novelraw Chapter 105: A Sad Story
Chapter 105: A Sad Story
“Huh?!”
Si Jinliang’s voice rang out loudly,but the first ones to react were actually the people in Mingyu Tech’s operations team.
These were the folks in charge of keeping Mingyu’s soon-to-be-shutdown game on life support…Although this had little to do with Si Jinliang himself, and everything to do with the investors behind Mingyu Tech.
The capital side wanted to wring every last drop of value out of the remaining players of Dou Pai,and then funnel those players into other games under their investment portfolio.
Of course, not games made by Mingyu Tech—but ones backed by the same investors.
Truth be told, Si Jinliang might’ve failed,but Dou Pai still had a decent player base.The problem was—it just wasn’t profitable.
Once the investors pulled out, the whole thing collapsed.
So when Tang Yao noticed fewer and fewer people in Mingyu Tech’s operations team—she wasn’t imagining it.It really was shrinking.
Because the investors had taken over operations,and they were footing the salary bill.Once the last drops of value were squeezed out, and the environment became increasingly toxic,most of the remaining players either quit or turned bitter—or rather, furiously resentful.Not long ago, all the devs had been pulled.The game stopped getting updates or bug fixes.Then just recently, they shut down the recharge function and most login portals.
And yesterday—the shutdown notice went out.
The moment that notice was released,everything was settled.
The operations team had already been told—they were done.The game was officially ending service, and the servers would be shutting down.
“Boss—wait, no, Bro Liang, what’s wrong?”
The current de facto head of the operations group, Yuan Yanbo, stood up, puzzled.He walked over to Si Jinliang, who had just glitched out for ages and now suddenly snapped back with a loud shout.
“What happened?!”
Si Jinliang whipped around, pointing at Avalon Studio in shock:
“Tang Yao just said… Fate/Grand Order was made by them?!”
“……”
Hearing that, Yuan Yanbo went quiet.His expression grew complicated as he looked at Si Jinliang.
The rest of the operations group wasn’t doing much better—their expressions were also… layered.
Huh?
“Bro Liang… they’ve been moved in for ages.You didn’t know what they were working on?”
After a long pause,Yuan Yanbo finally spoke, slowly:
“You never talked with Yuxin and the others?Even if you didn’t—You knew about Fate/Grand Order.Didn’t you see the logo before launch?It was in those PVs, right?Their studio name is literally taped on the door…”
Si Jinliang racked his memory—He did vaguely recall the logo…But all he remembered was a giant “Aniplex” and a little boat beneath it, with some distorted letters or something?
“But their company name…”
As he thought of this,his eyes slowly widened.He pointed at the A4 paper taped near the door with “理想乡” (Ideal Land) printed on it—
And then he froze.He finally made the connection.
Yuan Yanbo’s expression grew even more complicated:
“You’ve read the manga, haven’t you?In Fate/Zero, the sheath of Excalibur—‘Avalon, the Distant Utopia’—That’s where the studio name comes from.
“And did you really think we all looked at Tang Yao whenever she walked past just because she’s beautiful?”
Si Jinliang instinctively replied:
“Wait… it wasn’t because of that?”
“Ahem…”
Yuan Yanbo choked on that and coughed awkwardly:
“Mainly it’s because of their game…We all participated in their first round of testing.Didn’t they invite you too?”
That early test for Fate/Grand Order had included close acquaintances of Tang Yao and a bunch of Mingyu Tech folks brought in by Chu Yuxin.
“……”
Si Jinliang opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.
Because… Tang Yao had invited him.But he had refused—instinctively, because he didn’t want to relive his past trauma.
He hadn’t just avoided Chu Yuxin and the others who’d “defected”—He could barely even hold a conversation with Yuan Yanbo these past months.
This conversation alone was already one of the rare few they’d had in two whole months.
During that time,he’d locked himself in his office, day after day.
Yuan Yanbo looked at him,already guessing the truth, and sighed.
This poor bastard…
But he understood.
After all, they were just here to wring out the last drops of value from the game—not to improve it.
They weren’t helping a struggling title survive.They were here to dismantle it.
And no matter what people thought of Dou Pai,to Si Jinliang, it was his life’s work—his baby.
Now that baby was being “plastic-surgeried,” humiliated, and torn to pieces right in front of him.And the ones doing it were the “relatives” who had helped raise it in the first place.
Of course it hurt like hell.
And to be honest—he had blood on his hands too.
Right up until last week,Si Jinliang had still been maintaining the game…Many of the monetization schemes that squeezed the remaining player base dry—had been implemented by him.
But all of that ended with the shutdown announcement.
Mingyu Tech had reached its end—and now stood in sharp contrast to the rising star that was Avalon Studio.
“They really are something else…”
Yuan Yanbo looked toward Avalon’s side of the building and sighed wistfully.
Back at the start, he’d been like Si Jinliang—he didn’t think much of them.Figured it wouldn’t end well.
But the moment he played the beta test—his opinion changed.
Reality proved him right.The game’s official release was a hit.And now it was even on the verge of breaking out of the niche.He didn’t know exact revenue figures,but he had quietly asked around their own ops team…
Turns out—everyone had spent money in the game.
And that said it all.
Same location.Practically the same staff—aside from Kang Ming’s trio.Everyone in Avalon used to work at Mingyu Tech.
And yet their outcomes couldn’t be more different.
Why?
The answer was obvious.
The boss changed.
Meanwhile, Si Jinliang had realized it too.
That studio right next to him,
the one he thought would crash and burn like he did,was actually the team behind Fate/Grand Order—that runaway hit?They’d succeeded…?
And all those things he’d said before,those dramatic warnings he gave Tang Yao just now—
They seemed ridiculous in hindsight.
He stood there frozen.And after finally accepting the truth,he gave a weak smile.
What an arrogant fool I’ve been…
Same staff.Same foundations.But totally different fates.
Why?
It wasn’t the market.Or the platform.Or even the game genre.
It was the boss.
If it had been him,would he have dared to throw down major cash in that climate?Would he have stuck with it when manga readers mocked the idea?
No chance.
But their boss…
He thought of that brilliant, graceful girl.Thought of her smile when she dismissed his earlier advice.Thought of his own words from just now—
He felt utterly embarrassed.Gave a bitter laugh.
Then silently waved a hand at Yuan Yanbo and turned,walking back toward his office—the place that was both his home and his workplace.
Yuan Yanbo watched him go, shaking his head.Then turned to look toward Avalon Studio again.
If I’d known… I should’ve jumped ship too.
Elsewhere.
Very soon—Si Jinliang returned to his office, sat down at his chaotic desk,stared at the wreckage that was his own game on the screen,then at Fate/Grand Order on his phone…
And slowly covered his face with both hands.
Same people…
Why did my game end up like this?
I really am trash…
Meanwhile, at Avalon Studio—
Tang Yao had been deep in thought until Si Jinliang’s piercing scream snapped her out of it.
She tucked a lock of her warm, softly cascading hair behind her ear and pushed aside her thoughts about operations for now.
Si Jinliang’s scream… reminded her of Kang Ming’s suggestion just earlier—
Buying out Mingyu Tech.
At this point, the company had been completely squeezed dry.The equipment was already theirs.The people had already moved.And Avalon was about to have plenty of cash flow.
There was no need to keep scraping the same sheep for wool.
But something Kang Ming said earlier stuck with her—Mingyu Tech’s game.