Kapitel 11: Chapter 11 This is Your Problem_1

Having descended to the ground, Fang Cheng looked around and found the atmosphere here to be quite oppressive.

The planet was far from the sun, and the surface was enveloped by a layer of dust, casting the ground into a dim light, constantly shrouded in a gloomy ambiance.

From what he saw on the devices, there had once been a civilization here, resembling a sort of medieval world with swords and magic, but similarly devoid of humans.

This puzzled Fang Cheng.

In his past life, he had also traversed the void, witnessing many civilizations and even discussing the mysteries of the great Dao with cultivators from different civilizations.

The entire universe was bustling with activity, with countless experts capable of traversing the void.

However, a thousand years later in the present, nearby civilizations had all perished, with only a few once-great creations barely clinging to life, and not a single one of those able to traverse the void remained, leaving him the sole Immortal of this realm.

What on earth had happened during these thousand years?

Sighing at the changes that had taken place, Fang Cheng stepped onto the ground to begin his inspection of the place.

Here, there was a very special structure, that is, the dungeon.

With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Fang Cheng discovered that there were numerous dungeons scattered across the entire planet, each one layered and extending downwards, all the way to the Earth's Heart.

Within these dungeons, there were various traps and mechanisms, different types of monsters, and each dungeon would constantly change at random over time. And at the bottom of the dungeons, there were powerful dungeon guardians, as well as some anthropomorphic statues.

Although there were many points worth exploring here, Fang Cheng's focus was elsewhere.

He was here to make a game.

According to his interpretation of romance movies, novels, and games, love should come with rescue and being rescued, redemption and being redeemed, accompanied by a lot of hardships and random obstacles before success can be achieved.

And while players nowadays liked to actively pursue love, even such pursuit needed a reason; therefore, having the statue-like princess revive after being saved and immediately falling for the player would suffice.

Add attribute development to give players a sense of achievement throughout the process, fitting the concept of attribute growth well.

Consequently, players needed to continuously strengthen themselves, defeat monsters, and ultimately rescue the princess from the dungeon.

Though they said they didn't want it, players seemed to like harem situations, so allowing players to rescue a princess with each dungeon they cleared perfectly captured this harem feeling.

Of course, the princess couldn't be completely helpless, so by adding some special mechanics to the princess, she could become a support to the player, making it easier for them to challenge more difficult dungeons as their circle of rescued princesses grew.

Furthermore, there were various pieces of equipment, items, and magic spells in the dungeons that could also be utilized, allowing players to become addicted to collecting and making the romance even sweeter.

After thinking for half a day, Fang Cheng became more and more excited, more and more delighted with his ideas.

Making games was actually quite interesting.

Mana began to extend, Immortal Spells started to be cast, and his vast Divine Sense enveloped the entire planet, beginning to reshape it according to his own ideas.

Only after the initial reshaping was complete did he, contented, leave behind a Gathering Spirit Array to encapsulate the Immortal Spell, and then he left, returning to Blue Star.

After freshening up simply in his apartment, he picked up his phone, feeling refreshed, to find that there were hundreds of missed calls.

After calling his mother back, the phone was answered after more than ten seconds, followed by his mother's scolding voice, "Where have you been? You haven't become a monk, have you?"

"Not in this lifetime."

"As if you became one in your last life."

"Hmm."

Mother was taken aback for a moment, then continued, "Where have you been these past half a month?"

"Half a month?"

Confused, Fang Cheng looked at the time and realized that it had indeed been half a month since he started reshaping the planet.

There are no years in cultivation, and when inspiration strikes, it could be a decade.

Reminding himself to definitely set an alarm next time, Fang Cheng listened as his mother continued, "You've also graduated from the panda training base..."

"It's Tianxiong, we don't do pandas."

"It's pretty much the same. Since you've graduated, then find a good company to really learn something. I know someone whose son works at Tianyi, when you have time, treat him to a meal, see if you can spend some time at Tianyi to learn."

Fang Cheng was about to say that he could have gotten in on his own, but considering that KongKong, the producer, wasn't very bright, he thought better of it.

But this was a labor of love from his mother which he couldn't let go to waste, so Fang Cheng agreed to her request.

"There's nothing else, your dad and I are both doing well. When you have time, come home and your dad will make you some soy-sauce meat."

Mr. Fang had once been a chef in a restaurant, and his soy-sauce meat was nothing short of miraculous in its deliciousness, almost unbelievably so.

Immortals didn't need to eat, but this particular dish made Fang Cheng easily reminisce about the past; eating it was full of sentiment, prompting him to promise he'd visit when he had the time.

