novelraw Chapter 114: Joint Operation?
Chapter 114: Joint Operation?
Facing Si Jinliang’s expression, Tang Yao didn’t know what to say.
But she could understand, really.
After all, Dou Pai had been a failed project. For the former Mingyu Tech staff, the DEBUFF was just too strong.
“…I’ll assign someone to you later.”
Tang Yao hesitated for a moment. In the end, she didn’t directly appoint anyone but decided to discuss it again after things settled.
Si Jinliang nodded. His expression was still a little awkward, but he didn’t seem panicked—he had probably anticipated this outcome before coming here. “If there really isn’t anyone, I can still work on refactoring the game’s core framework alone… Of course, you’ll need to give me the design proposal first.”
“Yeah.”
Tang Yao nodded.
Very soon, Avalon Studio got busy, moving everything from the old studio space to the new external office.
Tang Yao didn’t take over the private office that had originally belonged to Si Jinliang. Right now, there just weren’t enough people—she was obviously going to be busy. Instead of running back and forth all the time, it was better to just sit with the team in the open office.
And when people saw that she wasn’t taking the private room and had instead chosen to sit out with everyone else, quite a few of them lit up—some even looked… happy? Who knew why.
After half a day of moving—
Finally, everyone in the studio had relocated. The former Mingyu Tech staff returned to their original desks...
Tang Yao settled into a spot near the Avalon Studio group.
Just as she finished plugging in her devices and was about to check the network—
Chu Yuxin walked over.
Seeing the girl with thick brows and a slightly dazed expression, Tang Yao asked curiously, “What’s up?”
Chu Yuxin looked at her and hesitated. “...Are you sure you want to take on Dou Pai?”
Hearing that, Tang Yao didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she glanced past Chu Yuxin and saw that quite a few former Mingyu Tech employees were watching them.
Clearly, Chu Yuxin was speaking on their behalf.
Tang Yao asked, “So… you’re all against it?”
“No, not against you.”
Chu Yuxin replied in a small voice, “We’re mostly worried that you’re getting tricked by Si Jinliang… If he’s just doing this out of obsession, or trying to prove something—and made this a condition to join—then honestly, you don’t need to agree to it. He’s not even worth the price of a computer, let alone a whole game…”
“He’s not tricking me.”
Tang Yao couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head. “I just really want to make a card game. He didn’t bring this up as a condition—I invited him.
Though I am surprised you’re thinking this way. Let me ask—do you want to prove yourselves?”
Chu Yuxin blinked.
Tang Yao tilted her head and asked, “Otherwise, why would you think this way? Why would you assume Si Jinliang is doing this to prove something and that he’s manipulating me?”
“……”
Facing Tang Yao’s clear, sincere gaze, Chu Yuxin stayed silent for a while, then stammered, “I guess… maybe it’s because he joined so suddenly?”
Tang Yao smiled. Now she got it.
Yeah, it made sense—it was a painful memory. They didn’t want to follow Si Jinliang again, but at the same time, they weren’t exactly willing to let go...
Their urge to warn her didn’t come from a lack of faith in Si Jinliang—but from a lack of faith in themselves.
Deep down, they wanted to prove something too.
But when faced with a choice they’d already failed at once, their instincts kicked in and told them to reject it.
“Feel better now?”
Tang Yao didn’t say any of that out loud—she wasn’t tactless. Instead, she simply reached out and gently patted Chu Yuxin’s shoulder. “Si Jinliang didn’t con me. I really want to make a card game. And the reason I chose Dou Pai is because you’re all already familiar with it. In my opinion, its gameplay, art, and several other elements are actually really solid.
Honestly? I’d even say it’s excellent. Not to brag, but I’ve done a lot of research into card games—I’m very confident I can bring this game that you all put your heart into back to life.
But if you’re worried, then don’t pay too much attention during the verification phase. Wait until the gameplay has been completely revamped… then try it yourselves and decide if you want to join.”
“……”
Chu Yuxin looked at Tang Yao’s beautiful face… and after a long pause, nodded gently.
…Excellent, huh?
As Tang Yao watched her walk away, returning to speak with the other ex-Mingyu Tech employees, she smiled quietly.
She had a hunch: after Dou Pai came back to life…
These folks might just become Avalon Studio’s most loyal team.
Of course—
It was too early to say that.
Before the game could be reborn—
She still needed to find some people for Si Jinliang...
Tang Yao glanced around, then walked straight over to Kang Ming.
Kang Ming’s trio were a bit of a special case in the studio—they had no connection to Mingyu Tech, so their desks were closer to Tang Yao’s side.
“Kang Ming, can you spare one person from your team for the second project?”
Tang Yao didn’t beat around the bush. “Si Jinliang is technical too, so just one person is enough. During the early phase, I’ll handle both the art and planning myself.”
…
In the end—
Shi Wanglin volunteered to join the second project.
He was pretty interested in card games, and he had a personality that got bored of things quickly. Now that FGO had entered a stable operation phase, he felt like it lacked challenge—so this was perfect timing.
He met with Si Jinliang, got a quick intro, and the two immediately started chatting and brainstorming.
Their desks were off to the side, completely detached from the FGO team.
Most likely, they’d stay that way for quite a while.
Tang Yao left them alone for now and went to find Yuan Yanbo, who was currently heading Avalon’s game operations.
“...Special event, limited Servant? End of Chapter 3: Global Crisis?”
Tang Yao updated him on the content for the next version and gave him a brief overview of the game’s current situation.
After reviewing the materials, Yuan Yanbo was visibly shocked: “That much content? You’re pushing all that right after open beta?”
“It’s not that much.”
Tang Yao shook her head. “Right now is when player interest is highest—they’re most excited about the game. We need to give them more content to consume, and fast. This was already decided pre-launch… So, how do you think we should promote it?”
“Promote…”
Yuan Yanbo fell into thought.
To be honest—
He was still adjusting. Back during Dou Pai, he was always thinking about how to extract money from players. Now suddenly he had to focus on promotion? Yeah, give him a second...
“I’ll draft up a proposal later.”
A few minutes later—
Yuan Yanbo snapped back into focus. “There’s so much content in this update, and with Christmas about to pass and Chinese New Year less than a month away, if we want to maximize the impact… then right now our exposure channels are still too limited. That needs to be fixed first. Maybe we could contact some anime-related forums… or anime websites…”
He seemed to spark with ideas all at once.
Tang Yao, hearing him mention anime websites, suddenly realized something and asked, “When you say anime websites… you mean AnimationFan? ANF?”
Yuan Yanbo came back to his senses and nodded. “Yeah, ANF. It’s a pretty small video platform. Nowhere near the size of mainstream sites, but they’ve got a solid base of core anime users. Feels like exactly our kind of audience.”
“Then do you think… there’s a chance we could jointly operate the game with them?”
“Huh???”