The workday went by quickly. During that time, 2048 successfully launched on WeChat as a Mini Program, the company's bank account got set up, and William updated the payment account for revenue share to go directly to the company. However, the change required approval due to the change in account type, so that day's earnings might be delayed until early the next morning.
Before leaving the office, William filed his personal income taxes, which meant some of the money in his bank account would be frozen until the deduction went through. But that didn't really affect him much—he wasn't planning on dropping tens of millions on purchases all at once anyway.
After seeing how much tax he had to pay, Cynthia insisted on treating herself to a meal paid for by the "rich guy," so she dragged him to Magnolia Restaurant again. Luckily, the hostess at the entrance had been changed, or she might really start wondering about this couple.
Who treats a high-end, reservation-only restaurant like a regular spot? Even the big bosses who could afford it wouldn't show up that often. It was just too weird.
"We can move forward with the WeChat Games partnership now."
At the dinner table, William brought up work again.
Cynthia put down her spoon and sighed, "Can't we just eat for once?"
This was their third time there, and not once had it been for a proper meal.
William scratched his head. Yeah, maybe asking someone to talk about work after hours wasn't the best move for a boss. But with Cynthia, if they didn't talk about work, he honestly didn't know what else to talk about—which made him feel a bit lost.
"Sigh." Cynthia let out another breath. "Alright, go ahead and say what you wanted."
It seemed she understood that their relationship still needed time to settle in, and for now, work was the easiest topic to bond over.
"Do you know how to play mahjong?"
William's next goal was to move this popular game from offline to online.
"Mahjong?" Cynthia looked at William, surprised. "You... want to play?"
"No." William realized she misunderstood him. "I'm planning to make a mahjong game."
"A mahjong game?"
"Yeah, like when you open your phone, you can play mahjong online anytime."
Cynthia thought for a moment. "Mahjong really is a classic game. But gambling online is illegal. Are you sure it'll pass review?"
"There won't be any real money involved."
"Then what's the point?" Cynthia didn't get it. To her, playing mahjong without stakes just didn't make sense.
William explained patiently, "Even if we can't use real money, we can use in-game coins. It's like an arcade—you exchange money for tokens, then use them to play. In the game, we'll have our own currency, and players will win or lose coins after each round."
"Isn't that still online gambling?"
"Gambling involves real money. Do you think game coins can be used like actual money in the market? Would the authorities recognize it?"
"But still, without gain or loss, isn't the game boring?"
The fun of mahjong comes from the risk.
"Players can buy game coins with money."
"Isn't that just a loophole? Sure, it's game coins on the surface, but you're still using real money behind the scenes. I think the authorities will catch on."
Cynthia wasn't wrong, but William had a solid example to back him up. He wasn't worried about it being illegal.
"What if the game coins can only be bought, not sold? And we won't force players to buy anything. They get a fixed amount every day. But if they lose it all and still want to play, then they'll need to top up."
Cynthia considered it. "Voluntary spending, and can't cash out... might work."
"We'll find out once we make it. Besides, even if there's trouble, won't Tencent be shielding us? Sure, the authorities might make things hard, but Tencent's been around for years. They must know people in the right places."
Cynthia stared at William. "Don't tell me... you planned all this from the start?"
William just shrugged and didn't give a straight answer.
After that, Cynthia wasn't really in the mood to eat. Her mind was already busy thinking about how to approach WeChat Games for a new deal. Their current partnership still stood, but with a new project, there'd need to be a new contract.
Going by what William said, if the game succeeded, it wouldn't be hard to get things going. After all, it was based on a well-known, widely-loved traditional game. She pictured it—being able to just pull out her phone and play mahjong during breaks? Not a bad way to slack off.
William also said there would be a ranking system in the game. For some reason, rankings always seemed to bring out people's competitive side. Things like most coins earned, highest win rate—or even lowest win rate—people love that stuff.
But what Cynthia found most interesting was the idea of online tournaments. Mahjong tournaments already existed offline, but not everyone could join, and the locations always changed. Whether it was distance or timing, it was hard for most people to take part. But if they were held online, lots of skilled players from all over would jump at the chance, and even casual players would be eager to join.
And since the winners could get prizes or money, that would be something totally new in a mahjong game. If you really had to name a game that did something like this before, maybe Piano Tiles with its official rewards came close.
When they got back to the villa, neither of them went to their rooms right away. Instead, they both sat in the living room and picked a short film made by one of today's interviewees to watch.
"This part was made by Leon, right?"
The resume mentioned the time frame where his visual effects showed up.
"Yeah." Cynthia remembered it better than William—after all, she was the one who picked him.
"The effects look good. You can barely tell the facial details are fake."
"Actually, for mid- to large-scale productions, this level is standard. It just takes time and money. From a technical standpoint, there's not much room for improvement anymore."
It turned out Cynthia knew quite a bit about visual effects too.
Seeing William's curious look, she explained, "I was part of a short video club in college."
"Oh, I see."
Short video clubs were something unique to Blue Star. They made videos for social media—some creative, some like interviews. They helped promote the school, so the university supported them.
While they were watching the film, William got a notification.
["Life Restart Simulator" has reached over 50 million active users! Milestone unlocked!]
[Milestone reward: "Life Sim Developer's Handbook" (Part 4 / Second Half), +1 Reputation Point]
He now had both halves of Part 4, which meant he had fully collected the entire Life Sim Developer's Handbook.
After finishing two movies, it was finally time for them to go to their own rooms to sleep.
Cynthia stayed on the second floor, leaving the master bedroom on the third floor for William. That way, they avoided the awkwardness of staying on the same floor.
After showering, William figured there probably wouldn't be any payment notifications tonight, but he still didn't go to bed right away—he wanted to witness a historic moment: Jump Jump reaching over three billion total users.
While keeping an eye on Jump Jump, he noticed 2048 had also passed ten million active users, unlocking its third milestone, which rewarded him with 3 reputation points.
After waiting for more than 20 minutes, the pleasant sound of a system notification rang out.
[Jump Jump has passed 3 billion active users! Milestone unlocked!]
[Milestone reward: Silver Chest ×1, +10 Reputation Points]
Another silver chest! Plus 10 reputation points! What a big win!
William rubbed his hands together, excited to open it.
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