Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 215 - 214: Strange Key

Chapter 215: Chapter 214: Strange Key

By 2 p.m., at last, a customer cautiously peeked into the experience store.

Today was June 19th, a Thursday, and since it wasn’t the weekend, foot traffic was naturally sparse. Additionally, the three-story experience store was a street shop, not located inside a mall. Though conveniently placed where people bustled about, everyone hastened to work, leaving few to enter the store.

Besides, there had been no promotions when the store opened, just a few inconspicuous signs with small lettering at the entrance — attracting customers was no easy task.

The customer looked like a college student, quite young. After pushing open the glass door of the store, he hesitated and asked, "This is... a console game experience store?"

Seeing the arrival of a potential customer, Sui Tao, while attempting to approach, said, "Hello, this is the Sky Against Heaven Game Experience Store, so you can only try out games produced by Sky Against Heaven here."

The customer was stunned, "Huh? What company is Sky Against Heaven?"

Sui Tao was momentarily at a loss for words. How should he explain this?

Clearly, although Sky Against Heaven games had made some name in the domestic gaming market, they had yet to become a household name. The customer who came today appeared to have never heard of it.

Sui Tao quickly said, "Look at this display board. It has all of Sky Against Heaven’s games listed, maybe you’ve played some of them."

After looking at the display board, the customer said, "Oh? ’Ascension’? ’Prometheus’? They seem familiar. I haven’t played them, but I’ve heard others mention them.

Are you sure this store specializes only in Sky Against Heaven games? Isn’t this a bait-and-switch scenario?

Why is there no one in the store at all?"

The customer posed another pointed question.

This time, it wasn’t Sky Against Heaven games that he doubted, but the experience store itself.

Clearly, if this were truly an experience store for a respectable game company, why would it be so deserted?

Take, for example, stores that sell big-brand phones — aren’t they always packed?

On the other hand, stores brandishing the names of these phones, but with hardly any customers, are typically third-party merchants engaging in deceptive practices.

And at that moment, the state of this experience store much resembled that of a third-party merchant.

Sui Tao found himself tongue-tied, "Well... I’m not sure how to explain this to you..."

Obviously, even he was still puzzled by the question, as President Gu had never explained to him the real relationship between the Sky Against Heaven Game Experience Store and Sky Against Heaven.

Now it was President Gu’s turn to step forward.

"Hello, indeed our store is the only direct-sales outlet of Sky Against Heaven games. I’m merely the humble store manager here and also the president of Sky Against Heaven games."

President Gu introduced himself very modestly, yet the corner of the customer’s mouth twitched slightly, and he said with some difficulty holding back, "The store manager sure is humorous. Alright then, let me have an experience.

Hmm? You also have driving simulation games here?"

Clearly, the customer still thought President Gu was making a bad joke.

The president of Sky Against Heaven games personally serving as the manager of an experience store?

That’s the equivalent of an emperor guarding his own gates!

If he were really the president, shouldn’t he be overseeing the game business of Sky Against Heaven? Not to mention managing the company, recruiting staff, setting strategic directions, and so forth — he must be swamped, how could he have the spare time to manage a store?

Humorous!

However, this unique sense of humor did manage to bridge the gap between them, convincing the customer to stay and give the store a try.

Sui Tao was delighted; no matter what, at long last, the first customer had walked in. It wasn’t easy!

He had to cherish it!

Just as he was about to offer his service, President Gu stopped him.

"Cough, Sui Tao, your method of service is slightly off," President Gu whispered, careful not to let the customer hear.

Sui Tao was perplexed, "My method of service is off? But you haven’t even told me what kind of service I should be providing..."

Having previously worked at several mobile phone stores, he understood the general service process quite well. Though he wasn’t particularly well-versed in Sky Against Heaven’s games, he felt confident in guiding the customer, who was also unfamiliar with them.

But it was clear that President Gu had his own ideas.

President Gu cleared his throat softly, continuing in a low voice, "That shows your perceptiveness is not high enough. Haven’t I already hinted clearly enough?"

Sui Tao was shocked, "Mr. Manager, I am slow-witted and truly did not catch where exactly you gave a hint..."

President Gu explained, "Have you not noticed that, up to this point, there are only the two of us in this store? The only staff member who really works here is you. Isn’t that an obvious hint?"

Sui Tao was even more stunned, "Ah? But haven’t you already posted recruitment notices?"

President Gu nodded, "Yes, but how many people did I hire?"

Sui Tao could hardly maintain his composure, "Three."

President Gu, "Right! Just three employees in total, and then there’s me, the manager who barely does anything. If you think about it with your service attitude, can you handle it? Bear in mind, you three have to work shifts, taking into account the usual rest time and weekends!"

Sui Tao began to understand where the problem lay.

They were understaffed!

Keep in mind, the store’s operating hours were from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., divided between a day shift and an evening shift, with normal working hours on weekends. And the recruitment advertisements explicitly stated an eight-hour work day with weekends off.

The surplus hours were clearly meant to be covered by shifts and a small amount of overtime.

