Jiangning, Tidal Sea Spirit Restaurant.
While waiting for the waiter to serve the dishes, Qian Xin took out his phone from his pocket to see what his fans were saying in the comments section.
He was an influencer in the gaming section of Thunderbolt Video Network, with the online name "Qian Duoduo," and had 173,000 followers, which was quite a bit of fame.
This is not bragging.
Qian Xin gained 170,000 followers just from his first video to now, all within a few months, which is enough to prove his excellence.
In fact, except for the first month of "nonsense" ramblings, his recent videos have had over 500,000 views, with a rapid growth in followers.
Unless something unexpected happens, as long as he continues to maintain the quality of his videos, combined with the site's promotion, he believes his follower count will soon catch up with those long-established gaming influencers.
However... creating high-quality videos isn't that simple. Just for each video's script, Qian Xin has to deliberate for a long time before finalizing it.
Not to mention, he recently took on two advertisement deals, putting ads in the videos, which greatly affected the viewing experience, causing fans to complain incessantly.
The comments section was a chaotic mess...
Fortunately, most viewers understand the "influencer doing ads" thing and didn't criticize too much but were quite interested in the game mentioned in the video.
"No ads in the next video!"
Qian Xin knows well that doing ads too frequently isn't good; he's in a critical period for growing his followers, and he can't let the little gains outweigh the big losses and cause even his few followers to leave.
To let things slide is a strategy for when he has more followers, even after being "purified" a bit, not something to do at the start, right?
So, having just finished his advertisement deals, Qian Xin is contemplating what to do for his next video.
For a gaming influencer, there's nothing much to do except talk about games, but deciding which game to talk about is a headache for Qian Xin.
Popular games, like the recent hot 2D open-world game, ensure traffic when made into videos, but that doesn't align with "high-quality video" standards.
To make high-quality videos, he needs to create something that others haven't done or rarely do in the gaming community to achieve "differential" growth in followers.
"Then let's do new games..."
After much consideration, Qian Xin ultimately decided to start with newly released games and delve deeply into the game's content and playability.
But he doesn't have any specific new game in mind yet, planning to check out the new game charts on major gaming platforms after having his meal.
"Hey! Who's this?"
Just as Qian Xin was thinking about the next video, a chat message suddenly popped up, leaving him in a daze.
Kun Kun doesn't play basketball?
Who is this? When did he add a guy with such a weird profile picture?
Oh... I remember!
Just by the profile picture and nickname, Qian Xin couldn't remember adding such a friend, but after looking at the chat history, he immediately recognized it.
Turns out, this was a very supportive fan from when he started making videos, a diehard fan who accompanied him all the way.
"Recommending me a game?"
Qian Xin thought this diehard fan had something to discuss, but unexpectedly, it was a recommendation for a new game, leaving him a bit puzzled.
Cold Window Study Simulator?
Just the name itself made him want to laugh. In recent years, many simulation games have been launched on the market, but he hasn't seen many that were quality; most are patched together and poorly made.
"Is it really that fun?"
The suggestion from the diehard fan was hard for Qian Xin to ignore, especially since he was fretting over the material for the next video, so he was quite willing to believe in his fan's words.
"If I'm lying, I'm a dog!"
Receiving Qian Xin's reply, Kun Kun doesn't play basketball swore an oath: "I guarantee, this is a game that will refresh your understanding of games..."
Isn't he exaggerating a bit?
Qian Xin, who was quite interested, grew suspicious seeing his diehard fan in such a brainwashed state.
"Okay, I'll try it when I get back home."
Although he felt that the fan's recommendation might be somewhat subjective and the game might not be as fun as claimed, Qian Xin still decided to give it a try.
He was intending to find a new game anyway, even without this fan's recommendation.
Let's trust him this once!
...
After eating and drinking enough, Qian Xin left the Tidal Sea Spirit Restaurant.
When he got a ride back to his rented apartment, the bright moonlight was already streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto his desk.
He turned on the lights, started up the computer.
After making himself a cup of coffee, Qian Xin sat in the chair, logged into his Steam account, opened the search box, and typed "Cold Window Study Simulator."
"Only 18 bucks?"
Used to popular games being priced at dozens or even hundreds, seeing this price made Qian Xin frown.
What kind of game can you buy for 18 bucks?
Even a slightly decent risqué game couldn't be bought for that, right? If this game were really as fun as the diehard fan claimed, how could it only cost 18 bucks?
"Never mind, I'll just try it, if not, I can still refund..."
Since he already clicked on it, it wouldn't make sense not to play it, plus with his diehard fan's strong recommendation, Qian Xin finally decided to pay and download it.
The game's install package was small, only 1.25G.
In fact, for a pixel art game, a 1.25G package was somewhat surprising to Qian Xin.
But the size didn't matter, especially since Qian Xin's internet speed was quick, downloading it in less than a minute.
Enter the game.
There was no opening animation; the game immediately launched into the "naming" process upon opening.
Skilfully entering the nickname "Qian Duoduo" and selecting male, pressing enter, Qian Xin finally saw what the game was all about.
Rough, abstract!
This was the first impression the game's graphics gave him, not because of the pixel art but because of the peculiar aesthetic of the game developer.
Luckily, having played several similar games, Qian Xin quickly adapted to this abstract art style and began exploring the gameplay.
"In the game, you will play as a poor student, experiencing the journey of hard study leading to successful academic pursuits..."
The game's description quickly helped Qian Xin understand the game's mechanism.
"Simple, time management!"
"Let me see, reading will consume energy and increase subject experience, herding cattle will consume energy to boost learning motivation..."
After understanding the game's mechanics, Qian Xin quickly manipulated the game character to cut pig grass and herd cattle, only starting to read and do exercises when the energy was reduced to half.
"Seems quite simple?"
Qian Xin stroked his chin, feeling things were likely not that straightforward.
This should be the tutorial, guiding players to familiarize themselves with the game's operations and mechanics, hence the feeling of it being "easy going."
He guessed right!
As time progressed, Qian Duoduo finally made it through the summer vacation and became a middle school student, officially beginning his academic journey.
"Schooling consumes energy?"
Realizing that the character consumes energy during school without gaining much subject experience, Qian Xin suddenly got the gist.
Turns out, the real challenge is here!
Besides weekends and holidays, the character spends most of the time attending classes at school, which also consumes energy, leaving not much else to do.
Tasks like herding cattle, cutting pig grass, and picking corn can only be done before and after school, making time management for learning the primary challenge for players.
"I'm not herding cattle. I want to get into high school and eventually university!"
"What's wrong with college? College students don't need to herd cattle? Be good, remember to cut some pig grass after herding cattle..."
Watching the storyline where the father stops the protagonist from studying at home and insists on him herding cattle, Qian Xin got really frustrated.
Li Zaigan the demon?
I just want to study, please don't stop me, if I don't get into my dream high school in the future, can you take that responsibility?