In the afternoon, Claire got back to William, saying she was willing to give it a try.
He asked her to quit her job and come to the company to sign the contract, while he continued development on the third project line.
By evening, he had finished the core logic code for "Happy Match"—how to perform eliminations, the changes after elimination, and the reward system for matching more than three of the same blocks.
For "Honor of Kings," he completed all the maps. The models for the monsters had to be made one by one, so that part would be handed over to the studio members. In terms of "Honor of Kings" development, he had finished all his tasks—excluding concept setting, hero design guidance, and any code that might be needed later.
In reality, William still had a lot of work to do; he just wasn't planning to put more energy into it for now.
The new mode for Piano Tiles was progressing the fastest. On one hand, developing a new mode was simple—just adding a few extra rules. On the other hand, his experience gave him a huge boost. To exaggerate a little, William could recite all the Piano Tiles code from memory, without even needing to check it a second time.
Before clocking out, he sent the test version to Marcus, letting him once again feel the joy of his work. Then he and Cynthia took a cab home together.
"I really don't know how your brain works."
Cynthia had spent the whole day slacking off by standing behind William, watching him work. She saw with her own eyes how he was developing three lines of code at a time while also writing additional design drafts. She now had a vague idea of the game he was making.
"What's wrong?"
William himself didn't think much of it. In fact, ever since getting the system, he'd never once gotten stuck when coding—it had always been smooth, like water flowing. That was exactly why he could keep such a high level of efficiency.
Cynthia recalled, "You know, my first impression of you was actually pretty average. Sure, you had some good results, but you didn't have that 'successful person' vibe. You were like some kid who just won the lottery, full of yourself without knowing your limits."
"Well, thanks for your honesty." William shot her a look. Nobody likes hearing that kind of thing. "So why'd you decide to work with me?"
"Because of that exact cockiness." Cynthia playfully winked, making it hard to tell whether she was joking or being serious.
"I think you just have a crush on me."
Cynthia raised an eyebrow and curled her lips into a mischievous smile. "Oh? And if what you said were true, what would you do?"
"I'd just lie flat and accept my fate."
William turned his head away, avoiding her gaze.
"Lying flat" could mean giving up, or it could mean literally lying down—it depended on how the listener took it.
"Not bad!" Cynthia hooked his pants leg with her foot. "Come on, tell me, how many girlfriends have you had?"
When it came to shamelessness, she was definitely the stronger one. William had no comeback for that.
After enduring the painfully long five-minute ride, they finally got out of the car. The driver gave them a strange look, which made William resolve never to banter with Cynthia like that again when a third person was around.
"Pipi."
As soon as they opened the door, they heard Aunt Oliver's voice calling out from inside.
A small white poodle was running wild in the living room, jumping onto the sofa one moment and diving under it the next, leaving Aunt Oliver helpless as she chased after it.
"You're back!"
Noticing them, Aunt Oliver suddenly looked a little flustered. "Uh… I only let it out for a short while. It's usually well-behaved and doesn't run around like this."
Cynthia stepped in to smooth things over. "It's probably just the new environment. I've read that dogs get nervous in unfamiliar places, and that can make them act like this."
"Yeah, it should calm down soon. You don't mind, do you?"
"I actually really like dogs." Cynthia walked over to the sofa as she spoke, set her bag aside, and crouched down to call under it, "Pipi."
William had never kept a pet himself. Back home, his family had a dog, but it had little to do with him. Later, with school and work, he never had the chance again.
Since Aunt Oliver was joining them for dinner, they didn't eat at the small table but moved to the dining room instead.
Pipi only ate dog food. Once its bowl was placed to the side, it settled down.
"If there's anything you want to eat, just tell me. I've spent these past years alone trying out all kinds of recipes," Aunt Oliver said with full confidence.
Cynthia didn't hold back and named several dishes she liked, all with a seaside flavor.
As for William, he didn't have any particular favorites—or rather, he could eat anything. Years of 7-to-10 workdays at the company meant he ate in the cafeteria almost every meal. His taste buds had been trained to tolerate just about anything, and it would take a long time to recover.
After dinner, Aunt Oliver sent them to the living room to watch TV, firmly refusing to let them help in the kitchen.
"Boss, this new mode is amazing!"
Marcus didn't say how long he'd been playing, but from his excited voice message, it was clear he was still riding a high.
"Test it slowly, and don't mess up your schedule. This mode won't go live for a while, so there's no rush."
William knew Marcus was a gaming fanatic—that's why he got the job as a tester. But if he kept going at this pace, William worried he might burn out early.
"Got it! Can I let my cousin try it too?"
"Sure, but don't spread it around. No screenshots, no recordings."
The new mode had to be kept secret. It was going to be his trump card against the wave of upcoming Piano Tiles copycat games. When those knock-offs launched, they'd find that, even though they were new games, they were already behind from day one. It would be a satisfying blow to those investors who thought copying was the way to success.
Only when plagiarism was wiped out could good ideas appear, and the market return to a healthy cycle.
"You're not worried he might leak it?" Cynthia was sitting right beside William, reading his chat messages clearly.
William didn't even look up. "He won't."
"What if?"
Cynthia left it at that. She wasn't trying to go against William, just giving him a heads-up.
After watching a movie, William went back to his room and continued working on Happy Match Mania
He had finished creating all the block types the night before, so tonight's task was to build the "Big Tree" that appears in the game.
Even though the tree in the game looks like it goes on forever, it's actually just a small section. By staggering some branches, adding a few clouds, and throwing in a climbing animation, you can trick the eye.
Game art is also the art of illusion—it's where the developer's cleverness really shines, especially in places the player can't see. At the same time, this helps the game run smoothly. No matter how fun a game is, if it keeps lagging, people won't want to play.
William didn't have to worry about performance right now, but he treated it as practice—skills he would definitely need down the line.
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