**Na Collision!**
"That was their idea first..."
We worked so hard to co up with a na, only to find it was already taken!
"I told you they ca up with it first!"
"Can't 'they' just change it—"
"No."
A group of "youngsters" who hadn’t attended college were disappointed to discover the na collision. During the eting, they had overloaded the other attendees with excessive information. It wasn’t until Manxing went back to tidy up that she realized sothing was off. But after so thought, she realized the ga really suited the na "Learning Pass," as the focus on learning outweighed the gaming aspect.
Still, sothing felt strange.
So, within the company, the employees, feeling a bit awkward, decided to change the na to "Learning Pass (Cat Edition)." The final na would be decided later, as there was still plenty of ti from ga design to official release.
However, internal testing and seminars could start right away.
The eting was held online, scheduled on a weekday, with key mbers from the branch offices attending. You Zhenzhen even brought Tian Shi, who was slacking off at her own company, to the eting.
This ti, Chu Tingwu explained the ga design more clearly. Tian Shi listened and couldn’t help but remark:
"Seems like... a huge investnt?"
But it also sounded really fun.
Tian Shi wasn’t technically an employee of Wu Voice Group, but due to various connections, she always managed to sneak into important etings. She had gone from being a fan to soone with insider information, collaborating long-term with her idol’s company on outsourced projects... a truly dedicated fan.
Tian Shi: "=="
After listening to the eting next door, she couldn’t help but co up with several ideas and additional designs. She opened a new docunt and started typing. But as she typed, her boss sent her a ssage, asking her to co to the office.
Tian Shi: "..."
Oh no.
While their company usually turned a blind eye to employees doing outsourced work, Tian Shi was embarrassed to realize—she wasn’t actually doing outsourced work this ti. She usually didn’t do her side projects in the office... because this ti, she was providing designs for free, without charging her idol.
She was basically working out of love!
But her boss didn’t care about that.
After finishing overti and returning to her rented apartnt, Tian Shi lay on the sofa. The billboard outside her window had already changed its content. This was downtown Sea City, a symbol of prosperity and expense. She had graduated from a prestigious university, outcompeted all her peers to land her current job... but the initial excitent and passion had long since cooled. After work, she spent most of her ti in a daze.
Later, she decided she couldn’t go on like this and picked up her old hobby—chasing idols and creating fan content. To produce better content for her idol, she used her spare ti to continue improving herself. Over the years, the only idol she still followed was Chu Tingwu... and she had even infiltrated her idol’s company.
Whatever, ti to sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll check when the national biology competition results co out.
But the next morning, Tian Shi received a different call.
It was from Wu Voice Group headquarters, formally asking if she’d be willing to co in for an interview. If she passed, she’d be in charge of the "Learning Pass (Cat Edition)" project.
Tian Shi: "?"
Tian Shi was furious: "You’re such a big company, can’t you stop with the nepotism? Do I have any experience? This project is huge; it’ll probably spin off into its own subsidiary. Are you expecting to be the general manager then? I’m just a designer; I know nothing about running a company. What if we lose money? Even if your boss doesn’t care, I care if she loses money!"
HR: "Uh..."
You’re not even hired yet, but your sense of responsibility already surpasses most people.
The HR didn’t expect to have to explain that the company wasn’t practicing nepotism and to list out Tian Shi’s qualifications—it felt like the roles were reversed—but Tian Shi was indeed a suitable candidate. She might lack managent experience, but her personal and professional background was solid, and she clearly cared more than most.
"Because it feels like you really like this project?" Chu Tingwu later said when she called Tian Shi.
Tian Shi’s full na was Su Xuan. Facing her idol, she was much more polite:
"Then I’ll go lose money for you."
Chu Tingwu laughed: "Then I hope you make an interesting project while losing money. Profit and fun—you gotta have at least one, right?"
