Chapter 1 Parallel World

“I’m never drinking again, my head is absolutely killing me.”

Chen Xu rubbed his head, complaining, as he sat up from the bed.

He rubbed his still-sticky eyelids, and after opening his eyes, Chen Xu was stunned.

The environment before him was utterly unfamiliar.

“Wait, this place…”

The next moment, before Chen Xu could figure out what was happening, countless memories flooded into his mind.

It took about an hour for Chen Xu to sort through the memories in his head.

It was clear that he, a regular Game Planner in his previous life, had not only transmigrated but had also crossed over into a Parallel World.

According to the memories in his mind, it was unclear which point in time had gone awry in this world, but it was completely different from Chen Xu's previous life.

All industries had undergone immense changes with the advancement of technology.

However, Chen Xu couldn't pinpoint just how vast these changes were; what truly gave him the most direct impression was the gaming and entertainment industry.

The post-war world had embraced peace, and with the explosion of technology, the situations of not having enough food or being unable to afford medical treatment, common in his previous life, basically didn't exist.

The economy recovered at an extraordinary pace. People no longer worried about survival, and with money in their pockets, the entertainment industry naturally became the primary direction for development.

The gaming industry was part of this. In his previous life, for a long time, games were treated as a scourge, often used as a Scapegoat.

Domestically, it went without saying, and internationally it was the same. Why were shootings so frequent? Because games promoted violence! So, supermarkets shouldn't remove guns; we should remove the source of shootings: games!

In the Parallel World, however, it was different. Excellent games could genuinely be called art, and top-tier Game Designers enjoyed the same social status as literary giants.

Yet, at the same time, this world differed from Chen Xu's previous life in one other aspect.

In the gaming industry, publishers like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts were nowhere to be seen, replaced by others Chen Xu had never heard of.

As for the famous Game Producers from his previous life, not a single one existed in this world.

Hidetaka Miyazaki, who resigned from Oracle to join FromSoftware and create the Souls series; Masahiro Sakurai, who simplified hardcore platformers and single-handedly built the legendary Smash Bros. series; Sid Meier, who defined 4X games; Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series; the Houser brothers, who pushed the concept of 3D open-world to its peak; Hideo Kojima, who pioneered stealth games and cinematic narrative games; and Shigeru Miyamoto, the hall-of-fame producer of electronic games.

These producers, who had left illustrious names in the gaming world in his previous life, had vanished without a trace in this world.

As for Chen Xu himself, he was an ordinary student who had graduated less than half a year ago, determined to dedicate himself to the Comic Industry.

“This world… it truly is a paradise for Cultural Practitioners!”

Recalling some memories in his mind, combined with information he looked up on the computer, Chen Xu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Strict laws and robust copyright protection for cultural products – these were simply unimaginable in his previous life.

“Illustrations, huh?”

Through his memories and the internet, Chen Xu gained some basic information about this world, and he also noticed some drawing papers on the table.

They were all Illustrations he had drawn before.

After graduating before the transmigration, the Original Body had always wanted to become a Cartoonist.

Unfortunately, despite submitting his work multiple times, it never passed the editor's review.

As for online comic serialization, it had also been Lukewarm.

Besides relying on Manuscript Fees from online serialized comics, he also made a living by drawing character Illustrations for novel authors and creating Concept Art for some game companies.

He wasn't particularly famous, and his Painting Skill wasn't top-tier, varying with different demands.

Generally, a single drawing would fetch around 1200 Yuan, and if he ran into a Demanding Client, he'd have to revise it repeatedly.

“Comics? I don't know anything about this stuff!” Chen Xu recalled the memories in his mind, involuntarily pursing his lips.

Even though the memories in the Original Body's mind gave Chen Xu various Painting Skills, it was useless.

After all, the Original Body had resorted to Outsourced Illustrations just to supplement living expenses.

As for the comics from his previous life, Chen Xu had heard of many, knowing all about One-Punch Man, One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, and Detective Conan.

But as for reading them, he apologized.

He had only watched the anime; who knew how to draw those popular comics?

“Looking at it this way, it seems I'll have to return to my old trade: games. And the game development efficiency in this world is quite high!” Chen Xu couldn't help but click his tongue after understanding.

Unlike game companies in his previous life, which developed their own Game Engines, while overseas largely maintained this model, domestically there was an Official Game Engine provided by the government.

Furthermore, as is well-known, game development encompasses many aspects, such as Numerical Design, Art, Plot Design, Level Design, and Code.

But among them, the most important, and also the most fundamental, was Code.

It directly influenced a game's performance, acting as its skeleton.

No matter how good the Gameplay or graphics were, if the Code optimization was poor, the game could essentially be deemed a failure.

However, in this world, due to the development of IT Technology, Artificial Intelligence had an Embryonic Form and was being applied across all industries, with gaming being one of the most significantly transformed areas.

Mechanism Commands and other Code were implemented through the Official Game Engine, utilizing Artificial Intelligence.

This completely eliminated the previous life's situation of having to Sacrifice a Programmer.

If someone had to be sacrificed, it was usually the Planner.

Of course, while convenient, it wasn't something every designer could use indefinitely.

After all, using Artificial Intelligence for Code construction required immense computational power.

Therefore, each game designer received fixed resources monthly, according to their Job Title.

They could, of course, set up their own servers for independent computation, only needing to pay Licensing Fees.

However, the cost of setting up servers and their daily maintenance was not cheap.

As for how to become a Game Designer, there were three methods.

One was to participate in the Game Department's examination every summer; passing it would grant them the Game Designer Job Title.

Another was to join a game company, endure for two or three years, and then apply through the company's channels, reporting to the Game Department to become an Official Game Designer.

The last method was to create an Independent Game that gained market recognition from players, primarily offering a path for casual game enthusiasts who weren't professionally trained.

Achieving a Sales Volume of 150,000, or accumulating 5,000 Cumulative Reviews with Positive Reviews above 8.5.

Meeting any one of these conditions would suffice.

As for Boosting Sales and Positive Reviews, it was essentially non-existent, as it was an illegal activity, and getting caught would lead to severe consequences.

“Seems very legitimate, but at least getting the Game Designer Job Title shouldn't be difficult for me.” Chen Xu said to himself, stroking his chin as he looked at the information he had learned.

After all, he wasn't alone; countless predecessors from the Gaming Industry of his previous life stood behind him.

Large-scale games were not something Chen Xu considered at this stage; he lacked capabilities, resources, and funding in all aspects.

But for small Independent Games, Chen Xu felt quite confident.

He was very clear about the various excellent Independent Games from his previous life.

After learning about the relevant information of this world, reproducing them was well within Chen Xu's capabilities.

“Wait, what's this?”

Chen Xu, who was contemplating his next steps, suddenly noticed something.

There was a translucent blue, spherical mark on the back of his hand, resembling a Birthmark.

Chen Xu rubbed it with his thumb, and suddenly, a transparent UI Pop-up Window appeared.

“A system?”

Instantly, two words popped into Chen Xu's mind.

Thinking it over, having transmigrated and then being given a system didn't seem too outlandish, did it?

It's just, the name of this system?

‘Emotion Collection System’

Looking at the Flashy and Gaudy UI interface, which resembled a Domestic Web Game from his previous life, Chen Xu fell into a moment of silence.

It's so Flashy and Gaudy, it just doesn't feel like a legitimate system.

(End of Chapter) <>