Of course, all of this was still just a temporary plan. Everything had to be done step by step. Taking too big a step could easily choke you.
For now, Lucien idea was to first design Gaia AI's virtual avatar, have it represent his New World studio, and promote it directly to the whole world.
Just like Google-chan and the like.
"I see. As expected of you, Lucien. You really have foresight!" Jenny also understood what Lucien meant and gave him a thumbs-up.
"But there is still one thing missing. You have to design a beautiful appearance for Gaia. Only then can you capture the hearts of people!"
The core of AI was just a string of data. Personification, or more precisely, turning it into a girl, was the real key.
These days, there were far too many things that could be turned into girls. Ship girls, cockroach girls, monster girls, and so on. No matter what it was, they could all be turned into girls for you to see.
As long as the girl version was pretty enough, fans would definitely not be lacking.
"That is indeed true." Lucien nodded.
"But I do not need to worry about this kind of thing. I think there are already plenty of people turning Gaia AI into a girl right now. I do not even need to do it myself. The people will automatically handle it for us."
"Really? Let me search." Jenny took out her phone and started searching with the keyword "Gaia AI."
As expected, she saw countless posts on forums and Pixiv and also Rule34 where people had shared all kinds of girl versions of Gaia that they had designed themselves.
"Wow, there really are quite a lot!" Jenny exclaimed in admiration. After carefully browsing, she saw that the people had very wild imaginations. The designs for Gaia's appearance were extremely diverse.
Some wore flowing white greek ancient-style dresses with an god aura, while others wore only revealing bikinis with explosive figures.
In short, the styles were quite different.
But all these personifications shared one common trait: they had all drawn Gaia with extremely high beauty.
"Heh, this one is really burning hot."
Jenny immediately clicked into the "Bikini Gaia" post. After the poster uploaded the image of Gaia, they had also attached a long string of words below.
[Ah! Gaia! My Gaia! My fated Gaia!!! My light of life, my fire of passion! My love, my soul! The cute yet queenly Gaia is a rose with thorns! A poisonous poppy! The success of Subnautica cannot exist without Gaia]
The comment section was also very lively.
[Cringe. That's enough already!]
[The Gaia the poster drew is pretty good. It would be even better if the clothes were a bit less!]
[The Gaia in the drawing is truly one of the best!]
[What is this? I saw an even hotter one on Pixiv. The way it was drawn, tsk tsk!]
[Where's the futanari one?!] -[Deleted]
"Tsk, these people are only thinking about lewd stuff all day long!" Seeing the harmonious scene in the post, Jenny could not help but spit in disdain.
"What is wrong with lewd stuff? It is precisely because everyone is thinking about lewd stuff that the vast people have such great creative enthusiasm! Lewd stuff can be said to be the ladder that advances human civilization!" Lucien said with a smile.
"Meh." Jenny rolled her eyes at Lucien.
Lucien continued. "Look at the current internet ecosystem. Any topic can trigger people to start cursing each other. Only when it comes to lewd stuff is the people' quality the highest. I have never seen anyone cursing. It is all 'Thanks for your hard work, op,' 'Thank you, op,' 'May the poster have a safe life' and other words of gratitude. Does this not explain something?"
"..."
It sounded quite reasonable. She actually could not refute it.
"How about this, Sis. Post a message on X right now saying that our New World studio is collecting virtual avatar designs for Gaia AI. We hope all people will actively submit their works. Whoever is officially selected as Gaia official image will receive a reward of 30 grand as a bonus."
This would both create some hype and convey his idea to the vast people. It was killing two birds with one stone.
"OK." Jenny made an OK gesture and quickly posted on X, conveying Lucien's instructions.
The moment this X post was published, the comment section instantly became lively.
[Wow, $30,000?! Not bad at all. Is New World studio that generous?!]
[Gaia AI's virtual avatar, hehe. It seems New World also wants to do something anime style. They really understand us otakus!]
[Cough cough, I can finally know what my wife looks like!]
[As a student majoring in drawing, my power can no longer be suppressed!]
[Do we even need to collect submissions for this? I remember there are tons of Gaia images on Pixiv, and they are all drawn really well. Just go there and pick any one!]
