Chapter 47: Ten Consecutive Draws Until Hands Go Numb
Regarding the new game, Chen Mo actually had several options in mind, but he hadn’t decided on a specific one yet.
In his previous life, there were many classic game concepts, but not every one could be brought into this parallel world.
Of course, Chen Mo could continue down the path of “independent boutique games,” digging deeper into casual puzzle games as some industry insiders speculated. But Chen Mo knew in his heart that this path wasn’t necessarily the best choice.
It was simple: how many “Plants vs. Zombies” existed in his previous life?
Game designers in the parallel world all thought “Plants vs. Zombies” would spark a wave of casual gaming, seeing it as a key trend. But Chen Mo knew that the success of “Plants vs. Zombies” was irreplicable, and games like it couldn’t be mass-produced.
Moreover, Chen Mo had gained both fame and fortune from “Plants vs. Zombies.” He now had the qualifications to test the limits of this world’s players.
Relying solely on a handful of boutique game concepts from his previous life, Chen Mo would find it hard to build Thunderbolt Interactive into a behemoth on par with Imperial Dynasty Interactive and Zen Interactive.
Now, Chen Mo had only one goal: make money, and then whale!
After the version update, “Plants vs. Zombies” experienced another wave of downloads. Currently, sales had reached 900,000 copies, and hitting one million was just a matter of time.
The app store settled payments monthly, so the money Chen Mo actually received was only from the first month’s 500,000 copies. After deducting the platform’s share and taxes, he got about 2.8 million.
If he were like most people, he’d probably be buying a house and a car by now, while slapping the faces of some arrogant rich second-generation types...
But Chen Mo had no such thoughts.
Buy a house? The experience store was comfortable enough to live in.
Buy a car? Oh, Chen Mo hadn’t even gotten his driver’s license.
Besides, in the capital, buying a car required a lottery...
And the lottery required a local household registration...
Forget it, don’t even think about it.
Chen Mo considered it. Since the end of the month was near, the money for this month would arrive soon. He didn’t plan to keep much, so he directly deposited 2.7 million into his wristband, leaving himself only a hundred thousand or so for pocket money.
If nothing unexpected happened next month, he’d receive another 2.5 million or more. But he probably wouldn’t use that for draws; Chen Mo had other plans for it.
“Come on, whaling makes me stronger!”
Chen Mo first washed his hands and face, preparing himself, then took out the [Lucky Capsule] left over from the last draw and chose to use it.
Lucky Capsule: After use, greatly increases luck value for 10 minutes.
Chen Mo didn’t feel any change in himself, but he did have the illusion that “my luck has improved.”
No time to waste—this capsule only lasted 10 minutes, so Chen Mo had to hurry with the draws.
Looking at the 27 million points on the virtual screen, Chen Mo felt like a total tycoon.
“How can I keep such a wonderful feeling of paying for draws all to myself? The next game definitely has to let everyone experience it together.”
With this “noble” ideal, Chen Mo clicked the “Ten Consecutive Draws” button.
27 million points were enough for Chen Mo to do 27 ten-consecutive draws. He didn’t hesitate—since he had to finish all draws within 10 minutes, he didn’t bother checking what came out. He closed his eyes and clicked frantically until all the points were spent!
“Click,” “Click”...
The wheel spun wildly, constantly producing new items. Chen Mo ignored it all, pressing blindly with his eyes shut.
He didn’t know how long the wheel spun. Only when it finally stopped did Chen Mo open his eyes.
Checking the time, wow, just the ten-consecutive draws alone had taken over five minutes.
Chen Mo felt like a girl going on a shopping spree at the mall—a mix of pain and pleasure.
“Let’s see what items came out.”
With a nervous heart, Chen Mo checked the item list on the virtual screen.
[Designer Skill Books]: 135 copies.
[Special Skill Books]: 81 copies.
[Special Items]: 54 pieces.
“Hmm? This number...”
After consuming a few numerical skill books, Chen Mo’s numerical abilities were decent, and he had a basic sensitivity to numbers.
Seeing the quantity of skill books, he realized something.
Before using the Lucky Capsule, the probability of getting designer skill books, special skill books, and special items was roughly 7:2:1, which he had determined from previous ten-consecutive draws.
Of course, that was with good luck. If luck was bad, a ratio of 9:0:1 wasn’t impossible.
After using the Lucky Capsule, the probability was adjusted to 5:3:2. Clearly, during the capsule’s effect, the rewards from ten-consecutive draws had greatly improved.
Of course, the Lucky Capsule didn’t infinitely boost his luck—it wouldn’t make every draw yield a special item. The 5:3:2 ratio was likely the maximum.
Also, while the Lucky Capsule was active, no more Lucky Capsules would be drawn. This was clearly a system-imposed restriction.
“Not bad, this Lucky Capsule was well worth it.”
Chen Mo was quite satisfied. Luckily, he had done 27 ten-consecutive draws at once. If he had done fewer, the capsule would have been wasted.
Next, he checked the specific item details.
[Designer Skill Books]: 135 total, including 47 numerical skill books, 39 level design skill books, 27 story skill books, and 22 system skill books.
[Special Skill Books]: 81 total.
Concept Art: 34 books, each +1 skill.
3D Art: 33 books, each +1 skill.
Music and Sound Effects: 10 books, each +1 skill.
Storyboarding: 4 books, the first +10 skill, the rest +1 each.
[Special Items]: 54 total, including 47 Memory Replay Potions, 1 Rage Jammer, and 6 Super Accelerators.
“Hmm?”
Chen Mo thought he had misread and rubbed his eyes.
Among the special skill books, there was a strange one: Storyboarding Skill Book.
What the heck was this?
Chen Mo roughly knew what storyboarding was. Also called a storyboard, it’s used in movies or animations before actual filming or drawing, using diagrams to explain the visual composition, breaking down continuous scenes by camera movement, and marking the movement type, duration, dialogue, and so on.
Chen Mo hadn’t expected to draw something like this, so he was a bit surprised.
But he quickly figured it out. This was, after all, from [Special Skill Books], so even if he drew a martial arts manual, it wouldn’t be strange.
“Well, it’s actually useful. I’ll definitely need it when making CG,” Chen Mo comforted himself.
He also noticed that for all special skill books—like concept art, music, etc.—if it was an unlocked special ability, the first skill book gave +10, and subsequent ones gave +1.
As for special items, Chen Mo had drawn two new types this time: Rage Jammer and Super Accelerator.