To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

The shrill alarm sounded, resonating with the majestic background music, and propelled Qiu Yu immediately into combat mode.

Dark silhouettes of machinery emerged from the mist.

They looked like the mechs known to Qiu Yu, but he understood that these were the enemies he had to face.

Without any need for communication, he pulled the trigger, sending a dense barrage of fire forward, frantically tearing apart everything before him.

The enhanced firepower was wild and blazing, shattering the mechs one by one.

“Come on, my lovelies!”

Amidst the fireworks filling the sky, Qiu Yu laughed heartily as he piloted his own spaceship, charging crazily towards the Shadow mechs ahead.

This time, he intended to slaughter his way through the whole world, completing the game in one life!

Six minutes later…

“The self-destruct power still isn’t enough, in the end, it couldn’t even take out that boss.”

Having exhausted his third chance at life, Qiu Yu crawled out of the VR flight simulator, muttering to himself as he walked to the end of the line.

“However, I should upgrade my flying speed a bit, or add a ‘Taunt’ chip to directly draw the monsters in and then bang, bang, bang, self-destruct. That way, I could rack up quite a few points in the early stages and upgrade from there. It’s a shame to wait in line for so long only to self-destruct right away. Why must they limit the number of lives instead of the time?”

Standing at the end of the line, Qiu Yu considered his combination strategies while thinking about how to increase his point earnings in each round next time.

After that, he took out his phone to search online for information about “Squirrel Spaceship.”

Unfortunately, the game had been released too recently and seemed to be exclusive to VR flight simulators, so people elsewhere couldn’t play it.

In one of the few forum threads, one seemed to be from the person who had first discovered the VR flight simulator.

They had been live broadcasting on the forum since three o’clock in the afternoon. Now it seemed to continue, and they kept posting updates.

Since there was nothing to do while waiting in line, Qiu Yu decided to check out the posts.

[Guys, I found a weird gaming machine. It’s two yuan a go, not too expensive, and the display outside looks decent.]

After he posted a photo of the gaming machine’s exterior, a slew of mockery followed.

[I’ve heard of movie pre-launch hype, game pre-launch hype, but never April Fool’s pre-launch hype.]

[You’re starting your scams early, huh? If I don’t see you in the circus, I’m not going.]

[Gotham city wouldn’t be complete without you; Batman would die of loneliness.]

[Poker without you is an incomplete deck.]

[Buddy, deceive yourself all you want, but deceiving the dads here isn’t right. Though I must say, your Photoshop skills aren’t bad, managing to create a pretty realistic game screenshot. What’s the original name of the game? I’ll look it up online.]

Original Poster: [Believe it or not, I’ll show you guys the setup inside. It’s a VR flight simulator, looks like it’s about flying planes.]

Original Poster: [Asked the person in charge, and it is about flying planes. With the help of the person in charge, I geared up and got ready to start.]

Original Poster: […another go.]

Original Poster: […another go.]

Original Poster: […can’t do it anymore, but I want another go.]

Original Poster: [Can’t go again, there are people lining up now, but there aren’t many, I should be able to have another go shortly. This thing… I didn’t do well in Chinese, but anyway it’s just like a stampeding bull.]

Original Poster: [That screen, that feel… the thrust when accelerating is truly amazing, the compatibility of flight simulation with VR is just too good, you guys who haven’t played really don’t know what it feels like.]

Original Poster: [Especially the music, no exaggeration, truly the best game music I’ve ever heard. I wonder if I can find the original soundtrack online, I could listen to it over and over for a year.]

Passerby: [Really? I live nearby, I’ll go take a look. Don’t you leave, if you’re scamming me, I’ll beat you up first.]

Passerby: “Bro, you’re my real bro! Thank you for being so selfless!”

Passerby 2: “For real? I gotta check it out too.”

Passerby 2: “Seriously, we’ve already sworn brotherhood like the ‘Peach Garden Oath.’ My big brother is awesome—he genuinely shares the good stuff.”

