Chapter 59: Anime Episode One
In the experience store, Su Jinyu was diligently working at the front desk.
Jia Peng and Chang Xiuya were huddled together, whispering.
“I heard that Senior Sister Jinyu went to see the store manager yesterday after looking at the design document? What happened after that?” Chang Xiuya asked.
Jia Peng shook his head. “No idea. They talked for about an hour, then Senior Sister Jinyu came down and started working on the new project according to the store manager’s design document.”
Chang Xiuya lowered her voice. “She didn’t say anything?”
Jia Peng shook his head again. “Not a word.”
Chang Xiuya asked, puzzled, “So that means she agreed with the store manager’s idea? She approved of this game?”
Jia Peng hesitated. “I don’t think so. Her attitude now seems more like ‘set aside disputes and develop together.’”
Chang Xiuya looked worried. “Then what do we do?”
Jia Peng said, “What else can we do? We’re just bystanders, so we shouldn’t get involved. The store manager definitely has his own ideas, and us butting in would only cause trouble.”
Chang Xiuya nodded. “True. Let’s just keep drawing monster cards.”
The atmosphere in the experience store was a bit subdued, mainly because everyone was pessimistic about this new game called “I Am MT.” Based on the existing rules and gameplay, it seemed a bit baffling.
A game type that had never appeared before—could it really work?
“Excuse me, is this the Thunder Game Experience Store?”
Su Jinyu was startled. She looked up and saw a courier at the door, confirming his location.
Su Jinyu stood up. “Yes, do you have a delivery? You can just hand it to me.”
The courier walked in carrying a box. “There’s a Mr. Chen Mo here who ordered a projector. Please open the box and check it. If everything’s fine, I’ll help with the installation.”
A projector?
Su Jinyu was taken aback. What did Chen Mo need a projector for?
Chen Mo had already come downstairs. “Open the box. Mount the projector on the ceiling and put the screen on that wall.”
The courier was quick and efficient. Opening the box, unpacking, and installing took less than half an hour in total.
“Turn it on and see how it looks,” the courier said, wiping his sweat.
The projector was connected to Su Jinyu’s computer. Chen Mo pulled the curtains over the store’s windows and adjusted the projection effect.
It looked pretty good.
“Alright, that’s fine. If there are any issues later, I’ll contact your after-sales service,” Chen Mo said.
“Got it.” The courier packed up his tools and took the trash with him as he left.
Jia Peng exclaimed in surprise, “Store manager, you bought a projector? What’s it for?”
Chen Mo said to Su Jinyu, “Open the video I sent you.”
“Video?” Su Jinyu glanced at her computer screen. Sure enough, Chen Mo had sent her a video file about ten minutes long, titled “I Am MT Season 1 Episode 1.”
She opened the video, and the image appeared on the projector.
Chen Mo said, “Everyone’s been working hard lately. Let’s watch a little movie together to relax.”
Everyone was curious. Was this the anime Chen Mo had been busy with?
Regarding this anime, from character designs to the script, Chen Mo had handled everything himself. The others knew nothing about the plot. They had thought it would take a long time to produce, but the first episode was already out this quickly?
On the projection screen, the logos of Thunder Interactive and Shining Aurora Studio flashed by.
The animation opened with a grand, sweeping vista. In the background music, a deep-voiced narrator began to describe the world’s setting.
“On the vast and boundless continent of Azeroth, many races live, survive, thrive, and struggle, together creating a brilliant civilization.”
“Many years have passed since the Alliance and Horde fought side by side to resist the invasion of the Burning Legion. Though that great war successfully saved the continent of Azeroth, the fragile pact between the Horde and the Alliance has long since crumbled.”
“Now, the war drums thunder once more. The Alliance, led by humans, and the Horde, led by orcs, are again raising their weapons against each other…”
“Our story begins in the tauren tribe…”
Many scenes flashed by: the majestic Stormwind City, the heavily guarded Orgrimmar, the serene and tranquil Darnassus… Different races, different landscapes—the full scope of the continent of Azeroth was revealed in the brief narration.
Finally, the camera shifted to a cute, naive tauren.
Wen Lingwei and Su Jinyu sat together, both looking surprised.
The quality of this animation was very high!
After all, it was produced by Shining Aurora Studio. The visuals, sound effects, narration, and some details were all excellently done, clearly showing the creator’s dedication.
The store manager must have spent a lot of money.
Moreover, the opening narration and scenes had captured everyone’s attention.
Though brief, the entire world setting of the anime was laid out clearly. It was obviously a Western fantasy world, featuring classic fantasy races like orcs and dwarves, along with classic fantasy scenes.
Furthermore, the anime’s world setting was very rich, easily felt from the narration alone.
The world was called Azeroth, with at least seven or eight races. There were alliances and conflicts among them. Currently, it seemed divided into two factions: one called the Alliance, led by humans, and the other called the Horde, led by orcs, with the two being hostile to each other.
“The world setting is quite grand, but the actual plot will depend on what comes next,” Wen Lingwei said.
The opening segment immediately captured everyone’s attention.
This was exactly the effect Chen Mo wanted.
Why was Chen Mo so confident in “I Am MT”? Because its world setting came from “World of Warcraft,” and did the cultural influence of “World of Warcraft’s” world setting even need to be questioned?
Even setting aside the game “World of Warcraft,” its world setting and storyline were still top-notch.
Just like before “Harry Potter” became popular, how many people in China understood or loved wizard culture? Many knew nothing about it, but that didn’t stop “Harry Potter” from being a hit.
Classic things are classic everywhere. Even expressed in a different way, they remain classic.
On the surface, Chen Mo was remaking “I Am MT,” but in reality, he was creating a hybrid of “I Am MT” and “World of Warcraft,” using the storyline of “I Am MT” with the background of “World of Warcraft.” Only then could “I Am MT” truly become a complete work.
Just like this opening, through a segment of narration and scene transitions, the audience naturally learned the entire story’s background and accepted the setting of Azeroth and its various races.
Chen Mo was now like a dual-wielding warrior with Titan’s Grip, wielding “I Am MT” in his left hand and “World of Warcraft” in his right.
The audience in this world didn’t know about “World of Warcraft”? No problem. With his top-tier storytelling skills from the first phase, Chen Mo could seamlessly weave the world setting of “World of Warcraft” into “I Am MT,” feeding it to the audience bit by bit.
Of course, if Chen Mo had the ability in the future, he would bring more gaming culture from his previous life to this world. But for now, making this anime was already his limit. He couldn’t yet produce a large-scale client game like “World of Warcraft,” nor did he have the money to make a Warcraft movie.