneck here, which might slow down the server response during large-scale concurrency.
Zhao Yiming said he felt this bottleneck wouldn't have a significant impact, as the number of players online simultaneously hadn't reached that level yet.
Old Wang said it's better to be prepared; it's too late to fix things when problems actually arise.
Lu Ran stood by and listened for two minutes, then said, "Let's listen to Lao Wang and optimize the things that aren't urgent now."
Zhao Yiming nodded and said okay, he would modify the architecture, which would probably take two more days. Lu Ran said two days it is, don't rush the work, quality comes first.
He returned to his office, turned on his computer, and took another look at the progress of the procedures in Europe.
Zhou Mingzhe has already arranged for colleagues in the operations and legal departments to prepare the materials. They are going through the list given by Zhou Deming item by item, and most of them are ready. The only missing details are for a few companies, which are also being prepared.
Lu Ran calculated the time: it would take about a week to prepare all the materials, and the approval period after submission would be one to two months. If all went smoothly, the European version could be launched before the end of summer vacation.
Looking at the dates marked on the calendar, he had a general idea of what was going on.
The European version was launched in early September, and the first wave of promotions took place in October. The period around Christmas is the peak season for the European game market, so it was a perfect time to launch the game.
The pace wasn't fast, but it was steady.
He leaned back in his chair, his mind starting to wander to something else.
League of Legends global league.
He had been thinking about this since before the game was even released.
He had personally witnessed the immense popularity of the S-series tournament in his previous life. Tens of millions of people around the world watched the finals online simultaneously, and the stadium was packed with tens of thousands of people. The entire stadium cheered when the players took the stage and erupted in cheers when they won the championship.
That kind of scene is not just a sporting event; it's a cultural phenomenon.
There is no World Championship (S-Series) in this world, not even a decent global esports league.
Each country's competition is conducted independently, with little interaction between players, and the audience has no idea which teams from other countries are strong.
If a global league can be established ahead of time, the influence of League of Legends will extend beyond the game itself; it will become a competitive language that transcends national borders.
Lu Ran retrieved the complete operational plan for the S-series tournament from his previous life from the system library. The tournament format, schedule, broadcasting rights, and commercial cooperation were all clearly outlined.
He doesn't need to copy everything now, but he can use the core framework.
He organized his thoughts and wrote a few points in the document.
The first global finals will be held at the end of the year, about two months after the European version is launched, to give players and teams an adaptation period.
Participating teams are selected according to their respective regions. Two teams will be selected from the China region, two from the Europe region, and other regions will be temporarily combined into one wildcard region to select one team.
A total of five teams will compete in a single round-robin tournament, with the top two teams advancing to the finals.
The prize money doesn't need to be too high; the focus for the first edition is to build a reputation, and a total prize pool of $500,000 will suffice.
The main thing is that the competition itself needs to have a sense of ceremony, the venue needs to be large, the broadcast needs to be professional, the commentators need to be engaging, and even good-looking people can do it.
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