Boss? Reserve deadbeat!

Zhumeng Game Company, General Manager's Office.

Xu Meng surveyed the clean and tidy office, his fingers tracing the fine grain of the solid wood desk, a sense of disbelief washing over him.

"Could it be... that working overtime actually brings blessings?"

In his previous world, he was an indie game developer. Staying up late to work overtime was as common as eating and drinking. Recently, he'd pushed himself too hard to meet the release date of his new game, "Erlan Ring of Law," and had blacked out, dying suddenly.

When he woke up again, he found himself in this slightly different world.

Physical decline, economic downturn, and the trend of intense competition were rapidly receding.

People no longer constantly planned for the future, instead focusing more on the present, seizing the day, indulging in the internet, and enjoying life.

Consequently, the entertainment industry suddenly ushered in an era of prosperity.

Xu Meng had transmigrated, and his new identity was a part of this prosperity.

Still a game developer, but—

He'd directly flipped the script and become the boss!

From a struggling indie game developer to the owner of a game company with a hundred employees was no different than going from being unemployed to a successful individual.

It was like pie falling from the sky.

But before he could sort through the jumbled memories in his head, a hurried knocking sounded at the door.

Amidst the "knock, knock, knock," came the assistant's anxious voice:

"Boss, it's bad!"

Xu Meng had to pause his reminiscing and say, "Come in."

The Assistant didn't waste a second, pushing the door open and entering, "Boss, it's terrible, terrible! We're trending on Weiguang!"

—Weiguang was Xia Country's largest social network product, and its trending topics had astonishing traffic.

"Isn't trending a good thing?" Xu Meng asked, confused.

As an indie game developer, his two released games were "It Takes Two" and "Pokemon."

Both had achieved breakout success thanks to exposure from the internet; neither had flopped upon release.

But the Little Assistant was panicking, "It's a trending topic saying our game flopped and the company might be going bankrupt!"

"???"

Xu Meng was stunned.

What the heck?

I just became the boss, and the company is about to go bankrupt?

As if plucking a thread from a tangled ball of yarn, his chaotic memories quickly organized themselves—

Upon graduating from university, coinciding with the booming development of the game and entertainment industries, he and his rich second-generation roommate, Zhang Yang, hit it off and founded Zhumeng Game Company.

Ambitiously, they rented an office, renovated it, hired staff, and developed games with passion and fervor...

After a year and a half of working themselves to the bone, they finally released the company's first game with great anticipation—the 2D shooter game, "Frost Snow Project."

But after the game's release, they were met not with flowers and applause, but with a string of setbacks.

Industry giants released major version updates on the same day, and unknown online trolls created a frenzy.

At the same time, the game's rating was only 5.3, its reputation continuously deteriorated, revenue plummeted, and player retention data worsened day by day.

Finally, his good friend Zhang Yang had to tell him in this very office:

The game was beyond saving.

His small villa had already been mortgaged to the bank, and two of his three apartments were sold. He truly couldn't hold on any longer.

If they dragged it out further, not only would their investment be a total loss, but they would also owe the bank ten million.

But the previous owner couldn't accept it and asked if he could try a little harder.

The final result was...

Xu Meng shifted to the side, opening the drawer on the right side of the desk, and took out an agreement:

"Zhumeng Game Company Equity Transfer Agreement."

Zhang Yang unconditionally transferred his 70% stake to Xu Meng, along with the car keys to his own car.

From that day on, this game company with over a hundred employees belonged entirely to Xu Meng.

Zhang Yang himself returned home empty-handed to admit his mistakes to his father.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to tell Xu Meng, "Don't push yourself too hard. If it really doesn't work out, come find me in Flower City. After I play nice for a few years and get some money from Dad, we'll make a comeback!"

—Zhang Yang was afraid that if Xu Meng tried too hard and ended up with nothing, burdened with huge bank loans, he might do something rash, so he gave him a heads-up in advance.

It had to be said, Zhang Yang's foresight was excellent; the events that followed completely confirmed his prediction:

All of the previous owner's efforts were in vain.

Whether it was optimizing the game, fixing bugs, giving players more benefits, or working hard to create hype and look towards the future, none of it could salvage the decline of "Frost Snow Project."