Tian Shi thought that made sense. Wu Voice Group had recently opened a branch in Sea City. While going through her resignation process, Tian Shi, with the help of new colleagues, began assembling a ga developnt team. Everything was in its infancy, and she felt like there was an endless amount of work. One late night, while scrolling through news updates, she suddenly realized—
The national biology competition results were out!
-
When Chu Tingwu arrived at the training camp with her luggage... she realized that most of the national training team were familiar faces.
The top 77 in the national competition received gold dals, and the top 50 entered the national training team. But most of the people here, Chu Tingwu had already t during the winter camp, and they had all seen her too.
The International Biology Olympiad was in July, but the training camp didn’t teach them any courses. Instead, they were subjected to rounds of exams—just like during the winter camp. Lecture ti was reduced, and exams beca more frequent. After each exam, they weren’t told their rankings, but they always received their scores.
Chu Tingwu could feel a cold yet intense atmosphere. The students here were the top of their age group nationwide. Barring any surprises, they’d likely continue being classmates in university... except for Chu Tingwu, who, after exams, would search for what courses the animal conservation major at the University of Science and Technology would take.
If all went well, by early July, after the final selection of 50 to 4, four people would fly to the Republic of Magana to compete in the international high school biology competition. At this point, everyone here was a competitor for those spots, but once the selections were made, they’d cheer for their fellow countryn on the international stage.
Chu Tingwu was feeling a bit dazed from all the exams when Tian Shi contacted her to say that "Learning Pass" had entered internal testing.
Chu Tingwu: "...Don’t ntion studying to ."
Tian Shi: "?"
Chu Tingwu: "How about we change the app na to 'Ga Pass'?"
Tian Shi: That would be way too un-academic, no?
After so deliberation, the na for the internal testing version beca—
"Learn Not Pass (Cat Edition)"
Chu Tingwu: "=v="
She brought Zhou Qiang and Chu Xiao along to check out the internal testing.
-
Yang Xi was also keeping an eye on the new software being developed by Wu Voice Group.
She wasn’t a fan of Chu Tingwu but was a mber of the ga platform UX team—her job included writing recomndations for new software on the platform and testing independent gas submitted for approval.
Additionally, her departnt required her to search for "hidden gem" gas, experience them, and write reviews, submitting weekly reports.
No matter how much she loved playing gas during her student days, after working for so long, she felt like she’d rather read a couple of books... though definitely not math books.
So, when Wu Voice Group rely hinted at developing an AR ga, Yang Xi imdiately took notice.
A passing colleague poured cold water on her enthusiasm: "From ga design to release, dragging it out for two years is considered fast. What’s the point of paying attention now?"
Yang Xi: "But this is Wu Voice we’re talking about."
She shrugged, not bothering to argue further—she wasn’t actually a fan of Chu Tingwu. It was only after buying knee pads that she learned about Chu Tingwu and the company behind her.
Buying the knee pads was a coincidence, but she quickly beca a fan. As a desk-bound office worker with negative athletic ability, every ti she watched a VR livestream, she felt like she could push herself a little more. So, she particularly loved the outdoor livestreams.
Later, when the company released compatible equipnt, she imdiately placed an order.
Yang Xi discovered the terrifying efficiency of Wu Voice Group when she was buying elbow pads—other companies usually take over a year to develop sothing, constantly pre-selling and delaying, but Wu Voice Group seed to operate as if developnt ti didn’t exist. They could start production straight from the blueprint, complete testing, and launch imdiately, not keeping users waiting for even a second.
A reporter once asked about the reason behind this, and the spokesperson, with the calm deanor of soone who owns a lively and aloof cat, replied:
“Because our boss uses it too.”
Yang Xi hadn’t waited in vain.
Half a month later, she received a link to sign up for the ga's closed beta. The link was only live for half a day because the beta only needed 300 participants, selected from 20,000 applicants. Yang Xi was incredibly lucky to be chosen.
When she found out she had been selected, she jumped up from her chair—
Damn, now she had sothing to write about in next week’s report!
