Chapter 14: Ah? Who's Your Daddy?

Hearing the name of the game, "Whos Your Daddy," Chu Qingzhou was momentarily stunned. It turned out that the awkward conversation he overheard outside Gu Sheng's office that day was about discussing the game's title.

This name...

Chu Qingzhou frowned slightly, feeling that it was quite peculiar.

After carefully reviewing the data she had just recorded, Chu Qingzhou raised her hand and asked, "Apologies for interrupting, Director Gu, but is there any room for flexibility in the pricing of our game?"

Chu Qingzhou felt that the pricing might be too low, regardless of the game's quality. Just looking at the investment, she found it inappropriate. After all, this investment was ten times that of Cat Mario.

In theory, the game should be priced in the range of 15 to 20 yuan per copy.

Setting it at five yuan seemed too low.

It meant they would need to sell at least 20,000 copies just to barely recoup the investment.

Hearing this, Gu Sheng shrugged, showing some helplessness, and looked at Little Nezha. "This pricing..."

"The pricing was set by me, Secretary Chu," Shen Miaomiao nodded, looking at Chu Qingzhou. "I have confidence in Director Gu's work."

Shit!

Shen Miaomiao roared in her heart!

Do you think I think so low! It's the damn system that limits my genius!

After the previous fiasco with Cat Mario, Shen Miaomiao had deeply analyzed why it was profitable and reflected on her shortcomings. In the end, she planned to take an unconventional approach to solve the problem of game sales fundamentally.

She intended to price the game at 10,000 yuan!

In the world, there were many gullible people, but very few would casually spend 10,000 yuan on a game that relied on their thesis defense.

Shen Miaomiao's idea was excellent.

However, the system wasn't foolish.

It immediately warned her that such behavior was against the rules and that game pricing must be within a reasonable range. For a game like "Whos Your Daddy," the system suggested a price range of around 25 yuan.

The system's reasonable limit left Shen Miaomiao feeling frustrated but also helpless.

So, she decided to do the opposite.

Since the system didn't allow her to set a high price, she would try to lower it as much as possible. That way, even if some gullible people fell for it, it wouldn't be a quick return of investment.

"...Regarding the price, I have a plan," Shen Miaomiao waved her hand. "I believe the work from Director Gu won't disappoint us."

Saying this, she raised her hand to signal that Gu Sheng could start the game demonstration.

Gu Sheng nodded, sitting down and exchanging a glance with Lu Bian beside him. They nodded at each other, and then Gu Sheng began the game presentation.

Today, they were responsible for the demonstration.

The conference room fell silent.

Shen Miaomiao looked eagerly at the projection screen.

Chu Qingzhou also held her breath, eager to see how this game, which cost a hundred thousand yuan, would perform.

Soon enough, as a lively music started playing, the game's visuals appeared on the projection screen.

Within a dynamic background of blue, various objects like baby cribs, tricycles, beer bottles, and rat poison continuously rolled by. At the top, crudely drawn, was the game's title - "Whos Your Daddy."

Below the game title was a bizarre character dressed in an orange shirt and blue jeans... What could be described as a "weirdo?"

Although it was improper to describe a game character in this way, Chu Qingzhou really didn't want to use the term "human" to refer to the father figure in this game. The modeling was so abstract!

A round head with an oval-shaped hair tuft on top, two perfectly round eyes that seemed about to clip through, and an expression that exuded an awe-inspiring aura of imbecility!

The limbs lacked any semblance of joints, looking as if four noodles were stuck to the torso!

Then, looking at the baby character beside this bizarre father!

The modeling was barely taller than an ordinary person's calf, with severe proportion imbalance!

A smooth and rounded egg-like head with facial features sloppily pasted on.

The diaper seemed like a part of the body, twisting and distorting as the baby crawled, even clipping through!

Was this what they made with a hundred thousand yuan?!

Chu Qingzhou was infuriated!

Even the word "infuriated" couldn't fully describe her feelings right now.

Perhaps "astonished and bewildered" fit her emotions better.

It was like a shop owner accidentally receiving counterfeit money from three idiots, and realizing the counterfeit money was drawn with a damn ballpoint pen.

Call the police!!!

These three were here to commit fraud!!!

True, a hundred thousand yuan might be a bit low for a mature game.

But this thing... it was just not mature at all!

Just a moment ago, Chu Qingzhou even thought that the game's selling price was too low!

But now, she realized that once this thing was released, players would be lucky if they only sought compensation for emotional distress!

And this was just the starting interface of the game!

What would happen inside?!

Chu Qingzhou dared not even imagine what kind of disaster it would be.

"...Ah?"

Chu Qingzhou was speechless.

She didn't know where to start, so she could only open her mouth wide and make a sound that contained thousands of words and mixed emotions - "Ah?"

