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    ## Chapter 102: The Real Cooking Game

    Is Golden Wind a small game company?

    Yes.

    Undeniably.

    But is their current position in the game industry that of a small game company?

    No.

    This is where the abstract nature of Golden Wind comes into play. They use the form of a small game company to achieve the goals of a medium to large-sized game company.

    Therefore, even Yan Sheng struggled to define the scale of Golden Wind for a while.

    If he had to put it into words:

    “It’s… kind of…”

    Yan Sheng nodded, then continued:

    “But isn’t it a bit…”

    A bit too much to bully others.

    You must know!

    The last time they participated in the Small Game Festival, Golden Wind used “Vampire Survivors” to crush a bunch of game companies of the same level!

    They were already the undisputed king even before the final results were announced!

    Now!

    After a year of honing, Golden Wind has begun to emerge in Asia, even going toe-to-toe with domestic first-line veteran manufacturers!

    Are you saying you want to participate in the Small Game Festival again?

    This…

    Yan Sheng’s expression was a bit complex, feeling that Gu Sheng was being a little shameless.

    But how could he know!

    Gu Sheng’s participation in this Small Game Festival was by no means a bullying act!

    It was for collecting emotions!

    Currently, faced with the pressure of three giants, Gu Sheng had no other choice. He wanted to overturn Yi Dasan and defeat Xun Teng, carving a path out of the encirclement.

    He had to bring out TTF2!

    Among the games he had a chance to win, only TTF2, while having a compelling story, also had the extensibility for multiplayer projects!

    Based on his estimates, by the end of next month, which was the latest start date for the flagship project, the emotional value PUBG had brought him should be around nine hundred thousand.

    He needed to fill the gap with a small game that could raise enough emotional value.

    He hadn’t figured out which game to use yet, but he had to secure this spot.

    Yan Sheng pondered for a moment, ultimately feeling that it was inappropriate for Golden Wind to participate in the Small Game Development Festival again at this time.

    So he said: “How about this, Director Gu,”

    “Because your company’s current reputation and position make it a bit… too much of an overkill to participate in the Small Game Festival,”

    “For the sake of fairness for other normal medium and small-sized game companies, let’s compromise. How about this,”

    “Your company, as the special guest of this Small Game Festival, will participate in our online opening ceremony,”

    “And also, during the opening ceremony, showcase your work,”

    “Furthermore, your company’s work will be exempted from the fourteen-day free period, and will be available for purchase beforehand, as a way to pre-heat the Small Game Festival,”

    “You will enjoy the fixed recommendation on the Small Game Festival homepage, but you won’t be participating in the ranking of the Small Game Festival,”

    “Is this suitable?”

    Gu Sheng pondered for a moment, then nodded.

    No problem.

    After all, he just wanted to give the small game publicity, to have more players play it.

    He didn’t even care about profitability this time, he just wanted the game to earn enough emotional value for him to unlock the core resources of TTF2.

    Yan Sheng’s proposal fully met his requirements, and was even more beneficial than including them in the ranking.

    Of course, Gu Sheng wouldn’t refuse such a good opportunity:

    “Since President Yan has such high regard for us, then we humbly accept?”

    “It’s only right, only right,”

    Yan Sheng saw Gu Sheng agree and relaxed, smiling and waving his hand:

    “Director Gu, you’re too humble.”

    After a few more pleasantries, Yan Sheng bid farewell to the two and left the company.

    After seeing Yan Sheng off, Gu Sheng looked at the time, it was already 10:30 AM.

    This time was awkward.

    It was too early for lunch, and too late for breakfast.

    So Gu Sheng and Shen Miao Miao simply strolled to the leisure area, ready to grab some snacks.

    Yes.

    “Grab” snacks.

    To enliven the atmosphere, relax everyone’s minds, and broaden their thinking (this is what Shen Miao Miao said).

    Shen Miao Miao, with a bold stroke, initiated a wave of “reforms” in the company!

    With a wave of her hand, she directly replaced the snack shelves that were originally on the shelves with claw machines.

    There were more than ten claw machines, arranged around the leisure area, filled with all kinds of snacks.

    Potato chips, shrimp crackers, needless to say, jelly, dried fruits, biscuits, and candy bars were also readily available, with weekly rotations, managed by the supermarket on the basement floor of the neighboring mall.

    Moreover, these snack claw machines didn’t require coins. As long as you wanted to grab, you could stand there and grab for a whole day.

    But!

    People who have played claw machines know that they can be adjusted. The strength of the mechanical claw is completely set by the settings.

