Chapter 81

“But I think they’re putting out their money because they loved my game, not because of some collection thing. It’s all because they found that they loved it. They saw the sincerity I was trying to convey through the game, which is why they were so willing to start donating to support me. So I’ll never forget the love my fans gave me, and I’m not going to stop. I will create more good games in the future to repay all that…’love’.”

Wen Linwei read Chen Mo’s interview aloud.

“I can’t believe it,” exclaimed Su Jinyu.

Jia Peng said, “Manager, won’t the fans kill you for this?

“Maybe you should move into the university dormitory for a few days until things settle down?” Wen Linwei suggested.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t this interview very well written? Just look, every word they wrote reflects my true feelings about the fans,” Chen Mo said.

“Boss, aren’t you afraid of getting struck by lightning if you keep this up?”  Su Jinyu asked.

“Manager, do you have a lightning rod on your roof?”  Jia Peng asked.

“Okay, that’s enough of that, guys. I’m supposed to have an interview today, so let’s close this topic,” said Chen Mo.

Jia Peng asked:”Interview? Are you looking for another employee?”

Chen Mo nodded: “Yes, I will still have to hire a writer and a numbers specialist. Otherwise I’ll have a little trouble making big games. Goldfish and I won’t be able to do everything ourselves.”

“Does that mean we’ll soon have another pretty girl?” Wen Linwei asked.

“Who is she?”  Jia Peng asked.

“What are you fellows thinking about? ‘It’s a guy,” said Chen Mo.

Wen Linwei said: – “A guy? Why do we need a guy? Don’t hire him.”

Chen Mo was at a loss for words: “Are you fellows planning to turn my video game store into a women-only store?”

Wen Linwei rolled her eyes,  “Don’t tell me you didn’t plan it.”

“…Anyway, I’ll go. He’ll be here soon,” Chen Mo said.

Soon after, Zheng Hongxi arrived.

He looked rather young. He was tall and thin, but when Chen Mo looked at him, he had the impression that he looked like a calm, polite man. Chen Mo shook his hand and led him into the conference room.

“I’ve changed my mind, a handsome guy will do as well,” Wen Linwei said to Su Jinyu.

“Can you pull yourself together? It all depends on whether he meets the boss’s requirements, right?” Su Jinyu said.

—

Inside the conference room.

Chen Mo poured Zheng Hongxi a glass of water: ” You didn’t come to some big company, so the interview will be more like a normal conversation, so don’t be nervous.”

Zheng Hongxi nodded: ” I’m surprised, you’re much younger than I thought…”

Chen Mo laughed: “It’s been about a year since I graduated.”

Zheng Hongxi replied, ”Then you graduated a year ahead of me. It hasn’t even been a year since I graduated.”

Chen Mo had already looked over Zheng Hongxi’s resume.

Zheng Hongxi, twenty-four years old. Recently graduated from Magical City University. Worked at a media company and quit because he didn’t like the job. He wanted to go to work in another field, but he still hasn’t decided which one.

Chen Mo also took a quick look at his previous works. Most of them were short stories. Besides Western fantasy, he also wrote short stories in the style of traditional Chinese fantasy: wuxia, xianxia…

Although they were not brilliant, the important thing is that they were well and beautifully written. All of his works were mostly evaluated by Chen Mo.

Chen Mo asked: ”What about furthering your career, have you made up your mind yet?”

Zheng Hongxi said: “Not yet. Personally, I don’t like the interpersonal relationships in traditional workplaces. I thought about starting to write short stories, but that kind of work is too unstable.”

”Have you thought about making games?” Chen Mo asked.

”I thought about it, but from what I’ve seen, Chinese developers don’t put too much effort into story, whereas I want to focus specifically on story.” Zheng Hongxi answered.

Chen Mo nodded: ”Okay. I’ve prepared some questions especially for you.”

After finishing his sentence, Chen Mo pulled out a preprinted set of questions.

Zheng Hongxi looked at them. There were only five questions.

“Write some tasks for a MMORPG”

“Make up names for various weapons and armor from the Three Kingdoms era, while indicating their rarity and giving them a brief description”

“Give a brief description of the relationship between Draenor and Azeroth”

“Choose a small event from the world of Azeroth and briefly describe what will happen next”

“Complete a quest chain, including the dialog between a NPC and the player. The summary of the quest is as follows: Tyrion Fordring wants you to find Telan’s hammer.”

”Take your time,” Chen Mo said, “You have one full hour.”

Zheng Hongxi nodded: ”Understood.”

”Let me know when you’re done.” Chen Mo said as he left the conference room.

When Chen Mo went out, someone asked him, “How did it go, manager?”

”So far so good,” Chen Mo said. ”He is now doing some tasks that will show his skills. If there are no problems, he will be accepted.”

” Hmm?” Su Jinyu asked. ”What kind of assignments?”

”Do you guys want to give it a try, too? Though I’m afraid you guys won’t be able to do it,” Chen Mo replied.

”Goldfish was the best in her class,” Wen Linwei said, ”You underestimate her.”

”Okay, you can try them if you want. Answer them if you like.”

Chen Mo discounted Su Jinyu’s questions.

After reading the questions, everyone stepped back in silence.

Su Jinyu looked at Chen Mo with surprise, “Aren’t they too difficult? The first two questions are easy, but the last three?”

”Of course, you find them difficult, because normally you don’t pay attention to such things. Okay, everyone can go home now, obviously you guys aren’t cut out to be writers.”

”We’ll keep quiet.” Wen Linwei said.

The questions Chen Mo decided on were actually easy, as he only planned to test some of the basic qualities of a writer.

Coming up with names for guns, armor, adding some details in quests, writing dialogue… It would all be pretty easy to do if a writer took on these questions.

A writer must be able to describe the world colorfully and logically, so that the reader feels as if he is immersed in a completely unexplored world. At the very least, the text should not be repulsive, because otherwise the work would be thrown away.

More advanced writers should be able to describe colorful and great battles, spell out dialogue, create unique missions that will touch the hearts of readers… After all, “Word of Warcraft” would not have become so popular if it had a mediocre story.

Now Cheng Mo wanted to see if Zheng Hongxi had the skills of an aspiring writer. The rest could be checked out later.