She turned to Shen Miaomiao, wanting to use her eyes to signal her boss to call the police and bring these scam artists to justice.

But at this moment!

Her boss Shen Miaomiao seemed to be enchanted, her eyes fixed on the game visuals, gleaming with excitement!

Whoa!

Taking off!

Shen Miaomiao's emotions at this moment were like a galloping horse on a vast prairie, running wild and soaring!

Are you guys really doing this for a living?

This modeling! This art style! These visuals!

Incredible!

At this moment, Shen Miaomiao really wanted to ask the three big brains across from her: "Would you buy this crap even if it was only five yuan?!"

Shen Miaomiao would certainly not buy it, as she didn't want to become an idiot just to save one yuan.

"Great!!!"

After days of intense training, Shen Miaomiao was now an expert at giving insincere praise:

"This character art style is truly... extraordinary!"

She couldn't find any other adjectives to describe it.

"As far as I know, in today's game market, no one dares to challenge players and the market with such an art style!"

"But you've done it!"

Shen Miaomiao nodded repeatedly and praised, "Director Gu's pioneering and enterprising spirit is worth learning from!"

Hearing Shen Miaomiao's words, the three guys on the opposite side looked at each other.

Beside Gu Sheng, Lu Bian nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "Old Gu, is Little Naza secretly scolding us in a roundabout way?"

"I don't know..." Gu Sheng whispered back, "But knowing her personality, she probably wouldn't beat around the bush when scolding someone, right..."

"So, is she... praising us???" Da Jiang whispered in astonishment, "Sheng Ge, is our boss mentally challenged..."

After a brief whispering, Gu Sheng pondered for a moment and said, "Um... then, Ms. Shen, did you watch our demonstration?"

"Well, there's no need for a demonstration," Shen Miaomiao with delight, waved her hand.

The game visuals are right here. Do we need to demonstrate again? Once players buy the game, you'll be secretly happy unless they report you for illegal fundraising!

Demonstrations don't matter anymore. This game won't even make it to the point of players entering the game. You'll just have to wait for refunds with each sale.

As for me...

Hehe!

I'll be waiting to collect my money!

With that thought in mind, Shen Miaomiao waved her hand again and declared, "I announce that this game company has passed! It will be released on the market tomorrow!"

Ding!

As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Miaomiao heard the exciting sound of the system prompt in her mind!

【Investment Rebate System】

【Project: Whos Your Daddy】

【Current Investment Amount: 1 million yuan】

【Estimated Rebate Amount: 10 million yuan】

【Settlement Remaining Time: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds (waiting to be activated)】

Chapter 15: I Treat You as a Brother, You Treat Me as a Son?

"Alright, alright..."

"Goodbye, goodbye, Brother Qie..."

"See you, Brother Di..."

Shark, FPS Zone, Liu Peiqie's live stream.

After finishing the high-ranked matches in CrossFire, Liu Peiqie stretched his shoulders and bid farewell to his five-man squad.

As one of the official streamers who shuttled through the battlefield, his daily content mainly focused on CrossFire ranked matches. However, any FPS player knew that maintaining a high level of focus in such games required extreme concentration. Generally, it was quite rare to stay at peak performance for more than three or four hours.

Therefore, Liu Peiqie's peak streaming time was usually around three hours, starting from around 5:30 in the afternoon and lasting until around 8:30 in the evening. After that, he would usually play some small games for fun and to fill the remaining stream time.

"Hey, is anyone still here?"

After saying goodbye to his teammates, Liu Peiqie called out in the voice channel to see if anyone was still around.

In a moment, a young voice responded in the channel, "I'm here, Brother Qie, any plans?"

The one answering was Coconut Cake, though everyone was more used to calling him by his previous ID, Winter Melon. He was notorious for raging for ten minutes after getting killed in a game, earning him the nickname "Hyperthyroid Warrior."

"Not really, it seems like it's just the two of us. How about we find a small online game to play together?" Liu Peiqie suggested.

"Sure, Brother Qie, just let me know when you find one. I'm checking out the female streamers' channels right now..." Winter Melon responded.

"You're such a beast..." Liu Peiqie laughed and cursed, then opened the Artgame platform.

In the live chat, the discussion didn't stop, and the audience was still actively chatting:

"Brother Qie also wants to watch a show, but unfortunately, his wife is at home."

"You understand the family brother's situation."

"Recently, there haven't been many good games on Artgame."

"Didn't Starlight Games release a new online competitive game recently? It's said to have good reviews."

"Fantasy Battle 2, a fighting game. The reviews are all positive, but it's not as fun as arcade games."

"Mainly, the game is priced at 50 yuan with in-game purchases. You can imagine..."

"6"

"My review is: scammed, run away quickly."

"Does Brother Qie not play Meow Mario?"