    This is where Shen Miao Miao’s intelligence comes into play——

    She adjusted the grabbing force of the claw machines to a moderate level, roughly similar to those found in shopping malls, where you could grab one every twenty to thirty tries.

    If you want to eat snacks, you have to stand here and grab!

    Effectively increasing slacking time and shortening work hours!

    At first, everyone was apprehensive.

    Until one day, everyone witnessed Shen Miao Miao accompanying Jiang Shan, the deputy director of the art department, standing in front of the biscuit stick claw machine for the entire afternoon!

    Even the boss is slacking off!

    Only then did everyone relax and wholeheartedly join the ranks of grabbing snacks.

    And it didn’t end there!

    Some people are impatient, they may not have the patience to play mind games with the claw machine, to figure out the strength of its claws, and to adjust the angle of the targeted snack. It’s too much trouble!

    They just want to grab and eat immediately!

    No problem!

    Shen Miao Miao contacted the claw machine manufacturer and got a batch of game tokens. After inserting a token, the claw machine’s grabbing force would reach its maximum, grabbing one accurately every time.

    As for how to get the game tokens, it was simple——

    Shen Miao Miao spent her own money to upgrade all the cameras in the company to facial recognition.

    As long as employees clock out on time at the designated time, and don’t appear in the company between 5 PM and 9 AM.

    They are considered to have met the attendance requirements, and can receive one game token each day, collected from the financial lady every month.

    Under such a dual-pronged reverse attendance system!

    For a time, slacking off was rampant in Golden Wind, and everyone’s work hours became incredibly precise!

    Even Gu Sheng couldn’t help but admire: “If you put this brain into project content, our company would have gone public long ago…”

    “Old Gu, Old Gu, I want to eat this.”

    As soon as they arrived in the leisure area, Shen Miao Miao discovered that the snacks in the machines had been rotated.

    The outermost snack machine had her favorite coconut-flavored lollipop.

    She knew Old Gu’s skills, he was a professional claw machine player, he could grab ten out of ten without even using tokens, incredibly awesome.

    “Lollipop huh, that’s a bit difficult…”

    Gu Sheng smacked his lips, rolling up his sleeves.

    Claw machines are already difficult to grab small items, plus lollipops are slippery, it’s theoretically very difficult to grab them without using tokens.

    “I’ll try.”

    Saying that, Gu Sheng went to the snack claw machine, tapped the start button, and started moving the joystick.

    While trying, he said: “The flagship project…”

    He wanted to continue what he hadn’t finished during the meeting, to tell Xiaona about his ideas.

    Including how to deal with this challenge, what his own thoughts were, how much the total investment would be, etc.

    Of course, there was one more important point——

    He wanted to tell Xiaona not to worry, he was confident that Golden Wind could reverse the situation and win the top spot in this “Tianji race”.

    Yi Dasan may not have a chance to win, but no matter what, this game definitely won’t be a loss.

    But!

    Shen Miao Miao thought he was going to raise some objections!

    She immediately stretched out her small hand, covering Gu Sheng’s mouth, her tone filled with the charm of a domineering CEO:

    “Shhhhh——Old Gu, no need to say anything, I believe in your abilities, just go ahead and do it,”

    “Right now, your job is to concentrate on grabbing that coconut-flavored lollipop for me.”

    She added in her heart:

    Anyway, it’s a loss, what’s the point?

    The inferior horse against the three generals, the total investment amount of both sides differs by tens of times.

    In this case, don’t even talk about making money.

    It would be great to be able to keep your underpants.

    The first attempt to grab failed, Gu Sheng rolled his eyes and slapped Shen Miao Miao’s hand away:

    “Don’t give me this deathly aura, just say you don’t understand.”

    Although he said that.

    He was still quite touched in his heart.

    If this were a small project, a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand, Xiaona wouldn’t care, it’s likely because she’s lazy, she’s a couch potato.

    But this is a project worth hundreds of millions.

    It’s Golden Wind’s first project with an investment reaching nine figures, and it’s also a watershed moment that determines whether they can gain a foothold in the Chinese game industry.

    If they can get past this hurdle, then Golden Wind can successfully join the ranks of medium-sized game companies.

    But if they can’t, it’s fine to start over, but the company might as well be nonexistent.

    After all, there have been countless examples like this in the market. And Xiaona was able to let go of her power in such a crucial project, which is completely unimaginable in other companies.

    This not only means that Xiaona is incredibly decisive, but more importantly——

    She really trusts him, trusts the project team, and trusts that they can create miracles.

