Chapter 30: I Think I’ve Fallen into a Trap...
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Chapter 30: I Think I’ve Fallen into a Trap…
At an Internet café.
Qian Cai’s face was flushed red.
He stared blankly at the disbanded QQ group.
His head was buzzing.
For a full half-minute, he could not recover.
So what exactly were these people trying to do?
“Beep, beep, beep.”
Just as Qian Cai sat there in a daze, his QQ account received a message from “Xiaowei.”
“Congratulations! You have won first prize—a cash award of one thousand yuan!”
“We will also be giving you a free beta-testing account for our new game, Beat the Alpacas…”
“Big brother, are you free right now?”
“…”
“…”
Xiaowei’s profile picture was simply impossible to resist.
Pure, sweet, adorable.
Her smile melted his heart.
In that instant, he felt as if he had entered a vast spring meadow, filled everywhere with the fragrance of flowers…
He hurriedly nodded.
He had already forgotten all about the bewilderment he had felt when the QQ group was disbanded.
“Yes, yes, I’m free!”
“Big brother, since you have time, could you fill in some information about yourself?”
“Of course, of course!”
“…”
Qian Cai quickly filled out the entire form.
Once he had finished, he sent it over eagerly.
After a long while…
Xiaowei’s QQ profile picture began to tremble again.
“Big brother, would you like a job? Would you like to become our colleague, develop games with us, and help create the pinnacle of domestic gaming?”
“Yes, yes!”
“…”
At that moment…
Qian Cai’s blood surged through his veins. He nearly shouted with excitement, and countless beautiful visions of the future instantly appeared in his mind.
He filled out the letter of intent at once. After paying his bill at the Internet café, he dashed out in a whirlwind beneath the strange gaze of the owner, Li Zongnan.
………………………………
Noon, July 1.
Cosmic Technology.
Ge Yumiao—known to everyone as God Ge—had a private office.
Well…
Calling it a private office was rather generous. It was actually a three- or four-square-meter room in the attic, just large enough for a computer and a desk.
At that moment, God Ge was extremely busy, frantically examining the things drawn by the internet users.
These were essentially raw materials. Once the materials were ready, everything else would become much easier.
While selecting and comparing them, he combined them with the various plotlines, sketched out game scenes, and wrote in the kinds of satisfying moments players wanted to experience. Then he sent all the scenes to the graphics department, to Zhao Hang.
Thirty scripts!
Thirty complete game scenes were sent over to Zhao Hang…
Zhao Hang then organized all the plots and stories in sequence, rendered the scenes that required it, added some simple special effects, and merged everything into individual scene illustrations.
Once the integration was complete…
He sent everything to the technical department, headed by Zhong Chongwen. The department combined the code they had already written with the scene illustrations and fitted everything into the framework.
After a small system had been completed, it was sent back to God Ge.
God Ge began testing, experiencing, and revising it…
Although this was a small company, its processes and division of labor were exceptionally clear.
“The impact doesn’t feel quite right!”
“Old Zhong, can this thing still be optimized?”
“Also, the initial build isn’t smooth enough, and the text needs work…”
“By the way, what players want most is a challenge. But it can’t be excessively difficult. I think these sections could be adjusted…”
“…”
Evening.
After God Ge had tested part of the game…
He immediately began moving between the various departments, offering suggestions for revisions.
“Mom, I’m busy. We’re developing a new game!”
“The new game is being tested in every way. It should be ready soon. It isn’t very large, and all the materials are already prepared. Three days should be enough to finish it!”
“Yes, I’m fine. I can handle the lack of sleep…”
“…”
Once he had finished his work, God Ge’s phone rang.
On the other end was his mother, warmly asking after him and wondering when he would have time to come home for a visit.
He could clearly feel that he was completely different from half a month ago.
Half a month earlier!
He had not even dared to go home. Every time he did, he was met with endless reproaches, along with the cold looks and solemn lectures of his relatives.
But after he sent money home, his family’s attitude toward him changed completely.
And when they learned that he had joined a company and begun helping develop games, their attitude changed once again!
They hated games, certainly.
But making games…
In their eyes, that was an extremely high-end profession, something that only educated and capable people could take part in.
As the setting sun streamed into the attic, Ge Yumiao fell into a brief daze.
He lowered his head and looked at the countless documents scattered across the desk.
He was tired, but his fighting spirit burned brightly!
Compared with his former life, spent in the darkness of an Internet café, he suddenly felt that only now was he truly in control of his destiny.
This was his battlefield!
Before long…
Ge Yumiao heard a knock at the door.
Then—
“Boss Zhang?”
“God Ge, are you getting used to the work? I looked over the version you approved. The details are excellent.”
