It Can Be Like This?

Xu Meng's doubt had barely surfaced when new information surged forth again—

[Company Owned: Dream Building Game Network Technology Co., Ltd.]

[Employee Count Exceeds One Hundred, Task Over-completion]

[Task Complete!]

[Basic Reward: 2 Million Cash Value Cryptocurrency]

[Bonus Reward: Intelligent Collaboration Development Tool]

[Reward Issuance Complete]

[Task Update—]

[Fortunately, you picked up a company; unfortunately, this company is about to vanish.]

[Task: Turn Crisis into Safety]

[Task Objective: Reverse the worsening reputation and revenue of the "Frost Snow Project," pulling the company out of bankruptcy crisis.]

The light screen faded away.

Xu Meng froze for a moment, then slammed the table in disappointment—

What damn use was this?!

Two million wasn't pocket change.

If he were still in his original world, he'd be celebrating for at least a month.

After all, starting a game company from scratch usually meant a studio model, at most ten people.

Two million was enough to cover a year's salary.

But at Dream Building, it only bought another month of survival.

The advanced development tool was the same—it just boosted work efficiency.

Yet the problem Dream Building faced now couldn't be solved in a month or two—turning a subpar shooter game into a top-tier product within two months?

Wasn't that a joke?!

The media and competitors had already pronounced Dream Building dead, and even players were lighting candles.

Assistant Chen Mengling saw Xu Meng's grim expression and assumed he was upset about the trending topic, quickly comforting him:

"Boss, don't rush. Only two or three have secretly submitted resumes; most are still very loyal!"

Xu Meng looked up at this assistant, a question mark slowly forming over his head.

If you can't talk, don't talk!

Even you, the general manager's assistant, have caught wind of it, so the reality must be far worse!

"Got it, got it. Go handle your stuff first." Xu Meng waved his hand.

"Oh, okay." The little assistant looked uneasy but could only leave the office.

Xu Meng, with a headache, opened his computer to study his own "Frost Snow Project," wanting to see what was really going on and whether there was any hope.

From the initial project setup, "Frost Snow Project" had targeted the market gap for [2D + Shooter] games, aiming to seize this relatively empty track.

The idea was good, but the final product...

Was neither 2D nor a shooter.

As a shooter, it didn't do multiplayer, didn't do competitive play, and didn't seriously study shooting feel.

It focused entirely on how to choke player resources, how to design boss and gun stats to force players into spending money.

As a 2D game, it didn't put effort into the female character designs and appearances, instead stuffing in a bunch of irrelevant plot and creating CPs between male and female characters...

Of the three female characters with the most screen time at the start—Tong Que, He Yin, and Xiao Ningxi—two had obvious flirtatious dialogues with male characters!

Only Xiao Ningxi escaped, and that was because she was too young.

—Even so, Xiao Ningxi had a close male mentor, Yun Fei.

This left Xu Meng's head full of question marks:

Are you sick?

Which 2D game is designed like this?

Others make games by playing to their strengths and avoiding weaknesses; you play to your weaknesses and avoid your strengths, using every bit of trash you can find?

If you don't crash and burn, who will?!

Xu Meng felt his blood pressure spike, his head splitting with pain.

He suddenly understood why, in his past life, the games he developed by riding trends had succeeded.

—He rode trends, sure, but when designing games, he always thought from the player's perspective, studying how to make things fun and how to surprise players.

And yet, so many game designers out there didn't care at all about what players thought?

Even more incredible: the team under him now was full of such geniuses!

Xu Meng was speechless, almost wanting to laugh.

"Fine, fine... so this is how we're playing it..."

The orthodox way to turn a game's reputation around—relying on hard power to improve game quality—was better left unconsidered. Impossible in the short term.

"Then there's only one option... take an unorthodox path."

He'd seen 2D shooter games claw their way back from the brink before.

Sure, the methods were a bit unsavory, and some moral guardians would inevitably scream "vulgar," but it was still better than the company going under, employees losing their jobs, and him being saddled with tens of millions in debt.

So he logged into the official account for "Frost Snow Project," thinking as he began to draft an announcement.

10 minutes later, on the Weiguang social platform.

The official account of "Frost Snow Project" released its announcement.

Because [Game Observer]'s prediction of their demise had shot up the trending list, a flood of media and netizens were waiting for "Frost Snow Project" to respond.

[Game Observer] trading barbs online with the companies they predicted would fail was a staple entertainment, always drawing a crowd of netizens eager for drama. This time was no exception.

Now that "Frost Snow Project" had finally taken the bait, the drama-hungry netizens swarmed in.

And then, they saw something completely beyond expectations—

"Thank you all for your concern about 'Frost Snow Project' and Dream Building Game.

But this little matter really isn't worth beating drums and gongs to call everyone over.

Still, since you're here, to make sure you didn't come for nothing, we'll take this opportunity to announce a few things.

'Frost Snow Project' has begun its remastering process. Some changes that can be disclosed are as follows:

1. Story Changes: All character CP settings have been removed, and no such content will be produced in the future. (Note: The writing team has been replaced with fresh blood. We are recruiting game copywriters and Male-oriented Harem Web Novelists to join the writing team.)

2. Character Costume Changes: All female characters will undergo a complete costume overhaul. In the future, we will continue to release more outfits that fully showcase the characters' figures and individual aesthetics. Male characters unrelated to the main storyline will be deleted, and relevant male characters will undergo a Gender Swap to become female characters. (Note: We are recruiting Concept Artists. All Dream Building Game employees warmly welcome Bishojo H-artists to go straight!)

3. Rating Increase: We regretfully announce— Due to the scale of the remastered characters' figures, costumes, and action scenes, the rating for 'Frost Snow Project' will be raised from the original [12+] to [18+]. Effective immediately, users under the age of 18 will no longer be able to register. After the version update, already registered users under 18 will also be unable to log in. A refund channel for minors will be launched within a week. More details on the changes will be gradually disclosed in the future. Stay tuned!"

—

Everyone who saw the announcement—whether it was the editors at [Game Observer], industry peers, "Frost Snow Project" players, or pure drama-chasing netizens—was completely stunned.

The same thought rolled through all their minds—

"What kind of move is this???"

Unfathomable!

Absolutely unfathomable!

Weren't you supposed to vehemently refute [Game Observer]'s claims, angrily denounce their inaccurate data and baseless rumors, demand that [Game Observer] apologize for the losses their erroneous statements caused Dream Building Game, and threaten legal action—but in the end, do nothing but talk tough?

—Netizens had seen that routine seven or eight times a year. They were old pros at it!

How come Dream Building Game suddenly decided to break the mold?

Not only were you not angry, but you took the chance to release an announcement?

And...

Do you even see what you just posted?!

Once the netizens snapped out of it, the comment section exploded:

"The writing team got sacrificed just like that?"

"Serves them right! So satisfying! But what's with recruiting harem novel authors?"

"Is this hinting that we can build a harem in the game from now on!?"

"I know a Harem Novel writer, writes damn well, but three straight flops and he's about to run out of rice. @Wheel Turner, come beg for food!"

"Character Gender Swap? Badass! I can only say, badass!"

"Costume change, 18+, H-artist... This is about to strip the armor hard? Things are looking up, bros!"

"Genius! 2D games should've been taking notes from Hentai ages ago."

The uproar wasn't just online.

Just one door away from the general manager's office where Xu Meng sat, the open-plan workspace quickly grew noisy.

And the liveliest spot, without a doubt, was the copywriting team, who were slacking off and scrolling through Weiguang.

They scrolled and scrolled, and suddenly realized they'd been fired...