Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

More precisely, he got a total of 16!

Bad news: out of these 16 crowns, not a single one was obtained by himself.

To put it more bluntly, he only got the Championship Crowns thanks to Princess Camille and Mavis's support.

During the closest attempt at a crown, he was still pulled back by the "bastard" behind him, barely missing it.

Some people were live-streaming with their sisters, while he was being carried by his sisters in the live stream.

Lincoln really wants to ask Princess Camille Victoria and Mavis: just how high is your hidden ranking?

Why do all the opponents they encounter seem to be so strong?!

Furthermore, because of his two powerful comrades, he couldn't trigger the "Caring for Humanity" system due to losing and winning alternately. Thus, he couldn't get into lower-level matches.

It feels like such a terrible game experience!

If it weren't for Princess Camille and Mavis having so much fun, he would have slipped away long ago.

What's worse, after the broadcast, he still had to practice boxing to make up for the training he missed while playing games today.

"In the end, it's all on me..." Lincoln played along while obediently practicing boxing.

*

The next day, Lincoln got up late for once.

Ever since he started practicing boxing, he rarely got up so late.

Moreover, even after completing the entire routine of getting up, washing up, eating breakfast, and going to work, he still felt out of spirits when he finally sat down in his office.

Lincoln reflected and thought that his lazy and laid-back personality definitely conflicted with his daily routine of practicing boxing and knife techniques.

Conflict was bound to happen sooner or later.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this daily training in martial arts didn't suit his nature.

Moreover, he felt that the three-month training period was just a bit too long.

He wondered if, when he went back to his classes, he could discuss this issue with Xu Chun?

If that didn't work, he could take a risk and shorten the training time. It wouldn't be a big deal to get hit a few more times during the battles!

After all, pain only lasts for a few days, and he could just endure it.

As for the cold weapons, well...

At this thought, Lincoln felt a bit of a headache.

It seemed that cold weapons didn't work with the "take a few more hits and endure" approach...

"Sigh, what should I do?" Lincoln felt helpless.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Just when Lincoln was troubled, a sudden knock on the door broke his thoughts.

"Come in."

Lincoln was a bit surprised to see that the person who pushed the door open and walked in was Jerome.

"Sit, I thought you'd be busy discussing collaborations with a bunch of companies. Why do you have time to come to me? Is there a problem?"

"No," Jerome shook his head, "It's mainly because I need to know your thoughts on an issue, Boss."

Lincoln nodded, "What's the problem? Go ahead."

"All the brands that are currently negotiating collaborations with us are only focusing on 'Speed Chase' and only want to advertise in Night City,"

Jerome said with a hint of regret, "Originally, seven or eight companies wanted to advertise in the Metropolis early on, but we were suddenly busy with IP purchases and overseas market expansions, so it was delayed. Now that 'Speed Chase' is about to be released, they don't even consider advertising in the Metropolis."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow with surprise, but it was quite reasonable upon further thought.

Since they want to advertise, it is reasonable to chase the game with the largest traffic and the highest popularity.

"So, I wanted to ask if you have any special opinions."

Lincoln shook his head, "Nothing special, just proceed with the normal negotiations. There's just one thing..."

Jerome leaned forward slightly, attentively listening to his boss's "special instructions".

 "... They have to pay more!"

Jerome couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, nodding and saying, "Don't worry, adding money is a given."

Afterward, Jerome left Lincoln's office and went to the virtual world to find Fred.

— If they wanted to advertise in Night City, they definitely had to inform Fred in advance.

*

Having waited for a while, Lincoln found that Quentina didn't come looking for him. With a clear conscience, he logged into the virtual world to slack off.

But when he opened his eyes again, he wasn't met with the familiar small sofa on the Spaceship, but instead was in the middle of a wilderness.

Just as he was puzzled, Mavis suddenly appeared from behind him, putting her index finger to her lips, hinting at him to stay quiet.

Then she pointed mysteriously in one direction.

Lincoln looked closely, and he saw a tiger strolling leisurely.

Although Lincoln could make his voice completely inaudible, he still complied with Mavis's request and lowered his voice, moving closer to Mavis's ear and asking, "What's happening? Is there something wrong with this tiger?"

"Nope~" Mavis whispered quietly, still pointing at the direction, "Master, look closely!"

Lincoln lowered his body, leaned on Mavis's shoulder, and looked in the direction she was pointing.

It took him quite a while to finally notice a player dressed in full camouflage crouched in the bushes. The player was upwind of the tiger and was carefully moving forward at a painfully slow pace, inching closer to the tiger.

"Is he... trying to hunt the tiger?" Lincoln asked in disbelief.

"It seems so!"

"Where did he get weapons? There are no weapons in 'Paradise', right? Also, at this slow pace, when would he ever reach the tiger? How long has he been here?"