    Gu Sheng understands.

    Buzz—

    The claw machine’s claw stopped on the coconut lollipop.

    Gu Sheng started shaking the joystick left and right, making the mechanical arm swing. He was going to try a different approach, letting the claw sweep the lollipop into the dispensing port while swinging.

    “Then it’s agreed,”

    A warm current flowed through his heart, Gu Sheng joked:

    “Don’t blame me if it goes wrong?”

    Hearing this, Shen Miao Miao, who was sitting next to him, her eyes shone brightly!

    “Hey——Old Gu, what are you saying? We’re a family, no need to say two words!”

    Shen Miao Miao almost burst into laughter, trying to hold back her expression:

    “Don’t be under pressure, with you on the job, this game definitely won’t lose money!!!”

    Shen Miao Miao pretended to pat Gu Sheng on the shoulder.

    Haha, I’m just saying this, just listen to me. Not losing money is pure bullshit.

    You can keep your composure, and don’t question your existence when you lose!

    Buzz—

    Clack.

    A light sound, the claw swept the lollipop’s tail as Gu Sheng expected, moving it closer to the dispensing port by a tiny bit.

    There’s a chance!

    Gu Sheng’s eyes lit up, and he continued to repeat the action.

    He then asked: “What about the Small Game Festival, do you have any ideas.”

    Oh right.

    When Gu Sheng mentioned this, Shen Miao Miao remembered.

    Just now Old Gu asked Yan Sheng about the Small Game Festival, probably wanting to take this opportunity to make some extra money, to accumulate funds for the flagship project that would be launched at the end of next month.

    This project…

    Shen Miao Miao wasn’t very interested.

    It’s just a small game, released on the PC platform. Its production cost is inherently lower than that of the sensory pod, and due to volume limitations, it can only be invested a few hundred thousand at most.

    Even if it loses everything, it will only return two million at most.

    It’s not even a tenth of the return on the flagship project if it loses.

    “What do you think?” Shen Miao Miao focused her attention on the lollipop that was getting closer and closer to the dispensing port.

    Gu Sheng flicked the mechanical arm, hitting the lollipop closer to the dispensing port again: “I don’t have any good ideas either, I was just asking for your opinion.”

    “What good opinions could I have,”

    Shen Miao Miao shrugged, suddenly remembering PUBG’s previous description of the game by Gu Sheng, which was completely unrelated:

    “I told you to make a real cooking game, would you? If we make it, it’s bound to lose money…”

    As she spoke, Shen Miao Miao rolled her eyes.

    Gu Sheng would definitely not agree to such a clearly unprofitable project.

    Before she finished speaking!

    Clack!

    Under Gu Sheng’s superb skills, the lollipop finally swept into the dispensing port, falling out with a clack.

    Gu Sheng smiled slightly: “It’s not impossible.”

    “What’s not impossible?” Shen Miao Miao was confused by Gu Sheng’s seemingly unrelated statement.

    She saw Gu Sheng squat down, take the lollipop out of the dispensing port, and hand it to her, then said:

    “Cooking games, not impossible.”

    Shen Miao Miao’s movements of peeling the candy wrapper froze, her face full of question marks.

    “Brother, if I remember correctly, during the Asian Competition Association’s opening ceremony, you personally said that this game type is stupid? You are…”

    Shen Miao Miao pointed at Gu Sheng, then at her own head:

    “Going to challenge the lower limit of your own intelligence?”

    “No,”

    Gu Sheng chuckled, shaking his head.

    “I said that before because this kind of game is indeed not suitable for sensory pods, and even more so for e-sports,”

    “But this time, we’re making a small game, and it’s for the PC platform,”

    “The prerequisites have changed, and the viability of the game has changed accordingly,”

    “Just like “Who’s the Daddy” back then,”

    “When you have nothing better to do, get together with your girlfriends, buddies, preferably your lover,”

    “Experience the down-to-earth atmosphere, make exquisite cooking dishes, and make the customers who come to dine feel happy and satisfied,”

    “Deepen friendships between friends, and strengthen relationships between lovers,”

    “A small game that costs twenty to thirty bucks, you can’t lose by buying it, you can’t go wrong by buying it,”

    “What’s not to like?”

    Oh——

    Hearing Gu Sheng’s description, Shen Miao Miao nodded repeatedly.

    A two-player cooperative cooking game.

    It sounds like a pretty good idea.

    And when she thought about being in the kitchen with her best friend or lover, working together, receiving one good review after another.

    The sense of satisfaction and achievement would be very strong.

