To people who just play games, the working conditions of game company employees seem quite mysterious, and they often have a lot of misconceptions. Wang Haoran, however, was well aware of the reality. After all, he was a computer science major and had naturally seen plenty of complaints from programmers in the gaming industry.
Rumor had it that working in a game company, especially if you were writing code or maintaining game servers, meant crazy overtime on patch days... or maybe just overtime in general.
In short, it was a massive grind.
If you were lucky and the project you worked on made money, the revenue-sharing could result in a pretty handsome income.
For a college student from a poor family, working in this industry wasn't a bad choice.
This was also why Wang Haoran studied so hard. Even though many people nowadays embraced the studying is useless theory, the problem was that Wang Haoran didn't have any other talents. Studying was indeed a pretty good way out for him.
Looking at it from another angle, if he, Wang Haoran, hadn't studied, would he have met a roommate like Su Bai, who was practically sugar daddy-tier?
Ah, this is the value of studying, bros.
Therefore, being a game designer was once one of Wang Haoran's career options. Now, he probably wouldn't have to be a frontline employee; starting directly as a studio boss was truly a sweet deal. Still, he needed to understand the specific situation.
As he looked around, he became engrossed. He had to admit that the boss of this company had good taste. The display shelves were filled with ancient strategy guide magazines, out-of-print board game collection artbooks, and professional books in the gaming field...
"Holy crap, they even have this!"
Wang Haoran suddenly spotted a mottled and worn-out game strategy guide.
In the early days, some game companies made money by selling strategy guides for their games. Back then, the internet wasn't as developed as it is now. Some people could get their hands on genuine games, but most played pirated CDs.
In his memory, when he was in elementary school, Wang Haoran played on his dad's console. He played a maze puzzle game that he really liked, but his brain power wasn't enough, and he got stuck on a puzzle. Unable to find a guide, he scratched his head in frustration.
To his surprise, he unexpectedly stumbled upon a childhood memory here.
For someone like Wang Haoran, it was absolutely impossible to have a 3D dream girl in the real world... If he had to choose a dream girl, it could only be an anime character. But gaming was different. Seeing this strategy guide, Wang Haoran's eyes lit up.
His hardcore otaku force field instantly expanded, which immediately piqued Boss Du's interest in this seemingly ordinary young man.
"At your age, it doesn't seem like you would have played this game," he said, leaning in to ask.
"Oh, my dad played it with me when I was a kid."
"Hey, your father has good taste..."
"It's alright. Actually, he didn't really like this genre; he preferred playing King of Fighters, Street Fighter, and stuff like that..."
And just like that, the two started chatting.
While Wang Haoran was babbling away after running into a fellow enthusiast, Su Bai went to check out the restroom situation on this floor. As everyone knows, a company's restroom can to some extent reflect the employees' happiness index. Being able to enjoy a beautiful paid poop on a sunny but very sleepy morning is undoubtedly a divine experience for workers in the internet industry.
The restroom space was quite spacious, but the facilities and decor were a bit old, and the stalls weren't high-end enough.
"Can the restroom be renovated?"
"Ah... that shouldn't be a problem... Is a restroom like this not enough?"
"It's okay, but I hope to improve employee benefits as much as possible."
"..."
Good heavens, the property manager had completely not expected this angle.
These days, the so-called improvement of employee benefits was, in the eyes of most bosses, merely a theoretical slogan.
If benefits were improved, wouldn't that mean taking money out of the boss's pocket?
In reality, it was good enough if they exploited their employees a little less.
When it came to regular holidays and bonuses, they were never generous with anything they could dock.
Especially the small local private enterprises in Jiangcheng, it was truly hard to describe in a few words.
Why do young people nowadays like to take civil service exams and flock to large companies? Isn't it because they are more standardized in all aspects?
As for details like restrooms, small companies would never care about them. They might even set up rules and regulations to compress the time employees spend in the restroom.
The fact that President Su cared about this area showed he was truly conscientious.
He guessed that the family must be really wealthy; only a naive and foolish rich kid would treat employees so well... Hiss, not necessarily, maybe he was just doing superficial work. This President Su looked quite shrewd, not like a fool.
The property manager speculated wildly, his left brain arguing with his right brain.
However, Su Bai's thoughts were actually very simple.
He had no financial pressure. Since he was bound to the system, it was only natural for him to treat the company's employees better.
Su Bai had no obligation to take the money directly and hand it out as benefits. He could set up a welfare fund to do good deeds, but that was a complex project involving too many aspects, which Su Bai wasn't considering right now.
People are selfish, after all. Enjoying things for oneself comes first; Su Bai wasn't that much of a saint.
But since he was starting a company to do what he liked, he didn't need to be stingy, at least when it came to employee treatment.
After checking the details, Su Bai was very satisfied and decided to have the property manager help him contact the landlord.
Meanwhile, Wang Haoran and Boss Du were already having a blast chatting.
Bangbang Technology was indeed a small studio, but small studios really packed their games with content, and Wang Haoran happened to like the games they made.
So, using that niche maze game as a starting point, the two had a great conversation and quickly reached the stage of regretting not meeting sooner.
"Players nowadays, sigh, really don't know how to appreciate things... Usually, kids your age are addicted to pay-to-win mobile games. It's truly a massive downgrade in aesthetic taste!"
Boss Du was deeply distressed.
Wang Haoran scratched his head furiously.
Bro, is it possible that I'm actually addicted to pay-to-win mobile games too...
It didn't matter. Wang Haoran was already used to this kind of situation. He was quite open-minded when it came to playing games and basically loved playing everything. In this regard, he was actually very similar to Su Bai. The core reason he and Su Bai had hit it off so well since the start of the school year was that their personalities were actually quite alike.
But he couldn't expect others to have such diverse tastes as he did; people always have their own likes and dislikes.
"Tolerating other people's intolerance is also a form of tolerance."
——As Su Bai once said while picking his toes in Room 510.
Upon learning that Wang Haoran was about to be appointed as the boss of the game studio and was the roommate of the young master from earlier, Boss Du couldn't help but feel a bit envious.
He had worked for a game company for many years when he was young, and it wasn't until he was over thirty that he jumped out to start his own business. He had begged and pleaded with everyone to secure investments just to have the chance to complete the game of his dreams.
Although it didn't turn out that great and the market response was a bit lukewarm...
The young man in front of him, however, had reached the top in one step right after starting college. How could this not make someone envious? Damn it!
"Speaking of which, is your game operation really that difficult... I feel like you could hold on a bit longer. The current version is quite fun, it just lacks a bit of content and the presentation isn't that great. If you spend a little time polishing it up, the sales will definitely go up later."

m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!

rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!

for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”