Private Game?

"Get to work, everyone, get to work!" Inside an office building in the Teemo Business District at the heart of Yordle City, a newly listed game review company began its day of hustle.

In this enterprise, there were over two hundred game reviewers, yet they still seemed understaffed. Frequent overtime was the norm, mainly because the market was so vast. This profession already had tens of millions of practitioners globally, yet it seemed far from saturated, with a massive influx of graduates joining the industry every year.

Since the establishment of the Planet D Federation in the 23rd century, artificial intelligence had become ubiquitous worldwide. Most manual labor had been replaced, leaving humans with less to do. Because of the abundance of free time, the entertainment industry had flourished, and the gaming sector, as a vital component of that industry, was advancing with each passing day.

"Storm Tribe, Empire Conquerors, Spirit Sword Demon Sealing Record, Onmyoji 28..." In the office area, Xiao Chen, who had only recently joined the company, opened the list of games to be tested. Looking at these major IPs, envy flickered in his eyes.

These games were all produced by large corporations—big-budget projects that had been heavily promoted for two years. The fact that the company could secure so many high-level titles for review showed that their connections and influence were truly extraordinary. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with him.

As a newcomer, he naturally wasn't assigned to review such major IPs; those were usually handled by industry veterans who could provide precise evaluations and risk assessments.

Most of what newcomers like him could test were games designed by private individuals.

Due to the advancement of artificial intelligence, game platform templates and frameworks were now highly mature, and base costs were low. This allowed many cash-strapped private game enthusiasts to create virtual games based on their own creativity. However, without a creative team or massive art resources, these private games usually had to rely on clever concepts to attract an audience.

Once the barrier to entry was lowered, the quality of private works became uneven. Gems were one in ten thousand; most were just "selling flesh" or "selling boys' love" simulation games. Some shut-ins would still pay for these, and in this day and age, those who could afford to be shut-ins generally weren't short on cash.

Xiao Chen scrolled through his screen, bored, looking for something that might pique his interest. Suddenly, he spotted a black metallic icon.

"The logo is pretty good!" Xiao Chen felt a spark of interest as he looked at the icon for a game called Star Sea. The icon had a strong metallic texture, and judging by the title, it should be a sci-fi game. Then again, it was hard to say; many large companies didn't dare touch the sci-fi genre, let alone private designers.

It was likely a "bait and switch" game—either a girl accompanying you on an interstellar adventure, or a "Legend"-style game wearing a sci-fi skin, where you just hacked and slashed to level up. They probably just swapped warriors and mages for Force Warriors and replaced the Dragon Slaying Treasure Blade with a laser sword... it was disgustingly cliché.

He didn't know why people still played "Legend" games; who knew how many generations had been scammed by that nostalgia?

With the mindset of just checking it out, Xiao Chen clicked on it. Testing a "Legend"-style game early in the morning was still better than testing a simulation game; after all, testing those too much tended to cause prostate congestion.

"Welcome to Star Sea. Come, sign the contract and become a subject under the great Lord Xi Ye!"

A booming voice interrupted the stunned Xiao Chen. He looked up blankly at the NPC standing before him, who possessed a tall, imposing stature and an exceptionally fierce appearance. His entire body began to tremble.

"No way... this... is this really a private game?

Is this model too realistic?"

Xiao Chen stared at his surroundings in disbelief. The scene appeared to be a temporary base with a pure metal layout, filled with unrecognizable instruments, robotic arms, and various mysterious equipment that he couldn't understand but looked incredibly high-end. His heart surged with excitement that was hard to put into words.

The highest-rated sci-fi work on the market was currently "Titan," produced by Blizzard Company. Its ID sold for 8,800 Federation Currency, making it the most expensive game on the market. When he was a student, he had scrimped and saved for three years just to afford the application fee for an account. Yet, even compared to that game, the scene design and the realism of the NPC models here were practically blown out of the water!

The details, the metallic texture, and even the NPC model—the lines on his face, the rise and fall of his muscles as he breathed—it was even more realistic than a virtual sci-fi movie!

