Chapter 6: Severely Bullied by the Internet!_1
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He didn't just say hello to Wang, Zhang Heng was also planning to work through the night to make a video about the indie game "Origin of Species"!
For starters, the game's quality is solid enough, ranking almost at Tier 1 among games of the past few months of a similar scale.
Secondly, if he could broaden his own horizons and inspire more game creators to see potential, possibly leading to more games like this one, it would also make his future game reviews smoother.
"Dear audience friends, good evening. I was short on material these past few days and hesitated whether to flake out, but then I came across this passionate creation by a newcomer designer! Now I just have to recommend it to everyone."
"Alright, now we enter the game interface, and as everyone can see, this game..."
...
"...Alright, that's all for this video; friends who like Zhang remember to hit the Big Three — like, subscribe, and bell for notifications. If we get over 10,000 likes, we'll quickly update with a new episode!"
Just recording the video took about an hour of Zhang Heng's time.
But an hour's worth of video content is too long, certainly no one would have the patience to watch it all.
So he had to carefully edit and cut, distilling the essence of the content.
Finally, he'd fill in any gaps.
After all that hustle, the sky was already beginning to brighten.
"Phew... this video, without boasting, should easily maintain four or five hundred thousand views with no problem."
"To promote someone I don't know with such effort, if the game's author sees my video, they really ought to kowtow to me in gratitude." Stretching lazily, Zhang Heng contentedly went back to his room to sleep soundly.
Kowtow?
On the other side of Huaxia Nation.
Ke Jin, who got up early, just wanted to give someone a couple of hard slaps.
At six in the morning.
Ke Jin, who had planned to sleep until daylight, was jolted awake by the notification sound of his phone.
He had been dreaming, dreaming that he had unlocked the system's ultimate benefit, all the massive amount of games had been implanted into his memory, with every minute detail — the number of hairs on each character model, the shades of every piece of land, even the tiles of a particular building in an urban game.
He could call up those detailed memories any time he wished, perfectly recreating any game from his past life.
But he had already entered the world of Final Fantasy, measuring Tifa's figure with his hands, about to craft her a hot and sexy bikini outfit.
It was then that a series of urgent vibrations woke him up.
Groggy, he fumbled for his phone and took a look.
Ke Jin was immediately startled awake, hands and feet icy cold.
[Agricultural Bank: Your card ending in 6789 received a transfer at... 5:47 AM, amounting to 500.00 yuan]
[Agricultural Bank: Your card ending in 6789 received a transfer at... 5:48 AM, amounting to 500.00 yuan]
[Agricultural Bank: Your card ending in...]
Ten notifications in a row!
Players had almost simultaneously purchased the in-game item of "Origin of Species" ten times.
His bank account was credited with 5,000 yuan!
If this were his previous life, Ke Jin might have jumped for joy.
"1000 units!" He'd toil for a whole month just to make that much.
A month's salary for free, shouldn't he rush to spend it in the game for a couple of power-ups?
But in this life...
"I'll tear apart your dreams!!!" Ke Jin pointed his tiny finger and began to rap, "Which genius &$%^$ you &%21981#& me &%^% just *&^%@... shucks!"
After a barrage of friendly chirps and tweeting, Ke Jin, having vented his emotions quite a bit, let his arm drop powerlessly towards the sky outside the window and sighed lightly.
So what now?
Life must go on, and so must the monthly cycle.
A grown man shouldn't be swayed by emotions.
And think positively about everything.
If not today, there's always tomorrow.
And look.
The "1000 units" he got for free today can be used to treat his sister to a fancy meal to win her over, and incidentally ask her to bring along her pretty best friend.
Ke Jin remembered his sister's best friend was rather attractive, well-educated, sensible, and with a gentle and shy nature – just flirting with her a bit would make her blush.
Tsk tsk... whoa, I'm not coveting his sister's best friend.
I'm simply hungry, that's all. We'll sit down and eat together, it's that simple.
With calculations made in his mind, Ke Jin's sleepiness was long gone, yet it was still early.
Nothing to do, his craving for Thunderbolt hit.
Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt, activate!
Logged in to watch some girls jiggle for a while.
Then checked out someone's Border Collie that was enrolled at Tsinghua.
Gave a thumbs up to a craftsman in the handmade tool section.
Ended up watching some car wash stress-relief videos.
And watched a bit more of the girls...
Good! That's enough Thunderbolt for today!
Help me, other Thunderbolt site!
Just as he was about to switch apps.
"Hm?" Ke Jin caught a video out of the corner of his eye.
