Started as a comics editor

Chapter 314 Still Thinking

Li Xue turned her gaze away from the bright sunlight outside the window and, as usual, gently knocked on the door of Tang Yao's office.

In May, the weather had become extremely hot, and this year it was especially hot... so hot that Li Xue didn't want to wear black stockings anymore, or even a form-fitting business suit.

A response came quickly from the office.

Li Xue snapped out of her reverie, pushed open the door, and walked lightly into the office. Today, she was wearing a refreshing off-white knee-length dress, the hem of which swayed gently with her steps, revealing a pair of straight, shapely, and dazzlingly white long legs under the lights—she was indeed not wearing women's business attire today.

"..."

But I just came in.

Li Xue was taken aback.

Because it's much hotter inside the office than outside...

She stopped, clutching the documents, and couldn't help but glance up at the air conditioner in the corner: "Tang Yao? Why does it feel hotter in here than outside? Didn't you turn on the air conditioner?"

Tang Yao was focused on the documents on the screen. When she heard this, she looked up. She was dressed as always, in light blue slim-fit jeans and a simple white T-shirt. Hearing Li Xue's complaint, she subconsciously tugged at the collar of her T-shirt, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her small nose.

then.

As if just realizing the temperature, she slightly raised her snow-white chin and glanced at the air conditioner, her long legs, encased in jeans, tensing and then relaxing: "Sorry, I think I forgot when I came this morning..."

"what?"

Li Xue parted her red lips slightly.

"Because the engine team sent us a very interesting report."

Tang Yao smiled and replied, then stood up, found the remote control, and turned on the air conditioner: "I got a little engrossed in watching it."

"Aren't you hot?"

Li Xue's gaze fell on Tang Yao, who was standing prettily in the distance, and then slowly moved down to look at her long, shapely legs, which were made even more striking by her jeans. She said helplessly, "It's almost 37 degrees outside, and you're still wearing such thick jeans? Don't you feel stuffy? Try a skirt, or even some light wide-leg pants."

"No."

Tang Yao put down the remote control and gently shook her head: "Jeans are comfortable, easy to move in, don't have to worry about showing too much skin, and allow for comfortable sitting postures."

Her beautiful eyes were filled with distrust of the dress.

There are reasons for this.

At first, she couldn't correct many of her habits.

Sometimes when she gets busy or focused, she forgets her identity and easily follows the action patterns that are more memorable.

Actually, Tang Xun had already scolded me when I was at home.

After all, she was quite casual at home, and Tang Xun would often remind her that she was showing too much skin... She would be nagged while sitting, while stretching, and while lying down.

Completely disregarding her sister's feelings!
Unless she wraps herself up completely.

Then, as she kept muttering to herself, Tang Yao completely gave up the idea of ​​choosing other outfits to stay cool.

Because it's really embarrassing.

Even now, with the customs of this place becoming more ingrained, she can be completely at ease with her current identity, if not 100% familiar with it.

But the habit was formed.

And to be honest, jeans and a well-fitting T-shirt are really great because no matter how much you stretch or jump around, there won't be any problems.

……All right.

Jumping and hopping doesn't seem to work, and it looks quite tiring.

"..."

Seeing Tang Yao's appearance, Li Xue was both amused and exasperated. In the end, she could only say gently, "Then remember not to do strenuous exercise, or you'll be covered in sweat and it will be troublesome."

"I'm covered in sweat right now..."

Tang Yao tugged at the neckline of her T-shirt again, revealing her fair and delicate collarbone, and replied, "I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't realize it until now, and it's really hot."

"It will cool off soon."

Li Xue came to her side, helping her lift up her drooping ponytail while naturally fanning her with her hand.

"Thank you."

Tang Yao immediately felt much cooler and breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Tang Yao's pretty face flushed red... Li Xue didn't say anything, but then, as if thinking of something, she suddenly leaned forward and gently sniffed with her small nose.

Tang Yao noticed her movement, paused slightly, and tilted her head: "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you say you were covered in sweat? I just want to smell you."

