Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 94
This isn't just fishy, it's super fishy!
Shen Miaomiao stood at the factory entrance, her eyes wide in disbelief.
The parachuting experience, the smooth movements, the powerful recoil of gunfire, the immersive game atmosphere...
The mountains, the trees, the wind—everything here!
Where's the “rough prototype” she was promised?!
You’re telling me this was “too rushed to polish”?
This d*** thing looks like a fully-finished game!
Panic surged through her heart.
No doubt about it.
Ever since she took over Golden Wind a year ago, Shen Miaomiao had been coasting along, doing the bare minimum.
Still, she’d learned a thing or two about the game industry.
She knew what those rushed-to-market games looked like:
The slightly better ones would still have clipping issues, weak rendering, slight input lag...
And the bad ones? Ha, some didn’t even have working features—it was basically just a shell that could barely run.
At first, that’s what she thought PUBG would be too.
In her mind, the parachuting in the trailer was probably fake. The full-body feedback system? Untuned at best. The motion capture? Probably super laggy, characters moving out of sync.
But now?
Parachuting—Gu Sheng made it happen.
The full-body feedback system—Gu Sheng calibrated it perfectly.
The visuals and animations? Flawless, immersive down to the last pixel.
And to think, she was once wondering how much “meat” was actually in that trailer...
Turns out?
No crust. All meat.
D*** it, I didn’t lose a single cent!
With a grunt, Shen Miaomiao crawled out of the haptic pod, her face pale as a sheet.
It was obvious.
Unless Gu Sheng had the power to stop time, there was no way he pulled this off without some underhanded tricks!
Otherwise...
There’s no way he could’ve cooked up a full-course meal like this in just five months of normal work hours!
The thought made Shen Miaomiao’s teeth grind with rage.
Sitting down in her boss chair, she snatched up the phone.
Beep—beep—
After two rings, a middle-aged man’s voice came through:
“Hello? Miaomiao?”
“Hey, Uncle Li,”
Shen Miaomiao took a deep breath and said,
“I’d like to pull the surveillance footage from our floor. Is that okay?”
Uncle Li, the owner of Binjiang Tech Tower and an old friend of Lao Shen, chuckled warmly.
“Of course! No problem at all! Hold on, I’ll have someone bring it up to you.”
Soon after, the tower’s deputy general manager arrived respectfully with a copy of the footage.
After a polite thank you and seeing the manager out, Shen Miaomiao plugged the USB into her computer.
Usually, places like malls and office buildings kept footage for a week.
At Binjiang Tech Tower, they saved it for a month.
She opened the earliest video file...
Fast-forwarded to 5:00 p.m. sharp.
Click.
The project department doors opened, and the employees filed out, all eager to leave, not staying a second longer.
In fact, the last one out that day was herself—at 5:01 p.m.
The company fell quiet.
Exactly the outcome she’d hoped for.
But...
An hour later—
Rumble—
The company’s automatic doors, printed with the Golden Wind logo, slid open again.
In came Da Jiang, broad and stocky, and Jiang Yun with his tattooed arms, each holding a cup of coffee, chatting and laughing.
Three or five minutes later, Ka Lang strolled back in, alone, wiping his mouth and checking his phone.
Then came Gu Sheng and Jiang Yun, each with a rolled-up jianbing, eating and chatting as they walked.
One, three, five, eight, ten...
Groups of employees trickled back in, like high schoolers returning from a break. Some had just finished dinner, others had been playing ball downstairs.
Shen Miaomiao’s thumb slowly moved to press against the philtrum beneath her nose...
She knew—the project team had 16 members.
Add the three execs, and that made 19.
Now?
18 had come back.
Only Lu Bian hadn’t shown up yet.
But there was no way Lu Bian wouldn’t come back. Shen Miaomiao knew that much.
Wherever Gu Sheng went, his two lieutenants—Lu Bian and Da Jiang—would always follow.
Her fear...
Rumble—
Before she could finish that thought, the doors slid open again.
Sure enough, in walked Lu Bian.
And right behind him...
A tall, elegant figure—none other than her personal assistant, Chu Qingzhou!
