Shangyang Games.
Everyone was immersed in an adrenaline-fueled excitement.
Mr. Pei’s 2 million yuan advertising budget was like a shot of adrenaline!
After “Hot-Blooded Battle Song Enhanced Edition” went online with poor performance, everyone saw it and felt anxious.
At first, everyone was confused, but fortunately, Director Lin decided to develop a mobile version, making “Hot-Blooded Battle Song Enhanced Edition” into a game with synchronized data between mobile and PC, which finally gave everyone a direction to strive toward.
But even if they created the mobile version, could it definitely turn the current situation around? No one could guarantee that.
From the current situation, the biggest problem with converting the game to mobile wasn’t money, but time.
If it failed, it would only add frost to snow for their current predicament.
However, Mr. Pei had highly praised this game and provided another 2 million yuan advertising budget, which fully demonstrated his trust in everyone!
Everyone was deeply moved and became more determined to improve “Hot-Blooded Battle Song Enhanced Edition.”
Someone had already been assigned to contact the Hong Kong stars on Mr. Pei’s list.
Wang Xiaobin looked at the list and couldn’t help but admire: “I have to say, Mr. Pei is experienced when it comes to selecting people. This choice must have been made after careful consideration.”
“Zhang Zuting and these other people are older-generation Hong Kong stars. Their films have a great influence among middle-aged groups, which can achieve good promotional effects for our target players.”
“Zhang Zuting commands the highest price. Having him shoot a promotional video first to generate widespread attention, then using the same amount of money to hire four relatively cheaper Hong Kong stars, not only offers great value but also creates a cluster effect, achieving the best promotional outcome.”
“I have to say, Mr. Pei’s move is truly brilliant.”
Ye Zhizhou, standing nearby, deeply agreed: “Indeed, Mr. Pei is a genius when it comes to promotion, probably top-tier in the entire domestic game market.”
“I just feel a bit ashamed and regretful. If only our game were a bit more powerful. In the current situation, we’re letting down Mr. Pei’s promotional investment.”
Wang Xiaobin comforted him: “Don’t worry. Isn’t the mobile version being developed? After the mobile version launches, these advertisements will still be effective. The accumulated popularity will eventually explode.”
Ye Zhizhou nodded vigorously: “Yes, that’s right! We must work harder, too. We definitely can’t disappoint Mr. Pei’s expectations!”
…
…
September 11th, Monday.
Setting foot on Jingzhou soil again, Bao Xu felt overwhelmed with emotion.
Finally back!
During this month of paid vacation, Bao Xu flew to Europe and toured four or five cities, changing cities roughly every week.
In short, it was hard to describe!
For Bao Xu, he now wished he could immediately delete and format all the exotic scenery in his mind. This month for him was simply a nightmarish experience.
It wasn’t specifically about the travel destinations. In Bao Xu’s mind, as long as he had to leave Jingzhou, even going to the most beautiful garden city would feel like a nightmare to him.
Fortunately, although Bao Xu became addicted to the internet after entering university, he had properly attended university, so his English level wasn’t bad. With a translation device, he managed to barely complete this overseas travel task.
But no matter what, after this trip, Bao Xu still felt a deep despair.
Arriving in Jingzhou early in the morning, Bao Xu first returned to his rented apartment to sleep until he woke up at noon. Then he decided to visit Tenda in the afternoon.
During his travels, he bought some local snacks and small goods as souvenirs to distribute to everyone in the office.
Besides, having been away for a month, he didn’t know how the development of “Return to Shore” was going. Li Yada had taken over as the lead game designer midway, and he wasn’t sure if she could make the game well.
…
When he arrived at the company, everyone was busy.
Seeing Bao Xu return, everyone immediately expressed a warm welcome.
“Brother Bao is back!”
“Brother Bao, was Europe fun?”
“You look like you got a bit tanner.”
“Your hair seems to have grown longer?”
“That season, it should be quite cold over there, right?”
Bao Xu greeted everyone and distributed the souvenirs he brought.
Li Yada had been seriously revising documents, but when she saw Bao Xu return, she quickly stood up: “Brother Bao! You’ve come at the perfect time, I have a question to ask you!”