    It can indeed promote friendship and enhance relationships.

    Thinking of this, Shen Miao Miao sucked on the lollipop: “That makes sense, and it seems like a game type I can play.”

    “You can definitely play it,”

    Gu Sheng smiled, moved to another machine next to it, and grabbed a bag of chips for himself:

    “Why don’t you join me for the Small Game Festival’s online live stream later, we’re playing a two-player game, I need a partner.”

    Shen Miao Miao’s eyes lit up: “Good idea!”

    Anyway, she didn’t care about the profit or loss of this game, it was better to give Old Gu some confidence and let him make some money this time.

    In a way, this was also a kind of psychological comfort for Old Gu.

    Standing up while sucking on the lollipop, Shen Miao Miao patted Gu Sheng on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up:

    “We’ll join forces, we’ll definitely make this live stream both interesting and make the game a huge success!”

    Looking at Xiaona’s high spirits, Gu Sheng smiled, thinking to himself:

    Whether it sells or not is irrelevant, I’m here for collecting emotional value. If it wasn’t too obvious to give it away for free, I would even give the game away directly, it doesn’t matter if it loses money, the flagship project can make it all back.

    Thinking!

    Gu Sheng’s mind moved.

    [System, unlock “Overcooked” for me.]

    Time flew by.

    At this time, although it was the end of autumn and beginning of winter, and the weather was getting colder, the Capital Bird’s Nest was filled with a fervent atmosphere!

    A grand stage, elaborately decorated, was located in the center of the venue, with dazzling lights.

    One hundred sensory pods were arranged around the main stage like stars around the moon, shimmering and dazzling.

    On the four surrounding screens in the center of the venue, a man wearing a white shirt, jeans, and a heavy helmet flew out on a motorcycle in an explosion!

    The pre-designated viewing area was packed, with flags fluttering!

    The crowd was cheering, bustling and boisterous!

    As the music in the venue started playing!

    The enthusiastic cheers and applause from the audience soared to the sky, the voice of the DJ host on the side curtain——

    “Ladies and gentlemen——”

    “Welcome to the ‘Sixth Asian Electronic Sports Game Developers Conference Awards Ceremony and PUBG Asian Invitation Exhibition’ hosted by the China International Digital Entertainment Electronic Association, the Japan East Tokyo Electric Games Association, the Korea Electronic Sports Game League, and the West Asia New Moon Technology Company!”

    “Welcome everyone!!!”

    Boom——!!!

    The cheers of the ten thousand people in the venue surged!

    Flames erupted from the stage.

    The fireworks around the venue also erupted in unison!

    Boom!

    The brilliant fireworks exploded in the sky above the Bird’s Nest stadium.

    The huge logo of the Sixth Asian Competition Association, coupled with the colorful beams of light soaring into the sky, lit up in the air, dazzling and brilliant!

    Not bad!

    After a month of competition, this four-year Asian Electronic Sports Game Developers Conference finally crowned its champion ten days ago!

    Golden Wind, a game company from China, won the championship with an investment of fifty million, 1.5 million sets sold, and a total sales revenue of nearly 150 million!

    As soon as the news was announced, the Chinese game circle went crazy!

    Countless congratulatory calls poured in, all kinds of angel investments came one after another!

    For a time, Golden Wind became the most tempting and delicious delicacy in the game industry!

    From the game industry to the media industry, even some industries completely unrelated to games, they all extended olive branches to Golden Wind!

    Even many people, through Shen Wanlin’s connections, wanted to invest in Golden Wind, hoping to get a piece of the pie!

    For this, Shen Wanlin even specially invited Shen Miao Miao back home for a talk.

    And Shen Miao Miao’s attitude was also very firm—free sponsorship was acceptable, but investment share was out of the question.

    At the same time!

    The e-sports tournament selection of the Asian Competition Association also started!

    Since the game has only been released for a month, related clubs have not yet been established, and many large clubs are still watching.

    So, the competition, like previous editions, was still in the form of exhibition matches.

    After several rounds of online competition, five teams were selected from each of the five major Asian regions, a total of twenty-five teams and one hundred players, came to the Bird’s Nest to participate in the final offline finals!

    Outside the venue, the autumn wind was bleak.

    But inside the venue, it was a fiery spectacle!——

    PS: At the suggestion of our esteemed readers, we will no longer update in separate time slots, it will evolve into a ten thousand word beast, updated in one go. Everyone eat well!!!

    PPS: In view of such a sincere attitude, dear readers, please give us a monthly ticket~

    (End of Chapter)

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