Second Game

"This villa is our office. The first floor is where everyone works, and the basement level is the gym—you can use it during breaks."

"As for housing, I've looked into it. There's a residential area nearby with monthly rent at a thousand yuan. The company covers meals but not lodging, though we can offer a subsidy."

Wang Chuan led the group on a tour of the villa, explaining the specifics.

The four behind him were utterly astonished, constantly looking left and right.

They had assumed the company would be in some office building downtown, but they never expected it to be a villa near the school.

The expense must be staggering, and the setup was simply impressive.

Wang Chuan just smiled at their expressions.

He didn't need to explain the real situation to them in detail.

Thanks to connections with the school, the villa's rent was much lower than market rates.

And it was paid monthly, which made things easy for him.

Of course, to be honest, his finances were in an awkward spot.

Not too much, but not too little either.

If he wanted to develop a game, big productions were out of reach, and small ones felt unnecessary.

Still, he could get some loans from the bank—otherwise, things would be pretty rough.

After going over the specifics, Wang Chuan took everyone to a restaurant for a meal.

"Manager Wang, are we starting work today?"

Liu Qiang asked nervously as they ate.

He was very satisfied with the company, but he didn't know Wang Chuan's temperament yet.

That was why he was being cautious.

"Haha, no rush. Get settled first, then start tomorrow."

Seeing the other's reaction, Wang Chuan couldn't help but laugh.

"And hey, I'm not some monster—why are you so afraid of me? Don't be so tense."

"Oh, Manager Wang, so our next task is to make a new game?"

Zhou Wei relaxed and asked when he heard Wang Chuan's tone.

They were all from the same school as Wang Chuan and had been following his major achievements closely.

So they knew about the things circulating online.

Everyone was very curious about what type the next game would be.

"That's right. The next step is to make a new game. While The Stanley Parable is still hot, we need to quickly develop and release it. And remember to set up the platform properly."

Wang Chuan didn't hide anything. Since they'd signed the contract, they were family now.

"Don't worry, Manager Wang. The two of us will get it done quickly."

Liu Qiang and Zhou Wei nodded seriously at Wang Chuan's instructions.

This was what they studied, so they had confidence.

Even though they didn't understand why they needed to build their own platform, they didn't ask.

And it was exactly that attitude that made Wang Chuan choose them.

"But, Senior—oh, I mean, Manager Wang—are you really not going to make that meta game?"

Huang Shanshan stuck out her tongue instinctively and asked curiously.

"I see everyone online discussing it, and companies like Three Factories are jumping in too. It's such a shame if we don't do it."

As she finished, the other three also looked over.

This was what they were curious about too.

By common sense in this world, when a game becomes popular, making a sequel is the normal thing to do.

So they really didn't understand Wang Chuan's thinking.

Wang Chuan wasn't surprised by their questions at all.

After all, when he made this decision, he had already imagined being questioned and misunderstood.

"It's simple to understand. The meta game genre is inherently limited—it can't become a blockbuster. Its scale is too small."

"Besides, even though I'm the creator of the meta game, many other companies have joined in. The competition is too fierce. My reputation alone might not beat capital."

Wang Chuan didn't hold back and laid out his thoughts directly.

Since they'd all signed the contract, he wasn't worried about them leaking it.

He had already decided what the second game would be—still a small-scale production.

Because when it came to game promotion, he was far behind Three Factories.

He couldn't even match medium-sized companies.

Just look at The Stanley Parable's numbers.

With a total of 5.8 million downloads, his personal social media account had less than 200,000 followers.

That was only because he'd frequently accepted media interviews before, getting plenty of exposure.

It made him realize that players who'd played The Stanley Parable simply didn't care about the game's creator.

Though that was normal, he still couldn't help feeling disappointed.

On top of that, because his first game needed the creator title, he'd set a dirt-cheap price.

His new game definitely wouldn't be priced that way again—it would be aimed at making money.

So if he kept developing meta games, it absolutely wouldn't be a good choice.

After Wang Chuan explained this to the group, they all wore expressions of being taught a lesson.

Once they snapped out of it, they got excited.

From Wang Chuan's words, they could see his ambition.

Why not make meta games???

Because Huangtu Game Company couldn't keep up with Three Factories; in a head-on fight, they'd lose for sure.

If they wanted to win, to catch up to Three Factories, they had to break through.

After understanding Wang Chuan's ambition, the group left satisfied, feeling even more motivated for the future.

Watching them leave, Wang Chuan returned to the Villa alone.

Since the Villa had a second floor that could be lived in, for convenience and to save time, he'd taken the second floor for himself.

After a comfortable swim in the pool, Wang Chuan went back to his room and turned on the computer.

Opening a drawing application, he prepared to sketch some pictures for the new game.

If it were the original Wang Chuan, he definitely couldn't draw, or it would be very 'abstract.'

But after getting the Art Skill Book from the system, he was different.

Though he wasn't a master artist, he was at an average level.

He could draw the images he wanted without them going off track.

Soon, cute Q-version cartoon characters appeared under his pen.

And they all looked adorable.

Based on their accessories, you could tell their classes.

Mage, Ranger, Knight, Priest, Paladin.

After confirming there were no major mistakes in his drawings, Wang Chuan picked up paper and pen to write.

The classes he'd drawn were from a game in his memory.

And the game he was about to make next was a rather unique one.

Soul Knight!

A Roguelike-type game.

It was the kind of low-budget game that could help with his next plan to build his own distribution channel.