“Probably won’t be enough? We can always add more when the time comes. Even I can’t say for sure how receptive players in this world will be to an Otome game.”

After arriving at the restaurant, the two caught up on their respective progress over dinner.

With Luo Hang having cracked the technical barriers of cross-platform data synchronization, all that was left was for Xie Yunfan’s production team to deliver the finished game for them to begin internal testing.

Xie Yunfan noted, “At the very latest, we’ll be able to run our first closed beta test next month. There will bound to be reworks and tweaks to implement after the test, so we probably won’t make the peak summer vacation slot this year.”

Luo Hang asked, “Can we make a September launch?”

Xie Yunfan replied, “If everything goes smoothly, September is actually the absolute ideal window. We can give players a month to play through the main and branching storylines to get to know the male leads. Then come November, it happens to be the birthday of one of the leads, allowing us to roll out a dedicated limited-edition birthday event card pool.”

Luo Hang inquired out of curiosity, “Are birthday events… that significant?”

Xie Yunfan explained, “In Otome games, a male lead’s birthday is incredibly paramount. Look at it this way: if you were in a relationship, would you consider your partner’s birthday important?”

Luo Hang pondered for a moment before answering, “Of course. It would easily be more important than massive public holidays like New Year’s. I would definitely invest a lot of thought into preparing a special birthday gift for someone I loved.”

Xie Yunfan smiled, “Exactly, right? The players will undoubtedly want to celebrate the male leads’ birthdays as well. Therefore, birthday events must be mapped out well in advance rather than being rushed or thrown together carelessly. The birthdays of the four male leads are meticulously spaced out across November, February, May, and August. I had the copywriting team design it this way precisely to facilitate smooth operational pacing for our live-ops events down the line.”

Luo Hang remarked with emotion, “Who knew a romance game carried so much intricate nuance?”

Xie Yunfan countered, “Even in romance, a sense of ritual is essential.”

Luo Hang stated quite candidly, “I’ve never been in a relationship, so I truly don’t know much about it.”

Xie Yunfan froze for a second, quickly clarifying, “I haven’t either… this is all just theoretical knowledge.”

“Is that so?” Luo Hang looked toward Xie Yunfan with a light chuckle. Seeing Yunfan speak with such effortless authority on the subject, he hadn’t expected him to be an absolute “rookie” with zero real-world dating experience himself.

He couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “If you were to enter a relationship, what type of person would you gravitate toward?”

Xie Yunfan gave it serious thought for a brief moment before responding, “Independent in character, mature in mindset, with their own established career and passions—someone who doesn’t need to cling to me every single day.” He paused, flashing a slightly helpless smile. “Truthfully, a workaholic like me isn’t exactly ideal relationship material. When things get chaotic at work, I tend to overlook my partner’s emotional needs, and I’m honestly not very skilled at taking care of others.”

Luo Hang suggested, “Perhaps you could find someone who can take care of you instead?”

Xie Yunfan shook his head. “I don’t like being a burden to anyone. I’d rather stay single; it’s light, easy, and completely free.”

Luo Hang shared the exact same sentiment—romance was far too troublesome, whereas a single life offered absolute freedom.

Yet, thinking back to how he had kept the miniature version of the Yunfan doll resting right by his bedside over the past week, listening to Xie Yunfan’s voice lull him to sleep every single night, he realized he genuinely enjoyed “Little Yunfan’s” quiet companionship.

With this thought in mind, Luo Hang suddenly asked, “Right, since the characters in a romance game are entirely virtual, their voice acting will be paramount. Have you finalized the voice actors for the four male leads yet?”

At the mention of this particular topic, Xie Yunfan couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose in sheer frustration. “Not yet. I want to take a bold risk and utilize fresh talent. The audience has grown thoroughly tired of hearing the same prominent voice actors across countless television dramas and anime, which makes it far too easy to break their immersion. Using unrecognized, fresh voices will deliver a much stronger sense of novelty.”

Luo Hang noted with concern, “Newcomers might suffer from inconsistent performance delivery, wouldn’t they?”

Xie Yunfan sighed, “Yes. Trying to unearth fresh talent who possess both striking vocal range and stellar professional competence is exceptionally difficult. I delegated this task to Liang Anwei, and he has practically combed through every single voice-acting studio in the country. As of right now, we’ve only locked down one out of the four male leads.”

Luo Hang comforted, “Don’t rush. There’s still time; take it slow.”

Xie Yunfan nodded, “Mm, by offering industry-topping rates, we’re bound to track down the right fits eventually.”

