Chapter Twenty-Two: Endless Joy Among the Bizarre Group Members

"Has he left?"
In the Hua Xin Virtual Book City, Lu Guo looked at Yin Jian, who was getting up, and asked.

It had already been three days since their first meeting here. During these three days, Yin Jian hadn’t just buried himself in study; he’d also discussed many topics about games with Lu Guo. Among all the things Yin Jian had said, the phrase "What makes genes so fascinating is their ability to constantly evolve" had given Lu Guo tremendous inspiration.

Now, he felt as though he was experiencing one of those moments of sudden enlightenment described in novels. Brilliant ideas kept bursting forth in his mind, one after another. It was a sensation he had never experienced before. It was as if an ordinary man had suddenly become a genius.

He was so eager to realize the half-formed game in his mind that, if not for his desire to discuss a few more innovative ideas with Yin Jian, he might have already quit his job to start making games.

Yin Jian stood up, released the book from his hands, and watched as it dissolved into data and returned to its place. Only then did he speak. "I’ve just about finished absorbing the knowledge I needed. I probably won’t be back to the Book City for a while."

The content in "A History of Cosmic Biological Evolution" was vast and complex. Even a cursory reading would take over a month, so he couldn’t possibly read it all. He had only memorized the parts that would help him create his game.

"Alright, see you next time," Lu Guo said upon seeing Yin Jian preparing to leave. Although he wanted to discuss more game-related topics, he knew that all gatherings must eventually end, so he held back any further words.

Still, he made up his mind: if he ever opened his own game studio, he would do whatever it took to bring Yin Jian in as his lead game designer. With Yin Jian’s creativity and unique perspective, Lu Guo was confident he could carve out a space in the vast world of gaming.

Feeling the growing intensity of Lu Guo’s gaze, Yin Jian shivered inwardly. He knew he was handsome, but was it really necessary to be so attractive that both men and women were smitten? Not daring to linger, he quickly said goodbye and left the Book City at a brisk pace, leaving Lu Guo standing there, lost in reluctant thought.

...

His consciousness returned to his body.

Yin Jian rose and walked straight to the bathroom mirror.

"Crack!"

With a sharp sound, the mirror seemed to shatter from the sheer force of his handsomeness!

"Ahem." Yin Jian coughed lightly, quickly shaking his head to banish the absurd thoughts running through his mind. He had accidentally lapsed into silliness again. Fortunately, he was at home—otherwise, if anyone had seen this, he would have died of embarrassment.

After splashing cold water on his face twice and feeling his spirit restored to its peak, he dried his face with a towel, returned to his computer, and resumed work on "Spore Evolution."

He had already constructed the playable demo in his mind while studying biology, and since this section wasn’t difficult to make, it didn’t take him long to complete it. Once the data was set up, he opened his asset library to select the materials he needed—colors, rendering, and light effects.

Because he was submitting this for a game competition, he didn’t want to cut corners on presentation.

-18,000.

With the visuals sorted, he turned to the sound design. The audio requirements for the demo were modest, so costs here were lower. Still, he wanted quality; he bought the most expensive sound effects in each category.

-1,700.

After finalizing everything, Yin Jian playtested the demo once to confirm there were no issues, then immediately published the game.

"It’s the release phase that’s really tough..." he sighed, looking at the half of his funds already spent.

The demo only covered the evolution from single-celled to multicellular organisms—a simple process that didn’t demand nearly the same resources as the rest of the game. Yet, even this relatively simple section had cost him half his money. It would be difficult to achieve the desired quality for the latter half of the game with only forty thousand left.

"Luckily, it’s already mid-month," he thought, opening the backend for "My Little World" to check his recent earnings.

"Hiss—" Even though he was prepared, the numbers still took him aback.

If current trends continued, next month’s income might reach two hundred thousand!

No wonder free-to-play games were so lucrative. The earning potential instantly dispelled all his worries.

"With this two hundred thousand as backup, 'Spore Evolution' might not reach the absolute pinnacle of quality, but it will certainly exceed my expectations. I should have a solid shot at winning a prize in the competition."

Yin Jian felt confident. He was in it for the awards; if he didn’t believe in himself, why compete at all?

"Right, I forgot to let that operator called Stone know I’ve launched a new game." He’d already figured out Stone’s personality—an ideal support type. Stone was the perfect person to sign with for a new game.

He didn’t want to end up with a useless operator like the one Zhou Shun had dealt with.

With that, Yin Jian opened the backend, ready to message Stone.

But…

(Prompt: The other party has blocked you.)

"..."

Yin Jian silently opened the signing group.

("Happy Afro" has joined the chat.)

Whether by coincidence or not, just as Yin Jian entered the group chat, a new member arrived.

Immediately, messages began to fly.

Swordrise Sect Master: @Happy Afro, big shot, give me a shoutout! Help Swordrise out~

Eggs Eggs: Group Newbie -1

Green Hat Landlord of Wind and Moon: Although it seems a bit wild, this group really is like this.

Happy Afro: [Newbie trembling.jpg]

...

Seeing the lively, silly atmosphere, Yin Jian’s eyelid twitched. He hadn’t expected the group to become so animated in just a month.

He lurked for a while and realized the group was full of newly signed designers. Aside from Zhou Shun, the highest earner was the Swordrise Sect Master, who claimed his game had sold over three thousand copies last month.

With that, Yin Jian couldn’t help but smile. For a moment, he felt a strange sense of nostalgia—was he already a big shot?

"No, no, I can’t think like that," Yin Jian told himself, forcibly pressing down the corners of his mouth. "I have to keep seeing myself as a newbie; that’s the only way to keep improving."

With this mindset, he watched as the group’s chat continued:

You Force Me: Swordrise is awesome!

Eggs Eggs: Swordrise is awesome!

Happy Afro: Swordrise is awesome! +1

...

Swordrise Sect Master: Cabbage Dog is awesome!

Yin Jian’s designer name was a bit unusual, and his avatar was a green cabbage Shiba Inu, so Swordrise Sect Master simply referred to him by his avatar.

Finding it amusing, Yin Jian joined in the playful banter, boosting Swordrise’s ego before finally tagging Stone to get down to business.

You Force Me: @Stone_New game released, help me update my status.