Had he stumbled upon a legendary grassroots masterpiece?

Xiao Chen couldn't help but reach out to touch the NPC, but before his hand could make contact, a massive wave of pressure suddenly surged toward him. Caught off guard, Xiao Chen fell onto his backside. The sharp pain in his rear made him even more astonished. One hundred percent tactile realism? This game is certainly bold!

"Do not touch this Lord!" the tall NPC glared at him fiercely. "If you offend again, you will be erased on the spot!"

"A fully intelligent NPC?" Xiao Chen took a deep breath. With current AI technology, fully intelligent NPCs weren't exactly rare, but the personality settings of this one were quite interesting.

After thinking it over, he decided not to provoke the other party further. With 100% tactile feedback, it wouldn't feel good if he got slapped to death. With that in mind, he looked toward a massive metal door nearby.

There was a window on the door. Through it, he saw the scene outside the base: it was desolate, with a crimson ground devoid of any greenery. It looked like they had modeled it after the exterior of Mars.

That saved some effort, but the details were still spot-on. The texture of the sand and gravel on the ground was extremely realistic, and the physical effects produced by the wind were excellent. He could barely find any faults!

He reached out to grab the handle, wanting to open the door and take a closer look at the exterior, but he was suddenly repelled by a jolt of electricity. Just as he was surprised, he heard the NPC say, "Mortal, your body cannot survive on this planet. After signing the contract, this Lord will perform biological modifications on you. Once the population here reaches five hundred, this Lord will organize you all to go outside to collect resources and build a home!"

"Oh..." Xiao Chen had a sudden realization. So, it hasn't opened up yet!

But that made sense. With this level of quality, the workload required just for the scene layout was immense. A private designer naturally wouldn't have the capacity to develop too many areas. He immediately understood that this must be a semi-finished product!

This situation wasn't uncommon in the market. Many private designers with high-level skills who weren't being utilized would often design an opening model first to attract investors to their game.

Thinking of this, he professionally began to score the game in his mind.

Game nature: Semi-finished product.

Visual performance: Five stars. Perfect details and excellent texture. From a visual standpoint alone, it is absolutely an epoch-making work!

Game models: Five stars. Exquisite and delicate, reflecting a powerful art team.

Replayability: Unknown. No gameplay has been opened yet; it is a crowdfunding game.

Overall evaluation: A semi-finished product with great potential, possessing an extremely powerful art team. I believe that if there were a good game planning team, this could perhaps be a work that replaces "Titan." Investment risk: Three and a half stars. Reason: The developed content is too sparse, almost non-existent, which makes me doubt if there is any long-term planning for this work. I suggest asking for clarification before investing, or hiring an excellent planning team!

With his summary in mind, Xiao Chen excitedly planned to go back and write his report. Digging a nugget of gold out of a cesspit—this was a great achievement!

But suddenly, he realized there didn't seem to be a menu button. He paused, stunned, and then looked at the only intelligent NPC in the room. "Excuse me, how do I log out from here?"

This time, the NPC didn't speak, but expressionlessly pointed toward a device in the center of the base that looked like a teleportation device from a sci-fi movie.

A node-based exit system?

Xiao Chen was taken aback. While this method made the game more realistic, it was quite troublesome and wouldn't be very popular in today's fast-paced entertainment environment. It seemed this game really did lack an excellent planning team.

Without hesitation, he walked quickly into the teleportation device, pulled up the menu, and selected the option to exit Star Sea. He had to submit his review report before anyone else discovered this game; he couldn't let this achievement slip away!

With a flash of light, Xiao Chen vanished from the device. The NPC, who had just been cold and arrogant, slumped down onto the floor the moment the person left. He took off his imposing metal helmet, revealing an incredibly handsome face!

"This Lord is exhausted!" the NPC muttered to himself. "That idiot is finally gone!" He then addressed the empty space, "Intelligence, can we really get away with this?"

"Rest assured, Lord!" an electronic voice echoed through the base. "The Lord only needs to wait patiently; soon, there will be a steady stream of subjects flowing in!"