Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 400: The Butterfly Game
Cui Geng's "Notice of Completion" was written very simply.
"I'm 'The Tentacle Monster Who Desperately Codes,' and there are a few things I want to say to everyone."
"I know many readers hope this book will reach two million, three million, or even five million words—or perhaps never end at all."
"However, my experience writing xianxia/fantasy novels isn't very extensive. The framework of this book was already quite large from the beginning, but the most exciting parts can basically be finished within seven to eight hundred thousand words. Even with some padding, it can only stretch to about one million."
"You may have noticed that the pace of the plot has clearly sped up recently. That's because I've already written close to seven hundred thousand words, which means the story is actually approaching its conclusion."
"I'm afraid that if the book suddenly ends, everyone might not be able to accept it. So I'm giving advance notice: the book will likely finish within one or two weeks. Please prepare yourselves mentally."
"The new book is still being prepared. Once I have a clearer plan, I'll report to everyone immediately."
Sure enough, the comment section had already turned into a scene of collective mourning.
Cui Geng decisively closed the Terminal Chinese Web app without looking at the readers' comments.
After all, he could easily imagine what those comments would look like.
"Let them scold me if they want. As long as I don't read the comments, those curses don't exist."
"Even if I get flamed, I still have to write this idea!"
"I can vaguely feel it—this idea will be the brightest highlight since I started writing!"
Cui Geng opened his computer, created a new document, and quickly began writing down his idea.
"Although the upper limit of urban-themed novels isn't as high as traditional fantasy or xianxia, the readership is definitely huge. It's still a very popular genre."
"However… most urban novels right now rely on mindless power fantasies, showing off, and ambiguous romance—often involving things like special forces protagonists or campus beauties."
"That obviously doesn't fit the story I want to write."
"It can't be brainless bragging, and it also can't have overly heavy preaching or moralizing, because that doesn't match the nature of this idea."
"So the tone of this story should be humorous and lighthearted."
"What I want to give readers isn't the traditional sense of 'wish-fulfillment satisfaction,' but rather the feeling of being like a god—controlling everything…"
As Cui Geng continued brainstorming, he quickly came up with a promising story outline.
The book would be titled "The Butterfly Game."
The protagonist didn't even have a name yet—after all, he was basically just a tool character.
One day, while the protagonist is lazily loafing around at home, a system suddenly descends from the sky. A blue sphere crashes onto his head and merges with him.
He discovers that he can freely summon this sphere and, through it, observe the events unfolding in a parallel world.
The sphere contains a game called "Butterfly Game," named after the Butterfly Effect.
The protagonist is not the creator of this parallel world.
Within the game, he has certain permissions, but he can only make very superficial modifications to the world—like a butterfly gently flapping its wings in the Amazon rainforest.
The objective of the game is to create chain reactions through these small changes, ultimately producing huge impacts on people or events within the parallel world.
At the end, the game evaluates the magnitude of the influence and gives the protagonist a score, rewarding him based on that score.
Through repeated cycles like this, the protagonist's permissions gradually increase, and the scope of his influence grows larger and larger.
Thus, through the butterfly effects he continuously creates, many people's dreams end up being realized—by sheer coincidence…
Cui Geng even quickly thought of the first opening mini-story.
He wanted to write about a poor but determined independent game producer who never gave up on his dream.
This game producer lives in poverty. The games he makes have crude assets, but they're full of sincerity and passion.
However, he has no money for marketing, so his work goes completely unnoticed.
After exhausting every option, the game producer finally decides to give up on his dream and obediently go work at a factory that his family arranged for him.
While observing the parallel world, the protagonist discovers him.
So he uses his limited authority to find a game-review content creator, and with his "cheat ability," makes it so that this content creator just happens to download the game—and start playing it.
Under this content creator's spontaneous promotion, the game suddenly became popular, and its popularity quickly spiraled out of control. From that point on, the independent game producer was able to continue pursuing his dream.
Of course, this was only the first story arc, and relatively simple.
As the plot continues to develop, there will be more complex stories.
For example, in the book there is an extremely wealthy major antagonist—the boss of a gigantic multinational corporation. He loves acquiring game companies around the world that have good reputations, squeezing out the last bit of value from them.
