Universe Infinite Canteen

Baldy introduced everyone around him and then said to Ma Lu, "We still have five colleagues from the marketing department who went out for work earlier, and they should be arriving soon too."

Before he finished speaking, sure enough, a taxi stopped outside the restaurant, and five people who clearly looked like members of the Red Ridge Project Team got out.

After reaching the destination, the taxi driver also breathed a sigh of relief, dropped off the passengers without even taking the fare, and drove away with a press of the accelerator.

Those five people entered Universe Infinite Canteen, and the small restaurant was immediately filled with a murderous aura.

Once those five had also greeted Ma Lu and shaken hands, the entire staff of Red Ridge Project Team, led by Baldy, took their seats.

Ma Lu gave Ma Youyou a meaningful look and they both walked into the kitchen.

"What's the matter, boss?" The young girl, not very frightened by the gang of brigands claiming to be the game project team outside, remained curious and kept scrutinizing Baldy and the others.

"I'll handle the guests today, you help out in the kitchen," Ma Lu said.

"Are you worried about me, boss?" Ma Youyou blinked.

"No, it's just that the kitchen needs more hands."

Seeing that Ma Youyou wanted to say more, Ma Lu simply raised his hand to stop her, "I'm the boss, listen to me."

"Alright then, if you run into danger, just call me. I can go back in time to save you."

"Okay."

After settling Ma Youyou in, Ma Lu picked up two plates of cold dishes and went out.

Since the ingredients had already been prepped in advance, Old Wang was also quick with the cooking.

In no time, half the dishes were served, and when the main dish 'Unity is Strength' was brought to the table.

Baldy picked up his glass of 'Cat's Pee' beer and stood up.

"Uhm, I'll just say a few words."

"Please give your directions, producer," the remaining thirteen people said in unison, leaning slightly forward as if to listen attentively.

"You all know how seriously the company is taking this project; before I came out, investors spoke to me and urged us to make sure we do Red Ridge well.

"And you're all aware of the situation at the company, besides our Red Ridge team, there are over a dozen other teams; we're brothers, but also competitors.

"Those who do well will surely be rewarded by the company and might even get promoted. I know some of you also want my position as producer.

"If I get promoted, the person taking over will also be chosen from among you. Conversely..."

Baldy's tone grew grave, and his gaze swept over all his subordinates with a chilling warning, "If anyone causes me to be unable to hold my head up in the company, I'll make sure they'll never be able to hold theirs up again."

Ma Lu, upon hearing these words, snorted and sprayed the cola he had just sipped onto the floor tiles.

And they say it's not a gang, what kind of game company threatens their employees with death?

Hearing the disturbance from Ma Lu's end, the members of the Red Ridge team all turned to look in this direction.

Ma Lu quickly bowed his head and pretended to be busy with his phone.

A moment later, Baldy continued, "In any case, that's the situation. Everyone, get your spirits up, got it?!"

"Yes, producer!"

It was another set of uniform answers.

Baldy was very satisfied, but he still didn't start eating. He turned to look at the 5 people from the marketing department who had arrived later and asked, "How's the promotion going? How many players have you roped into falling into the pit?"

One of the men, who had only four fingers on his left hand, hesitated before saying, "Um... Producer, we've been actively exploring the market for the past two days, but the results... they are still not very ideal.

"We found 9 people yesterday, and pulled in 14 today, but the conversion rate is a bit low."

"How low?" Baldy frowned.

"Uh, well... just... just down to 1 person."

As the four-fingered man finished his sentence, even Ma Lu, who was pretending to slack off by the counter, felt as if the temperature had dropped by a degree.

Not to mention the people at the table who were directly facing the producer's anger.

Fortunately, Baldy managed to control himself in the end, uttering each word deliberately, "Then, have, you, guys, figured, out, what, the, problem, is?"

"It's definitely not the marketing department's fault, we've been working really hard, pulling people in 24 hours a day." Another woman from the marketing department muttered, a bit younger in age.

"Coconut Jelly, what do you mean by that?" Little Weige, the copywriter, got angry, "Are you suggesting we haven't done a good job?"

Beigong Meng scoffed, "Don't lump me in, my art is top-notch, the players all say I'm riding on the planners in the game."

"The blame definitely isn't on me either, my numerical values have no problems." Today, Mengmengda also hurried to deflect blame, "Everything was replicated one-to-one realistically, and it was the boss who gave the final approval."

"What are you trying to say, that I didn't do a good job on the levels?" Even the group's least skilled member became unhappy.

"Is there a possibility that players first need to actually play the levels before they can curse them? If none of you can even get players to my levels, how can you blame me?"

Seeing that his team members were about to start a ruckus, Baldy slammed the table, "Shut up, all of you!!!"

The restaurant suddenly went silent once again.

"I called you all here to brainstorm and identify problems, not to complain about each other." Baldy spoke with the demeanor of one disappointed in their unmet expectations. "Forget it, let's eat first, fill your bellies and then we'll talk."

With the producer's grand gesture, the oppressive and somber atmosphere in the air finally eased somewhat.

Everyone started to pick up their food, although there was still plenty of tension between them, each just focused on eating without any exchange.

Watching this scene, Baldy once again felt how hard it was to manage the team.

However, as everyone got into the main course, hearts that were initially ice-cold gradually began to thaw.

Baldy, the producer, was the first to start self-reflective criticism, "Sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that just now. I know you all are actually working very hard."

Mengmengda quickly said, "Producer, don't say that, we all understand the pressure you're under from the top."

"That's right, that's right..." everyone chimed in, "At the end of the day, just like us, you're also a worker at the mercy of others." Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire

Little Weige's eyes filled with tears, "Back in the day, we brothers fought side by side, charging in and out of the enemy ranks seven times and securing glorious victories. In the end, didn't all the big rewards get taken by those above, leaving us with mere scraps.

"Now the times have changed, people from above are starting companies and setting up project teams, and we are dispatched to develop some silly game. Sigh, I didn't expect that in my old age, I would have to learn to write copy."

"And they expect it to be captivating, full of twists and turns, with profound themes, that's just asking too much of me. I'm not complaining about you, Producer."

"Sigh, it's all the pointless meddling from the top. Didn't I also become a numerical planner out of nowhere? I don't even know what numerical values are, I just have to blindly fill in the blanks." Mengmengda also spoke.