Bao Xu’s face instantly turned pale: “I’m too tired! Let’s talk another day!”
“Oh, okay.” Li Yada nodded, but couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
Why did Bao Xu seem a bit deflated after coming back this time, not as active as before?
Previously, no matter who had any design questions or needed advice, Bao Xu would answer very enthusiastically.
Bao Xu would also repeatedly experience the game under development, and if he had any modification suggestions, he would directly find the responsible designer.
Last time he went traveling, he started experiencing the game on the day he returned and quickly got back into work mode.
But today, Bao Xu seemed not very interested in work.
Soon, Bao Xu finished distributing all the souvenirs, including to Mr. Pei, who was in the office testing the game.
Afterward, he returned to his workstation, directly opened a foreign AAA game, put on headphones, and entered self-isolation mode.
This was what he had planned during his miserable month.
The first thing upon returning to the company: keep a low profile!
As a semi-introverted person, every time Bao Xu communicated with foreigners in broken English during his time in Europe, he was secretly cursing in his heart: These tears I’m shedding now are from the water that went into my brain back then!
Thinking back now, being selected as the second-place outstanding employee was unexpected but also reasonable.
He should have anticipated these serious consequences!
Lü Mingliang was the lead designer who contributed the most during game development; and who contributed the second most?
It had to be Bao Xu.
Because Bao Xu was the most working in the entire design team, he had been responsible for game creativity since “Sea Fortress,” and routinely gave suggestions on gameplay, details, and balance.
With such a prominent presence, who wouldn’t vote for him?
After returning this time, Bao Xu carefully considered that if things continued according to this script, he would only have two possibilities in the next best employee selection.
First, like Lü Mingliang, take the one million yuan dream fund and leave.
This option wasn’t too bad, but just thinking about leaving these colleagues and the design team made Bao Xu feel reluctant.
Second, get another month of paid vacation to travel abroad.
This was the most terrifying option!
Although he had already received this “prize” twice, there were still plenty of places to visit in the world. Bao Xu didn’t feel this suffering would ever end.
So Bao Xu made a firm decision: I’m going to slack off!
Play games with his head down every day, reducing his presence to a minimum.
Although he was worried whether Li Yada could handle the job of lead designer, he absolutely couldn’t instruct her in front of everyone, only secretly and stealthily answer questions.
He absolutely couldn’t attract everyone’s attention again!
Bao Xu felt very uneasy, feeling that slacking off like this was somewhat letting down Mr. Pei.
But to avoid this misfortune in the next outstanding employee selection, Bao Xu had to work hard at slacking off, at least enough to fool most people’s eyes.
After playing for half an hour, Bao Xu exited the game, secretly peeked out from behind his workstation, and carefully observed his surroundings.
Mr. Pei was still in the office, hadn’t come out.
Others were also working seriously, not paying attention to this area.
Only then did Bao Xu cautiously send a message to Li Yada: “If you have any questions, message me privately, don’t make it known.”
…
…
In the office, Pei Qian was eating the cookies and chocolates Bao Xu brought back, leisurely browsing AiLiDao.
Today’s suffering was over, with only the last two bosses left to complete the Six Realms of Reincarnation ending.
There were still about three weeks until the release of “Return to Shore,” which was an extremely ample time.
So Pei Qian wasn’t anxious at all.
On the AiLiDao website, a new video collection was pinned to the homepage.
“Brainwashing Hot-Blooded Battle Song Ad Collection”!
Originally, there was only Zhang Zuting, but now it had become a family portrait: Zhang Zuting and his four good brothers.
Everyone was wearing equally awkward costumes, holding equally awkward props, speaking equally awkward Hong Kong-accented Mandarin, maintaining a highly consistent style.
Although other people’s names couldn’t create memes as good as “Fried Pork Knuckle,” this didn’t affect the enthusiasm of funny netizens, as seen from the video’s comments, bullet comments, and popularity.
“Shocking, I watched an ad on AiLiDao!”
“Ads that I usually find 15 seconds too long, I watched for ten minutes…”
“Indeed, others skip ads, while I search for ads to watch.”
“Can only say this game company is truly an advertising genius. Each person has less than two minutes of video material, but they hard-edited it into more than a dozen different versions!”
