"This game is trash! I'm out!"
TankTop's scream echoed across the barren, grey wasteland. His HP bar was flashing red. The poison gas from the spawn point was still hissing, and three skeletons were closing in, their rusty swords raised high.
Beside him, DarkElf_Waifu was panting, her avatar stumbling over the uneven terrain.
"There's no counterplay!" she yelled, looking up at the sky. "Dev! Do you hear me? This isn't 'hardcore', it's unplayable! I'm uninstalling in three seconds!"
Fang stood on the high ridge, looking down at the chaos.
His expression remained cold, but his eyes narrowed slightly.
He checked the [System Interface].
[Alert: Player 'TankTop' Dissatisfaction Level: 98%]
[Alert: Player 'DarkElf_Waifu' Dissatisfaction Level: 95%]
[Warning: Players are preparing to Force Log Out. If they leave now, your Retention Rate will drop to 0%.]
Fang clicked his tongue.
"Tch."
He enjoyed their despair. He enjoyed the rapid influx of coins from their fear. But he was a businessman first, a sadist second.
If they left, he would have an empty server. An empty server generated zero revenue.
"You can shear a sheep many times," Fang muttered, reciting an old proverb, "but you can only skin it once."
He had skinned the first player instantly. It was a mistake. He needed these two to survive. He needed them to feel the hook.
"System," Fang commanded, his voice sharp.
"Open the [Live Patch] console."
[Console Opened.]
"Reduce Skeleton Agility by 40%. Reduce Skeleton Attack Power by 20%. Deactivate the Poison Gas Vent."
[Ding!]
[Adjustments applied. Cost: 10 Creation Coins.]
Below, the changes were instantaneous.
The green smog choking the spawn point dissipated into thin air. The skeletons, which had been sprinting like Olympic athletes, suddenly jerked and slowed down, their movements becoming clunky and predictable.
"Now," Fang said, looking at his coin balance. He had harvested 180 Coins from their terror so far. "I need to give them a playground."
He opened the [Architecture & Environment] tab.
The grey wasteland was too open. There was no cover. No strategy. Just death. Players needed obstacles to feel clever.
[Purchase: Basic Wooden Fence (x10) - 20 Coins]
[Purchase: Old Oak Tree (x5) - 25 Coins]
[Purchase: Dilapidated Shack (x1) - 50 Coins]
"Deploy," Fang ordered. "Drag and drop."
[Ding!]
[World Update Initiated!]
Down on the battlefield, TankTop was bracing for the killing blow. He squeezed his eyes shut.
"Screw this game!"
BAM!
A massive sound, like thunder, shook the ground.
TankTop opened his eyes.
A large, thick oak tree had erupted from the ground right in front of him, blocking the skeleton's sword.
"What the...?" TankTop gasped.
CRASH!
A wooden shack materialized out of thin air ten meters away, its door hanging off the hinges.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
A line of wooden fences slammed into the earth, creating a perfect defensive perimeter around the shack.
[Global Notification: The Developer has updated the map!]
[System Message: Difficulty Adjustment - The tutorial phase has been stabilized.]
DarkElf_Waifu's eyes went wide.
"Live updates? He's changing the map in real-time?"
"Run to the house!" TankTop shouted, his gamer instincts kicking in.
"Use the choke point!"
The two players scrambled toward the newly spawned shack. The skeletons pulled their swords out of the trees and pursued, but they were noticeably slower now. They shambled instead of sprinted.
TankTop vaulted over a wooden fence. DarkElf_Waifu slid behind the door frame of the shack.
"They're slower!" DarkElf_Waifu realized. "We can kite them!"
"He nerfed them," TankTop grinned, wiping sweat from his forehead. "The Dev actually listened! He realized we were about to quit!"
Fang, watching from the cliff, scoffed.
"I didn't listen. I just decided to let you live a little longer."
[Ding!]
[Quest Timer: 00:00]
[Objective Complete: Survive 5 Minutes.]
A golden light bathed the two exhausted players.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! Reward Distribution: Starter Weapon Box.]