…

The two conversed seamlessly over their meal, completely oblivious to the passage of time as darkness blanketed the city outside.

Xie Yunfan was surprised to realize that whenever he sat down with Luo Hang, they always found an endless stream of topics to explore. Time flew by so rapidly that their casual dinner had extended over two full hours, leaving them as the absolute last patrons in the entirely vacant restaurant.

Upon returning to his residence, Xie Yunfan immediately shot a message over to Liang Anwei: “Regarding our voice talent search, let’s launch another open casting call. Set the compensation tier at the absolute highest standard within the industry, and let’s get these roles finalized as quickly as possible.”

Once the actors were locked down, they still had to record a staggering volume of lines. The game’s narrative was massive—encompassing the main story, branching paths, daily dialogues, combat vocal cues, and holiday blessings. The recording phase was an absolute critical junction that permitted zero errors.

Xie Yunfan emphasized heavily: “We must source voice actors who possess stellar professional capability and impeccable personal conduct. Absolutely exclude anyone who carries even a remote risk of a personal scandal or reputational collapse. We must conduct thorough background checks on every candidate.”

Liang Anwei shot back an immediate response: “Understood, Boss! We will jump right on it!”

A week later, Liang Anwei came to find Xie Yunfan, reporting that after blasting the recruitment call across various voice-acting forums, they had been flooded with a monumental wave of audition samples. Among the submissions, several newcomers possessed genuinely stellar vocal qualities.

Xie Yunfan gathered the female staff from the copywriting team to review the samples alongside him.

Liang Anwei’s inbox had been bursting at the seams every single day, which wasn’t surprising given that Yangfan Studio was offering top-tier industry rates. Setting aside the elite veterans who were already booked solid with endless projects, countless freelance voice actors had been drawn in by the lucrative compensation, eagerly submitting their raw vocal tracks.

Shen Xingye and her team carved out blocks of time to listen through the submissions. Whenever a voice caught their ears and made them sit up in excitement, they recorded the candidate’s details immediately. Following several days of intense screening, they narrowed the pool down to a dozen highly promising voice actors, advancing them to a second round of live auditions.

This search for the core male leads’ voice talent was executed with far greater formality and rigor than any of their previous titles. The candidates endured a total of three intensive rounds of auditions, with each stage demanding entirely different performance parameters.

Ultimately, after an entire month of meticulous screening, the voice actors for the four male leads were finally locked down.

None of them were high-profile, famous names in the industry, yet every single one of them displayed an incredibly earnest professional attitude and a high level of cooperation.

Xie Yunfan reviewed the final selections personally. The four voices—deep and stoic, bright and energetic, warm and gentle, and alluringly elegant—each carried an incredible degree of distinct recognizability. Even sampled in isolation, every single voice was exceptionally pleasant to the ear.

Naturally, a few of the newcomers lacked polished professional technique, requiring the voice director to meticulously coach and guide them through their deliveries.

The girls in the copywriting department were thoroughly thrilled, declaring that the vocal qualities fit the characters’ personas flawlessly.

Xie Yunfan had the four voice actors sign long-term exclusive voice-acting contracts and captured their voiceprints, fully securing the explicit authorization required for future physical merchandise development.

Liang Anwei led his animation production team to organize the recording sessions. Over the ensuing days, the four voice actors frequently slipped in and out of Yangfan Studio’s professional recording booths, their hearts pounding with intense excitement.

They weren’t famous industry heavyweights boasting millions of adoring fans; to be handpicked by a powerhouse like Yangfan Studio was a monumental, life-changing breakthrough for their careers.

However, the sheer nature of the script they were recording left the actors thoroughly stunned.

It was actually a romance game?! They were portraying male leads who were actively sweet-talking and romancing the player?!

This operational model was incredibly fresh.

Under the director’s careful orchestration, the actors plunged into the scripts to intimately comprehend their characters’ core psychological personas, allowing their vocal deliveries to map seamlessly to the characters and breathe vibrant, living color into the cast.

In addition to the animation and voice-acting pipelines, Xie Yunfan commissioned a premier professional studio to engineer the game’s musical score.

For the four male leads, they composed a dedicated character theme song along with a bespoke combat theme per person. Combined with the primary login screen track, daily secret realm scores, Jianghu bounty mission themes, and diverse environmental background music, the final soundtrack exceeded fifty distinct compositions.

The sheer scale of production easily rivaled that of a premium, high-budget television epic.

Investing several million yuan purely into a game’s musical score caused the female staff within the production crew to raise their thumbs in absolute admiration: “Our boss genuinely spares no expense!”