It was posted by a creator named 'Zhang talks about games.'
Its title was "Does this game want to change the current landscape of the gaming market?"
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Two hours after posting, it already has over 100,000 clicks.
"What game is it? It's so fierce?" Ke Jin muttered to himself while opening the video.
The big characters of Origin of Species suddenly appeared!
Ke Jin, who was lying on his back, almost smashed the phone on his face.
"Ah???"
No, how was my obscure game dug out?
In the short 15-minute video, Ke Jin was like someone had pressed his mute button, completely silent throughout.
The more the UP owner hyped the game in the video, the paler Ke Jin's face became.
Especially the praises in the barrage made Ke Jin's eyes darken, nearly fainting.
"I swear! It's quite interesting! It feels fun just by watching."
"This game, it's awesome."
"Can't believe it, is this really the first game from this designer? He's so strong!"
"Although the pay-to-win elements are a bit of a pitfall, you can still play the game without spending money, that's the most important thing!"
"If it's really as Zhang said and the author is financially strapped, I might spend some spare money to sponsor him a bit. My dad does a gravel construction business, so this is nothing."
"Brothers can all download and try it out, if you have no money, give them moral support, if you have money, then give financial support, don't let the heart of someone who truly wants to do something turn cold!"
Though people in the barrage were praising him, Ke Jin just couldn't feel happy.
"At this rate, it'll be over by tomorrow..."
This wave of publicity by the UP owner with a million followers, who knows how much traffic it could bring...
My goal of 1000 downloads is already in sight, I really don't need any more traffic...
After all, there are all sorts of people with quirky mentalities in this world, once the numbers start adding up, there really would be people who would randomly spend money on it.
Ke Jin was getting anxious.
Although it's said, tomorrow is another day, there are plenty of tomorrows.
If this game doesn't work out, then I'll fight again with the next one!
But, Ke Jin wasn't sure if the system would change with each new task issued.
If the tasks became harder and harder, that would be troublesome.
To avoid long nights full of dreams, it's best to finish off the tasks with this game.
"Got it!" After thinking hard for a long time, a little lightbulb lit up above Ke Jin's head.
He quickly logged out of his current account, switched to another alt account, found the video he had just watched, and entered the comment section.
His fingers flew across the keyboard as he quickly typed out a comment.
"Pure passerby here, just to be fair, I think you guys are overpraising it, the author might just be unsightly when eating. Please be wary of new internet scams!"
Send!
Then immediately switch to another alt and continue commenting.
"Straightening out the game market, you think too highly of him? A nobody, he still has a long way to go!"
Switch again!
"Isn't there a single sober person here? You guys are talking it up to the skies, but the fact that "1000 units" can only buy a half-hour speed up card is true, right? Surely no one's naive enough to actually spend money on it? Right?"
Continue switching!
"Why spend "1000 units" on something so foolish, calm down."
Switch!
"Laughing here, watching a bunch of students spend their pocket money for someone else's benefit. The guy might be using your money to take his girl friends out for a fancy meal, and who will remember you, huh."
...
Ke Jin was busy for almost half an hour, back and forth.
Only after turning over all the alt accounts he had accumulated over the years did he finally complete a round of purging in the comment section.
What used to be a comment section full of praises and compliments now also contained many jarring voices.
Everyone stop leading the charge, the designer will lead himself.
I thought this move of mine, if not misleading everyone, would at least make the vast majority of viewers calm down.
Firstly, for myself to successfully complete the task.
Secondly, I really didn't want to make money from these students.
After all, in all fairness, spending "1000 units" on a speed up card really is a fool's errand.
We all have been poor students, and it's not easy for them to save money.
But then who knew...
Within half an hour, the comment section exploded, and the voices of denunciation grew louder and stronger.
"Where did this troll come from?"
"Seriously, what kind of people are on the internet? Have you even played his game, and you're here trolling?"
"If you're so capable, make your own game then, huh?"
"This kind of person is probably a rival of the great author, incapable of making such a great game themselves but jealous of others' work, spit, utterly disgusting!"
"All the ones posting these slanderous comments are low-level alt accounts, my brothers, do I need to say more?"
"Dare you show your main account when talking?"
"Keep shouting, we'll tear off your disguise and slap your face!"
"Someone's in a hurry, someone's really in a hurry, the more he doesn't want us to spend money, the more we should vigorously support that game author!"
Seeing the comment section ablaze with emotion, Ke Jin's vision darkened.
Damn, it seems I've been mercilessly bullied by today's internet-savvy students...