Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

The annual meeting was over. The lucky draws were done, the claw machines were empty, and everyone’s stomachs were filled. They all began to leave the venue, one by one.

Pei Qian glanced at his watch. It was past 4 PM; the timing had been just right.

Many prizes had been distributed. Apart from cell phones and red packets—which were much easier to carry around, there had also been televisions, air purifiers, and game machines. They were much harder to carry.

Furthermore, almost all the one thousand people who came had won something. If they were to line up to collect their prizes one by one, it would have taken a long time.

Thus, the list of winners would be made available for all to see on the Intranet. Furthermore, each person would be notified of the prize that they won through the internal communications software.

After that, Upwind Logistics’ delivery men would be placed in charge of delivering the prizes to the winners’ doorsteps.

After all, everyone was already carrying bags of toys and chibi dolls. There was no way they could carry the prizes from the lucky draw as well.

Pei Qian was very satisfied with how the annual meeting had turned out.

It had fulfilled his requirements perfectly!

He had spent money and saved time; it was perfect!

Bao Xu left the event location sulking.

What should he do?!

He had thought that he would be safe until the next Best Employee Selection.

He never would have thought that the grand prize for the annual meeting would be a trip —and a trip for two, at that!

It was troublesome enough having to travel alone; how was he going to find a partner to travel with?!

I want to die, I want to die…

He had no clue where he should go either. As he walked, his eyes suddenly brightened. He noticed a familiar-looking figure. Chen Kangtuo!

If his memory didn’t fail him, this fellow had won the same prize.

Bao Xu thought about going to ask Chen Kangtuo what plans the latter had and which city the latter would go to. Perhaps he could tag along.

If Chen Kangtuo was going to plan his own itinerary, Bao Xu would have one less thing to worry about.

At that thought, he silently approached Chen Kangtuo. However, just as he was about to ask Chen Kangtuo the question, he noticed Chen Kangtuo meeting Ye Zhizhou, Hao Qiong, and Lin Wan in secret. The four of them entered the small cafe by the side.

Bao Xu could not help but frown.

Eh? Have they decided where they would go? Or are they trying to work overtime in secret as well?

Bao Xu quickly followed behind Chen Kangtuo.

Lin Wan, Ye Zhizhou, Hao Qiong, and Chen Kangtuo walked into the cafe and found a table. Lin Wan cautiously looked outside the door and asked, “No one followed us, right?”

Chen Kangtuo answered, “I think Brother Bao followed us.”

Lin Wan paused. “Bao Xu? That’s great! Quick, ask him to come over!”

Bao Xu was still standing outside the door, thinking about whether he should enter. At that moment, Chen Kangtuo came out and pulled him in and then invited him to sit down next to him.

Bao Xu was bewildered.

What’s happening? Why are they sneaking around?

It reminds me of how I’m like when I work overtime in secret…

Lin Wan cleared her throat and asked, “Brother Bao, have you thought about where you’re going for your trip? You seem quite experienced in this area.”

Bao Xu was speechless. “…”

Stop rubbing your nose in my business!

With a bitter expression, Bao Xu replied, “Stop talking about it. I’m worried enough about it. I don’t want this experience at all — not in the least bit!”

“But Boss Pei already said that you can’t transfer this prize to someone else,” replied Chen Kangtuo.

Bao Xu nodded helplessly. “That’s right. I’ve already thought about it. Didn’t Boss Pei say that I can choose any city I want? I’m going to choose Jingzhou City! Then, I’ll be able to stay in a five-star hotel in the city and continue to go to work to play games every single day…”

Chen Kangtuo cleared his throat. “Brother Bao, guard your tongue! If you really do that, what kind of impression do you think Boss Pei would form of you?

“Wouldn’t you be shooting yourself in the foot?!”

A realization dawned on Bao Xu.

That’s right!

That would be far too dangerous. Why was he acting like he was not already in enough trouble?!

