The Upcoming Plot

On opening day, the park received 19,000 visitors and earned nearly 14 million yuan in revenue."

The majority of this income came from ticket sales, while the rest was made up of dining, hotel stays, parking fees, and other services.

Don't think that's too little, though.

Keep in mind, this isn't even peak tourist season, and Picca Land has only just opened. Its reputation hasn't even been fully established yet.

Ren recalled that Disney in Shanghai typically gets about 30,000 visitors on regular days, with numbers reaching between 80,000 and 100,000 during peak times. On average, Disney makes about 40 million yuan a day.

And that's with Disney's decades-long reputation to attract visitors.

So, considering this is a brand-new park, these first-day numbers for Picca Land were pretty impressive. If this pace could be maintained, and as visitors spread the word to friends and family, business would only get better. It wouldn't take too many years to recoup their investment.

Plus, keep in mind that only part of the park had been opened.

Once the park is fully developed in the future, the possibilities will be even greater.

However, there were still a number of issues that needed to be addressed, based on complaints and incidents that occurred today.

For example, some visitors kept hitting the costumed performers on the head. In fact, on opening day, one employee even suffered a mild concussion. So, safety protocols clearly needed to be strengthened.

Additionally, the park's opening also boosted sales for Pokémon GO.

Many Pokémon fans found out about the event in the park's Pokémon-themed section and flocked there, not only boosting ticket sales but also increasing in-game purchases.

…

"Whoo..."

Daniel wiped the sweat from his brow as he collapsed onto the couch after returning from Picca Land.

He glanced at the Pokémon he'd caught in the park's Pokémon section, and a smile slowly crept across his face before—

"Hahahaha!"

He couldn't hold it in any longer.

Though he had gone through professional training to keep his emotions in check, this was too exciting to contain!

Covering his face with one hand, he laughed maniacally, like an evil villain straight out of an anime.

Why was he so happy? Because he had just caught Celebi! This Pokémon was said to only appear in Picca Land, and as the park expanded and introduced new content, more exclusive Pokémon would appear only there.

In addition to Celebi, Daniel also managed to catch some rare pseudo-legendaries like Larvitar and Dratini.

Though these could be found outside the park as well, Daniel had never caught them before.

Turns out, money makes you stronger! Daniel thought with a satisfied grin, before flipping open the latest issue of the Picca comic.

Steins;Gate had already reached its 10th chapter last week, and today marked the release of the 11th.

So far, the story felt like a slow-paced slice-of-life science fiction, revolving around the concept of changing the past and future.

Although there were some eerie elements—like the gelatinous bodies and threatening text messages—the overall tone remained quite relaxed.

To Daniel, it was a decent story, perhaps a bit below average, but enjoyable nonetheless. There were occasional scenes that left him scratching his head, but as the Porter had mentioned before, this was an extremely slow-burn story.

Daniel figured those confusing moments were laying the groundwork for some explosive developments later on.

Still…

Daniel absentmindedly picked up his phone and browsed the forums.

Currently, the online reception for Steins;Gate wasn't all that great.

Many readers found the story rather dull, describing it as calm as a still pond. For fans used to fast-paced, action-packed plots, this slow build felt boring and tedious. People often say that balance is key, but in this case, the relaxation had gone on for too long.

On top of that, the story was littered with internet slang, and the protagonist often acted like he was suffering from a severe case of "chuunibyou" (middle-school syndrome), which many readers found irritating.

Daniel believed that if this weren't a Porter comic, a lot of readers would have dropped it already.

After all, the plot hadn't really heated up yet, and most readers were only experiencing the slow parts. If it were from any other author, the reviews would likely have been scathing.

But that was to be expected. No matter how much Ren tweaked it, the fact that Steins;Gate was a slow-burn story couldn't be changed. The pacing in the early chapters was intentionally slow.

"Oh well, better keep reading. Can't miss any hints."

Having read Madoka Magica and Katekyō Hitman Reborn!—other slow-burn stories by the Porter—Daniel had developed patience. Any long-time fan of the Porter's works knew better than to judge based solely on the beginning. What might seem uninteresting at first could be filled with important setups for later.

This was a shared understanding among fans of the Porter!

Daniel flipped open Chapter 11.

In this chapter, the discovery that the 42-inch television in the lab had inadvertently acted as an amplifier for the Phone Microwave (temporary name), allowed for the successful sending of D-Mails (emails sent to the past).

Kurisu began explaining the theory behind time travel, suggesting the possibility of sending a person's consciousness back to the past.

Meanwhile, Suzuha, the part-time warrior, expressed her suspicions that Kurisu was secretly in league with SERN.

However, Rintarou didn't seem too concerned, and Kurisu opened up to him about her past.

For the first time, readers learned more about Kurisu's backstory.

As a young girl, she had idolized her father and loved hearing him explain complex physics concepts. By the time she was in elementary school, she could understand the papers her father had published. Later, they even discussed academic topics together. But over time, she began to surpass her father intellectually, which led to him resenting her. Kurisu, however, remained oblivious to this growing tension.

Then, on her 11th birthday, she refuted her father's theory about time travel, which caused him to explode in anger and sever their relationship.

Hearing this, Rintarou suggested they track down her father and explain things.

"Tsk, they're already meeting the parents?"

Daniel shook his head, chuckling to himself.

"But still… Chapter 11 hasn't changed much."

Indeed, the story remained relatively calm and uneventful.

However, this only made Daniel more excited. The longer the Porter dragged out this slow pacing, the more thrilling the eventual plot twists would be.

History had taught him that the Porter's stories always built up to an explosive climax after a long period of calm. The longer the buildup, the more intense—and possibly heartbreaking—the payoff would be.

Honestly, Daniel suspected that Steins;Gate would end up being a tragedy.

Time-travel stories usually featured protagonists returning to the past to prevent some tragedy from happening. Combined with Kurisu's earlier death and the strange occurrences throughout the story, Daniel's theory seemed more and more likely.

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