This Kid Was an Even Bigger Show-Off Than Boss Lin

"That's the boy, Mr. Lin."

The two stood outside the glass window of a small classroom.

Even without the staff member pointing him out, Lin Lixin had already recognized the person he was looking for.

He was a boy with glasses and a head of messy blond hair.

He lay slumped over his desk, sleeping away without paying the slightest attention to the teacher's lesson.

When a staff member from the juvenile detention center hauled him up, he was just like a brat with all his hackles raised.

If Lin Lixin hadn't known what Carmack would accomplish in the future, he would have found it hard to connect this little brat with such illustrious titles as the father of FPS games, the father of 3D engines, and the founder of id Software.

Quake, Doom, and other IPs that would become household names in later years had all come from his hands.

The conditions for developing those things simply weren't there while graphics card technology was still in its infancy.

But Lin Lixin had come looking for him for a "pseudo-3D" title-Wolfenstein 3D.

"John, hurry up and say hello to Mr. Lin."

Carmack frowned deeply, staring at the uninvited visitor, Lin Lixin.

"Sir, would you mind letting me speak with him alone?"

"Well... as long as you don't take him outside, Mr. Lin. He's used that trick to escape several times."

"Of course. Oh... I'll do my best."

"Did you write this code?"

Inside the lounge, Lin Lixin took a PC enthusiast magazine out of his bag and turned to a page.

The code printed there was astonishingly good, written with exceptional ingenuity.

Carmack shot Lin Lixin a sideways look without answering.

Faced with this unfamiliar stranger who had turned up uninvited, John Carmack remained as surly as ever.

Lin Lixin shrugged and continued:

"You're only fifteen this year, right? And you can already write programs this impressive? You're even better than my buddy who majored in computer science."

Perhaps Lin Lixin's flattery had hit the spot, because a hint of pride appeared on Carmack's face.

"I'm self-taught. Those bookworms at school are just wasting their time. That's the gap in talent."

Had anyone else made such an arrogant boast, Lin Lixin would have simply taken it as a little brat talking big and laughed it off.

But he couldn't knock Carmack for it. The kid really was that damn good.

[John Carmack]

[Overall rating]: S+ (a hidden dragon in the depths)

[Program development]: 98 (Growth: S)

[Graphic design]: 99 (Growth: S)

[Social skills]: 5 (Growth: E-)

Carmack was only fifteen now, yet his stats were already approaching triple digits.

Given a few more years to grow, there would be no limit to what he could accomplish.

"I heard you were locked up for breaking into the school computer room to steal an Apple II?"

"Yeah. I melted the window with a mixture of thermite and Vaseline."

Far from showing any shame, Carmack grew excited, as though showing off his glorious achievements.

"Why would you do that?"

At Lin Lixin's question, Carmack gave him a look reserved for idiots, as though what he had done was perfectly natural and justified.

"Come on, it was an Apple II! Rather than leaving it in the computer room, they might as well let me take it and do something more meaningful."

All right, trying to talk reason or common sense into Carmack clearly wasn't going to work.

This guy's brain must have been wired differently from ordinary people's.

"You want a PC?" Lin Lixin gave him a harmless smile. "How would you like to make a deal with me?"

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll give you a set of requirements. If you can write something I'm satisfied with, I'll pay for a brand-new Apple II for you."

Lin Lixin thought for a moment, then simply raised the stakes further.

"No, I can pay for a brand-new IBM 5170 for you, and write a letter of guarantee to the detention center to get you released early."

The IBM 5170 was a new high-end model IBM had only just released that year. Compared with the Apple II's low-end consumer specifications, one was in the heavens and the other was down on earth.

Its Intel 80286 processor boasted a clock speed of 20 MHz and was a 16-bit processor based on the x86 architecture.

It was in a completely different league from the cheap 8-bit MOS processor used in the Apple II.

Since he was baiting the waters to fish for talent, he naturally had to provide plenty of bait.

Carmack was a stubborn, surly, rebellious little brat. If Lin Lixin had come straight out and praised him to the skies, it wouldn't have done much good.

Sure enough, when he heard Lin Lixin had a challenge for him, Carmack's eyes immediately lit up, and he took on a bring-it-on air.

"Go ahead. If there's anything I can't write, looking for someone else won't help you either."

"3D rendering."

Lin Lixin merely spoke slowly, uttering those two words.

But the astonished response he had imagined never came. Carmack merely raised an eyebrow slightly and gave a disdainful snort.

"That's it? I thought you had some huge challenge."

"What do you mean, 'that's it'? This is really difficult, you know."

"Everything's difficult for ordinary people like you."

Carmack had absolutely no grasp of social niceties and showed no mercy with his words.

Lin Lixin choked on that, unable to say anything for a long while.

He had spent his whole life showing off, only to end up getting mocked by a little brat.

"Just wait for my good news. Oh, right, I need an Apple II for development."

"Hey, don't agree just yet. I haven't finished explaining my requirements."

Lin Lixin held out a hand to stop Carmack just as his concealed dagger was finally revealed, then took one thing after another out of his bag.

And from the moment that beautiful arcade board appeared, Carmack's gaze never moved away from it.

"What you'll be developing is a 3D rendering program that runs on this board, not on a PC."

Lin Lixin took out another stack of bound, printed documents and set it on the table.

"Besides that, you'll need to use the N Language developed by our company, along with assembly language."

At last, Carmack showed some reaction, staring at the thick documentation before him in something of a daze.

"That's not a problem..."

It was only a new programming language. Give him a little time and he would soon learn it.

But what truly piqued his curiosity was something else.

"But... who exactly are you, Lin?"

He had thought Lin Lixin was merely a fan who had sought him out after hearing of him, hoping for help with some difficult coursework.

After all, Lin Lixin looked only a few years older than him, at most the age of someone who had just graduated from college.

But both the arcade board he had produced and the documentation for this programming language Carmack had never heard of told him that Lin Lixin's identity wasn't so simple.

"Me? I'm just a lousy game developer. GAMENOVA-nothing more than a little grassroots startup."

Lin Lixin smiled faintly, stood up, and made as if to leave.

"Then I'll wait and see what you can do. I've already left my contact information with the detention center staff. Remember to call me."

With that, he left the development supplies behind, pushed open the door, and strode out.

"Hey! Mr. Lin, wait a second!"