After that, players who believed and those who didn’t started clashing. Some argued that the crappy game had hired a bunch of paid posters, and the small theater drama was well played, suggesting a video of it would probably be more fun than the game itself.

Then supporters fired back saying that boars can’t appreciate fine bran, and those who haven’t seen the world should just get lost.

The regulars on the forum didn’t hold back—if they enjoyed a post, they praised it; if they didn’t, they cursed it. Remarkably, a single post sparked a flame war, making Qiu Yu think these people really had too much time on their hands.

Of course, he also realized that he too must have been pretty idle, constantly refreshing to follow the flame war to its end.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but reflect that Fang Cheng Studio was indeed Fang Cheng Studio; a single collaboration with Kirin Industry was enough to spark such quick discussion. This level of marketing prowess didn’t come without two decades of experience.

If it wasn’t intentional marketing, then it meant their game’s quality had truly returned to its roots, reaching the point where whatever they did was exactly what the players loved.

Thinking of that was even more daunting.

Kirin Industry was still shipping VR flight simulators to the area, but the queue of people didn’t seem to shrink—in fact, it seemed to grow a bit longer.

It wasn’t clear who started it, but someone began humming the game’s background music. Even when hummed, the lively tune had an uplifting spirit and a heroic boldness that could boil one’s blood with excitement.

Besides, this piece could accommodate multiple vocal parts, leading to a group of people humming in harmony, adding layers and making the piece even more elaborate.

Previously, Fang Cheng Studio’s games had no background music, just ambient sounds, which made many wonder if Fang Cheng Studio was incapable of producing music.

Now it seemed clear that they just didn’t bother, not that they couldn’t.

In the crowd, Qiu Yu couldn’t help but hum along.

Music had a special magic to it. It didn’t feel like much while playing the game, but once he started humming, it easily brought back memories of his experiences in the game, making the wait less agonizing.

When he got back into the game and logged in with his ID, Qiu Yu, after using up his turns, reluctantly stepped out and sighed, looking at the long line outside: “This thing’s gonna be a hit.”

“Yeah,” said Alan, who had waited outside for Qiu Yu, “Fang Cheng Studio… this studio is awesome, and so is their background music.”

In China, not many developers focus on music and sound effects; usually, such work is outsourced to professional teams. However, in other countries, they are an indispensable part of the development team.

Alan was the leader of the Gaul team this time, but he was also a sound designer. The background music for ‘Magic Dynasty’ was composed by him, playing the Scottish bagpipes to create a distinctive fantasy flavor, which won the Academic Award for Best Music and Sound Effects that year.

Qiu Yu knew the music sounded good but didn’t know why.

Checking the time, Qiu Yu realized they probably wouldn’t make it for the next round.

The mall was about to close, and the person in charge had quickly launched a queueing mini-app, asking everyone to scan a code and queue up to return the following day.

After scanning the code, Qiu Yu didn’t feel like going back to work overtime.

As a curious jack-of-all-trades in the gaming industry, he called for a translator, and the three of them sat down together in a nearby café and started chatting away.

The translator had also been in line to play the game before and admired Qiu Yu, so when called upon, he didn’t consider it overtime but rather leisure time after work to chat.

Naturally, their conversation centered on ‘Squirrel Spaceship’ outside, and the three endlessly shared their in-game experiences, getting increasingly louder without realizing it.

Coming back to their senses, they noticed other customers staring at them, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Just as they were about to apologize, a customer leaned in and said, “Can you include me too? I have a lot I want to talk about. Listening to you guys was driving me crazy.”

“Me too.”

“Include me as well.”

Turns out everyone in the café had just finished playing, even the café owner joined in, and a group of people happily talked about the game.

Some started offering snacks, others coffee, and as it became clear that everyone was keen to discuss, the ordinarily quiet café instantly buzzed with activity, creating a unique and wonderful night.