Tian Boxun's Reply

"The PR department said that since this has blown up so big, the only way is for you to make a public apology and settle things."

The assistant repeated the PR department's words verbatim.

Tian Boxun's face gradually stiffened.

"Fine, I understand!"

His expression flickered between uncertainty and anger, then he took a deep breath and gritted out the words.

He knew that with the matter blown this far out of proportion, it was no longer a personal grudge—it involved Penguin's credibility and reputation.

And Penguin's higher-ups weren't about to clean up his mess, so he had to step up and take the fall himself.

Though he was extremely reluctant, the alternative was effectively cutting himself off from the gaming industry.

After all, other companies wouldn't want an employee fired from Three Factories.

And this was exactly why Wang Chuan didn't want to work for someone else—no freedom, no control over his own fate.

Just as Tian Boxun resigned himself to accepting reality, Wang Chuan was hard at work developing Soul Knight.

He even used a Memory Searcher to recall key points and jotted them down in his design document.

The essence of Soul Knight lay in the game's fast pace.

Because of that fast-paced gameplay, the entire game flow wouldn't be very long.

Basically, a run could be finished in ten minutes to an hour.

At the same time, to let players enjoy it in short bursts, it needed a save-anytime feature.

These mechanics made it easy for people on the go to jump into a game whenever they wanted.

Based on Roguelike game features, every run of Soul Knight felt different from the first.

It was full of randomness and replayability.

Although Wang Chuan planned to release both PC and Mobile versions of Soul Knight, he had no intention of changing the core pacing.

But for the story, he intended to make it more of a background atmosphere.

Because Soul Knight was originally a low-cost game, and Roguelike games didn't really need a plot.

Just like the Roguelike game The Binding of Isaac from his past life.

That game put a lot of effort into its story, and it had real depth.

But compared to the story, players still preferred The Binding of Isaac's random gameplay.

Some players even said: "Without a story, The Binding of Isaac is still The Binding of Isaac."

That showed how much the Roguelike element mattered to it.

In his past life, it climbed onto major platforms and achieved massive sales—the Roguelike element was clearly indispensable.

"Boss, this is the material from the art outsourcing team. I've looked it over, no issues. See if it works for you; if not, I'll go talk to them again."

Just then, the young secretary Huang Shanshan walked over reluctantly, reporting on her work.

"Okay, just leave it there. I'll look at it later."

Wang Chuan nodded with a smile.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll go now."

With that, Huang Shanshan tried to make a quick escape.

"Ahem, leaving just like that?"

Wang Chuan looked at his little secretary with a teasing smile.

"Ugh~~"

Huang Shanshan turned around with a dejected face, came behind Wang Chuan, and started pounding his shoulders one fist at a time.

She hit hard, as if venting all her frustration.

"Is it that hard to just give me a shoulder rub?"

"Hmph, whose fault is that?"

"Isn't this what a secretary is supposed to do?"

"You're still saying that? Who caused this?"

Huang Shanshan gritted her teeth and said bitterly.

"Ahem, how about this—I'll buy you milk tea, and you cool off, okay?"

Wang Chuan coughed guiltily, then said with a pained expression.

"No way. At least three—a week!"

Huang Shanshan frowned, looking conflicted.

"Deal!"

Wang Chuan agreed without hesitation.

Then he sent a bewildered Huang Shanshan off to buy milk tea.

Yeah, it's not like he wanted some too~~~

After bullying his little secretary, Wang Chuan pulled out his phone and checked the latest news.

The post he'd made earlier had already dropped off the trending list.

But he was satisfied enough—he'd figured a couple days of heat would be a win.

Who'd have thought it'd actually hang on the hot search for two whole days?

"Wow, I'm rich now~~"

Logging into his social media, Wang Chuan was surprised to find his personal account had nearly half a million followers.

About halfway to his goal of a million.

And with this whole incident, quite a few players were keeping an eye on Huangtu Game Company's new title, "Soul Knight."

Of course, for now it was just getting some exposure among gamers.

Wang Chuan hadn't released any specific game details yet.

After all, the unique mechanics of a Roguelike were still pretty novel.

If he put them out there, the big studios could easily copy them.

"Huh, why are so many people @ing me??"

Suddenly, Wang Chuan noticed a flood of mentions and felt puzzled.

So he looked into the reason.

Following the trail of netizens, he found the cause.

It turned out Tian Boxun had finally issued a response.

"My apologies. My earlier inappropriate wording led everyone to misunderstand my intent."

"First, I did not directly plagiarize anyone's game, as the internet claims."

"I merely offered my perspective as a Game Producer that newcomers should temper themselves and not get complacent over a flash of success."

"If this caused any misunderstanding, I deeply apologize."

After receiving notice from the Public Relations Department, Tian Boxun had no choice but to apologize.

But he still wasn't convinced. After defusing the situation for Penguin, he redirected the conflict toward him and Wang Chuan personally.

It was a hard argument to sell, but by locking horns with Wang Chuan, he managed to shift the netizens' focus.

In military strategy, this was textbook "besiege Wei to rescue Zhao"!

Using his clash with Wang Chuan as a diversion, he salvaged Penguin's image.

"Fine. If you want to target me, I'll let you have your wish."

Wang Chuan smirked mischievously and started typing a reply.

He grabbed the milk tea in passing—Huang Shanshan had already stuck the straw in—and took a slurp.

"Ah, good stuff!"

"Th-that one's mine."

Huang Shanshan gritted her teeth, on the verge of tears. How did she end up with such a shameless boss?

"No big deal, just drink the other one."

Wang Chuan didn't care at all, his skin thick as a tank.

"B-but... I already drank from that one~~"

A blush crept across Huang Shanshan's fair face. After saying that, she grabbed the milk tea and ran off.

"Well, damn."

Wang Chuan stood there, stunned in the wind.