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

Late at night, the neon lights of the Magic City flicker, reflecting on the glass windows, interweaving a dazzling display of light and shadow.

The meeting room of Taoyuan Township Studio was filled with a strange and tense atmosphere.

Planning Director Mo Xiaoxuan pushed his glasses and glanced at the people in the conference room with a complicated look.

Zhang Qiqi sat in the corner, her fingers rapidly tapping something on her notebook and muttering to herself, as if she was imitating the NPC dialogue logic in the game.

Program Director Chu Xiong frowned and stared at the computer screen, his eyes showing excitement but also a hint of guilt.

Several members of the art team were holding drawing boards, frantically adjusting the character models. They didn't even take a sip of the coffee in their hands, staring intently at the character details on the screen.

If an outsider breaks in at this moment, he will definitely think that this group of people are rushing to complete the project.

But the problem is-

They are clearly working overtime secretly!

——This is absolutely an unacceptable taboo in Taoyuan Township!
The culprit of all this was Liu Mengyuan, who was sitting in the center of the conference table with a firm gaze and a solemn expression.

She crossed her arms, her expression serious, and her eyes revealed a determination that seemed to see through all the truth.

"Everyone, we must be clear about one thing." Her tone was strong and powerful, as if she was carrying out some kind of revolutionary mobilization.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for her next words.

"Mr. Lu's 'tantalizing philosophy' is actually meant to force us to proactively grow!"

There was deathly silence in the conference room.

"..."

"???"

Everyone looked at each other, their eyes filled with shock and confusion.

……What did you say?
"Think about it, does Mr. Lu really just want us to relax? No, his goal is far more far-reaching than we can imagine!"

"He knew that if he forced us to roll directly, we would definitely resist, so he deliberately let us go, making us mistakenly think that we could lie flat."

"But in fact, he is using this method to inspire our sense of responsibility and let us take the initiative to pursue excellence!"

"After all, truly strong people don't need anyone to force them; they will find the meaning of struggle on their own!"

"So, Mr. Lu's 'lying flat policy' is actually the highest level of management wisdom!"

"..."

Everyone in the conference room fell silent again.

They really wanted to refute, but they couldn't find a reason.

After all, if you think about it carefully...it seems to make some sense?!

"So, we can't let Mr. Lu down!" Liu Mengyuan's eyes became more determined. "Since he has given us freedom, we must use this freedom to create miracles!"

"Starting today, we will secretly work overtime!"

Everyone: "..."

"Wait! Isn't this what a normal game company should do?!" Zhang Qiqi couldn't help but complain.

"No, this is different!" Liu Mengyuan said firmly, "We are not working overtime passively, but actively. We are using our own will to create the future!"

"We must participate, but we must do so openly, willingly, and without regrets!"

In the conference room, everyone was silent for a moment, and then—

"Sister Liu is right!"

"Since Mr. Lu has chosen to trust us, we cannot let him down!"

"Yes, we want to roll, but we have to roll with confidence!"

"Brothers, get to work!"

So, at night in the Taoyuan Township studio, a secret "struggle operation" quietly unfolded.

Everyone seemed to have had some kind of switch pressed, and began frantically accumulating experience and improving their proficiency.

The planning team optimized the plot all night long, frantically filling in the details of the world view to make the NPC's dialogue logic more natural and smooth.

The programming team worked hard to optimize the code and improve the operating efficiency of the game engine, which increased the loading speed of the entire world by 30%.

The art team continues to polish the character modeling, making the characters' expressions more vivid and the texture of the fabrics more realistic.

Everyone is getting stronger!

But at the same time, they must also carefully hide their behavior to prevent Lu Yu from discovering it.

Accidental activation of the guaranteed system

However, during this process, something unexpected happened.

Taoyuan Township’s “guaranteed system” was accidentally activated!

This system was originally set up by Lu Yu as a "just in case" mechanism - if an employee progresses too quickly in a short period of time, the system will automatically give additional personal growth rewards.

But Lu Yu's original intention was to encourage employees who were confused in the workplace and allow them to receive positive feedback from occasional bursts of learning.

