FPE Chapter 16

TV Interview

“Bro Jiang, things aren’t looking great. Some account with over a hundred thousand followers also posted a video about Fantasy Amusement Park, claiming to be the park’s owner.”

Jiang Zharen had been feeling pleased with himself for generating another million views that day, when his colleague responsible for monitoring online public opinion suddenly sent him that message. Before he could even reply, another message came through: “Bro Jiang, it’s ‘Xiao Chiyou Yizhen.’ He’s been on the platform for less than two years, doesn’t have a company backing him, and built over a hundred thousand followers on his own — that takes real skill. Are we going to go head-to-head with him?”

Jiang Zharen frowned with irritation. “What do you mean ‘go head-to-head’? Fantasy Amusement Park’s holographic effects are fake to begin with. We were just stating the facts.”

His colleague replied. “But ‘Xiao Chiyou Yizhen’ says he’s the owner, and he posted several videos of the park that look pretty convincing. We’re not going to hit a wall this time, are we? These days, anyone who can own a plot of land in the city to run a private amusement park has to have serious connections!”

Jiang Zharen’s team had always been the type to bully the weak and fear the strong, and finding themselves in this situation made them a little uneasy.

Jiang Zharen went and watched “Xiao Chiyou Yizhen’s” video first, then let out a snort. Isn’t this just a rehash of that Little Daze Cutie’s video? Completely unbothered, he said, “We’re in Hai City, he’s in Jin’an City. So what if we offend him — is he going to grow wings and fly over here to beat us up?”

His colleague replied. “What if he sues us for defamation?”

Jiang Zharen scoffed. “Defamation how? You actually believed him just because he made a video? You really think that tiny little park could pull off real holographics?”

His colleague thought about it and conceded the point, then heard Jiang Zharen continue. “Perfect — let’s make another video. The heat is still there, let’s use it to go a few rounds with ‘Xiao Chiyou Yizhen’!”

****

On the other side of things, Chi Yizhen insisted on paying Little Daze Cutie the promotional fee that was owed, crossed that item off his memo, and after taking care of that, he stopped paying attention to what was happening online — he simply didn’t have the bandwidth.

The park’s “holographic” effects had been so impressive, and combined with the dirt-cheap ticket prices, the Abandoned Park and the Magic Beast Viewing Corridor had together sold a total of 330 tickets that day, bringing in 3,300 yuan. Chi Yizhen estimated that after the TV station came for their interview tomorrow, the park’s foot traffic would climb even higher. Hiring staff was becoming increasingly urgent — he had already posted job listings and paid for placement on a recruitment app, so he could only hope to bring people on board as soon as possible.

It was now ten o’clock at night. An hour ago, Chi Yizhen had closed up the park, and he had immediately received a notification from the game about the next stage’s missions. Unlike before, this time the game had issued two missions at once.

[Main Quest Three: As the park’s reputation spreads, more and more visitors have grown curious about it. However, the small park can no longer handle the steadily growing foot traffic. Please expand the park’s area by one acre within one week.]

[Main Quest Four: Please stabilize the park’s daily visitor count at an average of 200 people per day. Time limit: one week.]

Chi Yizhen wasn’t worried about Main Quest Four. Fantasy Amusement Park was no ordinary park — those bizarre but very much alive magic beasts satisfied visitors’ curiosity and appetite for the unusual. Visitors who entered the Abandoned Park to fight the magic beasts could relieve stress and get some exercise, and the experience points flowing back to them would leave their mood and physical condition in a better state. Even if they couldn’t tangibly feel that change just yet, they would definitely develop a stronger fondness and anticipation for the park. With its growing reputation in the surrounding area and the help of online promotion, rising visitor numbers were all but guaranteed.

Main Quest Three wasn’t particularly difficult in concept either — the challenge lay in getting everything done within a week.

88 Taoyuan Street was located in the Xinghu District of Jin’an City, a part of town that sat on the edge of the old city center and belonged to a not-yet-fully-developed new district. When Grandma had first chosen this location to open the amusement park, she had been drawn to the foot traffic from the nearby old city, as well as the vast expanse of flat land and hills stretching out behind the park. Back then, Grandma had hoped that once the park started making money, she could buy up the land behind it and expand the park into something much bigger.