Screeeeech—!
Shen Miaomiao couldn’t hold it anymore.
She jammed her prepped fingernail hard into her philtrum.
S***... I’m screwed...
Chu Chu, you big, honest-looking traitor! You betrayed the revolution?!
One company!
Top to bottom!
Even counting the janitor auntie, that made 23 people!
And the janitor and the finance lady didn’t touch the project at all.
So that meant...
21 people had direct or indirect involvement with the PUBG project.
And now?
20 had come back!
That day... only she had actually gone home after work!
S***!!!
Shen Miaomiao let out a silent, desperate scream in her heart.
Did I... did I just become the traitor?!
20 people working behind 1 person’s back!
What kind of operation was this?! Boo hoo hoo...
Shen Miaomiao was on the verge of tears.
No wonder, on the first day of the project, Gu Sheng had gone full tyrant, chewing everyone out left and right!
Playing the sympathy card, staging a secret coup...
A whole freaking scheme!
D*** it all!!!
Shen Miaomiao was so mad she almost rolled on the floor.
Gu Sheng!!!
You b******!!!
I can’t believe I felt guilty before, thinking I was in the wrong, even planning to go easy on you next time!
You d*** well deserve this!
With that thought, Shen Miaomiao slapped a fifty onto the table and grabbed it in her fist.
With a furious growl, she declared:
“Fifty, we have to make that scumbag Gu Sheng pay for his crimes today—this is for your brothers and sisters!”
“Sheng-ge.”
As the project room door opened, Da Jiang came in and called out to Gu Sheng.
“Yeah?”
Gu Sheng was chatting with Lu Bian when he heard Da Jiang and looked up.
“What’s up?”
“I ran into Boss Shen in the hallway,” Da Jiang tilted his head.
“She said you should go to her office.”
“Oh, okay.”
Gu Sheng nodded, snubbed out his cigarette, and strode off to Shen Miaomiao’s office.
Knock knock knock—
He knocked, and Shen Miaomiao’s voice came from inside:
“Come in.”
Gu Sheng pushed the door open and saw Shen Miaomiao seated behind her desk, face unreadable.
“You called me?”
Gu Sheng didn’t think much of it and sat down across from her.
“So... what’s—”
Bang!
Before he could finish, Shen Miaomiao yanked a giant high-pressure water gun from under the desk and slammed it down in front of him!
Her gaze turned icy in an instant.
Gu Sheng flinched.
“Hey... hey, let’s talk this through, alright? No violence, okay?”
“Hmph!”
Shen Miaomiao snorted coldly.
“When a gun goes off, someone dies.
When someone dies, someone cries.
And when someone cries, they speak the truth.
So, spill it.
You’ve got at least three things to say.”
Gu Sheng glanced at her, then at the massive water gun on the table, swallowing hard.
“...We’ve been slacking off in the project room.”
Shen Miaomiao shook her head. “Not that one.”
“...I ate the last lollipop in the lounge.”
Shen Miaomiao shook her head again. “Not that one either.”
Hiss—
Gu Sheng spotted the surveillance footage playing on her tilted screen, and his face stiffened. With a sheepish smile, he mumbled:
“About the overtime... everyone was totally fine with it...”
“Ha.”
Shen Miaomiao let out a cold laugh.
She picked up the water gun, grinning like a maniac.
“Hahahahahaha—oh, Gu, my dear.
Have you had breakfast?”
Gu Sheng blinked, not sure why she was asking that.
“Nope.”
“Ha! Bad idea!”
Shen Miaomiao nodded, then her expression twisted into something feral.
Grabbing the water gun, she leaped onto the desk and sprayed the hell out of Gu Sheng!
“Then let me feed you a taste of this!”
Pssshhhh—!
“Ah! Ah, sh**! It’s freezing!”
Caught completely off guard, Gu Sheng took a full face of water, jumping back and shrieking.
“Holy crap, this is ice-cold! What kind of water is this?!”
“Tap water!”
Shen Miaomiao, like a demon queen, stomped onto the desk and kept spraying.
“I told you no overtime! No overtime! And you had the nerve to pull some Sun Tzu strategy on me, huh?!”
