Chapter 262: Bao Xu – I'm in Seclusion, Please Do Not Disturb
Shangyang Games.
Everyone was filled with a kind of wild, feverish excitement, as if they'd just been injected with pure adrenaline.
President Pei's two million yuan advertising budget was nothing short of a powerful stimulant!
After Blood War Anthem: Enhanced Edition went online and failed to perform well, everyone had seen the numbers and felt the pressure.
At first, the whole team had been lost and confused. Fortunately, Director Lin made the decision to develop a mobile version—linking mobile and PC micro-client data—finally giving everyone a clear direction to work toward.
But even with the mobile version under development, could it really turn things around? No one dared to say for sure.
From the current outlook, the biggest issue with converting the game to mobile wasn't money—it was time.
If the relaunch failed, it would only make an already bad situation worse.
However, President Pei's high praise for the game, along with this fresh injection of two million yuan in marketing funds, clearly showed his trust and confidence in the team!
Everyone was deeply moved and even more determined to make Blood War Anthem: Enhanced Edition succeed.
A staff member was already following President Pei's instructions and reaching out to the Hong Kong actors on his list.
Looking at the list, Wang Xiaobin couldn't help but sigh. "You have to hand it to President Pei—he's sharp when it comes to casting. This lineup was definitely chosen after careful thought."
"Zhang Zuting and the others are all veteran Hong Kong stars. Their films have huge influence among middle-aged audiences, which fits perfectly with our target player demographic. The promotional effect will be great."
"Zhang Zuting has the highest asking price, so we'll let him film one short piece first to attract wide attention. Then, with the same budget, we'll hire four slightly cheaper Hong Kong actors. That way, we not only get a great cost-performance ratio, but also create a group effect for maximum exposure."
"Seriously, President Pei's move is brilliant."
Beside him, Ye Zhizhou nodded in full agreement. "Yeah, when it comes to marketing, President Pei is an absolute genius—probably one of the best in China's entire gaming industry."
"It's just… a little embarrassing. If only our game were stronger. In its current state, it feels like we're letting down all that investment he's putting into promotion."
Wang Xiaobin comforted him. "Don't worry. The mobile version's still in development. Once that launches, all this advertising will still have value. The hype we're building up now will definitely pay off later."
Ye Zhizhou nodded vigorously. "You're right! We'll work even harder. We can't let President Pei down!"
. . .
September 11th, Monday.
When he set foot in Jingzhou once again, Bao Xu felt a rush of emotion.
He was finally back!
After an entire month of paid vacation, he had spent his time traveling around Europe—visiting four or five cities, changing locations about once a week.
In short… it was indescribable.
For Bao Xu, he now wanted nothing more than to wipe those "exotic sceneries" from his mind completely—to delete, format, and erase every last memory. This past month has been nothing short of a nightmare for him.
Not because of the destinations themselves—no. In Bao Xu's mind, any place that took him away from Jingzhou, no matter how beautiful or charming, was the stuff of nightmares.
Still, while he had become addicted to the internet during college, he had actually graduated properly, and his English wasn't bad. With the help of a translation device, he had somehow managed to stumble through his overseas trip.
But no matter how you looked at it, by the end of it all, Bao Xu felt a deep, soul-crushing despair.
Arriving back in Jingzhou in the early morning, he first returned to his rented apartment to sleep, only getting up around noon. That afternoon, he decided to drop by Tengda.
During his trip, he had bought a few local snacks and souvenirs—small gifts to hand out to his coworkers.
Besides, he'd been away for a month and had no idea how Turn Back Before It's Too Late was progressing. Li Yada had taken over as lead executive designer midway—could she handle it and make the game work?
. . .
When he arrived at the office, everyone was hard at work.
As soon as everyone saw that Bao Xu had returned, the office erupted in warm greetings.
"Brother Bao's back!"
"Brother Bao, how was Europe?"
"You look like you got a bit tanned."
"Your hair's grown out too, huh?"
"It must've been pretty cold over there this time of year, right?"
Bao Xu greeted everyone one by one and began handing out the souvenirs he'd brought from abroad.
Li Yada, who had been focused on revising a document, immediately stood up when she saw him. "Brother Bao! Perfect timing—you're just the person I wanted to ask about something!"
At once, Bao Xu's face turned pale. "I'm exhausted! Let's talk another day!"
"Uh… okay," Li Yada nodded, a little confused.
Something felt off.