Li Xue raised her snow-white chin and said softly, "But I only smelled a very faint scent of shower gel, and... um, a clean and refreshing smell. It doesn't smell bad at all, which is nice."

She was very close, carrying a faint, sweet fragrance.

Tang Yao rolled her eyes at her, annoyed: "So you're happy that I smell bad?"

"of course not."

Li Xue immediately retorted, her delicate face seemingly tinged with the color of the blazing sun outside the window.

Her voice suddenly lowered, tinged with a shyness she herself wasn't aware of, as she whispered, "I just feel that even when you're sweating, you smell so good, it makes me... want to hug you even more..."

"If you want to kill me, just say so. The air conditioner hasn't even started working yet. You don't mind the heat, but I do."

"Oh……"

Li Xue's gaze drifted elsewhere, her long eyelashes fluttering gently, as if she were somewhat disappointed.

Tang Yao looked at Li Xue's beautiful profile, which was filled with disappointment, and her slightly pursed, glossy lips... She took a deep breath, didn't say anything, but suddenly turned her head away, and then, as if possessed, slightly opened her snow-white arms towards Li Xue, who was so close to her.

Li Xue was stunned for a moment when she saw Tang Yao's actions.

However, she quickly realized what was happening, took a step forward, and gently nestled into Tang Yao's arms, her fragrance wafting through the air. She wrapped her arms around Tang Yao's slender waist.

Tang Yao also subconsciously pulled her arms closer and wrapped them around Li Xue's waist.

In an instant, I was enveloped in warmth and tenderness.

Li Xue's cheek was pressed against Tang Yao's neck, and the faint, clean, and pleasant fragrance still lingered around her nose, mixed with a hint of clothing fibers and sunshine.

She could even feel Tang Yao's warm skin under her T-shirt, and the unique, slightly rubbing texture of the denim fabric.

Even through the thin fabric of the dress, Tang Yao could clearly feel the soft curves of Li Xue's body and her warm temperature.

However, this pleasant feeling only lasted for a few seconds.

"Well……"

Li Xue moved her head, which was buried in Tang Yao's neck.

Tang Yao also sensed something was wrong at almost the same time.

heat!
It's so hot!
Although the air conditioner was turned on, the cold air had not yet fully filled the entire space.

Given the high temperature.

Their bodies pressed together seemed to instantly transform into two small furnaces.

The fabric of Li Xue's dress was already thin, and now it was transmitting an astonishing amount of heat. Although Tang Yao's jeans provided some insulation, the area around her waist where Li Xue's arms were wrapped around her, and the area around her neck where Li Xue's cheek was pressed against hers, quickly accumulated heat.

Sweat was about to pour out of my mouth almost immediately.

"It's so hot..." Li Xue couldn't help but complain softly, her voice muffled.

Tang Yao also felt her cheeks burning: "...Mmm."

Almost as if by telepathy, the two released their arms at the same time, their movements slightly awkward, and quickly put some distance between them.

Tang Yao lightly flicked her ponytail, then complained, "This is just an idiotic move..."

Li Xue blushed slightly, and took the opportunity to tuck a stray strand of hair that she had messed up behind Tang Yao's ear, her movements natural and intimate: "Let's talk about work then."

A cool breeze finally began to blow steadily from the air conditioner vent, gently enveloping the two of them and dispelling the stuffiness.

Tang Yao also brought her attention back to business: "Well, let's talk about the new project."

"Over there, Yu Lili's MOBA project is progressing rapidly but also faces enormous challenges."

Li Xue smoothly changed the subject: "Based on the success of the DEMO verification, they are now working hard to expand the hero pool, improve the map mechanism and equipment system. Currently, more than 20 heroes with different styles have completed the basic skill design and model building, but they seem to have encountered problems in numerical balance."

Tang Yao chuckled: "Balance is an eternal issue in MOBAs, it can't be rushed... What about the map rules?"