Sadly, the Xinghu District had never developed the way Grandma had hoped. All these years had passed, and the foot traffic on Taoyuan Street had barely increased. On top of that, Jin’an City was a third-tier city that had been experiencing a net population outflow for years, leaving even less hope that Xinghu District would ever take off. By now, the park had closed, government policies had changed, and buying land had become completely out of the question.

Then again, a lack of development had its upsides too. At the very least, the several dozen hectares of land behind the park had never been turned into a residential development, which meant his park still had room to expand. Buying land was out of the question — all land belonged to the state now — but he could lease it from the government. Signing a twenty- or thirty-year lease agreement shouldn’t be a problem; after all, anything that increased fiscal revenue was something the relevant government departments would be more than happy to arrange.

He didn’t have enough money to cover the lease fees upfront and would have to take out a bank loan, but a week wasn’t nearly enough time to get through all the procedures.

And frankly, he had another nagging concern. Game, you said the park is the player’s divine kingdom — does that still apply to the expanded parts? That wouldn’t be private land. What if something happens down the line — like an otherworldly evil god transmigrates here and we end up in a fight — would the park get blown apart into pieces?

[It will not. Please rest assured, player. All expanded sections of the park fall within the bounds of the divine kingdom. If the player encounters danger, the park will depart together with the player.]

Chi Yizhen pictured the entire park vanishing without a trace, leaving nothing but a gaping crater behind, and shook his head vigorously. That would send the general public into a complete panic. He’d better make an effort and do everything he could to avoid ending up like a snail running for its life with its shell on its back.

He scrolled through the game interface again and again, and found that the game had thoughtfully prepared all the relevant certificates and permit application documents he would need. All he had to do now was handle the bank loan.

Chi Yizhen thought it over for a while, then began making calls to the TV station. It was a bit inconsiderate to be calling at nine o’clock at night, and he had no idea whether the TV station would even take it seriously, but for the sake of expanding the park’s public profile and making sure the permit application process went smoothly, Chi Yizhen was willing to push through it — worst case, he’d just have to make a few more calls.

Whether it was luck on his part, or the game working behind the scenes, the matter of reaching the TV station went remarkably smoothly.

Jin’an City Television had a public affairs hotline that was staffed in rotation, with operating hours running from eight in the morning to eleven at night. The reason the hours extended so late was that people tended to be far less restrained at night than during the day, which meant the station received far richer material after dark. In an era when online media had taken over, TV stations had to fight hard to carve out a path forward.

The person on duty that evening was a woman named Fang Jiu. Fang Jiu was a newly joined reporter at the station, and in this industry, it was notoriously difficult for newcomers to make their mark. What came her way were either especially grueling on-site assignments or thankless late-night shifts like this one. When she heard the caller on the other end introduce himself as the owner of Fantasy Amusement Park and say he was hoping to get some coverage on the station, something stirred inside her.

Fantasy Amusement Park had only been open for two days, and while it had already caused quite a stir among people near the Xinghu District of Jin’an City, word had not yet reached the city center. But as someone working in media, Fang Jiu of course also managed her own account on video platforms, and the “holographic” dispute trending online that day had naturally caught her attention. She hadn’t expected the park’s owner to be calling her this quickly.

He sounds so confident — could it be that the so-called holographics are actually real?

In that moment, Fang Jiu felt an inexplicable surge of excitement, a vague sense that a rare and unmissable opportunity had just landed right in front of her.

“Alright… so what time works for you tomorrow to receive us for the interview?”

As a newcomer, she often had to find her own interview subjects, so she had the freedom to decide what to cover — whether it could pass the higher-ups’ approval and actually air was another matter entirely. But Fantasy Amusement Park was different. TV stations these days kept up with the times and frequently rode the coattails of trending online content, and given the buzz Fantasy Amusement Park had generated online today, this interview segment was certain to get approved.

Sure enough, once Fang Jiu reported the park’s call to her superiors, it quickly received a nod of approval from above. With that settled, she called the park owner back to confirm a few details, then hung up and found herself lying awake for a long time afterward, too restless to fall asleep.