[Exactly. I have already collected several on Pixiv. Some of those lewd artists drew them really well! It got my blood boiling!]
In less than five minutes after this topic was posted, it directly climbed onto X's hot search list thanks to the enthusiastic discussion among people.
Besides this, X's hot searches also included [Seamoth], [Subnautica], [Mysterious Alien Building], and other trending tag.
It could be said that ever since Subnautica was released, different terms made it onto the hot search list every single day.
"Mm, people are still as enthusiastic as ever. There are already thousands of comments in an instant!" Looking at the comments below, Jenny could not help but sigh.
"Sigh, Lucien, what does Pixiv mean? Why are so many people mentioning Pixiv here, and saying there are tons of Gaia illustrations on Pixiv?"
"Oh, Pixiv is a japanese original illustration website where anyone can upload their own drawings." Lucien explained.
But he did not go into detail with Jenny that Pixiv was also a gathering place for many perverts.
However, the fact that there were tons of Gaia illustrations on Pixiv was indeed something Lucien had not expected.
To confirm this, Lucien also took out his phone, logged into Pixiv, and checked. Then he discovered that Gaia was actually the number one trending search there.
On the homepage, he could see all kinds of naked versions of Gaia. It was unbearable to look at. There were even some that paired Gaia with giant Leviathans. [TL/N: Don't forget the preggo ones.]
Tsk tsk. Their fetishes were really too strange. They really should go see a doctor. Well, i'm not complaining tho.
It could only be said that Subnautica was too popular. Gaia was just an AI without even a concrete appearance, yet she could become this hot on Pixiv.
Then, as if possessed, Lucien casually switched from the original art section to the 3D section. He immediately frowned. No good. Compared to the exquisite original art, the quality of the 3D section was really too poor!
The modeling was rough, and the quality was appalling. One glance was enough to make you feel no worldly desires at all.
It seemed the perverts in this world's 3D section were not living happily.
Lucien even started pondering whether he should make a Final Fantasy first, so that the perverts of this world could also experience Tifa's charm. No matter which world it was, the 3D section could not be without Tifa!
[Image:]
It could be considered that, as a fellow perverts, he was doing a good deed for the other perverts of this world.
Sigh. Lucien realized he was truly too considerate of the players.
"Right, I should also post a call for submissions for Gaia on Weibo!" Since he was already browsing sites, Lucien remembered another matter. He picked up his phone and posted a message on Jenny's Weibo account.
Because Jenny did not understand Chinese, Lucien had directly taken over Jenny's Weibo account and was controlling it himself.
The moment he logged into Weibo, a conspicuous notification bar X mention caught his eye.
Lucien looked and saw that the person mentioning him was Tesla's CEO and the current world's richest man: Elon Musk!
[These past two nights I played Subnautica and was truly deeply shocked by everything in the game. I really like it too much, so I wanted to ask if New World has any intention of selling. If so, you can contact me.]
"Tsk tsk, this guy is really direct." Lucien complained. He went straight to the point and said he wanted to acquire them.
The comments under this tweet had already exceeded ten thousand. Quite a few people expressed support, while others mocked and ridiculed. Lucien even saw some people shouting "New World is not for sale! Stay away!" It made him not know whether to laugh or cry.
No matter what, the news [Elon Musk Wants to Acquire New World Studio] had already become the hottest topic on X.
As the creator of New World, Lucien first posted a tweet replying to Musk and rejected his acquisition request.
Although Lucien net worth was still far below Musk's, he had already reached the stage where money was no longer an issue. Money was not important to him anymore.
Moreover, New World could not be exposed this quickly.
He swapped over to Weibo, where Lucien had just posted an update regarding the submission call for Gaia's virtual avatar designs.
Everything was settled!
He hoped players worldwide would be helpful and create a stunning Gaia image for him.
"Let's go, Sis. It is time to eat. Let's go out for something good!!" After finishing everything, Lucien called out to Jenny.
"Not ordering takeout?" Jenny asked strangely in return. They usually relied on takeout for lunch.
"We are at this level and still ordering takeout!?" Lucien smiled and teased.
"We are going to The Ivy. I already reserved a seat last night and paid the deposit. Let's go."