In truth, such an expansive soundtrack wasn’t strictly mandatory for a game, yet Xie Yunfan’s creative philosophy was centered entirely on achieving absolute perfection.

Even if a specific environment only surfaced for a brief ten-minute window within the story, he insisted it feature a completely unique background score rather than lazily recycling a generic track to cut corners.

——This was his definitive attitude toward game creation.

Regardless of a title’s ultimate profitability, he would treat every single component of the production process with absolute, unwavering dedication. He held a firm belief that the players would bound to feel the sheer depth of his care and sincerity.

Under Xie Yunfan’s direct supervision, every working group operated like a well-oiled machine. By the end of August, the vast majority of the game’s core content was finally brought to completion.

Xie Yunfan immediately organized a small-scale, closed internal beta test.

A studio-wide announcement flashed across the main chat group: “This coming Saturday and Sunday, the company will host a closed internal beta test for our new game. Double overtime pay will be provided. Any employees interested in participating, please head over to the testing department to sign up.”

Just playing a game while raking in double overtime pay? How could I possibly miss out on an awesome deal like this!

A massive wave of employees eagerly put their names down, quickly topping out at over two hundred participants.

On Saturday morning, the employees participating in the closed beta gathered collectively in the testing department.

Zhu Xiaoqing from the marketing department had been with Yangfan Studio for a year, working closely under her manager to handle physical merchandise production. Having never been privy to core game R&D, this marked her very first time participating in a new title’s internal test.

With a wave of excitement, Zhu Xiaoqing picked up the test mobile device handed to her by the staff. The login interface was beautifully aesthetic, and upon entering her internal beta credentials, she was instantly greeted by the character creation screen.

System prompt: Please create your character.

Zhu Xiaoqing gasped in pure excitement, “We can actually customize our facial features?!”

The game did indeed feature an intricate face-sculpting system. Players could craft a character on the mobile client to synchronize their data, or step directly inside a holographic gaming capsule to fine-tune their character’s height, build, and detailed facial structure.

Zhu Xiaoqing spent an immense block of time purely playing around with the face-sculpting mechanics.

Once she finalized her character, she officially entered the game, launching straight into an immersive “transmigration” narrative prologue. The narrative cut-in was incredibly engaging, making her feel as though she had personally crossed over into an alternate universe.

The pacing of the initial chapters was remarkably swift. The male leads graced the screen one after another, each one more drop-dead gorgeous than the last!

Zhu Xiaoqing’s eyes practically shone with absolute delight as she played, utterly unable to tear herself away. The plot was brilliantly captivating, and the male leads were intensely charming!

The only catch was that her luck within the gacha system proved to be utterly catastrophic. The testing department had graciously loaded their accounts with a thousand free pulls to burn through at will, yet even after exhausting every single pull, she still failed to assemble a complete collection of the specific male lead she adored…

I need to make sure I thoroughly wash my hands before playing this game next time.

And more importantly: Pulling cards is dangerously addictive!

Following the conclusion of the intensive two-day closed beta test, the participants compiled an absolute mountain of feedback and suggestions.

“This is my absolute first time playing a game of this genre, and it’s insanely fun! When is the next batch of storyline updates dropping? The suspense is literally killing me!”

“Reporting in: the gacha system is incredibly unforgiving to players with terrible luck like me. I kept missing the male lead I actually wanted, and every time another lead popped up instead, I got so frustrated! Is there any way we can choose to pull exclusively from a single character’s pool?”

“Personally, I feel the stage combat mechanics are a bit too steep for casual players who lack quick reflexes. I spent half the time completely confused about how the phantom echoes mapped to the male leads’ attribute bonuses. I highly suggest adding more comprehensive beginner tutorials.”

“What am I supposed to do if I love all four male leads? I ran the numbers, and the free resources simply won’t cut it. Is the monetization system not active yet? I desperately want to drop cash to pull every single card available!”

“Are the daily missions absolutely mandatory every single day? For working professionals like us who face chaotic schedules, I’ve literally abandoned several games in the past purely because of tedious, grindy daily loops. Having to grind dailies just to sustain a virtual romance feels a little exhausting~”

The enthusiasm surrounding this internal test was remarkably high. Nearly every single employee who participated submitted an anonymous email to the testing group, offering an incredibly diverse spectrum of feedback.

The testing department systematically compiled the employee suggestions and delivered the dossier directly to Xie Yunfan.

