Chapter 18

Seeing that Xiao Yang was still looking conflicted, Jiang Qiubai explained, "The essence of our two games is different. Our core is really about attracting players to spend money, but theirs is focused on allowing players to experience the content."

For the game "Dragon Slayer Sword," in order to cater to their target audience—office workers and those big spenders who only want to pay without leveling up—Jiang Qiubai had put a lot of effort into reducing the players' burden.

To achieve this, he had repeatedly simplified the leveling process, even making it a fully automated game. Then came the sect tournaments and the early launch of numerous servers in preparation for server merges, all so that those high-spending players could spend happily, feel satisfied, and even consider their money well spent.

As for that other game, it was clear from the introduction alone that its core gameplay was infrastructure building.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but such gameplay inevitably demands a lot of time.

If they had promoted it differently, just added some paid packs, it might still have worked. But they insisted on using an advertising model similar to Dragon Slayer Sword, hoping to attract its players.

But how much time do Dragon Slayer Sword’s players really have to play? They just want to pay and then relax while their characters grow stronger.

If their players really are lured away, only to find they not only have to pay but also invest time...

Jiang Qiubai shook his head, lighting a candle in his heart for that game.

Xiao Yang still didn't completely understand, but seeing Jiang Qiubai’s calm expression, he couldn't help but feel reassured as well.

"By the way, boss, I came to let you know that we've almost finished the creator tool, but the trading platform will need a bit more time," Xiao Yang finally remembered his purpose for coming and hurried to report.

The newcomers hired for the studio had all arrived, and with their addition, the production speed was much faster than expected.

"Make sure you get the template for the creator tool done by tomorrow," Jiang Qiubai nodded. That way, he could showcase it directly during his stream.

"Alright, boss." Xiao Yang then asked, "What should we do with the previous batch of assets?"

He was referring to the strange shooter dress-up game the original owner had made. The game itself wasn't great, but the visuals were beautiful. Later, Dragon Slayer Sword had used many of its scenes directly.

Jiang Qiubai was silent for a moment. "We’ve basically used all the scenes; what's left are just the outfits."

The original owner had some wild ideas, but the people he recruited were talented, and the outfits they designed were quite attractive.

Such beautiful assets would be a shame to waste. Why not integrate them...

As thoughts spun in his mind, a new game concept began to take shape.

"Hold onto them—we'll use them for the next game," Jiang Qiubai decided.

"Alright, boss, you already have plans for the next game?" Xiao Yang was both terrified and impressed.

He was in awe of Jiang Qiubai's unconventional yet successful ideas.

The terror, of course, came from... the prospect of more overtime!

After Jiang Qiubai confirmed, Xiao Yang left, pained yet delighted, mourning his lost rest but already looking forward to the possible bonus in the future.

After Dragon Slayer Sword made a killing, Jiang Qiubai kept his word and gave everyone a bonus larger than their annual salary.

With that bonus, Xiao Yang not only paid off his installment plan in one go, but even had enough left for a VR setup he'd been eyeing for ages.

With real benefits in their hands, the entire studio, including the new hires, was filled with hope for the future and unprecedented enthusiasm for work.

Jiang Qiubai was very satisfied with this.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

The next day, before the stream, Old Liu really did bring in several interested advertisers.

"Boss, here are their current offers. This one wants a long-term partnership. These three want to sign for a month first. These four have all quoted less than you wanted."

"And this one—they agreed to our price but want to advertise for half a month first before deciding on a long-term deal." Old Liu handed Jiang Qiubai the offers, sorted from lowest to highest.

He wasn’t too familiar with such matters, so he simply used the quote Jiang Qiubai had given him yesterday.

"Tell them, my price is already the bottom line. As for the half-month one, if it's short-term, the price will have to go up, or we can settle by click count." Jiang Qiubai was confident in the traffic this game could bring.

After all, for a player to clear the game with hints, they'd have to click dozens, even hundreds of times at a minimum.

And that's for players with decent skills. If their skills were worse...

In Jiang Qiubai's eyes, this price was already very reasonable.

"Alright, I'll get in touch with them then." Old Liu nodded, ready to leave.

"Don't rush to negotiate the price yet," Jiang Qiubai stopped him. "Have them try the game themselves and watch my stream later. We'll talk after the stream."

Jiang Qiubai was confident that after they tried the game, they’d have a good sense of the ad frequency. As for player traffic, the stream would be the best demonstration.

Besides, he still had a trump card to play.

Soon, it was time for the stream. Jiang Qiubai tidied up his desk, fixed the camera to show only his hands and phone, and started the broadcast.

Because he'd announced it in advance, and with other streamers coming to watch out of curiosity, the viewership had already hit six figures before 8 PM, and the chat was a flood of messages.

