Before Notch could recover from Rookie's blunt lecture, he was already stuffed into the game pod, and his vision instantly fell into darkness.
He stayed stunned in that darkness for a long time, thinking about one question.
'Am I really the CEO of Zero Company and the founder of Minecraft…?'
The reason Notch was thinking about this wasn't without cause. To be honest, he really had been having a miserable time lately.
He had already achieved financial freedom, enjoying beaches, beauties, and fine wine, but because of Xu Yuan's appearance he was forcibly called back by the company.
After that, his status could be said to have plummeted.
When he was with Stephen, they did get along pretty well, but Stephen often treated him like a workhorse.
Not long after that, they ran into Xu Yuan, which marked the beginning of Notch's nightmare. From that moment on, Notch felt like all his titles had instantly become meaningless.
When he first met Xu Yuan, he got scolded by him before he even understood what was going on.
After that, feeling unwilling to accept it, he turned to Rookie hoping for some comfort, wanting at least a little warmth and encouragement.
But who would have thought that even Rookie didn't give him a good look, and instead took the chance to lecture him too.
These repeated blows left Notch feeling quite wronged, but he didn't collapse because of it. After some time adjusting himself, he finally pulled himself together again.
Thinking everything was finally back on track, he left the Trial Grounds first, wanting to prepare the way for Xu Yuan ahead of time. But the moment he left, he was caught by D.
D didn't show any mercy either and immediately arranged a deluxe double treatment for both his body and mind.
Even though D kept calling him "Lord Creator," his actions were like rubbing salt into his wounds. The respect was only verbal.
After that, Notch was tossed into the Nameless Place like a piece of trash. Before he could even say a few words to J, the server was already crashed by Rookie.
As the company's boss, Notch hadn't even gotten the chance to question Rookie yet, and instead got scolded again.
As a company CEO and the founder of the game, shouldn't he be treated like royalty in both the real world and the game world?
But the reality was that he kept getting treated like a beast of burden. No, even worse than that.
At worst, a beast of burden just gets ridden on the back. But Notch was clearly getting ridden right on his face!
Thinking about this, Notch was full of anger.
"Damn it! Does nobody respect me at all?!"
Although Notch was full of grievances with nowhere to vent, he knew very clearly that now wasn't the time to let his emotions out.
He also understood that the reason things had turned out like this was ultimately because he had been avoiding his responsibilities for too long.
For so many years he hadn't fulfilled the duties a game founder should, so of course he felt like his identity had been hollowed out.
After all, if he had truly done everything a founder should have done, he would definitely be in control of the whole situation right now, and things wouldn't have ended up like this.
To put it simply, the reason he wasn't respected was because he didn't actually have the strength that matched his title.
It could only be said that Xu Yuan's words still carried weight. What he said when they first met was still proving true even now…
Thinking this far, Notch finally calmed down. After taking several deep breaths, his heart gradually settled.
"If I want respect, I need to show the strength that comes with this identity!"
With that thought, Notch silently closed his eyes and began trying to recall his state of mind when he first started developing the game and when he created the Blade of the God of War…
At that moment, Notch's office was deathly silent, so quiet it was terrifying.
Old Wu felt like the whole room was covered by some invisible pressure, making it hard for him to even breathe.
He could clearly hear the sound of his own heartbeat. That thump thump thump rhythm sounded especially loud in the silence.
Every shout and every footstep outside the office sounded to him like alarm bells ringing in a prisoner's ears.
And at this moment, the only two people who could save him were already in a "playing dead" state.
To make sure he was safe, Old Wu had nervously checked the office door lock more than fifteen times, afraid someone would suddenly rush in and arrest him on the spot.
Right now he was like sitting on pins and needles, like thorns in his back, like a bone stuck in his throat.
Just as he was about to get up for the sixteenth time to check the door lock again, the phone Rookie had left on the table suddenly began vibrating violently.
That sudden sound was like thunder in the quiet room, instantly scaring Old Wu out of his wits.
"Holy hell!! That scared me to death!!!" Old Wu blurted out in dialect, his face pale as he instinctively stepped back a few steps.
After quite a while, he finally managed to steady himself. With trembling hands, he picked up the phone.
Seeing the unfamiliar number on the screen, he didn't even think before hanging up and planning to shut the phone off to avoid further trouble.
However, when he accidentally noticed the more than 400 missed calls and over 100 unread messages on the phone, he finally gave up on the idea of turning it off.
Old Wu looked through them roughly. The 400-plus calls had all come from four people.
The four contact names were: Steve, Steve Husband (Old), Steve Lover, and Steve Husband (New).
Seeing these four names, Old Wu instantly turned into the "old man on the subway staring at his phone" meme.
"Kids these days really play this wild?…"
Although Old Wu couldn't really understand what Husband (New) and Husband (Old) meant, from the sheer number of missed calls and messages he could feel how anxious this family of four around Steve must be.
"These kids must be worried sick… and Rookie didn't even bother to call them back…"
While Old Wu was muttering to himself, the phone rang again. This time it was Steve Husband (Old).
Seeing this, Old Wu quickly pressed the answer button. The moment the call connected, wailing came from the other side.
"What the hell are you doing?!!!!!!!"
"Did someone possess you?!!! Or were you f*cking bribed?!!!"
"Didn't that bastard D already die?! What the hell could he use to bribe you?! Ghost money?!!!"
"I've got ghost money too!! Just name your price!!!"
Hearing this string of colorful insults, Old Wu finally understood why the person on the other end had become the "old" husband.
Although Old Wu got scolded for nothing, he didn't get angry. He could understand Steve Husband (Old). After all, when he couldn't get through to Rookie earlier, he had cursed Rookie countless times in his own mind too.
After waiting for the other side to finish venting, Old Wu finally spoke, "Um… done cursing?"
"Rookie isn't here, but I'll pass on your words to him word for word."
"Oh right, I'll send you a number later. You, Steve, his new husband, and his lover, the four of you make a group chat and add me too."
"We'll talk about what exactly happened in the group."
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