A Single Person's Infinite Wonderful Life

The newly added monetization feature, which Li Wei has temporarily named the Commander System, means that in addition to drawing ship blueprints, players can also draw commanders. Different commanders can provide different buffs to the fleet or base. Each port can accommodate multiple commanders, and there is no limit to the number of commanders, but there is a limit to the number of commanders that can be active at the same time.

Each fleet can be equipped with two commanders, a principal and a deputy, and the performance of the fleet can be expanded by using different commander combinations.

Not only have the number of monetization points increased, but the overlapping of fleet and commander configurations also indirectly increases the game's replayability. However, Levi won't be as greedy as those exploitative games that treat players like pigs to be slaughtered. Compared to the ridiculously low drop rates of those games, Levi aims to maintain a relatively high drop rate, at least higher than similar games from those exploitative platforms.

These features alone are enough to provide voice actors at PRO Studio with a large number of job opportunities.

As of now, the game development department has completed the various special sound effects for the games they are currently working on, but the sound effects involving human voices have not yet been started. This aspect can be entirely outsourced to PRO Studio.

The voice acting for different ship units, different commanders, various facilities within the base, and even the most basic system language—all of this requires a large number of voice actors. It's fair to say that over thirty voice actors aren't enough. Of course, if a voice actor has a very versatile voice, they can potentially play several roles.

Li Wei calculated that, conservatively speaking, to complete all the voice acting for the entire game, at least ten voice actors would be needed, and each voice actor would have a considerable workload.

Meanwhile, Ryu Kawaimura and Kazukoma Kamogawa signed a contract in the presence of their respective lawyers. PRO Voice Actor Agency is now a subsidiary of Zhenghan Co., Ltd., and is on par with the game division.

Li Wei chatted briefly with the voice actors, gaining a relatively accurate understanding of their lives at the agency.

Aside from a few top-tier voice actors, most voice actors at the agency are struggling. They juggle their main jobs with side hustles, finding it difficult to land significant roles and mostly voicing minor characters. The lack of acting opportunities hinders their rise to prominence, and even job opportunities are dwindling. Furthermore, with the global economic downturn, the situation in Japan isn't much better, leading to fewer part-time opportunities and a shrinking income for them.

··· ·Requesting flowers···· ·

Li Wei did some calculations and made an average and place value of the annual income of all the voice actors he had asked. He realized that being a voice actor is indeed a tough job.

Excluding the top voice actors in the agency who earn over 40,000 yen a year, the average annual income of the other voice actors is only 10,000 yen, with the fewest earning 10,000 yen. It can be said that apart from those top voice actors, everyone else in the agency is a low-income person.

...

Aside from those top voice actors, the most successful ordinary voice actor in the agency earns only around 10,000 yen a year, which is still considered low income.

Li Wei felt like he had taken over not a voice actor agency, but a refugee camp. In a way, these voice actors really were urban refugees. They made a living by their voices, but they couldn't do much of their main job. Apart from a few top voice actors, only two people had their own radio shows, and even those were just so-so. Li Wei was speechless at this situation.

Li Wei used to hear many people in the industry saying that the industry was doomed. He initially thought that those people were exaggerating. However, after learning about the animation industry, Li Wei realized that making animation really is a dead end.

The money all went to the investors behind the scenes. Most of these investors are involved in IP or toy manufacturing and have various channels to recoup their investments. However, the frontline production staff, including animators and voice actors, are struggling.

In the entire animation industry, the number of successful animation companies and voice actor agencies can be counted on one hand.

Volume 1. The Rising of the Shield Hero

Chapter 1. Reappearance

The acquisition of the voice actor agency went very smoothly. Li Wei successfully acquired ownership of PRO agency. He didn't know much about how to run a voice actor agency, nor did he intend to learn more about it. As long as he had a group of voice actors that could be used at any time, that was enough.

After all, while Li Wei's business avatar, Ryu Kawatani, won't make a big splash in the animation industry, it doesn't mean he won't invest in it. Li Wei's investments in animation-related industries are more like a form of protection; to put it bluntly, he's providing a safety net for the industry.