"Did you just come back from Mars, bro? Brother Qie has smashed three controllers playing that game."

"Hahaha..."

"..."

Liu Peiqie watched the barrage as he checked out the newly released games.

As expected, the first recommendation was "Fantasy Battle 2" from Starlight Games.

Liu Peiqie shrugged. He had no interest in fighting games, let alone a sequel that was considered a scam.

As for Meow Mario...

His feelings about the game were quite complicated.

If you said it was fun, its design was truly bizarre, with big traps within small traps, driving people mad.

But if you said it wasn't fun, the sense of achievement from clearing stages made it addictive and enjoyable.

After thinking it over, Liu Peiqie asked in the live chat, "Oh, by the way, does the company that made Meow Mario have any other games? What's the name of that company again?"

Soon, the barrage provided an answer.

"Oh, oh, Golden Wind... I found it."

Following the live chat's prompt, Liu Peiqie entered the developer's name in the search bar.

Soon, two games appeared in the search results.

The first one was the game that tormented him for over a week - Meow Mario.

The second game below, however, was an extremely abstract and bizarre game.

"Who's the Daddy? What kind of name is that?" Liu Peiqie frowned, feeling that it was quite absurd.

Driven by curiosity, he clicked on the game's interface, and the game introduction appeared:

"Who's the Daddy?"

Genre: Role-Playing, Online Competitive, Casual Puzzle

Introduction: In this game, you and your friends will play as a father-son pair. The father must do his best to protect his child, while the child... is free to indulge in curiosity and destructive instincts!

Release Date: Just released

Price: 5 yuan

"Ge ge ge ge... What a ridiculous game..." Seeing the absurd introduction, Liu Peiqie let out his iconic "ge" laugh and immediately called out to Winter Melon, "Winter Melon! Don't bother looking! I found a fun game!"

The live chat burst into laughter -

"Hahaha, summoning a good brother to be a son, huh?"

"Hyperthyroid Warrior: I treat you as a brother, you treat me as a son?"

"Liu Peiqie: From now on, we'll each mind our own business. I'll call you brother, and you call me dad."

"Haha, this game is so silly."

"A game with an ethical joke, never heard of it."

"Definitely the work of Golden Wind, it's got that unique style."

"Abstract Games, this company specializes in being abstract."

"This looks like it has good entertainment value."

"..."

Meanwhile, Winter Melon quickly responded to Liu Peiqie's call:

"I'm here, Brother Qie! What game is it?"

"Open Artgame and search for 'Who's the Daddy'." Liu Peiqie instructed.

A moment later, laughter could be heard from Winter Melon's end as well:

"Hahaha, this is crazy! Why does this company always release such bizarre games? It just came out, let's give it a try!"

With such a peculiar game, and the fact that it was the latest work of Meow Mario's developer, the two of them were immediately intrigued. They quickly finished the download.

As the game opened, the father and son duo appeared on the screen, causing an uproar among the audience.

However, a new problem arose -

"Who will be the daddy?"

Winter Melon asked.

"It's a one-on-one game, I'll be the dad in the first round," Liu Peiqie said.

"Damn, why you?!" Winter Melon protested immediately, "I also want to be the dad!"

Liu Peiqie responded calmly, "I'm ranked 3800 in CrossFire, come on, let's compete."

Winter Melon fell silent for a moment.

"Dad - Dad -!!!"

A shout made Liu Peiqie almost burst into laughter, "You've got no shame, seriously..."

After determining their roles for the first round, both players entered the game simultaneously.

The game's graphics were not refined, and could even be described as a bit crude.

Liu Peiqie looked around and found himself inside a two-story small villa - it seemed to be his home in the game.

The UI of the game was also very simple.

In the top-right corner of the screen, his only mission was displayed: to protect the child.

In the top-left corner, there was his own status bar, showing his health, hunger, and oxygen levels.

The game's graphics might have been a bit crude, but it exuded an abstract beauty, and overall, there didn't seem to be anything strange happening.

However!

Just as Liu Peiqie was getting familiar with the controls!

Suddenly, Winter Melon's burst of laughter came through the voice channel!

"Hahaha, I got it! Peiqie, come quickly and see this!"

"Huh?"

Liu Peiqie was puzzled, "Aren't you somewhere else?"

"In the baby's room! I'm on the second floor, in the baby's room! You don't even know where your big son lives, what kind of dad are you!"

Winter Melon's voice sounded in the channel.

"Just wait a moment, I'm coming!" Liu Peiqie hurriedly followed Winter Melon's instructions and made his way to the second floor, finally finding the baby's room.

Click.

As the door opened, he saw a warm and cozy nursery. On the baby crib, there was a baby wearing a diaper, looking at him with a pitiful expression.

"..."

After three seconds of silence, Liu Peiqie couldn't hold it in any longer, "Is this you???"

