Obviously, Xiang Dahai's question struck right at the contingency plan they had prepared in advance.
That was right. The moment they saw Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy's unstoppable sales figures, they had known.
This battle would definitely end in their complete defeat.
Being beaten by a fledgling indie game designer was not something the company could simply pretend had never happened.
It was far too embarrassing.
A major game company had actually been pinned to the ground and rubbed raw by a tiny indie developer with a game that had simple graphics and brain-melting content.
If they let this matter pass just like that, Mingye Game Development Company would have nowhere left to show its face.
So, several members of the team had held a video conference overnight to discuss what kind of game they should make to recover from this loss.
"We analyzed and investigated the current game market share,"
Curly said as he stood up and displayed the chart he had prepared for Xiang Dahai.
"Action games are currently dominated by Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, so we can't get involved there for the time being."
"As for shooting games, they're also occupied by specialized top-tier studios."
"And RPGs require an enormous amount of work for storylines and modeling, so they clearly aren't the fastest type of game to produce results."
Curly went through them one by one.
"So, after eliminating the game genres above and referring to the current market shares,"
"We ultimately decided on a genre that is relatively niche, but still has a substantial market share."
Hearing that, Xiang Dahai finally became interested and asked,
"What is it?"
Curly moved aside the various game genres on the chart, revealing the final sheet beneath them.
"Rhythm games."
"Yeah!"
Meanwhile, in the Binhai Academy cafeteria, Wu Wei suddenly slapped the table, drawing the attention of the students around him.
"Rhythm games!"
His musical ability had improved.
What kind of game could maximize that ability better than anything else?
Naturally, it was the niche genre built around music itself—
Rhythm games!
Wu Wei was incredibly excited.
Zhang Zhiyuan, sitting opposite him, was covered in black lines.
"You scared the only shrimp paste ball out of my spicy hot pot."
As he spoke, Zhang Zhiyuan pulled the springy shrimp paste ball out from between his pants and placed it in front of Wu Wei.
"You owe me one."
Wu Wei slowly leaned back.
"...Where did you pull that out from?"
"Does that fucking matter?!"
Zhang Zhiyuan was stunned.
"What the hell are you freaking out over? You scared the shit out of me!"
"Hehe, sorry about that."
Wu Wei scratched his head with a grin and waved his hand.
"I suddenly thought of a great idea and couldn't hold it in."
At those words, Zhang Zhiyuan's expression became somewhat subtle.
"You're starting again?"
Zhang Zhiyuan's meaning could not have been more obvious.
The bastard sitting across from him had definitely come up with another bizarre idea and was preparing to torment the poor players again.
"Have you ever considered being human?"
"Tch."
Wu Wei snorted.
"I don't know if you've heard this famous quote."
"Let's hear it."
"I'm done being human! Old Zhang!"
"Fuck off!"
What kind of famous quote was that?!
Zhang Zhiyuan was utterly shocked by Wu Wei's unexpected train of thought.
That was a Japanese line from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Its original meaning was, "I'm done being human, JoJo!"
Yet Wu Wei had used it here and even changed the final "JoJo" into his own form of address.
More importantly, how was that supposed to be a famous quote?!
Zhang Zhiyuan realized that he seemed to be finding it harder and harder to roast Wu Wei.
Sometimes, he did not even know where to start.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Seeing Old Zhang's ghostly expression, Wu Wei burst into laughter.
"Alright, alright, enough messing around. After this semester, we'll be starting our internships. What are you planning to do?"
After he finished laughing, Wu Wei turned serious and asked.
Third-year students had to complete their final papers, while fourth-year students had internships and graduation defenses.
The pressure of finding work had already fallen upon them.
Zhang Zhiyuan thought for a moment, then shook his head and sighed, looking somewhat lost.
"I don't know..."
"I used to have so many ideas. Game designer, writer, planner... it felt like there were so many careers waiting for me to choose from."
As he spoke, Zhang Zhiyuan sighed and stirred his spicy hot pot.
"But now that it's time to find a job, I don't even know what I should do."
Wu Wei nodded.
He could understand how Old Zhang felt.
In his previous life, he had gone through that period as well.
Confusion, anxiety, and uncertainty about the future.
"Do you like games?"
Wu Wei asked.
"Of course!"
Zhang Zhiyuan answered without hesitation.
"Otherwise, why would I have chosen this major in the first place?"
Wu Wei's face lit up. Then he immediately asked solemnly,
"Old Zhang, think this through. Do you like games, or do you like the game industry? Those are two different things."
"I like both."
Old Zhang answered without a second thought.
Although he usually spouted strange nonsense like some kind of roasting machine,
he was incredibly steadfast when it came to his ideals.
Seeing Old Zhang's expression, Wu Wei felt a surge of delight.
"Then do you want to torment... no, create a gaming empire with me and do work we actually enjoy?"