In order to push these companies into debt crises so they have no choice but to sell themselves to him, this villain frequently resorts to underhanded tactics—planting insiders inside the companies, smearing them online, and so on. In short, he will stop at nothing to suppress the companies he has his eye on.
The protagonist's task is to use the Butterfly Effect he controls to change certain small details, causing the villain's plans to ultimately fail and allowing these conscientious game companies to escape the fate of malicious acquisition.
In short, the protagonist uses his cheat-like ability to influence certain people in this parallel world through butterfly effects, helping them achieve their dreams.
These people can belong to any industry: they could be game producers, entrepreneurs, internet café owners, singers, actors, directors, authors, and so on.
Over time, the people the protagonist has helped will begin to help and influence each other, making the development of events even more unpredictable.
As more and more supporting characters gradually grow, and as their life paths begin to intersect, the butterfly effects controlled by the protagonist can exert an even greater influence.
For example:
A child who might originally have dropped out of school, due to one of the protagonist's butterfly effects, receives sponsorship from a kind benefactor. He successfully finishes high school, goes on to complete university with excellent grades, continues through a PhD and postdoctoral research, and eventually participates in the development of an important project.
After the project succeeds, it creates a new industry boom.
Meanwhile, another supporting character's company—originally on the verge of bankruptcy—rides this wave, revives itself, and soars to become an industry giant, profoundly changing the way people live in this world.
In short, through one butterfly effect after another, the protagonist gradually transforms the parallel world into a better and better place.
…
After writing down all these ideas, Cui Geng read through them several times and carefully evaluated them.
"This isn't a traditional kind of wish-fulfillment story, so it definitely carries a lot of risk."
"But that also means opportunity, because it seems no one has written something like this in the urban genre before."
"Readers won't insert themselves into the protagonist. Instead, they'll take on a god's-eye perspective, watching how the entire parallel world changes in unexpected ways because of each butterfly effect."
"This kind of plot should make readers unable to predict what comes next, always anticipating the next twist."
"There won't be those stiff 'showing off and slapping faces' moments. Instead, there will be supporting characters fulfilling their dreams, and a world that keeps getting better."
"The overall tone of the book will lean toward humorous and lighthearted, something relaxing and casual. It should appeal to readers who are tired of the usual 'Don't bully the poor youth' clichés."
"Many business stories can serve as inspiration. Both domestically and internationally there are plenty of examples where empires were built through coincidences."
"Even a lot of Tengda Group's experiences could be used as prototypes—reality is often more exciting than fiction…"
The more Cui Geng thought about it, the more promising the idea seemed.
The concept had flaws—it certainly wasn't perfect.
But what idea ever is?
As long as you innovate, there will inevitably be risks.
With that thought, Cui Geng sent the document to his own email, then deleted the copy saved on the computer.
For an author, ideas are extremely important. If someone else were to see it and spread the concept around, and another writer published it first, that would be a huge problem.
Once everything was done, Cui Geng checked his phone. It was just about time to get off work.
He stood up and headed out.
After going back, he would first focus on wrapping up his current book.
The framework of the story wasn't that large to begin with. If he wrote eight thousand words a day, he could probably finish the originally planned content in just a little over a week.
When the time came, he would decisively end the book. If readers scolded him, then so be it. He would immediately start the new novel at lightning speed and act as if nothing had happened.
For the sake of this new idea, getting cursed at was worth it!
Cui Geng left the game room and happened to run into President Pei, who had just returned to the company.
Seeing Cui Geng coming out of the game room, the smile on Pei Qian's face grew even brighter.
"Come on, I'm treating you to dinner!"
Cui Geng was taken aback. "Huh? But President Pei—"
"—No 'buts.' Just come with me."
Pei Qian didn't give him a chance to refuse. He led Cui Geng straight into the car, preparing to head to Mingfu Family Banquet for a big meal.
Sitting in the car, Cui Geng felt a bit suspicious.
'President Pei looks really happy.'
'Could it be that he already knows today's Tengda Group spirit training was a success?'
'Is he treating me to dinner to give me some encouragement?'
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