The "Investiture of the Gods" system launched by oo had an unprecedented effect, with the entire internet exploding in an instant.
"Holy crap, oo's Investiture of the Gods system is so f***ing cool!"
"Right? You can level up just by chatting, isn't that like playing a game?"
"Come on, I'm going to be the first Nascent Soul cultivator in China, I'm posting this as proof!"
"Damn it, I'm not interested in Nascent Soul, I'm only interested in the Golden Core stage. I really want the invisible login feature, I'm being pestered to death by my dozen or so female netizens."
"Dude upstairs, I'm worse off than you. Hundreds of female netizens find me every day, and I can't ignore them. I spend all day replying to messages."
"You two upstairs are geniuses. The guy downstairs is selling Huiren Shenbao, interested?"
In the blink of an eye, major forums across the country were abuzz with discussions about the Investiture of the Gods system launched by oo. Most of them thought oo's update was awesome and highly attractive, earning widespread praise.
Of course, there's no shortage of contrarians in this world, and the more popular something is, the more contrarians it attracts. Soon, contrarians began complaining on forums that oo was forcing users to stay online.
They also claimed it was a conspiracy between telecom companies and oo to rip people off for their internet fees. Some even complained that the cultivation system was a mishmash, stating that according to the orthodox Qi refining system in Daoism, it should be refining essence into Qi, Qi into spirit, spirit into void, void into the Dao, and finally achieving ascension. They claimed oo didn't understand Chinese traditional culture and was corrupting national treasures.
However, another group of people accused oo of promoting feudal superstition, spreading dregs, and propagating cultural garbage. In any case, you can't stop a contrarian's mouth!
But regardless of what was being said on the forums, oo's backend data was concrete. Within six hours of the official launch of oo's Investiture of the Gods system, oo's concurrent online users surged from an initial 890,000 to 2.2 million, and this number continued to climb, almost catching up to the concurrent users during the launch of oo Voice.
The most significant point was that once many users logged in, they were unwilling to log out, maintaining an idle state. This meant that oo's concurrent online users would likely continue to rise until midnight, with breaking 2.5 million being a matter of minutes, and breaking QQ's record of 3 million concurrent users seemed within reach.
At the same time, the discussion heat surrounding oo's Investiture of the Gods across the entire internet intensified. Most of it was bragging about how fast people were upgrading, and some even posted screenshots of themselves having reached the Golden Core stage, only to be bombarded with criticism.
"You think you're playing an online game? The more monsters you kill, the faster you level up? This is leveling up with time. Everyone stays online, and the levels are the same. If you have the guts, post your oo ID for everyone to see!"
Well, once an oo ID was posted, users could search for it to view basic user information. At the same time, oo's cultivation level would also be displayed, and whether the level was real or fake would naturally be clear at a glance.
Among these posts, apart from most of them being boastful, there were also some discussing the cultivation system of the Investiture of the Gods, and some discussing the newly released oo emoji packs, and so on. In any case, oo became a hot topic across the entire internet in one day, completely becoming a sensation.
All of this made Tengda and Brother Ma's blood boil, and they kept urging Zhang Zhidong. Fortunately, Zhang Zhidong himself didn't falter and over-fulfilled the task, completing the version update three hours ahead of Brother Ma's deadline. QQ then proudly posted its update announcement, launching its QQ level system.
After completing the final work, Zhang Zhidong's face revealed a smile, but he couldn't endure the intense exhaustion anymore. He lay down directly on the sofa in the lounge and fell asleep.
Zhang Zhidong didn't know how long he slept. When he woke up, he found that everyone was still working. Upon inquiring, he learned that he had slept for 16 hours, from the afternoon to the morning of the next day.
"How's the situation, what's the user feedback, and are there any major bugs?" Zhang Zhidong asked, actually knowing that there shouldn't be any major bugs, otherwise he wouldn't have slept so soundly. So, his heart was actually quite calm and happy.
However, his subordinates' emotions didn't seem very high. Hearing Zhang Zhidong's question, one of them replied in a dejected tone, "There aren't any major bugs, but that's about it."
"What do you mean by that?" Zhang Zhidong's heart sank. Could something have gone wrong?
"Boss, the entire internet is cursing us for plagiarism. Our ancestors have been cursed by those people! Why? This was clearly developed by ourselves!!" Hearing Zhang Zhidong's question, the programmer's emotions instantly erupted, and he cried out, feeling extremely wronged.
Zhang Zhidong stopped talking and began to browse mainstream forums like Tianya, Sohu, and Mop. The more he read, the uglier his expression became, but he also understood the situation.
Simply put, the entire internet was now cursing QQ.
"What the hell is this? QQ copied oo so blatantly?"
"Damn it, oo launched the Investiture of the Gods system yesterday, and today QQ copied the QQ level system. It's so shameless."
"Exactly, and it's a poor imitation. Although oo's Investiture of the Gods and immortal system are common, they are at least Chinese traditional culture. But what are your stars and moons? What is this nonsense? It's too low!"
"They're not low, they're playing with constellations and tarot cards, do you understand?"
"Heh, as expected of a company sold to Japanese people. They don't use Chinese traditional culture and insist on using others' things. QQ, get out of China!"
"Brothers, I just arrived, what's going on? Didn't we used to spray oo for plagiarism? Why are we spraying QQ for plagiarism now? What's happening!"
"Nothing much, we just feel that QQ can't even copy properly. oo did start by copying QQ, but oo copied well. Not only was registration simple and the interface beautiful, but they also launched new features like planting vegetables, message in a bottle, and voice. And which of these features didn't QQ end up copying from us? As a result, QQ can't even copy well, it's simply idiotic!"
"Exactly, if you're going to copy, copy it all! Copy the invisible login and oo emojis too. I'm a five-digit QQ user and I think this feature is amazing. If you don't give it to me, I'll really have to switch!"
"User upstairs, where did you get your five-digit QQ number? Tell us."
...
There's no need to say more about such comments and posts. Zhang Zhidong didn't even have the courage to continue reading and directly closed the page. At the same time, he finally understood his employees' feelings.
It was a stab in the heart to have a feature they created themselves be called a copy. And now, to be criticized by the entire internet for not even being able to copy properly was like being stabbed again after already being wounded, and this second stab was with a blade coated in mustard, which hurt immensely.