But he never expected that Liu Mengyuan's "ideological transformation" would directly increase the proficiency of the entire team and trigger the "super-fast growth for all members" mode of the guaranteed system!
Chuxiong's programming ability broke through the bottleneck within two weeks, and he mastered new technologies that would have taken him half a year to learn.

Zhang Qiqi's planning ability has been elevated to a new level, and she even began to actively study the possibility of AI-generated plots.

Several members of the art team began to practice sketching crazily, and the quality of the character portraits improved by several levels.

The entire team has entered an unprecedented state of "rapid growth"!
However, all this is not Liu Mengyuan's ultimate goal.

After a period of "secret overtime", she suddenly realized——

It is not enough to just roll up the volume, we must expand our business territory!

So, she began to actively look for new cooperation opportunities, contact major companies in the industry, and expand Taoyuan Township's influence.

"Our games are not just for the domestic market, we want to impact the global market!"

"We are not just a gaming company, we want to be involved in the entire digital entertainment industry!"

"We want to build a business empire that truly belongs to us!"

Her eyes revealed an unprecedented ambition, as if she had already seen the glorious future.

Lu Yu's shock

And when Lu Yu finally realized all this, the entire Taoyuan Township... had completely changed.

He stood in the office, looking at a group of motivated and passionate employees, and fell into deep thought.

"...So, what are you guys doing?"

Liu Mengyuan looked at him firmly, his tone strong and powerful:

"Mr. Lu, we are making your dream come true!"

Lu Yu: “???” Wait, when did I have this dream?!

A group of people sat around the table, staring intently at Lu Yu, who was sitting at the head of the table, holding a cup of hot tea in his hand and with a comfortable smile on his face.

Their boss, the soul of Taoyuan Township, a man with the title of the ceiling of outrageous ideas.

At this moment, he was speaking slowly:

"I want to add a setting in the game where the protagonist can freely marry any NPC, including but not limited to various races, robots, AI, and even a stone."

There was dead silence in the conference room.

A few seconds later, Program Director Chu Xiong's brows twitched wildly, and he couldn't help but ask, "Wait, Shi Tou?"

"Yes, Shitou." Lu Yu nodded as a matter of course. "Don't you think so? In most games, players can only marry humans or humanoids, and there is no consideration for those players who have a special interest in 'non-living things'."

"So, I want players to be able to conquer everything, including the stones on the ground, the potted plants in the corners, and even the weather system in the game!"

Everyone: "..."

"Mr. Lu, do you have any misunderstanding about 'degree of freedom'?" Art director Yang Cheng held his forehead with his hand, looking hopeless.

But Lu Yu looked at them with a smile, his tone relaxed: "Aren't you a team of geniuses who claim to be able to 'turn any idea into reality'?"

Everyone fell silent.

Of course they knew that Lu Yu’s “outrageous ideas” were never just casual talk, but something he really wanted to do.

The iron rule of Taoyuan Township is that Mr. Lu’s ideas must be implemented!
"Alright, since Mr. Lu asked, let's see how to implement this 'Conquer a Stone' system."

Liu Mengyuan rubbed his temples, took a deep breath, and forced himself into "planning mode."

She tapped the table, thought for a moment, and said decisively, "First, we need to define the emotional system of 'non-living NPCs.'"

"For example, a stone's 'intimacy' can be increased by the player sitting next to it for a long time, painting it, or touching it with their warm hands."

"The 'favorability' of a potted plant can be increased by watering it, pruning its branches and leaves, or even talking to it every day."

"As for the weather... If the player frequently holds an umbrella on rainy days, Rain might develop a liking for them, eventually forming a sort of 'Weather Spirit' bond system."

Chu Xiong's mouth twitched: "So you are serious?"

Liu Mengyuan said seriously, "Of course, planning never fails."

"Okay, then the programmer needs to think about how to realize the 'emotional value of the weather'." Chu Xiong sighed and opened his notebook.

"I think we can refer to the AI ​​deep learning approach and let the weather system respond to the player's behavior patterns. For example, if the player always wears sunglasses on sunny days, the weather system might get jealous and deliberately make the sun a little hotter."

"On the other hand, if players enjoy walking in the rain, the 'rain' may become gentler, or even produce a rainbow effect."

