"What’s so scary about it?"

"You’re just too timid. You’re scared even by things like this. I can’t imagine you playing horror games, like Jiahui Paperman. Wouldn’t you get so scared you’d wet your pants?" Chen Ba joked.

"Which is why I don’t play those games!"

Lu was filled with curiosity: "Honestly, I still can’t understand who’s buying horror games. Why are their sales so high?"

"Haha! Some people just love seeking thrills, it’s unavoidable..."

At this, Chen Ba suddenly got interested too, so he knocked on the table and asked, "Hey, what do you think, should our Tianba Studio produce a horror game too?"

"A horror game?"

"Yeah! Like Hong Kong Ghost Chronicles and Paperman, a Chinese-style horror game."

Chen Ba explained, "I’ve noticed these games are quite popular and their sales are decent, plus the production costs aren’t high."

"Hm!"

Yang Dong thought about it and felt this was indeed a good idea.

Horror games have a dedicated audience, and they’re great for gaming streamers and video bloggers to create entertaining content, hence their explosive popularity online.

As for sales, they actually perform well!

Besides, these games have relatively reasonable production costs, relying more on the team’s "creativity" and "brainstorming".

As long as there’s a suitable concept or creativity, making a horror game can be quite profitable.

"Then it’s settled!"

Seeing Dong agree with the suggestion, Chen Ba happily said, "Once we’ve sorted out the release formalities for Ancestor Tree and officially launch sales, we’ll make a Chinese-style horror game."

"Alright!"

"But for Ancestor Tree, what month are you planning to release?"

"June, I think!"

Chen Ba estimated that with the current development progress and game size, releasing in June or July would be feasible.

It shouldn’t be delayed too long.

After all, Chen Ba is recognized as a fast worker in the industry, making games quicker than others, and Ancestor Tree is not large in scale; this timeframe is more than enough.

...

Before you know it, summer arrived.

In June in Qiong Province, the weather was already scorching hot; just a little sun exposure outside would leave you soaked in sweat.

Yao Mao couldn’t even imagine how the older generation endured the blazing summer back in the days without air conditioners and refrigerators.

This kind of weather makes going out impossible except for those silly out-of-town tourists. They seem unafraid of the heat, running wildly by the seaside.

Yao Mao was quite content hiding in his air-conditioned room, comfortably playing games.

"Tianba’s new game Ancestor Tree is coming soon, with first-time reservations earning 500 community points!"

While browsing the community, Yao Mao stumbled across a pinned promotional post about Tianba’s new game, catching his interest.

Don’t get it wrong!

He’s not interested in the game Ancestor Tree itself, but in the 500 Tianba Community points awarded for the reservation activity.

Tianba Community underwent another overhaul recently, introducing a points system.

Points can be earned by posting, replying, and checking in, but these earn very few—typically just one or two points.

The real point gains come from participating in official events, like this reservation activity, which gives 500 points just for signing up.

How generous!

Points can indeed be used in the points mall to exchange for various physical or virtual prizes. These 500 points are quite significant, enough for a month’s check-ins, or even longer.

For those 500 points, Yao Mao didn’t hesitate to reserve the new game Ancestor Tree.

Then, he received a success message for the reservation along with the notice that the game launches tomorrow.

"Tomorrow, huh?"

With nothing else to do during the summer break, upon learning the game goes live tomorrow, Yao Mao decided to give it a try.

After all, since he’s idle, and with Ancestor Tree’s pre-sale price on Nobug Platform only 48 yuan, it’s not expensive.

For Ba and the 500 points’ sake, I’ll play it reluctantly!

The next morning, after breakfast, Yao Mao booted up his computer, logged into the Nobug Platform, and purchased and downloaded Ancestor Tree which just launched.

Nobug Platform has a refund mechanism anyway; if it’s not fun, he can initiate a refund, so there’s not much loss.

With this thought, Yao Mao launched the game client and entered the world of Ancestor Tree...

This is a magical world!

In this world, when someone dies, a tree grows from their body. It’s said this tree embodies the deceased’s will, with each leaf representing a memory.

If one eats the fruits on the tree and they’re sweet, they’ll witness all the joyful, happy scenes the deceased experienced.

If they’re bitter or sour, it’s the suffering and grievances the deceased endured...

This tree is known as: Ancestor Tree!

The older and more experienced one is, the taller their Ancestor Tree grows, bearing more leaves and fruits.

A barren life cannot nourish a robust Ancestor Tree, nor produce abundant fruits!

And the story begins with a child gazing at the stars beneath a tree. He has no name because he always stares at these Ancestor Trees, thus he’s called "Tree Treasure."

The game’s UI is very simple.

After a brief familiarization with the controls, the game officially starts, allowing Yao Mao to control the main character Tree Treasure.

Side-scrolling platformer style!

The first map is a forest where players need to guide Tree Treasure through this perilous, trap-laden, monster-infested forest.

The traps are manageable since it’s an introductory level; it won’t pose too much difficulty, and simple jumps suffice.

The monster difficulty is also low; they’re mostly small nuisances like wasps or poisonous snakes, easily dispatched with a slingshot.

But Yao Mao was still careless!

The beginner’s level is indeed straightforward, mainly offering a chance to get familiar with the controls, not overly challenging. However, the monsters in this level are all "poisonous."

So, he got poisoned and died.

This was his first death in the game.

Upon his revival, returning to where he just perished, he surely saw a sapling.

"It really grows a tree, huh?"

Finding this mechanic intriguing, Yao Mao couldn’t help but comment: "Does this mean I’ve planted a tree in the game, contributing to a low-carbon lifestyle?"

Ant tree planting?

Isn’t this much more interesting than any ant tree planting activity? The only downside is that this tree’s fertilizer happens to be oneself?

Tsk tsk, it’s rather creepy to think about it!

Since he died hastily due to lack of experience, a sapling grew without any other rewards.

Whatever, onto the next level!

It was a shame for Yao Mao to die at the beginner’s level; he didn’t even bother examining the Ancestor Tree closely, quickly clearing the beginner’s level and moving onto the second swamp map.

From this level onward, the map became randomly generated, with difficulty skyrocketing by tenfold.

As expected, Yao Mao got killed again.

Having just defeated a lizard, which dropped a dagger, he assumed the second level would be equally easy until he fell into a spike trap a moment later, getting pierced through like a beehive.

The second Ancestor Tree appeared!

Compared to the first Ancestor Tree, the second one looked much better. Though still a sapling, this tree bore something.

"Whoa, my dagger?"

Seeing the dagger he just looted hanging on the tree after his death, Yao Mao felt heartbroken.

If the map wasn’t random, he could take the dagger easily next time around, but the map changes randomly. Who knows when he’ll revisit the swamp map!

This means, perhaps the next time he finds himself on this map, the dagger won’t be as useful anymore!

That’s frustrating!

The game’s setup where death wipes out all items and resets skills is truly frustrating.

The problem is, there’s no save point...

It’s impossible to reload; accepting the special fate of total reset upon death is the only choice!