"Boss, I want to resign."
"Boss, me too."
Inside Mikufu's game development division, several developers arrived together at the department head's office and submitted their resignation letters.
These were all core members of the team—top-tier developers with solid skills, veterans who had participated in the development of multiple well-received games.
The department head frowned. "Why? Are you dissatisfied with your pay?"
"No, that's not it. It's for other reasons."
Their expressions were a little awkward at first.
But very quickly, they steadied themselves.
"Other reasons? I think… all right, I think I know why."
The department head had been about to ask further, but he seemed to realize something and sighed. He gathered their resignation letters and said, "There are still some procedures to go through. Don't rush to leave just yet, okay?"
"We'll follow the formal resignation process. We just don't want to keep working at this company anymore."
The department head softly reassured them, watched them leave, then took the resignation letters and stepped out of his office.
As soon as he exited, he noticed several people at their desks peeking at him, clearly watching to see what he would do next.
But the moment he looked back at them, they quickly ducked down, pretending to be busy with work that barely existed.
Recently… all game development had effectively come to a halt.
Originally, Mikufu's game division had three or four projects in active development.
But morale had plummeted.
The main reason came from outside—rumors, gossip, and endless chatter.
At first, it was just idle talk. Gradually, more and more people joined in, and Mikufu had become a laughingstock in many people's eyes.
All because of a game whose reputation was now slowly reversing.
Infinite World.
The game that had broken away from Mikufu and instead thrown itself into the arms of Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.
The department head felt a deep sense of regret.
If he had been firmer back then—if he had stood with that developer and insisted on continuing to properly develop Infinite World—the outcome might have been very different.
But there were no "ifs" anymore.
With heavy steps, he walked to Mayron Kess's office.
"Come in."
Hearing the knock, Mayron Kess allowed him in while continuing a call with a supplier.
"I've already told you—the price of this chip has to be reduced by another ten percent."
"That's absolutely impossible, Mr. Mayron Kess. We're already selling at a loss. If we lower it further, I can't answer to our shareholders."
Mayron Kess shook his head. "That's not my concern. This chip is optional for us, but for you, this is a rare and valuable order. You must lower the price enough for me to buy. You can rest assured, though—once volume reaches a certain scale, you'll make a profit later on, and a massive one."
"Frankly speaking, I can't gamble on uncertain future outcomes."
Mayron Kess replied flatly, "Then think it over. I've got other business to attend to—several suppliers are waiting on me."
"I—"
Mayron Kess decisively hung up the phone and turned to the head of the game development department.
"What is it?" he asked. "What do you need?"
"Boss, today more than a dozen game developers have submitted resignations together."
"Hmm? More than a dozen? Why so many?"Mayron Kess looked surprised.
"Um… have you not been following any gaming news lately?"
"I don't really pay attention to that. As long as games make money, that's enough. Why bother with news? Is this about Gamestar Electronic Entertainment again?"
"No—not exactly their moves, but it does have something to do with them."
"What exactly?" Mayron Kess asked, suddenly more interested.
"It's about a game we previously handed over to their group—one that became part of their lineup."
"Oh, I think I remember… that game… what was it called again?"
"Infinite World."
"Right, Infinite World. So what about it?"
"The game is selling very well now. Recent sales have exceeded another one million copies."
"One million?" Mayron Kess scoffed. "Are you joking? That game can still sell a million copies? Wasn't its commercial value already completely squeezed dry?"
"Well… the game has been receiving continuous updates. A lot of content has been added to what was originally an empty shell, making it much more fun. Players started buying and playing again."
"You can do that?"Mayron Kess was genuinely surprised.
"Are these updates paid?"
"No, they're all free."
"Then did the price go up?"
"No. It's actually on sale—more than seventy percent off. It's only selling for seven dollars now."
"That's it?"Mayron Kess laughed.
"Isn't that just losing money to make noise?"
"From the looks of it… yes."
"Then what's there to worry about? Even if it sells another million copies, seven dollars times two million is only fourteen million in revenue. The cost of continued free updates will exceed that anyway."
"That… we can't really determine."
"Gamestar Electronic Entertainment really is incomprehensible. Oh right—you said more than a dozen people resigned. This is related to Infinite World?"
"Yes. There's been a lot of mocking and ridicule online lately—aimed directly at us."
"So what if they mock us?"Mayron Kess shrugged. "What's the big deal?"
What he truly cared about were Mikufu's core products—smartphones and personal PCs. Consoles and games were secondary at best.
Even if video games and consoles were mocked into the ground, it didn't matter—as long as they made money.
Mayron Kess was obsessively focused on what he cared about, and completely dismissive— disdainful—of what he didn't.
Even now, he hadn't fully shed his condescending attitude toward games.
To him, video games were nothing more than tools for making money.
As long as a tool served its function, nothing else mattered.
"The problem is that the ridicule broke our employees' morale," the department head said. "They no longer want to stay with this company."
As he spoke, he placed all the resignation letters—more than a dozen of them—onto Mayron Kess's desk.