Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 147: New Year’s Day

Since coming to Avalon,Li Xue had been constantly worried she might mess things up.

It had nothing to do with self-confidence.

On the contrary, stepping into a role she'd never touched before, in a completely unfamiliar field—blind confidence would’ve been worse.

Did she love the job? Not particularly.

What really drove her was Tang Yao’s trust.

And that trust… came with pressure.

Tang Yao never hesitated to give her key tasks—Even left major decisions up to her.

“By the way,”Tang Yao noticed Li Xue had fallen silent. She seemed to realize something and suddenly stretched out her fair hand.“…Give me your hand.”

“Huh?”Li Xue blinked, surprised—but obediently placed her hand in Tang Yao’s.

Tang Yao’s slender fingers closed around hers and gently tightened.Then she said,“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”Li Xue froze for a second.

“...Skills can be learned. No one’s born knowing everything. Anyone can mess up—me included. So don’t stress. Just follow your instincts. Experience builds over time.

“Don’t be fooled by how I look—I can still catch you if you fall.”

She smiled warmly.

“The reason I invited you wasn’t because you had tons of experience or perfect skills.

“It’s because I trust you.

“And with your talent, I believe that, given time, you’ll do even better than me.”

Her voice was soft but firm—like a ray of sun on a winter’s day.

Li Xue felt Tang Yao’s warmth and strength through her palm.And just like that, the invisible weight on her heart… began to melt away.

She lowered her head, staring at their clasped hands, and muttered, “And you still call that a revenge story…”

…She was practically being romanced here.Where’s the revenge supposed to go?

In her whole life, Li Xue had never been treated this way.Not even her own mother had done this much for her.

“What?”Tang Yao looked puzzled.

Li Xue didn’t answer. She just shook her head and said seriously,“Don’t use our story as a template for that rebirth-revenge stuff.”

“Why not? It’s perfect material.”

“No way! You can’t tarnish my important memories.”

“Important?”

“It just is! Don’t ask why.”

“...Alright, alright.”Tang Yao gave in with a smile, swinging their clasped hands slightly.“Guess I’ll use a different example.”

Li Xue felt that slightly childish gesture, looked into her clear eyes, hesitated, then asked softly,“So… do you have plans for tomorrow? For New Year’s?”

“Looking at apartments.”

Tang Yao paused mid-motion, her relaxed expression faltering.“I promised my sister. The place we live now is too far—the commute wastes too much time.”

Honestly, she didn’t want to go out.But this couldn’t be put off any longer.

Li Xue lowered her lashes. “I see…”

“Yeah… wait a sec.”

Something occurred to Tang Yao. She gripped Li Xue’s hand tighter.

“Li Xue, which complex do you live in again?”

“Me?”Li Xue blinked, and suddenly her eyes lit up.But just as she was about to answer—

Someone approached and called Tang Yao’s name.

Their conversation paused.

Tang Yao looked up.It was Si Jinliang.

She blinked, puzzled. “What is it?”

“…”He didn’t speak right away. When he got close and saw the two of them holding hands,His expression turned weird.

Was this seriously an investor–founder relationship?

They seemed… a little too close?

He thought back to his own nightmare experiences with investors—nothing but conflict—and grimaced.

Tang Yao followed his gaze and noticed their linked hands.She instinctively thought to let go—

But then caught herself.

Wait.She’s a girl.Why would she be embarrassed?

So not only did she not let go,She tightened her grip, tilted her chin slightly, and gave Si Jinliang a smug little look like,Jealous?

Si Jinliang: “…”

Li Xue suddenly giggled.

But soon,Tang Yao saw his face and remembered—what was she even showing off for?

It was almost time to clock out.With everything at Avalon going smoothly and the holiday right around the corner,The atmosphere in the office was light and relaxed.

Tang Yao’s mood relaxed too.

She cleared her throat and got a bit more serious.“So, what did you want?”

Si Jinliang snapped out of it. “I want to stay and work over New Year’s.”

“You want to stay?”Tang Yao blinked.

