Grand Ambitions (End of Volume)

Xiao Yu was startled. "Holy crap, no way. Does this guy know about my relationship with Shen Yuan? What am I going to do? Should I confess? Or will he kill me to silence me? Wait a minute, I was just playing a game. Does it have to be this dramatic, like something out of a 007 movie?"

Although he was shocked, he tried his best to appear nonchalant.

I don't know what you mean.

As soon as he calmly uttered these words, Xiao Yu himself was impressed with his own composure and shrewdness.

Li Mingfei waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I already know about your affair with Liu Wei and the gambling company. Actually, it was Liu Wei who secretly conspired with the gambling company; I didn't know about it at the time."

That short-sighted guy almost ruined my plans, so after I found out about it, I fired Liu Wei and gave him a little stern talking-to. However, I still admire your ability to resist being bribed, to complete the competition seriously, and not to succumb to Liu Wei's temptations and coercion. And I also have to apologize to you. Although this wasn't my intention, as the boss, failing to notice my subordinate's behavior in time is also a mistake."

Xiao Yu didn't know how to respond, but deep down he felt relieved.

"But those things are in the past. Now, we need to look forward. In three days, the expansion will be officially released. At that time, we will usher in a new era. I think you must have already gotten your card."

Xiao Yu nodded. "But I still don't know how to play."

"The gameplay is very simple. The specific attributes and effects of the cards are already written on them, so it seems no different from ordinary card battle games, right? Hehe, but that's not all. The most interesting part of this game is its hidden attributes."

"Hidden attributes?"

"That's right, every card has its own hidden attributes, which are divided into two types: one is the hidden setting, like this card."

As Li Mingfei spoke, he casually pulled out a card.

"[Odyssey the Undead Warlord] has several hidden attributes, including Undead, Humanoid, Medium-sized, Warlord, and Scourge. Each of these attributes affects certain aspects of the game. For example, Undead means he is immune to spells like Charm and Mind Control. Being a Medium-sized creature means he has a damage bonus against smaller creatures and an agility bonus against larger creatures."

The term "warlord" means that when he is with units of the same faction, he can boost the morale of other units. "Scourge" indicates that he belongs to the Scourge class of units.

The second type of hidden familiarity comes from the card minion's experience in the game. For example, with your Eric the Goblin Pyromancer, do you remember how he died?

"He was killed by the Galax the Balrog Lord."

"That's right. So if this card is on the field, when I play Galax the Balrog Lord, Galax will prioritize attacking Eric on the first turn it's played, and there will be a special cutscene when it kills Eric. Isn't that interesting?"

"Hmm, that sounds quite interesting," Xiao Yu said.

"You might wonder why I'm releasing a game like this at this time. Actually, it's been in my plans for a long time. The release of this game will greatly stimulate players' enthusiasm for the game, especially BOSS players and Hero Tears players. You can imagine that for a long time to come, many players will flock to the Sky World to obtain unique exclusive cards and write their own game story."

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "Well, it's not impossible. There are quite a few people who play these kinds of collection games." Seeing Li Mingfei so proud of the game, he naturally wanted to support him.

"Mr. Li is truly a genius; I'm incredibly impressed that he came up with such a brilliant idea."

Upon hearing this, Li Mingfei sighed, "Actually, this game wasn't designed by me, but by an old friend of mine."

You mean— Shen Yuan?

"That's right, it's him. You've heard of him?"

"Um, Jiang Zeyan talked about him with me before." Xiao Yu decisively betrayed his teammate.

Li Mingfei nodded, not delving into the matter further. "Shen Yuan is a very talented person. In game design, I am far inferior to him. However, sometimes he is a bit too idealistic, always thinking about creating a realistic game world. But what's so good about realism? Aren't people tired of the cruelty of reality and want to enter games to experience a different life?"

An absolutely realistic game would be a disaster; there might be a core fan base, but most people would definitely not be able to accept it.

I am a businessman first and a game designer second. No matter what kind of game I make, it must first be accepted by the players. After all, the quality of a game will ultimately be judged by the players.

Unfortunately, he never understood this, and in the end I had to fire him from the company, which I still regret.

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "Oh dear, why is he suddenly revealing this to me? And come to think of it, what Li Mingfei said doesn't seem to be wrong. They're telling the same story, so why do they give off completely different vibes?"

Looks like it's still a problem with my backside.

"Sigh, let's not talk about that anymore. What I want to ask you is, what's your view on games? Do you see them as the meaning of life, another real world? Or do you want to use games to achieve fame and fortune?"

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "He'll definitely achieve great success and fame."

"I actually lean towards the latter. Games are just games; reality is still the most important."

Li Mingfei nodded. "I can tell you're a wise person. Games are just games; they're fine for entertainment. But if you cross the line, it'll be a losing proposition."

At this point, he suddenly seemed to remember something, "Oh right, I've found you a suitable product spokesperson, Thunderbolt Flying Cars. They're looking to launch a new electric speed racing series brand, and they think your Chaos Elemental are very similar to their style, so they contacted our company. The endorsement fee is 27 million. Are you satisfied with this price?"

Twenty-seven million is no small sum. Xiao Yu was very glad that he hadn't just accepted an endorsement casually. Besides, racing cars are luxury items, so endorsing one would be quite prestigious.

"I am very satisfied."

"Very good. I wish us a pleasant collaboration. Three days from now, when the game expansion launches, will be the day we achieve great things."

Xiao Yu raised his cup of black tea and clinked it against the other person's, then drank it all in one gulp. The tea tasted sweet, and he began to look forward to the expansion pack.

(The End of Volume 3 - The Demon King's Battle)