Pokémon, but cultural invasion.

Occasionally, nocturnal walking grasses, with their large red eyes wide open, would rustle as they moved across the grass in the moonlight.

In the hazy darkness of the night, only one room of the Yuhong Dojo radiated a dim, yellowish light.

"You've cleared the level."

Lijia released the handle.

Her bangs were flipped up by a headband, and she had faint dark circles under her eyes, a stark contrast to her dignified and beautiful appearance during the day.

"Positive and Negative Pats isn't that great either."

Lijia was somewhat disappointed with this critically acclaimed work.

I found the game interesting when I first started playing, but the repetitive and mechanical puzzle-solving process quickly dampened my enthusiasm.

The repetitive puzzle-solving process can easily lead to player fatigue, which is especially evident in Rika's case, who stayed up all night to complete the game.

"So why would I finish a game that I get bored halfway through?"

Lijia paused for a second to think, then quickly came to an answer—she simply liked playing video games.

Even though the fun of the game has faded, she still enjoys playing games late at night.

Who would have thought that the seemingly glamorous heiress of the Yuhong family and the owner of the Yuhong Dojo would actually be addicted to games?

People outsiders thought she liked to doze off and would fall asleep without realizing it, but it was actually just catching up on sleep from staying up late playing games.

As a result, Yuhong Dojo has a two-hour lunch break every day, leaving challengers waiting anxiously.

To maintain her image, Lijia kept this secret.

After all, compared to internet-addicted girls, the public often prefers the healing type who is always dozing off, as if they can never get enough sleep.

The current misunderstanding is quite good; it's beneficial for everyone.

Lijia yawned, and the thought of some greenhorn coming to challenge her with a Pokémon caught on the roadside the next morning made her realize she should go to sleep.

And before bed, of course I have to play Pikachu for a while.

The videos pushed by big data were almost all game-related, and Lijia scrolled through them listlessly.

She has completed most of them and can even provide more accurate reviews than video bloggers.

"They're all mediocre games, and they're all very similar."

She sighed, reminiscing about the time when she first got into the hobby and found everything fun.

Just then, a video with 100,000 views caught my eye.

A rather exaggerated title—

"A revolutionary tower defense game; those who don't play Plants vs. Ghosts are destined for a relatively unsuccessful life."

To be fair, 100,000 views is very few; it won't make a ripple in the vast pond of the internet.

It's worth noting that the newly crowned champion of the Sinnoh region could easily garner over ten million views with a boring video of him standing still for half an hour while picking out ice cream from a roadside stall.

Lijia couldn't help but sigh that humans were truly boring creatures.

But this time, the 100,000 views came from a relatively unknown video blogger in the niche gaming world, with an exaggerated title. So Lijia had to find out what was going on.

With 100,000 views, the number of bullet comments seems exceptionally high.

Lijia turned off the subtitles, and the dense, colorful text instantly disappeared. Only then did her brow relax, and she began to watch intently.

In the pitch-black scene, there is a fluttering piece of spirit cloth, tied to a wooden stick, resembling a battle flag.

She glanced at the title "Plants vs. Ghosts," and the idea of ​​using a prop from the spirit world as a battle flag was actually quite fitting.

The next second, the sound of an electric guitar, with its layered, upward-sweeping melody, suddenly rang out, drawing Lijia's attention back to the playback window.

The cloth of the spirit world, painted with some kind of scarlet pigment, fluttered, revealing Gastly beneath it, gripping a wooden stick and opening its gaping maw.

Accompanied by a soft murmur, the electric guitar melody grew increasingly soaring.

The camera zooms out, revealing Gastly perched on the shoulder of a giant clay golem, as tall as a small mountain.

More and more Ghost-type Pokémon emerged from the darkness: a Tayrule with a thin rope hanging from its back, a Dusclops wearing a strange headdress, a Gengar holding a newspaper, and a Sandcrawler wielding a hoe...

The ghosts stood on a high point in the vast grassland, encircling the low-lying area where the camera was positioned.

Only a few plant-based Pokémon were visible in front of the camera: Bellsprout, Ferrothorn, Houndoom, and a shivering Fungi.

The ghosts looming above brought an unparalleled sense of oppression, especially as the enormous figure stretching across the sky gradually became clear.

A golden back ring, black and red stripes on the dragon's body, and black wings with gleaming scarlet claws...

At the same time, the gradually building electric guitar melody reached its climax, and a piercing siren sounded, followed by the distinctive shriek of a ghost-type spirit.

They said in unison, their voices mumbled indistinctly, "We have come—"

His voice was deep and hoarse, like a demon crawling out of the spirit world.

The entire scene unfolds like a scroll, revealing Giratina's overwhelming figure, as if it wants to break free from the screen and emerge from the small square box in its hands.

Its thick left forepaw slammed down in front of the depression, with wisps of dark purple ghost-type energy emanating from between its claws.

It's easy to guess that a few poor plants were compressed into a two-dimensional form.

Compared to Giratina, the energy balls, seed bombs, and vine whips that rained down on Him from the air seemed so insignificant.

The scene lasted only a few seconds, but it was deeply etched in the minds of every video viewer.

After a pause in the music, a heavy, powerful piano sound takes over from the electric guitar.

The original Zombie King's execution theme only begins to flow at this point.

A few seconds later, the upbeat drumbeats came in, and the scene shifted from static to dynamic interweaving.

Various plant Pokémon battled on the grass, with Bellsprout's pea-shaped energy balls striking Gastly with a crisp impact.

Faced with the approaching cursed doll, Fang Cage swallowed it whole and began to chew it with a crunching sound.

