What It's Like Being a Vampire

They had been engrossed in the game, maintaining a high level of concentration and excitement. It was only when the game ended that everyone realized how late it was already. Not only were Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er feeling tired, but even Xia Libing was yawning constantly. It was indeed very late.

So, Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen’er said their goodbyes to Old Xia and headed home, with Yang Zhen’er driving Xiang Kun home first.

In the car, to keep the driving Yang Zhen’er alert and prevent her from dozing off, Xiang Kun and Tang Baona kept speaking to her nonstop.

But in reality, they didn’t need to initiate the conversation. Ever since the game ended, Yang Zhen’er hadn’t stopped chattering, regardless of how tired she was starting to feel.

“Chef Xiang, you could actually start thinking about saving the stories that players go through in the game. Make them into a unified version that players can save! The stories that the players are part of would definitely feel exciting for them to listen to! If these stories are well-organized, they wouldn’t be any worse than regular radio dramas! The sound effects were so real, wind, horse trots, sword clashes, and also the narration for Old Xia at the end, plus the BGM? It really felt quite immersive!” Upon saying this, Yang Zhen’er glared resentfully at Tang Baona who was seated in the passenger seat, “It’s all Nana’s fault, insisting on dying with me, otherwise the BGM would’ve been mine.”

Tang Baona laughed, “If you were the only one ‘alive’ in the end, it certainly wouldn’t have been that BGM, it would have been a villain’s BGM!”

“I am not a villain, I was leading a gang to seize territories as ‘Gang Leader Xia Libing’! Programmer Xiang, add more BGMs, OK? I want my exclusive BGM. How about Elsa’s ‘LET IT GO’ or ‘God is a Girl’? I think those are perfect fits for me!” Yang Zhen’er said, quite excited.

Fearing potential issues, Tang Baona asked, “When the game is officially released, we can’t use these BGMs right? Or we have to get in touch with the copyright holders and buy the rights to use them?”

“Definitely, but by that time we might create our own generic scene-based and plot-based BGMs. The music we used now is just temporary solutions for our small-scale internal testing period,” Xiang Kun responded.

Actually, all aspects of the game, including sound effects and BGMs, were not added through instructions given by Xiang Kun, but were added by Alice on her own. To be honest, even Xiang Kun was surprised to hear the wind, rain, and horse trotting sound effects during their gameplay. Alice’s ability to autonomously improve and understand the game creation process had far exceeded his expectations.

He then said to Yang Zhen’er, “The function to save audio records of the gameplay already exists. Your gameplay experiences have been recorded, it’s just that the function for players to replay them hasn’t been added yet but it will be. Once added, the game will automatically edit the audio, cutting out waiting and idle times and rearranging narration to make the story smoother. These features will certainly be ready before the game launch.”

As a voice game, the current version is quite simple in terms of functions. The game narratives are short and simple, and a high level of player cooperation is required.

Playing with just the three of them, Xia Libing, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen’er, the issues with the game were not apparent. Once more players join under different conditions and mental statuses, different problems may arise. Just from observing their gameplay, Xiang Kun had already imagined several potential issues.

Luckily, this still the most basic test version of the game and there’s plenty of time for improvement. With Xiang Kun overseeing it and Alice implementing the changes, these issues should all be solvable and the game’s playability will definitely improve.

Seeing how their gameplay went today, Xiang Kun also realized that finding potential game flaws or inadequacies is easier when others play the game, compared to Alice simulating the gameplay or him testing it alone. It — significantly improves the user experience.

Alice can also use the gameplay data to collect player information, analyze it, find patterns in players’ pronunciation and story preferences. This will not only improve speech recognition’s accuracy and efficiency but also help knock up more engaging storylines and relevant sound effects and BGMs.

The more players play the game, the better the game understands them, allowing for higher levels of personalization.

Given tonight’s results, getting friends to test play seems to be an express lane to help perfect the game.

After hearing what Xiang Kun had said, Tang Baona too started daydreaming, ” The most fun and interesting stories might become something many people aspire to appreciate and collect. Even if they don’t play the game, listening to these stories would be fun. When the game is up and running, players can choose the stories they like and participate in competitions. The winners could then buy the adaptation rights to these works and turn them into animations, novels or web dramas. I can already picture the booming popularity this game will have in the live streaming industry. Many streamers will definitely play this game!” Upon saying this, she echoed the same sentiment as what Yang Zhen’er had said earlier:

“This game is definitely going to be a big hit!”

Xiang Kun nodded and smiled, “If that’s the case, I’ll have more confidence when asking Director Zhang, Zi Cheng, and Director Liu to invest later.”