If he really did that, he would probably win another one-month paid holiday at the next Best Employee Selection.

He was letting his emotions affect his decisions this time. He could not allow that!

Bao Xu sighed, frustrated. “That does seem impracticable.

“What should I do then…? What city are you planning to go to? Can I come along? You can decide on the itinerary, and I’ll just follow behind you and keep myself entertained the entire time.”

Chen Kangtuo smiled subtly and then glanced at Lin Wan.

Lin Wan confidently said, “We’ve already decided to go to Texas in the United States.”

Bao Xu scratched his head. “Texas? Is there anything special about the place?”

Lin Wan answered, “Of course! The scariest haunted house is located there: The ‘Smog Mountain’ State Mental Hospital!

Bao Xu, “???”

He scanned the four other people around the table and realized that each of them had different expressions. Chen Kangtuo looked like he was facing death with equanimity.

Hao Qiong looked both solemn and sorrowful.

Ye Zhizhou looked slightly pale and very apprehensive.

Lin Wan looked to be in the best condition. Her eyes were filled with determination.

Bao Xu was confused. “It’s just a simple trip. Do you have to risk your life…? What’s more, I never knew you all had such a unique hobby.. “Wait… are you trying to get inspiration from there?”

Bao Xu suddenly realized something. Lin Wan and Ye Zhizhou were in charge of a horror game while Hao Qiong and Chen Kangtuo were in charge of a haunted house.

All of them were related to horror!

Lin Wan nodded. “That’s right!

“The horror game and haunted house we’re in charge of are both very important, but progress hasn’t been ideal.

“Bugs keep appearing in the game, and it really isn’t that frightening. As for the haunted house, there isn’t even a concrete plan yet.

“We can’t carry on like this! We have to learn from the most up-to-date experiences and immerse ourselves in such environments. Only then would we be able to complete the task well!

“Brother Bao, you won this prize because of your merit, but apart from you…”

Bao Xu’s expression darkened. What do you mean it was because of my merit?!

Lin Wan continued speaking. “Ye Zhizhou and Chen Kangtuo won a trip as well. It’s obviously fated!

“Heaven is hinting at us to take the chance and collect as much material as we can!”

As Bao Xu looked at the four of them, his mind was filled with one thought.

Nuts! These guys are nuts! Was that haunted house meant for humans?

Bao Xu had heard of the ‘Smog Mountain’ State Mental Hospital before. It was said that it used to be an abandoned hospital in the woods, which had been covered in fog all year round.

Subsequently, local investors had built a haunted house out of the ruins of the abandoned hospital. On the outside, the haunted house looked like a shabby, dilapidated asylum. There was no fixed path inside, and visitors were free to venture around.

The lighting and horrific scenes in the haunted house were apparently very realistic. Many staff would also dress up as ghosts and corpses, who would ‘interact’ with visitors.

It was said that two million US dollars had gone into creating this haunted house. Even if one knew their way around the asylum and sprinted from beginning to end, it would take them close to an hour to complete the entire journey.

If one got lost… how long they would take would depend on their luck.

One had to be above 21 years old to enter the haunted house. They would also have to undergo a simple test to ensure that they could handle the psychological stress. Visitors also had to produce a medical certificate from a doctor, certifying that they were healthy enough to enter the haunted house. Before entering, they would also have to sign a complete indemnity form.

All in all, this was a classic place to spend money in order to be tortured.

The company was paying for this holiday; why were these people using the opportunity to court death? Of course, Bao Xu had no intention to follow suit.

It was painful enough for him to go on another paid holiday, but it would be far more painful to go on a paid holiday to a haunted house!

He would much prefer seeing camels in the Sahara desert to scaring himself in a wretched place like that.

Still, Bao Xu did not give up. He asked, “What about the rest of your itinerary?” Lin Wan asked, “What do you mean by the rest of our itinerary?”

