Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 414: President Pei Probably Won't Hold a Grudge, Right?
At the same time, Ma Yiqun was also paying attention to Cui Geng's new book.
Although Ma Yiqun was now the CEO of Terminal Chinese Web, and that keeping track of new books should normally be the responsibility of editors and chief editors. However, it happened to be the Spring Festival holiday, and he was idle at home anyway.
Ma Yiqun had long heard about Cui Geng as an author and knew about his "notorious track record."
Still, no matter what, Cui Geng was a talented writer.
A talented but lazy author is still better than someone with no talent who works blindly hard.
After all, web novels are a creative industry. Many times, what matters isn't how fast you write, but how well you write.
If the content isn't good, writing faster only means producing garbage more quickly.
The Butterfly Game had only just started, and the state of the comment section was predictably not very good.
Ma Yiqun ignored the comments and went straight to reading the book.
The opening pacing was very fast. After briefly explaining the protagonist's identity, he immediately obtained his cheat ability. Once the method of using this ability was simply introduced, the story moved directly into the main plot.
On New Year's Eve, Cui Geng had released five chapters in one go, and those five chapters had already completed a small story arc.
From the moment the protagonist obtained permission for "The Butterfly Game," to helping the first supporting character—an independent game producer—achieve his dream.
The content of this first mini-arc was very simple, essentially a preview of the core wish-fulfillment element.
A struggling independent game producer who had fallen into poverty but never gave up on his dream created a game. The game had crude assets but extremely interesting gameplay. However, because he had no money for promotion, the game received no attention.
While observing a parallel world, the protagonist discovered him. Using his special authority, he located a gaming content creator and used his cheat ability to make this creator "coincidentally" download the game and start playing it.
As a result, after the creator showcased the game, it suddenly became popular and quickly exploded in popularity. The independent game producer was finally able to continue pursuing his dream.
After finishing this short story arc, the next thing was a single-chapter author's note posted by Cui Geng.
The note was simple. On one hand, he apologized to all readers for what happened with his previous book. On the other hand, he emphasized that this new novel had been carefully thought through, that the content would definitely be exciting, and asked readers to give it a bit of patience.
During the Spring Festival period, he had decided to stay home and focus entirely on writing, updating ten thousand words every day.
After reading all of this, Ma Yiqun fell into deep thought.
Having written web novels for so long—and recently paying close attention to trends in the web novel industry—he could naturally see certain patterns.
Did this novel have problems?
Definitely.
But it also had advantages.
Most novels currently on the market still relied on the "Don't bully the poor youth" hot-blooded formula. The way they stirred readers' emotions mainly depended on repression, provoking hatred, and revenge—rather simple and crude emotional triggers.
Urban novels had also developed quite well, but overall they still hadn't broken out of this framework. Many "soldier king," "campus beauty," or rebirth stories still relied on traditional showing-off and face-slapping moments as their main points of satisfaction.
However, from its underlying structure, The Butterfly Game was clearly very different from these currently popular novels.
First, while maintaining a fast pace, it restructured the early-stage formula.
Most current novels still follow the so-called "Golden Three Chapters" model— repression → obtaining a cheat ability → face-slapping, all in a fixed loop.
This formula isn't necessarily bad, but it's beginning to feel overused, and many readers feel instinctively tired of it when they see it.
But The Butterfly Game completely abandons this formula.
At the beginning, there is no repression at all. The protagonist immediately obtains the cheat ability, and there is no "face-slapping" plot either. The story goes straight into its own unique type of wish-fulfillment.
Second, the way this novel delivers its sense of satisfaction is completely different from other novels.
Currently, most web novels deliver a "simple and crude kind of satisfaction," commonly known as "showing off and slapping faces."
But the sense of satisfaction in The Butterfly Game is a sneaky, subtle kind of satisfaction. Using the glowing sphere in his hand, the protagonist creates tiny changes in parallel worlds, triggering butterfly effects that eventually lead to interesting outcomes.
The pleasure the protagonist gains isn't as obvious as the traditional "showing off and face-slapping." It's more subtle and restrained, but it can still bring readers a strong sense of mental enjoyment.
Moreover, setting aside the protagonist's sense of achievement, readers can also gain joy by placing themselves in the roles of characters in the story—such as that unsuccessful game producer.
That kind of joy is somewhat like an adult fairy tale.
Everyone knows that most independent game producers face extremely slim chances of success because they lack promotion.
In reality, many indie game developers reluctantly give up on their dreams. But in the novel, the developer's dream comes true because of the "butterfly effect" created by the protagonist. For readers, that in itself is another form of satisfaction.
If the current popular novels are like braised pork, then this novel is more like a simple dish of tomatoes mixed with sugar.
Braised pork is certainly delicious, but when the dining table is filled with nothing but different kinds of braised pork, once a plate of sweet tomatoes is served, it will definitely be snatched up immediately.
