You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

Zhou Xing blinked, with a hint of excitement in his eyes. It was obvious that he had already thought of countless ideas for the event.

He pointed out the following:

"The first step is to create trouble for players from the moment they enter the game interface."

"For example, a huge red warning box could pop up directly on the game startup interface: 'This game is extremely boring, I suggest you quit immediately.'"

"The player pressed the 'OK' button, and the program crashed."

"If they open it again, we'll just give them another pop-up: 'Are you sure you want to play this game?'"

"The player clicked 'yes' and the game crashed again."

"The third time they open the game, we'll put a pop-up saying, 'Are you serious?'"

"Then, there are only two options: one is 'quit', and the other is 'after careful consideration, still persist'."

The technical director's mouth twitched slightly when he heard this: "...So, players have to be repeatedly discouraged from even officially entering the game?"

"That's right." Zhou Xing said as if it was a matter of course, "If they really have the perseverance to open the game for the fourth time, we will allow them to enter the main interface."

"..."

Planning Director Mo Xiaoxuan held his forehead with his hand and asked, "Will anyone really continue to play this game?"

Lu Yu smiled and said, "It's so attractive because no one plays it anymore."

Everyone: "..."

Completely convinced.

The game's main menu should also make players despair.

"Okay, so what happens after entering the main menu?" Lu Yu continued to ask.

Zhou Xing bit his lollipop gently, a sly glint in his eyes: "We should also make the main menu a 'discouragement' style."

"For example, we can design the 'Start Game' button to be a tiny dot, and players must use their mouse to precisely click on a certain pixel to enter the game."

"And the 'Exit Game' button should be huge, so you can exit the game with just one click."

"For example, we could randomly have a message box pop up saying, 'Are you sure you want to waste your time playing this unremarkable game?'"

"If the player still insists on entering the game, we will give them another session to read the terms."

"This clause is 30,000 words long and you have to scroll to the bottom before you can click the 'Agree' button."

"If players try to skip, we'll pop up a warning: 'Please read the user agreement carefully, otherwise we can't guarantee your gaming experience.'"

Planning Director: “…”

Technical Director: “…”

Art Director: “…”

Isn't this game really a revenge against society?!
But Lu Yu smiled.

He took a sip of coffee, a look of satisfaction in his eyes: "Very good, continue."

[After the game officially starts, how to make players give up? ]

"So, suppose there is a super patient player who successfully breaks through the main menu and enters the game, how should we persuade him to quit?" Lu Yu asked.

Zhou Xing raised the corners of his mouth slightly, his eyes revealing a mischievous excitement: "That's even easier."

"First, our game characters are in a 'near-death' state from birth, with a 'you're dying' message constantly flashing on the screen."

"Secondly, the background music in the game is always the most monotonous and hypnotic BGM, which makes people want to turn off the speakers after listening to it."

"Third, all NPCs use the 'AI randomly generated nonsense' system. Their conversations are always meaningless, like 'The weather is nice,' 'Have you eaten today?', 'I don't know how to help you.'"

"Fourth, the quest system. We designed it all to be 'extremely boring,' like 'help the village chief pull 10 weeds,' 'collect 100 fallen leaves,' and 'talk to NPCs 100 times.'"

"Fifth, the combat system can be designed to be 'fully automatic', so players can only watch their characters fight, without any control or even the ability to speed up the combat process."

……

There was dead silence in the conference room.

Everyone looked at Lu Yu and Zhou Xing with an expression of "What the hell is going on with this game?"

Then--

Lu Yu put down the coffee cup, tapped the table lightly and smiled.

"Very good, let's follow this idea."

Everyone: "...???"

——Thus, a game that "players least want to play in history" was officially launched.

……

"If this game becomes popular, I will wash my hair while standing upside down."

Technical Director Chu Xiong folded his arms across his chest, leaning back in his chair in the conference room. He looked at Lu Yu seriously, his voice low and decisive.

He was a typical tech geek, wearing a washed-out programmer's plaid shirt, with a hint of indifference on his face that said, "I've seen too many outrageous projects," as if he was looking at a group of lunatics who were about to destroy their own future.