After all, Japan's current economic environment is very bad. Although Japan is a major animation country, the treatment of practitioners is mostly not guaranteed. Therefore, after the "golden age" passed, few animation companies dared to produce purely hand-drawn animation. In the end, it is because they are facing problems with both money and manpower.

The golden age of Japanese animation coincided with the peak of Japan's bubble economy in the last century. At that time, the animation industry received substantial financial support, and Japan also wanted to prove its capabilities in animation. As a result, many high-quality works were created, which were purely produced with money.

As long as the animators are skilled, the big investors behind them are willing to spend money to poach them, and the treatment is negotiable, all in order to create the best animation. Nowadays, no one dares to do such a foolish thing.

Nowadays, animation is ultimately a service for related products or services. The investors behind it are either toy manufacturers, game manufacturers, or light novel or manga adaptations.

Originally, animation existed as a standalone work, but times have changed. Animation has now become a promotional video, only this promotional video is longer.

Li Wei could understand this situation. After all, everyone needs to make a living, and it's impossible for everyone to use electric vehicles. So there's nothing wrong with pursuing profits. Animation is also adapting to the times and changing itself. However, Li Wei belongs to the old era in his mind. This "ghost of the old era" sometimes makes him inexplicably harsh and picky.

After taking over the voice actor agency, Li Wei's life returned to normal. He would go to the university every day, and occasionally be called over by an old professor to discuss new inspirations and paintings. In the evenings, he would just play games or draw. His life was quite fulfilling every day.

Half a month passed in a flash, and Li Wei completed his work for the exhibition. After the professor reviewed it and confirmed that there was nothing that needed to be modified, Li Wei sent high-resolution photos of the work to the school administration.

To prevent the paintings from being damaged due to mismanagement, the school required the artists to keep the exhibited works themselves for two days before the exhibition began.

Two days before the exhibition begins, the school will collect the exhibitors' works and hand them over to a gallery with which the school has a long-standing partnership for framing before they are displayed in the exhibition hall.

If an artist appreciates an artwork on display and is willing to buy it, the school will act as an intermediary to facilitate the purchase. If both parties reach an agreement, the artwork can be bought by a collector after the exhibition ends.

Li Wei's exhibited work during his prime was bought by a discerning collector. That painting sold for 10,000 yen, equivalent to half a year's income for an average person, or a whole year's income for a low-income person.

In Japan, there are art dealers who specialize in oil painting. Li Wei tracked it down and found that the painting he sold for 10,000 Japanese yen had been sold for over a million Japanese yen after passing through several hands.

However, once something is sold, it's gone. No matter how much money those collectors make by speculating on this painting, Li Wei will not feel envious or uncomfortable about it. As a creator, he still has this stable mindset.

Moreover, Li Wei no longer needs to raise money through such means. He is not short of money at all, and painting is just a hobby for him, not a pure skill for making a living.

After completing the required artwork for the exhibition, Li Wei received permission from his teacher. From then on, he only needed to report to school every week. That's how it is in Japan; top students enjoy privileges that others don't.

Li Wei's painting skills are so high that he is quite famous throughout the school, and many people are convinced that he will definitely become a famous artist in the future. Therefore, it would be quite beneficial for them to build a good relationship with Li Wei in advance, after all, that's how alumni associations are formed...

Li Wei knew what those people were up to, but he didn't intend to expose their ulterior motives. After all, it's better to avoid trouble. In the real world, he was just a "Kira Yoshikage," enjoying an ordinary life, and he didn't want to ruin his daily routine.

For a homebody like Li Wei, only having to report to school once a week is a good thing. At least he can play games until he's completely absorbed without having to go to school every day. Nothing could be more comfortable than that.

Sitting in front of his desktop computer, Li Wei opened the anime "The Rising of the Shield Hero," choosing a time period before the protagonist, Naofumi Iwatani, had traveled through time.

Li Wei's figure transformed into a beam of light and disappeared from in front of the computer.

Levi made many preparations in advance for this "The Rising of the Shield Hero" world tour, and the Judal clone that he originally planned to destroy was preserved by Levi because of this trip.

