As an author, the desire for copyright adaptation was naturally strongest.
Moreover, Yu Fei had already tasted the sweetness of success. The triumph of “Eternal Cycle” had elevated his reputation by several levels.
Previously, he had only been relatively well-known within the small circle of Terminus Chinese Web, but now many gamers across China knew Yu Fei’s name and recognized him as the original author of “Eternal Cycle.”
To use a specific term, this was called “breaking the circle.”
Without the opportunity provided by Tenda Games, if he had just kept his head down and continued writing, how long would it take to get such a breakthrough opportunity?
What was the ultimate goal of writing books?
To reach more readers, to have the copyright adapted, to gain greater influence.
No matter how hard one worked or how much heart one put into writing, it was all for this goal.
Now, Mr. Pei’s proposal could directly catapult Yu Fei’s new novel to the top, achieving his ultimate writing goal. How could he not be tempted?
Yu Fei was caught in a dilemma.
Pei Qian could tell from Yu Fei’s expression that his approach was working—this was very promising!
“Let’s do this: we’ll have a meeting first to establish the game’s outline and concept draft. You can consider based on the situation. If you’re satisfied, we’ll proceed with development; if not… then we’ll discuss further.”
Pei Qian believed that after this meeting, there was a 99% chance Yu Fei would stay.
The remaining 0.1% could be resolved through procrastination.
Yu Fei nodded: “Alright, I’ll notify the core staff right away.”
“Also notify the core members from Shangyang Games and Fei Huang Studio, including Ye Zhizhou, Wang Xiaobin, Huang Sibo, and Zhu Xiaocai. Have them all come over to discuss together,” Pei Qian added.
…
More than half an hour later, everyone had arrived.
In the conference room, the various department heads were engaged in lively conversation.
It must be said that this was the most complete gathering of everyone in recent times.
Previously, these people had been going on suffering trips in different groups, so someone was always missing. Now that everyone had returned from their suffering trips and reunited, there was a sense of reunion after a long separation.
However… among the core employees of Tenda Games and Shangyang Games, some had gone on the latest suffering trip.
It could be said that employees come and go, but suffering trips remain constant.
No one suffers forever, but there’s always someone suffering.
Seeing so many people gathered together, Ye Zhizhou, Huang Sibo, and the others had their suspicions.
Clearly, Mr. Pei was once again concentrating forces to do something big!
Previously, when developing “Mission and Choice,” it was Huang Sibo who, under Mr. Pei’s hint, had led everyone to develop the game together. Tenda Games and Fei Huang Studio had jointly overcome that challenge.
And now, both core gaming departments and Fei Huang Studio were all being utilized?
This must surely be an even bigger project than “Mission and Choice”!
Meanwhile, Pei Qian was cramming before the meeting, reading Yu Fei’s novel on the Terminus Chinese Web app.
So far, the novel had only published less than 100,000 words. The plot hadn’t fully unfolded, and the worldbuilding still contained many mysteries. The content that had appeared was limited to the large city where the protagonist lived.
In the chapter comments, readers and players often urged for updates.
Some were asking for more chapters, others for the game—a double pleasure.
Pei Qian asked quietly: “How complete is the overall worldbuilding and the upcoming storyline?”
Yu Fei replied somewhat shamefully: “Not very… Actually, my planning only extends to about 200,000 words. I haven’t thought through the later parts in detail, and the overall structure and framework of the world haven’t been finalized.”
“Mainly because I haven’t had much time to consider carefully, and I’m not naturally skilled at planning. Sometimes I rely too heavily on sudden inspiration…”
Pei Qian nodded: “I understand!”
If the later parts weren’t defined yet, that would make things easier.
Actually, there were quite a few authors like Yu Fei who “wrote as they thought.” After all, gradually finalizing the subsequent plot over a year or two of serialization, versus determining all the plot points in just two or three months of preparation, were completely different levels of difficulty.
Although all authors knew they should have an outline and preferably finalize the subsequent plot in advance, theory was theory, and practice was practice.
It was like how everyone knew that daily exercise led to better health, but very few people could actually stick to it.
At Terminus Chinese Web, Yu Fei wasn’t among the top talent-type authors, nor was he a mature technique-type author. He was in the transition stage from an average talent-type author to a technique-type author.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been selected by Pei Qian.
But Yu Fei’s current state was exactly what Pei Qian needed!
If Yu Fei had created an extremely well-developed world for the later parts, and it conflicted significantly with the game Pei Qian wanted to make, that would be truly problematic.
In that case, Pei Qian would only have two choices: either compromise on gameplay, being forced to create gameplay and storylines that weren’t as likely to lose money; or compromise on the faithfulness to the original story, making it a product that was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Although the latter could still lose money, Yu Fei might refuse to participate in the project altogether!