"The three-lane push, jungle resources, and turret mechanism are basically finalized. It borrows the framework from the DEMO but is more refined. Summoner spells, such as Flash, Ignite, and Cleanse, have been added to the system."

Li Xue paused, then found the documents on the table: "However, the original demo was implemented using old game resources and open-source code, which was fine for supporting small-scale demos, but it was difficult to cope with a brand new game, especially large-scale 5v5 team battles, dozens of skill effects exploding at the same time, minion unit path optimization, and the spectator system that may be needed in the future. The current performance and network synchronization solution have encountered bottlenecks."

"The collision detection efficiency of large-scale units on the same screen, the real-time calculation and synchronization of complex skills such as area-of-effect attacks, projectile attacks, and summoned creatures, as well as the stability of network latency compensation mechanisms under high-intensity combat are also worrying."

Looking at the technical terms in the report, Li Xue said, "Yu Lili's team is currently struggling with this. They are trying to optimize the underlying framework, but many people feel that it would be simpler to start from scratch."

"understood."

Tang Yao nodded slightly, then thought for a moment: "I'll go check over there later. What about the other project?"

"Kang Ming's team has almost finished polishing the prototype of the confrontation mode in 'Rogue'."

Li Xue flipped through the report: "They used the upgraded 'Morning Star 2.0' engine to achieve a cinematic challenge mode. They all seem to like this mode quite a bit, and they even praised it wildly in the report, saying that the feeling of deciding life and death in an instant is amazing."

"Are there any difficulties?" Tang Yao asked curiously.

"The main focus is on the accuracy of motion capture and feedback."

Li Xue nodded slightly and explained, "They hired a professional swordsmanship instructor to ensure that every action of drawing, slashing, and sheathing the sword is full of power aesthetics and a sense of ritual. However, they are still repeatedly debugging how to translate this artistic conception into a feel that the player can perceive with the controller while ensuring the smoothness of operation and response speed."

The engine team is also optimizing the priority of action states and collision detection latency to ensure that the character's actions and effects are synchronized the moment the player presses a button. They believe that the feeling of victory or defeat being decided in a split second is key.

"Why does it feel like these people want to take things a step further?"

Tang Yao muttered to herself before saying, "Then let the engine team prioritize their needs... I'll go check on Kang Ming later."

"……besides."

Li Xue continued, "The game's scene art and world-building are progressing simultaneously. Your previous concept art is being regarded as the gold standard, and the art team is working on turning it into 3D, focusing on creating that vast, lonely, and murderous oriental charm. The engine's ambient lighting and material system are also being upgraded to support details such as the light and shadow penetration of bamboo forests, the reflection and footprints in snow, and the penetration effect of bloodstains on different materials."

"That's pretty fast..."

Tang Yao's eyes lit up upon hearing this. She raised her slender white hand to her chest, her fingertips touching, and said with some anticipation, "I'm starting to want to play too."

"Um……"

Seeing Tang Yao's expectant look, Li Xue smiled gently and then changed the subject: "In addition, the popularity of the Chainsaw Man MOD is still growing, and the side effects are even more amazing than we expected."

"First, there's the base game 'Left 4 Dead.' After the MOD was released, the base game's sales experienced an unprecedented second spring on the AG platform. Last month, sales almost surpassed its peak when it was first released. A large influx of new players, whether comic book fans attracted by the MOD or new players who simply thought the MOD was cool and wanted to try the original version, contributed a huge increase in sales. The review section was also full of positive reviews."

"On the other hand, it also boosted the 'Creative Workshop' on the AG platform, and the activity level of this section increased several times over."

"As a result, a large number of third-party games supporting the Steam Workshop have emerged on the platform, and without exception, these games have a large number of mods. Players are also willing to buy games that support the Steam Workshop and regard it as an important indicator of the game's long-term vitality and playability."

"Data shows that within a week of the MOD's release, visits to AG Workshop surged by 300%, and the quantity and quality of newly uploaded MODs have significantly improved."

