Chapter 1 Friday, April 22nd

Pei Qian was sitting in a café near Handong University, sipping coffee and staring at his phone screen, silently memorizing the contents.

Yesterday, He An from Mengguo Games had agreed to come to Jingzhou, but whether he would be willing to teach depended on the results of the test.

As for why the meeting place was chosen to be this café instead of Touching Fish Internet Cafe… the answer was obvious.

Pei Qian went to Touching Fish Internet Cafe too often; all the employees knew him.

If he didn't tell them in advance, the employees would definitely give him away. But if he told them to cover for him, too many people would know, and it would easily leak out.

What's more, the Internet Cafe was across from Glory Studio, and Ruan Guangjian went there every day to buy coffee. If they ran into each other, and Ruan Guangjian shouted "President Pei," that would be exciting.

Therefore, considering all aspects, Pei Qian decided to avoid his own businesses as much as possible in the future. The fewer people who knew about him inviting He An to give lectures, the better.

Anyway, it was just to spend money and learn knowledge; no need to worry about so many details.

Currently, only Assistant Xin and driver Xiao Sun knew about this matter and were working hard to cover for Pei Qian.

It was already 2 PM, and according to Xiao Sun's report, President He had already gotten off the plane and would probably arrive in about forty minutes.

Pei Qian had been cramming ever since last night, except for sleeping time.

As for, no textbook, what to review?

Pei Qian pondered and could only make predictions.

Yesterday, he spent a lot of time searching for all the games He An had ever made. It was impossible to play them all, so he could only roughly watch some related videos and then watch game reviews and commentaries to grasp some basic knowledge.

Anyway, as long as he didn't perform too badly and then expressed his sincerity with tuition fees, it should be a sure thing.

After searching for the games He An had made, Pei Qian realized that this guy was truly a senior big shot in the domestic game industry.

He An was born in 1969 and was 42 years old this year. When he was twenty years old, he had already created his first casual game. Later, he created an industry-renowned single-player RPG game and achieved great success. He founded his own game company, which was Mengguo Games.

His most recent game was a multiplayer national war RPG online game developed three years ago, which was still operating today and in good condition. However, after developing this game, he had already achieved fame and was in a semi-retired state.

Such a big shot could be said to have witnessed the entire development history of the domestic game industry and had achieved success in multiple game genres. He was definitely qualified to give lectures to the vast majority of domestic designers.

Even ordinary people couldn't invite him.

However, this also brought a problem.

There was too much content for Pei Qian to cram!

With so many games, Pei Qian could only skim through them. If He An asked a more in-depth question, he probably wouldn't be able to answer it.

Pei Qian was very helpless, but there was only so much time, and he wasn't a genius with a photographic memory. Moreover, many of these games were too old. Although they were famous at the time, Pei Qian had never even heard of them. Rote memorization would have a limited effect.

There was no way, he could only pin his hopes on his European Emperor-like luck and his ability to spend money.

While memorizing, forty minutes passed without him realizing it.

"President He, this way." Xiao Sun pushed open the door and led a middle-aged man in his forties into the café.

Pei Qian immediately recognized He An. He looked younger than in the photos. Although he was a bit unkempt, the confidence of a successful middle-aged man was still inadvertently exuded in his gestures.

Pei Qian got up to greet him and shook hands with He An.

"President He, hello!"

He An smiled warmly, "You must be President Ma? Nice to meet you."

Pei Qian also nodded with a smile, "Yes, I'm Ma Yang. President He, please sit down."

The two sat down, and after Xiao Sun inquired, he immediately found a waiter to arrange for coffee and then went out to wait in the car.

Pei Qian had already instructed him that Xiao Sun would be fully responsible for He An's itinerary during this time.

On the one hand, it was hospitality, and on the other hand, it was to prevent being exposed.

What Pei Qian wanted now was to spend this 1.6 million as smoothly as possible and avoid any strange rumors.

The two chatted while drinking coffee.

He An looked relaxed, "I really didn't expect President Ma to be able to achieve so much in the investment industry at such a young age. A hero emerges at a young age."

Pei Qian smiled slightly, "Didn't President He create his first game and become famous at home and abroad when he was twenty years old?"

The smile on He An's face became even brighter. Obviously, no one would feel uncomfortable with this kind of mutual flattery.

"President Ma may be talented in the investment industry, but game design is a completely different matter. I said before I came that I would conduct a simple little test. I hope President Ma doesn't mind."

Pei Qian nodded, "Of course."

He An took out a folded document from his bag, about three or four pages, and handed it to Pei Qian, "President Ma, just answer according to your own ideas. Don't be nervous. These should be considered relatively simple questions."

