...
At this moment, Mingyan had no time to pay attention to the situation on the internet.
Blue Star Studio has just received some heartbreaking news.
— Ling Lingqi's symptoms have worsened!
Since last year, Ling Lingqi has received several critical condition notices from his attending physician.
Although he survived the most serious incident, the doctor had already revealed the truth to him: his life would come to an end in a few months, or at most six months...
That was at the end of April last year.
After learning about this, Ling Lingqi calmly revised his will and then donated his alternate world "Dark Planet" and the game-making AI "Redstone No. 7" to Blue Star Studio.
Under Mingyan's persuasion, he participated in the first Blue Star Carnival.
After returning that day, Ling Lingqi said, "I'm so happy, really. I never imagined that so many players would like the game I helped create. Thank you, boss, I really have no regrets..."
Before you know it, it's already the beginning of the second year.
Ling Lingqi's condition is deteriorating, and he can no longer even stay awake for two hours a day. He will soon fall into a deep coma where he can't even connect to the internet.
From the moment he received the doctor's notification, he persevered for more than eight months, even taking the initiative to work and trying to do more things, which was evident to all the staff at Blue Star.
He has now reached his limit, and there is nothing anyone can do to save him.
Ling Lingqi's last appearance was also online.
Everyone online looks perfectly healthy; Ling Lingqi's little wings are still flapping, but he's almost completely motionless and expressionless.
Mingyan and Schrödinger saw him for the last time.
Mingyan grabbed Linglingqi's hand and said, "The mortal soul is in the final bug-fixing stage. We promise we'll finish it soon. Can you... can you hold on a little longer?"
Ling Lingqi's eyes were slightly red as she said, "After I fall into hibernation, I might wake up again, or I might not. I... I can't guarantee it..."
He dared not, and he was afraid that if he spoke frankly, he would feel disappointed and sad.
Schrödinger sat silently to the side, then suddenly said in a resolute tone, "You will see the mortal soul, you definitely will! Wait for us!"
He logged off after saying that.
Then, the taciturn programmer smoked two cigarettes on the rooftop of Blue Star.
Back at his workstation, for the first time, he pushed away all the figurines on his desk and roughly stuffed them into the drawer next to him.
Then he bent down and kissed the life-size anime model next to him.
"Honey, I have to work overtime, so I might not be home for a while," he said.
Schrödinger sent a group email to all members of the "Soul of Mortals" team.
He was not a man of many words, and his emails were brief, simply stating the facts:
[Ling Lingqi can't hold on any longer; he can't wait for the official release in May. Anyone willing to work overtime, sign up below! I need to push *The Soul of Mortals* back on schedule! The sooner the better! The faster the better!]
After the email was sent out, many employees in the group responded immediately.
【1】
【2】
【3】
...
No one said anything extra; they simply signed up quietly.
At Blue Star Studio, overtime is generally not required except in special circumstances.
If you voluntarily apply for overtime, the studio must provide triple the overtime pay, and it explicitly states that it never encourages speeding up the process by extending working hours.
But this time was different. After everyone submitted their applications, the group leaders quietly approved them.
Requested overtime period: from "January 1st" to "I don't know".
No one filled in the time limit.
The atmosphere at Blue Star Studio has almost never been this so heavy.
Working overtime to develop games is no small matter, especially when the final release date is far away.
Prolonged periods of high-intensity mental work can easily lead to physical and mental exhaustion, and in severe cases, it can even cause dizziness and blurred vision. It is by no means much easier than carrying bricks on a construction site for a day.
This is why many programmers in the internet industry jokingly refer to themselves as "just an IT bricklayer."
Chapter 64 Reverse Delay
That night, the Blue Star Studio was brightly lit.
In the break room designated for overtime work, several people were sprawled out on the sofa.
When Mingyan came out of his dark room, he saw this situation and helplessly called for the intelligent robot.
Soon, the robot retrieved several cots from the nearby storage cabinets, filling the rest area completely.
During this time, Mingyan saw a form hanging on the wall.