Mavis had been watching for a while and knew all about this player's actions. She quietly answered all of Lincoln's questions: "From discovering the tiger to getting to its current position, it has already been over an hour. He found the tiger using a telescope that was given as a reward in an amusement park mini-game!"

"As for the weapon, he got up early this morning when there were few people around in the amusement park. He drove a shuttle bus for twenty minutes, crashing it into and breaking a section of the thinnest railing. Then he spent almost an hour bending and prying the railing by hand, making a metal long spear as thick as a thumb."

Lincoln's eyes widened as he listened.

"This guy, what a talent!"

He had considered the possibility of "player hunting animals" before, but in his imagination, the first player to attempt it would be part of a team to carry out a coordinated hunt.

And they wouldn't be so bold as to aim at a large, fierce beast like a tiger right away!

Going to hunt a tiger with a thin iron spear like this was beyond Lincoln's wildest imagination.

Lincoln stared at the player until his ID appeared:[Hu]

???

Lincoln was immediately taken aback. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

There didn't seem to be any problem with the ID itself.

But in this particular scene, it became absurd!

What does this mean?

Hu hunting tigers?

In just a few seconds while Lincoln stared at him, the muscular man with the ID called Hu moved a little closer.

At this distance, although the tiger hadn't noticed anything yet, it had already sharply raised its head, gently sniffing the unusual scent in the air.

—This was actually a special action created by Lincoln and Xiaomeng, and it was only related to the distance between the players and the animals.

Because players wouldn't actually emit any scent in the air, they couldn't be smelled.

In Lincoln's design, the animals' alert ranges were different. If you blatantly drove a car or charged directly at the animals without concealing yourself,

then the animals' alert range would be enormous, reacting from far away.

Whether to run away or approach depends on the player's state.

If the player is calm and has stable nerve signals, the system will judge the player to be in a "peaceful" state, and the animals will not only not run away, but they will also actively approach.

If there are young cubs nearby, they will even proactively cling to the player's leg, begging to be held and cuddled.

08:07

However, if the player is tense and has excessive nerve signal activity, the system will judge the player to be in a "non-peaceful" state, and there will be two alert circles for the animals—

One is a large "visual circle."

Within this range, animals will react when they see the player, and won't if they don't see them.

The other is the "crisis circle."

This is a very small circle. Even if the animals haven't noticed the player, when the player enters this circle, the animals will become vigilant, observing their surroundings more frequently and with heightened alertness.

Upon discovering a player, their reaction will depend on the relative size: Vegetarian animals will quickly flee, and carnivores will choose either to run away or attack.

Such a judgment system is much more complex than simply forbidding players to attack animals altogether and aligning completely with the harmonious atmosphere of "Paradise."

Occasionally, misjudgments may occur.

Still, Lincoln added the system.

On the one hand, he wanted to give players more freedom, and on the other, it was a technological exploration.

This technological accumulation would be used in the next major update of "Paradise" by Lincoln, as well as more than one prototype game in his head that used this system.

Seeing the tiger quickly becoming alert without noticing the player, Lincoln swiftly found the reason in his head: Player Hu entered the tiger's "crisis circle."

This player's movements, as Lincoln, an outsider, saw them, were akin to that of a seasoned veteran—

The instant the tiger became alert, he immediately changed his stealth tactics.

He adjusted his posture in a flash and rushed toward the tiger at full speed, wielding the crude iron spear!

His spear-wielding movements were nothing like the skills Lincoln had learned from Lori.

But as Lincoln watched his movements, he had no doubt about their lethality!

"Roar!"

The tiger was provoked and charged at the player with a ferocious roar!

Since they were already close to each other, the two sides were engaged in fierce combat immediately with their all-out sprints!

The tiger pounced and tried to bite Hu's neck, but Hu, seemingly prepared for it, violently leaned back and narrowly thrust the iron spear at the tiger's neck.

Just as the tiger's neck was about to be pierced, the beast unexpectedly tilted its head to the side at the last moment, swiping down at Hu with a paw!

"Pah."

Compared to the deafening roar, this slap sounded very small.

However, when the two separated, the tiger only had a cut on its neck, while player Hu immediately had a [Fracture] negative status. His left arm was limp and drooping, and the iron spear had been knocked away.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Hu looked at the spear that had fallen to the side.

Since the spear was just a railing, the tip was tiny and, without any sharpening tools, couldn't be that sharp.

He had clearly stabbed the tiger's neck, but it hadn't gone deep; the shallow wound was stuck with little penetration.

Then he was slapped by the tiger on the arm, rendering it completely useless.

The tiger was unscathed.

And that meant that the outcome was already decided: he was doomed, with no chance of survival.

With a sigh, Hu didn't wait to die. Instead, he lunged for the spear on the ground, quickly standing up.

Wielding the spear with one hand, he aimed it at the tiger again!

He could accept death...

But not disgrace!>