Chapter 18: Targeted? Part-time Activities!
But thinking about it, it seems perfectly fine. After all, they were a champion back in the day. Now that they’re older, it’s only reasonable for them to play some games to recapture that feeling of being a Trainer, right?
However... why were the emotion points awarded this time so low?
Ling Feng was certain it wasn't an issue with his game content. After all, when Cynthia first live-streamed her playthrough, the points provided were nearly 200. But this time, the points from Iono, Cynthia, and Professor Oak combined totaled only 230.
Just as Ling Feng was pondering this, a system notification popped up before his eyes, resolving his confusion:
【Ding! Please note, Host: The emotion points gained from the same person for the same game will gradually decrease. Over time, it will drop to a minimum of one-quarter of the original amount.】
Seeing this, Ling Feng raised an eyebrow.
In that case... he had to find a way to get more people to play this game. In other words, he had to thoroughly promote "Emerald." Moreover, he could tell from the past two days of point income that, with the current small purchase base, the emotion points provided by ordinary players were quite minimal.
The real heavy lifting came from "special characters" with status, like Cynthia, Professor Oak, and Iono. Therefore, if he wanted to gain a large amount of emotion points in the future, besides promoting the game, he had to find ways to attract other prominent figures to play "Emerald"...
But obviously, that wasn't an easy task. At Ling Feng’s current level, let alone interacting with them, even getting in touch with them was extremely difficult. After all, not every Elite Four member or Champion live-streamed on platforms like Cynthia or Iono.
Furthermore, Ling Feng still had no clue how Cynthia, Iono, or even Professor Oak had come across his version of "Emerald." It couldn't just be the promotional effect of the New Game Festival, could it? Impossible, absolutely impossible.
With that thought, Ling Feng shook his head slightly. Now that the game's revenue had picked up, he might as well spend some money on promotion. *Pokémon: Emerald* was destined to be a phenomenal game, and as its quality continued to improve with his module upgrades, as long as he did a bit of promotion, it would explode in popularity sooner or later.
Of course, the most important thing was to secure the championship spot in the New Game Festival! The promotional traffic from the League’s official channels wasn't something money could just buy!
Just as Ling Feng was considering his next move, he suddenly felt a chill beside him as a cold breeze blew past. He turned to see that the Litwick, which had been sleeping for a long time, had finally woken up!
"Lit!"
As soon as it woke up, the Litwick hopped over to Ling Feng’s side, making a pathetic, pleading expression.
"Hungry, aren't you? Here, this is for you."
Ling Feng, having prepared in advance, smiled slightly and pulled a can of Pokémon food from his drawer, handing it over.
...
In this world, although the entertainment industry wasn't highly developed, the number of internet users was substantial. *Pokémon: Emerald* had been released for three full days, and clips of Cynthia and Iono’s live-streamed playthroughs, along with news about the game, had begun to appear online.
On the largest short-video platform in the network, a site called "Magnemite Station," several videos had seen their popularity skyrocket, climbing the charts.
【The latest pixel game released actually sells for a staggering 288! Hellish difficulty, yet a 100% approval rating?】
【The biggest dark horse of the New Game Festival? It hit the top of the charts in just two days, threatening to defeat DreamWorks!】
【The full, hilarious compilation of Sinnoh Champion Cynthia and Paldea Gym Leader Iono losing their cool while playing "Emerald"!】
【Shocking: Cynthia becomes the first to clear the super-difficult Gym Leader battle in "Emerald." Do you even understand the power of bonds?】
【Seeking help: Who is this Roxanne? Why is she so strong?】
...
As these videos gained popularity, *Pokémon: Emerald* began to enter the sight of the general public. At the same time, it naturally attracted the attention of certain people.
At this moment, in the Sinnoh region, at the top floor of a skyscraper in Jubilife City, a young man in a brown suit and sunglasses rushed into the office, door swinging open. He was clutching a tablet, hurrying toward the desk, panting:
"Boss! Something’s happened!"
