22: Chapter 22 May lovers see each other's true colors on Qixi Festival

3:00 PM.

Silver Horn Studio's new office area.

The sound of typing filled the air. Five artists were struggling with insect sketches on their screens, while three programmers were gathered around a whiteboard discussing physics and gravity parameters.

The sound of high heels echoed from outside the door.

Song Yan walked quickly into Ye Fei's private office with a schedule in hand.

"Brother Fei, the interview team from First Game Daily has arrived. The security guards downstairs just let them through."

Ye Fei looked up from his screen.

First Game Daily was the largest vertical gaming media in the Xinglan Federation, holding tens of millions of active users. This exclusive interview was arranged by Kahn, the head of the Xinghai Steam Platform in the Huaguo region, aimed at further expanding the influence of Silver Horn Studio.

"Let them come straight in. No need to go over the script beforehand; we'll start broadcasting directly," Ye Fei said.

Song Yan nodded and turned to go welcome them.

At the entrance of the office area.

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke adjusted the collar of her professional suit in front of the camera. She held a microphone bearing the First Game Daily logo, a professional smile on her face.

"Good afternoon, viewers. We are live on the scene with First Game Daily. We are currently at the location that has recently exploded across the internet and created a sales miracle: Silver Horn Studio."

The popularity of the live stream soared instantly, and the chat was flooded with comments.

[Finally get to see a live Ye Fei!]

[Two consecutive masterpieces that tortured everyone to the brink of insanity—this developer must be an old uncle!]

[To make a game like "This War of Mine", this guy must have been through some major storms.]

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke glanced at the chat feedback and walked through the main door with the cameraman.

Before her was an open space of three hundred square meters. There was no luxurious decor typical of large companies; all funds had been poured into top-tier computer equipment and ergonomic chairs.

The employees were fully focused, not a single one looking up at the camera.

Song Yan stepped forward and led Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke toward the fully transparent private office at the very back.

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke turned her head, her gaze passing through the glass door and landing on the person behind the desk.

Her footsteps faltered slightly.

Ye Fei was wearing a pure black cotton T-shirt, his hair neat, and his facial features well-defined. He was leaning back in his chair, twirling a black signature pen in his hand, his eyes fixed on the computer screen.

Too young.

The opening lines Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke had prepared were stuck in her throat. She had expected Ye Fei to be a disheveled tech geek or a scheming middle-aged man. The person before her, looking like a college student who had just graduated, really couldn't be associated with those game mechanics that interrogated human nature.

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke quickly adjusted her state, pushed the door open, and walked in, extending her right hand.

"Mr. Ye, I've long admired you. I am Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke from First Game Daily."

Ye Fei stood up, reached out, and shook her fingertips, letting go instantly.

"Sit," Ye Fei said, gesturing to the sofa opposite him.

The camera was set up, and the red light turned on. The number of concurrent viewers in the live stream broke three million instantly.

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke took a tablet and glanced at the user questions collected on it. She decided to break the ice with a relaxed topic.

"Mr. Ye, your appearance has come as a great surprise to the viewers in the live stream. Everyone is spamming the chat, saying you have more of the aura of an idol star," Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke said, cutting to the chase. "Many netizens are curious: you are now worth over a hundred million, and the studio has expanded its scale, so why not hire a female secretary? That's a standard feature for other bosses."

This question carried a bit of teasing and was also the kind of gossip netizens loved to see.

Ye Fei stopped twirling his pen and looked at the camera.

"Women will only slow down the speed at which I draw my sword."

As soon as he finished speaking, the chat in the live stream stalled for a second, then completely exploded.

[Holy crap, he's too wild!]

[The speed of drawing his sword? What kind of chuunibyou line is that, but I actually think it's cool!]

[Confirmed, Ye Fei is a lifelong solo straight man. No wonder he makes games so ruthlessly!]