"No, Mr. Lu, can we talk a little science?" Music Director Zhang Qiqi, with short purple hair and a punk-style leather jacket, slammed her hands on the table and said in disbelief. "You're telling me we're going to make a game that tries to discourage players from playing right from the start? Are you serious?!"

"Yes." Lu Yu nodded, took a sip of coffee, and looked calm.

"...Fuck you!" Planner Mo Xiaoxuan couldn't help but hold his forehead, his voice broken. "Isn't the purpose of making games to make players have fun, addicted, and driven to tears?! And you're just making it impossible for them to continue playing?!"

"Am I right?" Hua Wu crossed her arms and looked at Lu Yu with raised eyebrows. "If this plan was placed in any normal company, it would have been thrown into the trash can as a joke long ago."

"I don't understand this world anymore." Wan Xiaotong, a young planner who has been working for the company for only six months, hugged his laptop, his face full of confusion. "Are we developing a game, or are we competing with players?"

In the entire conference room, except for Lu Yu and Zhou Xing, everyone else looked at the project proposal, which could be described as a "suicidal game plan", with a look of despair on their faces.

They are no longer just "unoptimistic" about this project, but think it is totally ridiculous.

【Team’s collective complaints】

"Come on, let me check first." Chu Xiong rubbed his brows, trying to stay calm. "So, the core gameplay of this game is... to make the players feel pain?"

"To be precise, it is to dissuade players from playing." Lu Yu corrected with a smile.

"..."

"Does this game have BGM?" Zhang Qiqi asked.

"Of course there is." Zhou Xing said lazily, "A background music so monotonous that it makes people doubt their lives. It plays on a loop and never changes."

Zhang Qiqi: "...You are crazy."

"What about the combat system?" Mo Xiaoxuan frowned.

"Fully automatic, players have no control, and can't even skip animations."

Mo Xiaoxuan: “…”

"What about the plot?" Hua Wu couldn't help but ask. "The NPCs are randomly generated and there's no meaningful storyline." Zhou Xing added with a smile.

Hua Wu: “…”

"Art style?" Wan Xiaotong asked weakly.

“All character models are made as generic as possible so that players can’t remember any character.”

Wan Xiaotong: “…”

The entire conference room was silent for three seconds.

Then, Chu Xiong slammed the table, took a deep breath, and said loudly -

"Mr. Lu, I beg you to wake up! We are a gaming company, not an anti-human organization!"

Mo Xiaoxuan nodded and said, "Right! Aren't you afraid that the company will go bankrupt if you do this?!"

Zhang Qiqi had a look on her face that said, "You're all crazy!" "This is completely challenging the players' patience!"

Hua Wu even pulled over her computer screen and pointed at the statistics of a globally popular game: "Look at them, wouldn't it be great if they followed this direction?!"

Wan Xiaotong has already started writing his resignation letter, and it seems that he is ready to run away.

Lu Yu's brainwashing moment

Facing this group of employees who were "about to have a mental breakdown", Lu Yu remained calm, with even a faint smile on his lips.

He slowly put down his coffee cup, glanced at everyone, patted the table lightly, and said leisurely: "Did you realize that your reaction just now was exactly what we wanted?"

Everyone: "...?"

"You think this game is outrageous, but the players don't think it's outrageous either?" Lu Yu said with a smile, "But precisely because it's outrageous, it makes people want to try it."

"Imagine if one day, this game is launched, and a streamer clicks on it, only to find that the game is frantically trying to persuade him to quit. What will he do?"

"He will definitely keep playing and then go crazy complaining in the live broadcast room."

"And then, will the audience in the live broadcast room cheer him on and ask him to keep trying?"

"Then, more and more people will be attracted by this bizarre setting, download the game, and experience this 'reverse marketing' work for themselves."

"Will this game eventually become a phenomenon?"

Lu Yu's voice was calm and confident, and everyone in the conference room gradually quieted down.

"Breaking the rules is the greatest innovation." Lu Yu smiled slightly, his eyes determined. "In today's gaming market, everyone is pursuing 'satisfaction,' but we're going the other way and making a 'painful' game. This itself is a marketing experiment."

"If this works, we'll have created a whole new gaming concept."

"If we fail... no big deal, we can try again in a different direction."

The gradual transformation of the team

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

Then, Chu Xiong sighed and rubbed his temples: "...Okay, you are the boss anyway. If you really fail, you can wash your hair upside down first."

