Three days later.
When Li Jing returned to Gu Feng's office, she was startled by how haggard he looked.
"What on earth did you do to yourself?"
He glanced up at her and gave a tired smile. "Pulled three all-nighters. But the game is ready."
"For real?"
Li Jing couldn't quite believe it. Even if he hadn't slept, building a complete game in three days was nearly impossible. A tweak, maybe—but a full rebuild?
She remembered he'd told her to keep promoting under the original title, Great Age of Sail, and a guess formed. Not a brand-new game, then—an overhaul on the old foundation?
That, at least, made sense. In three days, even the top studio Fengxue couldn't produce an entire new title. Put every programmer on Blue Star in one room and they still wouldn't pull it off. But a deep refit? That was plausible.
Anticipation flickered in her eyes.
Gu Feng handed her a VR headgear. "Try it. If it checks out, we'll have the streamers push it tonight."
"I'm going to crash for a bit. I'm dead on my feet."
He shuffled to the office couch and lay down. System or not, recreating the pirate world from his past life's memories hadn't been easy. He'd restored it piece by piece, added fine-grained adjustments, laid down the content rules—and only then did it come together.
Li Jing looked at him sleeping, then slipped on the headset, half skeptical, half hopeful.
Blue Star's tech ran far ahead of Earth's; VR headsets like this were commonplace. The pricier VR pods even came with nutrient infusion and waste handling—you could stay inside for a month if you wanted.
Her vision went dark. A moment later, it felt like her mind connected to another world and began to sink.
Light bloomed.
Li Jing opened her eyes—and the sight stole her breath. A sweep of golden beach. A rippling, sunlit sea. Waves breaking and rolling under a restless wind.
A surge washed in and covered her shins. She looked down: the hem of her long skirt soaked through, fabric clinging to her skin, every sensation unmistakably real.
"This…"
She was stunned. Blue Star had games that claimed full reality simulation, but this—this was the first time she'd felt something so convincingly lifelike.
"How did Gu Feng do this?"
Still reeling, she pinched the skirt higher and walked barefoot along the shore. Fine sand flowed beneath her soles, the texture so vivid she nearly forgot it was a game.
Forget the content for a second—this presence alone blew past almost everything on the market.
Her eyes brightened. The next second, she exited the world, pulled off the headset, looked at the sleeping Gu Feng—and made up her mind.
Gu Feng, a born talent who insisted on shouldering everything himself, had always made her worry. She, on the other hand, came from a family that—if not top-tier—was very close.
Originally, she'd planned to do her best with promotion and leave it at that.
Now?
Li Jing left his office and headed back to her own. She pulled out her phone and tapped a number.
A middle-aged woman answered. "Well, well. The sun must be rising in the west—my daughter calling me first?"
Li Jing skipped the small talk. "Mom, can you lend me some money?"
She'd already spent three days lining up streamers for Great Age of Sail's relaunch, but the company's budget was basically gone. Even raiding her own savings, she had just one million for ads—barely enough to book a mid-tier, nowhere near a top name. She'd thought a handful of small streamers would have to do.
After experiencing the new build herself, she decided otherwise.
"I knew there had to be a catch," her mother teased. "How much?"
Li Jing had always been reliable, so her mother didn't even ask what for—just how much.
"Ten million. For now."
A pause. Her mother's tone grew serious. "What are you planning?"
A few million she would send without blinking. Ten million merited at least one question. Li Jing laid it all out: she needed to push their company's game.
"That Great Age of Sail of yours?" her mother said. "I checked in on it. Same category as Fengxue's title. If it were another niche you might have a shot, but like this…"
She trailed off—then Li Jing's phone chimed. Ten million received.
"Thanks, Mom!"
No more explanation. Li Jing hung up and went to work, unleashing the funds across every channel she could touch.
That night, in Xiao Kaka's stream.
At seven p.m., one of Ocean Platform's headliners went live, and her viewer count rocketed. In minutes it broke a hundred thousand—and kept climbing.
Reading the barrage of comments, the sweet-faced, clear-voiced gamer smiled. She slipped on her headset and started the download on a virtual interface.
"Guys, tonight I'm recommending a brand-new fishing game," she said.
The chat exploded.
[Kaka, no Era of Fishermen today?]
[Yeah! Watching you angle these last two days is the only time a chronic blanker like me gets to feel good.]
[Why ditch the current king for some other fishing title?]
[What fishing game could possibly beat Era of Fishermen?]
While the doubts scrolled by, the download finished. Xiao Kaka's cursor tapped the icon twice.
"Come on, brothers," she laughed. "Let's check out this new one—Great Age of Sail."
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