Chapter 737: Visitor at the Seaside Mansion
Chen Mo had long stopped caring about the fate of *Lost Treasure*. After all, the moment *Uncharted Seas* was completed, the outcome was already decided. All the trouble Chen Mo had gone through was merely to expand his gains a little further.
On the other side, as an investor, Chen Mo invested ten million into Li Jingsi's cousin's company, hoping he could build it up.
When Li Jingsi's cousin found out about this, he was completely dumbfounded. This was ten million falling from the sky!
However, Chen Mo's money wasn't given for free. He demanded that the clothing brand must use top-tier designers and premium materials, targeting the mid-to-high-end market.
Li Jingsi was still a bit uneasy. After all, those European, American, and Japanese brands had established reputations, spending countless amounts on advertising every year. As a domestic company, even with first-class designers and materials, it would be difficult to sell at the same price level as these old brands.
Moreover, this store was operating as an online shop. Would buyers dismiss it as a scam site selling knockoffs?
How much promotional funding would be needed to make this brand known?
Chen Mo didn't go into detail. He just told them to ensure the quality of the clothing and hire a few more professionals to design the appearance well. He said not to worry about the promotion.
He also specifically emphasized that the more categories of clothing, the better, and they must not produce only a single type.
After discussing for a while, Li Jingsi told Chen Mo that the three of them had decided to allocate 40% of the equity to Chen Mo, leaving Li Jingsi and Li Jingshu with only 15% each.
Although Chen Mo hadn't brought it up, given the large sum of money, Li Jingsi's cousin felt it would be inappropriate to accept it silently without saying anything.
Chen Mo didn't argue further. Going back and forth would make it seem like he was handing out charity, which would ruin the spirit of it.
Li Jingsi's cousin was indeed quite capable. He hired several top domestic designers at high salaries and began creating his own original clothing brand.
He followed Chen Mo's advice, positioning the brand in the mid-to-high-end market. Both the design and production were at a domestic first-class level.
The company's recruitment went smoothly as well. With money on hand, they could simply poach talent from other companies.
However, everyone shared the same question: how would this brand-new label be promoted? How would buyers even know about it?
Chen Mo had already made it clear that he definitely wouldn't endorse the clothing himself.
And it was unlikely that Chen Mo would use his Weibo to advertise—that would be too cheap.
Could they possibly get the word out without saying a single word?
...
In mid-August, all the players eagerly awaiting the *Uncharted Seas* DLC suddenly noticed that *Seaside Mansion* had been updated.
The update was quite substantial. As players downloaded it, they were puzzled.
What's going on? It feels like an entire mini-game mode has been added!
Many players had originally thought that *Seaside Mansion* was just a little bonus—something Chen Mo had thrown together from the leftover scraps of *Uncharted Seas* as a small gift. Did it really need an update?
On the Touch Fish streaming platform, Lin Xue's livestream.
After finishing another round of *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds*, Lin Xue returned to the theme scene in her game pod and started chatting with the barrage.
"Why are there new viewers asking what scene this is? This is the 'Island' theme scene from *Uncharted Seas*. You can buy it for ten bucks."
"Play *Uncharted Seas*? I finished it a while ago. What's the point of playing it again? If you're interested, it's better to experience it yourself. This game is really meant to be played personally."
"Can't afford a game pod? ... Ahem, let me teach you a trick. You can go to the Imperial Capital and play at Chen Mo's experience store. Of course, you'll have to line up early..."
Lin Xue chatted with her viewers when she noticed that *Seaside Mansion* had been updated.
"Huh? *Seaside Mansion* actually got an update? Perfect, let's go check it out."
Lin Xue had already streamed *Seaside Mansion* before, and she really liked the beach and the dog in the house.
Of course, as a streamer, Lin Xue couldn't stay in there for too long, since she had to consider the entertainment value of her stream.
If she were playing on her own, Lin Xue would find it quite nice to just watch the sea and play some Switch in *Seaside Mansion*.
Soon, the update for *Seaside Mansion* finished.
The game loaded quickly, since it was just a small scene.
Lin Xue sat up from the bedroom bed and walked around the room, trying to see what had been updated.
There was no announcement or patch notes for this update. Clearly, Chen Mo wanted players to discover it on their own.
In the original version of *Seaside Mansion*, there were only two character models: Nathan and Elena. The character was automatically determined based on the player's Thunder Game account gender, with no special face-customization or clothing options.
Lin Xue even looked for a mirror. At that moment, her in-game character was Elena, wearing a set of casual home clothes.
Bedroom, kitchen, living room.
Lin Xue walked around but didn't notice anything different.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Lin Xue was a bit stunned. What the hell? Why is there a doorbell?
The scene was so realistic that Lin Xue almost thought a real guest had arrived at her house.
But this was inside the game, and she had never heard of any other NPCs in *Seaside Mansion*!
If it were nighttime outside, this would definitely be a horror game...
Lin Xue quickly realized that this must be the content of the *Seaside Mansion* update: NPC interaction!
She had always felt that *Seaside Mansion* was missing something, which was why everyone's enthusiasm was low. Now she suddenly understood—it lacked people!
The whole mansion had only the player. How lonely was that? No one to talk to, no one to interact with. No matter how big the house or how beautiful the sea, what fun was there in enjoying it alone?
Lin Xue suddenly got excited. Who could be at the door?
She hurried to the living room and opened the door.
Outside stood a cute girl with pink hair: "Hello, we've chatted online before. You can call me Nuan Nuan."
Lin Xue was taken aback: "Huh? Online?"
Nuan Nuan nodded: "Yes, don't you remember? Look, I even have the chat history here."
Lin Xue instantly understood that this was part of the system's design. This girl named Nuan Nuan was the main content of this *Seaside Mansion* update, playing the role of the first visitor to the seaside mansion.
Lin Xue quickly stepped aside from the door: "Please come in."
Nuan Nuan obediently said "Thank you" before walking into the living room.
Lin Xue was also shocked. This NPC was actually talking to her?
Just now, Lin Xue's words were spoken through the microphone, and Nuan Nuan could understand what she said and respond accordingly.
"Could it be... artificial intelligence?" Lin Xue was stunned.