Sitting in front of his computer, Chen Xu had gained a rough understanding of his current situation.
The gaming industry—this was the direction he had set his sights on.
But even though he had decided to make games, it was not going to be that simple.
Although this world's advanced technology meant game development did not require building the underlying code from scratch,
art, music, modeling, and everything else were all indispensable.
Besides, Chen Xu's current situation was rather awkward.
First of all, he did not have the title of game designer, so the resources available to him were extremely limited.
Though Chen Xu estimated that those resources would still be enough for some of the classic small indie games from his previous life.
But there was another key issue: he did not have much money on him.
He had only recently graduated, and he lived in Magic City. Though he was in the suburbs rather than the city center,
the cost of living was still high. Even now, he had only managed to save a little over ten thousand.
He put the system aside for now. After all, he needed to release his own work before he could collect points.
And it did not even offer a cash conversion function. How heartless!
"I need to find a way to make some money." Chen Xu rubbed his chin as he thought.
He searched online for all kinds of information, trying to understand every aspect of this world's gaming industry.
At the same time, he began forming plans in his mind.
But after closing a webpage and seeing a folder on his desktop, Chen Xu's eyes suddenly lit up.
The folder contained more than a dozen fully colored vertical comics.
Their content was the story of several scantily clad young ladies playing water volleyball.
The story's tone was positive and uplifting, fully showcasing the vitality and fighting spirit of youthful girls.
According to the memories in his mind, Chen Xu had not drawn these vertical comics. A senior from the same college had given them to him to color.
Looking at these invigorating vertical comics, Chen Xu had already made up his mind.
He had an idea for his first money-making project.
It was a Chinese Match-3 game featuring beautiful girls that had been beloved by players in his previous life: "Magic Mirror."
It had been voted the second most well-reviewed game of 2018, topped Steam's global daily bestseller chart, and accumulated 71,000 reviews. Nearly 69,000 of them were positive, while most of the remaining 2,000 negative reviews had merely been posted as a joke.
His reasons for choosing this game were simple.
For one thing, it practically did not involve any game modeling.
For another, Chen Xu's skill level meant he could produce most of the game's content himself.
Moreover, given the nature of the game, compared with other games, "Magic Mirror" had a unique advantage when there was little money available for promotion.
When it came to quickly accumulating startup capital, "Magic Mirror" was arguably the best choice.
Of course, some of its more excessive content would need to be changed.
"But doing it alone will still take quite a bit of time. I need to find a helper." Having made his decision, Chen Xu did some calculations and came up with an idea.
But before that, he needed to solve the problem of his stomach.
Feeling hunger rise in him, Chen Xu got up, grabbed the keys and phone from the table, and prepared to go downstairs to find a restaurant and deal with his physiological needs.
"Never underestimate the meat slicer at any Lanzhou Noodle House. What incredible knife skills!"
Chen Xu picked up a slice of beef as thin as cicada wings with his chopsticks and sighed.
Dipped in the noodle soup, the beef even seemed crystal-clear to Chen Xu.
Six slices of beef lay atop the noodles, with chopped scallions and cilantro arranged beside them.
Whether in his previous life or this Parallel World, the beef could be summed up in one word: thin.
Although there was too little meat to even get stuck between his teeth, the noodles were quite tasty.
They were wonderfully chewy, and the broth made from simmered beef bones was equally delicious.
After eating and drinking his fill, Chen Xu paid the bill and left the noodle house. On his way home, he dialed a number.
After about three rings, the call connected.
"Senior, I've finished the artwork you gave me before. I'll send it to you later so you can receive it."
"Also, do you have time tomorrow afternoon? There are some things I'd like to discuss with you."
"No problem. Let's meet at Island Coffee, at the Garden District intersection, tomorrow at one in the afternoon."
After hanging up, Chen Xu stretched lazily.
He had already decided that he would earn his first pot of gold through "Magic Mirror."
But if he had to do all the work himself,
Chen Xu estimated that it would take him around two months to finish "Magic Mirror."
And that was assuming he worked himself to the bone.
So if possible, finding a helper would be ideal.
As for whether it would work out, that was impossible to say.
One o'clock in the afternoon.
Chen Xu arrived at Island Coffee at the agreed time.
By a window in the first-floor hall sat a young woman of around twenty-four, wearing glasses.
She was dressed in a white casual outfit and sat there listening to music through earphones.
"Senior Sister Ruan, sorry to make you come all this way." Chen Xu stepped forward and greeted her.
"It wasn't any trouble. My home is nearby anyway." Ruan Ningxue took off her earphones, smiled faintly, and shook her head.
Before Chen Xu could continue, Ruan Ningxue looked at him happily and said, "So, Chen Xu, what did you want to talk to me about? Have you finally come around and decided to join my studio? Honestly, stubbornly sticking to comics isn't very wise."
"You can absolutely start by honing your skills through fanbooks, then switch careers later. Many famous artists in the industry used to draw fanbooks under aliases!"
"And I've seen the pictures you colored, Chen Xu. You're very talented!"
Ruan Ningxue spoke to Chen Xu with great seriousness.
"Ahem... Well, Senior, I appreciate your kindness, but that's not why I came to see you today." Chen Xu coughed twice awkwardly.
She was a senior one year above Chen Xu.
Just as the previous Chen Xu had wanted to become a comic artist, Ruan Ningxue had wanted the same.
But the path she took was slightly different. While Chen Xu had repeatedly failed to get his submissions accepted, Ruan Ningxue had begun drawing fanbooks.
At the very least, she did not need to worry about income from that work. And in her own words, becoming a bestselling fanbook artist, making a name for herself, and then switching careers to become a professional comic artist was also a path to success!
As for what kind of fanbooks they were?
Naturally, they were fanbooks that told beautiful love stories. Though sometimes they might not have been quite so beautiful.
As Chen Xu's senior, Ruan Ningxue believed he was highly talented and had always wanted to recruit him to form a studio.
Realizing the conversation had drifted off topic, and that it would most likely shift back to that matter again, Chen Xu immediately explained what he wanted Ruan Ningxue's help with today.
"Eh... You're switching to game development?"
Upon hearing Chen Xu's words, Ruan Ningxue's eyes widened as if she had heard something unbelievable.
"My original idea was simply to show stories to other people. Whether through comics or games, they're only different mediums." Chen Xu gave Ruan Ningxue the reason he had already prepared.
"Besides, there are plenty of examples in the industry of comic artists or novelists switching careers to become directors or game designers, aren't there?" Chen Xu said with a smile.
After all, unlike in his previous life, technological development had greatly lowered the basic barriers in all walks of life.
So in this world's entertainment industry, cross-industry career changes really were not uncommon.
Of course, whether someone could still succeed after switching fields was another matter entirely.
"That's not the point, okay?" Ruan Ningxue rolled her eyes. "No food, no housing, and you even want to delay payment for the illustrations! So, Chen Xu, are you trying to get free labor out of me?"
If the person sitting across from her had not been her junior, and if she had not always wanted to recruit Chen Xu,
Ruan Ningxue would have left immediately. No matter how she looked at it, he seemed like a scammer.
That damned capitalist was trying to exploit her labor for free!
No, even capitalists weren't this bad!
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