Simultaneously, the professional QA testers had unearthed an abundance of technical bugs. In particular, the modeling synchronization between the mobile and holographic clients faced severe color-grading discrepancies; a character viewed on a mobile screen versus how they rendered inside a holographic capsule delivered two completely conflicting color palettes.

Xie Yunfan immediately convened an emergency meeting with the 3D modeling group to launch a rapid wave of reworks.

Then, he summoned the numerical and level designers, instructing them directly, “Romance games fall under light casual gaming; we need to simplify the daily routine as much as possible. Limit the male lead secret realms to roughly three times a week, allowing players to complete them selectively.”

The numerical designer countered, “But if we do that, we won’t be able to guarantee a high daily active user rate. If players don’t log in for two consecutive days, it’s easy for them to forget about our game, which could lead to severe player churn, wouldn’t it?”

Xie Yunfan explained, “This is a romance simulation game. If a player falls for a specific male lead, they won’t just easily forget him. Conversely, forcing players to log in every single day to clear repetitive dungeons will only breed resentment over time. It’s just like a real relationship—if your partner clings to you non-stop and demands daily WeChat check-ins, wouldn’t you find it exhausting?”

The numerical designer scratched his head and muttered in a small voice, “I’ve never been in a relationship. Boss, you prefer a partner who grants you a certain degree of freedom and doesn’t cling to you every single day, right?”

Xie Yunfan replied, “Naturally.”

The numerical designer thought to himself: No wonder you and CEO Luo get along so phenomenally well; he really is your ideal type.

Xie Yunfan continued, “Let’s do this: cap the male lead dungeons at two attempts per week, which players can pick up at any time of their choosing. As for the bounty missions, open them exclusively on Saturdays and Sundays. Both of these avenues will reward players with the ‘silver taels’ required for gacha pulls. For all other resource missions needed to upgrade cards, implement a daily auto-sweep mode.”

“Stamina should be allowed to accumulate so players can log in and clear their sweeps whenever they please. Additionally, design the check-in system to offer two free back-dated check-ins per week.”

“Furthermore, ensure that players relying strictly on a monthly pass can successfully secure the limited-edition cards, netting at least 70 pulls a month. Run the numbers carefully to see if the resource allocation is sufficient.”

“…” The numerical and level designers stared at each other in sheer bewilderment.

Over at their competitor, Wings of Dream, purchasing a monthly pass wouldn’t even guarantee a limited-edition holiday outfit. In their gacha pools, a single outfit was split into four separate components—hair, top, bottom, and shoes—and pulling a complete set required dropping thousands of yuan.

Yet here, a simple 30-yuan monthly pass would allow players to pull rare SSR cards that came complete with dedicated dating storylines?

Boss, with you being this ‘altruistic,’ is the game even going to make any money?

Xie Yunfan stated firmly, “We are aiming for long-term operations, not running a quick cash-grab scheme before abandoning ship. Only fair pricing can retain players. Re-engineer the entire dataset for the resource system, the gacha system, and the daily missions.”

“Understood!” The two male employees scurried back to their workstations to overhaul the data.

This initial internal test had unearthed a wealth of issues. Beyond the massive overhauls required for the levels and data systems, there were various bizarre bugs, including audio-visual desynchronization between the voice acting and the narrative text, clipping issues in the artwork, instances where the male leads’ AI completely ignored the players, and combat stuttering.

The entire production crew plunged into a frantic rhythm once more.

Developing a dual-platform title simultaneously across mobile and holographic clients meant that squashing bugs alone was enough to make them pull their hair out.

By August, every working group had wrapped up their respective modifications, and the second closed internal beta officially commenced.

This iteration displayed a massive, visible leap in quality compared to the first. Every single element ran silk-smooth, the gacha mechanics had been adjusted to be incredibly player-friendly, and even the UI layout looked significantly more aesthetically pleasing. With just a few scattered minor bugs left to iron out, the game was essentially ready.

Simultaneously alongside the final testing phase, Xie Yunfan submitted the game for regulatory review.

Since it was framed as an 18+ adult game, the review process was relatively lenient, and they secured the official publication license in no time.

By mid-August, the programming team ran through the code from top to bottom one final time to eliminate any remaining bugs, delivering the gold master version to Xie Yunfan. Following a quick consultation between Xie Yunfan and Luo Hang to lock down the launch date, Luo Hang’s team immediately pivoted to launch the marketing campaign.

On September 1st, the official first day of the school semester for students, Qihang Games, Yangfan Studio, and the official Millennial Love Weibo account simultaneously blasted an announcement.

