Kairos stared at the system prompt, momentarily stunned.
"A brand new game?"
The system's voice responded immediately:
[Ding! Correct. Your first release in this world must be an original work. You cannot port games that already exist here, or you'll trigger unpredictable rule conflicts and spatial fluctuations. This could cause dimensional instability, connection failures, and other unforeseen risks.]
Hearing this, Kairos looked thoughtful.
So there's actually this kind of restriction?
Though thinking it over, it actually seemed fairly reasonable. After all, he'd essentially traveled to another spacetime.
The system's explanation continued, confirming this rule:
[Exactly. When you enter a new world, your first game cannot be one that's currently published in any other world, or it will cause uncontrolled fluctuations. You'll need to create something completely new.]
Kairos pondered this further. "I see."
However, this trip across dimensions had already yielded plenty of information.
He'd gained a preliminary understanding of this world's technology level, the state of Pokémon, and the hidden dangers of the "Genesis Engine."
Since he couldn't directly publish a game for now, there wasn't much point staying here.
Might as well return to his original world first and think about what to do.
He made his decision.
With that, Kairos activated the "Dimensional Communicator's" return function with a thought.
The familiar weightless sensation and spatial distortion came again. His vision blurred, and he was back in his familiar living room.
At this moment, Gengar was sprawled flat on his back on the couch cushion, his massive body taking up nearly half the sofa.
A tiny game controller was loosely held in his stubby claws, resting on his round belly.
He'd clearly played himself to exhaustion.
The TV screen had gone dark, but still reflected his sleeping form, mouth slightly open and snoring, even a bit of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.
He must be dreaming of something delicious...
Kairos's sudden appearance shattered this peaceful scene.
The subtle spatial fluctuation from his teleportation startled the sleeping Gengar.
He jolted upright like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, short arms and legs flailing in the air, the game controller dropping onto the carpet.
He stared with his trademark big red eyes, scratching his head somewhat sheepishly, letting out an embarrassed greeting: "Gen... Gengar!!"
Seeing Gengar like this, Kairos couldn't help but smile helplessly.
Although he'd only spent two hours in that world, according to the system, nearly a full day had passed in the real world.
Meaning this guy had probably played to his heart's content while he was gone.
Kairos walked over, bent down to pick up the game controller from the floor, and casually rubbed Gengar's cool head.
"Hey, relax. I'm not going to yell at you for taking a break. Just don't go too crazy with it, alright? Besides, you kept watch and didn't trash the place. That's all I can ask for."
Hearing this, Gengar floated over to Kairos's side and laughed happily, then turned and flew back to his own room, obviously going to honestly get to work.
After pacifying Gengar, Kairos checked the system notifications before him.
[Notice: This dimensional crossing (World Number PM-0734) lasted 2 hours total. Based on the degree of world information exploration and minor fluctuations caused during this period, 330 emotion points have been awarded.]
[The "Dimensional Communicator" passage energy is recharging... After the next opening of the passage to that world, if you wish to open it again, you must accumulate at least 500 emotion points in that world. Note: The required points for each subsequent opening will increase progressively. If you fail to meet the requirement even once, that world's passage will permanently close.]
Kairos looked at the notification without surprise.
After all, this traversal device wasn't meant for casual sightseeing in another world. He understood clearly that the system was encouraging him to continuously produce high-quality games to obtain emotion points in the other world.
This meant next time he went to that world, he'd have to bring a new game with him.
Just then, a "ding" interrupted his thoughts.
His phone screen, sitting on the computer desk, lit up with a push notification from a mainstream gaming news app: "New Game Festival Battle Intensifies! 'Pokémon: Fantasy Era' Makes Comeback to Top the Charts!"
Come back to top the charts?
Kairos raised an eyebrow, casually picked up his phone, unlocked it, and opened the notification.
What appeared was a richly illustrated article, featuring flashy promotional posters for "Pokémon: Fantasy Era" and screenshots of the New Game Festival's real-time rankings.
Sure enough, the top position had changed.
