In just over an hour, Qiao Laoshi had already completed the first ending of the game.

This game encouraged multiple playthroughs. After finishing the first ending, he returned to the initial room, able to start over from the beginning.

The difference was that at the start of the second playthrough, based on the ending of the previous playthrough (or a combination of the previous N playthroughs), he would receive some initial funding.

There were some special game types in the game, such as MMORPGs, which required a large amount of development funds. If players chose to make this type of game from the start, unless every choice was correct, success was almost impossible. Failure was almost always due to broken funding chains.

But with accumulated funds from the second playthrough, choosing these more investment-heavy game types would increase the success rate.

Qiao Laoshi didn’t immediately start a second run but fell into deep thought.

This game… was quite special!

It was difficult to describe what kind of feeling it was.

When the game first started, Qiao Laoshi was completely confused. The game constantly challenged his habitual thinking, shattering all his gaming common sense into pieces.

The game was titled “Game Developer,” and the content matched: players had to play the role of a designer, design a game, and ultimately face the market’s judgment.

When first entering the game, there wasn’t much that impressed; it was rather off-putting.

Although it supported both keyboard-mouse and controller operations, you could only move and change perspective. The entire game was just constant running around; there wasn’t even basic interaction like opening doors or using items, let alone a combat system.

Running to a room, choosing a door to enter—this was considered progression to the next key node of the game.

If it weren’t for the game’s excellent art style and the perfectly atmospheric scene silhouettes in the rooms, Qiao Laoshi felt he might have given up at the beginning.

Another particularly annoying aspect was the narrator.

Initially, Qiao Laoshi thought the narrator would simply introduce the story background at the beginning, but as he played on, he discovered this narrator was present throughout the entire game, constantly making his presence known.

Always laughing at me, never stopping!

Every time he entered a room and made a choice, the narrator would suggest something in that snarky, punch-worthy tone.

For example, when choosing a monetization model, the narrator would strongly encourage the player to select the heavy pay-to-win model.

Most infuriating was that this narrator seemed to be a professional tank, with trash-talking skills off the charts!

Not following the narrator’s suggestions would get you mocked.

Following the narrator’s suggestions and ending up with a failure ending would still get you mocked!

In short, this narrator existed solely to give bad advice and constantly undermine the player’s confidence, with maximum poisonous tongue and maximum punchable qualities.

Several times, Qiao Laoshi was so angry he wanted to reach through the screen and drag out this snarky narrator for a beating.

Qiao Laoshi was completely baffled—what was the point of this narrator?

Was it just to annoy players?

That didn’t make sense!

Confusion and anger were Qiao Laoshi’s first impressions when starting this game.

But gradually, as the game’s story progressed, he began to feel something different.

He discovered that teasing the narrator seemed to be the essence of this game!

In many choices, deliberately not following the narrator’s suggestions would trigger different reactions.

At first, the narrator didn’t care much, showing only slight resignation.

Slowly, the narrator began to grow impatient, trying hard to explain to the player the consequences of not following his advice.

Later, the narrator became irritable, speaking more harshly and without restraint.

When extremely angry, he would fly into a rage.

Finally, the narrator would fall into an attitude of “whatever happens happens,” with a tone of “I’ll just quietly watch what mess you make next.”

The narrator’s reactions at each ending were particularly interesting.

If players followed the narrator’s advice and failed, the narrator would mock and ridicule them, laughing at their gullibility and lack of judgment, saying they deserved to fail.

If players didn’t follow the narrator’s advice and failed, the narrator would still mock and ridicule them, stating that had they listened to him, they definitely wouldn’t have failed, and that they deserved it.

If players didn’t follow the narrator’s advice and ultimately succeeded, the narrator would still stubbornly insist that had they followed his advice, they would have achieved even greater success!

Though always being mocked, the difference was that when players succeeded, the narrator’s tone would be sour, which was very amusing.

Qiao Laoshi developed a strong interest in this voice actor, curious about how he managed to capture the narrator’s mindset so well, with such distinct layers of different emotions!

