Lin Wan sat in the reception room, drinking the tea brought by Assistant Xin.

Ah, it felt so nostalgic.

It tasted like home…

How long had it been since she’d had such delicious tea? Probably about half a year…

Lin Wan was in her senior year of college with half a year left before graduation, but she had already been interning at Tianhua Studio for six months.

During her university years, Lin Wan’s decision to pursue a career in the gaming industry had caused numerous arguments with her father, especially during the summer of her junior year when these conflicts reached their peak.

In a fit of anger, Lin Wan simply stopped going home and went to intern at Tianhua Studio instead.

Since then, Lin Wan had been living frugally. The designer bags and clothes she used to buy without a second thought now had to be purchased sparingly.

She hadn’t been able to drink the kind of tea she regularly enjoyed at home either.

This was the first time Lin Wan had experienced a feeling of being home again.

It made her opinion of Tenda Group skyrocket!

This was Lin Wan’s first visit to Jingzhou City. When she first got off the plane, she felt a bit disappointed.

After all, it was only a second-tier city, and its prosperity couldn’t compare to super first-tier cities like Yangcheng.

However, after entering Shenhua Luxury View, that disappointment vanished completely, replaced by delight and admiration!

Seeing this kind of working environment and the working state of all employees, Lin Wan was certain—this was exactly the feeling she wanted!

The idealistic brilliance she had once seen in Pei Qian was fully embodied here!

Assistant Xin knocked and entered, holding a contract.

“Congratulations, Mr. Pei has agreed. Once you sign this contract, you’ll be an official employee of Tenda! The salary is 4,000 yuan per month. Is that acceptable?”

Lin Wan quickly stood up. “Yes, yes, of course!”

She took the contract, briefly skimmed through it, and signed her name.

“So, what will my job be?” Lin Wan’s eyes were full of anticipation.

Assistant Xin thought for a moment. “Your job… well, come to the team-building activity tomorrow at 2 PM. We’ll watch a movie, have dinner, and go to karaoke—the whole package.”

“Huh?” Lin Wan was completely bewildered.

……

……

Friday morning.

Pei Qian, who had been absent for a while due to exam week, arrived at his company. According to the original work plan, all development work for “Sea Fortress” was to be completed this week, with an official launch on the official gaming platform.

The settlement would be in two weeks, as Pei Qian had allowed some buffer time.

When determining the development plan, Pei Qian was worried that his lazy employees might develop too slowly, causing the game release to be delayed. So he specifically moved the deadline forward by a week, giving them enough buffer time.

Today was the day to inspect the results.

Pei Qian arrived at the company and went straight to find Huang Sibo.

“Mr. Pei!” Huang Sibo looked energetic and even seemed more handsome.

During these two-plus months at Tenda, Huang Sibo’s income had increased, his rest time had expanded, and his mood had improved.

So his mental state was no longer as miserable as before, but had become vibrant!

Winter had arrived, and Huang Sibo had bought some winter clothes the previous week.

Considering that his finances were now comfortable and he was working at a place like Shenhua Luxury View, Huang Sibo decided to get some decent attire. He spent over a thousand yuan on a somewhat casual suit, which now gave him a slight air of success.

“How’s the progress on ‘Sea Fortress’? Do we need to delay it by a week?” Pei Qian asked.

Huang Sibo shook his head vigorously. “No need! Rest assured, Mr. Pei, we’ve tested it repeatedly. All the bugs we found have been fixed. The game is ready to launch anytime!”

“Good, good,” Pei Qian nodded, though without much joy on his face.

Huang Sibo’s confident attitude made Pei Qian a bit nervous!

Could it be that this game had been completed with quality?

However, thinking about Huang Sibo and Bao Xu’s experience, and considering the three rules he had set for the game…

Pei Qian felt that even if the game was successfully developed, there was no chance it would make money.

“Would you like to try it out?” Huang Sibo asked.

“No need for a trial,” Pei Qian thought for a moment. “Show me the game’s story mode and epic weapons.”

Pei Qian knew very well that “Sea Fortress” was most likely a garbage game, not worth trying.

It didn’t make sense to personally taste the crap he had asked them to make.

However, to ensure the game would not lose money, Pei Qian decided to check if his ideas had been firmly implemented.

Had they spent a lot of effort creating the story mode?

Was there an 888-yuan Fire Qilin in the game?

Pei Qian was very concerned about these points.

Huang Sibo nodded. “Certainly, Mr. Pei. I’ll show you right away.”

Opening “Sea Fortress” on his computer, Huang Sibo began to introduce it to Pei Qian.

“This is our story mode. Players need to fight their way from the bottom level of the sea base to the top. The entire story mode takes about 6 hours and is divided into three different scenes. The main gameplay consists of fighting zombies, fighting mercenaries, and some simple puzzle-solving content…”

“This is the shop system.”

“This is the epic weapon, the Rainbow Dazzling Fire Qilin, which we plan to release in the first month. As you said, the permanent usage right costs 888 yuan. More epic weapons have been included in our subsequent development plans. We intend to launch a new epic weapon every two to three months.”

Pei Qian listened to Huang Sibo’s explanation, sometimes frowning, nodding.

He frowned because he saw the actual game visuals of “Sea Fortress.”

It was a bit different from what he had imagined!

He had thought it would look similar to “Crossfire,” but after seeing the actual visuals, he found they were much more refined and attractive!

Whether it was the characters, guns, scenes, or the game’s UI, everything was brand new. It couldn’t be said to match the top-tier artistic quality of foreign AAA titles, but it wasn’t far off.

Pei Qian was initially angry and wanted to question Huang Sibo: “Who told you to make the game so beautiful???”

Don’t you know that making it this beautiful could kill people?

But then he realized—it was himself…

Oh, never mind then.

When Huang Sibo had brought the art acquisition budget of over 600,000 yuan to Pei Qian, Pei Qian hadn’t even looked at it before doubling it to over 1.2 million.

The money had indeed been spent.

But the quality of the purchased art resources had also improved by several levels!

Looking at these beautiful game visuals, Pei Qian suddenly felt a bit uneasy.

The key was that he couldn’t get angry because he was the one who had told Huang Sibo to buy these beautiful art resources…

However, as he continued listening to Huang Sibo’s explanation, Pei Qian felt slightly more at ease.

Thankfully, the time-consuming, labor-intensive, and thankless story mode had been created—fighting zombies and mercenaries—it sounded so boring.

The 888-yuan Fire Qilin had also been made, and it was the only gun in the shop, with no lower-priced alternatives.

Players would likely criticize this, but Pei Qian was mentally prepared. Let them criticize if they want, as long as the game loses money!

Old Ma gets criticized by players every day, but that doesn’t stop him from taking the bus!

Moreover, Pei Qian had confirmed that Tianhua Studio’s “Bullet Hole” was also scheduled to launch soon. Pei Qian decided that “Sea Fortress” would directly compete with “Bullet Hole”—it would be better if it got completely crushed!

With such a powerful competitor, what use was it even if “Sea Fortress” had slightly better visuals?

The data would be overwhelmed, and it would be utterly defeated!

“Mr. Pei, the game has some other modes. Should I explain those to you as well?” Huang Sibo asked.

Pei Qian shook his head. “No need. Submit it directly to the official marketplace for review! Everyone has worked hard on development for so long! Get ready, we’re going out to have fun this afternoon! We’ll watch a blockbuster movie, have a grand meal!”