Hearing the words "relatively simple," Pei Qian breathed a slight sigh of relief. If it was basic knowledge, it seemed that there would be no problem for him to get a passing score on the content he had crammed.

Of course, he couldn't be careless.

Pei Qian took the test paper and took out the pen he had bought at a high price for cramming, but had only used a few times, from his suit pocket, ready to start answering.

However, after seeing the questions, Pei Qian was dumbfounded.

He casually scanned a few questions.

"What kind of psychology of the player group did *Lonely Desert Road* use to achieve success? What was the designer's purpose?"

"Why can *Ghost General's* art style stand out among a crowd of card games? How should the designer balance his own needs with the original artist's inspiration?"

"What was the original intention of setting the price of the Fire Kirin in *Sea Fortress* at 888? What kind of effect did it objectively have?"

"What are the outstanding features of *Game Producer's* marketing methods? What is the central idea of the game?"

"..."

"What kind of thoughts of the designer does the epitaph in *Turning Back is the Shore* reflect? What kind of effect did it objectively have?"

There were three pages in total, all short answer questions, and blank spaces were thoughtfully left.

Pei Qian looked up at He An with a complex expression.

You're testing me on this???

I specially crammed the basic knowledge of games and the games you designed here!

But you're using the games I made as questions to test me. What do you mean?

If I had known this, why would I have searched for information about the games you made? Wouldn't it have been enough to rewatch all of Teacher Qiao's videos!

Seeing the look of surprise and confusion on "Ma Yang's" face, He An smiled slightly, "Hehe, President Ma, did you think I was going to ask some basic knowledge, or questions related to the games I made?"

"All those basic knowledge can be found online. There's no point in rote memorization."

"As for the games I made… although I'm reluctant to admit it, they're outdated."

"Now, if you want to learn game design, you must learn the most innovative games."

"Coincidentally, President Ma, you are interested in games and happen to work in an investment company under Tengda. I think you have some understanding of Tengda Games."

"Learning more about Tengda's design concepts will be of great help to you."

"How about it? I said, this test is really not difficult, right?"

Pei Qian: "..."

Looking at He An and then at the test paper in his hand, he was filled with mixed feelings.

Well, what else could he do? Answer it!

Pei Qian quickly wrote on the paper, answering the questions.

He An drank coffee and patiently waited.

…

Half an hour later, Pei Qian finished answering.

Although he didn't fill all three pages, he made sure that each question had at least three to five lines of words, making it look like he knew what he was doing.

Even if he was making things up for short answer questions, he had to fill in the blanks. This was a good habit that Pei Qian had developed since high school.

He An happily took the test paper and flipped through it. His expression quickly became unpredictable.

"The success of *Lonely Desert Road* made use of the player's masochistic psychology and argumentative psychology. The designer's purpose was to make players feel bored in the game and give up."

"The epic ink painting oil painting style of *Ghost General* is very special among a crowd of Q version games, and the imaginative character design also adds to it. The designer should completely abandon his own needs and let the original artist play freely."

"The original intention of setting the price of the Fire Kirin in *Sea Fortress* at 888 was to discourage players and prevent them from buying it. Objectively, it seems to have stimulated the consumption of local tyrants." (referring to whales or big spenders in the game).

"The outstanding feature of *Game Producer's* marketing is that the clumsy marketing content unexpectedly triggered the effect of up-and-coming masters' spontaneous marketing. The central idea of the game is 'being misinterpreted is the fate of the expresser'."

"..."

"The epitaph in *Turning Back is the Shore* reflects the designer's desire to discourage players by all means. Objectively, it has the opposite effect, stimulating players' rebellious psychology."

He An frowned and relaxed from time to time as he looked at the answers.

Pei Qian silently drank coffee, feeling complicated.

He hesitated for a long time, should he write down his actual thoughts, or answer the questions according to the over-interpreted content of Teacher Qiao and others?

Although based on the principle of honesty, he should write down his actual thoughts, but if he did that, President He would probably run away on the spot.

Therefore, Pei Qian could only answer the questions very shamelessly with the standard answers over-interpreted by Teacher Qiao and the successful game experience summarized by his designers.

But the problem was that Teacher Qiao would not make videos for every game of President Pei.

Teacher Qiao hadn't made videos for some questions, and for some questions about "designer intentions," Pei Qian really didn't know how to answer, so he could only let himself go.

Although such an answer seemed absurd, that was all he could do.

Hopefully, he could pass!

He An read all three pages, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Some questions are answered very well; some questions are said in a relatively straightforward language, but that's the meaning; and some questions… the answers are outrageous."

"To be honest, I can't quite figure out your true level."

Pei Qian showed a polite smile.

True level is elusive?

That's right.

Because I can't figure it out myself either…