Sunborn Allegedly Plans to 'Sacrifice the General' by Firing Top Staff — But Players Say the Real Problem Is Founder Yu Zhong: 'Remove Him or Girls' Frontline Is Doomed'

A single screenshot and a Three Kingdoms metaphor — that's all it took to send the Girls' Frontline (GFL) community into a frenzy. Rumors emerged that Sunborn Network, the developer behind GFL, is planning to oust a high-ranking executive nicknamed 'Sister Star.' But instead of celebrating, NGA commenters turned the thread into a roast session — and the real target wasn't the person getting fired.

The OP posted almost nothing — just a cryptic screenshot with the title: 'The squad leader says he might tearfully execute Ma Su.' For those unfamiliar with Chinese literary history, this references a famous scene from Romance of the Three Kingdoms where strategist Zhuge Liang tearfully executes his general Ma Su after a catastrophic military blunder. In Sunborn's context, the implication is crystal clear: someone at the top is about to be axed as a scapegoat.

The 'Ma Su' in question appears to be an executive known as 'Sister Star' (星姐), reportedly one of the highest-ranking staff at Sunborn with a controversial track record. One commenter fumed: 'How can you expect to make a good GFL working under a team leader like that?' — a vote of no confidence not just in one person, but in the entire leadership structure.

Here's where it gets spicy: the comment section overwhelmingly agrees that axing Sister Star is missing the forest for the trees. A top-voted reply cut straight to the bone: 'So what? Sister Star is just the highest-ranking person in a company full of people with the same problems. Cutting her changes nothing.' The sentiment is clear — she's a symptom, not the disease.

Multiple commenters pointed to the real culprit: Sunborn's founder Yu Zhong (羽中). One bluntly stated: 'Sunborn's biggest problem is that Yu Zhong is still here — not some Sister Star or whatever.' Others escalated the Three Kingdoms comparisons to devastating effect. Yu Zhong was dubbed 'Liu A-Chong' (a play on Liu Shan, the incompetent last emperor of Shu Han), and one reply immediately fired back: 'Liu A-Chong? More like Huang Hao!' — comparing him to the treacherous court eunugh who is blamed for the downfall of an entire kingdom. In Chinese cultural context, this is the nuclear option of insults.

And so the thread devolved into a full-blown Three Kingdoms roleplay session. 'Can we skip ahead to Wuzhang Plains?' — the site of Zhuge Liang's death, implying Sunborn is beyond saving. 'Forget Wuzhang Plains, fast-forward to Liu Shan's famous line about not missing home' — a reference to the last Shu emperor cheerfully declaring he was happy in captivity, meaning the company should just accept its fate. One gamer even cracked: 'At this point, executing a few Ma Sus won't help. Better to just self-destruct and wait a few million years to respawn' — comparing Sunborn's crisis to a gacha game character dying and sitting out a long cooldown.

Others expressed frustration at the slow pace: 'Just one? And it took this long? What a letdown.' Another predicted with savage irony: 'Watch — Yu Zhong will probably organize a team-building haircut session instead.' Some even mourned the potential loss of entertainment value: 'Without Sister Star, where will I get my fix of cringe-worthy official copywriting? At this rate, even Yu Zhong's cringe-clown PR strategy will be gone — it'll be like a public execution of Yuan Chonghuan.'

One commenter captured the community's collective mood with devastating simplicity: 'Ma Su, how did you die?' — using the most flippant tone to express the deepest despair. For GFL players, the problem was never about firing one person. It's about a structurally broken leadership that no amount of scapegoating can fix. Cut down one Ma Su, and the fortress is saved? Players clearly don't think so.