Chapter 155: Begin!

However...

Jian Qi opened the Qiyou platform and looked at the real-time rankings for the reality game jam.

Yet, this very game—one he believed was a rare masterpiece that even the Qiyou platform would struggle to see once a year—was currently ranked a lowly 124th on the Qiyou jam leaderboards.

Compared to the top few games, the current metrics of his game were lagging behind by more than just an order of magnitude!

This outcome left Jian Qi deeply conflicted.

[Ding! You have a new message!]

Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly noticed a new message pop up in the backend of his creator assistant.

Opening it, he saw it was from Qing Zhu.

Qing Zhu: The registration deadline is almost here. Is your game finished?

Qing Zhu: If it's still a bit rough, you can submit it first. I can help you push back the recommendation slot and give your game exposure later once you've polished and completed it.

Looking at the message from Qing Zhu, Jian Qi fell silent for a few seconds.

His slightly chubby fingers tapped lightly on the desk a few times before he made up his decision.

Sect Master of Jian Qi Sect: You know I am a man who strives for perfection.

Sect Master of Jian Qi Sect: I would never allow myself to release a game before it is fully completed. This is my principle.

Qing Zhu: So you chickened out again?

Sect Master of Jian Qi Sect: I didn't chicken out!

Qing Zhu: Fine, you didn't chicken out.

...

After dealing with Qing Zhu, Jian Qi let out a long sigh.

It felt even more exhausting than chugging three cans of fatty-water-happy soda in a row.

"With competition this fierce, there's no way in hell I'm getting first place," Jian Qi muttered in complaint.

As for the vows he had made previously?

Heh.

A game designer's words can never be taken seriously.

With that thought, the very last shred of guilt in Jian Qi's heart vanished entirely.

Humming a cheerful little tune, he opened his group chat.

Egg is Egg: Holy shit! As expected, R-rated content is the only way out for indie designers. That "Customs and Races Appraisal Guide" is absolutely slaughtering the charts.

Divine Phoenix: The content is top-tier too. Feels like the designer just drew straight from personal experience.

Egg is Egg: Leek Dog's game is actually pretty decent, but he ran into someone using cheats. Damn, half of the top games on the leaderboard right now are pushing suggestive content. It's utterly absurd.

You Force Me: Don't even mention it. I've been so depressed these past few days; my ranking suddenly plummeted by more than half.

Sect Master of Jian Qi Sect: Don't worry. Once these sleazy games get recommended, they'll fall off. Although virtual game censorship isn't super strict, there are still some standards.

Egg is Egg: The genius of that "Customs and Races Appraisal Guide" is that while you can say it's suggestive, it stays right on the safe side of the line; yet while you can say it's innocent, it drives the metaphorical car right up to your face.

Green Hat Wind and Moon Landlord: That game is pretty much guaranteed to secure an advancement spot.

You Force Me: @Sect Master of Jian Qi Sect - Hey dog Jian Qi, did you release your game yet?

Sect Master of Jian Qi Sect: [Guess].jpg

You Force Me: Guess your grandma's leg! Did you flake out again?

Egg is Egg: It's an age-old traditional technique. How can you say 'again'? Who do you take him for! You should use 'yet again'!

Divine Phoenix: Oh man, Egg's remarks are always so sharp.

...

...

Inside the apartment.

Looking at the lively atmosphere in the group chat, Yin Jian rubbed the bridge of his nose.

The end of the month had arrived, and the game jam selections would officially kick off starting on the first of next month.

That was also when the games would begin being pushed to users.

Though it was through this phase that the life or death of a game would be decided, given *Infinity's* current ranking sitting somewhere past the one-hundred mark, he honestly had very little confidence.

If it had been hovering around the top fifty as before, he could still put up a fight, but down here in the hundreds? Only a miracle could save it.

"If we fail to advance, all the work put into *Infinity* this time will have been for nothing."

Yin Jian gritted his teeth.

The mechanics of *Infinity* meant he could not sustain it entirely on his own.

Although he could integrate storylines from other designers' games, those all required face-to-face negotiations.

Only by successfully passing the selection process could he get Qiyou to voluntarily help him handle that procedure.

Therefore, if *Infinity* failed the selection, it would practically be dead in the water.

That was a scenario he absolutely refused to see.

"I need to think of another alternative. I can't just sit here and wait for death."

After pondering for a moment, Yin Jian opened his optical brain.

Scrolling down his contact list for a while, he found his target: Bao De from Wanderer Starry Sky.

Yin Jian: Brother Bao, are you there?

As soon as the message was sent, Bao De replied promptly.

Bao De: Is there something Teacher Yin needs, messaging me so suddenly?

Bao De's reply remained quite polite. Because of the previous incident, Yin Jian had helped him earn quite a bit of performance credit.

Yin Jian: I saw a report earlier saying that Wanderer Starry Sky will be live-streaming Qiyou's reality game adaptation jam, right?

Bao De: There is indeed such an event. I'm even in charge of one of the time slots. Teacher Yin is asking about this all of a sudden—are you looking to make a cameo appearance?

Yin Jian: Could you fill me in on what kind of live-stream format it will be, specifically?

Bao De: Well, about that...

Seeing Bao De's reply, Yin Jian frowned.

Yin Jian: Is this confidential?

Bao De: It's not that it's confidential, it's just a bit tedious to explain.

Yin Jian: [Red Packet]

('Bao De' has claimed 'Yin Jian's red packet)

Bao De: Teacher Yin, you really didn't have to be so polite. The rules are like this:

Our company will select gameplay footage of users playing the games during the event, stream it live, and provide commentary on those games.

It's not just our company; other media outlets use pretty much the same method.

Yin Jian: Is the streaming random, or do you only pick the top-ranked ones?

Bao De: That depends on the time of day. During peak video hours, we'll select the top-ranked games, but during leisure hours—around midnight, for instance—we pick them at random.

"If that's the case..."

After hesitating for a moment, Yin Jian began typing.

Yin Jian: Brother Bao, what time slot is your live-stream?

Bao De: Ten to twelve at night. Why do you ask?

Thanks to his rising performance metrics, he had gained a bit more say in things. While this time slot wasn't the absolute best, it wasn't bad either.

Yin Jian: It's like this...

After more than ten minutes of conversation, Yin Jian finally achieved his goal.

While this might be slightly unfair to the other designers participating in the jam...

Screw it.

Those bastards had already thrown away their dignity and resorted to R-rated content.

Pulling a few minor strings of his own was only reasonable, right?

Besides, this method did not cross any moral boundaries.

Thus, Yin Jian's conscience remained entirely clear.

...

...

Time advanced to June 1st.

Today marked the official first day of competition for the registered games in the Qiyou reality game jam.

To celebrate, Qiyou headquarters had even held an opening ceremony, inviting dozens of media outlets to live-stream the event on-site.

Some of these media outlets specialized in gaming news, while others were official media platforms of the Xiaohua Star Domain.

After all, Qiyou's ultimate goal was adapting games into reality, and this gimmick alone was enough to attract a massive amount of traffic.

"The first edition of Qiyou's theatrical game jam officially sets sail!"

The moment Chen Guang's voice fell, countless screens materialized behind him, each displaying live footage of various players immersed in their games...

The true war had officially begun!