License Issuance, Subsequent Plans Commence

At 7 PM, Meng Shu tied on his apron and began preparing dinner.

Ever since he'd casually shown off his cooking skills on the first night after crossing over, his little sister had clamored for his stir-fried dishes every day.

So from then on, the evening cooking duty had shifted from their mother to Meng Shu.

And every night, the dishes he made left Meng Xiaoran—that girl—with greasy lips, to the point where he started worrying she might turn into a little chubster.

Tonight, under her expectant gaze, Meng Shu planned to make a dry-pot chicken thigh, minced pork mapo tofu, and lion's head meatballs for her to try.

Just as he was about to start chopping vegetables, Meng Xiaoran suddenly piped up with a curious question about work.

"Bro, you still haven't found a job?"

"A couple days ago, I saw you heading out every day and thought you were going for interviews."

Meng Shu: ...

Meng Shu paused, the cleaver in his hand stilling. With his back to her, he lifted the corner of his mouth in a faint smile.

This girl—she thought his recent trips to scout company premises were job interviews for himself.

Come to think of it, that made sense.

He was twenty-four years old, still holed up at home all day without going out. It was only natural for his family to ask.

Sigh.

After all, the family's financial situation was grim. The older one was like a shut-in, unable to find work; the younger one had a leg injury and couldn't attend school.

Now, this tiny household had to rely on their aging parents?

If word got out, people would look down on them.

"Bro, if finding a job is tough... you could, you could, you could try livestreaming! I see a lot of streamers now who are pretty mediocre at games, no real skill, just doing it for fun. Why don't you give it a shot?"

Meng Xiaoran looked at her brother and asked in a small voice.

Meng Shu's forehead was covered in black lines.

I, the esteemed Qin Xuan, once hailed by Time magazine as the most successful young entrepreneur of the era, a genius producer behind several famous games—become a streamer?

He shook his head.

"There will be work. Your brother isn't just lazing around at home, don't worry, little sis. Your big bro isn't some useless mud."

Meng Xiaoran's face immediately flushed with embarrassment.

"Ah, that, bro—I didn't mean you're, you know, that thing... Anyway, that's not what I meant! I know you're amazing, like how you can cook—that really surprised me. I know you're definitely not, uh, idle!"

At that moment, flustered, Meng Xiaoran switched from her usual "old bro" to "brother," showing just how awkward she felt.

Meng Shu just smiled, unconcerned, without turning around.

"Alright, go back to your room and stay put. When I start stir-frying, there'll be a lot of smoke. Even with the range hood on, some will get through. You're so particular about cleanliness, aren't you afraid?"

"Mhm! Call me when it's ready, brother!"

Meng Xiaoran quickly took the out and hobbled away, her face still slightly flushed with embarrassment.

Meng Shu, meanwhile, raised the cleaver and began deboning the chicken thighs.

He hadn't told anyone about starting the company.

Not his parents, not his sister, not his friends or classmates—not a single soul.

Right now, he had no achievements to show. Blurting out that he'd started a company would only make people worry.

What was he now?

Just a junior college graduate not long out of school.

Saying he'd started a company?

Who would believe that someone without even a bachelor's degree had the chops to be an entrepreneur?

So for now, he'd wait until Dark Forest was released to say anything.

Meng Shu stopped overthinking and focused on cooking.

Another week passed.

During this time, the reveal of the monster designs caused the data for that gameplay demo on the Danmu Network to explode again!

The view count hit an astonishing 17.75 million.

Ranking first across the entire site!

It also prompted many content creators and players to upload their own gameplay videos.

Now, just searching the keyword "Dark Forest" brought up fourteen pages of related videos!

Of course, the top spot was still held by Meng Shu's own demo, followed by a video from someone called Zai Zong, with over 2.4 million views.

Meanwhile, the download count for the demo version in the cloud drive reached 280,000.

Comparing that to the video views, it was clear:

There were still quite a few cloud gamers and people who didn't play games at all.

Meng Shu looked at the download count of 280,000 and felt a pang of regret.

If only those 280,000 people had purchased the game instead.

He could have set a price of 59 yuan and earned over 16.5 million.

Even after deducting the Cyber Platform's 30% cut, that would still be over 11.5 million.

Thinking this, Meng Shu's fingers unconsciously sped up on the keyboard.

But just then, his phone lit up with a notification sound as a text message arrived.

He picked it up casually, assuming it was some ad or scam message.

Yet one glance and he couldn't look away.

The text in the message was brief, but it told him clearly.

Dark Forest had passed review!

Now, his horror game had an official license in Huaxia, complete with the relevant certifications, protected by law, and could be openly promoted!

At that moment, Meng Shu's heart surged with excitement.

A license!

In his original world, due to certain restrictions, getting a single-player game approved was incredibly difficult!

Not only was the content sensitive, but the waiting time was also excruciatingly long.

Some game companies would pour their hearts into a game, submit it for review, and then collapse under the strain before the license ever came through because the review process took too long.

And this scenario was all too common.

Of the several games Meng Shu had developed with his team, only two wuxia titles had obtained licenses; the rest all ended up on the Steam Platform.

And now, a game with such a grim theme, one that would leave kids sleeping with their eyes open, had actually passed review!

For someone who had endured the license winter, this joy was indescribable!

Only one thought filled his mind now, and he couldn't help blurting it out.

"Fear Points. None of you players are getting away!"

Then he immediately launched into his next plan.

The game was currently 90% through Chapter Two; at most three days to finish the entire chapter, and then he'd release it all together!

As for Chapter Three, the final chapter, its content was much lighter than the first two, so development shouldn't take too long.

What he needed to do now was contact the Cyber Platform's distributor in Huaxia, sign the contract, and list the game.

Then, while the buzz was still hot, release the remaining CG trailer.

After that, quickly announce the EA Early Access version and set a release date.

Finally, use the money earned to recruit talent, contact other game platforms for porting, and prepare for the next game.

After all, games purchased with Fear Points didn't include the playable Demo, art assets, or original soundtrack.

And while he could handle those alone, it would be very time-consuming.

Rather than that, it was better to hire people and save time.

Besides, he had another idea.

While developing a horror game to earn Fear Points, he could also develop other types of games for profit.

The mainstream games in this world were shooters, racers, and sports games.

Leaving aside racers and sports for now, just shooters alone were countless.

Take first-person FPS games, for instance—there was the legendary Call of Duty series, the universally known Battlefield series, and so on, all incredibly satisfying linear shooters!

Of course, this world had similar fun games too, so those two might not have much of an edge; they'd have to win on volume.

But that was fine. If linear shooters weren't enough, then bring in open-world shooters with RPG elements!

Like the Far Cry series, Borderlands series, Rage series, and so on.

If that still wasn't enough, there were sci-fi shooters like Crysis, Deus Ex, Serious Sam, Wolfenstein, Doom, and more.

And even horror-survival shooters like Left 4 Dead, Metro, BioShock, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and others.

That was just first-person shooters. If you added third-person shooters, the number would multiply several times over!

Beyond these franchise titles, there were countless standalone indie games.

Even if some of these games looked dated due to their age, with the system's help, he could still craft next-gen visuals and give the entire work a fresh new look!

No matter how Meng Shu looked at it, he could easily outclass the games of this era.

He could even borrow a classic line from his original world.

"Not a single one can put up a fight."