To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Chapter 57: Lawyer’s Letter (Three More) !

Walking into the studio, Fang Cheng routinely watered his Spirit Grass as usual.

Growing Spirit Grass on Spirit Grass Planet was fun, but those spirit plants were essentially cultivated by others, and it wasn’t as joyful as planting one’s own.

Just as he had finished watering the Spirit Grass, Xu Qingling appeared at the doorway, panting and said, “Boss, good morning.”

“Morning, why so exhausted?”

“Woke up late this morning.”

“If you woke up late, then don’t come, get some more rest.”

If any other boss had said that, it would definitely have been sarcastic and would have left the employee feeling anxious and uneasy.

But if Fang Cheng said it, then taking it literally would be just fine.

He genuinely wanted Xu Qingling to sleep a bit more.

Xu Qingling then stared fixedly at Fang Cheng and after taking a few deep breaths, felt the air become so sweet, filling her with resolve and energy.

Last week, due to the Swordsman team’s inappropriate overtime work, Fang Cheng had given the studio a week off, which also granted her, the model employee, an unexpected week-long holiday. Her mood had plummeted.

From today on, I swear off overtime!

I’ll cut the power right after work each day, let’s see who dares to work overtime!

After staring at Fang Cheng for a while longer, Xu Qingling asked, “Boss, you seem to be in a good mood.”

“Do I?” Fang Cheng rubbed his cheeks, an uncommon gesture that made Xu Qingling’s heart bloom with joy; she quickly took a mental screenshot to save and filed it away in her mind.

“Yes!” Immediately, Xu Qingling said, “Your lips occasionally rise half a millimeter, and your eyes also seem especially kind.”

“Oh, you’re quite observant, huh. Last week was indeed quite nice. By the way, do you have a cat? I just got a batch of cat food.”

“…Meow-”

“Hmm?”

“No, what I mean is, I could get one. Boss, if my cat could do backflips, would you come to see it?”

Looking at Xu Qingling’s face full of anticipation, Fang Cheng thought for a moment.

Cat demons that could do backflips were quite common, and if Xu Qingling’s cat could do backflips, it was likely about to become a spirit.

Although he had not seen any demons since his rebirth, it did not guarantee their nonexistence, and he would indeed like to see it if there were one.

So, he nodded, “Sure, if there really is one, I’11 come to see it.”

Xu Qingling immediately left happily and dialed her butler from her workstation.

“Uncle Li, I’ve decided to get a cat.”

“The pedigree doesn’t matter, nor does the gender or age. There’s only one requirement: it must be able to do backflips, the more proficient, the better.” “I know it’s a bit difficult, but that’s my only requirement. Uncle Li, please help me out with this, thank you.”

After stating her request, Xu Qingling sat down full of anticipation and then continued with her work.

Soon, the three game designers also arrived here, equally filled with passion, and began working.

After a week-long break, the desire to work had built up to the breaking point; now was the time to explode with productivity!

And there was indeed a lot to do today.

The sales of “Quiet Cultivation” had broken through to two million yesterday, and the peak concurrent online had also exceeded three hundred thousand. The game’s solid quality and good reputation achieved a lot of positive reviews without any advertisements or promotions.

Seeing the great potential embodied in the game, Huang Ping devoted himself to it with unprecedented enthusiasm, constantly considering the next game mode based on feedback from players and his own perception.

Player feedback is very important; some feedback can help designers think from the player’s perspective and see where they fall short.

But it’s important to pay attention to the silent majority.

Historically, more than one game failed because it focused too much on player opinions, and some failed because they thought they were too cool and completely ignored the players, ending up in a downfall.

So, how to make choices is something a game designer must carefully consider. It involves player psychology and game psychology, as well as the designer’s own experience and intuition—it’s a real test for any designer.

Drinking tea, Huang Ping guided Monkey, who sat beside him, on sorting player feedback while explaining how to understand player opinions. Before they knew it, it was time to clock out.

Happy times always fly so swiftly.

