Chapter 18 Fun to Curse Out

Gao Ming believed that the horror game produced by Night Lamp Studio was certain to be a huge hit, because players would soon realize that they were not just playing a game, but a strategy that could save their lives.

"If we're really not confident, we can take out the line involving Xuan Wen, modify it, and test a version of it to see how players react," Gao Ming projected the latest design proposal onto the big screen. "I have always believed that we are the best team, but customers don't seem to think so. If we change our game carelessly to meet customer demands, we may ruin its uniqueness, turning a 100-point game into a 60-point one, so I suggest we let the market do the testing."

"If we're to remake it now, we indeed wouldn't have enough time. Why don't we just try Gao Ming's idea?" Wei Dayou took off his headphones and nudged Xia Yang with his shoulder, "Old Xia, what do you think?"

"Customers make games to earn money. We just need to prove to them that our game can make money," Xia Yang looked at the big screen, knowing Gao Ming's design style, yet he still took a cold breath when he saw it. Gao Ming had added many details to his horror game design this time. It felt as if he had actually gone through supernatural events, "How did you come up with these designs?"

"I ate cake for three days with my parents and then had an enlightenment," he replied.

Seeing the staff members rubbing their hands together, ready to undertake a big project, Manager Gou hesitated to speak.

As an industry veteran, he could appreciate the brilliant designs of Gao Ming and Xuan Wen, and he knew that Night Lamp excelled at thrilling games. However, he had promised the clients they would make a romance game, to cater to the market.

"Director Gou, trust me, this time it will definitely work." Gao Ming stood in the front, with Wei Dayou and Xuan Wen slightly behind. The three game designers, representing "old and new," took a unified stance: "The test version will only include Xuan Wen's storyline. If the feedback is not good, we'll delete it immediately and revert to a normal romance game."

Finally convinced by the persistent persuasion, Manager Gou relented.

Night Lamp Studio operated like a finely tuned machine at high speed, but Manager Gou couldn't feel happy watching everything unfold. The old news about the murder was printed by Gao Ming in more than a dozen copies, and photos from the crime scene covered the walls of the studio, nearly hiding the slogans for the romance game.

The staff were as well discussing the case, putting themselves in the victims' shoes, striving for the most authentic re-creation.

"Compared to other romance games, our advantage lies in our heroine being quite unique." Gao Ming sent his newly created character profile to the rest: "Moving forward I will make some fine-tuning to ensure our heroine is closer to fierce ghosts! I want players to feel like they've really encountered a ghost!"

"Do you even hear yourself speak?" Manager Gou said helplessly.

"This is our specialty!"

No one could remain calm after truly experiencing supernatural events, and as if stimulated, inspiration surged through Gao Ming. He incorporated his own personal experiences into the protagonist of the game.

"If the protagonist chooses to run away at the start, kill him instantly. If he can't speak, kill him. Resistance doesn't work. What do we need in-game purchases for? Die if you can't make a decision in a minute! Increase the difficulty!"

"The appearance of the ghost is wrong, her face isn't pale, but marred with flesh and blood—the victim was probably hoisted up only when barely clinging to life. I need that visual impact! Waking up in the middle of the night to see a dead face beside your bed, just thirty centimeters away from you, with blood about to drip into your eyes!"

Everyone was revitalized with enthusiasm. Director Gou pondered for a long time and silently took out his phone to make a call to the investors.

"President Zhao, don't worry, the game is progressing smoothly, but after a rigorous market analysis and research, we decided to make a small change... Yes, just a little innovation."

Closing the door to his office, Manager Gou attempted to get the clients to understand what was about to happen.

By four in the afternoon, the romance game, with a background of the male lead's massacre, was preliminarily completed. With the experience gained through practice backing him up, not to mention the players, even colleagues at the studio found the game creepy.

"The test version is essentially ready. Since we want word-of-mouth to ferment, we might as well start by giving a group of familiar players access to test it within a controllable range. If the trend starts going the wrong way, stop immediately. That way, we'll have something to report to the clients," said Xia, the team leader. Manager Gou quickly nodded in agreement.