After dealing with his parents, next up was Mr. Shen.

Mr. Shen didn't have much to say, merely asking how the studio was doing and the progress of the game.

There was also the matter of the tea leaves from before, which had nothing to do with hair loss; he just remembered enjoying them.

After Fang Cheng promised to send some more tea later, Mr. Shen hung up the phone, content.

Finally, among the hundreds of calls, there was one from Xu Qingling.

This girl called two times each in the morning, afternoon, and evening, doubling her efforts on the weekends, a testament to her perseverance.

Apart from calls, she also sent text messages from time to time.

"Boss, good morning, are you coming to work today?"

"Boss, are we working today?"

"Boss, if you're not working, then don't, but can you reply?"

"Boss, are you still alive?"

"Boss, could it be that I'm the one who died, so you can't see my messages?"

"Boss, the recruitment ad is ready, when will you come?"

"Boss, a new person came, I can't tell if they're good or bad, but since they seem to know what they're talking about, I let them stay."

"Boss, how should we handle the salary? Although the newcomer said they're willing to work without pay, I still feel awkward about it."

"Fang Cheng, please come back soon!"

Reading through all these calls and texts, Fang Cheng was immediately flooded with guilt.

I'm sorry, Xu Qingling.

I'll make it up to you in the future.

He quickly teleported to the company restroom and strode into the office, only to see Xu Qingling at the reception desk, giving him a look of reproach.

Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was disheveled, and she was propping her chin up with her hands, looking every bit the abandoned Faithful Dog Hachiko filled with resentment.

Even as an Immortal, faced with such reproach, he couldn't help but avert his eyes.

Then he heard Xu Qingling sigh and step forward to ask, "Boss, where have you been?"

"I suddenly got inspired and stayed home to work on the game for over ten days; completely forgot about everything else."

"I guessed as much. The recruitment ad is all set, and I've drawn up the company's attendance policy. I understand that game development doesn't need to be too strict, as long as people aren't too casual and they complete their assigned tasks within the set time. The attendance policy I put together isn't very strict."

"The salary is initially in line with the industry average, and we can reconsider other options once the studio has a stable income. There's also the weekend days off, one day of annual leave per month, and holiday arrangements, etc. Do you see any issues with that?"

After reviewing it, Fang Cheng saw no issues and decisively signed off on it.

Putting down the pen, Fang Cheng asked, "Didn't you say we had a new person? Where are they?"

"Over there."

Following the direction Xu Qingling was pointing, Fang Cheng saw a tall and skinny young man squatting at his desk, scribbling eagerly on a piece of paper.

When Fang Cheng approached, the young man glanced up through his glasses, silently handed over a notebook, and said in a soft voice, "These are the issues I've summarized for 'The Forest's Second Son' and 'Towards Death and Life.' Please let me know if there are any errors."

Looking at the thick notebooks, Fang Cheng's face showed a pleased smile.

This person, I'll keep!

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Kapitel 12: Chapter 12 The Difficult Game of Love_1

At first glance, it was clear that the newcomer wasn't fond of talking.

The young man had a rather delicate appearance but was quite skinny, his clothes hanging loose as if he were a kite. If he jumped from the fifth floor, he surely wouldn't die and might even pull off a cobra turn in mid-air.

Having taken the notebook from the other person, Fang Cheng read for a while and then felt something was off.

There was nothing wrong with what the newcomer said, but it was different from what he had in mind.

For example, regarding Towards Death and Life, Fang Cheng hoped to see how the newcomer might uncover why the element of "horror" in the game was lacking, but the newcomer was instead asking for improved route fluidity.

It was the same for The Forest's Second Son. The newcomer didn't explain why it failed, only discussing various shortcomings, which differed from the effect Fang Cheng was looking for.

However, Fang Cheng still saw something in the newcomer's notes regardless: passion.

The newcomer was obviously a gamer with a fervent love for games, and having such a person by his side would be somewhat helpful for his own game research.

So, he nodded at the newcomer and then asked, "How may I address you?"

"Xiao Du, but you can call me Xiao Douzi," Xiao Du said.

Then, gathering his courage, he softly said, "Although I provided so many suggestions, Towards Death and Life is my favorite game. I really like all the details in it, especially the obsession with leaving something behind in the universe after a civilization's demise. I particularly love that. So, I wanted to ask, how did you come up with those concepts?"

"I don't know, it just grew on its own."

Fang Cheng was simply honest, but it made Xiao Du even more excited.

Looking at Fang Cheng with shining eyes and excitement, Xiao Du said, "I understand now! You mean that a game needs to listen to the voice inside, not just rigidly stick to certain meanings?"