Li Xue flipped to the second half of the report: "That Chainsaw Man MOD seems to have successfully demonstrated to third-party developers the huge potential and commercial value of supporting the Workshop on the AG platform. Currently, many developers who have already established cooperative relationships with us have clearly stated that they will add official support for the Workshop to their upcoming new works or updates that will be released on the AG platform, and even provide special toolkits, such as the previous 'Hengdao Lima'."

"In addition, overseas players are also very enthusiastic about MODs, which has boosted the overseas influence of comics. We are evaluating whether we can take our comics overseas."

"Good."

Tang Yao breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems that the project team's hard work back then was worth it. Their overtime work to reconstruct so much underlying logic and art resources was worthwhile."

Speaking of which.

She chuckled softly, recalling the group of programmers and artists who had been endlessly debating and tweaking the game to recreate a chainsaw sound effect or a demon's appearance. "An active MOD community can greatly extend the lifespan of a game, enhance user stickiness, and also bring continuous content updates and trending topics to the platform. AG platform's community ecosystem can be considered to have been initially established."

"Yes."

Li Xue said softly, "The platform's basic functions, user base, and payment system are all mature, and the community atmosphere and MOD ecosystem are also beginning to take shape..."

"His wings are just beginning to grow..."

"but."

After a moment's hesitation, Li Xue continued, "It seems that the AG platform has also reached a barrier. If we want to take the AG platform to the next level, it seems that relying solely on third-party games and the MOD ecosystem is not enough. However, it seems that the major game companies are not very interested in our platform at the moment."

"Of course not."

Tang Yao recalled the information she had researched earlier and said in a low voice, "After all, the big companies here have already realized the advantages of having their own platforms, directly reaching users, avoiding reliance on third-party channels for traffic, unified user management, and reducing cross-platform operating costs... There are too many benefits."

Li Xue was a little confused: "Huh?"

"nothing."

Tang Yao gently shook her head and explained, "Just because they're not interested now doesn't mean they won't be in the future. As for your point about the AG platform hitting a barrier, that's just an illusion. This market is much bigger than we imagine... We just need one, or rather several, truly decisive platform-defining works."

Speaking of which.

She pointed her finger at the report in Li Xue's hand.

"Rurouni and MOBA games?"

"Yes, there's bound to be one of these that will become the decisive work that attracts a massive number of core gamers and non-gamers alike, generating a powerful appeal!"

Tang Yao raised her fair fingers: "I am very confident about this... And by then, we won't have to worry about those big third-party companies not being interested in our platform. The user base will make them choose."

"Hmm...but there's a problem with that, isn't there?"

Looking at her boss's smug and adorable expression, Li Xue wanted to watch a little longer, but ultimately she told the truth: "Neither of these two games can be released in the short term... This means that AG platform may not have any first-party games for a long time, especially if the third-party games are not satisfactory..."

"Forehead."

Tang Yao paused slightly upon hearing this, then reached out to touch her snow-white chin and said seriously, "This is indeed a problem..."

Li Xue comforted her, "Actually, what I said was just a possibility."

"No, we can't rely entirely on third-party games; AG platform isn't qualified to do that yet."

Tang Yao's beautiful face was full of seriousness when she suddenly looked up and said, "Li Xue... how about we make another small-scale game?"

"what?"

Li Xue was taken aback by Tang Yao's sudden suggestion, her beautiful, watery eyes widening slightly: "Make another one? Tang Yao, are you serious? We're currently working on two major projects simultaneously, a MOBA and 'Wanderer'... Didn't you say before that you didn't have the energy to start a new project?"

"I'll personally take charge?"

Tang Yao thought for a moment and suggested, "I can handle the art, copywriting, and planning all by myself... Let's make a super small game, but fun enough to fill the gap between the release of big titles."

Li Xue was somewhat taken aback: "A person... extremely small in scale... how small? What kind of subject matter?"

"Hmm... I'm still thinking about it."

"..."

(End of this chapter)