"Yep!"

With Winter Melon's response, the little baby suddenly sprang up like a spring, displaying a unique art style.

With both hands on its hips, it looked somewhat absurd, and with a vacant expression, it stared at Liu Peiqie, as if saying, "Watch closely, Dad! Big Son will show you a trick!"

"Ignore this!!!" Winter Melon shouted.

In the next moment, the little baby executed a backflip in mid-air, but then its head hit the window and, along with the shattered glass, flew out of the second-floor window.

The entire sequence of movements was incredibly smooth and fluid.

Liu Peiqie was stunned for a whole five seconds!

"You're an idiot!!!"

Then, he let out a horrified scream that echoed in the live broadcast room -

"I'm flabbergasted! You rascal! You rascal!!!"

"What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!!!"

The live chat exploded with laughter -

"Hahahaha, this is so crazy!"

"Who's the Daddy, indeed!"

"LOL, this game is pure entertainment!"

"I can't stop laughing!"

"Winter Melon is a genius at playing this game!"

"Ridiculous and hilarious, I love it!"

Chapter 16: I Can't Live Anymore!

The barrage instantly burst into laughter!

"Hahaha, what a clever game."

"No wonder it's you, Golden Wind."

"Is Winter Melon's nickname Xiao Liang?" [1]

"He flew straight out, hahaha..."

"Brother Qie probably didn't expect this kid to be so unique."

"It's fun, a beautiful twist of a monster."

"You really understand Jim Carrey." [2]

"Where else can you find someone scolding their own kid as 'sb', hahaha!" [3]

"This game is just too abstract..."

The barrage was amusing, but Liu Peiqie had an anxious expression!

He couldn't let Winter Melon die like this!

Otherwise, he would have to be the son himself!

"Winter Melon! Woc, eldest son, are you dead?" [4]

Liu Peiqie hurriedly rushed downstairs to check on Winter Melon's condition in the backyard.

However, as soon as he opened the door!

A mass of unidentified objects flew towards him!

Like a rubber ball being pulled up, it hit his face with a smack.

Then, he heard Winter Melon shouting strangely, "A-da!"

Winter Melon, wearing a diaper, flew up and kicked Liu Peiqie!

"Inside the department!! Daddy!!!"

You see, this game, under Gu Sheng's orders, didn't undergo collision volume testing.

This resulted in its force behavior breaking under certain extreme conditions.

So--

With the diapered Winter Melon's flying kick, Liu Peiqie flew into the air!

Like a deflated balloon, he flew around the living room and finally fell to the ground, spiraling.

For a moment!

The live stream was filled with the shocked exclamations of the two!

"Damn! Damn, I'm flying, help, help, help!!!"

"Damn, Dad looks so cool! Wuhan! My dad ascended to heaven!!!"

The barrage was laughing--

"An impressive display of filial piety."

"Hahaha, a loving father and obedient son."

"Is this game even made by humans?"

"It has the artistic sense of someone who studied animation for three years."

"It's so crazy, hahaha."

"I'm laughing so hard at my dad ascending to heaven. This game is just too absurd."

"Bring in the filial son."

"A case of double hyperthyroidism."

"Checking the mental state of the game designer--"

"I can only say that the show's effect is off the charts..."

"Hahaha..."

It's fun!

Winter Melon had never seen such an outrageous game before, and the joy of mischief made him extremely excited!

Taking advantage of Liu Peiqie still not standing up, he jumped up and, with a peculiar running posture, headed straight for the refrigerator!

"Daddy! Daddy, I'm hungry! I need to get some food!"

As he spoke, Winter Melon reached out his hand.

In theory, given his height, he couldn't reach the refrigerator handle.

But!

In this game, logic doesn't apply.

The next second, Winter Melon's two arms miraculously stretched like taffy, reaching the door handle in an absurd posture, and he swung the door open.

"Wuhan! Let me see if we have any rat poison in the fridge!"

Behind him, Liu Peiqie finally got up.

Hearing his words, he rolled his eyes while chasing after Winter Melon:

"Damn, how did you open the door! Hey, hey, you can't just eat anything from the fridge!"

"I don't care! Today, I must have some mini burgers! Hi hi hi!"

Winter Melon didn't care about Liu Peiqie's warning. After all, if he succeeded in this crazy act, he would be the one taking over as dad next!

Seeing the chance for mischief, Winter Melon stood right inside the fridge, quickly grabbed a burger and the box, and stuffed it into his mouth!

"Eat! Damn it, I'll show off big time! In this rebirth, I'll become a dad!"

One chilled burger down his throat!

Winter Melon's hunger bar instantly increased by one-fifth, but it showed a green poisoned status!

Liu Peiqie's face turned pale immediately!

"Stop! Don't eat that! Son, put it down! You'll die!"

"No way! I'm eating it! I'm showing off!"