Two wooden crates appeared at their feet. They didn't hesitate. They smashed them open.
[TankTop received: Rusty Iron Mace (Common)]
[DarkElf_Waifu received: Hunter's Short Bow (Common) + 20 Arrows]
TankTop grabbed the mace. It was heavy, covered in rust, but it was better than his bare fists.
"Payback time," TankTop growled.
He didn't run away this time. He stepped out from behind the fence.
A skeleton lunged at him. TankTop sidestepped and swung the mace with all his strength.
[-45 HP!]
The skeleton's skull fractured.
"Nice hit!" DarkElf_Waifu shouted. She nocked an arrow and fired.
The arrow lodged in the skeleton's ribcage.
[-20 HP!]
"They have health bars now!" DarkElf_Waifu cheered. "We can actually kill them!"
Fang watched the turnaround. Their fear was gone, replaced by the thrill of combat.
The "Despair" income had stopped.
[Despair Income: 0 Coins/sec]
However, Fang wasn't worried. He leaned forward, his eyes glued to the stats.
"Come on," he whispered. "Kill it."
TankTop roared and delivered a final, crushing overhead smash. The skeleton crumbled into a pile of dry bones.
[Ding!]
[Player 'TankTop' has killed 'Skeleton Minion'!]
[Experience Points (XP) Distributed.]
A white light flashed around TankTop.
[Ding!]
[Player 'TankTop' has leveled up! Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2!]
And then, a different sound rang in Fang's head.
A sound he hadn't heard yet. A sound sweeter than the despair coins.
[Ding!]
[Revenue Generated!]
[Standard Income: Player Level Up Bonus.]
[+100 Creation Coins!]
Fang's eyes widened. He froze.
100 Coins?
Despair gave him 10x coins for suffering, but the base game mechanics... they paid out for progress too.
"I see," Fang said, a dark realization dawning on him. "If I just kill them, I get a one-time payment. But if I let them level up... if I let them grind..."
He looked at TankTop, who was celebrating, high-fiving DarkElf_Waifu.
"I get paid for their work."
It was the ultimate capitalist trap.
If he made the game impossible, they quit. If he made it too easy, they got bored. But if he found the perfect balance—the struggle, the near-death experience, followed by the sweet release of victory and a Level Up—he could farm them forever.
[Ding!]
[Player 'DarkElf_Waifu' has killed 'Skeleton Minion'!]
[Player 'DarkElf_Waifu' has leveled up! Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2!]
[+100 Creation Coins!]
"200 coins in ten seconds," Fang grinned. His balance was back up to nearly 400.
The investment in the trees and the shack had already paid for itself.
Below, TankTop was laughing. "Dude! Did you see that XP bar? It jumped like 50%! This grind is amazing!"
"The loot!" DarkElf_Waifu pointed at the bone pile. "It dropped a copper coin!"
They were hooked.
Fang stood up and brushed the dust off his coat.
"System," he said.
"Upgrade the [NPC Generator]. Unlock 'Tier 1: Zombie Wolves'."
[Cost: 300 Coins. Confirm?]
"Confirm."
He wasn't going to let them get comfortable. They had their moment of triumph. They had their dopamine hit. Now, it was time to tighten the noose again.
"They think they won," Fang said, watching the two players rush toward the next skeleton, hungry for more XP.
He turned his back to the cliff, walking toward his terminal to plan the next expansion.
"They don't realize they just clocked in for their shift."
[Global Notification: The Tutorial is complete.]
[Zone 1 Unlocked: The Whispering Forest.]
[New Monster Type Detected: Zombie Wolves.]
Down below, TankTop's smile faltered. A howl pierced the air.
"Uh, Elf?" TankTop said, gripping his mace tighter.
"Did you hear that?"
Fang watched the income stream fluctuate.
[Current Strategy: Hybrid.]
[Harvest Despair during the struggle. Harvest Revenue during the victory.]
"Perfect," Fang whispered.
He tapped the screen.
[Construction: Hidden Dungeon Entrance.]
He placed it right behind the new shack.
"Let's see how you handle a Boss Room."