To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Sitting in the guest seat, Fang Cheng looked utterly bewildered.

Next to him, the game journalist Chen Rang was brimming with excitement, while a young camera guy, acting as the camera, squatted beside them.

Due to the game’s perspective, in a first-person game like “Botanic Garden,” it was convenient for a photographer to open the game and use their own screen as the interview footage.

It looked strange from another person’s perspective; this was a huge mental challenge for the camera guy, and someone might even take a screenshot and caption it with “When you feel your job is pointless, remember someone is acting as a camera in a game.”

“Today is our seventh Sprite Battle of Flora and Fauna. We have introduced all sixteen contestants, and we’re about to begin our competition! But before we start, please allow me to introduce our special guest, Mr. Fang Cheng from Fang Cheng Studio!”

After finishing the introduction, Chen Rang faced his idol, Fang Cheng, took a deep breath, pondered for a long time, and finally asked the question he most wanted to ask.

“Mr. Fang, I heard that Mukuai is about to become a permanent character in your studio’s game, what do you think about that?”

“I think creating facts through fictional news is illegal,” Fang Cheng said seriously.

“I’m sorry, I publicly apologize. Then, the next question, as a special guest, how do you feel?”

“It’s a public execution.”

“Mr. Fang has quite a sense of humor! Who do you think will win this time?”

“I just want to know if abusing plants is a crime?”

“Mr. Fang really is very humorous! Alright, let’s enjoy the competition. How would you prefer I interview you during the match?”

“The silent interviews are best for me.”

Having watched the players’ competition with a blank expression, Fang Cheng was at a loss for words.

Why do you think letting your Spirit Grass fight each other is such fun?

But I must admit, these players have raised their Spirit Grass well. The evolved forms look strong and dazzling, each with a remarkable appearance.

So, why use Spirit Grass to fight?

It felt to him like night pearls were meant to be admired, yet someone insisted on playing marbles with them. Fang Cheng couldn’t understand such a waste of splendor.

The competition was incredibly intense, with various battles between flora and fauna. The commentators, although amateurs, spoke clearly and wittily, making the obscure tactics understandable for everyone.

The outcome was even more thrilling, with one side pulling off a miraculous underdog victory that brought the audience to a climax.

After participating in the competition in a daze and then logging off in the same state, the next day Fang Cheng’s first order of business upon arriving at the studio was to find Wang Xiaoying and have her dig up recent reviews of “Botanic Garden.”

“[Several evolutionary pathways, the randomness of evolution direction—every evolutionary trait is related to previous actions, and cultivating your favored sprite feels amazing!]”

“[Walking in such a beautiful environment makes me question whether I’ve joined the ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ film crew. Whenever I think this way, I switch to a bamboo forest arena and engage in a sprite battle.]”

“[I never knew fighting could be so aesthetically pleasing. This is a shot of the four divine beasts fighting in the snow, what do you guys think?]”

“[The gorgeous setting is especially suited for sprite battles.]”

“[A moonlit night, flowing water, bluish rockeries… what do these remind you of? That’s right, sprite battles!]”

After reading message after message, Fang Cheng felt he had something to say, yet found himself speechless.

Poking his head out, he said to Wang Xiaoying, “Do we have an official game group?”

“No, maintaining a group involves additional costs, but there are player-run discussion groups for the game. Would you like to join, boss?”

“I think it’s necessary,” Fang Cheng said.

His mind felt muddled; he was unsure about the players’ thoughts and needed to see what they were really thinking.

After receiving the group number from Wang Xiaoying, he immediately changed his name and joined the group to start lurking and understanding the players’ thoughts.

First, the group files shocked him immensely.

A full 4GB of group files; the content was even larger than his expanded game.

“`

The file was comprehensive, and the most important part was the number and illustrated guide for each plant.

A player designed an app to enable other players to search for animals and plants and understand each one’s acquisition method and cultivation technique.

Due to the certain randomness of evolution, thousands of group members together experimented with every method of evolution, leading to each plant’s description amounting to tens of thousands of words.

And for every plant and every direction of evolution, there were illustrations, with each path of evolution’s characteristics meticulously noted. It was quite comprehensive.

What came next were the recordings of the matches.

Because the game’s background was so visually stunning, even a random recording of a match set against the exquisite backdrop had an ethereal quality. The originally violent battles, with the help of this setting, seemed to have an ultimate romantic flair.

After watching a few battles, Fang Cheng couldn’t help but reflect that editing the matches really made them quite appealing to watch.

Especially since those that could be shared in the group were the exciting matches from unofficial competitions, making each one remarkably engaging.

And the chat content of the group members was arguably pushed to the extreme of abstraction.

[Just got a Flawless Snow with an indifferent personality, but when provoked, it becomes furious. When it rains, it’s passionate. So, does this one have any cultivation value?]

[What about the trait values?]

[5, 6, 5, 6, 5.]

[Not bad, worth raising.]

[Thanks.]

Even though it was a game he had created, Fang Cheng found he couldn’t understand the content players were discussing.

After looking through the previous discussions of the players, Fang Cheng realized that they were all having a great time. Every player had nothing but praise. It seemed that the compliments were almost free-flowing, and it made him deeply feel that they were not playing the same game he had made.

“Botanic Garden” had even become a cultural phenomenon, with every player thoroughly enjoying themselves and all eagerly anticipating the next chapter.

After all, “Botanic Garden” was just the first chapter of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and nobody knew what content the subsequent chapters would include.

But they knew Fang Cheng Studio wouldn’t let them down!

After reading all these comments carefully, Fang Cheng was utterly baffled.

Sitting at his desk, he began to ponder the root of all these issues but found it more confusing the more he thought about it.

It felt like just making an ordinary game, so why had it turned into what it was now?

With a helpless shrug, Fang Cheng decided to put those unpleasant thoughts aside and started to think about what game to make next.

However, soon after, Wang Xiaoying sent him a message: “Boss, Dimensional is planning on hosting an event, do you want to participate?”

“Dimensional, huh…”

Over at Dimensional, “Quiet Cultivation” competitive matches were taking place.

Initially, everyone played quite cautiously, but as they grew more familiar, various attention-grabbing antics emerged, making the competition, originally scheduled for half a month, unexpectedly extended further.

But since it was a competition meant for entertainment, extending it a bit was no issue. The amassed material could lead to better show effects, so Fang Cheng allowed it.

Moreover, now that he heard the other side wanted to include him in their shenanigans, Fang Cheng felt a bit interested.

If you guys like to fight so much, and I’m feeling a bit miffed, let’s all play together then.

So, with a smile, Fang Cheng replied, “Sure.”

Wang Xiaoying also breathed a sigh of relief and conveyed the message to Dimensional’s boss.

And when the boss relayed the news to the other participants, they also got excited.

They could finally see what the legendary Fang Cheng looked like!

They could finally involve Fang Cheng in their pranks!

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