Zhang Qiqi shrugged: "Anyway, I'm in charge of the music. If I really want to make this kind of hypnotic background music, I can do it."

Mo Xiaoxuan took a deep breath and muttered softly, "This is truly an unprecedented plan... but it seems... quite interesting?"

Hua Wu held her forehead with her hand and said, "I don't care. If I get scolded by players and become a trending topic, I'll just play dead."

Wan Xiaotong: "...Uh, I was just halfway through writing my resignation letter. Maybe I can put it on hold for a while?"

Lu Yu nodded with satisfaction, the corners of his mouth raised: "Very good, then it's settled."

[The most reverse marketing game in history is officially launched! ]

That afternoon, the development team of Taoyuanxiang Studio, with everyone believing that "this game is definitely going to fail," threw themselves into the development work.

Autumn in Shanghai always brings a hint of gentle coolness.

The sun shines lazily on the streets and alleys of the city. The orange-yellow sycamore leaves fall in the wind, and when you step on them, you can hear a slight rustling sound.

Lu Yu put one hand in his pocket, holding Liu Mengyuan's hand with the other, and strolled along the riverside trail. The river shimmered in the sunlight, and the high-rise buildings in the distance were reflected on the water, making it seem particularly quiet.

Liu Mengyuan was wearing a light beige coat, her long hair gently blowing in the wind, and a quiet smile between her eyebrows. Her hands were warm, and her fingertips gently hooked Lu Yu's palm, like a lazy kitten, snuggling up to his side.

"Have you been staying up late again recently?" Liu Mengyuan tilted her head slightly and looked at him softly, "You have dark circles under your eyes."

Lu Yu raised his eyebrows, with a playful smile on his lips: "That may be because - I miss you so much that I can't sleep."

Liu Mengyuan was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help laughing and gently pushed his shoulder: "Stop talking nonsense, you are obviously winning the game project!"

Lu Yu shrugged, looking innocent: "You know the daily life of a game developer. Once the brain starts working, it can't stop."

"Then you should have a good rest." Liu Mengyuan sighed and frowned slightly, "Did you secretly drink coffee to prolong your life again?"

Lu Yu smiled but said nothing.

Liu Mengyuan narrowed his eyes, staring at him for a few seconds, and suddenly made a quick move - with a loud bang, he slapped Lu Yu's wrist accurately.

"Hand it over."

Lu Yu spread out his hands helplessly, and sure enough, there was an instant coffee capsule lying in his palm.

Liu Mengyuan looked at the capsule, sighed softly, and then put it into his pocket without hesitation. He said calmly: "From now on, your caffeine intake will be strictly supervised by me."

Lu Yu: "..."

He looked at Liu Mengyuan's "this is for your own good" expression and couldn't help but smile: "Okay, okay, whatever the Queen says is right."

Liu Mengyuan raised his chin slightly, with a triumphant smile on his lips, but his eyes were as soft as melted caramel.

【Afternoon Tea Time】

The two of them casually walked into a coffee shop on the corner. The shop was filled with the faint aroma of coffee, and the background music was slowly flowing jazz. The atmosphere was comfortable and quiet.

Liu Mengyuan ordered a caramel macchiato, while Lu Yu was forced to order hot milk.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Lu Yu looked at the steaming cup of milk in front of him, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

"What else?" Liu Mengyuan stirred the coffee gracefully, with a hint of cunning in his eyes.

Lu Yu sighed helplessly, took a sip of the milk, and was about to complain, but the next second, Liu Mengyuan suddenly picked up the phone and pointed it at him——

"Click."

Lu Yu: "?"

Liu Mengyuan looked at the phone screen and nodded with satisfaction. "Well, the photo of 'Lu Da Game Producer holding a cup of hot milk with a resentful look in his eyes' is very well taken."

Lu Yu looked alert: "...What do you want to do?"

Liu Mengyuan smiled like a little fox, quickly opened WeChat, and sent the photo to their couples group: "Save it, I'll use it to laugh at you later."

Lu Yu: "..."

He took a deep breath and looked at her helplessly: "Have you been addicted to playing "The Mystery of the Hidden Mist Village" recently and learned some psychological tactics?" (End of this chapter)