"I think you're reading too much into it. Nevermind that, have you signed the contract? Have the wages been discussed?"

Although Xiao Du kept insisting he didn't need it, because he still had savings from previous part-time jobs, and his recent video earnings were quite good, enough for a while.

But Fang Cheng had already etched the concept of "no owing wages" deep into his heart, even believing that a good horse should be well fed. So, he decisively offered him a salary of 12,000 a month.

Having given Xiao Du the entry gifts, Fang Cheng took out a USB drive and said to Xiao Du, "This is the game I've been developing recently, I'm planning to call it Dungeon. Could you help me test it?"

Xiao Du quickly stood up, excused himself with a "sorry" before dashing to the bathroom. When he returned, both his hands were wet.

"I've washed my hands three times, I can start now."

"…"

Fang Cheng didn't say a word, as Xu Qingling patted his shoulder, proudly saying, "A talent, right? This Xiao Douzi is quite fun. You should praise me quickly."

"…Why?"

"For bringing you such an amusing employee."

"Oh, thanks."

This time, Fang Cheng spent a lot of time building the world, modifying items, fully displaying all he had learned, which made the game size reach an unprecedented level.

10MB.

In an era where games typically measure in several GBs, this size was truly refreshing, but the calculation method of Immortal Spell was just so crude and unreasonable. In order not to make this seem too odd, Fang Cheng even added quite a few extras, but it was still a bit small.

Xiao Douzi contemplated for a moment, then had a revelation, "Boss, are you planning to develop for mobile? Data interchange between PC and mobile is a good direction for development. Your optimization is really good."

"I hadn't thought that far ahead."

"You should consider it. Sole ownership is a path to death; many games claim exclusivity but are just putting up a facade. Okay, I'm going in now."

After entering the game and picking up the controller, Xiao Douzi's facial expression vanished instantly, only the reflection of the screen flickering in his glasses.

Since starting the game, he hadn't spoken a word, but continually maneuvered the character on the screen, beginning his exploration of the dungeon.

In this game, the main gameplay involved constantly eliminating monsters on the route, gaining stat boosts and better equipment, strengthening oneself to explore the dungeon's deeper levels.

Since the game's theme was romance, Fang Cheng didn't want to spend too much time on stat increases, so a simple mathematical model suffice.

This time, he adopted a top-down perspective to allow players to see their surroundings more easily.

From the moment he gripped the controller, it seemed to fuse with Xiao Douzi's hands, never once being set down.

And unlike his speedy playthroughs showcased in his videos, Xiao Douzi was now playing cautiously.

Xiao Douzi spent nearly eight hours on the first dungeon, remaining focused throughout, not even going to the restroom once.

He ignored the takeout food brought by Xu Qingling, just staring fixedly at the screen.

Only after finishing the first dungeon, having searched every detail and rescued the first ghost form princess, did he set down the controller, remove his glasses, tears escaping his eyes in that moment.

"This game is beautiful, it really moved me."

"Really?" asked Fang Cheng eagerly, "What was fun about it?"

"The monster models and mechanics, all kinds of realistic feedback to reality, a highly random equipment system, and the unequalled feeling of mowing down enemies after the equipment set is complete. I dare say, this is the best pigeon-cutting game I've played this year."

Fang Cheng was happy with the first part, but the second part felt off.

Pointing to the character on the screen who was embracing the ghost princess, Fang Cheng couldn't help asking, "Why do you think I included this princess?"

With bright eyes, Xiao Douzi began talking nonstop, "The princess's existence is a positive feedback after clearing the game, and her characteristics could even change many mechanics of the game. The only downside so far is that it doesn't bring the crucial feeling of resource scarcity found in pigeon-type games. No worries, though, I'll make adjustments."

Interrupting, Fang Cheng asked, "What position did you come to apply for again?"

"Gameplay balancing! I'm a graduate student from Peking University Mathematics Department. Mathematics is as natural to me as breathing, and I will definitely adjust the numbers in this game to the best they can be. Believe in me."

"But, I wanted to make a romance game."

Xiao Douzi looked at Fang Cheng, sighing subtly.

Meanwhile, Xu Qingling took the opportunity to pull Fang Cheng aside and pointed at a certain Q&A on the screen, saying, "Boss, look at this question."

When Fang Cheng looked, he saw it was "How would you evaluate Fang Cheng's poor game genre classification?"

Answers were few, but everyone agreed that Fang Cheng's way of classifying games could only be described as tragic.

Suppressing the impulse to curse everyone with a voodoo doll, Fang Cheng had to sit aside and ponder why he had failed this time.

Love games, they're so hard to make.

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