“You tricked the whole project team! Even took down Chu Chu!
You’re not Gu the Designer—you’re Gu the Master Manipulator!”
“Today—I’m taking down this evil schemer who spreads lies and deceives the masses!”
Pssshhh—!
Water sprayed everywhere, soaking Gu Sheng as he scrambled around the office.
“Ah! F***—this is so cold!”
“You can’t do this to me!”
“Everything I did was for the good of the company!”
“I’ve shed blood for this company! I’ve earned merit!”
“You tyrant! Killing loyal ministers! Blind fool—!”
Those words only made Shen Miaomiao angrier.
“Silence! Shameless scoundrel! How dare you bark like that?! I’ll drown you right here and now—prepare to die!”
Pssshhh—!
Outside the door...
Over a dozen employees stood silently, listening to the chaos inside.
After a long pause, Jiang Yun finally couldn’t help but whisper to Lu Bian:
“Director Lu... do you think Boss Gu and Boss Shen are...?”
“Cosplaying, maybe?”
Lu Bian smacked his lips, unsure.
“Sounds like a corrupt emperor executing a loyal subject kind of scene.”
“So... should we go in and stop them?”
Ka Lang grinned.
“Maybe not.
Sounds like they’re having fun.”
PUBG Launches Today! Special events across Shark, Longya, Black Flag, and more streaming platforms!
8 PM tonight! The battle royale wave hits Asia!
The wait is over! Golden Wind announces PUBG goes live at 8 PM!
Shark Newsflash: Tonight at 8 PM, Qiezi and Lao Ma invite you to join the battlefield!
Is it a surprise or a letdown? PUBG launches tonight, quality to be revealed!
In the blink of an eye, it was Saturday!
Under the joint announcement of the “Asia Esports Developer Conference,” the “Huaxia International Digital Entertainment Association,” the “YiYou Platform,” and “Golden Wind Games”—
PUBG went live at exactly 8 PM on the Asia Esports Official Platform!
The gaming community exploded!
Media outlets scrambled to report, streaming platforms opened special streaming channels, and even Shark launched a PUBG newbie streamer recruitment campaign!
Countless players eagerly waited:
“It’s finally here! I’ve been waiting so long!”
“Shark’s servers are gonna melt down tonight!”
“Got my haptic pod and my wallet ready—just waiting to buy it the moment it drops!”
“Not gonna lie, 98 yuan—at that price, I don’t even care if there are no guns. If they’ve got parachuting, I’ll play all night!”
“Hahaha, bro, you’re crazy!”
“Rich dude throwing 50 to get a chicken dinner!”
“Yo, look at the FPS section—every big streamer is going live at the same time!”
“Official support, man. With Huaxia backing them, who dares not follow?”
“Wait, hold up... wasn’t there another game from Huaxia in this event?”
“Huh? There was? What?”
“Polite Rage: The hell you talking about?”
“Hahahahahaha...”
Shen Miaomiao’s molars were practically cracking from the pressure!
D*** that dog Gu Sheng!
With this level of promotion, if they’d only had a half-baked prototype up, the disappointment from players and media would’ve been catastrophic!
All this massive hype would’ve backfired!
But now...
After playing PUBG herself, she knew the game was solid.
Flawless quality, incredible experience, and now an all-out promotional blitz across every platform!
Her only hope left... was the sales ceiling.
With a total investment of 50 million yuan, and the Asia Esports Platform taking a 10% cut, they’d need to hit 55 million yuan in gross sales within the first week to break even.
And that wasn’t easy.
After all, PUBG had home field advantage in Huaxia, but in other Asian countries, other FPS competitors would be splitting the market.
“So... it’s not totally hopeless for me!”
She clenched her tiny fists, cheering herself up:
“Even if I lose a million, five hundred thousand would still be fine. I’ll take whatever I can get—half’s not too bad!”
With that, the clock struck 8 PM sharp.
A system notification echoed in her mind—
Ding! Investment Round Initiated!
Project: PUBG
Project Investment: 50 Million Yuan
Estimated Return: 500 Million Yuan
Settlement Countdown: 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds...