Lin Wan sat in the reception room, sipping the tea that Assistant Xin had brought over.
Ah, how nostalgic.
It tasted like home…
How long had it been since she'd had such good tea? Probably about half a year…
Lin Wan was in her senior year of college, with another six months to go before graduation, but she had already been interning at Tianhuo Studio for half a year.
During college, Lin Wan had decided to pursue a career in the gaming industry, which led to frequent arguments with her father. Especially during the summer break of her junior year, those arguments had reached a peak.
So, in a fit of anger, Lin Wan decided not to go home and instead went straight to Tianhuo Studio to intern.
Since then, life has been tight. She could no longer casually buy branded bags and clothes like before—she had to be frugal.
Even the tea she often drank at home was hard to come by outside.
This was the first time something had given her a sense of being back home.
Her affection for Tengda skyrocketed!
This was Lin Wan's first time in Jingzhou City. When she first got off the plane, she felt a bit disappointed.
After all, it was only a second-tier city. Compared to super first-tier cities like Guangzhou, there was no competition in terms of prosperity.
However, after entering the Shenhua Real Estate complex, that disappointment vanished instantly, replaced by joy and admiration!
Seeing the office environment and the way the employees worked, Lin Wan was sure—this was the feeling she had been looking for!
The idealistic glow she once saw in Pei Qian was fully embodied here!
Assistant Xin knocked and entered, holding a contract.
"Congratulations, President Pei has approved it. Once you sign this contract, you'll officially be a Tengda employee! The salary is 4,000 yuan per month—sound good?"
Lin Wan quickly stood up. "Yes, absolutely!"
She took the contract, gave it a quick skim, and signed her name.
"So, what's my job?" Lin Wan asked, eyes full of anticipation.
Assistant Xin thought for a moment. "Your job… hmm, tomorrow at 2 PM, join the team-building event. You will watch movies, eat dinner, and do karaoke—the whole package."
"Huh?" Lin Wan was dumbfounded.
…
…
Friday morning.
Pei Qian, who had been busy with exams and hadn't shown up in a while, came to the company, because according to the original work plan, the full development of Ocean Fortress was to be completed this week and officially launched on the official game platform.
The financial settlement would be two weeks later. Pei Qian had built in a buffer period.
When setting the development timeline, Pei Qian was worried that his lazy employees would delay the project, so he had deliberately set the deadline one week earlier to provide a cushion.
Today was the day to review the results.
Pei Qian arrived at the company and went straight to find Huang Sibo.
"President Pei!" Huang Sibo looked full of energy and even seemed more handsome.
In the two-plus months since joining Tengda, Huang Sibo's income had increased, he had more free time, and he was in a better mood.
So his mental state was no longer as gloomy as before—instead, he looked vibrant!
Winter had arrived, and Huang Sibo had just bought some winter clothes last week.
Now that he was more financially stable and working in a place as upscale as Shenhua Real Estate, he decided to upgrade his wardrobe a bit, spending over a thousand yuan on a semi-casual suit. He now looked somewhat like a successful professional.
"How's the progress on Ocean Fortress? Do you need to postpone it for another week?" Pei Qian asked.
Huang Sibo shook his head vigorously. "No need! Don't worry, President Pei. We've tested it thoroughly, and all known bugs have been fixed. The game is ready to go live anytime!"
"Hmm, not bad," Pei Qian nodded, though his expression didn't show much joy.
Huang Sibo's confident attitude actually made Pei Qian nervous!
Could it be that this game really was completed on time and with quality?
However, thinking about Huang Sibo and Bao Xu's experience, and recalling the three rules he had set for the game...
Pei Qian felt that even if the game had been successfully developed, there was absolutely no way it could make money.
"Would you like to try it out?" Huang Sibo asked.
"No need," Pei Qian replied after a moment of thought. "Just show me the story mode and the epic weapon."
Pei Qian knew full well that Ocean Fortress was probably a garbage game—there was no point in playing it himself.
Having to personally eat the crap you made? That was too much.
Still, in order to ensure the game would lose money, Pei Qian decided to at least check whether his vision had been faithfully implemented.
Did they really spend a lot of effort making a story mode?
Did the game include the 888-yuan "Fire Qilin" gun?
Pei Qian cared deeply about these details.
Huang Sibo nodded. "Got it, President Pei. I'll show you right away."
He opened Ocean Fortress on his computer and began the demo.
"This is our story mode. Players need to fight their way from the bottom floor of the sea base to the top. The whole story mode takes about 6 hours to complete, divided into three different environments. The main gameplay includes fighting zombies, mercenaries, and some light puzzle-solving."
"This is the store system."
"And here is the epic weapon we plan to release in the launch month—'Rainbow Neon Fire Qilin.' Just as you instructed, it costs 888 yuan for permanent access. More epic weapons are in the development pipeline; we're planning to release one every two to three months."
As Huang Sibo gave his presentation, Pei Qian's expression shifted between frowns and nods.
He frowned because he was seeing the actual in-game visuals of Ocean Fortress.
It was… not what he imagined.
He had expected something roughly on the level of CrossFire—basic and clunky. But when he saw the actual graphics, he realized it looked far more polished and visually appealing!
From characters and weapons to environments and UI, everything looked brand-new. It wasn't exactly at the level of a AAA overseas title, but… it was close.
Pei Qian was briefly furious and wanted to question Huang Sibo: Who told you to make the game look this good?!
Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to make a game this good-looking?!
But then he remembered, oh right, it was me.
Well then, never mind.
Back when Huang Sibo came to him with a 600,000 yuan budget for art assets, Pei Qian didn't even look at it and doubled the budget to over 1.2 million.
The money was definitely spent.
But the quality of the assets had jumped several levels!
Looking at the beautiful visuals, Pei Qian suddenly felt uneasy.
And he couldn't even get mad—after all, he was the one who told Huang Sibo to buy those high-end art assets…
However, as he listened to the rest of Huang Sibo's explanation, Pei Qian felt a little more at ease.
Thank goodness they made that time-consuming, thankless story mode. Zombies, mercenaries, puzzles—it all sounded pretty boring.
And the 888-yuan "Fire Qilin" was indeed in the game store—and it was the only gun there. No cheaper alternatives.
It would probably get roasted by players. But Pei Qian was mentally prepared for that—let them complain, as long as the game loses money!
Besides, Pei Qian had done his research—Tianhuo Studio's Bullet Hole was also set to launch soon.
Pei Qian had already decided: Ocean Fortress would go head-to-head with Bullet Hole.
Hopefully it would get crushed into dust!
With such a strong competing title, even if Ocean Fortress looked good, it wouldn't matter.
Ocean Fortress would get stomped. Utterly wrecked by Bullet Hole.
"President Pei, there are some other game modes as well. Should I go over those too?" Huang Sibo asked.
Pei Qian shook his head. "No need. Just submit it to the official store for review! Everyone's been working hard on this for a long time—great job! Let's go out this afternoon and enjoy ourselves!"
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/losing-money-to-129248702
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/losing-money-to-129248702
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded