I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

However, upon further reflection, if even the opening is lackluster, what's the point of continuing? With this thought, Teacher Gou felt relieved.

His mouse moved between the two main characters, male and female, as he asked:

"Now it's time to choose, right? Brothers, which one should I choose? What will be the consequences after I make the choice?"

The live stream chat was flooded with suggestions and advice:

[When choosing a girl, a real man should be playing with girls.]

Choose the middle one; it's prettier.

[Do not select this option; you will automatically complete the level after 30 minutes.]

[After selecting the computers, the computer will explode, the computer tower will explode.]

Teacher Gou ignored the messy comments and finally chose the male protagonist, and entered his own name: [Teacher Gou].

Then, the game began.

After a short cutscene, he appeared on the world map, looking somewhat bewildered.

"What am I doing right now?" Teacher Gou manipulated the mouse, moving it left and right. "Where can I spend money? Where can I draw cards? Isn't there auto-pathfinding?"

He clicked the mouse and made several attack moves, feeling quite surprised.

Currently, there are very few mobile games in China that feature real-time combat, and even if there are, the controls won't be this good.

The protagonist was born on a beach. He walked around the beach a few times and saw crabs crawling all over the ground.

Teacher Gou said, "I have an idea now. Isn't this supposed to be an open-world game? So, is this crab real?"

His statement immediately drew mocking comments from the live stream: "[It's true, you can even catch them! If you catch them, food delivery will be made to your door.]"

Teacher Gou laughed and said, "I misspoke. What I meant was, is this crab an animated game or is it interactive? If it's interactive, then I'll admit that this really is an open world."

As he spoke, he darted forward and actually caught the crab on the ground.

Teacher Gou's mouth immediately opened wide into an "o" shape, and he couldn't close it for a long time.

After a long pause, he finally spoke up and asked, "Brothers, is this really a mobile game?"

After saying that, he looked at the sea behind him and asked, "Is there an invisible wall in this sea? Can we swim across it?"

After saying that, he jumped into the water.

It turned out that they could actually swim.

Teacher Gou was shocked again.

"Holy crap, you can even swim? Sorry everyone, I'm going to raise this game's rating in my opinion."

He had previously thought that the so-called open world was just a gimmick by the manufacturers, and that it was essentially a traffic game that would make a quick buck and then disappear.

Now it seems that's not the case.

There are many open-world games overseas, the most famous being The Elder Scrolls V: Borderlands and Grand Theft Auto V.

The subsequent masterpiece, Zelda: Tales of the Wild, elevated open-world games to a new level.

Open-world games are not simply about seamlessly switching between large maps; they need to form their own internal ecosystem.

Every scene should have a purpose: if there are cars, you should be able to drive them; if there is water, you should be able to swim in it; if there are apples on the trees, you should be able to pick them and make soup. Only then can it be called an open world.

To date, there is no mobile open-world game in the country... no, globally.

Just a few minutes into the game, Teacher Gou keenly sensed that this game was extraordinary.

The market often needs a diverse range of products to fill the gaps.

While other anime-style mobile games have already turned the market into a red ocean with their gacha pulls and character art, this game has taken a different approach and chosen a different path.

Just because it can fill the gap in the "open-world mobile game" genre, it can survive, and thrive.

This is Mr. Gou's professional judgment as a seasoned gamer.

However, the viewers in the live stream didn't think so.

[Old dog, you still say you didn't get paid? Making such a fuss about swimming? Zelda could swim years ago.]

[Please forgive the streamer for their low IQ; they haven't played many good games, so they tend to overreact.]

[As for the person above, I share the same reaction as Lao Gou: there aren't many mobile games that can achieve this, are there?]

Teacher Gou ignored the comments and continued swimming. Just as he saw a treasure chest behind a large rock in front of him, something on the screen started to glow red, and then with a gurgle, the character he was controlling drowned.

Teacher Gou manipulates the protagonist to stand on the beach, still bewildered.

Suddenly, the screen was filled with a bunch of "hahaha" comments.

Teacher Gou calmly said, "Brothers, I understand. This game has a stamina bar. Although there are no invisible walls in the ocean, there is a stamina bar limit, so you can't swim very far."

After saying that, he added, "But I just saw a treasure chest behind the rock, so it seems this game still encourages exploration. Let me think about how to get that treasure chest."

After struggling for a long time and dying several times, he finally discovered that swimming at full speed consumed a lot of stamina. He stopped swimming at full speed and finally got the treasure chest.

"Success! See? I told you we could get the treasure chest. Where are all the viewers who said it wouldn't work? Come out and apologize!"

A barrage of "sorry" messages immediately appeared on the screen.

Teacher Gou opened the treasure chest and a bunch of loot rolled out. Although he didn't know what they were or what they were used for, he was still very happy.

Then, following the guidance, he continued to explore.

Of course, his explorations never followed the usual path; he would climb mountains one moment and jump off cliffs the next, dying several times in the process.

Moreover, ever since he discovered that he could freely collect items from the ground and kill wild animals for meat, he began to plunder the land.

After climbing a high mountain, he encountered a level 12 monster there, was beaten to a pulp, and finally, inexplicably ran into a cave, where he was killed by a flower.

After being reborn, Teacher Gou completely changed his opinion of the game.

"Holy crap, is this really a game made by the company behind 'Sheep and the Sheep'? With this level of technical skill, why did they make 'Sheep and the Sheep' in the first place?"

"What exactly happened to this game company?!"

The chat was still filled with laughter, and the popularity of Teacher Gou's live stream was steadily rising.

If you look closely at the number of people watching his live stream, you'll find that the number of viewers is constantly fluctuating, with viewers being lost continuously.

Because Teacher Gou's skills are so amazing, they often raise the blood pressure of the viewers in the live broadcast room.

Some impatient viewers couldn't wait any longer and went to download the game themselves!

Meanwhile, in the office of Beichen Company, the numbers on the television screen also changed dramatically.

At 10 a.m., the official server opening time was reached, and the number after "Number of Registered Users" on the screen had become a long string.

The number of digits is so large it's dizzying; people with poor eyesight simply can't see it clearly.

After squinting and counting for a long time, Lu Keke finally gasped:

"...20? My God, the server has only just opened! No, to be precise, it's not even 10 o'clock yet, and we already have 20 registered users?!"

Her gaze shifted to Xu Zheqing and Qin Sulan: "Does this mean... the game is a hit? We can get a share of the profits!?"

Xu Zheqing bit his finger and said, "No, it's too early to say. This only shows that the game is attracting a good number of users. We still need to see how the paying user rate is."

Qin Sulan nervously lowered her head and rubbed her stomach.

She wasn't this nervous when her grades were announced back in school.

Chapter 380 is about to explode and die?

High registration numbers do not necessarily mean high activity levels, and high activity levels do not necessarily mean earning money.

Games are a mysterious thing; sometimes everything is there, but it's still not fun. That happens sometimes.

Moreover, what kind of games can survive at this stage? It's precisely those legendary browser games, those with pay-to-win systems, that are thriving.

Xu Zheqing had played his own games many times, and he knew very well how inhumane the pay-to-win system in the game was.

At this moment, Teacher Gou was still happily playing on the continent of Teyvat.

"Brothers, watch this move I just learned, I'm invincible!"

Teacher Gou enthusiastically used the elemental combat skills he had just learned, using wind orbs to pull the surrounding slimes towards him.

The poor slime struggled to escape, but to no avail, and finally died tragically under the bladeless sword of the blond-haired boy.

After defeating several slimes, Teacher Gou felt immense joy.

He had completely ignored the guide (I think it was called Paimon) and wandered around the map aimlessly, only to get beaten up by a flower.

