The morning after the awards ceremony, the sign above the door of Division B was removed.
In its place, a sleek, holographic placard was installed. It glowed with a soft blue light, displaying the new name granted by the Chairman: **"Apex Studio."**
Zhong Ming stood in the center of the newly renovated office space. Gone were the dusty partitions and the smell of stale coffee. The company had allocated a significant budget for renovation. The floors were now polished synthetic wood, the lighting was natural and warm, and a dedicated break room with actual food dispensers had been installed.
But the most important change wasn't the furniture. It was the people.
News of *Pocket Monsters* winning Game of the Year had spread like wildfire through the industry. Resumes were flooding Li Cheng's inbox. Experienced developers who had once scoffed at the "pixel game division" were now begging for a transfer.
Zhong Ming stood before a large digital whiteboard. On it, he had written a single word.
**NEXT.**
"We have momentum," Zhong Ming addressed his core team—Wang Hao, Lin Yue, and Old Zhang. They were sitting in the new conference area, looking energized but wary. "We have money. We have attention. If we release a bad game now, the bubble bursts. We need to solidify our position."
"So, what is it?" Wang Hao asked, leaning forward. "A sequel? *Pocket Monsters 2*? Or are we finally doing that 3D action game you talked about?"
"Neither," Zhong Ming said. He tapped his bracelet, bringing up a holographic image of the device everyone in this world wore. The personal terminal. The bracelet. "We are going to conquer the 'Bracelet Market'."
The room fell silent.
The "Bracelet Market" was the domain of casual, time-killing apps. It was considered the slums of the gaming industry—filled with generic puzzles, calculators, and pay-to-win gambling sims. Serious developers made games for consoles or dedicated handhelds, not for the multi-purpose personal terminal.
"Zhong Ming," Li Cheng, who was sitting in on the meeting, spoke up hesitantly. "The bracelet has limited processing power. It's a communication device, not a gaming rig. The controls are touch-based and clunky. It's not a platform for a 'Game of the Year' caliber title."
"That's why we aren't making a 'Game of the Year' title," Zhong Ming countered. "We are making a 'Game of the Moment' title. Something everyone plays. Something your grandmother plays. Something the bus driver plays."
He turned to the whiteboard and drew a simple grid.
"In our current lineup, we have *Pocket Monsters* for the hardcore collectors and RPG fans. It captures the youth. But we are missing the other 80% of the population. The casual market."
He wrote the title: **PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES.**
"Zombies?" Lin Yue frowned. "Again? The market is saturated with zombie shooters. *Resident Evil* clones are a dime a dozen."
"Not a shooter," Zhong Ming corrected. "A garden."
He pulled up a crude mock-up he had made. A suburban lawn. A house. And cartoonish, comical zombies shambling across the grass.
"This is a Tower Defense game," Zhong Ming explained. "But we strip away the complexity. No armies. No resource management beyond sunlight. You are a homeowner. The zombies are coming. You use plants to defend your brain."
He pointed to the screen. "It works perfectly on the bracelet. You use one finger to tap. Tap to plant. Tap to collect sun. Simple. Intuitive. And addictive."
Old Zhang chuckled. "Plants fighting zombies? It sounds absurd."
"Absurdity sells," Zhong Ming said firmly. "The world is too serious. People are tired of tactical realism. They want to see a pea-shooter take down a zombie in a football helmet. It's funny. It's stress relief."
Zhong Ming looked at his team. "I want this released in one month."
"One month?!" Wang Hao stood up. "Boss, we just finished crunching on Pokemon! We're tired! And a one-month dev cycle for a new IP? That's suicide!"
"The core code is simple," Zhong Ming said, tapping into his [System Knowledge]. "I have the logic worked out. It's a grid-based system. We don't need complex physics. We need charm. Lin Yue, I need the plants to look cute but fierce. The zombies need to look goofy, not scary."
He looked at Wang Hao. "I need you to optimize the touch response. Lag is the enemy here."
He turned to the door as it slid open. A young woman stood there, looking nervous. She wore a baggy hoodie and glasses that were too big for her face. She was clutching a folder.
"Excuse me," she squeaked. "I... I'm here for the interview? For the 'Junior Designer' position?"
Zhong Ming looked at her. He had almost forgotten he had scheduled interviews for the new hires.
But then, a prompt flashed in his vision.
**[Talent Scouting Radar Activated.]**
**[Target Detected: Su Xiaoxiao.]**
**[Potential: A-Rank.]**
**[Specialty: Level Design / UX Optimization.]**
Zhong Ming's eyes narrowed. The system rarely gave A-Rank ratings. In his previous life, Su Xiaoxiao had been a legendary level designer for casual games, known for creating tutorials that didn't feel like tutorials.
