Chapter 1 Old Huang's Worries

Old Huang was a little worried: "Will it work? Teacher Chen Qi is a big name in the industry, but he might have forgotten about what happened a year ago. Who would remember who you are?"

"Besides, industry giants usually have clear price tags for promotions. Each of them is worth a lot. We want them to help promote 'Ghost General,' but we can't offer any benefits..."

Ruan Guangjian shook his head: "Not necessarily. From what I've observed, these big shots are usually quite easygoing. Although they accept a lot of commercial promotions, it's common for them to advertise for each other on Weibo."

"The key is whether they like our work."

"If they like it, someone will definitely be willing to forward it. If they don't like it, there's nothing we can do."

Old Huang could only nod: "Well, we can only try."

Ruan Guangjian opened the chat group. Old Huang leaned over to take a look and saw that the group really had some hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

The group owner was called Chen Qi, who had already made a name for himself in the domestic game artist circle in his early years. He basically served as a judge in various game concept art competitions.

The other administrators in the group were all well-known figures.

Some were very famous in the domestic animation circle.

Some specialized in concept design.

There were even some game designers, producers, novel authors, and so on.

These were all people Chen Qi knew. Most of them were artists, and a small number were practitioners in the game, animation, and other circles.

Speaking in a circle full of such big shots, Ruan Guangjian felt a lot of pressure.

Ruan Guangjian thought about it. He couldn't just ask people to promote the game right away, because no one would respond, and it would seem very impolite.

"Hello, everyone. I'm a senior fine arts student and I recently created a set of original paintings. Could you please take a look and tell me if there are any shortcomings or areas for improvement?"

Ruan Guangjian's tone was very polite.

Although he was very confident in his painting skills, he was still a junior, so he had to be humble.

This group wasn't particularly active, and the big shots usually chatted and joked with great restraint.

So Ruan Guangjian's sentence wasn't quickly pushed to the top, but stayed in the chat group for a while.

After about two minutes, someone named "Old Liu the Painter" replied: "Sure, send them over."

Ruan Guangjian sent several of his most satisfying representative works to the group: "Thank you for your guidance!"

Old Liu the Painter: "You're welcome. We're all in the same industry, exchanging ideas and making progress together. I've only been in the business a few years longer than you."

A few seconds passed.

Old Liu the Painter: "Hiss... I take back what I said just now. You are the real deal! This light and shadow, this shape, this detail! Are you really a senior student?"

Soon, the lurkers in the group were blown out by these pictures.

"Another big shot pretending to be a newbie? With such skillful techniques, you still claim to be a newbie? If you're a newbie, then what am I?!"

"This foundation is too solid!"

"This expression technique is very unique. Is this dragon Guan Yu? The image is so subversive! But it doesn't feel abrupt, but very natural!"

"This feeling is really magnificent, whether it's the characters or the scenery, they are all full of tension."

"Are all newcomers monsters?!"

"Original paintings of this level can no longer be evaluated in terms of 'skills', this is talent!"

"It even gives me the feeling of a foreign master's work. The original paintings of 'Fantasy World' probably wouldn't be better than this!"

"We can't say that, there is still a little room for improvement in the details... Of course, crushing me is no problem..."

As soon as the pictures were sent out, the whole group exploded!

These people were all professionals, so they could clearly see many advantages that ordinary people couldn't see.

Ordinary people look at a painting and only see if it "looks like" something, if it is "detailed," or at most are limited to some very subjective feelings.

But in the eyes of professionals, they can see the light, shadow, details, and shape of the painting...

In other words, if two similar paintings are shown to ordinary people, ordinary people can't tell which one is better; but if they are shown to professionals, they can tell at a glance which painter's level is higher.

And now, the original paintings that Ruan Guangjian sent belonged to the type that was so awesome in the eyes of industry giants that they reached the peak!

"Amazing, the key is imagination!"

"Breaking out of the framework of traditional characters to recreate requires a wild imagination; and turning this imagination into a specific image requires a deep foundation and excellent talent!"

"If this set of original paintings can be made into a game, it would be amazing!"

The speaker was Chen Qi, the owner of this group, and also a famous concept design master in the domestic game circle.

He paused and typed: "When did this friend join the group? I don't seem to have any impression..."

The corners of Ruan Guangjian's mouth twitched slightly. As expected, Chen Qi had already forgotten about him.

After all, he was pulled into the group by chance last year. Ruan Guangjian hadn't spoken for a year, and a lot of people had joined since then, so Chen Qi had long forgotten about him.

But that didn't matter. For painters, the most important thing is that their work speaks for itself!

As soon as these pictures were released, everyone in the group instantly knew about Ruan Guangjian, this genius new artist.

"Brother, have you considered coming to our company after graduation? The salary and benefits are definitely higher than the industry average!"

"Or come to our side, we have better development prospects and more game project bonuses!"

The group had already started snatching people.

Ruan Guangjian was naturally very happy. His work was highly recognized by these industry insiders, which was a very happy thing in itself!

In fact, before this set of original paintings came out, Ruan Guangjian had no idea whether his original style would be successful.

It was the same in similar fields. Before a book is written, no one knows if it will be popular; before a movie is made, no one knows if it will be a box office hit.

What's more, original paintings are something with a very strong subjective aesthetic tendency.

But now, seeing the feedback from these professionals in the group, Ruan Guangjian was full of confidence!

However, he didn't forget what he was here for.

"Actually, these are the original paintings purchased for a game called 'Ghost General'."

Ruan Guangjian typed, "It's just that this game is currently encountering some minor troubles, so I wanted to ask you for help."

Chen Qi: "What's wrong?"

Ruan Guangjian: "Well, the company that developed this game is a very conscientious small company. They don't have much money, and they've used it all to develop and improve the quality of the game. As a result, they didn't leave any money for promotion!"

"So, I'm begging you all to help promote this game. Just forward it on Weibo!"

Chen Qi: "Sure, it's just posting on Weibo, that's easy. What's the name of the game? Which company made it?"

Ruan Guangjian: "'Ghost General,' the company is called Tenda Network Technology Co., Ltd."

"Tenda? Tenda... why does that sound so familiar?" Chen Qi was a little puzzled.