Li Wei thought for a moment. Apart from the first world, every time he arrived in a new world, he would create a puppet clone of a key character from the plot, which resulted in him being surrounded by bosses. In that case, he might as well create a boss squad.

Geis Howard, Wolfgang Krauss von Stroheim, Judal Harvey.

The original bodies of these three puppet clones were all powerful figures, and Li Wei thought it would be a pity to destroy such clones.

When Li Wei was able to see things clearly, he realized that he had arrived at his destination, which was the modern world before the protagonist, Naofumi Iwatani, traveled there.

"Hoo hoo, little Shield Hero, I'll take your place this time. I hope this journey to another world will bring me more fun." Li Wei smiled, and passersby noticed his tall stature, especially the women who couldn't help but glance at him. Even though Li Wei suppressed his charm, he was still incredibly attractive.

Chapter 1. Preparations

Li Wei possessed the magic to locate others. He simply recited the spell in his mind and located Iwatani Naofumi's position. At that time, Iwatani Naofumi was just an ordinary college student.

After watching the anime adaptation of "The Rising of the Shield Hero," Li Wei also looked up some related information. Although he didn't finish watching the light novel, he gained a general understanding of the story.

The anime has one episode in its season, but it doesn't cover much content. According to the original novel, it only covers the first few volumes, leaving a considerable amount of material to be covered. However, when Li Wei was about to read the light novel, his friends advised against it, saying the story became clichéd and uninteresting towards the end. They suggested he could use his energy to read the original *Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere*, or the Monogatari series, which would be far better than the original *The Rising of the Shield Hero*.

According to online comments, whether from China or Japan, netizens are complaining that the production team is the savior of the original work. They have drastically altered many of the parts of the original work that people wanted to criticize, which has dragged down the overall viewing experience by several levels. If the anime had been made exactly according to the original content, its rating would probably have plummeted to rock bottom, or even crashed through the floor.

Because anime and manga differ significantly from the original work, and can even be considered different timelines, no one can say for sure what the plot will be like for an anime that has only had one season.

The version Li Wei chose was the anime version, which is the most familiar to everyone. The timeline of this version is quite different from the manga and novel versions, so some content from the original novel cannot be directly applied here.

The information Li Wei collected online was mostly summaries from netizens; while comprehensive, it wasn't necessarily accurate.

However, there is a theory that Li Wei finds quite interesting: the spots for the Four Holy Warriors are determined by a ranking. In other words, if the person in the first order is unable to go due to certain circumstances, the medium of summoning will pull the person in the second order. If the person in the first order is also unable to go, the selection will proceed to the third or even the fourth order, and so on, until someone responds to the call of the world that needs to be saved.

Among the Four Holy Heroes of this generation, the protagonist Naofumi Iwatani is ranked first. He has excellent abilities and mentality, which can be seen from the original novel and even the anime. His tenacious spirit of never giving up in adversity is something that ordinary people cannot possess.

The other three heroes—the spear, sword, and bow—are not ranked first. According to rumors circulating online, the sword hero, Ren Amaki, is ranked third, and has some personality issues—to put it bluntly, he's a bit...unpleasant. The bow hero, Itsuki Kawasumi, is ranked first; although he pursues justice, he's easily misled and unable to see the bigger picture. As for the spear hero, Motoyasu Kitamura, according to information from netizens, his ranking is actually below tenth—in other words, he's a complete failure.

The protagonist, Naofumi Iwatani, had the worst start in the story. Not only was he hostile to the country where he was summoned, but he also had to bring along three useless teammates. However, even in such a terrible situation, he managed to turn the best of three and four cards into an Ace.

Li Wei sighed inwardly, thinking that if someone else were in that situation, they would probably have given up on themselves or started taking revenge on the world and holding it back.

However, Li Wei's purpose in going there this time was to take revenge on the world for being a drag on, and to use the summoning mechanism of the Four Holy Heroes to make the people of that world taste the bitterness of despair.

While watching the anime, Li Wei felt a bit annoyed. Although Naofumi Iwatani showed great resilience and was able to respond in the worst situations, Li Wei didn't like this passive attitude.

