I was in my final year of high school, and my deskmate found out I was writing a novel!

On the third day after the first test went live, Ye Feng's phone never stopped ringing.

TapTap's backend received over two hundred private messages. Some were from players urging for the open beta, others were offering gameplay suggestions, and there were also two messages with the suffix "business cooperation" from two small game publishers he had never heard of.

That day, he had just finished writing the outline of the new chapter of "Ring of Destiny" and was staring blankly at the user retention data of "Elemental Corridor" (the retention rate was still 62% on the seventh day of the first test, far exceeding the average level of similar small games).

My phone suddenly vibrated, and the caller ID showed "Spark Entertainment - Manager Li".

"Hello Mr. Ye, this is Li Ming from Xinghuo Interactive Entertainment. We've noticed the impressive first test data for 'Elemental Corridor'!"

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded urgent.

"We'd like to discuss agency distribution with you. We can provide full-channel promotional resources, including app store homepage recommendations and Douyin feed placements."

We can also help you optimize your monetization design, such as adding subtle skin monetization or a battle pass system. We only take a 30% cut. Would you mind discussing this further?

Ye Feng walked to the balcony with his phone in his hand. The camphor trees downstairs had just sprouted new buds, and the wind carried a damp green scent.

He didn't agree immediately, but said, "Thank you, Manager Li, but our team is still optimizing the core gameplay, and we haven't considered commercialization yet. Could you send me your cooperation proposal first, and I'll discuss it with my team?"

After hanging up the phone, he immediately created a temporary WeChat group, adding Chen Guowei, Zhang Ming, and Li Hao, and even Miaomiao, who had been helping to organize user feedback and was very familiar with the game.

He briefly explained Xinghuo Interactive Entertainment's intentions, and before anyone else could speak, Chen Guowei sent a voice message.

"Brother Feng, the publisher's promotional resources are good, but if they change the commercial design, won't it ruin the game? We originally planned for it to be 'low-spending and fun,' so adding a battle pass is fine, but if they add too many paid skins, players will get annoyed."

Zhang Ming chimed in, "That's right! Last time during the trial, some players said, 'Don't let it involve pay-to-win to get stronger.' If we listen to the publisher, all the goodwill we've built up will be gone."

Miaomiao sent a "thinking" emoji in the group chat.

"I've looked at the games that Xinghuo Interactive Entertainment has made, and several of them failed because they relied on aggressive monetization. We should be more cautious."

However, their distribution channels are indeed useful. Should we discuss with them a "cooperative promotion only, without interfering with gameplay" arrangement?

Ye Feng stared at the messages in the group chat, typing on the screen with his fingers.

"That's what I think too. Let them submit their proposal first, and focus on the specific details of the promotional resources, such as how long they can be featured in the app store and whether the target audience for Douyin is college students. If they insist on changing the approach, we'll politely decline."

Before Xinghuo Interactive Entertainment could even send their proposal, another publisher called "Blue Whale Games" approached them the very next day.

This time they were even more direct, with the proposal explicitly stating that "a paid item with 'elemental bullet critical hit probability' needs to be added to guarantee revenue of over one million in the first month."

After reviewing the proposal, Ye Feng had Miaomiao reply, "Thank you for your attention, but we are not considering commercial cooperation at this time."

He was well aware that the core appeal of this game was its "fair random gameplay," and adding probabilistic paid items would be tantamount to ruining his own reputation.

Compared to the publisher's "aggressive" approach, Zhou Ming's willingness to cooperate was much more moderate.

On the fifth day of the first test, Zhou Ming drove directly to Ye Feng's house, carrying a tote bag full of samples. As soon as he entered, he dumped the samples onto the coffee table.

"Brother Feng, look! This is a sample of our new power bank. If we printed bullet patterns from your game on it, it would definitely sell like hotcakes! And this keyboard sticker, with its retro pixel style, students will definitely love it!"

Ye Feng picked up a silver power bank. It didn't have any design printed on it yet, but it was the perfect size to fit into his backpack and it was also lightweight.

He recalled a player commenting during the first test that "I'm always worried about my phone running out of battery while playing games," and suddenly felt that this collaboration was a good fit.

"Sure, but there are two requirements. First, the merchandise prices can't be too high. Power banks should be priced at a maximum of 89 yuan, and stickers at 19.9 yuan, so that students can afford them. Second, when you buy merchandise, you should give away a game beta gift pack, such as a limited-edition pixel avatar or an element bullet trial card, so that they can drive traffic to each other."

Zhou Ming's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh, saying, "No problem! The pricing is up to you, you just need to provide the gift code, and we'll take care of the printing."

"By the way, Feng, I have something to tell you. Our profits from secondhand electronics recycling have been declining lately. Students are under a lot of pressure to buy new phones and computers, but they're afraid to sell their old ones at a loss. Do you have any good ideas?"

Ye Feng paused for a moment, still holding the power bank in his hand, when the idea of ​​"renting" that he had thought of before suddenly flashed through his mind, but he didn't say it immediately.

"Let me think about this for you. Let's first finalize the details of the cooperation, such as the initial production volume and when it will be launched."

The two sat on the sofa and discussed the sample for more than half an hour.

Choose from three designs for the power bank (fire bomb, thunderstorm bomb, steam bomb).

The first batch will consist of 500 of each; two sets of keyboard stickers will be made, one set featuring game characters and the other featuring an element crafting table.

It also includes an earphone storage box with the words "Elemental Corridor High School Limited Edition" printed on it.

"When the public beta launches, we'll hold a 'buy merchandise and win beta test access' event at ten universities in the Yangtze River Delta region to guarantee maximum buzz!"

Besides the publisher and Zhou Ming, several university game clubs also approached us.

The president of the game club at Shanghai University of Science and Technology sent a message saying that he wants to hold an offline tournament for "Elemental Corridor" at the school, hopes to obtain official authorization, and also wants some merchandise as prizes.

After discussing it with his team, Ye Feng not only agreed to the authorization but also decided to go to the site in person to take a look.

It can collect real-time feedback from players and expand its influence in the university community through the competition.

He told Chen Guowei in the group chat: "During the offline competition, let's bring a few test machines so that players can try out the two newly made BOSS levels and collect feedback on the difficulty."

"Zhang Ming, draw a few more tournament posters that match the game's retro style. Li Hao, you're in charge of collecting match data and figuring out the common element combinations players use to help with future balance optimizations."

Chen Guowei immediately replied, "No problem! I'll install the test version on my laptop and debug it on-site."

Zhang Ming also sent over a newly drawn poster draft.

"Look, Brother Feng, the main character is holding an elemental bullet, and the background is a pixelated school campus, isn't that great?"

Looking at the pixelated figure on the poster, Ye Feng suddenly felt a sense of peace.

From its initial idea to now having publishers paying attention, peripheral collaborations, and university competitions, this game is like a seed that has slowly grown into a branch.