Free Web NovelChapter 7: Chapter 7: Future Plans
After the initial thrill wore off, Jiang Xia found himself missing the insane 99,999-damage-per-hit numbers from the games of his previous life.
’Damn it, the damage is so low and clearing maps is so slow. Isn’t this a complete waste of my time?’
After grinding non-stop for nearly two hours, a full fatigue bar was finally depleted. Wang Ming also got his wish, reaching Level 19 and successfully changing his class to War Frenzy.
"Mission complete." Seeing that it was already past midnight, Jiang Xia rubbed his stomach. "Boss Wang, isn’t it time to sort out a midnight snack?"
"On it, on it!" Seeing his War Frenzy wield a Giant Sword, Wang Ming was in high spirits. He walked, grinning, to the front counter and ordered two cups of pickled pepper beef instant noodles.
He’d been playing for over two hours and was hungry too. When he returned, he placed a chilled bottle of Coke in front of Jiang Xia.
"How about that? I’m a real bro, right? A cup of noodles, a sausage, and a bottle of Coke to top it off."
"A true bro. Nothing more to say."
Jiang Xia twisted open the cap with a FIZZZ and took a satisfied sip. Feeling the bubbles dance wildly on his tongue, he instantly felt much more awake.
"You in for some Counter-Terror Frontline?" Wang Ming turned and asked him.
Jiang Xia shook his head. "Nah, you go ahead. I’m going to look some stuff up online."
"Alright. If you feel like playing later, just give me a shout. We can team up and kill some zombies."
He agreed, then quit the game and opened a browser. He searched online for everything he could remember, and a clearer picture of the differences between the two worlds gradually formed in his mind.
With the experiences of his past life, in an era where the internet was still nascent, there were indeed countless things he could do.
For one, even if he didn’t start a business and simply poured all his energy into game streaming, he could still live a much better life than he had before.
However, after spending a long time researching the animation industry, a much greater ambition suddenly took root in his mind.
—To the Jiang Xia of today, an untapped industry was without a doubt a massive, exposed gold mine! The only question was whether he had the courage to raise a pickaxe and start digging.
Logically, as long as Jiang Xia could replicate any of the market-tested anime series from his previous life, he should be able to easily earn his first fortune. Becoming an overnight sensation wasn’t even out of the question.
However, animation production wasn’t as simple as one might think.
Even in his past life, in the Neon Country with its highly developed animation industry, a 12-episode anime series would take at least six months to a year to complete, from initial planning to final production. And the more refined the visuals, the longer the production cycle.
And that was with a mature team that had dedicated scriptwriters, screenwriters, animation directors, key animators, voice actors, post-production editors, and more.
Each position had clearly defined tasks and required close collaboration. Even for an assembly-line-style production that aired episodes as they were being made, it still took that long. Yet here was Jiang Xia, with no money and no team. It was like possessing a legendary martial arts manual but lacking the internal energy to practice it.
Therefore, as an independent animator, he had to take the "small but refined" path. A relatively simple production process, a shorter development cycle, spending the least amount of money and effort—only then could he earn his first fortune in a short period of time.
In this day and age, an individual creating an animation fueled by passion alone sounded somewhat outlandish. But for a reincarnator like him, an industry insider, it wasn’t an impossible feat.
’The key question is, will the people of this world, who’ve been poisoned by realistic art styles, even like the anime art style of my past life?’
’Or will my work be the stone that sets off a thousand waves, pioneering a new era in this world?’
The thought that he could be the one to write this new Chapter made his heart burn with excitement.
’But I need to think this through carefully. First, decide on the genre, then the specific anime. Only when all the preparations are in place can I take the first step in production.’
’The opening gambit can’t just be flawless—it has to be a resounding victory!’
Wang Ming was completely focused on his shooter game, only occasionally glancing over during respawns to see what on earth Jiang Xia was up to. After all, he was acting strangely today; normally, he would have already been in the game with him, duking it out in a firefight.
It turned out there was no rhyme or reason to what he was researching. One second, he was looking up the real estate market; the next, the financial industry. In the blink of an eye, he switched to e-commerce, blockchain, cloud technology, mobile game development, new energy vehicles, animation production... Not only was he reading with rapt attention, but he’d also created a new .txt file and was constantly taking notes.
’Is this really fucking Jiang Xia?’
’What high school student browses this kind of stuff for fun?!’
’More importantly, does he even understand any of it?!’
’Is he just trying to show off in front of me?’
"Seriously, Old Jiang, you’re acting really weird today!" Wang Ming stopped playing, his head starting to ache just from looking at the "Future of the Animation Industry" article on Jiang Xia’s screen.
Jiang Xia closed his browser, took a bite of his now-soggy instant noodles, and smiled. "Well, I had nothing else to do, so I was just looking around."
"Don’t tell me you’re planning to make animations in the future."
He didn’t try to hide it, nodding frankly. "Yeah, that’s the idea. For us grunts who just draw all day, our future prospects are pretty much tied to games and animation anyway."
"Well, you’re not wrong, but isn’t it a bit too early for people our age to be thinking so far ahead? Shouldn’t we at least wait until we’re in college?" Wang Ming scratched his head.
"How long until your college entrance exams?"
"Three months."
"And to get into college?"
"Including summer break, probably a little over five months."
"See?" Jiang Xia shrugged. "There’s nothing wrong with planning a little early."
Wang Ming froze. ’That bastard actually has a point.’
’But hearing it from him just feels... weird. Didn’t we always just talk about games before?’
Jiang Xia paid him no more mind. Holding his cup of noodles, he opened his browser again and asked without turning his head, "Are there any good sites for watching anime?"
"That stuff? I don’t think so."
"What about A Station?" freewёbnoνel.com
"What’s that?"
He frowned slightly. Given the time period, B Station probably hadn’t been founded yet, but A Station should have been operational for a while now.
He searched for "AcFun" in his browser but, to his surprise, found no relevant information. He then searched for "bullet-comment video website," but the results were a pile of completely unrelated content.
’In other words, this world doesn’t have a bullet-comment video site with a complete ecosystem for user-created derivative content, like A Station or B Station?’
In an instant, a new idea formed in his mind, but it would require a massive foundation of high-quality videos.
Until he could produce his own animation, he would have to put that idea on the back burner.
With that in mind, Jiang Xia clicked on Divine Dragon Swordsman, which was ranked number one on the online animation popularity charts. He began to watch this world’s original animation while eating his instant noodles.
Slowly, his eyes began to shine brighter and brighter.