"You're all too unconfident," Gao Ming stood beside the computer, hands pressed against the desk. "Don't tie your own hands and feet! Don't put any barriers for the players, use all the promotional resources to push the game, let anyone interested have a chance to play! If necessary, we can even pay players to play—use in-game purchases to get them to play!"

Compared to Manager Gou, Gao Ming seemed more like a leader. His level of commitment couldn't just be described as treating the company as his home—it felt as if he treated it as his very life. If the company went down, he would be done for.

"We have only one shot, so we must give it our all!" Gao Ming raised the promotional copy in his hand. He took the name provided by the client, "To Our Love That Will Eventually Fade Away," and made a slight modification. The first page of the document declared the game's new title—"To Our Love That Will Eventually Perish."

Night Lamp Studio bypassed the clients and began player testing. As the lowest-ranking studio of Motu Technology, they had very limited resources to leverage, so the quality of the game had to be exceptional.

...

At 4:30 in the afternoon, President Zhao had a long talk with Manager Gou. They were old friends, but even blood brothers settle accounts clearly, and he was a bit worried about this investment. He hoped Manager Gou could personally bring the game over for a visit.

"Night Lamp Studio hasn't released a hit game in a long time, but Gou Youzhi and I are old classmates; he wouldn't shaft me, right?"

After hanging up the phone, President Zhao logged into the largest industry communication platform, intending to search for the latest news about Night Lamp Studio, but he stumbled upon several popular posts in the horror section.

"Their studio is already so small, and they dare to make two games at the same time?"

With a hint of curiosity, President Zhao casually clicked on a post. Night Lamp Studio had released a game that was still in testing for free, and the players below were in a heated argument, a mix of one-star negative and five-star positive reviews.

"The reviews are extremely polarized, quite interesting." President Zhao downloaded the game and looked at its name, pondering.

"To Our Love That Will Eventually Perish? How come they're copying my idea?"

Upon starting the game, a gentle, low-key, and kind-hearted otaku protagonist entered the scene, living alone in a sweet and healing cursed house.

"A very common character setting for the protagonist, doesn't seem to have anything special."

As the sun set below the horizon, the rental apartment with a girly touch completely transformed, and before President Zhao could react, the protagonist he controlled had already met a tragic death.

Sitting in front of the screen, President Zhao watched as the male lead's corpse was dragged away and subconsciously started the game again.

Sitting on the sofa, you'd be strangled from behind by something; hiding in the bathroom, the killer would break down the door; the safes from other horror games would turn into man-eating mouths in this one; if you tried to hide under the bed, you would lift the blanket only to come face-to-face with the murderer; and even if you stayed still, you would receive various death-threat emails, driving you mad.

In this game, nobody could be trusted, all NPCs, including the parents, were deceptively disguised, and it seemed like the whole world wanted the protagonist dead.

"What the hell!"

President Zhao had unknowingly played for twenty minutes. The game had a special power to fully engage the player's emotions, making him want to punch through the screen.

The test marketing continued, with players constantly leaving comments.

"I actually died seventeen times in a cohabitation dating game! Seventeen times!"

"So realistic! Nearly all the funds must have gone into creating this deceased female lead! I wonder which sucker investor put money into this project."

"Is there an expert who survived until the seventh day?! Is this not a simulator of unnatural deaths?"

The game's popularity was fermenting; starting from the horror and thriller sections, it gradually caught the attention of some niche game streamers, and more and more people took notice.

By 5:40 PM, President Zhao, who had died countless times, had finally reached the eleventh night of the game. As he grimly considered who the killer could be, Manager Gou entered the office with an awkward smile.

"Old Zhao, I've brought you two cans of tea leaves, both types you like." Manager Gou deliberately tried to avoid the subject of the game, but when he placed the tea leaves on the desk, a glance at President Zhao's computer screen froze the flesh on his face.

"Out of trust in you and wanting to help you out, I confidently entrusted the game to you, but it's been several weeks now, and you have to tell me where that money went, right? How is the progress of my dating game?" President Zhao didn't look up, intent on controlling the game's male lead to avoid the fierce ghosts.

Manager Gou pondered all he knew about the art of language and finally whispered, "Aren't you playing it right now?"

The sound of keyboard tapping ceased, and President Zhao looked up, his finger pointing at the game screen before slowly moving towards himself, "Hmm?"

"Hmm."