Minecraft's Big Opportunity; Making a Modpack

Inside a student dormitory at Jingshi University.

Li Geng had just returned from the school cafeteria, still holding two steamed buns.

His family wasn't well-off, and if he hadn't worked part-time at the cafeteria to support himself, he might have struggled to keep going.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to major in computer science and technology. He had picked it because he knew it paid well.

Nearby, his roommate Qin Jiadong was staring blankly at his laptop.

A few game skins he had uploaded on a whim had sold several hundred copies, earning him over 300 yuan as his share.

More than 300 yuan might not have been much to him, but... this was the first time he had ever earned money himself.

Just then, an announcement popped up.

[Minecraft Creator Incentive Program]

Qin Jiadong's breathing quickened when he saw it.

He had made a few hundred yuan just by throwing together some skins. If he made a modpack, couldn't he make even more?

The most downloaded skin only had a little over 100,000 downloads, but as for modpacks, there were none besides the official one.

And the official modpack had over a million downloads. If he made one himself, couldn't he make a fortune?

But after giving it some thought, he became a little unsure. His grades weren't particularly good, and he hadn't even mastered Java.

As he pondered, he noticed Li Geng, who had just sat down nearby.

An idea instantly popped into his head.

Li Geng was a top student in their school of computer science and technology. Although he usually kept a low profile and was always the first to leave after class,

Qin Jiadong knew he was going to work at the cafeteria.

Most importantly, Li Geng's ability made him one of the very best undergraduates in the entire school.

He quickly got up from his chair and excitedly came over to Li Geng.

"Li, how good are you with Java?"

Li Geng was taken aback.

"I'm... I'm all right, I guess."

"All right?"

Qin Jiadong immediately brought over his laptop, opened Minecraft, and pulled up its server API.

"Take a look. Can you use Java to write and inject new stuff into this?"

Hearing Qin Jiadong's question, Li Geng looked at the content on his laptop.

More than ten minutes later, he pushed up his glasses with his index finger and said, "It can be done."

"But it'd be a bit of a hassle for me to do it alone."

Hearing that it was possible, Qin Jiadong looked at Li Geng as if he were a beautiful woman dancing before him.

Li Geng felt a little uncomfortable being stared at like that. "Um... Qin... are you gay?"

"Pfft~"

Qin Jiadong was completely choked up by that question.

Dude, do you want to take a look at what you just said...?

Li Geng's words had left Qin Jiadong a little bewildered, but he quickly recovered.

He opened his creator dashboard on the platform and said, "Li, take a look at this first."

Jokes aside, Li Geng looked at the page he had opened.

My earnings: 325.5 yuan

Seeing this, Li Geng was a little confused. What... was this?

He didn't usually have much entertainment, so he really didn't know what it was. A Minecraft creator dashboard?

Seeing his reaction, Qin Jiadong said a little impatiently, "It's a game."

"In just one week, it passed five million downloads."

"This game has lots of add-ons, like people's clothes and shoes."

"I uploaded a few character skins today and made over 300 yuan in half a day."

"Li, do you want to do this with me?"

After hearing him out, Li Geng's eyes widened.

What he had heard was shocking. Over 300 yuan in half a day? Was this a robbery?

As he spoke, Qin Jiadong refreshed the platform, and another half yuan appeared under his earnings.

"Look, someone else downloaded my skin. I just made another half yuan."

"My downloads are still low. Those skins with over ten thousand downloads have already made several thousand yuan, all in just half a day."

"What I'm saying is, how about the two of us write a modpack together? It's..."

After half an hour of Qin Jiadong explaining and drilling the idea into him, Li Geng was breathing heavily with excitement.

He wasn't stupid. Having gotten into Jingshi University, he saw the value of the game after Qin Jiadong's explanation.

If he could make a modpack, it would definitely get plenty of downloads.

And since a modpack could be priced as high as five yuan, he hardly dared imagine how much money it could make.

Seeing Li Geng lost in thought, Qin Jiadong said eagerly, "Li, just tell me, are you in or not?"

Li Geng clenched his fist, then slammed it on the desk. "I'm in!"

"But the two of us still aren't enough. We have to get Old Wang and the other guy involved too."

Qin Jiadong smiled at his answer.

With a super top student like Li Geng taking the lead and him following along writing code, they could definitely make the modpack.

"Great, that's what I was waiting to hear, Li."

"How about you take forty percent, and Old Wang, the other guy, and I split the rest equally?"

Li Geng shook his head. "No need. The four of us can split it equally."

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even know about this. By the time I found out, it would probably be too late."

"Haha, all right."

"Then let's start grinding tonight."

At the same time, quite a few people noticed this chance to make money and began working on Minecraft resources such as shaders, textures, and modpacks.

That evening.

As Minecraft modpacks, servers, shaders, and other resource packs appeared, a wave of creators swept across the internet.

That very night, Chen Ze and the others released a video they had made together, and it broke out into the mainstream.

In the video.

Chen Ze and the other four ran down a mountain toward the camera, jumping and waving their arms before leaping from the summit.

A song followed as accompaniment: "Anywhere / Everywhere We Go."

The scene changed. The five flew through the air wearing wings, charged across the surging sea in boats, and raced across the plains in carts...

The video was full of laughter as the five played in the sky, on land, and in the sea.

A sense of 'freedom' constantly spread and poured forth.

[Ahhh~ So this is Minecraft? This is what it feels like to play with friends.]

[I can't take it. I just turned off my computer, and now I want to log back in and play.]

[Chen Ze and the others look like they're having so much fun. I really want to watch them like this every day.]

[I was wrong. I shouldn't have doubted Minecraft. I'm downloading it again right now.]

[What new game is this? Why does it look so interesting?]