Why did Bao Xu seem so deflated this time? He didn't have the same lively energy as before.
In the past, no matter who had a question about design or needed advice, Bao Xu would always be eager to help.
He was constantly playtesting games under development, offering feedback directly to the designers in charge whenever he had suggestions about mechanics, polish, or balance.
The last time he went on vacation, he'd started testing games the very day he came back, immediately diving right back into work mode.
But today… he didn't seem interested in work at all.
Before long, Bao Xu finished handing out all the souvenirs—even President Pei, who was in his office testing a game, got his share.
Then Bao Xu went back to his desk, launched a foreign AAA title, put on his headphones, and entered "self-isolation mode."
This had been his plan throughout his miserable month abroad.
His first order of business upon returning to the company: keep a low profile and hide his light under a bushel.
As a self-described "semi-reclusive child," every time Bao Xu had been forced to use broken English to talk with foreigners, he'd been filled with bitter regret.
Looking back on it, getting second place in the "Best Employee Selection Process" had been both unexpected and, in hindsight, completely logical.
He really should've seen the consequences coming.
Lu Mingliang, as the lead executive designer, contributed the most to the project. And the person who contributed second most?
That would, of course, be Bao Xu.
From Ocean Fortress onward, he had been one of the design department's most dedicated members—always proposing ideas, refining gameplay details, and balancing systems.
With that much presence, how could anyone not vote for him?
After thinking things through, Bao Xu realized that if things kept going this way, he only had two possible outcomes in the next round of awards:
Option one: win first place, like Lu Mingliang, and walk away with the one-million-yuan "Dream Fund."
That one wasn't too bad, but… the thought of leaving his coworkers and the design department made him reluctant.
Option two: win second place again—and get another month of paid vacation abroad.
That was the truly terrifying one!
He'd already suffered through it twice, and there were still endless destinations left in the world. To Bao Xu, this torment had no end in sight.
So, he steeled his resolve—it was time to become a slacker.
He'd bury himself in games every day, keep his presence to an absolute minimum, and make sure nobody thought too highly of his "contributions."
Even though he was worried about whether Li Yada could handle the job as the lead executive designer, he absolutely couldn't offer her advice in public. He could only help her privately, quietly, and in secret.
He could not draw attention to himself again!
Still, deep down, Bao Xu felt a bit guilty. He knew this "slacker act" wasn't really fair to President Pei.
But if he wanted to avoid that cursed "Best Employee" award again, he had no choice. He'd just have to fool the majority of people.
After playing for half an hour, Bao Xu exited his game and cautiously peeked over his cubicle wall.
President Pei was still in his office.
Everyone else was working seriously, not paying attention to him.
Only then did Bao Xu carefully send Li Yada a message:
"If you have any questions, message me privately. Don't draw attention."
. . .
In the office, President Pei was munching on the cookies and chocolates Bao Xu had brought back, leisurely browsing Aili Island.
Today's suffering was finally over—only two bosses remained before he could clear the Six Paths of Reincarnation ending.
There were still a little over three weeks left before Turn Back Before It's Too Late's release, which meant time was more than abundant.
So, naturally, Pei Qian wasn't in any hurry at all.
On Aili Island's homepage, a new compilation video had just been pinned to the top.
"The Brainwashing Blood War Anthem Ad Collection!"
Originally, it had only featured Zhang Zuting, but now it had become a full family portrait—Zhang Zuting and his four "brothers-in-arms."
Everyone wore the same hilariously awkward costumes, held the same ridiculous props, and spoke in the same stilted, overexaggerated Cantonese-accented Mandarin. The whole production maintained a perfectly consistent level of glorious cringe.
Although none of the other actors had names as meme-worthy as "Fried Pig Trotter" ("Fried Pig's Trotter," a play on Zhang Zuting's name), that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the internet's resident jokesters one bit. The comments, bullet messages, and view counts said it all.
"Shocking—I actually watched an ad on Aili Island!"
"Normally I skip 15-second ads, but this time I watched ten minutes straight…"
"Everyone else skips ads—I search for them!"
"These guys are true marketing geniuses. Each actor only filmed about two minutes of material, yet they somehow cut it into over a dozen different versions!"
"The ad jingle is too catchy—I'm dying of laughter!"
"I went full-screen and didn't dare pause, afraid I'd accidentally click the website!"
"I'm Fried Pig's Trotter! If you're my brother, come bite me—and my four brothers too!"