While teasing the narrator, Qiao Laoshi discovered more admirable aspects of the game.

Upon careful observation, he found that the art style wasn’t just “good” but “exceptionally excellent”!

The silhouettes in the scenes were particularly effective at creating atmosphere, combined with perfect music and sound effects, highly condensing real situations and expressing them well in room-sized scenes.

The unique art style gave this game a strong artistic sense, very high-class.

Starting from the second playthrough, in the process of trying different choices again and again, Qiao Laoshi achieved different endings, all very unexpected!

The first time, following the narrator’s advice to choose the heavy pay-to-win model, the game’s reputation collapsed. Although he made money, subsequent sequels flopped, and he was mocked by the narrator.

The second time, Qiao Laoshi learned his lesson and chose the ethical model, but the game failed because of insufficient monetization points and low player payment rates, unable to recover costs. Again, he was mocked by the narrator.

The third time, Qiao Laoshi completely followed the narrator’s instructions, but this attempt failed even worse, and he was furiously mocked by the narrator…

Qiao Laoshi was so angry that he wanted to throw his controller.

How frustrating!

No matter what he did, it was a bad ending. Was this game even playable?

But after many frustrations, Qiao Laoshi reflected carefully and immediately discovered the deeper meaning.

The player in the game plays the role of a game developer, and what they experience isn’t exactly the daily life of a game developer?

That annoying narrator could be seen as inner greed, or as armchair experts and bystanders gesturing and talking around.

The narrator would offer suggestions, some accidentally correct, others completely wrong.

As a game developer, it’s hard not to be influenced.

Having no opinions of your guarantees failure.

Being stubborn and completely ignoring advice would also likely lead to failure.

Only by listening to advice, analyzing carefully, thinking seriously, and making the right decisions in the majority of dozens of choices could one ultimately achieve success!

This wasn’t just true for game developers—wasn’t it the same for producers in any cultural industry?

On this path, most creators are lonely and struggling, but that’s precisely why the final fruits of victory are so sweet!

Without realizing it, Qiao Laoshi found his eyes growing moist.

Because Qiao Laoshi himself was also a content creator.

Making videos and making games were both forms of cultural output, so similar in mindset!

He couldn’t help but recall the experiences he had gone through.

He poured his heart and soul into making a video, only for it to be ignored.

For survival, reluctantly accepting some sponsorship invitations, then being chased and cursed by many fans, not daring to show his face for days.

Every time fans sent long messages expressing their disappointment and threatening to unfollow, he would feel sad.

However, he quickly got used to it—after all, no gathering lasts forever. He warmly welcomed new fans, remained consistent with old fans, and when someone truly unfollowed, he would wish them well and move on.

Perhaps one video might suddenly go viral by catching a trending topic, seemingly due to luck, but it required a large amount of accumulated work as a foundation.

In the game “Game Developer,” Qiao Laoshi resonated with all of this.

He discovered that the creator was an absolute genius!

This game seemed torturous, cruel, and annoying, but wasn’t that the true state of reality?

In reality, which game developer hasn’t been scarred all over? Which one hasn’t walked through countless mockeries and contempt?

Some become exhausted and retreat from the stage.

Some cut through thorns and brambles, never forgetting their original intentions.

Some abandon their ideals and become what they hated most…

Every mindset was incorporated into this game, discoverable only through deep experience!

It was like a cup of fine tea:

The first taste is somewhat bitter.

Gradually, you begin to taste some sweetness.

With careful savoring, you discover it contains the vastness of life and the fickleness of the world.

When the tea is finished, the aftertaste lingers.

Qiao Laoshi sat before his computer, suddenly filled with emotion.

“So, I misjudged Mr. Pei…”

“How could someone who makes such a game be petty-minded?”

“I need to make another video!”

Qiao Laoshi opened the Banana Potato Network backend again.

He looked at his current two columns, “Trash Game Roast” and “New Game Recommendations.”

He hesitated, feeling that neither of these columns was quite suitable.

After brief consideration, Qiao Laoshi created a new column.

“Godly Masterpieces”!