Pokémon, but cultural invasion.

This has led to veteran gamers almost memorizing the locations of NPCs in various cities and routes in different regions.

Even the NPCs' activity schedules and their likely locations have been compiled into tables and statistics on the forums.

The game inevitably entered a period of inactivity.

Once players have collected most of the achievements for each career path, it can be considered a kind of "game completion".

Despite its flaws, Life Simulator remains an excellent game.

The repetitive gameplay may become tedious, but the feeling of experiencing it for the first time is something that time cannot erase.

This deep-seated nostalgia may prompt players to revisit the game at some point in the future, reminiscing about the past.

For a small game, this seems to be the best possible outcome.

Even the most die-hard fans of the game have to admit that the emulator craze is over as they watch familiar live streams switch to other content.

Games have a limited lifespan and will soon be forgotten by the internet in some small corner.

He might appear in some obscure livestream, but there's absolutely no way he can recapture his former glory.

Everyone thought so, until Quanshu released an announcement that pulled this outdated game back from the dust.

Skyline

A city, just as you imagined.

You can be a humble peddler, enjoying everyday life, fighting crime, and apprehending criminals; you can run a café or a training center; or you can become a gym leader, building and prospering together.

[Plan your city's transportation system, develop infrastructure and industry by dividing the city into functional zones, and create your own skyscraper world.]

Quanshu added a postscript at the end.

Players of "Life Simulator" may be confused as to why the game's ending requires choosing a city when the list is empty.

The second half of your life, not yet finished, is here; the answers lie hidden in the city. Welcome to Skyline, experience the complete life.

The short announcement quickly spread among the players.

The identity of the creator of "Life Simulator" has always been a mystery. Although some people speculate that it was Izumi Izuki's work, there is no evidence to prove it.

Besides him, I can't think of anyone else who could create a wildly popular game and remain silent and anonymous.

"I've played that little game hundreds of times, and you're telling me it's a prequel to another game?!"

"I bet even Izumi didn't expect that little game to become so popular. It was made as a starting point, a prelude, and it went viral overnight before it was even finished. Who can they complain to?"

"As a veteran simulator player, I can tell you that Pokémon Doctor is the absolute king of professions, a sure way to beat any blind date."

"Don't listen to the nonsense above. In this crappy game, doctors have to undergo three years of residency training, and they even have to pay their own way to internships. I've never seen anything this bad."

"Previous games were about farming on islands, but this game is about building a city. Isn't that too big of a leap?"

"Just by looking at the promotional images and description, I know that the game is definitely a large-scale game. At least I won't be waiting for it to start."

"Instantly select the Breeding Room at the start, then do nothing but watch the Pokémon lay eggs."

"Will illegal professions appear in the simulator? Then can I become a Robin Hood-like thief who robs the rich to help the poor?"

"Since you can be a police officer, you might as well be a thief, and there might even be player-versus-player interactions."

As the discussion rapidly gained momentum, it spread like ripples across the world through the Navigator's push mechanism.

Daigo, who returned to the manor to rest, was also within the range of the push notification.

That same night, after watching the Metagross spawning video, he followed Izumi Tree's Navigator account.

I hadn't really grasped the significance of hearing about Cynthia's movies before, but the story of the mud donkey crossing the river left a deep impression on Daigo.

He's...an amazing person.

Daigo wasn't interested in games. He casually flipped through a few in-game screenshots, his fingers pausing slightly.

Why are there miners in this game?

An old man with white hair stood beside a hand-cranked grappling hook, with various colored ores lying on the ground.

Daigo glanced at it.

The marine rocks of Lianyi Town, the volcanic rocks of Chimney Mountain, the gabbro of Heijin Carbon Pit...

There are quite a few types of ores, but how could all of them grow in the same place?

Furthermore, shallow minerals are not very valuable; it is the deeper lapis lazuli that is both beautiful and collectible.

Looking at the ordinary-looking item in the white-bearded old man's claw, Daigo scratched his head in frustration.

Do you even know anything about stones? Then go ahead and dig. This old man should have retired long ago.

Get up, let me do it!

Chapter 135 Night City Has No Living Legends

"I had no prior knowledge of games, but I was surprised to find they were quite knowledgeable..."

Daigo stared at the various shapes of the minerals; even a novice stone enthusiast might not be able to recognize them all.

This game isn't primarily about mining stones, but rather city building, yet it inexplicably piles on materials in the minutiae.

He didn't know if all games were this extravagant, or if it was just a characteristic of Skylines.

In short, he became unusually interested in this game that had not yet been released and started paying attention to related news.

The official launch date has been confirmed; it will be the same day as the preview live stream.

Daigo glanced at his schedule; he happened to be free that day and could preview the game content.

See if it meets your expectations; if not, there's no need to waste your time.

The host in charge of the preview section... Qishu, the Gym Leader of Padilla, is far from the Hoenn region, so he is not familiar with them and has only met them once in an exhibition match at the Hoenn Tournament.

He followed DianDian's live stream through the link in the other party's navigator account and booked a preview live stream.

After finishing his preparations, Daigo put the game out of his mind and focused on his work and life.

Time passed much faster than Daigo had imagined. By the time he received the notification that the live stream was about to start, a week had already passed.

The name of the live stream room has also changed.

A sneak peek at new attractions in Tingxiang: City skylines, a real city built from scratch!

Next to the name is a flaming popularity icon, prominently displayed at the top of the popularity chart.

At the exact time when the broadcast was about to start, Daigo entered the live stream room and was immediately drawn to the dense barrage of comments.

"Follow Qishu Miao, follow Qishu, thank you Miao~"

"I want to see what Quanshu has made after spending so much time."

"I heard this game has a marriage system. Is it possible to pursue Pokémon instead of NPCs? To be honest, I like Grass Pokémon."

"Beware! This game is terrible. If Izumi divorces an NPC, half of the funds will be taken away. Chun Chun wants to reclaim Pokémon coins. I suggest locking the Pokémon directly."

What is all this nonsense?

In Daigo's eyes, it's less of a live streaming room and more like a lively chat room.

The black screen before the broadcast is started serves as a natural background, and the conversation isn't really about anything serious.

Fortunately, the camera was connected a few seconds later and the screen lit up.

"Capture your eye with an electric grid! Who's narrating this strange tale? It's me, Qishu!"

The energetic and beautiful girl started her introduction with a formula, then abruptly changed the subject.

"Welcome, citizens, to my Sky City. Of course, it may be just a wasteland right now."

She clicked on the Skylines icon on her desktop, and the opening animation slowly unfolded like a scroll painting.

Within just a few minutes of the broadcast starting, Qi Shu didn't know how many people entered the live stream room through the notification.

The comments overlapped and densely packed into blurry blocks of color, while the soaring popularity ratings spoke for themselves.

"Alright, enough with the chit-chat."

Once the shader rendering was complete, she looked at the screen. The first interface of the game was a randomly generated character and class.

"I don't know if you guys have noticed, but Life Simulator has updated a feature that allows you to export your save data as a key."

“Character generation in Skylines can be randomized, or you can use characters you’ve previously created in the simulator.”

As Qi Shu spoke, he entered the first character he had ever played – Xiao Hua.

"My save file is as a trainer, and I became a gym leader after finishing the quarterfinals of the Indigo League."

"It should be noted that only the Gym Leader can be responsible for the construction of a city, so friends who want to simulate city management before playing can repeatedly try to become a Gym Leader."

As the key was entered, the simulator's unfinished screen resumed at that moment.

Your talent has been recognized; the League has invited you to serve as a gym leader in a city.

This newly born city will grow together with you.

Please name your city:

"My ideal city is definitely Niangguang City, so this city should also aim to become a bustling metropolis that shines day and night, just like Niangguang City."

Qi Shu typed on the keyboard: "Let's call it Night City."

The second pop-up window is a promotional section where you can write slogans or upload city photos.

All images must be taken in the game; they can be aerial panoramas or street corners.

Qi Shu quickly wrote down the slogan: "As mayor, I hope that every resident can live and work in peace and contentment in this city and live a legendary life."

Click Create.

There are no photos yet, but the dark, gloomy Night City has been brought to life online.

Qi Shu saw Night City on the leaderboard of [Emerging Cities], hanging alone in the list with zero players registered.

After all, the game hasn't even been officially launched yet, but Qishu has already envisioned Night City becoming the largest city upon its release.

"Being able to move into cities built by other players? That's a very innovative gameplay feature."

"It feels great. Everyone can build, which gives players more choices."

"Can we travel between different cities? If so, that would be amazing, a truly open world."

【Night City】

The Kanto region is home to abundant reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas, and its vast arable land, mineral resources, and water resources are suitable for agricultural production.

Construction location: Quartz Plateau.

The loading screen shows an open-pit mine surrounded by scattered buildings, resembling a small town in need of development more than a city.

From a bird's-eye view, one can see inhabitants the size of ants roaming among them, and dump trucks bumping along the gravel road.

People load goods at the mine gate, and trucks loaded with cargo drive away, heading towards distant cities.

A miniature of Xiaohua appeared at the town gate.

Qi Shu saw a huge and complex control panel on the right side of the screen, which included everything from city construction and regional layout to street decoration and daily necessities prices.

Instead of rushing to figure out how to build a city using the control panel, she first had the little character walk around the town.

This is a developing, emerging town whose economy mainly comes from mining mineral resources and selling them to other cities.

Therefore, the town's residents are mostly miners and service industry workers who work around them.

Once the resources are exhausted and the mines are abandoned, it will be time to transform them into tourism.

Strolling to the edge of the mine, Qishu discovered that although she was a gym leader, she could use the [Work] option just like a regular player.

While jobs like doctor or lawyer might require specific qualifications, going down into the mines doesn't; all you need is a set of work clothes to get started.

Just as Qishu was considering how to design the "work" element for Quanshu, a mini-game popped up after clicking the option.

Gold Miners

"I'm playing a game within a game?"

Chapter 136 Let's turn the meter upside down!