Winter Melon let out an evil laugh, now clearly in a state of hyperthyroidism!

"Even the King of Heaven won't be able to save me! I won't live even for a moment today!!!"

Liu Peiqie was on the verge of going crazy, helplessly watching Winter Melon's poison status reaching its peak.

In a state of panic, he subconsciously wanted to pick up Winter Melon to interrupt his reckless actions.

But unexpectedly, he made a mistake in his haste.

Inadvertently, his hand touched the refrigerator door!

"Oh no, no, no, damn it---!!!"

Bang!

In an instant, the live stream was filled with Liu Peiqie's desperate shout--

"Oh, damn it! I pressed the wrong thing! How the heck did I manage to close the refrigerator door!"

The barrage was on the verge of laughing itself to death--

"Hahahaha, he even closed the refrigerator door!"

"Brother Qei: You're too slow to die, let me help you."

"The main theme is all about a harmonious family."

"But, when there's no danger, dads are the most dangerous."

"Hahaha, how many steps to lock your son in the fridge?"

"Now he really can't be saved even for a moment."

"This game is seriously hyperthyroidism-inducing."

"I'm laughing so hard, tears are coming out, hahaha."

"This game is so darn absurd."

"It's a bit half-hearted, but oddly fun."

"Brother Qie is just a pure idiot."

"Maybe Brother Qie intentionally closed the fridge door? (Dog head emoji)"

"Just to become a son, huh? (Wry smile emoji)"

"You know, this game is actually more fun when you become a son..."

As the audience discussed, just five seconds later:

【You lose】

The three big characters appeared on Liu Peiqie's screen!

In the voice channel, Winter Melon's victorious cheers rang out:

"Awesome! I'm the winner! I'm just too good at dying!"

"Young people have good bodies, they lie down and win!"

"Brother Qie! Guess what! I'm going to be your daddy!!!"

Liu Peiqie turned into a speechless alien on the spot.

He kept his mouth shut, unable to say a word.

The live stream was filled with excitement!

...

At the same time!

Shen Miaomiao looked at the time.

It was already ten o'clock.

In the Shark Gaming Area, in Ah Yin's live stream room, the voice of the boss rang out:

"All right, that's it for today's live stream. We'll be back at the usual time tomorrow. See you then, bye!"

After saying that, the live stream room went black.

Shen Miaomiao let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew--"

Thank goodness nothing unexpected happened.

She had been squatting in Ah Yin's live stream room early today, just to take precautions and prevent another situation like what happened with Cat Mario, where the No.1 in the gaming area unintentionally brought their game to fame.

But fortunately, this time, Gu Sheng's good luck didn't continue.

Today, Ah Yin's segment of terrible games didn't include their "Who's the Dad."

They only tested a few uncreative and boring games before Ah Yin ended the stream on time.

"Perfect!"

Shen Miaomiao was very happy.

"Now nothing unexpected should happen."

Without the anchor's promotion, even if the game sold thousands of copies in a week at the price of 5 yuan each, she would still lose about 80 to 90 thousand yuan. But it was much better than the last time when she didn't manage to recover her investment.

Not only could she make up for the previous losses, but she would also earn a large sum!

If everything continued to go smoothly, she would achieve financial freedom and live a leisurely life.

When that happened, if her father still found her at home idling annoying, she could just charter a yacht and travel the world.

Hehe.

Thinking of this, Shen Miaomiao couldn't help but smile smugly.

It's all thanks to the system!

An ideal life is just within reach now!

However, little did Shen Miaomiao know that just as she closed the live stream, getting ready to enjoy her sweet dreams...

Far away in Jinmen City, Ah Yin, who just finished his live stream, opened his phone.

A short video filled with laughter and bird chirping jumped onto the screen--

"I don't care! I'm eating it! Today, I won't live even for a moment!"

"Son, damn it! How did I manage to close the refrigerator door!"

"Wuhan! I'm going to die, you old sixth..."

It made Ah Yin burst into laughter--

"This game is quite interesting..."

Chapter 17: Bullet-Fly for a While

The next day!

Golden Wind Gaming Company.

Game Director's office.

Lu Bian and Da Jiang sat on the sofa opposite Gu Sheng, looking a bit worried.

The office was filled with smoke, and the atmosphere was heavy.

"...What should we do, Sheng-ge?" Da Jiang put down his thermos cup and looked at Gu Sheng with concern. "It's already half past five, and we have less than three hours left to determine our first-day results."

"Yeah," Lu Bian flicked the cigarette ash and continued, "Our current sales are only two thousand, more than half of Cat Mario's. How are we going to explain this to the boss later?"

That's right.

The reason Gu Sheng's office was in such a gloomy state was that, so far, the performance of their second game, "Who's the Dad," was not ideal.

