VIP Chapter 303: “Let’s create a heroine of our own!” (4k)
This was a memory from his “past life” that he had never recalled. After witnessing the original author, who actually didn’t care about their project, wasn’t passionate about their own work, and was more focused on how much money they could make…
He walked into the corridor outside the company’s office area, which exuded a decaying aura, and initially enjoyed the “melancholy” free time. Then, he put his glasses back on and sat in the conference room.
This meeting was about the “first limited character plan after launch.” It was indeed a very important meeting because, potentially, the only money the project would make was from this first limited gacha pool, and then it would shut down after about a year of operation.
As the lead designer and the future producer who was suddenly pulled in to take the blame, he naturally had to listen to everyone’s opinions.
Whether it was the IP adaptation lead, who was “extremely knowledgeable about the original work.”
“This character is very important. I think she should have a strong connection to the original work.”
Or the junior scriptwriter, who had “already planned several chapters of the main story.”
“But our game’s plot has already decided to cut ties with the original work for several chapters!”
Or the character designer, who “had their own ideas about the art style.”
“Changing the existing character designs is the best approach. After all, it’s just the first character, and the art style needs to be coordinated.”
…
They were discussing it seriously. Just like every meeting they had. Of course, for everyone, it was “work,” a “means of survival.” If it couldn’t sell well, their year-end bonuses would likely depend on this, and what could they tell the shareholders.
However…
“So, how about we directly have Miss Li Wei’qi appear in a new limited form?”
“That’s something the operations team planned. If we lose too many players later, we can use it to recover.”
“Besides, she’s everyone’s favorite Empress. Shouldn’t we build up the story first?”
“What about the next one, whose popularity is slightly lower?”
“Wouldn’t that make people think that all similar characters will become limited? Wouldn’t that cause anxiety?”
Perhaps it was because this team was newly formed, with many newcomers full of passion.
Perhaps it was because many people, especially the IP adaptation lead, truly loved the original work.
Perhaps it was because, no matter what, this was indeed “creative” work. It was a job where they gradually took the world seriously, treating what they were doing as something that existed.
He watched this scene silently, the sounds in his ears gradually becoming more like white noise. The more this was the case, the more he thought about the original author’s words of “just do it casually,” and the bosses who never cared about the game’s content… And the hurtful words the original author, through their liaison, had spoken: “Treat this as something unrelated to the original work”…
Perhaps their repeated efforts, just like his own persistent efforts, were meaningless.
“Will? Are you okay?”
“I feel like you’ve been spaced out since that meeting this morning.”
“This meeting is very important, you can’t fall asleep.”
Then, he suddenly noticed that at some point, the noisy discussion had fallen silent. Everyone at the conference table was looking at him.
“Oh my, isn’t it good for Brother Will, who always puts pressure on others, to space out a little?”
“Exactly! Besides, Brother Will just had a meeting with the original author today. Maybe he’s overloaded with exclusive intel from Ms. ██████.”
“Alright, then, Brother Will, with your exclusive intel, do you have any thoughts that could unify everyone’s opinions?”
He looked at each person sitting there again. Should he tell them what he heard in that meeting? Should he tell them that the original author didn’t care at all? If they knew, perhaps it would be better for them to invest a little less passion and energy, and just treat it as ordinary work…
“I… I think…”
Under the bright fluorescent lights, he saw the shining eyes of everyone looking at him.
“We…”
In his pale memories, their faces had blurred, and he couldn’t remember who they were now. But he remembered… In fact, everyone sitting here, influenced by him and by the senior who left midway, wanted to pour their passion into this money-grabbing garbage project…
“Let’s just…”
In this instant, he swallowed the pressure from above, his own pain in the corridor, and the original author’s disdain.
“Let’s create a heroine of our own!”
Then, he spoke this seemingly absurd, as if completely impossible to succeed, idea.
…
The meeting continued for a very long time after he said this. The only silence was for the five seconds after he uttered those words. It was as if, in the midst of the chaotic meeting, a strange but seemingly viable path to the destination had been pointed out. It was like dropping a bomb that could blow apart a calm water surface into the seemingly calm waves.
They were all babbling, truly considering it… An original heroine.
“Look, although Xiu is very popular, we’ve already set him as the player’s perspective. Suppose… I mean, if in this story, a character appears who is so similar to him, like a gender-bent version?”
“Whoa, isn’t that idea a bit too bold?”
“Brother Will said we need to create a ‘female’ protagonist!”
“Perhaps, it’s not impossible. In fact, there are quite a few players who wish for his gender-bent version.”
“For example, someone who is very similar to Xiu in every way, but not as obsessively cautious as him, daring, bold, and cheerful?”
“…I’m getting a little excited. I think I can draw it today.”
“See? The art team understands me.”
“I’m convinced by you all. But… I think the best way to introduce this… limited character is to make it so that everyone can tell she’s Xiu’s gender-bent version, but we don’t tell the players in any of the promotional materials.”
“Wow, you’re too wicked! You’re just tricking players into guessing, aren’t you?”
“It’s not impossible. Art team, if it’s like this, we have to choose one of Xiu’s most iconic poses for the card art—”
“…Um, how about that scene where he held a knife to Li Wei’qi’s neck while hesitating, and another knife to his own neck?”
“You’re a genius!”
“Yeah, just switch the main perspective to the player.”
