Lang Xi clicked her tongue. "From now on, I can be the matchmaker. Whoever I pursue will find a partner. I'll seal my heart and love no one, becoming a ruthless money-saving machine."
Ning Chen glanced at Yu Hua, who remained silent, with great interest. It seemed that Lang Xi's studio was quite interesting.
…
In the evening, the aurora appeared on the horizon.
Holding her teacup, Yu Nan gazed at the sky and sighed, "The autumnal equinox is almost here!"
The aurora usually appears before the spring and autumn equinoxes, which is August. The summer sky is cloudless, making it the best time to observe the aurora.
“You’re really lucky to have caught the aurora so soon after you arrived. Even we locals rarely get to see such a magnificent aurora.”
The sky was tinged with a brilliant blue and purple, and the aurora borealis met the Milky Way in the clear night sky, giving this northernmost town a touch of mystery.
It felt like being surrounded by stars.
Lang Xi took a DSLR camera from somewhere, slung it over her shoulder, and started snapping photos of the sky.
"This is great material! When the time comes, I'm going to draw the aurora in the game too."
Zhu Yao asked curiously, "You can draw?"
"I'm the art director!"
"I thought we were going to outsource our art direction."
That's right. After Lang Xi finished setting up her studio, Zhu Yao tacitly agreed that she would be the producer and the big boss, but she didn't expect that Lang Xi also had artistic skills.
Chang Jingxue, who had been silent and in the background, suddenly spoke up: "Lang Xi is very capable. She was already making games in high school."
Lang Xi chimed in: "Jingxue also wrote the script back then. Ten years have passed, and in the blink of an eye, we're both 27, and you two are still together."
Chang Jingxue chuckled: "Yes, thank you Chenchen for choosing me so firmly."
"That's too much," Lang Xi complained. "I even feel that Ning Chen transferred here specifically for you."
"We didn't know each other back then..."
“I came here specifically for you,” Ning Chen bent down and rested her forehead on Chang Jingxue’s shoulder. “I like you so much.”
Lang Xi pursed her lips and whispered to Zhu Yao, "These two were just as clingy in high school, but it was only the female celebrity who was clingy to Jingxue."
Yu Nan, hands on hips, exclaimed, "Ten years from now, Zhu Yao and I will still be this clingy!"
"The way you're saying that sounds like you're setting a flag."
…
After resting for a few days, the group bid farewell to Yu's parents and returned to the western part of Binhai City—Lang Xi set up the studio headquarters at Yu Nan's house.
Yu Nan was also happy that there were so many people here, after all, Zhu Yao's novel says: "Where there are many people, there is vitality, and ghosts are afraid of vitality."
Zhu Yao and Yu Nan officially started living together in the same bedroom, and Zhu Yao gave the guest room to Chang Jingxue and Ning Chen.
“I always thought Ning Chen was in control,” Yu Nan whispered to Zhu Yao on the sofa, “but from what I’ve observed, it seems like Ning Chen is being led by Chang Jingxue.”
"What dominance? Top or bottom? I feel Miss Ning is more dominant."
"Hey! No!" Yu Nan wasn't sure how to explain, "It's just... guidance! Sometimes Chang Jingxue would guide Ning Chen to do some things."
"Like when you sometimes deliberately make me angry?" Zhu Yao closed the book in her hand, and ambiguously stroked Yu Nan, slowly running her fingers along her back as if to memorize the position of each rib.
Zhu Yao lowered her voice and whispered in Yu Nan's ear, "If you want it, you can just tell me!"
"Damn it! No way! Are you a pervert?! Let me go!!"
Yu Nan's anger was transformed by Zhu Yao into something else. Every time Yu Nan acted up during the day, Zhu Yao would secretly remember it, and at night it would transform into a torrent of love.
"Why are you imitating Miss Ning's way of speaking?"
Zhu Yao wasn't annoyed by the word "pervert." She hugged Yu Nan, who was flailing her arms and struggling to run away, and said, "Let's rest a little longer and then go test the game. Tonight, I'm going to find Teacher Chang Jingxue to study writing."
"Ah... okay." Yu Nan stopped fussing and began to cherish the rest time she had with Zhu Yao.
During this time, Zhu Yao was not only busy leading the game's development, but also learning writing skills from Chang Jingxue. In addition, she was also learning about game development from Lang Xi.
It wasn't just Zhu Yao who was busy; everyone else was also busy with their own things. Even Ning Chen had taken on a role in a film shot in Binhai City, leaving early and returning late every day.
After six busy months, Langxi Studio's first game, "Fake Lunar Base," has finally released a demo.
Chapter 58 Rivals?
"Cheers! To celebrate the release of the beta version of our studio's first game, 'Disguised Lunar Base'!"
Lang Xi raised her wine glass high, placed one foot on the table, and her joy was evident on her face.
"Boss Lang, you'll be in charge of wiping the table later!" Yu Nan opened a bottle of champagne at Lang Xi's feet. The beer spray hit Lang Xi's feet, startling her so much that she jumped down.
"Let's celebrate!" Lang Xi said in a friendly tone, "After all, this is our first independent game. It's a small step for domestic independent games, but a giant leap for our studio."
At Yu Nan's home, five people were having a simple and lively celebration to commemorate the milestone of the demo's release.
As for Yu Hua, he made an excuse and slipped away.
Ning Chen suddenly asked, "Didn't you make a game in high school? Did you not finish it?"
Lang Xi was a little surprised by Ning Chen's sudden concern. "It was inconvenient to contact Jingxue after she went abroad, and since you two had just gotten together at that time, I didn't want to bother you, so I put it aside."
Upon hearing this, Ning Chen stared at the wine glass in a daze until Chang Jingxue tugged at her sleeve.
