Million Views

"Mm, so good!"

"Mm, this one's delicious too!"

"Mmm... mm... mm..."

Meng Shu sat at the small dining table, quietly watching his little sister wolf down her food.

According to his memories, this family liked spicy food.

As for him, he was also an excellent Sichuan cuisine cook, which was a perfect match. The girl ate until her mouth was greasy, without the slightest hint of ladylike restraint.

There were four simple dishes and a soup on the table.

She alone had devoured a third of it. Despite her good figure, her appetite was unexpectedly huge.

Meng Xiaoran suddenly put down her bowl, burped, and picked up a tissue to wipe her mouth.

Her sparkling eyes fixed on her brother, gleaming with curiosity.

"Bro, when did you learn how to cook!?"

Meng Shu held a glass of water and drank slowly. Hearing that, he merely smiled without answering.

"How does it taste?"

Meng Xiaoran nodded repeatedly.

"Delicious! So delicious! Bro, your cooking is incredible! Next time Mom and Dad work late, dinner's up to you, Bro!"

Meng Shu shrugged and nodded without replying, continuing to drink his water as a tacit agreement.

After eating and drinking her fill, the girl across from him rubbed her round little belly, then propped herself up on her crutches and prepared to return to her room.

"Bro, help me out. I'm so full I can barely walk."

Meng Shu glanced at her and nodded.

He got up and helped her back to her room.

Then he returned to the living room and looked at the clock on the wall. It was already eight in the evening. The old couple should be coming home soon.

Sure enough, just as that thought crossed his mind, he heard the sound of bicycles outside.

Their family did not own a car.

They did not even have an electric scooter. They only had bicycles.

Meng Shu glanced toward the door, then turned and went into the kitchen, ladling out the food from the pot.

Meng Xiaoran had only eaten part of it.

The rest in the pot had been saved for their parents.

Just as he placed the dishes on the small dining table, the door opened.

His parents in this world had returned.

At a single glance, he saw the hardship and age etched onto their faces.

His mother looked exhausted, as though she barely had the strength to walk.

His father was not tall, with thinning hair and uneven shoulders.

It was clear that the two of them were fighting hard for this small family.

Even as they grew older, they still shouldered their responsibilities.

When they saw Meng Shu sitting at the dining table, they were first stunned. Then, seeing the steaming four dishes and soup on the table, they froze again.

"Is this... takeout? Haven't you eaten yet?"

Meng Shu shook his head and smiled.

"I made it. You came back so late, so you probably haven't eaten. Come eat first."

The old couple exchanged looks, seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.

Our son...

Since when could he cook?

The next day, early in the morning.

Meng Shu got up early and prepared breakfast for the old couple.

Simple pumpkin porridge, boiled corn, and fried eggs. After placing them on the table, he returned to his room.

It was six thirty in the morning. Little Xiaoran was definitely still asleep, so there was no need to worry about her breakfast.

He had already eaten his own portion as well.

So, with a new day ahead of him, it was time to continue developing Chapter 1 of Dark Forest.

But before that, he needed to see what kind of response yesterday's uploaded video had received.

As he spoke, he picked up his phone and opened Danmu Network.

The conspicuous 99+ in the upper-right corner immediately told him this was no small matter.

When he opened it, it was even more unbelievable!

99+ replies, 99+ private messages, 99+ likes.

This had completely blown up!

Meng Shu gave it a rough look. Nearly all the comments marveled at the game's high quality and how terrifying it was.

Aside from praise, questions, and mindless insults, several private messages came from people claiming to represent mobile game companies, extending olive branches and hoping to hire him.

Yet even so, not a single company was willing to invest in or sponsor it.

Even those companies that had approached him would rather hire him personally than invest in the development of Dark Forest.

It was clear that these companies truly did not think highly of Horror Games.

He returned to the homepage, intending to open his profile and find the uploaded video to check its data.

Instead, he spotted his video right in the homepage's rotating recommendations!?

Wait, it had already made the front-page recommendations?

Meng Shu hurriedly opened his video, and his eyes widened at once!

1.6 million views, 840,000 likes, 910,000 coins, 270,000 favorites, and 140,000 shares.

These numbers were insane. Absolutely insane!

For just one night, this was an explosion!

So many videos could be up for a week without reaching numbers like these, yet he had achieved such impressive results in only one night. It was practically a miracle!

And it also indirectly proved that there was a huge audience for this.

Furthermore, it was still early in the morning, yet more than 1,200 people were watching right now.

The total number of danmu comments had reached 19,000!

The total comment count had reached 9,468!

Even his follower count had gone from the original four to more than 4,000!

Every one of those numbers told him plainly: your video had gone viral!

Meng Shu felt a little excited. After all, this was the first video he had ever released across both his lives.

And it had achieved such outstanding results, surpassing most people's work. His blood could not help but surge.

He glanced through the comments. Most people who had downloaded the game said they had been scared by its horrifying atmosphere.

"You're saying this was made by one person? I've gone to school, you know. You can't fool me that easily."

"I downloaded it and played it last night. All I can say is, it was fucking terrifying."

"I downloaded it too. Damn it, I feel like the creator made this to take revenge on society!!"

"I downloaded it but haven't played yet. Is it really that scary? Haven't horror games always been trash that only pretended to be horror?"

"I downloaded it for the gimmick of a domestically made solo project, but it scared me so badly I couldn't even speak."

"Cowards, don't play it! Let me warn you again! Cowards, don't play it! This isn't like those scammy, garbage horror games on the market. This is genuinely terrifying! Don't say I didn't warn you!!"

Those comments had clearly also piqued the curiosity of people who had not downloaded the game.

"The gameplay demo looks okay, but I just don't get the top-down perspective mixed with horror. Is it really that scary?"

"Could they all be paid shills? For years, it's been settled that whoever makes horror games dies. The audience is small, it's niche, and even big companies don't dare touch it. Yet some unknown domestic indie horror game is talking this big? It's hard not to suspect paid shills."

"Why don't you download it and play it yourself, then? What kind of trash were those old horror games? How could they compare? Don't tell me you're one of those keyboard gamers who doesn't even own a computer?"

"The quality is honestly pretty good for a solo project. I'll give it a try later."

"What game is this? Where can I download it? Can I play it on my phone?"

There were plenty more comments like those. Meng Shu figured that reading every last one would probably take all day, so he stopped scrolling.

As for those who had extended olive branches, he ignored them as well.

Working for someone else would indeed provide stable income, but in his previous life, he had started from nothing as a producer. He had built his own company, managed it well, amassed considerable wealth, and become a successful man.

Now, he would naturally continue down that path.

Besides, with the system's help, it was as though the difficulty of starting a business had been reduced from extremely hard to merely easy.

The only thing he lacked was money.

But Dark Forest had received a little publicity now and had gained a certain audience.

He believed that this promotional effect would soon bring results.