Chapter 4: Assistant
Alex's face flushed at Jane's words. But he instantly recovered, coughing lightly to dispel the awkwardness before beginning to think of an excuse.
"Well, there are a number of reasons..."
Jane, sitting across from him at the table, couldn't help but purse her lips. 'Men's mouths are deceitful!'
"I can accept all the conditions you've mentioned, but I have one request!" Jane said, smiling brightly at Alex.
Alex was paralyzed for a moment. He was still trying to convince her. He wasn't entirely confident about approaching her at first, but he just wanted to try. After all, he knew his situation well. Money? He definitely couldn't get it right now. If he did, he couldn't continue to play. After all, there were still essential resources to buy. Relying on the contacts of young people and veterans? But they weren't your personal friends and had no obligation to help you. Besides, they seemed like empty promises.
But now, was there a possibility?
"What do you want, Jane?" Alex asked Jane.
"One month, and if your game doesn't sell well, you'll have to come work for me!"
"At least two contracts! Of course, as for compensation, I certainly won't try to take advantage of my work as you, my subordinate, would," Jane said with a smile.
Alex was stunned for a moment after hearing Jane's words but then came to his senses. He hadn't thought much about the comic book. After all, there had been quite a few female comic book illustrators in his previous life. For example, 'N', '5', ahem... In fact, Alex didn't know any of these illustrators or their works, much less had he seen them. He had only heard about them from friends.
"And what counts as poor sales?" Alex asked Jane after regaining his sanity.
If the other party said millions of copies, Alex wouldn't feel very confident. After all, this was a parallel world and the gaming environment was very different from his previous life. While piracy was no longer a factor, the market itself was. Without the capital to promote and operate, relying solely on player recommendations would be quite difficult. This includes critically acclaimed indie games from his previous life, which sold millions, even tens of millions. But a more detailed analysis reveals that many of these games only became popular after six months or a year. In the beginning, they were all relatively unknown. Even a powerhouse like The Binding of Isaac was practically unknown in its early days. After all, even good wine needs a bush.
So, if Jane promised a sales target of one million copies, Alex would think it would be better to go it alone. Because if he accepted, with the game he was planning, he would most likely be reduced to a simple book illustrator.
"Uh... 100,000, uh... 50,000 is fine!"
"If sales don't exceed 50,000 in one month from launch, you lose!"
Jane took out her phone, as if she were sending a message. After a minute, she looked up and said a number.
Alex couldn't help but smile confidently at Jane's words. '50,000 sales a month?' Although the video game world was a little different from his previous life, and he didn't have a lot of initial capital. But Alex could only say that this number was completely free.
"No problem," Alex said bluntly.
"Then, Jane, let's officially start tomorrow! I'll go back first to make preparations, see you tomorrow morning!"
After saying this, he waved to Jane without giving her time to react. Alex turned around and left the cafe.
Only Jane was left behind, still a little stunned. "Did I... say too little?"
Thinking about this, Jane quickly opened her communication, looked for a phone number, and dialed it. Two seconds later, the other person answered:
"Jane, you didn't lie to me, did you? Are 50,000 sales in one month really a high volume?" Jane thought about Alex's confidence and felt a little bewildered.
A crisp female voice came from the phone. "Not much, but that's relative. Didn't you ask what sales figures would be considered high for someone creating a game for the first time with little money?"
"No money, and it's your first time, with only a few engine resources available to game designers. It's a disastrous start. Fifty thousand sales is S difficulty, and selling a few thousand copies a month is considered passing."
"Seriously?" Jane was skeptical.
"Of course it's true. It's the criterion of a professional game developer!"
"By the way, Jane, are you planning to create a game? Have you thought about it? I told you to help me with the concept art and character illustrations, and we'll definitely succeed!"
Lisa, on the other end of the line, was visibly excited.
"Lisa, Lisa? What did you say? My signal is bad. Talk to you later!"
Hearing the excited voice on the other end, Jane's expression changed slightly. She pulled the phone away, said a few words, hung up, and let out a long sigh. Then, thinking about what Lisa had said on the phone, Jane couldn't help but smile. Alex had already been categorized as "first time creating a game, broke, super hard difficulty."
'So my assistant problem had finally been solved!'
The only thing she regretted was that the assistant wouldn't officially start working for another two months.
After saying goodbye to Jane, Alex returned to his apartment. After a quick cleanup, he sat down at his desk and looked at his laptop. As a development machine, the computer's specs were decent, at least enough for the Magic Mirror project.
Of course, Alex couldn't develop bigger games right now. He had absolutely no money and didn't have enough access to official engine resources. As for access to resources, there were basically two ways to improve it. The first was to get an officially certified game designer and improve his title. And how to get it? The game's sales and the awards received were factors to consider. The second option was much simpler and more direct: just use financial resources. The amount of resources available depended on the available resources.
However, these aspects were not important to Alex at the moment. And for a game like Magic Mirror, he wouldn't need much. At least for now, Alex's resources are certainly sufficient.
Sitting in front of his computer, Alex worked on the first draft of Magic Mirror, the game design document. Although Alex was the sole developer and Jane only did illustrations, that didn't mean he didn't need a conceptual draft. Like writing the outline of an essay, it can greatly improve efficiency.
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