Some were discussing strategies, some were there for the drama, but most were mocking the game’s notorious difficulty.

"Ahem, hello everyone, can you hear me?" Jiang Qiubai began.

Once he got confirmation, he launched the game and started chatting as he played. "This game isn’t actually that hard. You just need to pay more attention to the plants and flowers around you, and you’ll clear it smoothly."

"Everyone can jump, right? If there’s an obstacle, just jump over it."

[Listen to him. Is he even human?]

[You’d better clear it without dying even once.]

[Recording started. Today’s the day this dog of a developer is exposed!]

Jiang Qiubai’s words sparked outrage. The chat erupted, and even some of the streamers watching had their expressions change.

Not difficult, easy to clear—was he mocking them?

The streamers stared at the screen, jaw clenched, cursing inwardly: Die already! Die! Why hasn’t that apple exploded yet? Where are the spikes? Where did the spikes go?

Wait, where are all those infuriating traps?

The streamers were stunned.

The scene they’d imagined—Jiang Qiubai failing repeatedly and finally admitting the game’s design was flawed—never materialized.

Jiang Qiubai was actually... playing pretty well?!

On stream, Jiang Qiubai skillfully maneuvered his character, jumping effortlessly to the end of the first level—the princess who would open the door and push the player out.

This was the segment that had made countless players curse in frustration, but Jiang Qiubai merely accelerated his jump midair, cleared the castle, and walked back to knock on the door.

The princess opened the door to the left while Jiang Qiubai stood on the right.

Perfect harmony.

A speech bubble appeared above the princess: "Oh, my hero, you’re finally here."

"I can't bear to stay here any longer! This castle is haunted. Every time I hear knocking and come to open the door, there’s never anyone outside."

The chat paused for a second, then erupted again.

[??? Am I being mocked? I must be getting mocked, right??]

[This dog developer will do anything except act like a decent person!]

[I’m reporting this—insulting the players!]

[Stop the abuse, I’m still a kid.]

[I want to curse every time I see this, damn!]

Jiang Qiubai shrugged, sounding completely innocent: "See? Isn’t it simple?"

With that, the character entered the dark basement—level two began.

Jiang Qiubai didn’t use any checkpoints, just had his character hop forward at such speed that players who wanted to copy his strategy from the video couldn’t even keep up with their eyes.

He breezed through to level five—a place players had never reached.

At the end of level five, Jiang Qiubai paused to recall: "This should be... oh, yes, this one is quite interesting."

He approached the final boss of level five, hopping skillfully onto the boss’s head.

"Consider this a little bonus for those watching the stream—a tip for clearing this stage." Standing atop the boss, the boss began to shoot beams in all directions.

At first, it was just one beam per direction. As the boss sped up, the beams multiplied, until the whole screen looked like rain, every direction filled—except for the small safe zone on the boss’s head.

[Stunned. This is the most terrifying boss I’ve ever seen!]

[Logically, I should thank the streamer for the tip, but knowing he’s the developer makes the words stick in my throat.]

[Damn!]

Seeing the boss’s attack was about to end and the next trap was imminent, Jiang Qiubai quickly exited the game.

He was saving that surprise for the players—no spoilers allowed.

Let players believe that the boss’s head would always be safe.

Jiang Qiubai smiled slightly, ignoring the flood of messages begging him to continue: "The rest is up to you to discover on your own. If I stream any more, you’ll just clear the game by following the video."

[Are you mocking us for not making it past level five all this time?]

[This is mockery, right? It’s definitely mockery. Report him, brothers!]

[Got it! I’m going to speedrun level five using the recording right now!]

Jiang Qiubai pretended not to see any of it. "Want to know why I can clear it so easily?"

"Because I helped design these levels. Of course, I know where you can go and where you can’t."

Though part of the reason was that he’d practiced a few times before going live and had gotten a feel for it.

This kind of mini-game goes viral easily but is just as quickly forgotten—because when you don’t know the level design, it’s fun, but once you clear it and the unknown becomes known, it loses its charm.

If a game is to remain popular, players must always be curious about the unknown.

By emphasizing that he could clear it easily because he’d designed the levels, Jiang Qiubai was setting up for the big reveal—a new feature to solve exactly this issue.

Glancing at the sea of messages—[Boo!] [What are you bragging about?]—Jiang Qiubai calmly dangled the bait: "Do you like this feeling? Do you want to experience it yourself?"

"If you want to, you too can clear the game as smoothly as I did."

"This is the update I’m announcing today."

"Just move your finger—without spending a penny—and you’ll get hints to clear the game."

Jiang Qiubai’s devilish whisper echoed in everyone’s ears.

"We’re a fair game. If we say it’s free, then it’s free to the end."