Old Huang was somewhat worried: “Will it work? Teacher Chen Qi may have forgotten about something that happened a year ago, despite being an industry expert. Who would still remember who you are?”

“Besides, when industry bigshots do promotions, they usually have set prices. Each one has a high value. We’re hoping they’ll help promote ‘Ghost General,’ but we can’t offer any benefits in return…”

Ruan Guangjian shook his head: “Not necessarily. From my observation, these experts are generally quite easy-going. Although they do take on quite a few commercial promotions, it’s also very common for them to advertise for each other on Weibo.”

“The key is whether they like our work or not.”

“If they like it, some will be willing to casually repost it; if they don’t like it, then there’s nothing we can do.”

Old Huang could only nod: “Well, we can only try.”

Ruan Guangjian opened the chat group. Old Huang leaned over to look and saw that the group was indeed full of hidden talents.

The group owner was called Chen Qi, who had made a name for himself in the domestic game concept artist circle years ago and usually served as a judge at various game concept art competitions.

And the other administrators in the group were all notable figures.

Some were famous in the Chinese animation circle.

Some specialized in concept design.

There were even some game designers, producers, novelists, and so on.

These were all people in Chen Qi’s network, mostly artists, with a small portion being professionals from the gaming, animation, and other circles.

Ruan Guangjian felt tremendous pressure speaking in such a circle full of industry leaders.

He thought for a moment that he couldn’t start by asking others to promote the game. No one would respond to that, and it would seem very impolite.

“Respected experts, I’m a fourth-year art student who recently created a set of concept art. Could you please help me see if there are any shortcomings in this set of concept art and if there are any areas for improvement?”

Ruan Guangjian’s tone was very polite.

Although he was very confident in his painting skills, he was still a junior after all, so he should remain humble when necessary.

This group wasn’t particularly active, and the experts were very restrained in their casual chats.

So Ruan Guangjian’s message wasn’t quickly pushed down but stayed in the chat for a while.

Just two minutes later, someone named “Artist Old Liu” replied: “Sure, send it over and let’s have a look.”

Ruan Guangjian sent several pieces of his most satisfying representative works to the group: “Thank you for your guidance!”

Artist Old Liu: “No need to be so formal. We’re all colleagues, exchanging ideas to improve together. I just started in the industry a few years earlier than you, that’s all.”

A few seconds later.

Artist Old Liu: “Whoa… I take back what I just said. You’re the real expert! This light and shadow, this styling, these details! Are you a fourth-year student?”

Soon, all the lurkers in the group were drawn out by these images.

“Another expert posing as a newbie? With such skillful techniques, you still call yourself a newbie? If you’re a newbie, what am I?!”

“This foundation is so solid!”

“This expression technique is very unique. Is this dragon Guan Yu? The image is so revolutionary! But it doesn’t feel jarring at all, rather quite natural!”

“This feeling is truly magnificent. Whether characters or landscapes, everything is full of tension.”

“Are all newcomers monsters?!”

“Concept art at this level can’t even be evaluated in terms of ‘technique’ anymore; this is pure talent!”

“It gives me the feeling of a foreign master’s work. I’m afraid even the concept art of ‘Fantasy World’ wouldn’t be more excellent than this!”

“You can’t say that… there’s still a tiny bit of room for improvement in the details… Of course, it easily surpasses me…”

As soon as the images were posted, the entire group exploded!

These people were professionals, so they could see many advantages that ordinary people couldn’t.

When ordinary people look at a painting, they mainly see whether it “looks like” something or how “detailed” it is, or at most, they’re confined to some very subjective feeling.

But in the eyes of professionals, they can see the light and shadow, details, and styling of the painting…

In other words, if you show two similar paintings to ordinary people, they can’t tell which one is better; but if you show them to professionals, they can immediately see which artist is more skilled.

And now, the concept art that Ruan Guangjian posted was the type that even industry experts would consider exceptional!

“Amazing, especially the imagination!”

“Breaking out of the framework of traditional character design to recreate requires unbridled imagination, and turning this imagination into a specific image requires profound skills and extraordinary talent!”

“If this set of concept art could be made into a game, that would be incredible!”

The speaker was Chen Qi, the group owner and a famous concept design master in the domestic game circle.

He paused, then typed: “When did this friend join the group? I don’t seem to remember…”

Ruan Guangjian’s lips twitched slightly. Indeed, Chen Qi had forgotten about him.

After all, he was added to the group by chance last year, and Ruan Guangjian hadn’t posted anything for a year. Many new people had joined since then, so Chen Qi had long forgotten about him.

But that didn’t matter. For an artist, the most important thing was to let the work speak for itself!

Once these images were shared, everyone in the group immediately recognized Ruan Guangjian as a talented new artist.

“Young man, have you considered joining our company after graduation? The salary and benefits will be above industry standards!”

“Come to our side instead. We have better prospects for development and more profit sharing in game projects!”

People in the group had already started competing to recruit him.

Ruan Guangjian was naturally very pleased. Having his work highly recognized by these industry professionals was in itself something to be very happy about!

Actually, before creating this set of concept art, Ruan Guangjian had no confidence in whether his original style could be successful.

Similar fields are all like this—no one knows if a book will be popular before it’s written; no one knows if a movie will be a box office hit before it’s filmed.

Let alone concept art, which involves such strong subjective aesthetic preferences.

But now, seeing the feedback from these professionals in the group, Ruan Guangjian was filled with confidence!

However, he didn’t forget what he had come here for.

“This is concept art commissioned for a game called ‘Ghost General,'” Ruan Guangjian typed. “But the game is facing a small problem right now, which is why I wanted to ask for help from all of you experts.”

Chen Qi: “What’s wrong?”

Ruan Guangjian: “Well, the company that developed this game is a very conscientious small company without much money. They spent it all on development and improving game quality, and as a result, they didn’t leave any budget for promotion!”

“So, I humbly ask if the experts here could help promote this game, just a simple repost on Weibo would be great!”

Chen Qi: “Sure, it’s just posting on Weibo, that’s easy. What’s the name of the game? Which company produced it?”

Ruan Guangjian: “Ghost General, by Tenda Network Technology Co., Ltd.”

“Tenda? Tenda… why does that sound so familiar?” Chen Qi was somewhat confused.