“Co-developed through the strategic partnership of Yangfan and Qihang, the world’s very first female-oriented romance title, Millennial Love, will officially launch in the Huaxia region on September 10th!

Do you wish to traverse time and space to experience a sweet, breathtaking romance with ‘him’ in an alternate world?

Please stay tuned for the mobile and holographic dual-end cross-platform synchronized title, Millennial Love.

——I am waiting within the alternate world, anticipating the arrival of the one-and-only you. ^^”

The moment this announcement hit the wire, the entire gaming industry was thoroughly shocked.

“What? Mobile and holographic synchronization? Meaning this game can be played on a smartphone or inside a holographic capsule, and the data syncs flawlessly between both platforms?!”

“Insanely impressive! This technology has once again placed them at the absolute vanguard of the industry!”

“What on earth does ‘female-oriented romance game’ even mean? I’ve never played one before—are we literally just dating inside a video game?”

“A romance game… that actually sounds pretty thrilling.”

“Reminds me of Palace Schemes, where I literally died on day one. Is this one going to be a horror game too?”

Driven by immense curiosity, the public clicked open the promotional PV.

Within the promotional trailer, the four male leads graced the screen one after another, delivering a few classic lines.

A dashing, unbridled young swordsman was seen practicing his blade work amidst a grove of plum blossoms, his voice ringing crisp and clear: “My ultimate dream is to become the absolute greatest under heaven, just like the Sword Saint!”

Qin Zhou’s swordplay choreography was rendered beautifully, bearing the clear hallmark of a professional martial arts coordinator. As he wielded his blade, man and sword fused flawlessly into a singular entity, the steel following his intent with absolute precision. The young clad-in-white swordsman’s movements accelerated rapidly, melting into a seamless flurry of afterimages amidst the falling plum blossoms.

The moment the brief dozen-second animation concluded, the bullet-chat section erupted with a flurry of excited comments.

“Holy crap, that was drop-dead gorgeous!”

“What kind of martial arts style is this? I am officially in love with this younger brother~”

“A high-ponytail youth with insane combat prowess, so incredibly handsome!”

Immediately following him, a young masked man emerged onto the screen. Ling Yue’s gaze was freezing cold as he dissolved into a shadow, materializing instantly before his target while cleanly spinning a blood-red dagger in his palm. A flash of white blade-light sliced through the air, and the target collapsed instantly, a razor-thin line of blood blooming across his throat.

Ling Yue vanished back into the moonlit night as rapidly as a fleeting shadow.

“To take a life, I require only a single strike.”

The bullet-chat section exploded once more.

“Whoa! Is he an assassin? That’s so badass!”

“He’s a bit cool, I’m a total sucker for the stoic type~”

“What does he look like under that mask? I am officially hyped.”

Next to grace the screen was Ye Qinghe, clad in an elegant, unadorned light-green robe. A simple wooden hairpin bound his hair, letting his cascading silver-white locks flow freely behind his back. He moved with effortless, airy steps as he leisurely harvested spiritual herbs deep within Medicine King Valley.

The exact moment he turned back toward the screen, a soft, gentle smile graced his features: “Life within Medicine King Valley has grown a fraction too monotonous lately. It appears I must take a stroll into the wider world.”

“Wow! This white-haired handsome guy is absolutely stunning~”

“This completely demolishes those tacky, visual-kei anime models.”

“Purely ethereal!”

Finally, Si徒 Yu’s grand entrance delivered a massive wave of pure shock to the audience. The enchanting beauty exuded a thoroughly wicked charm, going so far as to openly tease the player.

“This one is incredibly sensual~”

“This handsome guy is so untamed, my heart is genuinely skipping a beat…”

“A romance game… meaning we actually get to date these guys?”

“Thrilling! Launch it already, I need to see this!”

The promotional PV was exceptionally brief. Yet, despite being under a minute long, this short trailer sent a massive wave of players into a frenzy of excited screams. The 3D modeling was stunningly gorgeous, and the four handsome leads each possessed an incredibly distinct appeal.

How exactly was the world’s very first romance title supposed to be played?

Not only were the players brimming with anticipation, but industry peers were equally plagued by immense confusion——

What on earth was going on inside Xie Yunfan’s head? Implementing seamless cross-platform data synchronization between mobile and holographic clients was a technical feat that demanded a baseline investment of at least several hundred million yuan. Spending that kind of astronomical capital… just to produce a simple romance game?

This was a textbook definition of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

How many players could a romance game possibly attract? Furthermore, who in their right mind would actually drop money just to play a dating sim?

This time around, he was bound to lose his shirt!