That thing was three people tall, and it could spew ice. One hit to the head and it would take away most of your health. It was terrifying. Teacher Gou suspected that he had encountered some future boss.

After setting a goal, he became enthusiastic about fighting monsters and leveling up everywhere. At first, he could only use a sword to slash and hack. Later, he touched the statue and learned combat skills, and finally evolved from a human into a god.

Meanwhile, the number of viewers in his live stream is gradually increasing, and the barrage of comments is becoming so numerous that it's almost unbearable to watch.

[Just arrived, what game is this?]

[Looking for a game name! Any cool ones to recommend? I'd be begging for a game name!]

What kind of game is this? Why does it have Chinese voice acting?

[The one in front, because that's what Chinese games are like.]

...Teacher Gou had no time to answer these comments; he was still immersed in the excitement of just experiencing the open world.

"What is this?" Teacher Gou saw an object floating in the air and ran over excitedly. Suddenly, some information popped up on the screen, which he accidentally turned off.

The floating spirit (his own name) drifted slowly in the air, and he followed it for a long time before finally opening a treasure chest.

With a whoosh, a whole bunch of things burst out on the ground. He collected them all before belatedly opening his backpack.

There were more than a dozen experience books in his backpack. He poured them all into the little blond guy he was controlling, and his level instantly reached level 12.

"Damn, guys, this game has experience books! No wonder I get so little experience from killing monsters. What was the point of all that effort?"

The live stream room was immediately filled with laughter and joy.

Once he leveled up, Teacher Gou instantly felt invincible. Monsters that he could fight back against just moments before could now be shattered with a single sword strike.

However, he also had a question: This game has experience books to level up, so wouldn't it be possible to reach the top level very quickly?

So what should we play next?

So where are the pay-to-win elements?

Is it like in World of Warcraft, where reaching the top level is just the beginning? Do you need to advance your class, join a guild, and raid?

This question remained unanswered until Teacher Gou acquired his first playable character and was able to draw cards.

Teacher Gou stared at the card-drawing interface, opening and closing it repeatedly. After a long silence, he suddenly said:

"Brothers, I've suddenly realized that the game's in-game store system is hidden really well."

Currently, there are roughly two models for in-game purchases: the "E-factory model" and the "Pearl-factory model."

The Hubei factory model is a typical example of face-to-face promotions and various paid message pop-ups.

As soon as you open the game, seventeen or eighteen pop-ups immediately appear in your face, and it takes several minutes to close them by clicking the "X".

At first glance, those pop-ups seem to offer various perks, but after playing for a while, you'll realize that they're just a more subtle way of implementing a microtransaction system.

This kind of model is like a landlady constantly pressuring you to pay bills; playing it for a long time can become incredibly nauseating. A prime example is "Honor of Kings" from E-Chang.

Disgusting as it may be, this kind of game is thriving. For E-games, gameplay is secondary; it's more of a social tool.

Once you have a stable network of contacts in the game, user engagement will be quite high, and you won't have to worry about alienating users.

Another mode is the "bead factory mode". This mode is much more restrained, and there won't be as many pop-up windows at startup.

However, there are also pop-up ads for things like daily gift packs, weekly gift packs, monthly gift packs, first recharge bonuses, cumulative recharge rewards, VIP levels, etc.

However, it seems that this game lacks all of these features.

Teacher Gou entered the game's store, observed it carefully, and then discovered that this game was truly made with care, but its monetization was done with careless abandon.

There are no first-time recharge bonuses, no cumulative recharge rewards, no recharge rebates, no VIP levels... absolutely none!

In terms of in-game purchases, there are only very basic top-ups. The gift packs, apart from a monthly card and something similar to a battle pass, contain only some resources, and the rewards are quite stingy.

After studying the online store for a while, Teacher Gou said:

"Brothers, we're going to have to spend money sooner or later anyway, so I might as well go ahead and get ahead of everyone else."