ROSGT Chapter 4: The Love of My Life, Its Name is: Link-Up!
The Software Alliance is a platform for sharing and downloading original software, with countless original programs being uploaded daily.
If a piece of software is well-received, it might catch the attention of large optical brain companies, which could then purchase the rights. This is the main source of income for original software developers.
Additionally, original software can earn revenue from paid downloads, with the fee set by the uploader. When Ye Chui uploaded Link-Up, he set the download fee at 1 Alliance Coin.
The exchange rate between Alliance Coins and Hua Coins is 100:1, meaning 1 Alliance Coin is equivalent to 1 cent, and the proceeds from paid downloads go directly into the uploader's account.
In this world, although the internet is highly developed, piracy is virtually non-existent. There is a strong awareness of the value of legitimate products.
In the original world, if a paid software was released and became popular, a cracked version would soon appear, offering free downloads. However, in this world, such a situation is impossible.
Piracy is a severe crime here, which has effectively eradicated it from the internet. This makes the income from original software much more direct.
The Software Alliance has a leaderboard that ranks all original software by download numbers.
The most downloaded software has reached thirty million downloads—the developer of that software gained fame from it and later joined an optical brain company in a prominent position.
This event has inspired countless original software enthusiasts to join the industry, though such fortunate individuals are rare.
Ye Chui had similar plans.
"Although I have countless game ideas in my mind, turning them into reality requires some channels and technology. If I can enter an optical brain company through this, it will make achieving my dream much easier."
The prerequisite for this dream is that the game must create a strong enough reaction in this world.
"The initial download numbers in the first hour are crucial for a software's popularity. I wonder how many downloads Link-Up has now?"
Feeling anxious, Ye Chui opened the Software Alliance website, clicked on the original software section, and then entered the entertainment software sub-section.
In this world, there are no games for optical brains, so Ye Chui uploaded Link-Up to the entertainment software section, where most of the software are puzzle types like Sudoku, Go, and Chess, lacking innovation.
"Let's quickly find the Link-Up post..."
Ye Chui's eyes quickly scanned the opened section, line by line from the top.
Soon, Ye Chui felt a chill in his heart: "It's not there! Could the post have sunk already?"
His heart started racing. Even if it had sunk, he would just bump it up again!
With this thought, Ye Chui began flipping to the second page, then the third, fourth... he went back ten pages but still couldn't find the Link-Up post.
Ye Chui felt drained: "How could this be? Is the game really so unappealing? Impossible!"
"Wait!?"
Suddenly, Ye Chui realized something—only an hour had passed since he uploaded it. Even if the forum had many users, the post couldn't have sunk to ten pages deep in just an hour, right?
"Could the post have been deleted?"
Puzzled, Ye Chui went back to the first page of the entertainment software sub-section, unwilling to give up, and prepared to search again.
Then, he was stunned.
His expression froze for a few seconds, then he laughed—he had been so hurried that he didn't notice the Link-Up post had been highlighted and pinned on the first page.
A highlighted and pinned post stands out from the others, and Ye Chui had instinctively looked through the ordinary post titles for Link-Up, completely ignoring the pinned posts.
"That gave me quite a scare..."
Ye Chui felt his heart still racing.
He eagerly clicked on the highlighted post and was stunned by the download number he saw. He then brought his face closer to the screen and started counting the digits: "One, two, three, four, five, six... six digits, three hundred thousand! In the past hour, the download count reached over three hundred thousand!"
In one hour, the download count had reached over three hundred thousand, meaning Ye Chui had earned more than three thousand Hua Coins in that hour!
Hua Coins are the currency of Huaxia, and their purchasing power is similar to that of the dollar in the previous world.
Ye Chui's father, Ye Haishan, earned five thousand Hua Coins a month, which was enough to support the family, and Ye Chui had just earned more than three thousand in one hour.
Moreover, this money was just the beginning.
Since Link-Up was so well-received initially, its reputation would spread, and its download count would snowball, bringing in even more revenue.
Most importantly, Link-Up's success indicated that games were feasible in this world!
Not to mention large-scale games, but simple yet fun games like Link-Up—Ye Chui knew countless ones: Tetris, Bejeweled, Zuma, Minesweeper...
Each of these could be as good as Link-Up!
"I'm going to be rich!"
Ye Chui, who hadn't slept all night and was extremely tired, was now excited again and started reading the comments on the post.
First comment: Link-Up? What's this software? The poster even called it a "game," sounds interesting. I'll download it and see.
Second comment: The poster is funny, calling optical brain software a game. Never heard that term before.
Third comment: Is this software any good? It looks pretty simple. The poster isn't just trying to earn Alliance Coins, right?
Fourth comment: I've downloaded it. It's cheap anyway, only 1 Alliance Coin. I'll try it out!
Fifth comment: Wow, this software is super fun! It's not a scam!
Sixth comment: The person above must be advertising, right?
Seventh comment: Absolutely not a scam. You can download it and see for yourself!
Eighth comment: It really seems interesting? I'll download it and see!
Ninth comment: It's incredibly fun! I never thought such a simple software could be so addictive. I'm hooked; I'm going to keep playing!
Tenth comment: Thumbs up, this software is indeed interesting!
...
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Three hundred twenty-third comment: Mom in heaven, you no longer need to worry about my happiness. I've found the love of my life, and its name is Link-Up!
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