However, the incident from the previous week had already scared Huang Ping, and he dared not sneak in more overtime work. He simply stood up, ready to say goodbye to Monkey.

But just as he was about to leave, a postman appeared at the door and politely asked, “Excuse me, is Mr. Huang Ping here?”

“That’s me, what’s up?”

“You’ve got mail, please sign for it.”

Confused, Huang Ping stepped forward to sign for the package, unable to recall when he had made a purchase, let alone why the delivery address was set to the studio.

But his eyebrows knitted together when he saw the sender’s name.

He immediately opened the package and after seeing its contents, he let out a long sigh.

It had still come after all.

Packing up the item, Monkey, who had been preparing to go out to eat with Xiao Douzi, approached with curiosity and asked, “Liu Bei, what’s wrong?” “It’s nothing…”

Xiao Douzi was tall and immediately saw what was in Huang Ping’s hands, causing his pupils to shrink a bit.

After a moment of hesitation, he patted Huang Ping on the shoulder and whispered, “Old Huang, you should talk to the boss.”

“It’s really nothing, let’snot trouble the boss…”

“Do you think the boss is someone who fears trouble? Not telling him would make things even worse.”

Huang Ping thought it over and felt Xiao Douzi was right.

He should have thought of this earlier. He had just been too bewildered upon receiving the package, and that had resulted in his losing his composure.

So, Huang Ping nodded and took the letter over to Fang Cheng’s desk.

Handing it over to Fang Cheng, Huang Ping said helplessly, “Boss, I’m being sued.”

“Is it about the assault?” Fang Cheng asked.

Huang Ping gave a bitter laugh, “You knew?”

Since Fang Cheng had never mentioned it after he joined, Huang Ping thought he was unaware.

However, with Mr. Shen as a contact, it was unlikely Fang Cheng wouldn’t have known. He probably just didn’t consider it a big deal.

And indeed, Fang Cheng didn’t consider it a big deal. After all, “When rulers treat their subjects like dirt, the subjects see their rulers as foes,” and Mr. Shen had already gossiped to him about KongKong’s issues.

KongKong had a history of various shady moves: passing the buck, self- righteousness, enforcing overtime work, forcing employees over thirty-five to resign without compensation, and more.

Overall, he’d earned the beating he got.

A thousand years ago, such a person would surely have sparked a rebellion and ended up skinned and stuffed with straw, as a warning to others.

One could only say that a lawful society had saved his life.

But Huang Ping shookhis head, “It’s not about that, Tianyi is suing me for violating the non-compete agreement.”

Seeing Fang Cheng looking a bit puzzled, Huang Ping explained, “Tianyi has a non-compete clause stating that employees can’t work in gaming-related jobs for two years after departing. Ordinarily, no one cares about this, but KongKong dug it up. And, uh, boss, I…”

Huang Ping was just about to suggest resigning so as not to cause trouble for the studio when he saw Xu Qingling stand up briskly.

Handing over her lawyer’s ID to Huang Ping, she took the lawyer’s letter, her beautiful eyes filled with gravity.

After carefully reading the letter, she asked, “Huang Ping, have you received a limitation compensation payment from Tianyi every month since you left?” “What’s that?”

“That means you haven’t. Don’t worry about this then, it’s useless. But I suspect this is just a blinding method, Tianyi is trying to cover up something, and that’s their real intention.”

After a moment of thought, Xu Qingling looked to the three planners and asked, “Any recent news about video games, anything about a game similar to our studio’s going online?”

“Yes!” Monkey immediately nodded, “A medieval-style battle royale game is launching overseas. It has a similar concept to ours, but the details are way off.”

“Check out that company, I feel like that’s the real deal. And boss, for such a matter, it’s not too much to askfor some overtime, is it?” Xu Qingling asked pitifully.

Looking at Xu Qingling, who switched statuses in a heartbeat, Fang Cheng nodded, “Sure, you can make up the time later.”

“…Stingy.”

It seems that if she wanted more time together, rather than hoping Fang Cheng would let her work overtime, it might be quicker for the butler to find a cat that can do backflips.