The current situation made things easier. Since Yu Fei hadn’t truly finalized the subsequent content yet, Pei Qian believed that with his great powers of persuasion, he could thoroughly interfere with Yu Fei’s creative intent, closely integrating the novel’s subsequent plot, the game, and losing money.
Pei Qian cleared his throat twice: “Alright, now that everyone’s here, let’s officially start the meeting.”
“I’ve called everyone together because I want to create a new project, developing both a game and a movie, just like ‘Mission and Choice.'”
“However, this time Shangyang Games will also participate. Three departments will jointly develop a game with a larger scale than ‘Mission and Choice,’ and with a shortened development timeline.”
“This will be a true AAA masterpiece. Both the game and the movie should be completed by October, aiming for a release window from mid-October to early November for both the game and the film.”
Everyone’s faces showed both tension and excitement.
With just over six months, it was indeed a tight schedule with heavy tasks. But since this project would concentrate the power of three departments, it would surely be an unprecedented major project!
Being able to participate in such a major project was extremely exciting and exhilarating for everyone, as it would greatly promote their professional growth.
Pei Qian continued: “This time, we’re going to create a cyberpunk-themed game, using Yu Fei’s original novel as the foundation for the story.”
“However, since this novel hasn’t yet presented a very complete worldbuilding and plot structure, we have ample room for creativity in our development.”
Yu Fei lowered his head in shame.
Although that was true, why did it sound a bit off?
What did “ample room for creativity” mean?
Logically, when buying adaptation rights for a novel, it should be because the novel has high popularity, a well-developed plot, and excellent worldbuilding!
Mature works would naturally be the ones worthy of adaptation.
Low plot completion and incomplete worldbuilding were actually major flaws, yet Mr. Pei somehow described them as “ample room for creativity,” which was quite outrageous.
Pei Qian continued: “The cyberpunk theme we’re going to create won’t be like the foreign cyberpunk style, but rather similar to ‘Beautiful Tomorrow.'”
“However… we shouldn’t have any plot connections with ‘Beautiful Tomorrow.’ Don’t make it ‘Beautiful Tomorrow 2.'”
Pei Qian’s consideration was that the classic foreign cyberpunk theme had a fixed audience, and such a ready-made background might also achieve success overseas, which wasn’t secure enough.
It had to be original. An original cyberpunk theme would have relatively lower acceptance.
But it couldn’t be connected to “Beautiful Tomorrow,” because “Beautiful Tomorrow” had inexplicably succeeded. If there were connections, many die-hard fans would surely come to support it, giving casual audiences a misleading impression.
Hearing this, Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaocai both showed slight disappointment.
Mr. Pei rarely made sequels, though he had made some, like “Ghost General 2” and “Bullet Hole 2.”
Works like “Beautiful Tomorrow” and “Mission and Choice” had all left plot hooks for potential sequels. They had originally thought that this project might be connected to “Beautiful Tomorrow,” forming a “Beautiful Tomorrow” universe, perhaps even collaborating with the Cyberpunk Food Street for location shooting and promotion…
But unfortunately, these expectations were dashed.
Regardless, since Mr. Pei had clearly stated that there would be no connection to “Beautiful Tomorrow,” he must have his own considerations.
They needed to keep listening.
Pei Qian continued: “The background story this time is very simple: In a parallel future universe, in a fictional city of an alternate world, the entire city has been held hostage by large consortiums. The wealth gap has rapidly widened, entering a social state similar to cyberpunk.”
“Major consortiums from different fields have formed extremely monopolistic positions and infiltrated every aspect of people’s lives, deeply binding the entire city and everyone in it.”
Everyone listened with bewilderment.
Why talk about parallel universes, future universes, alternate worlds, and virtual cities all at once…
These all seemed to be describing roughly the same thing…
As for the overall background, it seemed unremarkable—just standard cyberpunk.
Large consortiums with high monopolization, rapidly widening wealth gaps, people’s lives bound and monitored by high technology… all very common settings.
Pei Qian continued: “And these large consortiums are all Tenda’s industries.”
“For example, Headwind Logistics, Slackin’ Food Delivery, Slackin’ Internet Café, Tenda Games, Fei Huang Studio… and so on.”
“All industries related to Tenda will be featured in the game, becoming the large consortiums within the game!”
“These consortiums can fight among themselves, but in most cases, they will unite to exploit ordinary people at the bottom.”
“From material to spiritual aspects, to every detail of life, this must be emphasized.”
This was the solution Pei Qian had come up with.
Reputation too good?
No problem, he’d spend big money to tarnish it himself!
Other companies were uniting against Tenda? Perfect, he’d help promote them!