Not only that, but Ma Yiqun also felt that he could see a shadow of Tengda Group in this book.
He felt the story seemed to be inspired by President Pei, because when President Pei created Lonely Desert Road, it suddenly became popular thanks to a video by Teacher Qiao.
With the revenue from that game, President Pei had the money to develop Ghost General, and that was how he earned the first pot of gold that allowed him to establish Tengda Group.
So to Ma Yiqun, this story felt especially familiar and close.
Considering all these aspects, Ma Yiqun had a feeling that if this book were written well, it could become a huge hit on the Terminal Chinese Web.
But was the writing of this book perfect?
Ma Yiqun didn't think so.
There were still some areas that could be slightly adjusted, and after making those changes, the book could reach an even higher level.
And since Cui Geng hadn't written much yet, it was still easy to turn the ship around while it was small. Better to modify it quickly now.
Thinking of this, Ma Yiqun directly called Cui Geng.
"Boss Ma, I'm typing right now! Don't worry—I'll definitely write this book properly this time. No more unfinished endings! I'll write at least two million words!"
Before Ma Yiqun even spoke, Cui Geng had already started making promises.
"Heh. Guess how many times you've said that before?"
Ma Yiqun's single sentence left Cui Geng speechless.
"Alright, I didn't call you to talk about that," Ma Yiqun said with a smile as he got to the point. "I do want to talk about your new book. Besides reminding you to write it well and not abandon it halfway, there are also some other things."
Cui Geng paused for a moment. "Please go ahead, Boss Ma."
Ma Yiqun said, "I personally have a few small suggestions. I'll just briefly tell you about them. If you think they're suitable, you can revise them; if not, forget it. Think of it as everyone contributing ideas together to make the book better."
"I'm very optimistic about this book of yours, so I want to help you polish its content even more."
Cui Geng felt somewhat flattered. "Please tell me."
Ma Yiqun sorted out his thoughts and explained his ideas in detail.
"I can tell that the theme of the first small story arc seems to be inspired by President Pei. Tengda Group indeed has many interesting stories, and it's fine to use them as inspiration. However, I think your artistic adaptation isn't quite enough yet."
"My suggestions mainly have two points:"
"First, I think that since the protagonist is purely an observer, his level of involvement in the plot is a bit insufficient."
"There's nothing inherently wrong with making the protagonist a pure tool character—some books do it that way—but if he can be more connected to the plot, it would make things more interesting."
"This is how I imagine it: the glowing sphere the protagonist obtained doesn't show parallel worlds—it shows the real world he lives in."
"And every action the protagonist takes actually changes the real world, gradually making the world he lives in better."
"At the same time, the protagonist can also benefit from his own actions. For example, he helps an entrepreneur build a business empire worth hundreds of billions, and before that empire fully takes shape, the protagonist can invest his own money to buy the company's stock. In that way, he also gains huge returns and changes his own life."
"Moreover, since the protagonist is someone acting behind the scenes, he can also meet those supporting characters in real life, which would lead to many interesting plot developments."
"Second, I think the overall tone of this book could be adjusted."
"The current writing mainly follows a straightforward, positive narrative, where the moments of satisfaction are relatively direct."
"What I mean by direct satisfaction is: I want to do something → I do it → I succeed."
"This kind of writing is certainly safe, but for readers, it might not be particularly captivating."
"I think you could try using a subversive narrative style, further emphasizing the sense of coincidence and unintended consequences in The Butterfly Game, making the satisfaction more twisty and the story more humorous and entertaining."
"To put it simply: I didn't intend to do anything → something unexpected happens → things go against my expectations → but I succeed anyway."
"For example, in the first story arc you wrote, the current outline of the satisfying moment is: the indie game developer wants to succeed → the protagonist helps him through The Butterfly Game → the indie developer succeeds."
"But after modifying it, the outline could become this: the indie developer doesn't even want to succeed—he just wants to make a game to vent his frustration at society. The protagonist thinks the game is interesting and uses The Butterfly Game to help him, and then the indie developer ends up succeeding."
"When writing it, try to use more humorous and witty narration. With that kind of plot, it should stand out among the traditional storylines currently on the market."
"Do you understand?"
On the other end of the phone, Cui Geng fell silent, seemingly trying to digest everything Ma Yiqun had just said.
After a long while, he finally gave a thoughtful "Mm."
"Boss Ma, what you said makes a lot of sense!"
"Indeed, when I was writing this opening, I always felt like something was missing."
"It's like cooking a dish: all the ingredients are there, the heat is just about right, but somehow it's still missing a bit of flavor!"
"If these two points are added, this book will definitely become even more outstanding!"
"But… Boss Ma, I have one concern."
Ma Yiqun replied, "Hm? What concern?"
Cui Geng hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"To be honest, the storyline about this game producer was indeed inspired by President Pei."
"But with the way it's written now, would it be seen as tarnishing President Pei's image?"
"President Pei… wouldn't hold a grudge, right?"
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