Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 133: Lin Shuang’s About to Get Screwed…

“…This company feels like it has no future.”

As the thoughts swirled in his mind,the young staffer couldn’t help but mutter quietly. Then he slowly sat back down,his eyes falling on the ANF video site on his screen—the wall-to-wall promotions for FGO’s new version made him shake his head again.

The timing of the beta launch was totally wrong.Did Sheng Zhi not pay any attention to what FGO was doing?

Launching a closed beta right when your competitor is releasing a major update?That’s basically suicide.

And look at how beautifully the other side handled things…They acquired ANF, a platform that was already packed with their target audience.They used the site’s own strengths to roll out event after event,merging site users and game players into one community.

Now you think you can just drop a bunch of ads and steal their players?Use ad bombing to fight a content ecosystem?

Keep dreaming!

And that game’s quality… ugh.

There was still a chance to salvage it—if they had focused all their ad resources on ANF,even if the game was subpar, they could have ridden the wave of Avalon Studio’s current momentum in promoting second-dimension games and scraped together some traffic.

At least that way, they’d be targeting the right audience. It’s just beta testing anyway. If issues popped up, they could fix them gradually.Leech off FGO’s success, claim to be the “second big second-dimension game,” maybe they’d survive.

But just now, Sheng Zhi didn’t even let him finish his sentence…

This is no good.

What kind of “famous producer” is this? All bark, no bite.Joining this company because of his so-called reputation was a huge mistake.The guy doesn’t know sh*t…At this rate, their game’s doomed. Might as well see if he can get a job at Avalon Studio.

A spark lit up in the young staffer’s eyes.He looked at the booming ANF website and couldn’t help pulling up a search engine—and started looking for resignation letter templates.

Meanwhile,

Sheng Zhi had no idea what the young man was thinking.Of course, he also didn’t realize anything was wrong with how he was doing things.

If he actually cared about players,he wouldn’t have said “What the f**k do players know about games” and started flaming them back then.

“Arrogant little sh*t.”

After sitting back down, Sheng Zhi glanced at the young staffer who’d tried to offer feedback,his face sour as he muttered under his breath.

He made up his mind—he’d find a chance to fire the guy.

Just then,

Lin Shuang called.

When it came to this investor, Sheng Zhi was still quite deferential.After all, she was someone on his level—or even above.

“Hello?”

“How’s it going?”

Lin Shuang’s voice came through.Even though post-investment management was usually handled by the fund’s internal team,sometimes she checked in personally, likely because she still cared about the project.

Sheng Zhi: “All good. The game just officially entered closed beta.”

“I know.”

Lin Shuang acknowledged, since she had personally approved the beta launch decision.

After funding them,her firm had helped Sheng Zhi’s company build everything from the ground up, step by step.

So what she wanted to ask wasn’t that.

“I want to know how confident you are in this game. The on-site COO says the product doesn’t have a clear advantage compared to the competition. Yet you still insisted on launching the beta during the competitor’s version update period. That’s not a wise move. And your ad ROI has consistently underperformed the industry benchmark…”

“That’s because he doesn’t understand games—or the gaming market.”

Sheng Zhi’s tone surged with confidence as he cut in:“Let me be blunt. FGO just got lucky—caught a blue ocean moment. Right now, what matters most is speed. As long as we move fast and grab the window of opportunity, I guarantee this game won’t flop.

As for your point about launching the beta during their version update—that was intentional. They don’t get game marketing! They don’t understand the importance of heavy advertising!

Have you seen any FGO ads on mainstream platforms recently?

Nope.

They’re just riding on dumb luck.If we get ahead of them in timing, our game could even overtake them.Trust me. I’ll send you the data soon and you’ll see.I won’t vouch for other things, but when it comes to games, I’m 100% confident.

I’ve completely figured out FGO! No problem at all. Just relax.”

“……”

Lin Shuang fell silent.

Something didn’t feel right.She couldn’t quite say what it was, but something felt off…She had the sense she was forgetting something—something Tang Yao had said to her during one of their meetings.

But then she thought of that little girl sitting beside her cousin—and compared it to Sheng Zhi’s mature and steady face—and pushed away the faint irritation and unease rising in her chest.

At the end of the day,

A professional producer surely knows more about games than a girl who looks like a high school student, right?

And when it comes to game marketing, big-budget advertising has always been the norm…

“I understand. I’m looking forward to your good news.”

Thinking that, Lin Shuang chose not to press further—opting to believe in the founder’s professional judgment.

The two of them exchanged a few pleasantries and hung up.

Sheng Zhi set down his phone and smirked.

Ad campaigns had always been the most important part of game promotion.

What do you think the fund’s money is for?It’s to burn through cash and crush the competition!

Meanwhile,

Lin Shuang also set her phone down, but she still didn’t feel at ease.

Something still felt off.

She tried to recall what Tang Yao had said to her back then—and that project proposal she had handed over.

But it had been a while. Plus, she had brushed it off at the time.

Now, she just couldn’t remember the details.

She vaguely recalled Tang Yao saying something about how second-dimension games attract users—and the logic behind it was pretty solid…

…That’s right.

What’s going on with FGO these days?

Lin Shuang realized she hadn’t followed up on FGO in quite a while.

Mostly because she was swamped—she was a senior partner at the fund, after all.And more importantly,every time she asked, Sheng Zhi was brimming with confidence, saying he had “completely figured out” FGO.

In his mouth, FGO was just a crumbling old shack.Once his game launched, all it would take was one kick and it would come crashing down.

Combined with her inner frustration and unwillingness to dwell on past regrets,she’d just stopped paying attention.

She only vaguely remembered hearing that FGO was launching a new version soon?

That thought stirred something in her.She opened her browser and searched for news about Avalon Studio.

And the moment the search results appeared—just reading the first headline made her freeze.

“…Invested in ANF Video Platform?”

Wait a second.

That site…

Why does it sound so familiar…

Lin Shuang sat frozen in her chair,a growing unease tightening in her chest.She gripped her mouse, her knuckles turning white,and clicked into the ANF video site.

And right on the homepage—

She saw ANF’s brand-new banner ad:

[Use your Command Seal to awaken my Magic Crest — Rin Tohsaka × ANF Special Event.]

Lin Shuang stared at the ad,eyes widening at the slogan printed on it.

In that moment,

She finally remembered.

That line in the proposal Tang Yao had once handed her—about how to attract users to second-dimension games—

There had been a sentence in it:

“Marketing a second-dimension game is a cognitive revolution built around emotional bonds.”