However, an AR ga… what kind of equipnt would it require?
The ga’s description was vague, only stating that it was an AR-based learning assistant ga with elents of nurturing and combat… and the na didn’t exactly sound exciting.
Yang Xi: Whatever.
At least she had sothing to write about for next week’s report.
She was added to the beta testing group and then downloaded the software called *"Can’t Learn (Cat Edition)"*. This was a closed beta with data wipe, but after the official launch, beta testers would receive permanent skins and special titles as gifts.
This was pretty standard, and Yang Xi didn’t care much about it.
She still had work to do, so she downloaded the software and set it aside, only opening it after finishing her tasks.
Her colleagues, upon hearing she had gotten into the beta, joked that she should call them over when she started playing—
After all, it was an AR ga developed by Wu Voice Group, and they were genuinely curious.
If it could achieve even half the effect of the AR tiger from the news… even if it was a learning “ga” with weak gaplay, plenty of people would probably grit their teeth and play it, right?
When Yang Xi finally finished her work, her colleagues gathered around. She held up her phone and first checked the app’s icon: a pink-and-white cat paw with a small round “No” tag in the corner.
It was kind of cute.
Suppressing a laugh, she opened the app. It started with the usual account registration and identity verification process, followed by—
**[Please choose your cat.]**
Yang Xi pondered for a mont, and a colleague chid in: “Got it, it’s like Pokémon battles!”
With AR being a blend of virtual and real-world interaction, combined with nurturing and combat, a “Pokémon”-style capture, train, and battle mode made sense. The colleague speculated that Wu Voice Group might be trying to create their own IP with this ga, turning it into a battle mode where learning was required to nurture the “Pokémon.” If done well, it could beco a hit.
Yang Xi nodded but also felt a bit helpless: “But Pokémon AR can only be seen through the cara, right?”
AR that’s visible to the naked eye is called virtual projection, while the more common AR in gas is virtual manifestation, which only appears on the phone screen.
She chose a cat that caught her eye, and a tiny kitten appeared on the screen. The system prompted her to scan and input test questions to feed the kitten and help it grow.
A colleague brought over a book for civil service exam preparation. Sure enough, after scanning and inputting the questions, the kitten grew slightly bigger… but where was the AR?
The system seed to read her thoughts and popped up a notification, informing her that she could go to nearby locations to find AR images.
Yang Xi laughed: “I’ll have to tell the boss I need to go out for work.”
Colleague: You just want to go out and play *Pokémon Go*, don’t you!
Damn, but the excuse was pretty solid. They all agreed that if Yang Xi found any cats while out, she should “catch” them and bring them back to show everyone.
Yang Xi shrugged.
She followed the instructions to a location two streets away. It was a pedestrian street, often used for events, and it seed like it had just been renovated. She tried to open the cara mode to “catch the cat,” but the app didn’t seem to have a cara mode… so how was she supposed to catch Poké—err, cats?
As she got closer to the IP location, the app suddenly popped up a selection box—
**[Would you like to deploy your cat for battle?]**
**[Your cat’s na is [Xi Bao (Sea City - Weixin District)]. Would you like to represent Sea City - Weixin District and compete for a spot in the next round?]**
**[Please note, Xi Bao is still very weak. It’s just a baby.]**
Yang Xi reflexively clicked “Agree.”
**[You have been matched!]**
Then she thought: Wait, what?
The next second, the nearby device started running, and a middle school girl holding a phone looked over in confusion.
In the middle of the crowded pedestrian street, a virtual projection unfolded in mid-air. An invisible platform floated, and two virtually projected kittens appeared in the center.
One was chubby and looked around curiously, while the other hadn’t even opened its eyes yet. Their movents were lifelike but had the semi-transparent quality of virtual projections.
Everyone could see it!
Yang Xi: “…”
The one with its eyes still closed was her Xi Bao!!!
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