“The advertising slogans are so brainwashing, I was completely laughing!”
“When I fullscreen these videos, I don’t dare pause, afraid of entering the webpage.”
“I am Fried Pork Knuckle, if you’re my brother, then come gnaw me… and my four brothers!”
After watching the latest advertisement, Pei Qian nodded with satisfaction.
Yes, good friends should be all lined up neatly!
Now, web game ancestor Zhang Zuting was secure, and as for the others, they were the four little kings of web games; together, they could form an elderly Hong Kong Mandarin band.
Seeing the awkward state of these four friends of Zhang Zuting filming web game advertisements, presumably, the next time they met, Zhang Zuting could proudly hold his head high.
After all, everyone had filmed such embarrassing advertisements, but Zhang Zuting’s endorsement fee was the highest.
Zhang Zuting would probably feel that he perfectly outranked these four brothers in terms of price.
Having casually given Old Zhang a hand, Pei Qian had only one feeling: great satisfaction!
Zhang Zuting should also be very gratified, right?
Pei Qian satisfactorily closed the website, then habitually opened the backend of “Hot-Blooded Battle Song Enhanced Edition” to take a look, confirming everything was fine.
Although this wave of advertisements had caused some data increase, from the current view, there was still a big gap to the warning line.
Pei Qian didn’t know what Ye Zhizhou and Lin Wan were busy with every day, but judging from the current situation, they probably hadn’t thought of good ways to turn things around.
Anyway, as long as the data didn’t improve, everything would be fine.
After confirming safety, Pei Qian stood up to leave.
Although he had been a bit distracted recently, Pei Qian didn’t know what to do in the coming period, and could only quietly wait for the new Slackin’ Internet Café to open, and for “Return to Shore” to be released.
Leaving the office, Pei Qian couldn’t help but glance at Bao Xu.
After returning from abroad, Bao Xu was a bit darker, looking healthier.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Pei Qian felt that his hairline had recovered somewhat, and the “returning farmland to forest” project on his head seemed to have achieved significant results.
“Following this trend, if I let him go out a few more times, would he become a long-haired artist? Hmm, thinking about it is quite appealing.”
“Huh? He’s not experiencing ‘Return to Shore’.”
Pei Qian keenly discovered the blind spot.
Bao Xu was playing a foreign AAA masterpiece, and he seemed to be playing very casually, not like before when he would screenshot after playing for a while, or record some details in a small notebook.
This indicated that he wasn’t researching other games, but merely… simply playing.
According to Bao Xu’s previous habits, he should be very actively playing “Return to Shore,” finding a bunch of problems and then giving them to others to fix.
But Bao Xu seemed to have become a different person after returning this time, wearing headphones, with an air of not wanting to hear anything outside.
He might as well have written “I’m having alone time” in big letters on his face.
Pei Qian thought briefly and immediately understood.
Bao Xu was once bitten, twice shy!
He was worried about being selected as an outstanding employee again next time, so he simply entered slacking mode, making everyone not notice him, so that next time they definitely wouldn’t vote for him.
This way, he wouldn’t have to suffer through another month of paid vacation.
Realizing that Bao Xu was frantically slacking off, Pei Qian wasn’t angry, but instead showed a gratified smile.
Indeed, my outstanding employee selection is effective!
Although the process was slightly different from expectations, it still perfectly achieved the result I wanted!
The first-place elimination system was indeed a core guiding principle that Tenda should continue to uphold.
Very good, Bao Xu, just keep it up like this, and I’ll definitely promote you with a raise in the future!
If even a progressive employee like Bao Xu could be transformed into a slacker by me, what about others?
Pei Qian was in a great mood and left with peace of mind.
Using his peripheral vision to see Mr. Pei leaving in the elevator, Bao Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
There was no way around it—for Bao Xu, now, everyone in the company had to be guarded against!
It wasn’t specifically targeting Mr. Pei. Now, no matter who passed by, Bao Xu was on high alert, switching screens at lightning speed.
He looked around again, confirming no one was watching him, then quickly switched programs, putting the game in the background, and opened a document to start editing.
This feeling was a bit strange, and Bao Xu couldn’t help but silently complain in his heart.
Having to work stealthily at the company was ridiculous!