When William got back to the office, Claire had already finished several demo samples. After listening to them all, he felt they were pretty good. Besides replacing the missing sound effects, she had even made a special "mute" effect.
With a smile, William said, "How about you make the background music too?"
Claire frowned openly, but still didn't turn him down. "I can try."
"You can do it."
This job was much bigger than making a few sound effects. Claire asked to work on her own computer, and of course William didn't refuse.
If she could pull it off, the studio might not need to hire a sound designer for a while, which could save a good amount of money.
After trying the game with the new sound effects, it was clear that having sound and not having sound were two completely different experiences. Even though the game didn't have grand, sweeping music, a casual game only needed something simple.
William sent the test version to Marcus, telling him not to tell anyone. People who knew Marcus would know he couldn't keep it from his cousin, but William still didn't want any details of the new game getting out—no surprises allowed.
The "1+1+1=0" puzzle could stay a mystery for now.
At noon,
William and Cynthia had lunchboxes from Aunt Oliver, while the others had to order takeout themselves.
After two days of everyone eating at their desks, William added a dining table to the already cramped studio. There weren't enough chairs, so those nearby could stand, others could move their own chairs over, and if it wasn't convenient, they could still eat at their desks—there were no rules about it.
"Yay~!"
Even during lunch, Marcus still had his phone in hand. The sound coming from it slowly started filling everyone's heads.
"Turn off your phone's sound," Cynthia was the first to get annoyed.
Under her glare, Marcus quickly obeyed.
"Nice work," William said.
William took the chance to compliment Claire.
She lowered her head shyly and replied softly, "Mm."
Because Leon and Tina had been working together more over the past two days, they would talk about ideas during lunch without paying attention to anyone else. The others didn't mind and sometimes even joined in.
Character design was very important—especially since William wanted to borrow from historical figures. Finding the right balance was hard. Even though William had added some background details, they were only for reference. Leon's insight was what really mattered.
After all, William didn't know much about these historical figures, and the details he provided often didn't match their real-life images. Luckily, Tina's hobby was studying historical figures, which perfectly made up for William's weak points.
The first character for Honor of Kings was Olivia, the poet and swordsman—famous both for his name and his fighting skill—perfect for a main role in the game.
Leon captured Olivia's style like his poetry—free and romantic.
White robes, a sword at his waist, long hair flowing in the wind, gazing into the distance.
The setting was on Yellow Crane Tower, his eyes filled with sadness at a farewell.
Because of the detailed design, the concept art would take about a week to finish. But that didn't slow Tina down—she could work and make changes as Leon progressed, so their schedules would stay close.
Still, this wasn't a job for just two people. To work faster, they would need to hire more talent, otherwise it might take until next year just to finish all twenty characters.
Whether they could expand the studio depended on the results of the next two games.
As long as there was steady income, everything else could be worked out.
After lunch, Vince from WeChat Games contacted Cynthia. He said there was a meeting he wanted her to attend, and it would be best if she could bring William.
He didn't say exactly what it was, but hinted that it was related to the future of Happy Mahjong—something that had to be taken seriously.
"Southport?"
The headquarters of WeChat Games was in Southport, inside the Tencent building.
"That's right," Cynthia nodded.
William thought for a moment, then decided, "Let's go."
"Okay."
He told the rest of the team. Nobody had much to say—everyone had their own tasks, and whether the boss was there or not wouldn't affect their work. They weren't kids who needed a teacher watching them.
He went home, packed a small bag, and gave Aunt Oliver two days off. Cynthia had booked a 2:30 flight, which meant that night's interview had to be postponed. Angela had planned to come to the studio that night—William had been waiting for the animator to push Journey forward—but now it would have to wait.
While waiting for the flight, William didn't waste time. He pretended to rest with his eyes closed but was actually working in his private space.
He admitted his cutscenes weren't great, but he couldn't let Angela make them however she wanted. He had to prepare the storyboard and camera work in advance, so that once Angela joined the company, she could get to work right away.
After getting on the plane, William realized Cynthia had booked business class. This was his first time sitting in business class.
"Not bad at all."
Cynthia saw William's inexperienced expression and tried hard not to laugh. "Hope you don't mind I booked business class."
"Mind? Why would I mind?" William said casually.
Cynthia winked at him. "Because I'm getting it reimbursed."
"Re…imbursed."
William suddenly realized she really shouldn't be paying for this herself. But he wasn't the same guy who used to watch every penny—this little expense didn't bother him at all.
"Of course. We're on a business trip, after all."
"Alright, I get it."
Even though he didn't care about the money, his excitement cooled a bit. He noticed he still hadn't fully shifted from the mindset of a regular office worker to the owner of a gaming company quietly changing the world. Even with all he had seen, he still tended to overlook things.
Following his rule of not using the internet on planes, William behaved and didn't enter his special space. There was no real conflict between the two, but just in case—he valued his life.
Since Cynthia's mood was still a bit unpredictable, and talking loudly on a plane was impolite, William ended up taking his first nap since arriving on Blue Star—better than he had ever slept before.
Of course, it would've been even better if they could turn off the plane's engines. The noise was giving him a headache.
"You really should get some rest."
William opened his eyes to the sound of Cynthia saying this as a flight attendant woke him up.
Southport. They had arrived.