The Game Department's Sci-Fi Conquest Game award ceremony was held at the Game Department in Magic City.
More specifically, it was in the conference hall of the Modu Game Department building.
They called it an award ceremony, but it had virtually nothing to do with the word "ceremony."
Even though it was the National Day holiday, there were still quite a few staff members in the Game Department.
It was unclear whether they were permanent employees or ordinary contract workers.
There was no lavish setup. The Game Department staff mostly used their phones to take photos and collect footage.
There were quite a few gaming media outlets at the entrance to the Game Department, carrying signs and cameras on their shoulders.
However, those media outlets mostly just took pictures from afar. No one came forward to conduct interviews.
After all, the event had only just begun. Even if they wanted interviews, they would wait until the designers had finished the official event inside the Game Department.
Although it was rather simple, Chen Xu found it quite interesting, since it was his first time attending an event like this.
It was only one-thirty, and the notice he had received beforehand said it would officially begin at two o'clock.
Following a staff member into the temporarily converted conference hall, Chen Xu found the place quite spacious.
The entire room was decorated in red-brown and white, with tiered seating.
The chairs were arranged in two large sections. At the front was a long table serving as the main podium, with bright red national flags on both sides of the backdrop and the national emblem centered above it.
Plastic nameplates had been placed throughout the conference room, each bearing the name of a game designer.
Chen Xu soon found his seat, in the first row by the wall. Someone was already sitting in the seat beside it.
"You're Chen Xu? To the Moon deservedly took first place." Meng Zuo moved aside to let Chen Xu in, a faint smile on his face, though his feelings were incredibly complicated.
It would have been a lie to say he felt no resentment.
But hatred was out of the question.
He even admired Chen Xu a little. After all, he had played To the Moon too, and it had moved him deeply.
"Teacher Meng? I've heard so much about you. I also really liked Galaxy Heroes, especially the Level Design in Chapter Three. It was outstanding." Hearing this, Chen Xu glanced at the nameplate in front of Meng Zuo and extended his right hand with a smile.
"Not at all. The storytelling in To the Moon is what truly deserves to be called perfect, and Undertale, which you developed before that, was even more astonishing." Meng Zuo shook Chen Xu's hand and instinctively exchanged polite compliments, but then he suddenly realized something.
Why did this scene feel so familiar?
It was exactly like the scene he had imagined in his mind a month ago!
Only, the protagonist and supporting character seemed to have been switched around.
Meng Zuo released his hand and fell silent.
But Chen Xu had no time to notice that he had unintentionally wounded a game designer's fragile heart.
Several designers nearby who had noticed the commotion came over to talk to Chen Xu.
What surprised Chen Xu was that a few of them were remarkably outgoing and exceptionally enthusiastic.
After probing around a little, Chen Xu figured it out.
Although these people did not know him, they all shared one thing in common.
They had all been torn apart online by Zhong Mei before.
They just had not confronted him head-on like Chen Xu had.
Zhong Mei had baselessly trampled on them, then used their popularity for his own gain.
Chen Xu, on the other hand, had helped them vent some of that frustration.
And now that Chen Xu had taken first place in this Game Recruitment Event, quite a few designers naturally took the initiative to get acquainted with him.
After all, they were all part of the gaming industry. One more friend meant one more path.
His phone now contained a whole bunch of designers' phone numbers, and he had been added to several small designer group chats.
While everyone chatted, the Game Department leaders soon arrived in the conference hall.
Chen Xu had done his homework before coming.
He knew all the key leaders in the Game Department, since there would definitely be plenty of opportunities to deal with them in the future.
The award event officially began. Yang Chen, the Magic City director of the Game Department, went onstage to deliver a speech. He was a thin, tall middle-aged man in his fifties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and fitting the traditional image of an intellectual.
The speech itself was extremely serious and formal.
After the speech ended, they moved on to the awards portion, and Yang Chen spoke solemnly.
Amid a round of applause, Chen Xu walked to the front with a smile. When the applause died down, he accepted from Yang Chen a small red booklet representing the First Prize, along with a small medal for the First Prize.
Next came the acceptance speech. Chen Xu had memorized this part long ago, simply adapting the template from last year's contestants' acceptance speeches.
As for whether there would be any overlapping phrasing later, he did not care. He was the first one going up to speak anyway.
"Thank you, leaders. I am deeply honored to receive first place in this Conquest Game Competition. Standing here at this moment, I am extremely excited..."
As Chen Xu delivered his speech, thunderous applause erupted below the stage. But Meng Zuo, who had been sitting beside Chen Xu earlier, wore a somewhat subtle expression.
Why did this acceptance speech sound so much like his?
After all the game designers had finished their speeches onstage, they each took a photo in front of the Game Department staff with their certificates and medals. The event was basically over.
Once they left the Game Department, the reporters who had been waiting at the entrance stopped holding back and swarmed over.
However, the media mainly focused on Chen Xu and Meng Zuo from NetDragon's Sword Fire Thunder Studio.
After all, those two were the only ones in the group with much buzz around them.
"Teacher Chen, how do you feel about winning the First Prize this time?"
"Teacher Chen, do you have plans for a new game after To the Moon? Will it also be a relatively heartwarming game like To the Moon?"
The reporters fired off all kinds of questions.
But everyone was clearly fairly restrained, and it was not an exclusive interview. As long as Chen Xu answered, every outlet could publish it; it just depended on who could get their article out fastest.
"Winning the First Prize was a tremendous surprise and an incredible delight. I never imagined that the leaders would think so highly of To the Moon. At the same time, receiving this First Prize has made me feel immense pressure. In the future, I will continue contributing to the domestic gaming industry..."
Listening to Chen Xu's lengthy remarks, the surrounding media outlets felt miserable.
How could such a young designer speak so officially?
There was not a single juicy headline in it!
But what Chen Xu said next made them even more miserable.
"As for a new game, I do not have anything in mind yet. I also cannot say whether it will be a relatively heartwarming game. But personally, I do enjoy developing this kind of game. After all, I've always felt that I should count as a Warrior of Love."
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