Boss? Reserve deadbeat!

Zhumeng Game Company, General Manager's Office.

Xu Meng surveyed the clean, tidy office and ran his fingers over the fine grain of the solid wood desk, finding it a bit hard to believe.

"Could it be... that overtime really has its rewards?"

In his original world, he was an indie game developer. Staying up late to work was as routine as eating or drinking. In recent days, he'd pushed himself too hard to meet the release date for his new title, "Erlan Ring of Law," and with a blackout, he'd dropped dead from sudden exhaustion.

When he woke up again, he was in this somewhat different world.

The real economy was in decline, the economy was trending downward, and the tide of struggle and involution was rapidly receding.

People no longer planned endlessly for the future. They began to focus more on the present, seeking instant gratification, indulging in the internet, and enjoying life.

And so, the entertainment industry suddenly ushered in a moment of prosperity.

Xu Meng had transmigrated here, and his new identity was one of the players in this boom.

Still a game developer, but—

He'd flipped the script and become the boss! From a struggling indie game developer to the owner of a hundred-person game company—it was like leaping from being unemployed to a successful man overnight.

A total pie in the sky.

But before he could sort through the chaotic memories in his head, a frantic knock suddenly sounded at the door.

Amid the pounding knocks came his assistant's anxious voice:

"Boss, something's wrong!"

Xu Meng had no choice but to pause his recollections and said, "Come in."

The Assistant didn't waste a second. She pushed the door open and walked in immediately. "Boss, it's bad, it's really bad! We're trending on Weiguang!"

—Weiguang was the largest social network product in Xia Country, and trending topics there had astonishing traffic.

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

As an indie game developer, his two released titles, "It Takes Two" and "Pokemon," had both broken out thanks to internet exposure, avoiding a dead-on-arrival launch.

But the Little Assistant was panicking. "It's trending because our game is tanking and the company might be about to go under!"

"???"

Xu Meng was stunned.

What the hell?

I just became the boss, and the company's about to go under? As if pulling a thread from a tangled mess, his jumbled memories quickly fell into order—

When he graduated from university, the game and entertainment industries were booming. He hit it off with his wealthy roommate Zhang Yang, and together they founded Zhumeng Game Company.

Ambitiously, they rented an office, renovated it, hired people, and poured their passion and drive into developing games...

After working like mad for a year and a half, they finally released the company's first game with high hopes—a 2D shooter titled "Frost Snow Project."

But after the game launched, what awaited them wasn't flowers and applause, but a string of setbacks.

A major industry player released a big update on the same day, and an unknown source of bots frenziedly stirred up negativity.

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

In the end, his good brother Zhang Yang had to say to 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 houses had been sold. He really couldn't hold on any longer.

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

But his predecessor just couldn't accept it, so he asked Zhang Yang if he could try a little harder.

The final result was...

Xu Meng turned and pulled open the right-side drawer of the desk, taking out a document: "Zhumeng Game Company Equity Transfer Agreement."

Zhang Yang had unconditionally transferred his 70% stake to Xu Meng, along with a car key—Zhang Yang's own car.

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

Zhang Yang himself went home empty-handed to confess to his father.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to say to Xu Meng, "Don't push it. If it really doesn't work out, come find me in Flower City. I'll play the good son for a few years, squeeze some gold coins out of the old man, and we'll make a comeback!"

—Zhang Yang was afraid that if his efforts ended in nothing and he was saddled with a huge bank loan, he might do something drastic, so he gave him a heads-up in advance.

To be fair, Zhang Yang had good instincts, and everything that followed proved his prediction right: all of his predecessor's efforts were in vain.

Whether it was optimizing the game, fixing bugs, giving players more benefits, or trying to paint a rosy picture and promise a bright future, nothing could reverse the decline of "Frost Snow Project."

The company's liquid funds were about to run dry, and future expected revenue had hit rock bottom.

Good news: server rental costs were dropping fast.

Bad news: your players were almost all gone.

Zhumeng Game Company was, indeed, about to go under.

They wouldn't even make it to the bank loan repayment deadline before being forced to shut down due to inability to pay employee wages.

"What do we do, Senior? Should we respond?" The Assistant's panic clouded her judgment, and she forgot to hide her connection to the company.

Her name was Chen Mengling, actually a junior of Xu Meng and Zhang Yang, graduating this year.

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

It was hard to say whether she'd graduate first, or the company would go under first.

"Don't panic yet, let me see what's going on."

Xu Meng took her phone and looked at the keyword dangling at the tail end of the trending list--

#ZhumengGameBankruptcyImminent# Clicking in, he found the publisher was [Game Observer].

From what he remembered, this media outlet loved reporting bad news in the gaming circle, especially skilled at predicting game company closures, earning them the nickname "Death Herald."

Industry peers kept their distance.

But what was impressive was that this outlet always got a ton of inside information, accurately predicting the collapse of numerous small and large studios time and again. It was precisely this "prophet of doom" reputation that kept their predictions generating considerable buzz.

Behind the savage growth of the entertainment industry lay an endless stream of fallen failures.

"Due to the 'Frost Snow Project's' market performance falling severely short of expectations, revenue has plummeted to rock bottom, about to drag Zhumeng Game down with it."

"According to an internal source, company employees are generally pessimistic about the future, with some already starting to look for other jobs. Industry insiders estimate that Zhumeng Game will begin large-scale layoffs this month to cut costs."

"But according to a former Zhumeng Game Company employee, Zhumeng Company still owes the bank a high-interest loan. Even with layoffs and cost-cutting, they can't repay the loan, and ultimately can't escape bankruptcy."

"Internal source?" Xu Meng froze. "There's a mole in the company!?"

The comments from netizens were equally hostile:

"Serves you right! What garbage did you make! Terrible optimization, random stat values, awful shooting feel, and stingy with resources. The promised multiplayer might as well not exist. One sentence summary--total crap!"

"Honestly, this might be the most conservatively dressed female characters I've ever seen in a 2D game."

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

"If I wanted to be a third wheel, why would I do it in a game?!"

"With your art and modeling, don't even talk about 2D beauties. There's nothing sexy about it."

"Lighting a candle in advance."

"Candle, candle, candle..."

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

"I can actually feel the sincerity of the development team, but they lack the skill. Good intentions alone don't cut it."

"First, I believe Zhumeng Game's starting point was good. Second, you'd better not start at all."

Xu Meng almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

But the next second, he snapped back to reality: He was now the boss of Zhumeng Company, and the "Frost Snow Project" was its only product!

The players were cursing this hard; the game was clearly doomed to crash and burn.

If he didn't find a way to turn things around, the company would really go under, and he'd be stuck with tens of millions in debt.

Xu Meng sucked in a cold breath.

In his past life, he hadn't owed that much on his mortgage! This wasn't just about becoming a deadbeat; it was about whether he'd have to become a flying man.

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

The moment he made up his mind, a translucent screen suddenly appeared before his eyes, and lines of text emerged--

[Swimmer of the Sea of Information Universe.]

[Game Life (Developer Edition) Binding...]

[Binding Successful]

[Initial Mission Released: The Beginning of Everything]

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

[Task Objective: Establish a Game Company]--"?"

Xu Meng was stunned.

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

"Do I need to start another one?"