Header Background Image
    Chapter Index
    Read Advanced Chapters on Patreon: patreon.com/fantasystories797

    ## Chapter 3: Ready for Takeoff

    **2024-07-17 Author: Bulufen Warrior**

    Chapter 3: Ready for Takeoff

    More money?

    Gu Sheng was taken aback.

    In the past, when he was making games, the most frequent request he heard was to reduce the budget.

    But he had never seen an owner take the initiative to increase the budget!

    Logically, this was a good thing. Willingness to increase the budget meant the owner believed in his ability.

    But…

    Looking at his project plan, Gu Sheng felt a little troubled.

    Where should he start to increase the budget?

    After all, the only cost for this *Mao Liao* was the official use fee for the Flash game development platform!

    “As for character modeling and UI design, I… drew them all myself.”

    Gu Sheng sounded a little guilty.

    As he spoke, he stole a glance at Shen Miao Miao.

    After all, such a game design process did sound rather sloppy.

    Sure enough!

    Shen Miao Miao frowned upon hearing Gu Sheng’s words: “You drew them all yourself?”

    “Uh, yes.” Gu Sheng nodded with a wide grin.

    “Didn’t spend a dime?” Shen Miao Miao asked further.

    “Uh, yeah.” Gu Sheng continued nodding.

    Hearing this, Shen Miao Miao slammed her hand on the sofa, making a bang that startled Gu Sheng:

    “How can that be!”

    Standing up, Shen Miao Miao declared with righteousness:

    “We, Golden Wind Game Company! Are a legitimate and professional game company!”

    “And you! Director Gu! Are the soul of our company! The commander! The superstructure!”

    “How can you do everything yourself? Are you not tired out doing so much?”

    Ah…?

    Shen Miao Miao’s impassioned speech left Gu Sheng bewildered:

    “…But it only took me ten minutes to draw it.”

    “That’s still not okay!”

    Damn it, if you do everything, how can I increase the budget!

    If I don’t increase the budget, how can I lose money!

    If I don’t lose money, how can I make a fortune!

    “Outsourcing! We must outsource!”

    Shen Miao Miao waved her small hand:

    “Yesterday I checked, the production of a game requires a lot of personnel and financial support. Things like art, levels, programming, they all cost hundreds of thousands or even millions!”

    “You just need to arrange it! You don’t have to worry about money!”

    “Our philosophy in game development is – not to strive for the best! But to strive for the most expensive!”

    Gu Sheng: …

    But I just want to make a *Mao Liao*, you know!

    A Flash game!

    My artistic skills are perfectly sufficient!

    Why do I need an outsourcing team?

    Are you burning money?!

    “Boss, it’s like this,”

    Gu Sheng couldn’t bear to see the idiot spend money:

    “The soul of this game actually lies in its abstract and rough style. If you change the outsourcing art design, you might not even be able to achieve this effect.”

    Stop it, little Nezha! You can’t spend money like this!

    But, as if determined to spend money like a madman, Little Nezha waved her hand:

    “Oh, Director Gu, you are wrong!”

    “Think about it this way, can’t we have the outsourced art team make a one-to-one copy of your template?”

    One sentence! It directly silenced Gu Sheng!

    Do you know what you’re talking about?

    Gu Sheng felt his CPU was about to burn:

    “Then I ask…what’s the point?”

    As if she had anticipated Gu Sheng’s question, Shen Miao Miao smiled calmly.

    She embraced Gu Sheng, whose face was full of bewilderment, and patted his shoulder:

    “You don’t understand, do you? Brand effect, you know?”

    “Please elaborate?” Gu Sheng bent slightly, looking at Shen Miao Miao.

    Little Nezha was shorter than him, and Gu Sheng had to lower himself slightly to fit in with the boss’s act.

    “We are a newly established company, our fame is small,”

    Shen Miao Miao raised an eyebrow at Gu Sheng, patiently persuading:

    “So, to make a name for ourselves, we need to rub shoulders with famous people in the industry. Only then can we make a splash!”

    “Wow—”

    Gu Sheng feigned a sigh of admiration, his attitude ambiguous.

    Clearly, he still found Little Nezha’s actions incredibly idiotic.

    But since the boss said so, he couldn’t argue anymore.