The one driving, Yang Zhen’er, immediately interjected, “And don’t forget us two. Wait a minute, we can’t forget Old Xia too. The three of us! All three of us want in! Xiang Shumiao, if Zhang Qian and the rest are unwilling to invest, tell us. We will definitely help you secure enough investment. I have so many silly and rich relatives…”

“Don’t worry, you guys have the right of priority in investing.” Xiang Kun smiled, “Rich and silly relatives? Be careful, or Old Xia, who is your relative, might give you a good punch. ”

“What does ‘Xiang Shumiao’ mean?” Tang Baona asked curiously. She was used to the nicknames Yang Zhen’er had given Xiang Kun, but most of them were professional titles. What did this “Shumiao” mean?

Yang Zhen’er explained, “It means a sapling of a money tree! Nana, this game is going to be huge in the future. If we latch onto this money tree, we might be able to stay at home all day, playing games, watching American dramas, and not have to work!”

“Yeah, right. Given your personality, how many days can you actually stay at home?” Tang Baona laughed.

Xiang Kun suddenly said, “Nana, are you interested in helping me with this game? I will definitely need to start a company in the future, and I will need a lot of people to help.”

Tang Baona was stunned and said hesitantly, “Me? I don’t know much about games. You know, I’m not very good at them. And I seem to lack the skills needed to make games…”

“Not necessarily.” Xiang Kun shook his head, “You experienced it tonight, my game is very different from typical games. The entire gameplay and mode are based on sound, and you deal with sound all the time when you make videos and music. There is a lot of relevancy. Plus, you accurately understand the likes and popular trends of the netizens, which is a great advantage. Moreover, what we will do in the future is not just a game, this game is only one of our technologies for demonstration. My idea is whether it’s product, operations, or business partnerships, you should be able to play a big role, and there is definitely no problem with your abilities. As for what specifically to do, I think you don’t need to decide too quickly. Consider it during the process of building the game and company with me. After all, you have decided not to work for your uncle, right?”

Actually, this was the purpose of having the game’s test version out early and having these girls play it—he wanted to give Tang Baona, who had just resigned, another option.

“Ah, I see. Then… I will give it a try? But if I don’t do well, don’t blame me.” Tang Baona was also very interested in this game, and since it was a favor for Xiang Kun, she had no hesitation.

Yang Zhen’er immediately said, “Me too! I also want to quit! I also want to join the game company! Give me a title like supervisor or manager!”

“You want to quit too? Aren’t you afraid your dad will give you a beating?” Tang Baona laughed.

“He’s already fed up with seeing me, always thinking I’m just a freeloader… Well, I am, but I’m tired of clinging to the family knee for over twenty years. Now I can change legs to cling on to, and can stand up straighter in front of my dad!” Yang Zhen’er said “righteously”, “Boss Xiang, don’t think I’m just kidding around all the time, actually I am very capable! Whether it’s dealing with others on behalf of the company, or managing personnel and logistics of the company, you can leave it all to me! And for finances, Nana and I, two full-time financial staff, will ensure everything goes smoothly and we won’t be fooled by Zhang Qian…”

Xiang Kun smiled and said, “You can help, but the salary might not be higher than what you have now.”

“Oh, salary, that’s a small matter. We’re investors now, so what does a little salary matter? My demands are very low, just like Nana’s. you will definitely treat Nana fairly.”

After getting home, Xiang Kun sorted out the luggage he had brought back a bit, and then received a WeChat message from Xia Libing, which was just eight words:

“Dream tonight, eight-armed wood carving.”

He naturally understood what Old Xia meant, which was to try to induce dreams with the eight-armed, eight-eyed wood carving tonight.

The wood carving was now in his home, and Old Xia was in hers, so would he send the wood carving over, or would she come over?

Considering Old Xia’s tired and drowsy look when leaving, Xiang Kun texted her back: “It’s too late today, you should rest, we can try next time…”

But before he could finish typing, Xiang Kun stopped and deleted the text.

Because he had casually sensed the coin he gave to Old Xia and found that the coin had already left her apartment complex.

In other words, not long after he left her house with Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er, Xia Libing followed out the door and took a taxi to his place.

Xiang Kun went and opened the door, and sure enough, after a few minutes, Old Xia walked in.

Looking at Old Xia, who was clearly exhausted, Xiang Kun said in surprise, “There’s no need to rush, we have plenty of time since we’re back for a few days.”

“I want to try as soon as possible.”

Xia Libing simply said, then walked directly into Xiang Kun’s room, pointed to Xiang Kun’s bed, and asked, “Can I sleep here?”

“Uh, sure, but I don’t have any new bed sheets or quilts to change…”

Before Xiang Kun could finish his sentence, Xia Libing placed the box containing chopsticks on the head of the bed, lay down directly on the bed, and fell asleep.

With the speed she fell asleep, it was obvious that she had been extremely tired.