“…So, this is your interview submission? Cat Mario?”
22nd floor of the Binjiang Tech Tower, in the conference room of Golden Wind Game Technology Co., Ltd.
As the interviewer for this game director recruitment, Chu Qingzhou, the executive assistant, glanced at the game proposal in her hands, then looked at the young man in the Mickey Mouse hoodie sitting across from her.
Her tone was filled with doubt.
She really couldn’t believe that this piece of crap could be called a “game proposal”!
Just the concept art on the first page was already ridiculous—
An A4 page laid out horizontally, filled with obstacle designs that looked exactly like Mario’s.
Except this time, the main character wasn’t a mustachioed plumber, but a bipedal cat… with a smirking face?
The grass, pipes, even the clouds in the picture were all labeled with the word “Danger.”
The sloppy art style practically reeked of sarcasm.
Did a carbon-based lifeform actually design this thing?
Chu Qingzhou glanced at the image again, her expression complicated.
Who the h*ll would play this kind of crazy game!?
“Let me confirm one more time, Mr. Gu Sheng,”
She took a deep breath, closed the proposal, and frowned.
“You’re sure this is the concept art for your game?”
“Yes, this is exactly the kind of style it’s going for…”
The big guy sitting across from her forced a polite but awkward smile.
“Abstract.”
His name was Gu Sheng, a transmigrator with a system.
Three years ago, due to an accident, he crossed over to this parallel world and became a freshman at Binjiang University, majoring in game design.
In this world, the level of electronic tech was slightly more advanced than his past life, but the gaming industry was a disaster.
The genres were limited, gameplay was rigid and repetitive, and domestic games were flooded with reskins and pay-to-win garbage—mass-produced titles that were endless.
And Gu Sheng’s system seemed born to conquer this barren sea of opportunity—
[Game Vault System]
It was a point-exchange system containing the source code and architecture of every game from his previous world.
Once activated, those masterpieces—true ninth-art classics—would once again shine in this world.
However.
To unlock the system, two conditions had to be met—
[Condition One: Before activation, the host is forbidden from releasing any games]
[Condition Two: During senior year internship, the host must be successfully hired as a director or higher at a game company]
[Note: Both conditions must be met simultaneously. Otherwise, the system will self-destruct]
The first condition was easy enough.
But the second one!
Getting hired as a director during an internship?
That was a nightmare difficulty!
Do you know what level a director is?
We’re talking Hidetaka Miyazaki! Sid Meier! G-man! Shigeru Miyamoto!
You want a college student to be hired as a game director?!
Unless a CEO was actively trying to bankrupt their company, this was flat-out impossible!
Even Hideo Kojima couldn’t get promoted straight to director before graduating!
But sadly, those were the rules. If he couldn’t meet the requirements during this one-year internship, the system would vanish.
So, Gu Sheng had no choice but to try his luck.
And just yesterday—
His 100th resume finally got a reply.
A company called Golden Wind Games responded and invited him for an interview today.
But now…
It seemed the interview wasn’t going so well.
Looking at the interviewer’s dark expression, Gu Sheng sighed inwardly.
In this world, he was just a broke student. Sure, in his previous life he interned at FromSoftware, and after returning to China he worked at Ubisoft Sichuan as an assistant project director. He had plenty of experience.
But even a skilled woman can’t cook without rice.
And with how little time he had after receiving the interview notice, he had no choice but to hurriedly put together this version of Cat Mario as his submission.
“Granted… it’s a bit rough,”
Seeing that the interviewer was speechless, Gu Sheng decided to salvage some dignity.
“But the gameplay is solid, I promise.”
“The sheer number of traps constantly challenges players, and every stage they clear will be a dopamine rush!”
Bullsh*t.
Chu Qingzhou rolled her eyes mentally.
Yeah right.
Are players all masochists now? Is life going too smoothly that they need to play some eye-searing mess like this???
Chu Qingzhou sighed. She didn’t want to waste any more time on this dumb*ss designer and gave Gu Sheng an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Gu. This… uh, submission really doesn’t meet the minimum standards of the game industry,”
“So—”
Before she could finish!
A sweet, crisp voice chimed in from the side:
“Which is why I think you have potential!”
Both Gu Sheng and Chu Qingzhou were stunned and turned toward the voice.
Right beside Chu Qingzhou, seated in the very center of the meeting room’s main seat, was a young woman.
She looked about the same age as Gu Sheng—twenty-two or twenty-three, with a round face and big eyes. Her hair was tied into twin buns like Nezha, giving her an adorable, sweet look.
Oh right, he almost forgot.
Gu Sheng raised a brow.
As ridiculous as it sounded, this young woman was actually the company’s CEO—the real decision-maker.
She’d stayed quiet this whole time, and Gu Sheng had nearly mistaken her for the company mascot.
But now that she’d finally spoken, her words were explosive.
Chu Qingzhou looked baffled.
Where on earth did this little boss see any “potential” in this guy?
Was it that smug cat?
The water pipes that looked like rocket launchers?
Or those brain-dead mushrooms that poison you if you eat them?
This game was garbage from every possible angle. No sane designer could have come up with it!
If Cat Mario actually got released and sold even half a copy…
She’d drop to her knees and kowtow to this kid three times on the spot!
However!
Facing Chu Qingzhou’s dumbfounded stare, the Nezha-haired girl remained calm and smiled slightly at Gu Sheng:
“Mr. Gu, you just said… you have no work experience, right?”
“Nope.”
Gu Sheng nodded.
If you didn’t count his past life, he really didn’t.
“And no current plans?”
“Nope.”
“And you’re not working on any projects?”
“Also nope.”
“Perfect! Then Golden Wind is the place for you to shine and realize your dreams!”
With that, the girl stood up and held out her hand to Gu Sheng.
“Welcome to Golden Wind, Director Gu!”
Wait what? Hold up???
Watching their hands about to meet, Chu Qingzhou felt like her CPU was about to fry!
What the h*ll was going on here?
Was the boss insane?
Why charge headfirst into a dumpster fire like this!?
But no matter how she tried to stop it, she was still a step too late.
Ding!
The moment Gu Sheng shook her hand, a crisp chime rang in his head—
[Congratulations! You have been hired as a Director. The Game Vault System is now activated!]
[From this moment, the system will collect player emotional value to exchange for games. The more the game sells, the faster emotions accumulate!!!]
It… actually worked?
Gu Sheng almost laughed.
Talk about random blessings.
This Nezha girl wasn’t a sucker—she was a guardian angel!
But what he didn’t know was—
At the very same moment his system activated…
A chime also rang in the girl’s mind—
[Ding! Congratulations! You’ve successfully bound to your project lead. The Investment Rebate System is now active!]
[From this moment on, if the bound project incurs a loss, the system will compensate you tenfold!!!]