[DreamFactory's blockbuster "Pokémon: Fantasy Era" continues its meteoric rise in popularity, successfully overtaking previous chart-topper dark horse "Pokemon: Emerald" with its top-tier 3D graphics and rich online social gameplay, claiming the number one spot on the New Game Festival rankings! The veteran game company's deep foundation and formidable strength have once again been proven!]
Below the report, the editor used enthusiastic prose to lavishly praise "Fantasy Era's" various strengths, from detailed models to gorgeous skill effects, from its massive open world to rich multiplayer battle modes, hyping it to the heavens.
Kairos wasn't easily swayed by these articles.
He knew this was probably bought by DreamFactory's paid promoters. He scrolled down directly, opened the detailed data page, and carefully examined the core metrics comparing both games.
Sure enough, as he'd suspected, although "Fantasy Era" had achieved a reversal in the New Game Festival rankings, in terms of actual download numbers, average daily user engagement time, and especially player-generated positive review rates, these key metrics showed a massive gap compared to his "Emerald."
Even in payment conversion rate and user retention rate, "Emerald" was nearly double theirs.
He then opened gaming forums and social media to see players' real feedback.
The situation was even more polarized.
In the popular comments section, aside from some players acknowledging "Fantasy Era's" graphics and innovations, most were complaints and criticisms:
[Look, the graphics are great, but the monetization is absolutely ridiculous. They want money for catching Pokémon, for skins, even for speeding up egg hatching? Do they think I'm made of money?]
[Gameplay-wise, it's basically a reskin of their old games. You catch Pokémon and then grind dungeons. That's it. Nothing like Emerald's actual single-player adventure.]
[Typical DreamFactory playbook. Dump money into marketing, give you nice rewards at the start, then once you're invested, they hit you with every trick in the book to drain your wallet.]
[Still prefer Emerald's pure feeling. The graphics might be pixelated, but the gameplay depth and story are genuinely incredible.]
Meanwhile, loyal players supporting "Emerald" left messages under related topics, their attacks obviously more aggressive:
[Number one? Yeah, with bots maybe. Let's see them show the actual player data.]
[Exactly. Without DreamFactory's massive advertising budget and paid review manipulation, could it even reach first place?]
[Can't wait for Wind Studio to put them in their place. I trust Master Wind to deliver!]
[If this garbage actually stays at number one, the whole industry must be rigged!]
Kairos closed his phone screen, leaned back in his chair, and sighed softly.
The situation couldn't be more obvious. DreamFactory, this veteran giant, had clearly deployed its most practiced business tactics: capital's heavy hand, pushing hard.
Leveraging their massive financial resources and extensive promotional channels, through enormous advertising investments, short-term recharge discount campaigns, and the classic paid promoter ranking manipulation, they'd forcibly pushed their game's popularity index above Emerald.
These tactics were simple and brutal, but often very effective in commercial competition, especially in situations of information asymmetry.
It was easy to mislead casual players, since not everyone understood Emerald's current situation.
Kairos now had the outrageous income from Emerald. If he wanted, he was fully capable of engaging DreamFactory in a genuine money-burning traffic war, competing over whose ads rang louder.
But after thinking for less than thirty seconds, he abandoned this idea.
Because he didn't need to.
There was now a simpler method to directly explode Emerald's popularity.
That was, with Emerald's first playthrough about to end, to directly publish a brand new game in the same series.
Namely, what he'd already decided on long ago: Dark Phantom!
Perfect timing. He also needed a brand new game for players in that other world to experience.
Kairos's thought process suddenly became crystal clear.
First, promote within Emerald, then directly go to that world to publish Dark Phantom, then come back to this world and bring Dark Phantom here.
This should circumvent the traversal device's restrictions.
After all, the system only said the first game he published in the other world needed to be one that had not yet been released in other worlds.
It didn't say that after publishing it there, he couldn't come back and publish it here.
However, to be safe, Kairos still asked the system and, after getting confirmation that it was feasible, made his decision directly.
Start creating Dark Phantom right now!