Originally, the other world had made arrangements for each major power to summon a hero, then to train the heroes with all their might, replicate the victory of the previous Four Holy Heroes, and save the next world.

However, due to King Melomalo's irregular summoning, all four heroes were summoned, resulting in a situation where a god was leading three useless heroes. Coupled with his personal hatred and hostility towards the Shield Hero, this led to Naofumi Iwatani experiencing so many hardships.

The summoning of the Second Hero was originally a good thing, but due to King Melomalo's selfishness, many waves were created out of nowhere.

After locating Naofumi Iwatani's position, Li Wei began searching for libraries where summoning scrolls were frequently found. Possessing extraordinary powers, Li Wei released a large number of origami cranes, which acted as his eyes, scouting every library in Tokyo.

Li Wei has found the library from the anime, but after thoroughly searching it with origami cranes, he still couldn't find the book that summoned Naofumi Iwatani to the other world.

Li Wei speculated that the book was specifically waiting for Naofumi Iwatani, and that he could only find it by walking to a specific location in the library; otherwise, no other method would work.

Li Wei was also unable to pinpoint the coordinates of that other world. Although he now possessed the power to easily destroy a planet, he still lacked the skills to locate other worlds. Therefore, his idea of ​​bypassing the limitations of summoning magic and directly traveling to the other world had to be abandoned.

After waiting for almost a week, Naofumi Iwatani left his home and went to the library, while Levi also prepared to go out.

He prepared to take the place of Naofumi Iwatani, answer the summons, and go and cause a great disturbance in the anime.

At this moment, Naofumi Iwatani was unaware that he had escaped a calamity, and he wandered aimlessly around the library.

"Haven't any new light novels arrived lately? The library's book updates are a bit slow." Naofumi Iwatani muttered to himself as he stopped in front of a bookshelf. He stood on tiptoe to take the books off his head, but because the books were packed too tightly, a lot of them fell and hit him on the head.

Chapter 1. Deception

Naofumi Iwatani looked at the books scattered all over the floor and began to put them back on the shelf. When he saw a thick book with a very old-fashioned cover, he showed a curious expression. He put all the other books back in their places and then prepared to open the book and take a look at the old book that had piqued his curiosity.

"It's best not to open that book. If you don't want to go through hell, you can stop now."

The magnetic voice startled Naofumi Iwatani. He turned around and saw a figure that surprised him. It was a tall young man wearing golden armor and with several pairs of huge wings on his back. The young man was extremely handsome and had a gentle smile on his face.

Naofumi Iwatani noticed something: despite how conspicuous the other person was, it was as if the other people reading around him didn't see him at all.

"Who are you?" Naofumi Iwatani asked curiously.

"Me? It seems you've already forgotten about Che. But that's fine. This kind of ordinary, happy life is what you need most. Now, give me that book you're holding; you don't need it." Li Wei extended his hand and smiled gently.

"Are you an angel?" Naofumi Iwatani asked.

“I’m not some trashy thing like an angel. If you really want to call me something, you can call me ‘God.’ Although I have many names, people are used to calling me that,” Li Wei said with a smile.

"Eh?!" Naofumi Iwatani noticed the golden halo behind the other person's head. A faint golden light surrounded the other person, giving him an indescribable sense of holiness. Just standing in front of the other person made him feel inexplicably relaxed.

Naofumi Iwatani sensed something amiss in the other person's words. The other person said he had forgotten everything. He wondered if he wasn't a normal person either. He felt his life over the past ten years had been uneventful, without much excitement. While his life was ordinary, he felt quite happy. Could it really be as the other person said, that he was some kind of powerful being?

As a college student with a wide range of interests, Naofumi Iwatani has done some research on various mystical and metaphysical topics, and he is quite familiar with things like reincarnation. Moreover, there are many light novels featuring the theme of reincarnation.

Li Wei said, "That book will completely destroy your current peaceful life. You'll go through all that pain again, and then you'll beg me to erase your memories. There's no need to go through that pain again."

Naofumi Iwatani lowered his head, looking at the heavy book in his hands, and said, "Is there something wrong with this book?"