"Come in," Zhong Ming said, his voice softening. "Wang Hao, take a break. I want to conduct this interview personally."
***
Su Xiaoxiao sat across from the legendary "World Architect." She was trembling. She had graduated from a third-rate design school and had been rejected by every major company. They told her she "thought too small."
"Your portfolio," Zhong Ming said, sliding the tablet back to her. "It's all puzzle games. Simple, 2D puzzles."
"Yes," Su Xiaoxiao stammered. "I know they aren't... impressive. I can't draw 3D models. But I like logic. I like flow."
"Do you think a game needs to be 3D to be good?" Zhong Ming asked.
"No!" she blurted out, then flinched. "I mean... no. I think a game is good if it makes you think, or feel. I played *Pocket Monsters*. It felt... warm. It wasn't just about the graphics."
Zhong Ming smiled. She got it. She understood the philosophy that the rest of the industry had missed.
"We are making a new game," Zhong Ming said, pushing the *Plants vs. Zombies* design document across the table. "It's a tower defense. You place plants on a grid to stop zombies. I need someone to design the levels. Not just 'harder waves', but levels that teach the player new mechanics without using text."
He looked her in the eye. "Can you design a level that teaches a player how to use a 'Wall-nut' without telling them it's a wall?"
Su Xiaoxiao looked at the document. Her eyes scanned the drawings of the Peashooter and the Sunflower. Her trembling stopped. She saw the grid. She saw the logic.
"The first level should be simple," she said, her voice gaining confidence. "One lane. Introduce the Peashooter. Let the player feel power. Level two, introduce the Sunflower. Force the player to plant it first to get economy. Level three, introduce the Wall-nut. Make the zombie reach the wall, attack it, and the Peashooter kills it. The player learns 'Defense + Offense' by watching, not reading."
Zhong Ming leaned back. She was nailing it.
"You're hired," Zhong Ming said.
Su Xiaoxiao blinked. "What? Just like that?"
"You start today," Zhong Ming stood up. "Wang Hao will set you up. We are launching in 30 days. Welcome to Apex Studio."
***
**One Week Later**
Development on *Plants vs. Zombies* was moving at breakneck speed. The code was simple enough for Wang Hao to crank out in his sleep, but the "polish" was where Zhong Ming focused his attention.
"The zombies need to groan," Zhong Ming said in the sound booth with Old Zhang. "But not a terrifying groan. A... funny groan. Like a guy who just wants a snack."
"Brainzzzz..." Old Zhang mimicked into the microphone, tweaking the pitch. "Like this?"
"Perfect."
The art style was coming along beautifully. Lin Yue had nailed the aesthetic. The plants had personality. The Peashooter looked determined. The Sunflower looked happy. The zombies looked hilarious in their mismatched clothing.
Zhong Ming sat in his office late one night, looking at the marketing plan.
This game would not have a massive launch party. It wouldn't have a street team. It was a "freemium" game—a concept he was introducing carefully.
"System," Zhong Ming thought. "Use the [Freemium Monetization Model Blueprint]."
**[Blueprint Applied.]**
The blueprint laid out the psychology. The first few levels were free. Generous. Easy. The player falls in love with the plants. Then, the difficulty curves. The zombies get tougher.
*Option A:* Grind for coins to buy upgrades (Time).
*Option B:* Pay a small fee to unlock the 'Golden Shovel' or a new plant pack (Money).
But Zhong Ming tweaked it. He hated predatory models.
"We will make the paid version ad-free and include a 'Mini-Games' mode," Zhong Ming decided. "The free version gets ads. But the gameplay is never blocked. You can beat the whole game without paying a cent. If you pay, it's because you *want* to support us, not because you have to."
It was a risky move. The board would want aggressive monetization. But Zhong Ming remembered the backlash of the mobile era in his past life. He wanted trust.
He opened the submission portal for the Bracelet App Store.
**[Title: Plants vs. Zombies]**
**[Category: Strategy / Casual]**
**[Price: Free (with Ad-Supported / Premium Unlock).]**
"Upload."
The screen flickered.
**[Upload Successful.]**
**[Pending Review...]**
Zhong Ming stood up and walked to the window. The city lights flickered below. He had the handheld market in a chokehold. Now, he was injecting a virus into the casual market.
A happy, colorful, zombie virus.
"Phase One complete," he whispered. "Handhelds and Mobile. Next... the Living Room."
He looked at his points.
**[Current Points: 75.]**
He was close. He needed the console architecture. He needed to build the machine that would run *Mario*, *Zelda*, and *Dark Souls*.
But first, he had to make sure the plants survived the zombies.