Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 975: Chapter 974: From Now On, It’s an Urban Novel!

”Who are you...?”

”I’m a new employee at this company.”

Upon hearing the inquiry, Fang Zheng suddenly had a mischievous idea. He smiled slightly and answered.

”I’m here to review—no, to check out the company’s situation, but no one is around... Could you tell me where to find the person in charge?”

”...A new employee?”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s response, the figure cautiously stepped out from behind the divider. It was a young woman in her twenties, with beautiful long hair tied with a red ribbon at the back, wearing a white blouse, red short skirt, and black over-the-knee socks—quite a lovely sight.

But she looked at Fang Zheng and Asuna with trepidation, as if the two were some fierce beasts.

”Presently... Miss Shizuku Hazuki should be in the room... You can find her... it’s at the room on the left at the end of the hall...”

After saying this, the young woman shrunk back again, much like a little mouse retreating into its nest.

”......”

Facing the inexplicable behavior of the young woman, Fang Zheng and Asuna exchanged a puzzled glance, but they said nothing more, following the directions given to the office labeled ’Director’. Fang Zheng then reached out, knocking on the door.

Soon, a lazy voice was heard.

”Come in.”

Upon hearing the response, Fang Zheng extended his hand to push open the door and entered the room. However, at that moment, a plump shadow suddenly darted out from the door crevice.

”Ya!”

Seeing the shadow suddenly dart out, Asuna couldn’t help but scream, but upon closer inspection...

”A cat?”

A plump cat, which was not orange in color, dashed quickly down the hallway at a speed unbecoming of its size. Upon hearing Asuna’s scream, the fat cat turned its head to glance at her, then turned away again, puffing as it disappeared down the hallway.

Not cute at all.

Looking at the fat cat, Fang Zheng shook his head helplessly; his own kitten was much cuter—small, not even the size of a palm, waving little paws and meowing when petted. Sigh... Compared to his own kitten, this fat cat was really not cute.

After comparing the two cats, Fang Zheng pushed open the door and entered the room to find a mature-dressed, glasses-wearing, white-haired woman lazily sitting in a chair at the desk, a frown on her face as she looked at the documents in front of her. Hearing someone come in, the woman looked up, took a glance at them, and then was taken aback.

”Who are you?”

”My name is Fang Zheng.”

Having found the person in charge, Fang Zheng naturally felt no need to hold back anymore.

”You’re Miss Shizuku Hazuki, right?”

”Ah, you are...”

Upon Fang Zheng’s self-introduction, a complex expression appeared on Shizuku Hazuki’s face. She stood up, examining Fang Zheng closely, and Asuna behind him.

”I’ve heard from Little Flower... and this is...”

”My companion, she’s just here to attend as an observer.”

Fang Zheng waved his hand, then sat down on the sofa beside him. At this time, Shizuku Hazuki hurriedly came over from behind the desk.

”So, may I ask what has brought you here, Mr. Fang Zheng?”

Despite appearing older than Fang Zheng, Shizuku Hazuki was quite respectful, knowing Fang Zheng was the new president of EJ Corporation. Even so, Shizuku Hazuki was puzzled, not knowing why the new president had come here.

”I just came to see the company’s situation... it doesn’t seem optimistic now. How many staff do we have left?”

Hearing this question, Shizuku Hazuki showed a helpless expression.

”Currently, including the character design group and programming group... there are fewer than twenty people left. In fact, during this period many chose to resign because salaries couldn’t be paid, only a few decided to stay...”

Originally, EJ Corporation was a small company, and this game project was their biggest contract. Who would’ve thought such a mistake would happen, discouraging many. In this situation, resigning is understandable.

”Fewer than twenty... still acceptable.”

Hearing Shizuku Hazuki’s report, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow but quickly calmed down. This was better than he had expected; he’d predicted only fewer than ten would stay. It seemed there were over twenty still, meaning he wouldn’t need to overwork—he could exploit the slaves—well, employees.

Thinking this, Fang Zheng took out a USB drive, handing it to Shizuku Hazuki.

”What’s this?”

”This is the game project you’ll be working on next. In three days, I’ll merge EJ Corporation into CC Corporation, changing it to the game development department of CC Corporation. You can make any requests, as long as they’re not too excessive, I can meet them. But my requirement is for you to develop this game and pass the tests in the shortest time possible to launch the game with our new product in the market. Got it?”

”I need to take a look first.”

Shizuku Hazuki became serious, nodding, and quickly inserted the USB drive into the computer to browse Fang Zheng’s proposed game project. The more she looked, the more surprised she became.

She initially thought Fang Zheng planned to continue with a VR game, creating a similar online multiplayer game. However, contrary to Shizuku Hazuki’s expectations, Fang Zheng proposed an AR game project!

Indeed, what Fang Zheng introduced was the once-popular AR mobile game in his original world—Pokémon!

In fact, the Pokémon IP is very suitable for launching as an AR game. It’s suitable for all ages, and its cute creatures always attract attention. In Fang Zheng’s world, due to limits, people could only play through mobile phones. But in this world, with advanced AR equipment, Fang Zheng was confident in creating a more perfect Pokémon world than before his rebirth.

Since now he was writing a modern city-based web novel, and the biggest feature of modern city-style web novels is plagiarism, and since this world doesn’t have similar things, he might as well use it, right?

Besides, what game designer would call it plagiarism? It’s borrowing! Paying homage!

Fang Zheng carefully chose this game as their new main project.

Recently, players’ safe escape from the death game led to fresh criticism of VR games in the media, with some tracking many death game players’ mental states. Under such conditions, as the originator, ARGUS and EJ Corporation definitely couldn’t develop similar battle games anymore.

In fact, VR devices themselves might become taboo in society now—using one could be seen as a death sentence.

Even though Japan and Western countries don’t have governmental intervention in this aspect, social resistance is still troubling. For CC Corporation to steer away from its previous shadow, Fang Zheng naturally couldn’t let them create a new battle game based on SAO, hence choosing Pokémon as a great direction.

Firstly, Pokémon perfectly fits the AR game mode, offering an immersive experience. Plus, Pokémon’s design is appealing—even though there are intense battles, there isn’t human injury or violent attack concern. It could not only boost AR device sales but also enhance CC Corporation’s reputation.

Fang Zheng also planned, once Pokémon gained fame, to port Game King over, and create a Duel City!

Imagine summoning a Dark Magician Girl to fight alongside you, how exhilarating would that be?

Not to mention, this kind of game makes money.

Just selling Master Balls and card packs would make Fang Zheng rich.

More importantly, Pokémon’s initial design is simple. At least it doesn’t require as much resource drain as an online game, making it more than doable with the current manpower!

As the game director and producer, Shizuku Hazuki recognized the value of this project. She became increasingly excited as she read it—cute games were always EJ Corporation’s specialty, and now they were returning to their forte.

”How about it? Any questions?”

”No questions!”

Upon Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Shizuku Hazuki confidently responded with a vow.

”I assure you, I will get this game made!”