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke was also stunned. She had interviewed countless business moguls; those people usually played tai chi when faced with such questions, talking about corporate culture. Ye Fei's answer, which completely ignored the script, blocked the topic right there.

"Mr. Ye is truly humorous," Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke said with a dry laugh, quickly switching to a professional field. ""dead cells" and "This War of Mine" have achieved unprecedented success. The outside world is very concerned about Silver Horn Studio's next move. You mentioned 'drawing your sword' just now—is that implying the next game is an action game?"

Ye Fei nodded.

"We are developing a brand new 2D side-scrolling action game."

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke followed up: "What is the scale? How long will the development cycle take?"

"The scale is three times larger than "dead cells". The development cycle is three months," Ye Fei said in a flat tone.

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke frowned. Three months to make a game three times the size? This wasn't confidence anymore; it was arrogance.

"Mr. Ye, isn't the schedule too rushed? Players have extremely high expectations for Silver Horn now; once there's a drop in quality, the backlash will be very severe."

"This is not Silver Horn's ultimate goal," Ye Fei said, crossing his hands on the desk. "This action game is just a transition. Before the middle of next year, Silver Horn Studio will launch its first true 3A masterpiece."

As soon as this sentence came out, Song Yan, who was pouring water outside the office area, shook his hand, and hot water spilled directly onto the back of his hand.

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke widened her eyes, even forgetting to look at the camera.

"3A masterpiece? Middle of next year?" Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke's voice rose an octave. "Mr. Ye, do you know that the development cycle for 3A games is usually three to five years? The capital investment is often hundreds of millions of star coins. Antarctic Star Interactive Entertainment took two years just to bring out "dawn of war". You're saying you'll release a 3A game by the middle of next year?"

In her heart, she labeled Ye Fei as an amateur.

Only someone who completely didn't understand the industrialization process of large-scale games would say such big words.

Ye Fei looked at her, having no intention of explaining.

"The gaming market of the Xinglan Federation has been dominated by skin-changing factories like Antarctic Star for too long. Players spend 3A money to play assembly-line garbage that forces microtransactions," Ye Fei said, his tone calm but revealing a sense of absolute control. "Capital is not the problem, and technology is even less of a problem. The Xinglan Federation needs a 3A game of its own; Antarctic Star can't make it, so I will."

The chat was boiling.

[He's crazy! Ye Fei has definitely gotten ahead of himself!]

[Make a 3A in a year? How are you going to do that, with your head?]

[Daring to publicly name and call Antarctic Star garbage, Ye Fei is really not afraid of being blacklisted by the industry!]

[Although he made two masterpieces, a 3A is not an indie game; this is a contest of industrial strength. Sitting and waiting for the car crash.]

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke took a deep breath to calm her emotions. She knew this news bombshell was enough to complete today's KPI. But she didn't want to let Ye Fei off so easily; as a professional media person, she wanted to get more interesting interactions.

"Mr. Ye's courage is admirable. We look forward to the miracle in the middle of next year," Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke said, glancing at the backup questions on her tablet. "However, that is a matter for next year after all. The Qixi Festival in August is coming up soon. Many players have posted on the forums saying that "This War of Mine" tortured them so badly that many couples fought because of the moral choices in the game."

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke stared into Ye Fei's eyes.

"They entrusted me to pass a message to you. Since you said you want to fill the market gap, can you make a special Valentine's Day game before the Qixi Festival? It doesn't need to be a large scale, just something that allows couples to play together and improve their relationship. Do you dare to accept this challenge?"

This was an obvious difficulty.

There was only a little over a month until Qixi. The mechanism design of a co-op game is extremely demanding on numerical balance and level interaction. Ye Fei currently had a massive action game project on his hands and simply couldn't spare the time.

Outside the glass door, Song Yan was frantically signaling to Ye Fei to refuse.

Ye Fei leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping gently on the desk.

Two-player game. Improve relationships.

A name surfaced in his mind.