But then, during regular operating hours on weekdays, it’s highly likely that just one staff member would be present.

How could such staffing provide meticulous service to every customer?

At best, this solo staffer could manage their own counter.

Although the recruitment notice mentioned that more clerks might be hired based on actual needs, it was clear from Gu Fan’s words that "minimal staffing" was the store’s guiding principle from the start. No matter how the staff might increase, it would never reach the level of an ordinary phone dealership.

In other words... Manager Gu had no intention of providing proper customer service!

Gu Fan chuckled, "Therefore, our service philosophy is ’governing by doing nothing.’ We allow customers to manage themselves. After all, it’s a game experience store. The focus is on customers trying things out on their own. If you had to teach them everything, then this store shouldn’t be called an experience store, but a ’guidance store’ instead, with clerks specifically instructing customers on how to play Sky Against Heaven games."

"That’s clearly not the original intention behind my company establishing this experience store."

Sui Tao was shocked, the argument seemed so reasonable he was left speechless!

However, he felt there was still something off...

As the two of them whispered among themselves, the customers were starting to lose their patience.

[Hou Ji’s negative emotions +5!]

Stop your yapping and tell me how to play!

Hou Ji was speechless. He was indeed a student from a nearby university and had no classes today, so he decided to come out for a stroll and discovered this new store that seemed to be a console gaming experience shop. As a result, he wanted to try it out.

Instead, he encountered a pair of bizarre clerks.

They didn’t serve the customers who arrived, just whispering among themselves. He had never seen a store with such terrible service!

Forget it, if no one’s going to help, then don’t blame me for messing around on my own!

Hou Ji was an impatient person, and what he hated most was waiting. Since all the devices in the experience store were already turned on, he decided to figure it out for himself.

Of course, before he got started, he did not forget to ask, "Excuse me, how do you charge here? How much per hour?"

Gu Fan looked at Sui Tao, who knew that this was a question they could answer.

He hurriedly explained, "Hello, our pricing is clearly stated on the display board on the wall. Trying out for 1 hour is free, and after that, it’s 15 yuan per hour. The charge for all devices is the same."

Hou Ji was taken aback, "Huh? That’s pretty cheap."

He hadn’t frequented console gaming stores much, but he was aware of the general pricing.

In similar types of console gaming experience stores, even in second-tier cities, the price per hour was nearly 20 yuan or more. If it were in Capital City, particularly in a popular area, it could be 30 or even 50 yuan per hour.

Compared to internet cafes, of course, that’s expensive.

Not to mention those small internet cafes from many years ago that only cost 2 or 3 yuan per hour, even the more popular high-end internet cafés these days only charge about 10 yuan per hour.

But console gaming stores are different from internet cafés, after all.

Because the market group that likes console gaming is different, these customers aren’t the same as the internet café players. Most are not short on money, either because for some reason they can’t buy a console at home or don’t have the appropriate gaming environment, or they are looking for an offline social atmosphere.

Many console gaming stores, even when pricing is set at 20, 30, or even 50 yuan, are still very popular, and reservations are often needed in advance during holidays.

Of course, this also has to do with console gaming being a niche category; the more niche the product, the higher the cost and risk of opening a store, and accordingly, the higher the average customer price.

Considering this store is in Capital City and in a relatively central area, renting a big three-story building must be expensive.

With the current pricing, Hou Ji was quite skeptical whether the store could recoup its costs.

Most likely, it couldn’t.

What’s more, there was this one-hour free trial rule he had never heard of in other stores.

Thinking about it, Hou Ji felt a bit better. He decided to give the one-hour free trial a try!

Seeing that the customer was ready to have a go, Sui Tao finally took a small U-disk key from the counter and brought it over, as signaled by Gu Fan.

"Hello, this is the key, which also serves as your ID for playing."

Hou Ji reached out and took it, discovering it was just a small, finely made USB stick, only marked with a "001" number.

He was puzzled; there was no need to make a big deal out of a key, right?

There are many other solutions to this kind of thing. Why insist on using a USB stick, which seems a bit passé?

But Hou Ji didn’t think too much about it as he bent down to look for the place to insert the USB stick on the equipment.

But he couldn’t find it anywhere he looked.

There was just a small sign and an arrow in the corner, which read, "↓Insert key below↓".

Hou Ji was speechless. What the hell!

The place for inserting the key looked like a special device, similar to a small box with a USB port. But its position was odd; it wasn’t in an easily accessible area but was standing upright on the side, below the rest.

In other words, to insert the key, customers had to bend down slightly and reach blindly to the side.

If one wanted to see while inserting, they had to lower their head below the height of the table, which was inconvenient.

Hou Ji reached out and tried to feel for it.

Um, the first attempt at insertion, predictably, was a failure—it didn’t go in.

He felt around with his hand to get a general sense, then turned the USB key around and tried again from a different angle.

Dang? It still didn’t go in!

Hou Ji was confused. He felt for the position again and tried another angle.

It still didn’t go in!

Hou Ji was stunned, scratching his head and somewhat unable to understand what was going on.

What’s the situation here?

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