To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Chapter 2: This Game is Off_1

Mr. Shen's office was already crowded with teachers who had come upon hearing the news.

This group of gamers in their early forties stared at the screen, shouting like a bunch of silly children at this moment.

Mr. Shen secured the second round. He pushed away another teacher who had just fallen off a cliff to his death and then took over the spot to start a new game.

Although he didn't understand what made it fun, Fang Cheng still added some elements he was familiar with to the game during its production.

The player's character was made of clay, but with some Mana added to it, which made the character soft and delicious, with a sweet earthy quality that easily attracted the attention of monsters in the forest.

It didn't matter if they died; he left a Spirit Gathering Array there. Upon detecting the death of the previous character, the Spirit Gathering Array would automatically condense Mana and reshape the earthen body.

It was too slow to chop trees with a normal body, so he also added something to this body, allowing players to possess the strength of the Third Layer of Qi Refining from birth, making it no problem to chop trees barehanded.

The backpack was created using a storage pouch, a small bag that could hold a large number of items.

The crafting system was replaced by an Artifact Refining Magic Artifact, with the Mana source still the Spirit Gathering Array.

A filter was added to the graphics to make everything seem more game-like, so as not to let people discover this was another planet.

Making these things didn't take much time; a few simple Immortal Spells could do the trick, but in the eyes of the teachers, it was completely different.

Before he called people over to appreciate (and show off) the game, Mr. Shen had already played several rounds and was already adept and thoroughly enjoying himself.

While playing, he said, "This game, it's the real deal. I've played survival games for so long, and I've never seen one this realistic before."

"Yeah," another teacher couldn't help but sigh, "Whether it's the gravity system or the collision system, even the way prey acts after death is extremely realistic. It's just not harmonious enough; why should the blood be red?"

"Young people, you know, not much experience, haven't been beaten up yet," Mr. Shen said with a chuckle.

"Young people? Don't tell me this is the work of a student in your class."

Another teacher also marveled, "Remarkable, if you told me this was Tianyi's new work, no, even Bethesda's, I would believe it. Many of the engines here must have taken a long time to adjust; otherwise, they couldn't have been produced."

"Even with adjustments, they couldn't produce this, the performance is too strong, the optimization too remarkable, most of it must have been written by themselves."

"Impressive, Shen, your level has really gone up recently."

Mr. Shen wanted to boast further, but he then saw Fang Cheng, who had already come in, and his eyes lit up.

He hurriedly waved his hand and said to the others, "He's here, it's Fang Cheng!"

"Fang Cheng, huh..."

"Didn't expect it to be him..."

"Appearances can be deceiving!"

Everyone present was familiar with Fang Cheng.

After all, he was the one who single-handedly raised the average attractiveness of gamers.

Mr. Shen, proudly pulling Fang Cheng over, said, "See? This was made by Fang Cheng, by my student! All of you claim your games have sold millions; has anyone taught a student with Fang Cheng's level?"

"Pfft, show-off," one teacher scoffed but couldn't deny it.

The game industry involves a lot of luck, and the legacy is not very strict.

Many people hit it big with games, but they can't seem to teach good students, which shows how random this industry is.

Many people could only feel envious.

No one suspected that Fang Cheng was plagiarizing, after all, in this era, it was very easy for AI police to spot a plagiarized game. Following that would be utter ruin, a lifetime ban from the gaming sphere.

After envying for a while, Shen played for a bit longer and then said, "That's good enough, I think the completeness is very impressive now, it can be uploaded to the platform for the competition. Fang Cheng, tell me the truth, have you been brewing this idea for a while?"

"No, it was done in three hours, I didn't think too much about it beforehand," Fang Cheng said honestly.

The office suddenly fell silent.

Some of the teachers didn't feel like talking anymore.

It was bad enough that you were good at other things, but how did you manage to learn Shen's kind of Versailles talk too?

"Forget it, just upload it quickly. Put on the digital signature and timestamp and then enter the competition. If everything goes as expected, Tianyi should be hiring you."

Fang Cheng smiled calmly but was still full of doubts.

The game he developed seemed quite boring, merely wrapping some Immortal Spells, which ironically reduced the sense of realism.

Could it be that realism isn't necessarily what makes a game enjoyable?

What on earth does it mean for a game to be enjoyable?

Amidst the collective praise of the teachers, Fang Cheng grew more perplexed.

Soon, Fang Cheng's game was fully uploaded.

Nowadays, the gaming industry was highly developed, and various gaming platforms often hosted a variety of game project competitions, like the Newcomer's Cup from the training institutes, which was one of them.

The Newcomer's Cup was a competition exclusively for newcomers, aimed at those aspiring to enter the game industry and who hadn't yet been recruited by game companies.

Participants could form groups of five to make games, or produce games solo; the materials used could be free or made with paid services.

Because newcomers often couldn't produce anything great, leading to varied levels of quality in their work, there were always people willing to download the creations of newcomers for amusement, subsequently making satirical review videos.

"Wang Say Games" was one such content creator.

He too was once part of the gaming fraternity, not a bad guy, but a bit sharp-tongued. After reviewing games, he would offer targeted advice for improvements; overall, he was a decent fellow.

As usual, he started looking for games in the Newcomer's Cup, streaming live while mocking them.

"This game is a typical product of the creator's hubris, insulting and harmful to players; I think it should be called 'The Ultimate Insult.'"

"Some games are gourmet food, others are cesspits; this game is different, it's a cesspit disguised as gourmet food."

Playing and mocking at the same time, Wang Say Games realized it was already eleven at night without him noticing; it was time to sleep.

"The last game, huh? I'll play this last one and then go to bed. Let's see, this game, 'The Forest's Second Son'... this name, clearly trying to cash in on 'Son of the Forest.' The gaming world is really in decline."

Just the name was enough to ignite the soul of Wang Say Games' mockery, compelling him to click download, eager to unleash his pent-up scorn.

Click, that was fast!

Thanks to the current internet speeds, the game downloaded almost instantly, and Wang, while starting the game, continued to mock, "A knockoff game is basically always terrible. Its awfulness is comprehensive, like being taken to dine in a toilet, an overwhelming stench."

But once he entered the game, Wang's smile gradually froze.

This thing... it's in the wrong place, isn't it!