Bao Xu was astonished. “It’s a five-day holiday! The haunted house would only take one day, right? How about the other four days? Will you go shopping nearby?” Bao Xu thought that he could rest in the hotel if the rest were planning to go shopping. He would only have to suffer one day before resting in the luxurious hotel for four days. That sounded quite good.

Lin Wan shook her head. “It’s such an exciting haunted house; how could we finish it in a day?! If we only catch glimpses of everything, we’ll surely forget it all by the time they get back.

“Isn’t Boss Pei providing an additional expense limit? I’m planning to do nothing else in those few days. I’ll keep buying entry tickets to the haunted house and experience it again and again. I’ll try to go three to four times each day; that’ll add up to thirteen or fourteen times in five days. Then, I would probably be able to form a lasting impression.

“By then, we would all be veterans of a hundred battles. We would be filled with inspiration to work on the horror game and haunted house!”

Bao Xu, “???”

He was completely shocked.

Were they human? How could they come up with an itinerary like that?!

They were planning to go to such a horrifying haunted house three or four times a day… were they tired of living?

Lin Wan smiled subtly and asked, “How about that? If you join these three men, you can get two twin rooms. I’ll ask Li Yada along, and it’ll be just right.”

Bao Xu looked confused. “That’s not right. Li Yada and I are in charge of GOG. The horror game has nothing to do with us. You can go and court death if you want; don’t get us involved!”

Lin Wan said seriously, “How can you say that?!

“Tengda Games and Shang Yang Games both operate under Boss Pei. How can you draw such a clear line?! You’ll have to give us suggestions for the horror game when the time comes, too.

“In return, we’ll let you use one of the characters in our horror game as a hero in GOG.”

Bao Xu pondered for a moment. “…No. “One is too few. I need at least two!”

The next day…

Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd….

“Huh? The United States? You’re going to a haunted house?

“I’m the chief planner in charge of GOG now. It won’t be appropriate for me to travel that far for a holiday, right?”

After hearing Lin Wan’s suggestion, Li Yada became confused.

“Why would it be inappropriate? This was a prize from the annual meeting. It’ll be reasonable for us to go and play. It’s completely within the company’s regulations. Boss Pei is a fair and reasonable person. He won’t forbid you from going, for sure.”

Li Yada was speechless after hearing Lin Wan’s nice-sounding words.

I’ll give it a try, then!

I’ll talk to Boss Pei, and see if he’ll allow me —the chief planner of this project—to go overseas on holiday halfway through research and development.

Before applying for leave, Li Yada checked on GOG’s situation and the simplified version released by Dream Realization Ventures.

Simply put, they had already achieved initial success.

The two beta versions could be combined and played together. After this, they would have to fix bugs and continue developing the game. The simplified version produced by Dream Realization Ventures was already being updated in real-time on Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s computers. Furthermore, it was currently getting better feedback than the initial version.

Of course, they could not tell much from the figures in the short-term. They had to observe the situation for a while longer.

However, at the very least, this proved that the suggestions given by Dream Realization Ventures had not been retarded or alien. Instead, they were logical.

Li Yada had no idea why the group of investors at Dream Realization Ventures understood games so well either.

She opened her email inbox and found that He Desheng had sent suggestions on follow-up amendments.

She had to admit that they had been quite hard-working with sending amendments.

In fact, they had been so hardworking that Li Yada was beginning to suspect that the investment firm could not find any new projects to invest in.

Why else would they have nothing better to do every day than to observe GOG and offer suggestions?

Still, this was a good thing. She would not turn down any suggestions she received as long as they were valid.

After filtering He Desheng’s suggestions, Li Yada incorporated the amendments into the work schedule for the following week.

That way, even if Li Yada went overseas, the design team would be able to continue working as planned without affecting the project’s progress.

Now that her work was more or less done, Li Yada stood up and walked towards Boss Pei’s office, prepared to discuss the possibility of a holiday to the United States.