The *Life Simulation Game* was a casual game he'd played before he transmigrated. It offered a vast selection of industries for players to choose from and manage daily. The key was that it was an open-ended sandbox game, meaning it had no definitive ending or plot boundaries.
It was like one of those dice-rolling tycoon games where even after you'd bought up all the properties, you could keep playing and your wealth would just continue to grow.
'So now this game has transmigrated with me and appeared in my mind? But it's only showing up now, so long after I crossed over... isn't that a little too late?'
'And what good is a game in my head anyway?'
Just as the doubt surfaced, he was surprised to see an employee list for the Extreme Bar appear in the upper-left corner of a glowing screen, displaying the people right in front of him: the manager, Wang Yuan, and the young woman, Jiang Xiaobai. It even included lifelike avatars.
Name: Wang Yuan
Loyalty: 65
Status: A bar manager with limited abilities. Terrified of losing his job in the hyper-competitive nightlife industry. He can faithfully carry out the boss's orders, but it would be difficult to expect him to drive any significant growth.
'In other words, the guy has limited abilities, but his main virtue is his obedience. He'll do what he's told, but I can't expect anything more than that.'
Fascinated by this feature, Chen Jincheng immediately checked Jiang Xiaobai's information:
Name: Jiang Xiaobai
Loyalty: 0-100
Status: A young woman with an excellent face and figure. Her 175cm height gives her incredibly long legs. She possesses a great talent for DJing and getting a crowd hyped. Currently appears to be harboring resentment after being neglected by a scumbag.
Chen Jincheng froze when he read Jiang Xiaobai's status description.
'The scumbag... it's not talking about me, is it?'
'And what in the world does a Loyalty of 0-100 mean?'
Chen Jincheng couldn't figure it out for now. 'Still, this feature is pretty useful. At least I can see their Loyalty, so I won't have to worry about being backstabbed anymore.'
According to the game's annotations, a Loyalty score of 60 was generally considered reliable. Most office workers' loyalty to their companies was around that level, if not lower.
But for the time being, this feature couldn't help him escape his current predicament.
Then, he discovered he could actually operate the game in his mind. Because his businesses were bound to it, the game started him with a media company and a small bar, automatically named "Life Media" and "Life Bar."
No matter the industry, this game always named businesses "Life [Something]."
However, Second-Life Star was still under renovation, so its office location wasn't highlighted yet. Only the Life Bar was lit up and available to control.
He could control the game's employees to manage the bar and could also accept various quests.
He tried controlling a game character to accept a quest, but it seemed this just gave him another game to pass the time. 'My cheat ability can't be just this, can it?'
He remembered there was a starter pack. Sure enough, after opening his character's inventory in the game, he saw it.
He immediately clicked to open it, and a series of game notifications sounded:
[Congratulations on opening the starter pack. You have received a special item card: Internet Celebrity Debut Card.]
[Note: Use this card on any internet celebrity who existed in the host's previous life. When the host films and uploads a video of them recreating their past content, their first two videos will achieve the same level of popularity as they did in the previous life.]
[Congratulations on opening the starter pack. You have received a special reward: 'Extreme Bar' Special Promotional Function: Signboard Attraction Effect +100%]
Clearly, this was a reward for both his main and subsidiary businesses that were bound to the game.
But then, he noticed something was off. The game notification mentioned the 'Extreme Bar,' not the 'Life Bar.'
'So, does that mean the buff was applied to the real-life Extreme Bar?'
Recalling that the game could display information about the real Wang Yuan and Jiang Xiaobai, he grew incredibly excited.
'Signboard Attraction Effect +100% must mean it's more effective at drawing attention. For example, on a street full of signs, a pedestrian might notice any one of them. But with this attribute, they're guaranteed to notice mine.'
'The only thing is, noticing the sign doesn't necessarily mean they'll come inside. It's like those cringey "Real bros come chop me!" game ads—they're eye-catching, sure, but most people who see them won't actually click and play the game.'
But by that same token, if enough people notice it, some are bound to choose to come into the bar.
'Meeting the 30% occupancy rate should be a piece of cake.'
'That would solve the Jingyuan Building problem.'
'Likewise, if the occupancy rate goes up and the bar starts making money, it'll ease some of the cash flow issues. At the very least, I can use it to pay back the bar's loan.'
He just wasn't sure if things would really work out the way he was thinking.
"I'm going out to take a look!" Chen Jincheng said before walking out of the office.
Soothing music was already playing in the main hall. It wasn't even time for the early crowd yet, so only the female floor staff and other employees were around. When you work at a bar, no one wants their eardrums blasted every second of the day.
But as soon as the first customers arrived, the dynamic DJ music would kick in and get your blood pumping.
"Boss, we won't get any customers at this hour. People usually only start trickling in after 9 p.m.," Wang Yuan explained. But as luck would have it, the words had barely left his mouth when several men in their thirties walked through the entrance.
They weren't being led by a promoter, nor were they greeted by one, which meant they were walk-ins.
Wang Yuan immediately rushed forward to greet them. "Welcome to the Extreme Bar, gentlemen!"
"Get us a good table," one of the men said, clearly the one footing the bill for the night. "Your bar's sign is pretty nice. It caught my eye the second I turned onto this street."
At these words, Chen Jincheng's eyes lit up.
'In other words, my guess was right! The Signboard Attraction Effect +100% buff really was applied to the real-life Extreme Bar!'