Horror Game Players Can't Fight? What the Heck!

Only Game, office, afternoon.

Animator Xu Hong yawned and stretched, having just wrapped up a VR project, he looked rather idle.

The other two were in a similar state, each doing their own thing.

Xu Hong picked up his water cup and was about to take a sip when a pop-up suddenly appeared in the bottom right corner of his desktop—it was an ad for their own "21 Points" promotion.

Seeing this, Xu Hong chuckled.

"The ads have even made it to our own turf. Hey, have you guys played the game yet?"

Modeler Qiu Yuan nodded immediately.

"Of course I did. I played it the moment I got off work that day. I gotta say, this game is incredible. Every single item in it was made by me, but playing it feels strangely fresh and unfamiliar."

Xia Nianzhen, listening in, chimed in.

"Brother Qiu, your modeling is amazing. The first time I saw it, I almost thought it was real footage. It's so immersive!"

Xu Hong agreed, nodding in praise.

Qiu Yuan, on the other hand, scratched his head a bit sheepishly.

"It's not really like that. Even though I made everything, I think President Meng must have modified my project files, which is why the models turned out so detailed."

"President Meng modified the files?"

Xia Nianzhen blinked, suddenly skeptical.

"Is President Meng really that versatile?"

"Hey, do you think everything in this game besides what we made was really done by President Meng alone?"

"How could that be!"

"No way."

The two laughed.

"Don't even mention a VR game of '21 Points' scale—I wouldn't believe even 'Dark Forest' was made by President Meng alone."

Xu Hong sprayed water on the potted plant on his desk and flicked the tip of a green leaf.

"You know last year's 'Extreme Warrior'? A 2D side-scrolling action game, 2 gigs in size, developed by over a dozen people for four years. Compare that to our one-month '21 Points'—you get what I mean?"

Qiu Yuan, holding his water cup, turned with a smile toward Xia Nianzhen.

"You haven't cleared '21 Points,' have you? Actually, after you beat it, the game shows its credits. I took a good look—under the development team, there were about a hundred names, some Chinese, some English, some Japanese, and some Russian."

"So President Meng has a separate development team, maybe in China, maybe abroad. But in any case, it's probably at least a hundred people."

Xia Nianzhen was stunned by this news, momentarily at a loss for words.

Xu Hong nodded in agreement.

"Just look at our company's setup. President Meng only hired the three of us, which means we're the kind of people he needs. So I have reason to believe that Only Game is just responsible for providing the art resources President Meng requires. As for the game architecture, code, and development—that's handled by another team of his."

With that, Xu Hong waved his hand.

"Honestly, this is fine. Staying away from them means no endless revisions on files. The motion capture material I shot before—if I were at my last company, someone would definitely come over to 'guide' me, saying this part's unnatural, that part's off. At President Meng's, it's one draft and done, haha."

Qiu Yuan immediately chimed in.

"Right, right, right! Same here, one draft and done. I originally thought it was because I was in a new environment, putting in overtime and effort to make material that passed muster, so there was no need for revisions."

Xia Nianzhen looked at the two, realizing she too had passed on the first draft without any revisions.

"Uh, me too."

Just as the three were chatting in their idle time, Meng Shu walked out.

The boss had arrived!

Xu Hong and the others reflexively shut their mouths and buried their heads in their computers, pretending to work.

Meng Shu's eye twitched at the sight.

He shook his head inwardly.

There was no need for that. In his company, work when there's work, do your own thing when there's none—as long as it doesn't bother others.

Back in his original world, for his employees' health, he'd even set up a separate gym with exercise equipment, requiring them to spend at least two hours a week working out instead of sitting for long periods.

So, though he was an entrepreneur, he was a bit different from a capitalist.

Seeing their reaction now, he almost wanted to laugh.

"Alright, get ready. We're having a meeting. We've got a new project."

With that, Meng Shu picked up his laptop and walked straight into the conference room.

Leaving the three in the office area exchanging glances.

No way.

It's been less than two days since "21 Points" was announced, and there's already a new project?

Curiosity flickered in Xu Hong's, Qiu Yuan's, and Xia Nianzhen's eyes as they grabbed pens and paper and filed into the conference room.

After entering, he saw that the projector had already been lowered.

There was also a WeChat meeting interface displayed on it.

This... a remote meeting!

Xu Hong and the other two exchanged glances once again.

Could it be that this meeting had other members participating?

They didn't ask further or overthink it, simply finding nearby seats and sitting down to wait quietly.

Meanwhile, Meng Shu put on his Bluetooth earbuds and tested the call.

A moment later, five users appeared on the WeChat remote meeting.

After confirming they could all communicate and see the shared screen, the meeting for this new game project began.

Meng Shu stood at the front, looking at the three below him, cleared his throat, and spoke calmly.

"Alright, for today's meeting, besides us few, the publisher Infinite Network Entertainment is also participating."

"This time, I'm mainly here to talk to everyone about the plan for our next game project."

As he spoke, Meng Shu clicked open the PPT on his laptop.

A large title appeared on the projection screen, clear for Xu Hong and the others to see.

[Visage]

Huh.

What a strange name.

That was their first thought.

"Can you see the screen?"

Meng Shu looked up, confirming once more.

[Yes, we can see it, very clearly.]

[We can all see it, President Meng, please go ahead.]

[Alright, President Meng, you can start.]

Several voices suddenly sounded from the laptop, male and female, presumably from Infinite Network Entertainment, since President Meng had mentioned it earlier.

"Good, everyone see the title on the PPT? This is our next game, 'Visage.'"

"As for why I chose this seemingly random name, once you understand the basic story and gameplay, it'll make sense."

Meng Shu flipped the PPT to the first page, which displayed the game's genre and summary.

"This is still a horror game, and it requires VR adaptation. I want to push boundaries, make it more fun and scarier than the previous two games. So, I chose a ghost and supernatural theme that almost no one has touched, to set it apart from the previous survival horror games."

The PPT flipped to a sketched building of a house, featuring not only the general exterior but also many close-ups of the interior structure.

"I've set the game's background in the 1980s, in a fictional foreign town, inside a massive mansion."

"What the player needs to do is explore this big house, being chased by ghosts while also gathering clues to uncover the game's truth and story."

"In this game, I've made a bold innovation, and that is—"

Meng Shu propped his hands on the table, swept his gaze over the three below, then looked back at the laptop screen.

"—the player cannot fight."

As soon as these words were spoken, Xu Hong and the other two froze.

The player can't fight?

What kind of broken mechanic is that!?

If a horror game player can't fight, then what's the point of playing!?

Just wait to get killed by the ghost!

One more chapter later, and by the way, asking for recommendation tickets, asking for monthly tickets!!!

Here, a strong thanks to 'Little Troll Fake' for the 1500 reward support! Thanks to 'Sweet Tangyuan' for the 100 reward support!

Thanks to 'Little Troll Fake' for the monthly ticket support! Thanks to 'Sakura Loli' for the monthly ticket support!