After all that hard work…Someone actually wanted to work through the holiday?

“Yeah.”He nodded. “I can’t wait. Shi Wanglin will stay too. We want to test the gameplay ASAP.”

“Alright then.”Tang Yao saw that he was serious.“Thanks for the extra effort.”

“No—It’s not effort at all.”Si Jinliang shook his head. “If Dou Pai really has a chance at revival… it’ll all be worth it.”

Tang Yao studied his expression. Seeing his sincerity, she smiled.“Then have fun… but after New Year’s, the project has to move forward regardless. No need to rush.”

“Exactly because it’s about to move forward—I want to test it.”

“Don’t trust me?”

“Not like that. I just… want peace of mind. I want to be able to face my old Mingyu Tech teammates without regret.”

“Got it.”Tang Yao nodded. “Stay if you want—your pay won’t change.”

“Mm.”

Then, hesitating a bit, Si Jinliang said,“But I’ll evaluate your decks and simplified rules very critically…”

“Go ahead.”Tang Yao answered casually.

Satisfied, Si Jinliang gave the two of them one last glance—hesitated again—but didn’t say anything more, and turned to leave.

Once he was gone,Li Xue couldn’t hold in her laughter. “That face of yours just now—so smug. Like you were claiming me.”

“Was I?”Tang Yao blinked innocently. “Don’t think so.”

Then, like she was deliberately changing the subject—“So, where do you live again?”

Li Xue glanced at Tang Yao’s reddening ears and smiled. “Tianhe City, on Yonghe Road.”

“How’s it feel living there?”

“Pretty great.”Li Xue nodded. “Security and environment are excellent. I live alone, so I was really picky when I chose.”

Tang Yao was tempted. “Then I’ll check it out tomorrow with my sister… Living nearby would be convenient.”

“Right. We could walk home together.”Li Xue nodded. “And if I get back early, I could cook for you...”

“Okay, what kind of wife are you being right now?”Tang Yao laughed. But truthfully… she was touched.

The next day—New Year’s Day.

Tang Yao went apartment hunting with her sister.

Meanwhile, at Avalon Studio—Si Jinliang and Shi Wanglin finished setting up their test rig.

Crude, barebones—Limited manpower meant they couldn’t make major changes.

But both were intrigued by the two decks Tang Yao had designed.

So they tweaked the old Dou Pai engine and hacked together a basic test environment.

Soon,They sat down to play.

Si Jinliang picked Control Warrior.Shi Wanglin went with Zoo.

Two classic decks from Hearthstone’s golden days.

Zoo exploded onto the board fast.Control Warrior… spent the whole early game getting pummeled.

Shield vs. Spear.Two decks with totally opposite playstyles.

But the match… was surprisingly fun.

Even while getting beat down,Every trade, every turn for Control Warrior required careful thought.Predicting cards, calculating odds, reading the board—it was all there.

Zoo, on the other hand, wasn’t just “face go brrr.”Shi Wanglin quickly realized—winning meant managing tempo, not blindly attacking.Trading smartly, sequencing properly, controlling the pace—it was intense.

Though neither of them fully grasped the new system yet,They played seriously—And both were surprised.

Si Jinliang had worried most about the “defense = boring” problem.But in-game, the constant counterplay and comeback tension was deeply strategic.

Shi Wanglin was amazed that aggro still required real skill—Not just mindless clicks.

By the end of the match,They both let out long sighs of satisfaction.

“Another round?”Shi Wanglin looked up, eyes shining with excitement.

“Absolutely!”Si Jinliang grinned. “I want to try aggro this time!”

He was pumped.

He knew TCGs.And he knew the three mountains looming over the genre:

– Complex rules– High strategy barrier– Expensive cost to play

That’s why TCGs were both the pinnacle of brainpower battlesAnd the most dangerous monetization challenge.

The eternal struggle was keeping hardcore depthWhile lowering the entry barrier.

But if a game could actually solve that—

Keep strategy, be fun, AND stay accessible—

Forget everything else—

It’d be a guaranteed moneymaker.