Chapter 26: A hedge between keeps friendship green

"Qian'er!"

"Qian'er!"

Pei Qian slowly woke up to Ma Yang's call.

"Hey, I know you've put a lot of effort into this game, and now that the hard times are over, you must be very excited. But don't get too excited, it's not good for your health."

"Calm down, we made it!"

Ma Yang's excitement was written all over his face.

Pei Qian felt helpless and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Am I happy?

Am I excited?

I'm in despair!!

Pei Qian's face turned pale, and he forced a smile, "Yes, we made it..."

He was puzzled as to which part went wrong.

Though it was painful and desperate, he had to admit his failure, but Pei Qian still had to figure out where he failed!

Why is this game popular again?

It can't be another video blogger criticizing the game, right?

There's nothing to criticize about the game this time!

First, he searched for the keyword "Ghost General" on Baidu, but found no useful information.

There were no comments like "XX sightseeing group" in the game's comment section either.

"So where did the problem come from?" Pei Qian couldn't figure it out.

There were only a few people who knew about this game!

Pei Qian didn't do any promotion himself.

Ma Yang was even more unlikely. Even if he wanted to promote it, he didn't have the connections.

The others were just the people Pei Qian met on the ESRO resource site when he was buying resources and templates.

"Wait, most of the comments from the players mentioned the original art!"

"They were clearly attracted by the original art!"

"But how did they see the original art in the game?"

Pei Qian, with a stroke of luck, opened Weibo and searched for "Ghost General".

This time, there were results.

Many well-known artists reposted the original art of "Ghost General", willingly becoming retweet fodder!

These posts were also widely shared by people in the gaming, animation, and even technology circles!

Ordinary users on Weibo also had high repost rates!

Even the topic "Ghost General" appeared on Weibo's hot search list. Although it was at the very bottom, the traffic it brought was still significant!

Pei Qian was dumbfounded.

Who did this?

Who had such influence to have so many industry insiders promote "Ghost General"?

Even regular marketing companies and paid followers might not be able to do this!

Many artists involved were well-known figures in their respective fields, and they were very self-important. Even if some companies approached them for paid promotion, they might not accept it!

Following the retweets one by one, Pei Qian finally found the original poster, Ruan Guangjian!

It was Ruan Guangjian's personal account, with only two or three hundred followers, but this post had been reposted thousands of times, and its popularity remained high!

Although Pei Qian couldn't understand why a post from an account with only two or three hundred followers could have such a huge impact, it was clear that all of this was due to Ruan Guangjian's spontaneous promotion!

Pei Qian slapped his forehead, "Oh no, this time the problem comes from our own people!"

But he couldn't figure out why Ruan Guangjian would go to such lengths to help him promote the game.

It doesn't make sense!

Our relationship is purely transactional, I pay you, you draw the original art, we've settled our accounts, and yet you're still working hard to promote the game for me. Isn't this just asking for trouble?!

I didn't give you any extra promotional fees!

Pei Qian was puzzled, really puzzled.

He decided to ask on the ESRO resource site what was going on.

"Did you promote 'Ghost General' on Weibo???"

After a few minutes, Ruan Guangjian replied.

"Yes, I asked a few painter friends to help retweet it, and I didn't expect it to have such a good effect."

"Mr. Pei, you don't have to feel too grateful. I just think that you made such a conscientious game, and it would be a shame if it was buried!"

"A total of 300,000 R&D funds were used for game development, without leaving any promotional funds... I have to say, game developers like you with such passion are really rare!"

"My painter friends were also moved by your spirit, so they were willing to help retweet."

"Moreover, the game 'Ghost General' is very conscientious and of good quality. Of course, my original paintings are also good, so it has received such a good response."

"In the end, a game like 'Ghost General' with high quality and full of sincerity deserves to be popular! I just did a little bit of minor work."

Looking at the paragraphs sent by Ruan Guangjian, Pei Qian was dumbfounded.

He didn't even know what to reply!

There aren't many game developers like me with such passion?

'Ghost General' deserves to be popular?

What's the connection between these things!

I don't have passion, I just want the game to lose money!

'Ghost General' should be popular?

No way! How can I lose money if it's popular?

Pei Qian really wanted to scold Ruan Guangjian.

Aren't you idle?

Why do you care so much? After you finished the original painting and got the money, wouldn't it be better to just go and have fun? You don't need to worry about promoting the game!

But Pei Qian couldn't say anything, and his hands on the keyboard typed for a long time before pressing the delete key.

He couldn't say anything because he couldn't hint at the existence of the system or challenge, and he couldn't arouse suspicion!

According to a normal person's reaction, Pei Qian could only pretend to be very happy now!

Ruan Guangjian waited for a long time, but there was no reply from Pei Qian.

Mr. Pei must be too touched and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Ruan Guangjian typed: "Mr. Pei, you don't have to say anything."

"Promoting for you was completely voluntary on my part. If you hadn't asked, I wasn't planning on telling you about it."

"You don't have to feel embarrassed, after all, when 'Ghost General' becomes popular, my original paintings will be seen and known by more people, which will be of great help to my future career planning."

"Mr. Pei, keep up the good work, I believe you will be able to produce more and better game works in the future, and I hope we have the opportunity to continue working together!"

Faced with Ruan Guangjian's enthusiastic words, Pei Qian fell into a daze.

Hoping to continue working together in the future?

No, there will definitely be no more in the future!

You are a veteran in disguise, how can I lose money if I cooperate with you?

Pei Qian's grief and indignation could not be expressed, and in the end, he could only squeeze out two words.

"Thank you."

He said thank you with his mouth, but his heart was gnashing its teeth.

Upon seeing the two words "thank you" typed out by Pei Qian, Ruan Guangjian's face showed a pleased smile.

Indeed, the friendship between gentlemen is supposed to be as light as water.

It's truly great to be able to collaborate with such a talented person like Mr. Pei!