After saying all this, he leaned back in his chair, propped his head in his hands, and listened to their discussion as if resting. Although… even he found this decision extremely strange, and even believed it would never succeed, but… seeing everyone pouring their passion into it without reservation… He had no regrets for swallowing the original author’s awful, disdainful, and damned remarks and proposing this idea for them to freely express themselves. He was now willing to forget that damned meeting. He would treat it as a valued project, a valued world, and valued characters… If… If possible… Until the day he died, he would carry the words he heard in the meeting this morning to his grave. To bear all the negativity and pressure for everyone… was something he had to do.
…
The chaotic memories instantly jumped to his workstation late in the evening – it should have been two or three days after that meeting. Their office was on the 20th floor, and from his desk, he could easily see the lights of the office buildings outside gradually dimming from bright to off. Then… *click*. The once warm office plunged into darkness. When the security guard left, he turned off the lights on their floor as well. When the security guard checked, he usually had trouble seeing him tucked away in the corner, so he just turned off the lights as he passed. This was commonplace for him, who frequently worked overtime in the office.
He didn’t get up, just used the light from his screen and the screens of those around him who hadn’t turned theirs off. He picked up his mug and took a shallow sip of the remaining strong coffee. Although drinking coffee late at night seemed strange, for him, even the strongest coffee could no longer keep him awake. He sighed. The closer it got to launch… the more things seemed to pile up… The more impossible it became to finish… Not only were there many, many things waiting for his review, but there were also many forms to fill out, and many requests to complete one by one… It seemed like even his own strict sleep schedule had been neglected for a long time. In the morning, after washing his face, he didn’t even dare to look in the mirror for too long, because the dark circles under his eyes were too severe. It’s fine… It’s all worth it… By the time of launch… Everyone would be surprised by what they had created, right?
Exhausted to the point where even coffee couldn’t perk him up, in the darkened office, he didn’t even turn on the lights. Staring at the screen, his vision gradually narrowed and dimmed, slowly sinking… Then, he heard the sound of Enterprise WeChat ringing. He wobbled his eyes open and saw that the profile picture seemed to be the artist responsible for the “heroine’s” design. She was also someone who habitually worked late, sometimes working for two consecutive days and then sleeping for two. Receiving something from her at this time didn’t surprise him at all.
Then, he saw the three-view drawing. Black long hair, black eyes, wearing stylish shorts, a denim jacket draped over her shoulders, laughing wildly. At first glance, he would indeed think of Xiu, but the more he looked, the less he seemed like him, and more like a brand new beautiful girl. *Thump*. His heart seemed to beat violently.
—Do you look forward to a heroine…
—She is a strong and mysterious heroine.
—She is a heroine born for you!
On the three-view drawing, as if for reference, those words were attached. These were the words that everyone unanimously agreed upon for the new character definition after the meeting.
*Thump thump*.
[Brother Will, I’m too excited! I rushed the drafts for three days and have completed the full character design and a sketch of the card art. I’m going to sleep now. I’ll refine it slowly later w]
[By the way, her name hasn’t been decided yet. Brother Will, why don’t you come up with one? If you don’t, we will!]
After reading this, he continued to scroll down with his mouse wheel.
*Thump thump thump*.
In the darkened office, on the only luminous screen in the darkness, in that chat window… She was in the screen…
*Thump thump thump thump*.
Holding a dagger to his neck, with flickering firelight.
Holding a dagger to her own neck, drawing a bloodline.
*Thump thump thump thump thump*.
Looking up along the curve of her décolletage, her determined expression lacked Xiu’s coldness. Instead, there was a look of relying on you as the sole support in her world, tears rolling down the corners of her eyes, and a confident smile that seemed to be putting on a brave face.
*Thump thump thump thump thump thump*.
Uncolored, but the few strokes of dark hair conveyed a sense of a cool, dark-haired beauty.
*Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump*.
—Do you look forward to a heroine…
—She is a strong and mysterious heroine.
—She is a heroine born for you!
Although there was no preceding story, no reason, and no accompanying voice lines or dialogue, at this moment, in Will’s mind, these words appeared.
*Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump*.
She… she seems feasible. She looks like… like a heroine everyone would like…
“Hoo… Hoo… Hoo…”
He felt his heart rate was off – he looked at his wrist, only to remember that he had bought a heart rate monitor for fear of sudden death. It had arrived yesterday, but he hadn’t had time to pick it up from the courier station…
*Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump*.
“No… I feel… a sharp pain…”
He could no longer feel the intense heartbeat; instead, pain had replaced it. This… This must be retribution. No matter how confident he was in his body, there would always be times when he miscalculated. In this deserted place, perhaps tomorrow they would find his stiff corpse.
“He… Heroine…”
But as he slowly slumped onto the desk, he opened his eyes slightly and looked at the screen again.
“Heroine.”
She’s so beautiful… He wanted to see the surprise on everyone’s faces when this card art was revealed…
“Heroine!”
Just like the black screen when a computer shuts down, his consciousness and vision plunged into darkness at that moment. But the afterimage of that picture remained… And now… It was being re-colored, re-rendered, and… Appearing before him in its true form.
“Four.”
He woke up from the series of memories being poured into him. He remembered! The memory of how he died, which he had been forgetting, he finally remembered… The last thing he saw before he died, if he thought about it carefully, the scene related to his death…
“Three.”
Shuna, holding a knife, continued the countdown in the same pose as the last scene he saw before he died. It was the heroine who was now forcing him to die with her, who was supposed to only appear in their game that the original author ignored!