An absolute masterpiece hailed as a "breakup simulator" in his past life.

Ye Fei sat up straight and looked at the camera.

"I can accept it."

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke raised her eyebrows in surprise: "You accepted?"

"Qixi is a traditional festival. Silver Horn Studio should send a blessing," Ye Fei said, picking up a marker, writing four characters on a piece of white paper on the desk, and pushing it toward the camera.

"overcooked".

"This is a simulation management game focusing on two-player cooperation," Ye Fei started to introduce. "Two players need to work together in a kitchen to complete the process of cutting vegetables, cooking, plating, and washing dishes."

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke looked at the four characters and imagined the scene.

"It sounds very warm. Couples cooking together is indeed a good idea to improve their relationship."

"Yes," Ye Fei said, his expression unchanged. "The game scenes will be very rich. There are hot air balloon kitchens, glacier kitchens, and even levels where you cook on two high-speed trucks. We need to test the players' tacit cooperation."

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke laughed.

"It seems Mr. Ye is still a romantic at heart. I believe this "overcooked" will definitely become the most popular gift for this year's Qixi Festival."

The chat in the live stream also became harmonious.

[This painting style changed too fast, right?]

[One moment starving in the ruins, the next moment cooking on a hot air balloon?]

[Finally a game I can play with my girlfriend! Thanks, Ye Fei!]

[Boss Ye still has a conscience, knowing to compensate us.]

Ye Fei looked at those comments and stood up.

"This game doesn't need a very long development cycle. I will arrange a small team to work overtime to produce it and launch it on the Xinghai Steam Platform three days before Qixi."

He looked at the camera, his tone sincere.

"On this special holiday, Silver Horn Studio wishes all lovers in the world a happy ending in advance."

The interview ended in an extremely harmonious atmosphere.

Editor-in-Chief Shen Keke left with her team. She was very satisfied with this interview, having obtained the wild statement of "releasing a 3A next year" and the exclusive promise of a "Qixi special game." Tomorrow's headline was already secured.

The elevator door closed.

Song Yan immediately rushed into the office, his hands supporting the desk.

"Brother Fei! Are you crazy! 3A is fine, that's next year's business. Making "overcooked" for Qixi? Where do we have the manpower! The original paintings for the bugs aren't even finished yet!"

"They aren't needed for this," Ye Fei said, opening the computer editor. "The art style of "overcooked" is cartoon Q-version; just buy ready-made asset packs and make minor adjustments. The core is the underlying physics engine and collision detection; me coding it alone is enough."

Song Yan breathed a sigh of relief: "Cartoon style? That's good. As long as it's not that heavy tone of "This War of Mine", couples should like it. I can also take my girlfriend to play."

Ye Fei's fingers tapping on the keyboard paused.

He turned his head to look at Song Yan.

"Are you sure you want to take your girlfriend to play?"

"Yeah, didn't you just say it improves relationships?" Song Yan scratched his head.

Ye Fei turned back to the screen.

"Then good luck."

He pulled up the system panel.

On the mission progress bar, the number of super difficult evaluations was stuck at 120/1000.

The lingering effect of "This War of Mine" was beginning to wane; players had figured out the mechanics, and their psychological defenses had gradually adapted. To quickly collect the remaining hundreds of evaluations, he had to take a different path.

Single-player torture was no longer enough.

He needed two-player mutual torture.

"overcooked" looks warm, but it is actually an extreme test of tacit understanding and mentality.

When the bumping of the hot air balloon causes the chopped vegetables to fall into the sea of fire.

When the separation of the trucks causes the teammate to fall off the cliff while holding a plate.

When the order timeout alarm rings frantically, and the teammate is still throwing dirty dishes into the pot.

At that time, it won't be the game torturing the players.

It will be the players torturing each other.

Ye Fei looked at the newly created code folder on the screen and typed the first line of comments.

May every couple be able to see each other's true colors this Qixi.