Actually, to say it was not ideal might be a bit biased.

After all, selling two thousand copies on the first day was quite remarkable for a small game on the Art Game platform.

However!

Let's not forget that they had the shining example of Cat Mario before them.

On the first day, Cat Mario sold more than 4,800 copies, almost completely overshadowing other games in the same period.

Even in the history of Art Game's first-day sales, it was an exceptional case.

As the saying goes, people strive for better.

As Golden Wind's second work, especially the first work after the three of them joined forces, Lu Bian and Da Jiang undoubtedly hoped to break records.

But now.

There were less than three hours left before the end of the first day.

Their sales were lukewarm, not even reaching half of Cat Mario's.

Under such circumstances, it was naturally frustrating.

"Could it be that we didn't do well, Sheng-ge? I caused you trouble......" Da Jiang looked at the less than ideal sales data, feeling a bit down.

Hearing this, Gu Sheng frowned and threw an orange at Da Jiang, "Then why are you causing trouble?"

Snap.

Da Jiang, who caught the orange, was taken aback.

Next to him, Lu Bian couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

"Enough, Da Jiang," Lu Bian chuckled and patted Da Jiang's shoulder, "Stop talking like that, it sounds awkward. Old Gu doesn't like hearing it."

"Oh," Da Jiang shrank his neck, looking like a bear feeling wronged, "I just feel that I'm responsible for this."

Gu Sheng also knew that Da Jiang was a straightforward person, so he sighed, "Da Jiang, the three of us worked on this together, so there's no such thing as causing trouble to anyone."

"I invited you to the company to make games together, not to burden you," Gu Sheng said warmly and playfully, like a gentle spring breeze, soothing their hearts.

Lu Bian nodded to himself.

When it came to emotional intelligence, the boss was indeed impressive.

As expected, after Gu Sheng's comforting words, Da Jiang stopped feeling guilty and asked, "Then... Sheng-ge, what should we do now?"

What to do?

This question stumped Gu Sheng.

He didn't know what to do either.

In the ordinary course of things, they should have taken advantage of the previous success of the live stream and proceeded with promotion.

But don't underestimate promotion.

Many classic games in his previous life spent almost half, if not more, of their total investment on promotion alone!

However...

"I don't know why, but Little Nezha seems to be a little resistant to promotion," Gu Sheng frowned, pondering.

"In fact, before the game's release, I suggested to Little Nezha that we could leverage the residual popularity of Cat Mario and contact Art Game to see if they could give us a featured spot."

"Then what happened?" Lu Bian asked, "Did Little Nezha refuse?"

"Yeah," Gu Sheng nodded, "In her words, as long as our game has enough quality, Art Game will come to us sooner or later."

"That's not wrong," Lu Bian agreed, "Xiao Nezha is indeed the president. She looks cute and naive, but she's quite shrewd. It seems like she wants to keep the initiative in our hands."

"It's true," Lu Bian continued, "If Art Game takes the initiative to approach us, it will indeed be more advantageous for us."

As he spoke, Lu Bian couldn't help but look at Xiao Nezha in a new light.

This little boss had some insight.

Her strategic vision was quite far-reaching.

"But... with our current performance, why would Art Game come to us?" Da Jiang raised a question, "The situation now is that our first-day sales are disastrous, and our strategy can't be realized."

"So, what we can do now is just wait," Gu Sheng shrugged, "Let the bullets fly for a while."

Gu Sheng still had confidence in "Who's the Dad."

The problem was that the game's visibility was not wide enough.

So, they could only wait.

Wait for the game's popularity to pick up.

As they were discussing...

Knock, knock, knock--

The office door was knocked.

Outside the door, the voice of the chief secretary, Chu Qingzhou, sounded, "Director Gu, President Shen is holding a meeting. Please come to the conference room..."

……

Ten minutes later!

The Golden Wind executives gathered in the conference room!

Shen Miaomiao was beaming with joy!

Times have changed indeed!

She remembered the last sales discussion meeting when she almost had a heart attack on the spot!

But now, the tables have turned!

The days of losing money have finally come to an end!

As Gu Sheng and the other two took their seats, Shen Miaomiao couldn't wait to make her opening statement:

"Today's meeting is mainly to discuss the sales of our latest game release."

"I believe Director Gu and the two department heads are also aware of it."

"Let's get straight to the point, Secretary Chu."

With those words, Shen Miaomiao waved her hand, indicating that Chu Qingzhou could begin presenting the data.

Chu Qingzhou nodded:

"As of now, our company's second game, 'Who's the Dad,' has been on sale for nearly 22 hours."

"Although it's not yet 24 hours, the data won't change much."

"So, as per President Shen's request, we have summarized the sales for the first 22 hours."

"The current sales are—"

"2215 copies, with a total revenue of 11,075 yuan."

