Chapter 19: The Combat Lacked Interaction

You Were Told to Lose Money By Making Games, and You Actually Did It? 

Chapter 19: The Combat Lacked Interaction

“Old Xiu, I’ll leave everything in Osaka to you and Gong Qi,” Chen Xu said earnestly as he bid farewell to Xiu Fu at the airport.

After staying in Osaka for more than a week, Chen Xu decided to head back home.

There was no helping it—he simply couldn't think of any more ways to milk the system.

Although he hadn't managed to visit a nightclub on the first day and experience just how skilled the hostesses really were, he had still thoroughly enjoyed the hot springs, theme parks, and tourist attractions.

But team-building activities couldn't go on every single day.

Once work resumed on the second day, not only was it questionable whether the system would approve, but even when Chen Xu invited Gong Qi and the others out for an occasional evening gathering, they refused.

Every one of them worked overtime until the very end. They were working so hard that even people at Hyakukin had secretly complained to him about it.

“Don't worry, Brother Xu!” Xiu Fu nodded solemnly.

“Oh, and tell Gong Qi and the others to cut back on the overtime a bit. It's not that your Brother Xu can't afford the overtime pay. But health is the real capital. We can't ruin our bodies just for work,” Chen Xu said with concern.

The soaring overtime expenses were certainly good news, but at the same time, the amount of overtime being worked genuinely frightened Chen Xu.

They were working until midnight every day. Were they trying to kill themselves?

What if someone suddenly dropped dead at work?

Sure, the company would have to pay a huge compensation settlement, but if expenses were being generated that way, could he still call himself human?

And on top of that, the game's development was progressing far too quickly.

What if the game got finished before all the money was spent? What then?

Seeing the concern on Chen Xu's face, Xiu Fu felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

As expected, Brother Xu was a boss who truly cared about people.

What other boss would worry about employees damaging their health through overtime? Most bosses only cared that unhealthy employees could no longer generate profits for them.

Compared to them, Brother Xu was completely different.

Xiu Fu felt deeply touched.

“Oh, right, Brother Xu. There's one more thing I need to tell you.” Xiu Fu instinctively glanced around and lowered his voice.

Hmm?

Seeing Xiu Fu acting all sneaky, Chen Xu narrowed his eyes slightly.

That furtive behavior immediately reminded him of their school days.

Back then, Xiu Fu and Xiao Dao would secretly read hentai in the back of the classroom and insist they weren't doing anything suspicious.

Could it be that these guys had been sneaking off to hostess clubs behind his back?

After all, as the boss, his presence could make employees feel restrained in certain situations.

“Some employees from Hyakukin may be interested in joining our studio in the future,” Xiu Fu whispered once he confirmed nobody else was nearby.

So it was just poaching employees.

Chen Xu let out a sigh of relief.

For a moment, he'd thought they had held some kind of wild private party without inviting him.

“How many?” Chen Xu asked casually.

Xiu Fu looked troubled.

“Brother Xu, that... we don't know yet. Hyakukin Studio is still outsourcing work for us, so we've only been testing the waters.”

The other company was still helping develop their game, and they were also hoping to learn a few things from them.

If they laid all their cards on the table right now, Hyakukin Studio's management would inevitably hear about it.

If that affected the project, things could get troublesome.

“I see. Then just handle it however you think is best. Whoever wants to come, take them all,” Chen Xu replied indifferently.

The idea of increasing development costs by hiring more people had actually crossed his mind before, but he had eventually given up on it.

Hiring only a few employees would barely make a dent in expenses.

Hiring too many, however, would immediately be rejected by the system.

After all, a massive recruitment drive would heavily impact the company's structure.

It would also be difficult to coordinate everyone effectively, potentially hurting project progress more than helping it.

Naturally, the system wouldn't allow it.

Of course, if they could recruit genuinely talented people, that would be a different story.

But it was almost the end of the year, and their company wasn't particularly famous. The chances of attracting top talent were practically nonexistent.

On the other hand, if employees voluntarily poached colleagues from Hyakukin Studio, that was another matter entirely.

Chen Xu actually encouraged what Xiu Fu and the others were doing, though he didn't pay much attention to it.

How many people could they really persuade to jump ship?

“Don't worry, Brother Xu!” Xiu Fu nodded heavily.

After watching Chen Xu disappear into the boarding gate, Xiu Fu's expression became serious.

He then pulled out his phone, opened a group chat with more than forty members, and tapped into it.

He sent a message to the group chat about a dinner gathering.

Looking at the growing list of people signing up, Xiu Fu smiled slightly.

It was just like fishing—chumming the water, baiting the hook, and waiting for the fish to bite.

As a highly skilled angler, how could he possibly disappoint Brother Xu's expectations?

. . .

December 1st

Stepping onto the soil of Shanghai once again, Chen Xu couldn't help feeling emotional.

After all, this had been his first trip abroad.

Whether in terms of spending company funds or personal enjoyment, the Osaka trip was amazing.

The only regret was that he never got to experience the Japanese hostess club.

Next time, for sure!

Having made that vow to himself, Chen Xu headed straight for the company.

After being away for a week, he wondered how development on Sekiro was progressing.

Upon arriving at the office, he saw employees hard at work at their stations.

Not wanting to interrupt them, he went directly into his office and summoned Ying Gao and Xiao Dao via text message.

“President Chen, at the moment we're mainly waiting on art assets. Also, Hyakukin has already delivered the first version of the character animations,” Ying Gao reported when Chen Xu asked about the project's progress.

At the same time, he turned on the computer and opened the company's project database.

The scene consisted entirely of white polygonal placeholder geometry.

Even the game's protagonist, Sekiro, was nothing more than a basic model.

Everything looked crude and ugly.

Which was perfectly normal.

After all, the project had been in serious development for less than a month.

This level of progress was entirely expected.

Some basic animations had already been integrated, however.

Hyakukin Studio's efficiency was indeed impressive.

Of course, that was also because Sekiro's primary combat mechanics didn't involve many flashy moves.

Slashing, blocking, running, jumping, and charged heavy attacks.

That was essentially everything.

As for deathblow animations, combat arts, and prosthetic-arm skills—those were significantly more complex, so Hyakukin Studio hadn't started working on them yet.

For now, their priority was building a solid foundation.

“It feels like something's missing,” Chen Xu said, frowning slightly.

To be honest, what they had so far was already quite good.

But as someone who had played Sekiro before, Chen Xu could still sense a gap when comparing it to the animation set produced by Hyakukin Studio.

It wasn't about recreating everything on a one-to-one basis.

That would be unrealistic.

Even if the original development team remade Sekiro from scratch, from programming to art assets, the final product would inevitably differ in many small details.

As long as the gameplay and overall style remained intact, the soul of the game would still be there.

It wasn't as though every house, every tree, every rock, and every piece of level layout had to be exactly identical.

Looking at the animation assets that Hyakukin Studio had sent over—

Even without voice acting or final art assets, one could already feel the impact of attacks and the subtle details in sword clashes.

As far as combat feel was concerned, Chen Xu saw no major issues.

The real problem lay in the design philosophy behind the animations.

“They're a little too traditional. And somewhat monotonous.”

“That's right,” he continued. “The character movements and enemy AI behavior feel more like they're each doing their own thing.”

Chen Xu clapped his hands.

At that moment, he finally realized what the issue was.

The combat lacked interaction.

The player and the enemies weren't truly engaging with one another—they were simply taking turns performing their own actions independently.

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