    It’s not his money anyway, so let her spend it.

    “Alright then,”

    Gu Sheng sighed inwardly, shrugging:

    “Then I’ll… waste money, I mean, increase the investment?”

    “Invest! Invest hard!” Shen Miao Miao grinned, looking at him as if saying, “I’m counting on you.”

    “You just need to make the game ‘well’! Don’t save me any money!”

    That afternoon, Gu Sheng used Little Nezha’s idiotic philosophy as a guiding principle.

    While ensuring the original visuals and gameplay remained unchanged, he did his best to “make a mountain out of a molehill.”

    In this parallel world, there is a website called “Game Factory”.

    It’s a hub for game industry professionals, encompassing creative planning, art design, UI production, modeling rendering, engine provision, and more.

    Gu Sheng entered the website and immediately used the “Sort Prices High to Low” method to contact top professionals in art, UI, programming, and other areas. He asked them to subcontract the production of this seemingly shoddy and abstract game.

    But of course, those skilled professionals wouldn’t take just any job.

    Especially not *Mao Liao*, a simple and crude little game.

    Many of the high-profile professionals rejected it after a glance, citing the fact that working on it was too demeaning, no matter how much money they offered.

    So, Gu Sheng had to keep compromising.

    Finally!

    After a whole afternoon of searching and communicating!

    Gu Sheng managed to create this “gilded” *Mao Liao* with a total cost of 10,000 yuan, scheduled for release tonight.

    Wasting money also requires skill, and he really tried his best.

    After hearing Gu Sheng’s report, while still not entirely satisfied, Shen Miao Miao could only nod and reluctantly accept it.

    10,000 yuan, so be it.

    Ten times that is still 100,000, which is better than 200 yuan.

    Ready for takeoff!

    Shen Miao Miao gloated inwardly.

    She was truly a discerning pig picker (no typo), having bound such a foolishly brilliant individual like Gu Sheng.

    Now, she needed to think about how to comfort Director Gu.

    After all, if Director Gu woke up tomorrow morning to see a score of zero, he would definitely feel bad.

    “Hmm… how do I comfort my house’s Zhuge Liang? It’s a real headache, oh ho ho…”

    Eight o’clock in the evening!

    Shark Live’s Game Section!

    “Thank you, Jie Hou Er, for the big fly, thanks…”

    “Thank you, biabiabia, for the 99 membership cards, thanks boss…”

    A Yin, having just finished today’s game promotion segment, twisted his neck and thanked the bosses who sent gifts:

    “If you are interested, you can click on the icon in the lower left corner of the screen to enter the game. Dragon Slayer Sword, click to get, I’m waiting for you in the Sand City.”

    A wave of supportive comments floated through the chat:

    ‘Fun, already spent 100,000 yuan’

    ‘Powerful, already sold my house for this game’

    ‘Tested and confirmed, sensitive skin can use it too’

    ‘Crying at the wrong grave, brother (dog head)’

    ‘Absurd hahahaha…’

    ‘Just finished taking a bath, is the dinner segment over?’

    ‘Woohoo! Moronic Game Review is here!’

    ‘Boss, change the disc!’

    ‘The main show begins…’

    As a top streamer in the game section, A Yin has a large fan base.

    And those who watch A Yin’s livestream regularly know that every night at eight o’clock is the most enjoyable time of the stream.

    Because during this time slot, A Yin will randomly select some of the most moronic-looking games on the platform and play and review them.

    He’ll test each game for twenty minutes, and the audience will decide whether to “keep” or “remove” the game.

    Looking at the screen full of enthusiasm and small gifts, A Yin nodded:

    “Let’s see how many lucky winners will be removed today!”

    He said, opening the Arts and Entertainment platform – an independent game publishing platform, known as China’s “Valve”.

    After some selections!

    A Yin narrowed his target to games within the categories of “Small Size”, “Single-player”, and “Price 1-10 yuan”.

    First up!

    A newly released game caught his eye:

    *Mao Liao*

    (End of Chapter)

    Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

    You can support the author on

    0 Comments

    Heads up! Your comment will be invisible to other guests and subscribers (except for replies), including you after a grace period. But if you submit an email address and toggle the bell icon, you will be sent replies until you cancel.
    Note