"In short, we want players to really feel the 'emotions of the weather'."

"...sounds oddly feasible?"

Just when everyone began to seriously study "how to make the weather have emotions", an exclamation suddenly came from the art team.

"Wait, I suddenly thought of a character setting!"

——Li Fei from the art team, a man known as a "genius", stood up excitedly and waved the paintbrush in his hand.

"Since the game's NPCs can conquer everything, we must design some NPCs with real 'personalities'!"

"For example, there's an ice queen AI that's 'cheap in words but honest in deeds.' As long as the player inputs the wrong command, she will get angry, but if the player keeps communicating with her in a gentle tone, she will gradually become docile."

"For example, there's an NPC who's trying to 'reverse-attack the player.' He'll be frantically trying to show affection to the player, but if the player rejects him, he'll pretend to be 'sad' and deliberately make the player fail in the mission."

"Also, even more! We can design an NPC with 'self-contained barrage of complaints'. All of his lines will be automatically translated into player comments, such as 'Your operation is terrible,' 'That's all you can do?', 'You might as well delete your account and start over!'"

"Finally, there must be a 'Bug Goddess'. All her dialogues will contain a little bit of programming code. If the player can decipher her sentences, they can unlock the hidden plot!"

"..."

In the conference room, everyone looked at Li Fei and was silent for a few seconds.

then,

"Okay! This NPC must do it!"

"The Bug Goddess setting is so interesting, it must be arranged!"

"The barrage of complaints about NPCs is simply an extreme torture for players. Do it!"

Everyone immediately agreed and began to frantically come up with ideas for the plots and interactions of these NPCs. Even Lu Yu couldn't help but applaud: "As expected of the Taoyuan Township art team, this creativity is incredible!"

As one outrageous setting after another comes into being, the entire game world gradually becomes richer and more wonderful than ever before.

Players can conquer everything, from ordinary NPCs to weather, stones, and even bugs can become love objects.

The NPC's AI system is extremely intelligent and will give real feedback based on the player's behavior patterns, and may even "reverse the strategy" against the player.

The details of the world view have been polished to an extremely fine level, and there are incredible hidden plots in every corner.

All of this was originally just a spur-of-the-moment idea of ​​Lu Yu, but with the genius creativity of Liu Mengyuan and his team members, it actually became a reality.

Late one night, Lu Yu stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, looking at the room full of developers still working hard, and couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

"...These guys are really crazy."

He had just casually mentioned the idea, but it was eventually realized bit by bit by Liu Mengyuan and her team with their amazing execution and creativity.

They are truly weaving a miracle.

And this miracle will subvert the entire gaming industry.

Lu Yu raised the corner of his mouth slightly, picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and laughed softly:

"It seems that my 'Outrageous Empire' is really about to be built."

Not far away, Lu Yu was leaning on the sofa, drinking lemon tea and leisurely flipping through a travel magazine.

"Everyone, relax. Our goal is to make life part of the game, not to make the game the whole of life."

His tone was relaxed, as if he was imparting some philosophy of life.

However, Liu Mengyuan, the planning director sitting opposite him, clearly didn't buy it.

She put down the coffee cup in her hand, crossed her arms, stared at Lu Yu, and her tone revealed a hint of suppressed anger: "Mr. Lu, I really want to know, are you serious, or are you setting a trap for us?"

Lu Yu put down the magazine and looked at her with a smile: "What's wrong? Isn't our project progressing smoothly?"

"Smoothly?" Liu Mengyuan took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "Do you know about the first layer of reverse nesting we've been working on recently?"

"Of course I know." Lu Yu nodded. "In order to let players experience the true 'enjoyment of life' in the game, we have specially embedded a 'life simulation system', allowing them to experience all kinds of extreme enjoyment in the virtual world, such as traveling around the world, extreme sports, and exploring delicious food - this was your idea."

"Yes, but do you know what the problem is?"

Liu Mengyuan held his forehead with his hand, his tone helpless, "We added too much content, and the complexity of the system soared, resulting in frequent bugs throughout the game!"

The internal testing of the game was abysmal. (End of this chapter)