Wow! Celebrate!

Chu Qingzhou's voice sounded so wonderful to Shen Miaomiao's ears!

Although selling over two thousand copies on the first day was somewhat unexpected, it was still progress for her.

After all, she didn't expect this seemingly ridiculous game to sell over two thousand copies without any game streamers promoting it.

She wondered where these buyers came from.

Nevertheless, this first-day performance was already a significant improvement for her!

It was a full half less than Cat Mario's first-day sales!

And without any promotion, this game's long-term potential was undoubtedly far less than Cat Mario's!

At this rate!

The estimated first-week sales would be around 6,000 copies, and that was already a fantastic achievement!

Shen Miaomiao's mind was racing:

Total sales of 30,000 copies, a net loss of 70,000 yuan, and rebate settlements—over 700,000 yuan!

Fantastic!

She couldn't help but marvel at the power of her system!

She hadn't done much, just hired three fools to make games, and within a week, she would be getting over 700,000 yuan!

It seemed like the title of the world's richest person was beckoning!

However!

At this very moment!

Ding dong—

Suddenly, a sound from her phone notified her of a message.

Feeling the vibration, Shen Miaomiao took out her phone.

On the lock screen notification, a message caught her eye—

[Shark Live: Your followed streamer 'Ah Yin' is live with 'Today, I and Shu-ge are streaming the 'Father-Son' mode of 'Who's the Dad.'"]

Chapter 18 - Unpredictable!

Shen Miaomiao: ???

Wait a minute!

Not again!

Huh?!!

What's happening?

Why is it happening again?

She clearly squatted all night yesterday, Ah Yin shouldn't have known about this game at all!

Why did he suddenly find out about it today?

Suddenly, Shen Miaomiao couldn't help but feel alarmed!

I can't believe it!

Could it be that the game he's live streaming is our company's game?

... Damn, it can't be a coincidence!

After all, besides Gu Sheng, which other designer with a sane mind would give their game such an abstract name!

Thinking about this, Shen Miaomiao couldn't sit still:

"Um, let's end the meeting here for today, adjourn!"

With that, she stood up directly, dashed out of the meeting room like a bolt, leaving Chu Qingzhou and the three brothers staring at each other in bewilderment.

"Ah, this..."

Gu Sheng had never encountered this situation before and looked at Chu Qingzhou with an inquiring gaze:

"Chu Secretary, shall we...?"

"Let's adjourn for now, then..."

Chu Qingzhou shrugged.

She had no idea what had gotten into Shen Miaomiao, so she could only helplessly announce the end of the meeting.

In the meeting room, several people were puzzled and even found it somewhat amusing.

Little did they know that at this moment, Shen Miaomiao was feeling extremely anxious!

...

"Please, don't let it be our game..."

"Oh, spirits above, I'm willing to trade Gu Sheng's lifelong bachelorhood for the losses of this game..."

On her way back to her office, Shen Miaomiao kept muttering, making her final desperate struggle.

It wasn't until she returned to the CEO's office and opened the livestream!

That Shen Miaomiao completely lost it.

Damn it.

Gu Sheng was probably not going to stay single for a lifetime.

Because on Ah Yin's livestream, the screen displayed the game designed by Gu Sheng!

Ah Yin adjusted the camera, greeted the audience with a smile, and said:

"Hello, hello! Let's get started. Thanks for the glow sticks, keep the fan signs coming."

"Today, I'll be playing a new game, it's the latest work from Cat Mario Company."

"I was browsing Douyin last night and saw Director Qie's video clips. They seemed interesting, so I invited Shu Ge to join me today..." [5]

And Ah Yin's words naturally resonated with the barrage:

"Hahaha, the boss also saw Director Qie's video."

"Director Qie's video has already received over 100,000 likes."

"The show's effect is explosive, indeed."

"I even suggested to the boss that he should find someone to play together today."

"I was there in person yesterday, almost laughed my head off."

"The company, Huangjin Zhi Feng, is truly abstract."

"I noticed that the company's games are all about art."

"Looking forward to the boss's performance."

"I'm sending a little airplane!"

"The boss is confused…"

Listening to Ah Yin's words and reading the discussions in the barrage, Shen Miaomiao felt her head buzzing!

Liu Peiqie?

But wasn't Liu Peiqie the one who died in a rocket explosion?

Oh, wait, that was Liu Peiqiang.

So who is this person?!

Thinking about it, Shen Miaomiao started searching for information about this streamer online.

"Liu Peiqie, real name Wu Qingquan, contracted streamer under FireLine Shuttle, Shark FPS Area's annual champion streamer..."

Looking at the online information, Shen Miaomiao's face turned even redder!

Then she slammed the table fiercely!

Bang!

Gah——!!!

This game isn't without any streamer promotion!!!

Instead, I mistakenly followed the wrong person!!!

