Chapter 10 Recruitment Interview

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Any other lessons to be learned?

Gu Fan thought for a moment and said, "I think there might be some minor flaws in the game design. If you let me make some slight gameplay modifications, maybe..."

However, Lilith quickly interrupted him, "Besides these?"

Clearly, Lilith still didn't trust him one bit, so she still didn't allow him to meddle in any design matters.

Gu Fan felt a bit regretful—if he could have had a hand in the game design, he could have had more initiative.

But obviously, such things couldn't be achieved overnight; deceiving a Hell Demon and earning her enough trust was a difficult task, so Gu Fan wasn't in a rush. He chose to settle for the next best thing.

"Aside from the design aspect, I think there's a problem with the game's pricing strategy. Our next game should be more expensive!"

Upon hearing this, Lilith's brow furrowed, "Hmm?"

Gu Fan sensed a whiff of danger.

Clearly, Lilith's suspicions had deepened!

The reason she set such a pricing policy for "Infernal Trajectory" was that she didn't care at all about making money, so she kept the price as low as possible, hoping to lure more people in.

That's why there was such an outrageous setting where you could play for two hours before paying.

But Gu Fan was suggesting the game should be more expensive?

Obviously, this must be for earning more bonus money, a sign of a guilty conscience!

Although the atmosphere turned chilly all of a sudden, Gu Fan seemed completely unaffected and continued with conviction, "Keeping the game fee low, while it may attract players, can also lower their expectations!

"Many players, after playing 'Infernal Trajectory', were supposed to feel negative, but then again, they think, 'This game is only 18 bucks,' and naturally, they're not angry anymore.

"If you want to deceive people as much as possible, the 'play first, pay later' strategy is already enough; there's no need to lower the price further.

"On the contrary, the higher the price, the more conducive it is for players to generate negative emotions!"

After these words, the murderous aura around him quickly dissipated.

Lilith's brows tightened, lost in thought.

It sounded... somewhat reasonable?

Was this kid actually giving advice from my perspective?

Gu Fan continued, "Another thing, I believe there's no need for the next game's art resources to look that good, and there's no need to make the gameplay and mechanics so complex.

"These are bonuses!

"The better these things are done, the less likely players are to generate negative emotions, right?"

Lilith became even more puzzled.

She said with a tight frown, "These words do sound quite sensical, but... why are you telling me this?"

Gu Fan spoke sincerely, "As an employee, isn't it only right to offer suggestions for the better development of the company, to address worries and solve problems for the boss?"

Lilith rolled her eyes, "Cut the crap!"

Obviously, Lilith wasn't fooled; she knew Gu Fan was just a worker being exploited by her.

If her plan really were successful, then Gu Fan would have to toil away for her, taking the fall for the rest of his life plus a hundred years after death, with a salary of just eight thousand a month.

So why was Gu Fan giving her advice and strategies?

Gu Fan cleared his throat and explained, "Alright, then I'll tell you the truth.

"I figure that once this contract is signed, there's no getting out of it; it's signed until a hundred years after death, so sooner or later, I'll end up in Hell.

"I'm offering advice and strategies now in the hope that you'll cover for me when the time comes."

Lilith's brows began to smooth out, "Oh? Is that so?"

This sounded pretty reasonable; could this be what the Human World often says, "A wise man submits to circumstances?"

Good, good.

As a cunning Hell Demon, Lilith certainly wouldn't just believe Gu Fan based on a few words, but overall, her impression of Gu Fan had improved somewhat, and she became more convinced that the popularity of "Infernal Trajectory" was merely due to a BUG, a pure accident.

Most of the blame should still fall on Instructor Ding.

"I'll consider your suggestions," Lilith said.

Gu Fan nodded, "Of course, the specifics of how the game is made are ultimately up to you to decide. I'm just a programmer; however you say to do it, I'll do it."

While showing loyalty, he was subtly distancing himself from responsibility; after all, if there really was a problem with the game later on, it was her fault.

I'm just a harmless programmer who codes every day.

