Apart from Me, What Game Designer Would Consider the Players?

Chapter 17: Apart from Me, What Game Designer Would Care Whether the Players Live or Die?

"Each memorial portrait should have its own specific trigger. Once I've mastered them, perhaps the whole family can share good fortune and face hardships together."

After finishing his meal, Gao Ming laid the black-and-white photographs beside him.

"Since I can have Ghost Dad and Ghost Mom deliver cake whenever I want, I now have some ability to protect myself. But that's nowhere near enough to survive the chaos. I need more help."

Xuan Wen's face flashed involuntarily through Gao Ming's mind. That Psychopathic Serial Killer had killed all the female leads and come straight for him.

Every step of her plan had been ruthless and precise. Someone like her was formidable, but also terrifying.

Because of Gao Ming's game design, the unknown world had influenced her, giving her a twisted love for him. In truth, however, she had an extremely strong will of her own. Perhaps she wanted to grow stronger precisely so she could free herself from him.

Xuan Wen was a good "colleague," and Gao Ming would help her, too. But at this stage, their relationship was strictly a partnership.

"There are plenty of people like Xuan Wen in the games I designed." Gao Ming recalled the mystery games he had adapted from real cases. "Among those thirty-six Criminals are outright lunatics, incurable perverts, and utterly depraved monsters. But a few were forced to stain their hands with blood. Once the games become reality, they probably won't go out of their way to hurt anyone."

No one was born a Criminal. Many factors that drove people to crime accumulated over a long time.

Some Born Psychopaths, whose hormone production and brain structure differed from those of ordinary people, could become disciplined, ambitious, kindhearted high achievers with care and support from society and their families. Meanwhile, some naturally kind, honest, and sincere people became twisted by their environment, turning step by step into monsters stripped of humanity.

If possible, Gao Ming wanted to rewrite some of the tragedies he had previously designed.

Hanhai was enormous, and finding those Criminals would be extremely difficult. Gao Ming quietly memorized the contact information the Investigator had left him. Drawing on the Investigation Bureau's resources was a good option, but once he became involved, he might lose control over his own choices.

Sunk into the sofa, Gao Ming listened to the rain outside the window and worked late into the night.

He dared not sleep in the bedroom. Eventually, too exhausted to stay awake, he wrapped himself in a thin quilt and curled up on the sofa.

At five in the morning, a knock at the door startled Gao Ming awake. After sitting up on the sofa, he did not immediately answer the door. Instead, he first looked outside. The downpour showed no sign of easing.

"Is this some kind of omen? I haven't seen the sun in days."

He moved his arms and legs, waiting until his body felt normal again before approaching the door.

The moment he looked through the peephole, his brows knitted.

"Gao Ming, are you up?" Xuan Wen stood outside, holding that familiar red umbrella and smiling.

"What do you want?" Gao Ming dressed as quickly as he could, covering himself from head to toe.

"I'm here to take you to work. We need to finish that romance game and see whether it can affect me." Xuan Wen's smile was sweet.

"You're taking this workaholic thing too far! It's only five! The subway isn't even open yet!" Gao Ming had imagined being hunted down by Xuan Wen, but he had never imagined that one day she would force him to go to work. "Besides, they haven't hired me. Can't you just go yourself?"

"Aren't you curious?" Xuan Wen knocked again. "We can take a cab to work. You don't need to worry about the money."

"If money isn't an issue, what's the point of going to work?" After quickly washing up, Gao Ming opened the door. He had even put on a raincoat specifically to avoid sharing an umbrella with Xuan Wen.

The two went downstairs and got into a taxi. The streetlights were still on. Curtains of rain stretching between heaven and earth distorted the light, making the city feel dreamlike and unfamiliar.

Having avoided the morning rush, they reached the company in just a third of the usual time.

Using her employee card, Xuan Wen entered Nightlight Studio's office. With practiced ease, she switched on the computer and compiled all the storylines for To Our Love That Will Eventually Fade.

