Monday, August 17.
Sunlight streamed through the windows.
After the chaos of moving, Lu Ye planned to sleep in, lazily yawning in bed. But a sudden boom from the living room jolted him awake.
"Wh—What the hell?!" Lu Ye tumbled out of bed, yanking off his blanket.
Eevee was still sound asleep, curled up snugly. On the ceiling, Haunter lounged on the chandelier, swaying lazily.
Glancing at the fish tank, Lu Ye realized Squirtle was nowhere to be found!
A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead. Judging by the sound, the noise had come from the second floor.
Maybe Squirtle had slipped and fallen?
"Just yesterday, I was praising them," Lu Ye muttered with an awkward smile. "No way they've already started digging holes…"
But the booming noise had been so intense it made the bed shake.
Wiping his forehead, Lu Ye cautiously opened the bedroom door.
His expression immediately darkened.
Near the staircase, the floor had caved in, revealing a gaping hole. Jagged wooden beams were exposed, and sawdust floated in the sunlight.
The two floors… had been completely connected by this hole.
Lu Ye froze, then stumbled toward the opening to look down.
On the first floor, Squirtle lay snoring in its shell.
"What… what is this?" Lu Ye's brain short-circuited.
Did I just wake up to find my house nearly destroyed?!
"I must be dreaming…"
He stepped back into his room, closed the door, then reopened it to check again.
The same gaping hole greeted him.
Lu Ye gasped.
"Squirtle! Explain yourself!"
Wasn't this supposed to happen at the club?!
Why did you dig straight through my house in the middle of the night?
You've taken backstabbing to a whole new level!
"Squirtle?"
Hearing the commotion, Squirtle poked its head out of its shell, dazed.
It had spent the whole night dreaming about the mechanics of Dig and had even imagined itself swimming.
When it woke up, it realized it had mastered the move!
"Squirtle!" Squirtle patted itself on the shoulder, marveling at its own brilliance.
Then, as it took in the surroundings—and Lu Ye's complex expression—it suddenly sobered.
"Squirtle…"
Squirtle promptly admitted fault, laying flat on the floor with a pitiful look.
Lu Ye took a deep breath.
This guy didn't seem to have done it on purpose. And learning a new move was an exciting accomplishment.
Still…
"Why does my heart hurt so much?" Lu Ye murmured, his feelings mixed.
This is some next-level manipulation!
"I celebrated too soon!"
He slapped his forehead in frustration.
Now even backstabbing has evolved into a strategic art?
Gritting his teeth, he pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of Squirtle lying on the floor.
When in doubt, post it in the group chat first!
The caption read: [How could I even say anything?]
The image, featuring Squirtle's miserable look, was destined to become a classic meme. For a moment, Lu Ye's mood lightened.
Though the house was almost destroyed… at least he got a meme out of it.
[Lu Ye: This is a total loss, damn it! (╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴]
The chat quickly buzzed with notifications.
[Gold: The power of Dig is no joke!]
[Yellow: 'How could I even say anything?' Squirtle.JPG]
[Lorelei: Training Dig at home without damaging the foundation. Classic Teacher Lu!]
[Blue: If possible, try training outdoors next time, Teacher Lu.]
Tears welled up in Lu Ye's eyes.
You think I don't want that?
I never even intended to let them touch the Dig TM!
---
After contacting the neighborhood committee, he hired a repair crew to fix the gaping hole near the stairs.
Squirtle, aware of its mistake, was unusually subdued—even eating without energy.
"Eevee!" (Training secretly and not inviting me?!)
Eevee smacked Squirtle on the head in frustration.
Lu Ye smirked.
"Listen to your boss more often, and you wouldn't make these mistakes."
Squirtle nodded earnestly, reflecting on its failure.
Clearly, the main problem was not training with the boss.
"Squirtle!" Squirtle posed confidently, as if to say, "I understand everything now."
Lu Ye's expression turned skeptical.
Are you really reflecting, or just brainstorming your next renovation idea?
"Take this seriously!"
"Squirtle, Squirtle!"
Squirtle scratched its head sheepishly.
Don't worry, I've got this!
---
The repairs were estimated to cost over 30,000 Pokedollars and would take some time to complete.
After calculating his finances—including recent income from the Cynthia promotion—Lu Ye was 5,000,000 Pokedollar in debt but had about 20,000 Pokedollars in liquid funds.
There was enough to develop a new game.
Worried the three Pokémon might cause more trouble, he recalled them into their Poké Balls and headed to a café with his laptop to draft his next game.
"Eevee?"
Eevee tapped the menu, pointing at a tempting-looking cream cake.
Lu Ye blinked.
The Pokémon whose cream was perpetually regenerating… the ultimate café mascot.
"Sure, let's get one. And one for me too," he said to the server. Glancing at Squirtle, who was unusually quiet, he added with a grin, "Go ahead, order whatever you want."
Startled, Squirtle's eyes filled with tears as it nodded.
"Squirtle!"
The vibrant cake, topped with sugar and cream, delighted the Pokémon as they buried their faces in it.
Smiling, Lu Ye opened his laptop and began drafting his next game: Gold Miner.
This project would be simpler than the last. With the framework in place, it could be finished in a week.
However, Lu Ye planned to enhance it beyond the original, tailoring it for the Pokémon World.
Players would choose starter Pokémon—like Eevee or Pikachu—to assist in mining. These Pokémon could break rocks, shock wild Pokémon, and more.
The mining goals included Gold Nuggets, Fossils, Evolution Stones, and even Mega Stones.
Excavated minerals would strengthen the Pokémon, aiding their evolutions and expanding the mining crew.
As players progressed, they could unlock Pokémon like Sandslash, Dugtrio, and Beldum.
Unlike the basic points system of the original, the Pokémon version would lean toward Roguelike mechanics, with each mining session boosting Pokémon strength.
More importantly, as a weakly-connected online game, Lu Ye could even team up with Cynthia to mine all night long!
"Who I play with doesn't matter," Lu Ye murmured, stroking his chin. "It's all about the mining."
Like his previous project, this would be a buy-once, standalone game available on the ORAS platform.
Feeling inspired, Lu Ye nodded.
Paying off debts and getting rich? Just a matter of time!