Chapter Thirty-Two: The First Featured Recommendation in the Restricted Zone

"Double portions for every dish!"
As soon as they entered the barbecue restaurant, Zhou Shun called out loudly.

"Please wait a moment, esteemed guests, your dishes will be served shortly!"
A waiter, looking every bit the part, hurried over to greet them, speaking warmly.
Though his eyes sparkled and his expression was indistinguishable from that of a real person, Yin Jian knew this was merely an NPC controlled by artificial intelligence.

The waiter ushered them to a seat with deference.
Yin Jian began to curiously survey his surroundings.

The architecture mimicked a prehistoric style from the twenty-first century,
giving him the illusion of traveling back in time.

"How does it feel?" Zhou Shun asked, noticing Yin Jian's face filled with curiosity.

"Magnificent,"
Yin Jian replied, uttering only those two words.

Here, aside from the buildings and greenery, everything else was constructed from bio-simulated ecosystems.

Yes, not just the NPCs—the food itself was made from bio-simulated ecosystems.

A single unit of this technology cost about a hundred million, and without national certification, one wasn't even qualified to purchase it.

Yin Jian estimated the restaurant's overhead in his mind:
roughly seven to eight hundred million.

And this was merely a single establishment!

"It's alright, but compared to those giants who host their game servers in the dark universe, this 'Heavenly Gourmet Paradise' still falls a bit short,"
Zhou Shun remarked. "But never mind that. Try the dishes here—I'm sure they'll leave a lasting impression."

With that, he placed a plate of barbecued food, vibrant in color, aroma, and taste, before Yin Jian.

"Thanks to the bio-simulated ecosystem, the flavor is exquisite—it's a paradise for the taste buds,"
Zhou Shun continued.

Yin Jian looked down at the plate. The unique aroma of barbecue wafted up, tantalizing his senses.

Grilled kidneys, grilled chives—all his favorites were present.

He picked up a skewer and took a bite, chewing slowly.

The deliciousness, simulated by the bio-simulated ecosystem, blossomed in his mouth,
continuously feeding pleasure to his brain.

Even the sense of physical satisfaction from eating was meticulously replicated.

How could he describe it?

It was as if the positive feedback from tasting food had been magnified to its utmost.

...

Two hours later

Yin Jian and Zhou Shun emerged from the restaurant, utterly satisfied.

Since they weren't using their real bodies, they could have continued eating indefinitely if they'd wished.

However—

---

The ticket was only valid for three hours.
If they spent the whole time eating, Yin Jian felt it would be a waste, so he suggested to Zhou Shun that they wander around the gourmet city and learn from what they saw.

After all, it was his first time experiencing a reality game.
Watching videos couldn't compare to the authenticity of personal experience.

"The reason reality games are so popular is that, with the help of bio-simulated ecosystems, they are even more real and beautiful than reality itself!"

"...Is there any way to make players feel that a virtual game is reality?"

Time slipped by as Yin Jian pondered.

[Notice: Your playtime has reached three hours!]
[Detected account balance insufficient for renewal—less than two thousand]
[Game will log out in three seconds—please prepare!]
[3]
[2]
[1]

"..."

Staring at the blue-green data space, Yin Jian was speechless.

Who programmed this AI?
It was downright mocking him for being broke—ridiculous!

He shook his head and logged out of the game.

After experiencing the T-9 massage function at Zhou Shun's house, Yin Jian finally went home, satisfied.

He felt he'd gained a lot today.

His visit to Heavenly Gourmet Paradise had sparked a hint of inspiration for narrative games.

For now, it was only inspiration—not yet a concrete idea.

"It'll need time to settle..."

The current trend in gaming was toward narrative-driven games, and honestly, going against the tide with another genre would make it hard to become a hit.

Without absolute strength, to stand at the crest of the wave, one had to go with the flow.

"I'll keep developing quietly for now, but when I have the money, I'll make something big."

Creating a game that sweeps the universe—that was his dream.

...

...

Time passed swiftly.

Three weeks had gone by since Zhou Shun treated him to that cloud barbecue.

Yin Jian's "Spore Evolution" had surged from the strong district rankings to the front page's top recommendations.

It was the biggest new game recommendation in the Baiqiao District.
Above that was breaking out to the Shu Chuan System-wide new game recommendation, covering the entire Shu Chuan star system.

Reaching this recommendation meant a qualitative leap in sales.

Even at worst, it would hit ten million on launch day.

Yet, with so many planets in a star system, promotion slots for each planet were scarce.

---

On any given recommendation cycle, a planet's games usually only had one slot for advancement.

There were exceptions, of course: main planets like Baiqiao had two extra slots compared to others.

Still, competition in the Baiqiao District remained fierce.

This cycle, Yin Jian faced two special-grade designers as contemporaries.

Their games held priority for recommendation slots.

So, out of three slots, two were already taken, leaving only one.

"Sigh—just missed it,"
At Qiyou Tower, Yu Jia looked at the weekend's numbers and sighed.

Yin Jian had over a dozen competitors this cycle.

Aside from the two special-grade designers, "Spore Evolution" held a strong second place in replay numbers—
more than double the third place.

Normally, such results would guarantee advancement to the Shu Chuan District without suspense.

But...

This time, not only was Yin Jian a dark horse, another game, "Mecha War God," had equally explosive replay stats.

In the end, "Mecha War God" edged out "Spore Evolution" by just one more replay,
claiming the final advancement slot.

Missing it by a single replay left Yu Jia extremely frustrated.

"If I'd known, I would've helped him bump up the numbers,"
Yu Jia regretted.
If replay counts were equal, it would come down to replay rate, and whoever had the higher rate would advance.

"Spore Evolution" completely crushed "Mecha War God" in this regard, with a staggering 36%—twice as high.

But there was no "if".

"Maybe I should tell that stubborn guy to go for another recommendation cycle..."

Yu Jia frowned. Next cycle, no notable designers were releasing new games, so "Spore Evolution" was almost certain to advance.

But knowing Yin Jian's personality...
She could only sigh.

"Better ask first."

Since Yin Jian had blocked her, she opened the group chat.

Stone: @YouForceMe_Your game is on the district's top recommendation. Want to try another round? This cycle I can guarantee your game will break out of the planet.

YouForceMe: No, just put it up tomorrow.

Sword Sect Leader: Rookie, you're awesome!

YouForceMe: Sword Sect, you're awesome!

...

Watching the two in the group praise each other back and forth, Yu Jia felt exhausted.

ps: Please vote for recommendations!