"What are you thinking about? You seem so lost in thought."
"I was thinking, how about we invest some money to help you finish the games you didn't complete before?"
Upon hearing this, Chang Jingxue looked at Ning Chen in surprise.
Lang Xi laughed, "Actually, there's no need for that. That game has absolutely no playability or commercial value now. It's just a bunch of high school students writing poetry and prose in their spare time."
Ning Chen looked up and met Chang Jingxue's gaze. He poured Chang Jingxue half a glass of beer. "What a pity, I quite liked that game."
Lang Xi looked at Ning Chen with a disbelief, saying, "If you were even interested, you would know it's not online yet..."
Ning Chen shrugged nonchalantly when his polite words were exposed, "After all, those are Jingxue's memories of her youth."
"Wow, you actually said something like that? Wait... why did you pour wine for Jingxue? Isn't she unable to drink?"
"Just a little," Chang Jingxue said, downing her drink in one gulp. "This is a little secret between Ning Chen and me~"
Ning Chen scoffed, "Some people are just being nosy. Do you think I don't know Jingxue's drinking capacity?"
Lang Xi made a gesture of apology, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you."
“I was the one who brought up that game first,” Ning Chen shrugged. “Are you really going to give it up? You even neglected your college entrance exam for that game and dragged Jingxue into it.”
"Uh... I didn't need to take the college entrance exam to study abroad... Jingxue went abroad later too, didn't she?" Thinking about her past actions, Lang Xi still felt a little guilty. "As for that game, I do still have all the content saved. I can restart it anytime I want, but the game content would need major changes..."
Zhu Yao suggested, "How about we redo it?"
Having gained some experience with "Disguised Lunar Base", Zhu Yao has become somewhat adept at game development and is now eager to try it out.
"You guys... sigh, I'll find the source file and send it to you another day," Lang Xi swirled her wine glass again, "No business at a celebration party! Whoever brings up work has to do the dishes!"
Yu Nan: "Then what should we mention? The mystery of why the fickle Mr. Lang has remained single since birth?"
Lang Xi pretended to hit someone, "So what if I'm single? Besides, who's promiscuous? I only ever like one person!"
Laughter and cheerful voices drifted through the villa's glass windows and disappeared into the still, waterlogged night, while the sky outside was overcast, seemingly brewing an even bigger storm.
The demo quickly garnered positive feedback after its release.
[Holy crap! A script written by Chang Jingxue! Is it a sci-fi thriller game?]
This lunar base... it looks like a rural village!
[Yu Miao's new work? Is the Hidden World no longer being released?]
[Let's wait and see if domestically produced indie games are just another money-grabbing scam.]
[AVG games aren't usually scams; the storyline in the demo looks pretty good. I wonder what the full version is like.]
[The worst time I had a pseudo-moon addiction was when I lay in bed desperately chanting Yu Miao's name. I was so uncomfortable that I kept reading books published by Teacher Chang Jingxue, thinking that reading could alleviate the hallucinations of aliens... The more I read, the more suffocated I felt. I was sweating profusely, and it felt like beetles were crawling on my body. Every part of my mind was filled with thoughts of pseudo-moon. I was really obsessed with playing pseudo-moon. When I woke up, I would think about the lunar base. When I ate breakfast, I would think about the lunar base. When I turned on my computer, I would think about the lunar base...]
[I'm having an attack! I'm going to play with Pseudo-Moon like crazy! I'm going to play with Pseudo-Moon all night long! I'm going to play with Pseudo-Moon until the early hours of the morning after staying up all night! Waaaaah, Pseudo-Moon, my Pseudo-Moon, my Pseudo-Moon, my Pseudo-Moon…]
So, Yu Miao's Lost Garden is going to be delayed again?
"Not bad, if we keep going like this, there shouldn't be any problems... right?"
Lang Xi didn't understand why she had added an extra "ba" in her previous statement, making it seem like she lacked confidence.
How could there be a problem? Unless a high-quality, domestically produced indie game that can completely outperform "Fake Lunar Base" suddenly appears the next day!
There was none on the second day, but the game appeared on the third day.
It really came out of nowhere, without any prior notice, and the official version of the game was released right away.
Lang Xi: ...
I feel like punching myself. Why am I such a jinx?
In an instant, the attention of many players was drawn to the new game released by this suddenly emerging studio.
"What the heck is Seven Games Studio? Who is this Lee Ji-min?! Is he Korean? I've never heard of him in the industry before!"
Lang Xi was in despair, clutching her head and wailing, "What's up with this investor? Does anyone have the surname 'Shuai'? Why is this woman's surname 'Shuai'? Why are they so rich?"
Yu Nan: "Um, I feel that surnames have nothing to do with gender. Girls can also have the surname 'Shuai' (帅)..."
“That’s not the point,” Lang Xi said, feeling her teeth itching and every cell in her body screaming with resentment. “What kind of weird game studio is this? Why do they dare to release the official version without even testing it?”
And... why is it that even without a public beta, it can be done so well, with exceptionally stable servers and a grand storyline and world view?
If there were similar games in the industry, they would have been widely known by now, but the emergence of "Seven Games" studio was too abrupt.
An unfamiliar producer, an unfamiliar team, unfamiliar gameplay... a near-perfect finished product...
For a time, all the attention was focused on the "Seven Games" studio, which had "remained silent until it made a stunning debut," with many praising them as the true pride of Chinese-made games.
For example, being able to remain calm and not promote oneself, being a doer and letting the finished product speak for itself, having a very mature work that leaves no room for criticism, etc.
People tend to criticize one person while praising another, even if the one being criticized has done nothing wrong.
What's more, this strange game was released just two days after "Fake Lunar Base," and 7Game Studios trampled Langxi's game underfoot.