The company's operating funds were running out, and its future expected revenue had plummeted to rock bottom.

Good news: Server rental costs were rapidly decreasing.

Bad news: Your players were all running away.

Zhumeng Game Company was indeed on the verge of bankruptcy.

It wouldn't even last until the bank loan repayment date; it would be forced to close because it couldn't pay its employees.

"What should we do, Senior? Should we respond?" The Assistant, in a moment of panic, no longer bothered to hide her privileged status.

Her name was Chen Mengling. She was actually a junior to Xu Meng and Zhang Yang and was set to graduate this year.

She had originally planned to join the company officially right after graduation, but now…

It was hard to say whether she would graduate first or the company would go bankrupt first.

"Don't panic yet, let me see the situation."

Xu Meng took her phone and looked at the keyword lingering at the tail end of the trending search list—

#Zhumeng Game Bankruptcy Imminent#

Clicking on it, he discovered the publisher was [Game Observer].

Based on the information he recalled, this media outlet loved reporting bad news from the gaming industry, especially predicting game companies' bankruptcies. They were nicknamed the "Harbinger of Death."

Industry peers all kept their distance.

But what was impressive was that this media outlet always obtained a large amount of internal intelligence, accurately predicting the downfall of numerous studios, big and small, multiple times. It was precisely with this "king of hell's mouth" that could predict anyone's demise that they could generate considerable buzz with every prophecy.

—Behind the wild development of the cultural and entertainment industry lay a succession of fallen failures.

"Due to the market performance of 'Frost Snow Project' falling far short of expectations, revenue has plummeted to rock bottom, on the verge of dragging Zhumeng Game down."

"According to leaks from internal sources, employees are generally pessimistic about the future, and some have already started looking for new jobs. Industry insiders estimate that Zhumeng Game will begin large-scale layoffs this month to reduce expenses."

"However, according to former Zhumeng Game Company employees, Zhu Meng Company still owes a substantial loan to the bank. Even with layoffs and reduced expenses, they cannot repay the loan and will ultimately be unable to escape bankruptcy."

"Internal sources?" Xu Meng was taken aback. "The company has a mole!?"

The netizens' reactions in the comment section were also far from friendly:

"Serves them right! What kind of garbage is this! Terrible optimization, shoddy numerical balancing, poor shooting feel, and constant resource lag. What happened to the promised online play? In one sentence—a super massive piece of crap!"

"Honestly, this is probably the 2D game I've seen with the most modestly dressed female characters."

"2D game my ass! There are more male characters than female characters! And they're pushing CP in the game? Am I here to be a third wheel or a camera operator?"

"If I wanted to be a third wheel, would I bother coming into a game for it?!"

"With your art style and modeling, don't even talk about 2D cute girls; they're not even remotely attractive."

"Lighting a candle in advance."

"Lighting a candle, lighting a candle, lighting a candle…"

Occasionally, a calmer comment would appear, with a similar tone:

"I can actually feel the development team's sincerity, but their abilities are insufficient. Having the right attitude alone is useless."

"Firstly, I believe Zhumeng Game's intentions were good. Secondly, you'd better not have started."

Xu Meng almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.

But the next second, he realized: He was the boss of Zhumeng Company now, and 'Frost Snow Project' was Zhumeng Company's only product!

With players criticizing it so harshly, this game was clearly heading for a catastrophic failure.

If he didn't find a way to turn this situation around, the company would truly go bankrupt, and he would be saddled with tens of millions in debt.

Xu Meng gasped.

He hadn't owed that much money on his mortgage in his previous life!

This wasn't just about becoming a deadbeat; it was about potentially jumping off a building.

No, he had to find a way to save this game!

The moment he made up his mind, a semi-transparent light screen suddenly appeared before his eyes, with lines of text emerging—

[Swimmer of the Sea of Information Universe.]

[Binding Game Life (Developer Edition)]

[Binding Successful]

[Initial Mission Issued: The Beginning of Everything]

[As a game developer who experienced sudden death, you deeply understand the importance of a team.]

[Task Objective: Establish a game company]

—

"?"

Xu Meng blinked in confusion.

"Establish a game company? Don't I already have one?"

"Do I need to build another one?"