Chapter 81: The Interview
"The players have a genuine love for this game from the bottom of their hearts. They felt the sincerity I conveyed to them through the game, which is why they willingly opened their wallets to support me, hoping I can create more and better games in the future. For this, I always remember the players' deep affection, never daring to slack off, and I will definitely develop more fun games to repay everyone."
In the experience store, Wen Lingwei was reading aloud Chen Mo's exclusive interview press release.
Su Jinyu: "So cringey! I really can't bear to look."
Jia Peng: "Boss, are you sure you won't get beaten to death by the players like this?"
Wen Lingwei said, "I suggest you guys go back to school for a few days to lie low, so you don't get caught in the crossfire."
Chen Mo was speechless: "What's wrong, what's wrong? Isn't this written pretty well? Look, every word and sentence reflects the players' true feelings for me."
Su Jinyu: "Boss, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning when you say that..."
Jia Peng said, "Boss, does this store have a lightning rod installed?"
Chen Mo was speechless: "Alright, everyone, that's enough. We have an interview today, so don't scare off the student coming in."
Jia Peng asked, "Interview? Are you hiring new people?"
Chen Mo nodded: "Yeah, I might need to hire a narrative designer and a systems designer. Otherwise, for future large-scale games, it'll be too much for just me and Goldfish to handle."
Wen Lingwei said, "Tsk, so that means another cute girl will be joining us soon, right?"
"Really!" Jia Peng perked up too.
Chen Mo was speechless: "What are you guys thinking about all day? It's a guy."
Wen Lingwei said, "A guy? What's the point of hiring a guy? Send him away, send him away."
Chen Mo: "...Are you guys trying to turn my experience store into a women's paradise?"
Wen Lingwei rolled her eyes: "Don't tell me that's not what you were thinking."
Chen Mo: "...Forget it, I won't argue with you. That guy should be arriving soon."
Not long after, Zheng Hongxi arrived.
He was a fairly young guy, tall and thin, looking quite quiet and polite. Chen Mo shook hands with him and led him to the meeting room.
Wen Lingwei said to Su Jinyu, "Hmm, I've changed my mind. This handsome young guy is pretty good too."
Su Jinyu was speechless: "Can you have some integrity! Who we hire still depends on whether they meet the boss's requirements!"
In the meeting room.
Chen Mo poured a glass of water for Zheng Hongxi: "This isn't some big company, so the interview is just a casual chat. Don't be nervous."
Zheng Hongxi nodded: "Yeah, I'm not nervous. But I'm pretty surprised—you're much younger than I imagined."
Chen Mo smiled: "I graduated from college over a year ago."
Zheng Hongxi said, "So you're just one year ahead of me. I graduated less than a year ago."
Chen Mo had already looked over Zheng Hongxi's resume.
Zheng Hongxi, 24 years old, had just graduated from a key university in the Magic City, majoring in literature. After graduation, he worked at a media company in the Magic City for a while but quit because he didn't like the job. He wanted to switch careers but hadn't decided yet.
He had some personal works, which Chen Mo skimmed through. They were mainly medium-length and short stories, including various fan fictions. Besides Western fantasy, he also wrote about xianxia, wuxia, and Eastern fantasy themes.
The works weren't particularly outstanding, but the basic writing skills and plot conception were passable. Most importantly, no matter what theme he wrote, there was basically no sense of incongruity, which Chen Mo found quite satisfying.
Chen Mo asked, "Have you thought about what career you want to switch to next?"
Zheng Hongxi said, "Not really. I personally don't like the interpersonal relationships in traditional jobs. I considered becoming a full-time web novel writer before, but my current skill level isn't good enough. I'd probably struggle to make a living, and the pressure from my family would be pretty high."
Chen Mo asked, "Have you considered working in game development?"
Zheng Hongxi said, "I have. But relatively speaking, domestic games in China don't place much emphasis on narrative, while my main interest lies in storytelling."
Chen Mo nodded: "Alright, here's the deal. I've prepared a test for you. Just write whatever you can."
With that, Chen Mo took out a printed test.
Zheng Hongxi took it and looked it over. There weren't many questions—just five in total.
The first question was to design the world-building background and two classes for a xianxia-themed MMORPG, along with a brief introduction to the class characteristics.
The second question was to write the names and descriptions of five items for a Three Kingdoms-themed strategy game. The items had to be of the same type, with quality ranging from low to high.
The third question was to briefly describe the relationship between Draenor and Azeroth based on the content of the "Azeroth Universe."
The fourth question was to choose a minor event from the "Azeroth Universe" and briefly write a quest line. No specific quest text was needed—just a summary.
The fifth question was to write a complete quest text, i.e., the words an NPC says to the player. The quest summary was as follows: "Fordring asks you to retrieve the Hammer of Taelan." The character settings should follow the relevant content from the "Azeroth Universe." Changes were allowed, but the character settings would need to be rewritten.
Chen Mo said, "No rush. Take your time writing. An hour should be enough."
Zheng Hongxi nodded: "Yeah, that's enough."
Chen Mo turned and walked out: "Call me when you're done."
Chen Mo left the meeting room, and everyone asked in low voices, "How is it, boss?"
Chen Mo said, "Seems okay. I gave him a written test. If he answers it without issues, he's good to go."
Su Jinyu asked, "Huh? What kind of written test?"
"Do you guys want to take it too? I'm afraid I'd discourage you," Chen Mo said.
Wen Lingwei said, "Goldfish is a top student after all. You're really underestimating people."
Chen Mo said, "Fine, I'll show you guys. If you want to try, go ahead."
Chen Mo then pulled up the test on Su Jinyu's computer.
Everyone finished reading the entire test paper and silently dispersed.
Su Jinyu looked at Chen Mo with some exasperation: "Boss, what is all this? It's too hard, isn't it? The first and second questions I could kind of make up, but what about the rest?"
Chen Mo said, "You don't pay attention to this stuff, so of course you find it hard. Alright, everyone go home and mind your own business. This just shows you're not suited for a narrative designer's job."
Wen Lingwei said, "Yeah, let's mourn for this narrative guy for three seconds."
Su Jinyu said, "Don't be so pessimistic. Maybe he can answer it?"
In truth, the test Chen Mo had prepared was relatively simple. It was just a way to check the basic qualities of a narrative designer.
Things like item names, item descriptions, world-building, classes, quest lines, and quest text were all basic tasks for a narrative designer.
As a narrative designer, the primary ability was to properly package a game, making players feel like it was a complete, self-consistent world—at least not giving them a sense of incongruity that would affect the gaming experience.
As for advanced abilities, it involved coordinating the relationship between narrative and settings, integrating the world-building with the gameplay, and even moving players through special narrative quests.
For Chen Mo, at this point, he only needed Zheng Hongxi to meet the first requirement. The rest could be cultivated gradually.