Speaking of which, his impression of this game was quite deep.
Unlike "Ultimate Emerald's" focus on hardcore difficulty, "Dark Phantom" had an excellent story.
Officially speaking, it told a profound tale about light and darkness, truth and ideals, with twists and emotional depth.
More directly, it told the story of the protagonist being invincible all the way, capturing various Legendary Pokémon, and crushing various dark organization forces.
At the same time, its gameplay satisfaction was extremely high, with rich Pokémon training paths, frequent Legendary Pokémon encounter battles designed everywhere with rare Pokémon and Mythical and Legendary Pokémon, and a relaxed, fast-paced progression.
It was practically born for player experience. The first time he played it as a kid, he'd stayed up until dawn.
Using this game to handle the current situation was definitely more than appropriate.
Moreover, this time he planned to directly use a 3D engine to create the game, bringing a completely new upgrade in visual presentation.
It wasn't like only DreamFactory could do 3D. He could, too.
And with the boost from those modules he had, he could do even better!
This was a direct technological dimensional reduction strike against DreamFactory's game!
No sooner said than done. Kairos immediately sat back down at his computer and directly published an official server-wide announcement on his Emerald game server:
[Wind Studio Major Announcement! To All Dear Trainers:
Thank you for your continued support and love for "Pokemon: Emerald"! Your every bit of enthusiasm is our driving force forward.
However, true adventure never ends, and the charm of the Pokémon world extends far beyond this. Therefore, a brand new game in the series, "Pokemon Dark Phantom," will launch within this week.
This title will be created with our entirely self-developed next-generation 3D engine, committed to presenting an unprecedented, grander, more detailed, and vibrant Pokémon world!
Additionally, this game will achieve seamless data synchronization between mobile and PC platforms!
And innovatively support seamless gameplay switching across multiple smart devices, including but not limited to mainstream gaming consoles, smart vehicle entertainment screens, high-end smartwatches, and more.
You can enjoy the fun anytime, anywhere! A legendary epic of intertwining light and darkness, a heart-shaking adventure journey, is about to begin! Please look forward to more updates!]
After checking the announcement content and confirming it was error-free, Kairos took a deep breath and clicked the "Publish" button.
This announcement was like dropping a massive boulder into a seemingly calm lake, instantly creating towering waves!
First, in Cynthia's forum community, the post was pushed to the top of the trending list within seconds, with reply counts skyrocketing at an alarming rate:
[Wait, WHAT?! Are they on some kind of super-speed development cycle?! I'm still at the third gym trying to fill out my team, and they're already dropping a new game?!]
["Dark Phantom"? That title alone sounds like it's going to have a serious story. Seems darker than Emerald. I'm hyped!]
[Hold on. Full 3D? And you can play it on smartwatches and car displays? This can't be real! DreamFactory was just bragging about their mobile-PC dual platform sync, and now this side goes straight for total platform domination?]
Some expressed doubt:
[Okay, I love Emerald as much as anyone, but let's be realistic here. Going from pixel art to full 3D in this short a time, with all these cross-platform features? Sounds like they're hyping things up because of the rankings drop...]
[Real talk, staying calm, there is that possibility...]
But others showed strong support:
[Emerald's quality speaks for itself. These devs have integrity. Why would they lie to us? I'm ready for Dark Phantom!]
[Oh, look, DreamFactory's shills showed up. What does your "Pay-to-Win Era" have besides pretty graphics? Emerald destroys it in actual gameplay!]
[Why argue about it? Let the games speak for themselves. I'll play both and judge when it releases!]
Players' reactions were extremely intense: ecstatic anticipation, rational skepticism, cold mockery.
But regardless, the topic of Wind Studio about to publish the new game "Dark Phantom," accompanied by highly impactful keywords like "full 3D" and "total cross-platform connectivity," spread like a virus from core player communities outward, permeating the entire gaming community.
Even some gaming media editors began noticing it, immediately writing reports to ride the wave of popularity.
And this news quickly reached DreamFactory's side as well.