"Alright, then I'll complete the design plan for the new game as soon as possible. You should use these couple of days to finalize our office space and start hiring," she said.

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After Lilith finished speaking, she disappeared on the spot.

A moment later, she reappeared, took two bags of chips from the table, snatched a can of Coke from the fridge, and disappeared again.

...

...

Four days later.

Monday.

Gu Fan left his rental home, humming a tune on his way to the interview location of the company.

In these four days, he had been quite busy, first posting a job advertisement on recruitment websites, initially screening resumes, and finding an appropriate office location for Transcendent Heaven Gaming Company.

Of course, the most important thing was, the game's revenue had come in!

As of last Sunday, "Infernal Trajectory" indeed reached sales of 150,000 copies, and Transcendent Heaven Gaming Company garnered about 1.8 million from game platforms.

However, only about 1.4 million had been received so far.

Some smaller game platforms have more cumbersome revenue sharing processes, with some settling accounts monthly and others quarterly.

Fortunately, the official platform and some large game platforms, which accounted for the bulk of the game's sales, have faster revenue sharing processes, settling accounts weekly.

Seeing 1.4 million lying in the company's account, Gu Fan felt his mood instantly uplifted.

Of course, he could not spend this 1.4 million recklessly; the specific allocation was clearly written in the contract by Lilith.

70% of it, which is about 1 million, was to be used for the development and promotion of the next game.

5% of it, which is 70,000, was Gu Fan's personal bonus.

The remaining 25%, which is 350,000, could be used for company operational expenses.

Of course, this money was only earnings for one week; subsequent funds would continue to flow into the account.

The uses for the first two portions were relatively fixed; the only thing that needed some consideration was the 25% of the company operational expenses.

The scope of use for these funds was very wide, ranging from daily operating expenses such as paying rent, utilities, etc., to various employee benefits, all coming from this fund.

That is to say, these expenses were mutually exclusive; if you wanted to rent a better office space, then employee bonuses and benefits would have to be reduced. Conversely, if you gave more bonuses and benefits to employees, there wouldn't be money to rent a good office space.

Therefore, after brief contemplation, Gu Fan quickly established the general principles for using these funds.

Simply put, he wanted to use this money to win people over for himself, rather than for "Transcendent Heaven Gaming Company"!

Soon, Gu Fan arrived at the location of the company, as well as today's interview venue.

"Chasing Dreams" Café.

This was a café located very close to where Gu Fan lived, situated outside the Fifth Ring of Capital City.

The café itself was not in a good location; there were no large shopping malls nearby, only an old neighborhood with a sense of the times, which was the neighborhood where Gu Fan lived, along with a suburban park and an equally run-down office community.

Within a 15-minute drive's distance, there were two universities; one was the renowned Imperial Capital University, ranking top 2 in the country, and the other was Imperial Capital Sports University.

But obviously, students from these two universities wouldn't travel so far just for a cup of coffee.

Thus, the business situation of the café was very worrying.

Gu Fan arrived at the café and went straight upstairs.

The second floor looked very empty, without a single person present.

Gu Fan found a corner by the window and took out his laptop to review the resumes he had received.

Although "Transcendent Heaven" was an unknown game company, "Infernal Trajectory" was, after all, a successful money-making game, so in just four days, he had received more than a dozen resumes.

The position being recruited was "Test Team Leader," with only one opening.

Gu Fan arranged these candidates in pairs for interviews within the 8 working hours of the day, ensuring that the interviews would be completed and the position filled within a single day.

In fact, Gu Fan already anticipated that many interviewees would be no-shows, simply from seeing the interview location, so the number of people he actually needed to interview today would likely be far less than ten.

But that's okay, recruitment is like matchmaking.

No matter how many times you fail, it only takes one success to be enough.

After waiting a while, Gu Fan checked the time; it was already 9:30 am.

This meant that the two job seekers scheduled for interviews at 9 am had stood him up.

Just as expected!

Gu Fan wasn't in a hurry; the café was right downstairs, so he ordered a coffee and leisurely sipped it.

Finally, just after 10 am, the first interviewee arrived.