To ascend, I had no choice but to create games-Chapter 849 - 468 New Ideas_2

"Write this down, don’t leave it behind, and tear it up after reading. Come to this place after work on Friday. We’ll leave the door open for you in advance."

Gripping the note as if he had received a divine command, Leon quickly memorized the content.

In the following days, he felt as though each day lasted a year, anxiously waiting for Friday.

Moreover, his gaze towards Huang Ping grew more affectionate; they had a shared secret now, partners on the same battlefront.

Finally, when Friday arrived, he immediately left the studio and, after waiting outside for half an hour, he arrived at the designated location.

It was an inconspicuous neighborhood; the security guard at the gate seemed to be dozing off, but when Leon walked by, the guard squinted his eyes, making Leon feel that this old man was not simple.

Of course, it might also be because Leon was now dominated by a certain adolescent spirit, giving him the sensation of playing a stealth espionage game in person.

Through this feeling, everything around him took on a different significance. The foreign landscape intensified this unusual sensation, making Leon unable to stop.

Seeing Leon approaching, the old man lifted his cap and asked, "What’s your name? Where are you going to?"

"... Old man, I can speak Chinese."

"Then why didn’t you say so earlier! Where are you going, sign here!"

After leaving his name, Leon walked into the neighborhood and turned back to see the old man had resumed dozing off in his chair.

Recalling the old man’s English, which made Leon feel inferior, Leon believed this old man was indeed not simple.

Following his memory, Leon walked through a twisting path and finally arrived at his destination.

It was just an ordinary apartment in a neighborhood; nothing seemed unusual outside, but faint cheers could be heard from inside.

The sound was so joyful, as if gods were throwing a party, or as if the Heroic Spirits from the Hall of Heroic Spirits were heartily drinking fine wine.

Just hearing this sound made Leon feel that he had come to the right place.

He gently knocked on the door and heard the noise inside suddenly stop.

Someone walked up to the door. Leon could even hear the person’s breathing; the narrow door seemed like a chasm separating them, making Leon nervous.

He felt he was approaching a secret, a secret hidden jointly by the studio employees, a secret so crucial that even the studio employees had to form a secret society to preserve it.

For a few minutes, or perhaps hours, just when Leon felt he had been forgotten, he saw the door open and Huang Ping appeared at the door, looking at the trembling Leon and asking, "Why are you shaking like that?"

"My imagination is quite vivid," Leon said intoxicatedly.

"What does imagination have to do with this? You North Americans really have weird habits."

Once Huang Ping ushered Leon inside, he immediately began observing the place.

The exterior was just an ordinary apartment, but inside it was a large gaming base.

From arcade machines to obscure VRboxes, from Atari series to the latest gaming pods, the gaming peripherals here were extensive, including even some obscure game consoles, some of which Leon had heard of but never seen in person.

Besides Huang Ping, all the male planners from the Fang Cheng Studio were here.

Everyone was lazily sprawled in their own beanbags, playing games they were interested in, occasionally discussing some game mechanics.

Games unlimited, snacks aplenty, this was the paradise every gaming enthusiast dreams of, the kind that once you enter, you can’t leave.

Especially catching Leon’s eye was a large game display cabinet, where he saw a variety of unusual game collections covering almost the entire history of games.

As his eyes scrolled over these collections, Leon grew more and more excited.

"Wow, they even have ’Bio-Future’ from Mars here. This game had a production run of only 300,000 but was urgently recalled due to a major accident, and then disappeared completely when the game console stopped being produced. I can’t believe I can see this game here."

Picking up a game disc, Leon commented emotionally as he looked at the game’s cover.

Xiao Douzi, playing video games in front of the console, looked up and nodded at Leon, "You really know your stuff, huh? It took me quite a while to find this game, finally got it in a large second-hand market in North America. They initially asked for thirteen thousand US dollars."

Hearing this figure, Leon’s eyes widened and he exclaimed, "They didn’t know what they had! You scored big!"

Xiao Douzi nodded appreciatively, "You can indeed tell. That’s why I bought the game then and there. Come over here, I’ve got even cooler stuff."

Leon swallowed hard, excitedly asking, "What, is it a new game?"

"Even more thrilling than a new game, it will broaden your horizons for sure. Plus, I don’t just let anyone come over here; you’re pretty lucky to see this on your first visit to my place."

"This is your place, huh? It’s pretty big."

"I still find it small, can’t fit many game consoles. Hurry, come see something even more exciting."

As the two headed into the bedroom, Monkey turned to Huang Ping with a puzzled look, "This might be a weird question but don’t you think their vibe is a bit off?"

"Kid, don’t overthink it. You’ll get styes."

Two hours later, when Leon emerged, he looked bewildered.

Munching on the pizza Xiao Douzi had ordered, he muttered, "Thrilling, truly thrilling. Xiao Douzi, may I call you ’Immortal’ of games?"

"Cut it out, the boss is still alive," Xiao Douzi said shyly.

"True, but I really didn’t expect you to have such thrilling games. Just seeing the cover, I felt like I could die fulfilled."

Watching them, Monkey tugged at Huang Ping’s sleeve and whispered, "Brother, there’s definitely something up with them. Does everyone who plans games end up like this?"

"This is an exception. Normally, they’d be almost like zombies, and seeing games would make them nauseous."

After eating pizza, Leon finally remembered why he had come here.

Lying on the sofa provided for him, Leon asked, "So, this is where you guys secretly work overtime?"

"Hush," Huang Ping immediately said, "We’re not working overtime, this is game night. A bunch of like-minded people coming over to a friend’s house to play games after work, that’s normal, right?"

Stroking his chin and pondering for a moment, Leon nodded, "Totally normal."

"Getting carried away and playing all night is pretty common, right?"

"As common as rain following thunder."

"And in the process of gaming, accidentally starting a discussion related to it is usual, right?"

By this point, Leon had caught on and nodded, "Indeed, it happens a lot."

"And since we’re not documenting anything, this obviously isn’t overtime. This is totally normal everywhere, no issues, right?"

"No issues. But I have a question; does what we’re doing even make sense?"

"It does," Huang Ping nodded earnestly. "The boss has a keen sense, often knowing at a glance whether we’ve worked overtime. But if we do it this way, the worst he might do is tell us not to play games too late, nothing else. So, this process is essential, understand?"

"Relax, I got it," Leon nodded excitedly.

Here, he felt like he had finally found his tribe and also discovered the secret behind Huang Ping’s high efficiency.

Bring on the beautiful overtime life.

And as it turned out, working overtime here was actually pretty awesome.

Huang Ping gave him an entry ticket to this place, and he started responding to Huang Ping’s questions, addressing Fang Cheng’s desire for "a card game that isn’t a card game." They played current card games while contemplating Fang Cheng’s real intention.

One by one, ideas arose during their gameplay, followed by continuous rejection.

They exchanged opinions, shared experiences, and numerous ideas were proposed, eventually forming various different plans.