Shen Miaomiao feels like she's about to have a heart attack!

"Ah——This damn game is really trying to mess with me!!!"

Shen Miaomiao is truly anxious; even her hometown dialect is coming out:

"When I wanted to watch a streamer playing shooting games, they unexpectedly switched to this happy game instead!!!"

"What's so fun about this twisted game!"

"Gu Sheng, you owe me money..."

Shen Miaomiao is really on the verge of a breakdown.

In the end, even poor Nezha's voice carries a hint of crying.

She was so cautious and alert; she didn't even dare to blink last night!

She even took the time to search the server where Ah Yin (the streamer) was playing!

She didn't see any streamer playing their game, so she finally felt safe enough to go to bed!

But who would have thought!

A popular contracted streamer actually stole the game and played it!

No wonder it sold over two thousand copies!

Shen Miaomiao is grinding her teeth!

She had to calm herself for a full ten minutes!

Only then did she manage to regain some composure!

Taking a sip of water.

"...It's alright, it's alright, Shen Miaomiao! Pull yourself together!"

Though Shen Miaomiao may seem petite, she's actually very composed and skilled at adjusting her emotions as a seasoned "slacker."

"It's okay! The game is full of loopholes anyway!"

Shen Miaomiao takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself and remain calm:

"The situation has just changed a bit, but the game's quality hasn't been showcased yet."

"Ah Yin, with his level of influence, will definitely make fun of the shoddy art style!"

"As long as he discredits the game on his stream, I still have hope!"

"Furthermore, it might even negatively impact the game's sales!"

"Yes!"

"Keep going! Stay strong! Shen Miaomiao, your luck can't be that bad!"

After a pep talk!

Shen Miaomiao tries to regain her confidence and focuses her attention on Ah Yin's live stream.

Then, she sees Ah Yin opening the game and laughing heartily—

...

"Holy cow, this art style is too abstract, hahaha, interesting!"

Ah Yin chuckles.

Without realizing it, the flutter of a butterfly's wings in Jinmen City might lead to one more lifeless body at the Golden Wind Game Company.

Meanwhile, in the voice channel, a voice with a slight Jin accent is heard:

"Hey, hey, Boss, can you hear me?"

"I hear you, Tree, log in."

Ah Yin responds.

This time, the one playing with him is the streamer known as the 'pyramid scheme leader,' Tree Brother. They've been gaming friends since way back and are affectionately called 'Ah Tree' or 'Ah Cui' by their viewers.

Soon!

The two of them join the game room.

They flip a coin to determine the roles for the first round—

Ah Yin plays as the son, trying his best to die within the given time.

Tree Brother plays as the father, trying to protect Ah Yin within the given time.

Last night, Ah Yin had watched the livestream recording of this game.

So, he thought he was mentally prepared for its peculiar art style.

However!

As he entered the game, he was once again shocked by the abstract and quirky character designs.

"Darn, this game is so bizarre..."

After laughing and cursing, Ah Yiin quickly got into character:

"Daddy! I, Big Strong Yin, am awake! Be careful!"

As he spoke, Ah Yin jumped off the baby's crib and started rummaging around the room.

Guess what?

In his search, he actually found something good—either due to his mother's carelessness or his father's absentmindedness. Right next to the baby's room, there was a plate of cut fruits, and beside the fruits was a fruit knife.

Ah Yin felt like he found a treasure!

"Wow, holy cow! This is an extraordinary weapon! Daddy, come and see!"

At this moment, Tree Brother also joined in, and as he opened the door, he warmly greeted:

"Ah—Big Strong In, come, let Daddy hug you—"

However!

Before he finished speaking!

Ah Yin, who was playing with the knife, accidentally let go of it.

Thud—

The flying knife was neither off-target nor off-center; it hit Tree Brother right on the forehead.

In an instant, the livestream room fell silent.

Ah Yin was also stunned for quite a while!

Finally, he managed to force out a sentence:

"Hmph!"

"A great man cannot stay oppressed in the world for long!"

TL Notes

[1]: Xiao Liang means Little Shining, which is like a tradition in Chinese to give others a nickname based on their appearance, personality and so on.

[2]: Xiao Liang means Little Shining, which is like a tradition in Chinese to give others a nickname based on their appearance, personality and so on.)

[3]: The abbreviation "sb" is used as an insult. It stands for a derogatory term in Chinese, "傻逼" (shǎbī), which translates to "fool" or "idiot" in English.

[4]: In Chinese internet slang, "Woc" (窝草) is a euphemism used to express surprise, frustration, or other strong emotions.

[5]: Douyin is Tiktok in chinese

_____

This novel will only be updated on Monday. Every Monday, 5 chapters will be released at once.

(If you like this novel, please go to novelupdate and recommend it as well as leave a review to it.)

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