Having descended to the ground, Fang Cheng looked around and found the atmosphere here to be quite oppressive.
The planet was far from the sun, and the surface was enveloped by a layer of dust, casting the ground into a dim light, constantly shrouded in a gloomy ambiance.
From what he saw on the devices, there had once been a civilization here, resembling a sort of medieval world with swords and magic, but similarly devoid of humans.
This puzzled Fang Cheng.
In his past life, he had also traversed the void, witnessing many civilizations and even discussing the mysteries of the great Dao with cultivators from different civilizations.
The entire universe was bustling with activity, with countless experts capable of traversing the void.
However, a thousand years later in the present, nearby civilizations had all perished, with only a few once-great creations barely clinging to life, and not a single one of those able to traverse the void remained, leaving him the sole Immortal of this realm.
What on earth had happened during these thousand years?
Sighing at the changes that had taken place, Fang Cheng stepped onto the ground to begin his inspection of the place.
Here, there was a very special structure, that is, the dungeon.
With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Fang Cheng discovered that there were numerous dungeons scattered across the entire planet, each one layered and extending downwards, all the way to the Earth's Heart.
Within these dungeons, there were various traps and mechanisms, different types of monsters, and each dungeon would constantly change at random over time. And at the bottom of the dungeons, there were powerful dungeon guardians, as well as some anthropomorphic statues.
Although there were many points worth exploring here, Fang Cheng's focus was elsewhere.
He was here to make a game.
According to his interpretation of romance movies, novels, and games, love should come with rescue and being rescued, redemption and being redeemed, accompanied by a lot of hardships and random obstacles before success can be achieved.
And while players nowadays liked to actively pursue love, even such pursuit needed a reason; therefore, having the statue-like princess revive after being saved and immediately falling for the player would suffice.
Add attribute development to give players a sense of achievement throughout the process, fitting the concept of attribute growth well.
Consequently, players needed to continuously strengthen themselves, defeat monsters, and ultimately rescue the princess from the dungeon.
Though they said they didn't want it, players seemed to like harem situations, so allowing players to rescue a princess with each dungeon they cleared perfectly captured this harem feeling.
Of course, the princess couldn't be completely helpless, so by adding some special mechanics to the princess, she could become a support to the player, making it easier for them to challenge more difficult dungeons as their circle of rescued princesses grew.
Furthermore, there were various pieces of equipment, items, and magic spells in the dungeons that could also be utilized, allowing players to become addicted to collecting and making the romance even sweeter.
After thinking for half a day, Fang Cheng became more and more excited, more and more delighted with his ideas.
Making games was actually quite interesting.
Mana began to extend, Immortal Spells started to be cast, and his vast Divine Sense enveloped the entire planet, beginning to reshape it according to his own ideas.
Only after the initial reshaping was complete did he, contented, leave behind a Gathering Spirit Array to encapsulate the Immortal Spell, and then he left, returning to Blue Star.
After freshening up simply in his apartment, he picked up his phone, feeling refreshed, to find that there were hundreds of missed calls.
After calling his mother back, the phone was answered after more than ten seconds, followed by his mother's scolding voice, "Where have you been? You haven't become a monk, have you?"
"Not in this lifetime."
"As if you became one in your last life."
"Hmm."
Mother was taken aback for a moment, then continued, "Where have you been these past half a month?"
"Half a month?"
Confused, Fang Cheng looked at the time and realized that it had indeed been half a month since he started reshaping the planet.
There are no years in cultivation, and when inspiration strikes, it could be a decade.
Reminding himself to definitely set an alarm next time, Fang Cheng listened as his mother continued, "You've also graduated from the panda training base..."
"It's Tianxiong, we don't do pandas."
"It's pretty much the same. Since you've graduated, then find a good company to really learn something. I know someone whose son works at Tianyi, when you have time, treat him to a meal, see if you can spend some time at Tianyi to learn."
Fang Cheng was about to say that he could have gotten in on his own, but considering that KongKong, the producer, wasn't very bright, he thought better of it.
But this was a labor of love from his mother which he couldn't let go to waste, so Fang Cheng agreed to her request.
"There's nothing else, your dad and I are both doing well. When you have time, come home and your dad will make you some soy-sauce meat."
Mr. Fang had once been a chef in a restaurant, and his soy-sauce meat was nothing short of miraculous in its deliciousness, almost unbelievably so.
Immortals didn't need to eat, but this particular dish made Fang Cheng easily reminisce about the past; eating it was full of sentiment, prompting him to promise he'd visit when he had the time.
After dealing with his parents, next up was Mr. Shen.
Mr. Shen didn't have much to say, merely asking how the studio was doing and the progress of the game.
There was also the matter of the tea leaves from before, which had nothing to do with hair loss; he just remembered enjoying them.
After Fang Cheng promised to send some more tea later, Mr. Shen hung up the phone, content.
Finally, among the hundreds of calls, there was one from Xu Qingling.
This girl called two times each in the morning, afternoon, and evening, doubling her efforts on the weekends, a testament to her perseverance.
Apart from calls, she also sent text messages from time to time.
"Boss, good morning, are you coming to work today?"
"Boss, are we working today?"
"Boss, if you're not working, then don't, but can you reply?"
"Boss, are you still alive?"
"Boss, could it be that I'm the one who died, so you can't see my messages?"
"Boss, the recruitment ad is ready, when will you come?"
"Boss, a new person came, I can't tell if they're good or bad, but since they seem to know what they're talking about, I let them stay."
"Boss, how should we handle the salary? Although the newcomer said they're willing to work without pay, I still feel awkward about it."
"Fang Cheng, please come back soon!"
Reading through all these calls and texts, Fang Cheng was immediately flooded with guilt.
I'm sorry, Xu Qingling.
I'll make it up to you in the future.
He quickly teleported to the company restroom and strode into the office, only to see Xu Qingling at the reception desk, giving him a look of reproach.
Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was disheveled, and she was propping her chin up with her hands, looking every bit the abandoned Faithful Dog Hachiko filled with resentment.
Even as an Immortal, faced with such reproach, he couldn't help but avert his eyes.
Then he heard Xu Qingling sigh and step forward to ask, "Boss, where have you been?"
"I suddenly got inspired and stayed home to work on the game for over ten days; completely forgot about everything else."
"I guessed as much. The recruitment ad is all set, and I've drawn up the company's attendance policy. I understand that game development doesn't need to be too strict, as long as people aren't too casual and they complete their assigned tasks within the set time. The attendance policy I put together isn't very strict."
"The salary is initially in line with the industry average, and we can reconsider other options once the studio has a stable income. There's also the weekend days off, one day of annual leave per month, and holiday arrangements, etc. Do you see any issues with that?"
After reviewing it, Fang Cheng saw no issues and decisively signed off on it.
Putting down the pen, Fang Cheng asked, "Didn't you say we had a new person? Where are they?"
"Over there."
Following the direction Xu Qingling was pointing, Fang Cheng saw a tall and skinny young man squatting at his desk, scribbling eagerly on a piece of paper.
When Fang Cheng approached, the young man glanced up through his glasses, silently handed over a notebook, and said in a soft voice, "These are the issues I've summarized for 'The Forest's Second Son' and 'Towards Death and Life.' Please let me know if there are any errors."
Looking at the thick notebooks, Fang Cheng's face showed a pleased smile.
This person, I'll keep!