Chapter 139: Gacha Pull (Please Subscribe, Monthly Pass)

As time progressed day by day, the popularity of Dark Souls' Random Mode remained extremely hot.

After all, this randomized gameplay felt incredibly fresh to players.

However, within the gaming industry, the most anticipated news was naturally the consecutive launches of TengHua and NetDragon's two VR blockbusters.

NetDragon fired the first shot with their game Star God (Game Title), unveiled earlier at the gameplay Expo.

In terms of story and setting, it was very traditional.

In this world, gods once existed, but for unknown reasons, they suddenly vanished one day. Countless monsters emerged, plunging humanity into suffering. A young boy, born with a mysterious bloodline from the mountains, sets off on an adventure to uncover his origins.

From the storyline alone, there was nothing particularly unique—its template could easily fit into any ARPG.

Likely, NetDragon made this choice to minimize risks. While it wouldn’t impress players instantly, at least it wouldn’t cause major issues.

Combined with the inherent advantages of a VR blockbuster and NetDragon’s extensive promotion, the game’s popularity exploded.

Yet Chen Xu couldn’t care less about the fierce competition between TengHua and NetDragon. After all, Dark Souls had already been online for almost two months, and its overseas sales rivaled its domestic performance.

No matter how much attention TengHua and NetDragon generated, it wouldn’t affect Nebula Games.

Right now, Chen Xu was inside a company in Modu dedicated to AI research.

Of course, this company, named 'Galaxy Smart Tech,' had already been acquired by Chen Xu as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The negotiations weren’t complicated—Chen Xu simply let the company’s professionals handle it.

After the negotiations concluded, with an offer of 110 million RMB, Chen Xu acquired the company.

"Mr. Chen, this is our current progress across various directions, as well as our big data database," Zhong Yue, who led the project research, said apprehensively.

Not just Zhong Yue—other employees in the company also felt uneasy.

After all, with the company being acquired, no one could predict what would happen next.

"I understand for now. Also, I believe Dr. Zhong and everyone here already know Nebula Games’ main business direction. Therefore, the company’s internal research direction will shift—mainly focusing on the interaction between AI intelligence and game applications," Chen Xu said, to make a long story short.

"Additionally, we’ll inject 20 million RMB in research funds into the company, disbursed in installments, specifically for this research area," Chen Xu added.

Hearing this, everyone’s hanging hearts settled.

As for which direction they’d shift toward—well, that wasn’t their concern.

They knew the company wouldn’t collapse, and new research funds were coming. That was enough for them.

After touring the company, reviewing their existing patent documents and research results, and confirming with the Legal Department that all onboarding employees had properly signed confidentiality agreements and non-compete agreements, Chen Xu left first.

Back in the office at Nebula Games, Chen Xu opened the system’s inventory interface.

At this moment, the item card he had previously drawn could finally be used.

"So this is it?"

As he used it, the card shattered into golden dust and dissipated into the air. Chen Xu muttered to himself.

At that moment, he noticed a small progress bar had appeared beneath the system lottery interface.

And on the progress bar, a number was continuously changing:

31536000, 31535999...

A countdown?

31536000 seconds?

Chen Xu paused, instantly understanding what the progress bar and number meant.

It was just like clicking on the tech tree or building houses in a management simulation game—there was a waiting period required.

After studying it for a while and finding nothing special, Chen Xu temporarily set it aside.

What would happen could only be known after the countdown ended—and that day was still far away.

Putting aside the effect of the golden item for now, Chen Xu turned his attention back to his current points.

Thanks to the overseas version of Dark Souls and the new mode’s release, his points had soared like a rocket, accumulating enough for 200 draws.

Previously, Chen Xu had restrained his urge to do a gacha pull, preferring to save up more.

Now, however, this number felt like it was perfect for going on a spending spree in the in-game store.

With his mind made up, he immediately started pulling.

No music, no hand-washing ritual—none of that attention-grabbing nonsense.

Because his previous Unlucky King experience had taught him—everything like that was meaningless!

【Common Professional Skill Book】, 【Common Professional Skill Book】, 【Common Professional Skill Book】… 【Rare Professional Skill Book】, 【Memory Capsule】…

One consecutive 30-pull later, staring at the items that popped up, Chen Xu couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

The golden special effects looked nice, but after opening the boxes, it was all common items. Only occasionally did a rare item appear. Was this gacha experience really this realistic?

More Memory Capsules would’ve been nice. He’d nearly used them all during the development of Dark Souls.

While sighing with emotion, Chen Xu continued pulling.

【Professional Skill Book: Psychology Knowledge (Beginner)】

【Professional Skill Book: Film Cinematography Knowledge (Beginner)】

"Something dropped? New skill books?"

Seeing the two new Professional Skill Books, Chen Xu felt excited—but then saw the word 'Beginner' and felt a bit disappointed.

Although they were purple items, just like the Fear Converter he’d used when developing The Last of Us, the 'Beginner' tag made them feel somehow inferior.

After using them, he understood—these skills covered far too much content, so the current version of the item was only Beginner level.

Moreover, for game development, these two areas of knowledge were closely related.

Psychology in games wasn’t just about creating negative experiences—like trap placements in Dark Souls.

It also included positive reward mechanisms—such as how to design rewards after defeating a boss, or how to pace the game to keep players more engaged. All of these were closely related to psychology.

As for film cinematography, that was even more important. In his previous life, games like New God of War, The Last of Us, and Metal Gear heavily utilized cinematic techniques.

For example, the one-shot sequence in New God of War, the cinematic language in The Last of Us, and Metal Gear’s famous long takes.

After 200 consecutive pulls, most of the drops were common skill books, with some rare ones, but the Memory Capsules were greatly replenished.

As for Professional Skill Books, Chen Xu obtained a total of: 4 Psychology Knowledge (Beginner), 6 Film Cinematography Knowledge (Beginner), 3 Architecture Knowledge (Beginner), and 5 Martial Arts Movements (Beginner).

Though he hadn’t drawn any gold-tier items like before, at least these were all very useful to him right now.

So overall, Chen Xu was quite satisfied.

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