Fortune had been sprawled in the cat bed, but upon hearing the clattering keyboard, the cat stealthily crept behind Gao Ming. Its little paws hooked into his trousers, and it looked up with big, watery eyes, as though saying, You absolutely cannot leave.

"I'm planning to cut the other female leads' storylines, or give them various endings where they die, leaving only the two of us." Xuan Wen worked remarkably fast and soon produced a new proposal.

"How about killing me off, too?" Gao Ming sat down at Wei Dayou's workstation, hoping to get a little more sleep.

"We don't just need to finish this game. We also need to attract more players, feed on their emotions, and let them learn our story as they play through it." Xuan Wen placed the game's materials in front of Gao Ming. "This will benefit both of us. If I succeed, we'll make Zhao Xi's game next."

Under Xuan Wen's "encouragement," Gao Ming "perked up." Together, they began designing murder cases and printed out some horrifying pictures.

At eight in the morning, Manager Gou was the first to enter the office. Determined to make a comeback, he always worked as though pumped full of adrenaline. Today, however, he found Gao Ming looking as though he had been pumped full of ghost blood.

"What time did you two get here?" Manager Gou stared wide-eyed at the densely annotated projection, the deranged game design, and the entirely new marketing plan. "Gao Ming, why are you here, too?"

"Boss Gou, I have a very bold design concept." Xuan Wen handed Manager Gou the new proposal. "The games market is full of near-identical products, and we have limited funds. If we design a conventional game, we won't stand out at all. Why not try something unconventional?"

"Didn't we agree yesterday that we'd buckle down and make a romance game? What are you getting at?"

"She means making the most terrifying romance game ever." Gao Ming's eyes were bloodshot, and his mental state was very unstable, as though he had encountered a ghost the previous night.

"No. We have a responsibility to our client." Manager Gou shook his head. "If we follow the client's requirements, any mistakes are their problem. If we insist on going our own way, who takes responsibility in the end? You?"

"Boss Gou, you shouldn't insist on having things your way. We should hear everyone out." Gao Ming joined the effort to persuade him. "Our studio simply doesn't have the resources to make a game for everyone. Besides, players are already dividing into communities based on their interests. We only need to focus on capturing one segment of the market to see a return."

"You make it sound like you're part of our studio." Manager Gou scratched his wig. He lowered his head to examine the design proposal Xuan Wen and Gao Ming had provided. It really was impressive.

The other employees of Nightlight Studio arrived one after another, some wearing headphones, others carrying coffee.

Everyone had initially been sluggish, but when they saw the murder photographs and reports of deaths covering the desks, their drowsiness slowly vanished. These were not things that belonged in a studio making romance games.

"Dayou spoke to me before, so I know what kind of situation our studio is in." Once everyone had arrived, Gao Ming got straight to the point. "Are you willing to make games you don't like? Is your romance game really competitive? If we ruin our reputation again this time, we may never have another chance to turn things around."

Nightlight Studio had worked with Gao Ming for several years, and everyone knew one another well. That was why he dared to be so direct.

"The audience for horror games is too small. Who would want to switch genres if we didn't need to survive?" Manager Gou wanted the studio to succeed more than anyone, but unfortunately, the broader market was in poor shape.

"I used to be something of a part-time planner and designer for our studio, but I have to admit that my previous work wasn't good enough. After these past few days of field research and firsthand experience..." Gao Ming turned to glance at Xuan Wen. "Only now do I understand what true fear is! Give me another chance, and I can make it ten times more frightening! I'll make every company in the industry remember this romance game!"

Gao Ming now approached making horror games with a sense of mission. He wanted to incorporate his firsthand experiences into the games so that, if players ever encountered similarly terrifying situations, they would at least be mentally prepared and have a few more ideas for making it through alive.

Thinking of it that way only strengthened his resolve. After all, across the entire gaming industry, what game designer besides him would care whether players lived or died in real life?

(End of chapter)