The nut dumbbells acted like a high wall, blocking the ghosts' path. The adorable cherry blossom treasure turned red and grew larger, and finally, a loud bang blasted the nearby ghosts to ashes.

The plants fought in the meadows, by the turbulent poolside, in the dark graveyard, and on the rooftops under the crescent moon and countless stars.

The Giratina descended from the sky in a swirling motion, the strong winds causing the plants on the roof to sway wildly.

The orchestral music, dominated by bassoons, is fast-paced and dynamic, bringing the battle to a climax.

The ghosts surged in like a tidal wave, countless flying plant fruits shattered on the screen, and the towering flames of exploding chili peppers illuminated the dark night.

The video footage finally froze on a yellowed piece of paper.

Hello there,

Surrender your soul, or we will launch a full-scale attack on your house.

—Sincere ghosts.

The video ended, and Lijia, lying on her side on the bed, stared wide-eyed, speechless.

Two thoughts popped into her mind.

First, did the gaming industry forget to include her when it evolved?

Second, I want to play! I really want to play!

Chapter 7 Where is God?

Lijia turned on the subtitles and watched the video again before reluctantly opening the comment section.

She gradually understood why the video had 100,000 views.

Even if it's not used as a game advertisement, it's still an interesting animated short film on its own.

There must be quite a few people who want to watch it a second time.

Moreover, no game had ever promoted itself in this way before.

Generally, an advertisement or banner will be used to get to the point, and even if there are videos, they are usually just proper gameplay demonstrations and introductions.

Lijia had never seen anything like this... unorthodox method of manipulating players' emotions.

Her immediate impression was that it was like a formal, large-scale matchmaking event.

In the past, everyone would carefully write their strengths and advantages on the backdrop, then sit upright in their seats, waiting for the right person to join them.

Then one day, a heavily made-up, glamorous woman arrived. As soon as she sat down, she struck a seductive pose, waving a handkerchief and saying to the players, "Come and play, gentlemen!"

The other games could only sit idly by, glaring at her, helplessly watching the players being gradually drawn away.

Lijia reluctantly and unwillingly admitted that she was one of the players who had been lured away.

The comment section was the hardest hit, and she was clearly not the only one captivated by this glamorous and shameless woman.

"Ice Blade: The music for facing Giratina, I don't know what it's trying to ignite, but it's really exciting! Just like in a real battle!"

"Old Captain Padia: This is an interesting game, so where can I download it? I can't wait to play it."

"I like Grass-type Pokémon: To be honest, don't you guys find it a bit lewd that Shroomish is trembling and has tears in its eyes?"

Lijia refreshed the page, and one of the comments disappeared. A small tip popped up below the video.

[Feiyun City Junsha reminds you: The internet is not a lawless place...]

She shook her head. Because of the existence of Polygon, it only takes the cyber police three minutes to arrest someone across the internet.

Therefore, the security of the online environment is, in some ways, much better than that of certain cities.

Returning our attention to the comments section, a comment from a user named "Ice Cloth Snow Blade" caught Lijia's eye.

To her recollection, this was the first time a game had incorporated the legendary Pokémon, making it a bold attempt.

Fortunately, Giratina is known for his violent nature and has a bad reputation among the people, so there won't be much controversy in making him the final boss.

Otherwise, some legendary Pokémon fan groups might object.

If other games were to make similar attempts... Lika thought of "Positive and Negative Pats".

Players control Palkia and Dialga to solve puzzles, which seems abstract just to think about.

Using time-based and space-based photography to decipher concepts is still too avant-garde an art form.

In contrast, Lijia increasingly felt that the game's designer had his own deeper meaning.

However, compared to the possible future trends in the gaming industry, she is actually more concerned about another question—where can she play it?

Lijia clicked on the old captain's comment and found many replies below.

She scrolled through a few posts and found a new term, "game crowdfunding," appearing frequently in the comments.

"Watch me unleash a Dragon Star: I understand everyone's eagerness, but unfortunately, it seems this author has not yet finished the game."

In his newly released video, he introduced a very interesting concept—crowdfunding.

As netizens, we can support the creators by donating a small amount of PokéCoins. In return, the creators will give us special rewards after the game is released. You can find out more details in their new videos.

Regarding crowdfunding, my personal understanding is that it is a new type of alternative financing, but it also carries certain risks.

If I had been exposed to the concept of crowdfunding before watching this video, I would definitely have thought the initiator was a fraudster.

But now, I'm willing to believe that the video creator is a game developer with ideas, dreams, and talent, but who is struggling with a lack of funding.

This is a great opportunity, and if it leads to more and more similar game developers in the future, then I believe it's worth taking some risks.

Cheers to a brighter future for the gaming industry!

At the end of this long review, a screenshot of Longxingqun's investment in the game crowdfunding plan was also attached.

The comments section is already buzzing with heated debate.

Some people have high expectations for this game and hope that more people will participate in the crowdfunding plan; some people think that an unfinished game is a half-finished product and not worth paying for; some people think that crowdfunding is a complete scam because investors cannot know where the funds go.

Besides the dojo, Rika also runs a perfume shop that has been passed down through generations of her family, so she is no stranger to fundraising.

In her view, the concept of crowdfunding is good, but she is afraid that someone will mess up the process.

There was no point in participating in the discussion in the comments section. Lijia clicked on the author's profile picture and found the second video posted.

The Plants vs. Ghosts Crowdfunding Project cordially invites you to become an "original shareholder" of Tingxiang Studio.

Tingxiang Studio? That should be the name of the game development team.

Lijia continued watching, and the video roughly explained the concept of crowdfunding, remittance channels and vouchers, as well as tiered rewards based on the amount of donation.