Sitting behind the desk was a middle-aged man in casual clothes with a center-parted hairstyle. His expression was calm, but he radiated an inadvertent sense of pressure. Anyone in the industry could tell this was the aura formed by countless battles in the corporate world. This person was Cui Yu, the boss of "DreamWorks," the largest and most powerful game company in the world today!
Cui Yu looked up at him, saying coldly:
"How many times have I told you? Knock before you enter. Speak, what kind of mess has you acting like this?"
The man in the suit wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, quickly presented the tablet, and explained:
"Boss, three days ago, a game called *Pokémon: Emerald* suddenly appeared in the New Game Festival. In these three days, it has climbed from outside the top 1000 in popularity to 20th place, and its popularity is still rising!"
"Emerald?"
Cui Yu chewed on the word, looking down at the tablet. It was a recording of Cynthia’s first live-stream. A moment later, he looked up, his gaze now carrying a touch of seriousness. In just a few minutes, he had grasped the general content and gameplay.
What attracted him most in the video was that, despite it being a turn-based game, the scenery of the cities and routes was crafted with such detail... This visual quality... As a game company boss, even though he didn't usually participate in development, he knew this technical level was absolutely not simple. Even with their company's mastery of pixel game technology, they couldn't replicate it.
"Who made the game? Have you checked?" he asked coldly.
"Boss, I checked immediately. The information says it's an individual creator, but I don't think that's possible. It’s likely a front for some company. I suspect it might be Piplup, or perhaps... Grey Trace?"
Cui Yu put down the tablet and lit a cigar.
"In front of DreamWorks, no one is a threat. It doesn't matter who it is; what matters is that we cannot watch it continue to develop like this." He exhaled a ring of smoke: "Notify the development department. Emergency meeting at eight o'clock tonight. Even those on leave must return. If they can't make it in time, they join via video conference. No one is allowed to be absent."
The man in the suit froze, asking cautiously:
"Boss, you mean...?"
Cui Yu glanced at him.
"Imitate, just like we’ve done before. The development cost of pixel games is so low; with our technology, we can make something better at any time. Take their combat mechanics and content, change the region, add some story, speed up the updates, and lower the difficulty to make it more enjoyable for players. Their idea is good, but daring to set the difficulty so high while charging such a high price is pure suicide. Also, our new product is launching at the New Game Festival soon. When the time comes, we’ll use a two-pronged approach: a competitor with higher quality and lower price, plus the traffic dominance of the New Game Festival. What kind of waves could they possibly make?"
The man in the suit smiled, giving a thumbs up.
"Brilliant, Boss! As expected of you. I’ll go notify them right away!"
He clutched the tablet and retreated from the office. Cui Yu stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the city from above, his eyes flashing with arrogance as he snorted.
"Hmph... *Emerald*? No matter who you are, don't even think about shaking DreamWorks' position in the gaming world... Even by a fraction, I will never allow it!"
...
Meanwhile, in Viridian City, Ling Feng had no idea his game had been targeted by DreamWorks. He was looking at the Litwick, which was devouring the can of Pokémon food, wearing a kindly, maternal smile.
*I wonder... who came up with these Pokémon things? They're just too cute!*
Sure enough, he didn't need to be a Trainer. Just having one or two Pokémon to live life with was already enough to be happy.
"Eat slowly, there’s more when you're finished."
Ling Feng said, opening the drawer to reveal dozens of cans of Pokémon food, showing them to the Litwick.
"Lit—"
The Litwick’s eyes lit up, and it buried its head deeper into the food, eating even more enthusiastically.
"Eating so much and sleeping so much, just how long were you hungry and tired before you found me..." Ling Feng couldn't help but sigh.
As he spoke, a question suddenly occurred to him. Right... where did the Litwick actually come from? Even though he was on the outskirts of Viridian City, it was still under the jurisdiction of a major city. There were many people around, and logically, there shouldn't be any Ghost-type Pokémon lurking nearby. Ghost-types usually lived in desolate, uninhabited wilderness or ancient, long-abandoned buildings. If a wild Ghost-type appeared in a city, it would immediately cause a stir and attract law enforcement for capture or expulsion.
