After a day of negotiation, Riva finally accepted Fire Dance and joined the fight—Maka as well.
Now, the sight of two dragons playing with pearls had practically become routine.
Xu Dan had eaten lunch, completed his after-meal "exercise," then carried the two women onto the large sofa he had recently bought again.
Afterward, he began his usual habit of browsing the internet.
To make communication easier for "Antarctic fans," the company had even launched a dedicated app that transferred the official Antarctic forum into a compact mobile version.
This app integrated quick chat, post discussions, game guides, and more.
At the moment, Xu Dan was scrolling through the forums using this very software.
The main page was filled almost entirely with discussions about the latest World of Warcraft dungeons.
In his game, there was no such thing as paying to level up. If the players were fast, he rewarded them with points. Even though charging for progression could earn money, compared to the immense value of points, money was nothing but—well—hot air.
Antarctic Games was arguably one of the most profitable companies in the world right now.
Unlike Stark Industries—which sold high-tech weaponry with equally massive costs—Antarctic Games had a unique advantage: an enormous team of S.H.I.E.L.D. technicians who didn't need a salary, just three meals a day.
Such a free labor force was practically a dream come true.
With such low development costs and such high output, profits were naturally astronomical.
That was why Xu Dan utterly disdained low-quality, pay-to-rank games. A game without a proper leveling system was meaningless.
After so much grinding, players had already passed the beginner phase and were ready for colorful and challenging quests.
Most of the forum posts were players asking how to clear certain quests perfectly and what rare items could drop.
But some posts… were a little different.
"Xu Dan-dad, please release a single-player action game! I love fighting!"
"Wishlist: Xu Dan-dad, please make a shooter! I've played too many—those garbage hit-detection systems make me want to puke. I'm begging you on my knees!"
Naturally, the replies beneath these were full of trolling:
1st floor: "Please die. Warcraft is so fun, and you're not playing it?"2nd floor: "You like fighting? Come on then—here are my coordinates. Come over and I'll twist your head sideways."3rd floor: "Calling someone else dad—ever thought about how green your real dad's head must be?"
And more:
1st floor: "Love gunfights? Fine—team up with me to clear a raid."2nd floor: "Trash. Still playing other genres."3rd floor: "I'm a designer from xx game company. Want to try our shooter? I've got a gun-skin gift card—walk in and you get an AK-47!"
Xu Dan sighed. These people were unbelievable.
Others just wanted to ask a question, and they were being flamed into oblivion.
Was it impossible for the forum to have a different kind of voice?
Couldn't players have a place to speak freely?
Without another word, Xu Dan used his administrator authority to ban all the troublemakers on the spot.
Those less conventional posts, however, sparked an idea.
Antarctic Game Company had grown stronger and bigger than ever, yet it still only had three products—The King of Fighters, Warcraft, and World of Warcraft.
Even with universally high reviews, that was far too few titles, far too limited in variety, for a company that claimed to be the world's top game developer.
Even if they achieved unmatched performance, Xu Dan himself felt embarrassed by how rare their catalog was.
Since netizens were requesting single-player action games and shooters—why not satisfy them all at once?
Why not give the fans a surprise?
Thinking that, he pulled a notepad from the drawer, grabbed a pen, and quickly wrote down the games he had played.
Large single-player titles:Torture, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Grand Theft Auto, Resident Evil…Shooters:Battlefield series, Counter-Strike, CrossFire, PUBG, Call of Duty…
These were all legendary titles of their time.
It was unrealistic to make all of them at once.
He could only choose one from each category.
Xu Dan tapped the pen against the paper, thinking carefully.
In the end, he settled on Torture Original and CrossFire.
The first Torture Original was a classic among classics. Even after so many years, people still mentioned it, wanting to download it again and savor it.
The name "A" was etched into the memory of countless players.
The superpowers granted by the Blacklight Virus were savagely cool.
One person could take on an entire army.
Claws, hammer fists, absorption…
Xu Dan was especially interested in the absorption ability.
A stood at the top of the food chain. No matter how severe the injury, as long as he wasn't dead, he could regenerate by absorbing living creatures.
Who wouldn't love such an overpowered ability?
Decision made—Torture Original must be made.
As for choosing CrossFire, a shooter with mixed reviews?
That was because Pony was a genius—and so was the original planner.
And of course, Xu Dan was talented as well.
His CrossFire wouldn't just be the old CrossFire.
The name itself could cover nearly all shooter gameplay.
That was the main reason he chose CrossFire as the foundation.
He planned to integrate other shooter games on top of it.
Tired of transport ships and overwatch missions?Players could start a full campaign in Battlefield 2-style combat.
They could even experience a fully simulated World War II battlefield.
With system optimization, he believed he could perfectly recreate the setting of WWII.
Players could begin as low-rank soldiers, earn merits, climb through the ranks, and eventually lead armies to victory in World War II.
If they were tired of large-scale battles, they could open PUBG Mode, experiencing thrilling survival gameplay—
Dodging poison zones, looting gear, fighting to be the last survivor.
Let's see who would "eat chicken tonight."
And if they were tired of eating chicken?
They could eat zombies—no, fight zombies.
Resident Evil Mode, H1Z1 Mode, Road to Survival Mode—everything included.
That was why CrossFire was the perfect name—a game that let players experience every type of shooter gameplay in one place.