After watching the newest batch of ads, Pei Qian nodded in deep satisfaction.
Yes. Good friends should always suffer together—neatly and uniformly.
Now, Zhang Zuting, the "godfather of browser games," was firmly cemented in his position. As for the other four, they could collectively be dubbed the "Four Little Kings of Browser Games," and together they might as well debut as the Elderly Hong Kong Accent Pop Group.
Looking at the sheer awkwardness of Zhang Zuting's four friends starring in these over-the-top game ads, Pei Qian could already imagine how smug Zhang Zuting would be the next time they all met.
After all, they had all filmed the same kind of ridiculous commercial—but Zhang Zuting had received the highest endorsement fee.
He'd definitely feel that his value had soared above the rest.
By giving "Old Zhang" this small helping hand, Pei Qian felt one thing above all—pure satisfaction.
Surely Zhang Zuting would be deeply touched by this gesture, right?
Feeling pleased, Pei Qian closed the website and, out of habit, opened the backend for Blood War Anthem: Enhanced Edition to check the data.
Everything looked perfectly normal.
Although this new wave of ads had caused another small uptick in the numbers, from the current data it was still far from reaching the danger line.
Pei Qian had no idea what Ye Zhizhou and Lin Wan were busy with all day, but judging from the situation, it seemed they hadn't found any effective way to turn things around.
Anyway, as long as the numbers didn't recover, everything was fine.
Once he confirmed that the data was still safe, Pei Qian stood up and prepared to leave.
Lately, he'd been feeling a bit uneasy, but he wasn't sure what exactly he should be doing during this quiet period—so all he could do was wait. Wait for the new Moyu Internet Café branch to open, and for Turn Back Before It's Too Late to finally launch.
As he stepped out of his office, Pei Qian glanced toward Bao Xu.
Ever since returning from abroad, Bao Xu looked noticeably tanner—healthier, even.
Pei Qian couldn't help but wonder if it was just his imagination, but it seemed like Bao Xu's hairline had actually recovered a little. The "Reforestation Project on the Scalp" appeared to be producing impressive results.
"At this rate," Pei Qian mused to himself, "if I send him out a few more times, maybe he'll turn into one of those long-haired, free-spirited artists. Huh, that'd be kind of cool, actually."
Then something caught his eye.
"Hmm? He's not playing Turn Back Before It's Too Late?"
Pei's sharp instincts immediately picked up on the anomaly.
Bao Xu was playing a foreign AAA game instead—and playing it very casually. He wasn't taking notes, wasn't taking screenshots, wasn't jotting down gameplay details in his little notebook.
That meant he wasn't studying the game. He was simply… playing for fun.
Under normal circumstances, Bao Xu would've been enthusiastically playtesting Turn Back Before It's Too Late, finding every bug and design flaw he could, then bombarding his teammates with suggestions.
But this time, he seemed like a completely different person—headphones on, completely shut off from the world.
He might as well have the words "I'm in self-isolation, do not disturb" written across his face.
Pei Qian thought for a moment, and realization struck immediately.
Ah. Once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of the well rope!
Bao Xu was clearly terrified of winning "Best Employee" again. To avoid that fate, he had decided to go into stealth mode—pretend to slack off, keep his head down, and make sure no one noticed him.
That way, nobody would vote for him next time, and he'd never have to endure another month of paid vacation abroad.
Far from being upset, Pei Qian broke into a satisfied smile.
Indeed, his Best Employee Evaluation System was working beautifully!
The process might've gone a little differently than expected, but the results were perfect.
The "Top-Ranking Elimination System" truly was the guiding principle Tengda should stick to forever.
Excellent. Very good. Bao Xu, just keep this up. You're on track for a future promotion and raise!
If even someone as motivated as Bao Xu could be successfully "converted" into a slacker, then what chance did anyone else have?
Feeling delighted, Pei Qian happily left the office.
From the corner of his eye, Bao Xu saw President Pei stepping into the elevator and finally let out a deep sigh of relief.
He couldn't help it—these days, he had to be on guard against everyone in the company!
Not that he had anything against President Pei specifically. It was just that now, whenever anyone walked by, Bao Xu would instantly panic and switch windows at lightning speed.
After glancing around and confirming no one was paying attention to him, he quickly minimized his game and opened a document to start editing.
The feeling was… strange.
Having to secretly work in your own office—what kind of cursed situation is this?
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