“Ah, thank you, Boss Zhang.”
“By the way, God Ge… I’m planning to establish a department called the Content Division.”
“Ah?”
“It will be responsible for the game’s content in the future. For now, you’ll be one of its members. I’ve also selected two people from among the players who submitted scripts. They’ve arrived. Go downstairs and take a look. One of them is probably an old acquaintance of yours. Old Wu is out handling the market, so could you take the camera for me? I need to award them their prizes…”
“Ah?”
“…”
Ge Yumiao lowered his head instinctively and saw three placards appear in Zhang Yang’s hands.
“One Thousand Yuan in Cash,” “Three Thousand Yuan in Cash,” and “Ten Thousand Yuan in Cash.”
He followed Zhang Yang outside in a daze.
Downstairs, Qian Cai was staring blankly at everything in the building, looking as though he had been deceived and was utterly stunned.
After looking around repeatedly for a long time, Qian Cai finally opened his mouth wide.
“What the hell!”
“This company doesn’t have any pretty girls?”
“Don’t tell me…”
“Don’t tell me there isn’t even a single female fly here?”
“So…”
“Why are all the customer-service profile pictures girls?”
“…”
Another young man wearing glasses was equally dumbfounded.
When Zhang Yang and God Ge came downstairs…
They seemed to hear the sound of their hearts breaking.
………………………………
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Half an hour later.
Qian Cai, still in a daze, had his picture taken while making a V sign.
After collecting his one-thousand-yuan prize, he somehow ended up joining the company alongside the bespectacled man, who had received three thousand yuan.
Looking at the cramped rented apartment and the busy young people inside, Qian Cai felt utterly out of place. He found it extremely difficult to associate any of this with a technology company.
“Boss Yang.”
“Yes?”
“What about the person who won ten thousand yuan?”
“Oh, the ten-thousand-yuan winner couldn’t appear in person. He’s rather low-key…”
“Oh. Boss Zhang, where are you going?”
“Nowhere important. I’m just going for a walk. You and God Ge are old acquaintances, so he’ll explain your work to you.”
“All right…”
Qian Cai stared blankly as Zhang Yang walked away carrying the camera and the ten-thousand-yuan placard.
He had no idea that the moment Zhang Yang left the company, he headed straight for a secluded park nearby.
After arriving, Zhang Yang carefully looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he let out a deep breath.
Then…
He set up the camera and changed into another set of clothes he had never worn before.
………………………………
Another two hours passed…
Qian Cai saw three photographs appear on the company’s online forum.
One showed him holding a placard reading “One Thousand Yuan,” and another showed the bespectacled man holding one that read “Three Thousand Yuan.”
“Congratulations to everyone who won first, second, and third place in this writing contest!”
“The prize money has been distributed on schedule!”
“Please continue to contribute to the development of Cosmic Technology…”
“…”
There was also another photograph—a half-length shot of someone whose face was not visible, showing only a pair of hands holding the placard that read “Ten Thousand Yuan.”
He was bewildered.
What on earth had that ten-thousand-yuan winner written?
How could he possibly have won ten thousand yuan?
Just as he was wondering about it…
He saw Zhang Yang return to the room.
Not long afterward, a tall, broad-shouldered man from the Northeast walked in, looking travel-worn.
Qian Cai overheard the two of them talking.
“Once we finish handing out this batch of prizes, we’ll need to pay the contributors whose drawings were selected. I did a rough calculation. It should come to around four thousand yuan in total…”
“Boss Zhang, that advertisement about working eight hours a day for a monthly income of ten thousand yuan and an annual income of a hundred thousand yuan—it wasn’t…”
“I didn’t say anything wrong. I checked the figures. On average, each person spent less than eight hours drawing. I calculated their pay at three hundred and fifty yuan for eight hours. With more than a hundred people, it comes to just over four thousand. If we have work every day, isn’t that ten thousand a month? And wouldn’t that be a hundred and twenty thousand a year? Oh, Old Wu, I have a task for you. For the especially good and professional drawings, give them a little more. Pay closer attention to them and ask whether they’re interested in working with us. We can use practical work to screen for talent. Isn’t that more effective than a job fair?”
“…”
“Old Qian, right?”
“…”
“Wait. I think we should issue certificates of honor to the particularly outstanding ones first!”
Three days remained until the countdown to Game World reached zero.
Having heard all this, Qian Cai happened to see Zhang Yang turn toward him with a beaming smile.
He jolted and nodded instinctively.
Why did he feel as though he had been schemed against?
As if he were prey?
Thinking about it carefully…
Damn it!
It seemed that from the very beginning, he had been lured step by step into a trap.
………………………………
Page 3 of 3
(End of Chapter)