Who Would Play This Damn Game!

"……So, this is your interview submission? Mario Bros.?"

Golden Wind Game Technology Co., Ltd., 22nd floor, Binjiang Technology Building, conference room.

As the interviewer for the Game Director recruitment, Chief Assistant Chu Qingzhou looked at the game proposal in her hand and then at the young man in the Mickey Mouse hoodie sitting opposite her.

Her tone was filled with uncertainty.

She really couldn't imagine that this piece of junk could be called a "game proposal"!

The game concept art on the very first page was outrageous—

An A4 paper laid out horizontally, featuring obstacle designs identical to Mario's.

However, the protagonist had been changed from the mustachioed plumber to a bipedal, smug-looking... cat?

The grass, pipes, and even the clouds in the image were all labeled with the word "Danger."

Vector arrows crisscrossed the page, making one dizzy, as if every step forward meant a hundred traps awaited this smug cat.

The rough art style exuded an overwhelming sense of mockery from within.

Was this thing designed by a carbon-based life form?

Chu Qingzhou glanced at the image again, her expression complex.

Who in their right mind would play such a ridiculous game!!!

"Let me confirm, Mr. Gu Sheng,"

Taking a deep breath, Chu Qingzhou closed the proposal and asked with a frown, "Are you sure this is the concept art for the game's visuals?"

"Yes, the game's style is… uh…"

As he spoke, the young man sitting opposite her offered an awkward yet polite smile:

"Abstract."

His name was Gu Sheng, a transmigrator with a system.

Three years ago, due to an accident, he had transmigrated to this parallel world and became a freshman in the Game Design program at Binjiang University.

In this world, the level of electronic technology was slightly higher than in his previous life, but the quality of games was abysmal.

Game genres were limited, gameplay was monotonous and rigid, and in China, reskinned cash-grab games ran rampant, with countless assembly-line titles.

And Gu Sheng's system seemed to be designed to conquer this blue ocean market—

[Game Treasure Trove System]

This was a point exchange system, storing the source code architecture of all the games from Gu Sheng's previous life.

Once opened, those masterpieces, hailed as the Ninth Art, would see the light of day again and continue to shine in this world.

However.

To activate the system, two prerequisite conditions needed to be met—

[Condition 1: Before the system is activated, the host is prohibited from releasing any games]

[Condition 2: The host must successfully be hired as a Director or above at a game company during their senior year internship]

[Note: Both conditions must be met simultaneously for the system to officially activate. Otherwise, it will self-destruct]

The first condition was nothing; it could be easily met.

The crucial part was the second condition!

During the "internship period," to be hired as a "Director" at a game company?

This difficulty level was practically hell!

What level was a Director?

That was Hidetaka Miyazaki! Sid Meier! Gaben! Shigeru Miyamoto!

You expect a student like me to apply for a Game Director position?!

Unless some boss was determined to drive their company into the ground!

Otherwise, it was simply impossible!

Let alone him, even Hideo Kojima couldn't achieve such a meteoric rise and become a Game Director before graduation!

But unfortunately, these were the system's conditions. If the system couldn't be activated within this one-year internship period, it would automatically disappear.

Thus, Gu Sheng could only try his luck.

And just yesterday!

His 100th resume finally received a reply.

A company called [Golden Wind Game] responded to his job application and asked him to attend an interview today.

However…

It seemed the interview results weren't ideal.

Gu Sheng looked at the interviewer's ashen face and sighed inwardly.

In this world, he was just a poor student. Even though he had interned at FromSoftware in his past life and later worked at Yubisoft Chongqing Studio as an assistant lead game designer upon returning to China, possessing rich game development experience.

But a clever cook cannot prepare a meal without ingredients.

Coupled with the tight deadline for the job notification.

In his desperation, he could only hastily create this "Mario Bros." as his interview piece.

"Although... it's a bit rough,"

Seeing the interviewer speechless, Gu Sheng decided to save some face:

"Its gameplay is absolutely fine,"

"Massive amounts of traps will constantly stimulate players. Every time they clear a level, it will be a moment of dopamine release for them!"

You're spouting nonsense.

Chu Qingzhou rolled her eyes internally.

If I believe you, I'm an idiot.

Are players all masochists? Are their lives going too smoothly that they need to play this eye-searing garbage of yours???

Chu Qingzhou sighed, not wanting to waste any more time on a foolish designer. She offered Gu Sheng an apologetic smile:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gu, your uh... work, really doesn't meet the minimum standards of the game industry."

"So—"

Before she could finish!

A crisp, sweet voice rang out from beside her:

"So I think you have a lot of potential!"

At these words!

Both Gu Sheng and Chu Qingzhou were startled. They turned to look.

Beside Chu Qingzhou, seated at the central chief position in the conference room, was a young girl.

The girl was about Gu Sheng's age, around twenty-two or twenty-three. She had a small, round face, big eyes, and her hair was tied up in twin buns, just like Little Nezha's. She looked sweet and cute.

Oh, right. He almost forgot about her.

Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow.

As outrageous as it was, this girl was the president of this company, the true executive decision-maker.

Little Nezha had been silent until now, and Gu Sheng had almost treated her like a mascot.

But who would have thought that her first words would be so astonishing.

Chu Qingzhou was clearly a bit bewildered.

Little Ancestor, where do you see this idiot having potential?

Is it that smirking cat?

Or the pipes that could be used as rocket launchers?

Or those brain-dead mushrooms that poison you if you eat them?

This broken game, from any angle, doesn't look like a plan a normal designer would come up with, right?

If this "Mario Bros." were released on the market, let alone a full copy!

If it sold even half a copy, I'd get on my knees and kowtow to this kid three times!

However!

Facing her secretary Chu Qingzhou's bewildered gaze, Little Nezha calmly smiled and looked at Gu Sheng:

"Mr. Gu, you just said... you have no work experience, right?"

"No."

Gu Sheng nodded.

If his past life didn't count, he indeed had no work experience.

"And no recent projects?"

"No."

"Nor any projects in development?"

"None either."

"Excellent! Then Golden Wind will be the place for you to spread your wings and realize your dreams!"

Saying that, Little Nezha actually stood up and extended her hand to Gu Sheng:

"Welcome to Golden Wind, Director Gu!"

What the hell? No, wait a minute???

As the two were about to shake hands, Chu Qingzhou felt like her CPU was about to fry!

What in the world was going on?

Had the boss gone crazy?

Why was he rushing headlong into danger?

However, despite Chu Qingzhou's desperate attempts to stop him, she was still a step too late.

Ding!

As Gu Sheng shook Little Nezha's hand, a crisp sound echoed in his mind—

[Congratulations on successfully being hired as Director, the Game Treasure Trove System is now officially open!]

[From now on, the system will automatically collect player Emotion Points to redeem games. The higher the game sales, the faster Emotion Points will accumulate!!!]

That was it... I succeeded?

Gu Sheng felt like laughing.

Happiness had come in such a bizarre way.

This Little Nezha was truly a big idiot... no, a great benefactor!

However, he didn't know that.

At the exact same moment his system activated!

A prompt also sounded in Little Nezha's mind—

[Ding! Congratulations on successfully binding to the Manager, the Rebate System is now officially open!]

[From now on, if the project the Manager is involved in incurs a loss, the system will compensate the host with a tenfold rebate!!!]