Suddenly, Pei Qian felt as though his financial prospects had brightened significantly!
Before, he'd only had 50,000 yuan in system funds—perhaps too little to justify hiring an employee.
But now, he had a hefty 300,000 yuan available in the system's funds!
Surely, hiring an employee was now perfectly reasonable?
Reflecting on his painful failure, Pei Qian briefly summarized the lessons learned:
First, his luck had been disastrously bad.
Who could've imagined a casual, hastily made garbage game would catch the attention of a somewhat popular gaming influencer? Without Teacher Qiao's interference, Pei Qian would've easily succeeded in losing money.
Second, he was beginning to doubt his own abilities.
Was it possible he was simply too intelligent, thereby losing money incorrectly?
Some people desperately tried to make money, yet failed repeatedly.
Others desperately tried to lose money, yet still somehow ended up profiting!
Pei Qian now suspected he belonged to the latter category.
Clearly, he needed help.
He needed employees!
If he could hire some professional slackers to manage projects, wouldn't he comfortably and effortlessly lose all his funds?
Suddenly, Pei Qian was no longer irritated by Ma Yang—even though Ma Yang had just sabotaged his game.
'Ma Yang truly is a gift from heaven!'
'A professional-level slacker—isn't he exactly the ideal employee I've been searching for?'
Pei Qian briefly considered inviting other classmates too.
After all, if one sheep could be herded, so could many. Hiring more people at higher salaries would only accelerate his losses.
But he quickly dismissed the idea.
Most students at Handong University were intelligent, driven, and capable.
Ma Yang was an incredibly rare exception—a once-in-a-lifetime slacker.
If he brought anyone else on board, there was a genuine risk they might actually succeed, leaving Pei Qian in tears once again.
Resolutely, Pei Qian called Ma Yang outside the dormitory.
"What's up, Brother Qian? Do you have a secret strategy to discuss?" Ma Yang looked eager, assuming Pei Qian wanted to talk gaming tactics.
"I've recently been making games independently and I'm short-handed. Interested in joining me?" Pei Qian bluntly asked, knowing Ma Yang wasn't the type to handle complicated discussions.
Ma Yang was briefly stunned, then quickly shook his head. "Are you joking? We have so many classes this semester, and you're thinking about doing something like this?"
After a pause, he continued skeptically, "You're not seriously fooled by the illusion created by that garbage indie game, are you? The success of Lonely Desert Road was pure luck. Besides, game development burns money—where are you getting that money?"
Pei Qian coughed lightly. "To be honest, I'm actually secretly a rich second-generation kid. My family gave me 300,000 yuan—is that enough?"
Ma Yang opened and closed his mouth a few times, before finally squeezing out a few words. "You're… you're serious? You're really not kidding me?"
Ma Yang didn't know much about Pei Qian's family background, but he knew Pei Qian wasn't the kind of person to make tasteless jokes.
Only then did Ma Yang start taking this seriously.
"But aside from money, what about other problems?" Ma Yang pressed on.
Pei Qian replied with a counter-question, "Aside from money, are there any real problems?"
Ma Yang hesitated, "Well, can you draw? Can you code?"
Pei Qian shook his head. "Nope. But is that really an issue? Can't we just buy resources online and hire professionals?"
Ma Yang stared blankly, unsure how to process this conversation.
Wasn't this way too irresponsible?!
Even if you had money, this wasn't how you were supposed to waste it!
Pei Qian patted Ma Yang on the shoulder reassuringly. "Relax, I just want to ask you one question: are you joining or not? If you're willing, I'll reserve a spot for you on my design team."
Ma Yang hesitated. "Brother Qian, with our relationship, I should be helping you unconditionally. But neither of us knows a thing about game development! Even if this 300,000 yuan is from your family, you should still reconsider carefully. Don't make impulsive decisions."
"I'd feel terrible if that 300,000 yuan ended up wasted. Seriously, I can't join you."
Pei Qian was speechless. He'd never imagined that Ma Yang's conscience would be the biggest obstacle here.
But on second thought, Ma Yang was indeed slow, but he was undoubtedly an honest, genuinely kind-hearted person.
Since Pei Qian couldn't reveal the truth about the system's origin, he had to claim to be a rich second-generation kid using family money. Now, Ma Yang was worried about causing Pei Qian to lose money, making him reluctant to join.
Pei Qian had no choice but to use his previous "success" as proof:
"Actually, I've already made a game and earned some money from it."
Ma Yang blinked in confusion. "What game?"
Pei Qian coughed awkwardly. "Lonely Desert Road."
Ma Yang nearly spat out in shock. "You made that idiotic game?!"
Earlier, Ma Yang had even complained to Pei Qian about how heartless the creator of such a ridiculous game must have been—completely unaware he was criticizing Pei Qian himself!
Pei Qian helplessly nodded. "Yes, that was me…"
The atmosphere became extremely awkward.
After blinking a few times, Ma Yang quickly gave Pei Qian a thumbs-up, switching to admiration mode. "Impressive, Brother Qian! Who knew you had such talent in game design? With how popular this game became, you're practically a genius! No wonder I felt some strange sense of familiarity when playing it!"
Pei Qian almost burst out laughing. This Ma Yang sure changed faces quickly.
"Alright, alright, enough with the flattery. I'll just ask you plainly: are you joining or not? I'll pay you a salary of 3,000 yuan a month. You won't be responsible for profits or losses," Pei Qian said directly.
Hearing this, Ma Yang's attitude completely changed. He quickly nodded. "No problem! I'll follow you, Brother Qian! You know me—I may not have many strong points, but I'm definitely reliable!"
Knowing Pei Qian had already produced a successful game completely changed Ma Yang's perspective. Now, he saw this wasn't just a casual idea; Pei Qian was genuinely onto something promising. Naturally, Ma Yang was now eager to join.
Pei Qian enthusiastically agreed, "Exactly! Reliability is precisely why I chose you! By the way, don't tell anyone about this yet—I believe you're the most talented one among all my classmates. I haven't asked anyone else."
Ma Yang smiled brightly. "No worries, no worries!"
"Alright, that's settled." Pei Qian had nothing more to say. "There's still a lot of early-stage preparation to be done. You do your own thing for now—I'll update you when there's progress."
Ma Yang nodded earnestly. "No problem! I'll stop by the bookstore this afternoon to buy some professional game design books and start studying right away. Trust me—I definitely won't drag you down!"
Ma Yang returned to the dorm, immediately gathering his things to head out.
Internally, Pei Qian silently screamed, "Actually, you don't need to study at all…"
He raised his hand as if to say something, but ultimately kept quiet.
He suddenly wondered if bringing Ma Yang on board was really the right choice.
Someone so diligent and responsible—could he really help Pei Qian fulfill his goal of losing money?
But then Pei Qian quickly reminded himself of the truth:
From years of experience knowing Ma Yang, he understood that Ma Yang truly was reliable—reliably incompetent, at least.
Even if Ma Yang studied tirelessly from professional books, it wouldn't change the outcome much.