The Ivy was one of the world's most unique private dining venues and had been rated by Traveler magazine as one of the "twenty essential experiences in a lifetime." The average cost per person was $500.
At this moment, Lucien and Jenny were sitting in a small loft on the top floor. Above them was a high domed ceiling. While 3oz steak and salmon rice, they overlooked the splendid and bustling scenery outside.
The food here could only be described as passable. It was not particularly amazing, but the view was truly pleasant. In a place like L.A where every inch of land was worth gold, being able to enjoy such beautiful scenery was truly rare.
Both Lucien and Jenny could not help but sigh in their hearts. Having money was really damn good.
During the meal, Jenny also received calls from Google and Apple. Both companies had obtained the contact information from X. Their purpose was the same: to discuss cooperation with New World.
Of course, under Lucien's instructions, Jenny rejected all of them.
Before he had grown big and strong, contacting these giants would definitely result in him being swallowed whole.
"Right, Luc, do you think I am about to clear Subnautica?" Toward the end of lunch, Jenny suddenly said.
"About to clear it?" Lucien looked puzzled.
So Jenny told Lucien about the broadcast she had received from the Firework in the game.
"Congratulations, Sis. You triggered a hidden easter egg in my game!" After listening, Lucien immediately gave her a thumbs-up.
"Hidden easter egg?"
"Mm." Lucien nodded.
"Sis, were you sleeping on the island?"
"Yes!" Jenny nodded.
"Then there is no mistake. The hidden easter egg I set is that if you lie in bed and sleep on the island for more than half an hour, this ending will trigger. The Firework will descend and pick you up from the planet early!"
"Wow, really?" Seeing how seriously Lucien spoke, Jenny's beautiful eyes widened greatly. "I did not expect my luck to be this good!"
"Yeah, I did not expect the easter egg I set would actually be triggered by you!" Lucien also put on a shocked expression. "Let me tell you, after following the Firework and leaving the water world, you can roam freely in the wonderful universe. Moreover, when you start New Game Plus, you will additionally gain a heavyweight feature, which is mods!"
"Mods? What is that?" Jenny asked foolishly.
"You do not even know what mods are?" Lucien smiled. "It means you can replace or add any items and models in the game."
This kind of thing had been quite common in single-player games in his previous life.
After playing a single-player game for too long, players would get bored. That was why mods were born. They modified things in the game to make it interesting again.
The most famous example should be The Elder Scrolls. Originally filled with all kinds of grotesque monsters, with the help of mods, they all turned into girls with explosive figures.
From then on, The Elder Scrolls was also known as The Maiden Scrolls.
There were many such examples. For instance, in Resident Evil, the female protagonists who were originally decently clothed had all their clothes replaced and turned into revealing styles. Resident Evil directly became Lewd Hazard.
And our 3D section's Jerusalem: Tifa. She achieved a true freedom "Naked" There were already tens of thousands of mods about her clothes. Some even had her wearing nothing at all. It became a beautiful story for a while.
In Lucien's previous life, there was even a famous saying: Once a game was on PC, what you wore was no longer up to you!
Sigh. Thinking about it, it really was an era of heroes competing.
Generally speaking, not long after a single-player game came out, players would start making mods. But because Subnautica used a different engine, others could not create mods for it.
But it did not matter. Lucien had always been understanding. He would definitely release the mod feature sooner or later.
In this aspect, he wanted to contribute his own strength for all the players of this world.
"Wow, the mod feature is actually this powerful!" Hearing Lucien vividly describe the functions of mods, Jenny also became very interested.
She could even modify things in the game?!
Tsk tsk. This was really too good!
What she was thinking about was naturally not changing female characters' clothes, but turning giant monsters like Leviathans into little cats and dogs.
It would be fun and would not scare her anymore.
"Let's go, let's go. We need to go home right now!" Jenny suddenly became anxious and could not even be bothered with the porter house steaks anymore.
"What's wrong?" Lucien asked in surprise.
"Home. I want to play the game! I cannot wait anymore. I want to play right now. I want to clear Subnautica right now!" Jennyshouted.
"...."
[Advanced 30 chapters on patreon.com/EdgyReader]