To figure this out, the best way was to just ask the Litwick directly. After all, he had the module that translated Pokémon language; he might as well use it.
With that thought, Ling Feng patted the Litwick and posed his question.
"Hey, can you tell me how you ended up in my room?"
Facing Ling Feng’s inquiry, the Litwick stopped eating, a look of confused recollection on its face.
"Lit... lit."
It began to explain.
...
A moment later, after listening to the Litwick’s account, Ling Feng understood the whole story.
"So you mean... you lived in a special space, and then somehow, inexplicably, you just appeared in my room?"
The Litwick nodded.
"Lit!"
This made Ling Feng feel a bit strange. It sounded like this little guy was a transmigrator too?
"Then, do you have any impression of that space you mentioned?" he asked again.
The Litwick thought for a while and immediately gave an answer.
"Lit... lit."
【There were so many... so many scary guys there.】
【The sky was completely different from here.】
【...I didn't like it there... so dark, so hungry... so scary...】
Ling Feng fell into deep thought. In his memories of the original work, there didn't seem to be such a space that the Litwick described. The only thing that matched the description was perhaps Ultra Space, but Ultra Space was filled with terrifying Ultra Beasts, and normal Pokémon couldn't enter it. Naturally, there was no reason for a Litwick to appear in a place like that.
After a moment of contemplation, he reached out and patted the Litwick's head, smiling:
"It's okay. Since you don't like it, you can just stay with me from now on. Big Brother Feng will lead you to a life of luxury and help you reach the peak of Litwick-hood, how about that?"
The Litwick nodded blankly.
"Lit!"
Although it didn't quite understand what Ling Feng was saying... but as long as there was food, it was fine!
After soothing the Litwick, Ling Feng opened the system panel to check his current balance of emotion points. Since Cynthia and Iono had been streaming the game for two days, the emotion points had been slowly increasing over time. By now, including the 230 points from the trio, his total balance was 620 points.
Since his points had dropped to single digits after his last purchase, Ling Feng could clearly calculate that the points provided by players who had purchased the game during this time were around 400. Considering the actual number of people who bought the game... Ling Feng felt this harvest was actually quite small. Not to mention that the points provided by these players were "one-time" deals, and the points from the same player would decrease over time.
Ling Feng couldn't help but feel a headache. Any of the intermediate modules he chose to buy would cost at least 2,000 points. At this rate of point acquisition, when on earth would he be able to afford all the intermediate modules he wanted?
*No, I have to find a way... I can't just sit here and wait.*
Ling Feng was deep in thought. Just then, a notification lit up before his eyes.
【Ding!】
【Strong demand for emotion points detected from the Host!】
【"Task" function unlocked!】
【Ding! Host has received a side quest: "Part-time Activity"!】
【Task Difficulty: C】
【Task Requirement: Register as a streamer on any platform and reach a peak of 1,000 concurrent viewers in your stream.】
【Task Reward: Random special low-level module x1, 200 emotion points.】
【Task Note: If the benefactor doesn't like playing games, this monk is also quite skilled at creating show effects!】
...
Looking at the notification, Ling Feng was momentarily stunned.
Right! According to the system... it wasn't just when the games he created caused emotional changes that he could gain points... he could do it himself!
Live-streaming personally was undoubtedly the best way to influence others' emotions.
Then... what about the content of the stream?
Ling Feng glanced at the icons on his desktop, then at the words "show effects" in the task note, and suddenly had a bold idea...
The next moment, a burst of evil laughter echoed through the room.
The Litwick, currently eating:
Σ(°△°|||)
*This laughter...?? Am I... back in that ghostly place again??*
*No, please, QAQ!!!!*
(There will be six chapters of the "Battle Path" live-stream content next; readers who aren't interested can skip directly to Chapter 24 or 25.)