A pillow just when he felt sleepy

Compared to the arcade machines, the storefront's rent of a little over a thousand was just a drop in the bucket.

Faced with Lin Lixin's downright terrifying ability to spot defects, the owner could only grit his teeth and accept their offer, selling them the whole batch of battered arcade machines at scrap prices.

When they returned to the house, the line in front of the machine hadn't shrunk. Instead, several new, unfamiliar faces had joined it.

Lin Lixin clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Everyone, thank you so much for supporting the first-day trial run of our 'Tetris.' Next, I need to do some further tuning and optimization on the machine."

Reading between the lines, he was telling them to leave.

After spending the day here, quite a few people knew that Lin Lixin and Sam owned the machine.

But that didn't mean they could accept this!

"No! Sir, it's only six!" Naturally, the loudest voice belonged to the person second in line. His turn was almost here, only for play to be cut off with a snap. Who could stand that?

"You should stay open until at least midnight! No, even ten would do! Please, let me play one more round. I'll do anything!"

"Yes, sir, I can pay extra!"

Lin Lixin lowered his hands, signaling for everyone to calm down first.

Letting this thing run for another night would indeed bring in quite a bit more money.

But he was getting a little nervous.

From the looks of things, several people were already carrying bags upon bags of snacks and drinks. Someone had even brought a picnic mat.

He had no objection to letting them keep playing, but the tax authorities might come knocking.

If this matter went onto the scales and he ended up getting thrown in for "operating without a license," he really would have nowhere to cry.

"Everyone, we didn't expect you to like our new game so much. Please rest assured, we're only making a few simple adjustments. You can come back next weekend. We've already rented the arcade on the street corner, and we'll be counting on your support then."

After much coaxing and persuading, they finally saw off all their esteemed customers. Both men let out long sighs of relief and moved the arcade machine back indoors.

Sam deftly pulled out the heavy coin box and sat cross-legged on the floor, cheerfully counting the money.

Yet the longer he counted, the stiffer his smile became.

It wasn't because they had earned too little, but because they had earned a lot. A little too much!

"One, one..." Even his hands were trembling as he added in what they had collected earlier. "One hundred twenty-five dollars and fifty cents! My God!"

This had already surpassed every record he knew of. This machine was a genuine, undisputed smash hit!

"This is nothing yet. Once we make it big, we're going to break into the home console market."

Hearing Sam's exclamation, Lin Lixin took the opportunity to dangle a grand promise before him.

Having seen the terrifying spending power of the video game industry in later years, he really couldn't think much of this little bit of money.

If Steam existed in this era, he hardly dared imagine how much they could make by putting this thing on it.

Selling copies was the way to go.

"Sam, think about it. If you came across a game you liked, how many copies would you buy?"

"The more, the better, of course!"

Sam was a die-hard gaming enthusiast to begin with. He had even picked up several copies of a monumental piece of crap like "E.T."

Lin Lixin snapped his fingers. "Exactly."

The famous Japanese philosopher Miss Konata Izumi had once said, "In my opinion, you need at least three copies."

"One for permanent preservation, kept in a special case;"

"another to take out and admire once in a while;"

"and the last one for spreading the faith."

Every player who owned a home console was a sales outlet, spread throughout every street and alley, across the land and seas.

Of course, it was still too early to think about any of that. For now, he ought to focus his energy on arcade machines.

The next day.

Sam got up early and headed straight for the arcade.

He needed to handle all the complicated operating and leasing paperwork. And, of course, there was cleaning to do.

As for Lin Lixin, his class schedule that day was different from Sam's. He also left early, heading to school.

"That will be all for today's class."

Just as Lin Lixin was about to zone out completely, the long class finally ended.

Ever since he had obtained that skill that moderately boosted his efficiency in learning computer languages, the material covered in class had hardly been worthy of his attention.

The only reason he hadn't skipped class was that this prematurely bald professor particularly loved taking attendance.

Coming back to his senses, Lin Lixin looked at the words "scrolling technology" he had scrawled in his notebook, and an idea came to him.

After leaving class, he headed straight for the school's science and engineering library.

He stepped inside. Rows of long tables and chairs stretched beyond sight through the enormous space.

Students hunched over their desks, scribbling on scrap paper from time to time.

A row of terminals stood along the wall. Unlike the paper-thin devices of later years, they were bulky and had nothing but monotonous command-line interfaces, yet they were already among this era's rare advanced products.

Lin Lixin walked past row after row of shelves and stopped in front of the sign marked "electrical engineering."

This was simply a developer's paradise!

He searched back and forth, finally setting his sights on several books about PPUs-picture processing units. In an era before graphics cards had been born, PPUs were what controlled graphics.

Lin Lixin reached out and took them down. He was just about to find a seat and study them carefully when an exclamation came from behind him.

"It's you!"

He turned around in puzzlement, meeting a startled gaze.

Vivian held a slim copy of "Video" against her short-sleeved polo shirt, which neatly traced the lines of her shoulders and waist.

Only when Lin Lixin turned around did she fully confirm that she hadn't mistaken him for someone else. His face was very distinctive.

Vivian curiously glanced a couple of times at the titles of the books in Lin Lixin's hands, then asked with some uncertainty:

"I didn't expect to run into you here. Are you a student at our school too?"

"Lady, why would I rent a place in the school district if I didn't go here?"

"Oh, right..." Only then did Vivian realize she had asked a stupid question, but she didn't mind at all and changed the subject. "Tetris really is an amazing game. After I got home yesterday, everywhere I looked, I felt like blocks were falling. It was incredible!"

Lin Lixin smiled politely and pointed at the copy of "Video" in Vivian's arms. "Are you still reading that book? I'd like to take it and study it."

"This one? It's only an introductory textbook, you know?"

Vivian was a little puzzled. An expert as impressive as Lin Lixin actually needed to read an introductory book like this?

"Yes, I want to learn about computer graphics techniques. I need them for a game project. My focus is programming, so I haven't signed up for any classes in this area."

"Wait, a new game?" Vivian keenly caught the key point in Lin Lixin's words, her eyes widening. "Then... actually, I could tutor you."

Vivian patted her chest, a confident look appearing on her face.

"Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Vivian, an electrical engineering major focusing on computer graphics and vision applications."