Chapter 557: An Exclusive Interview from Across the Ocean
On this day, two special guests arrived outside Chen Mo’s experience store.
A blonde foreign woman was speaking in English in front of a camera: “Hello everyone, I’m Denise, a reporter from TGN. I’m sure many viewers are wondering, where am I right now? That’s right, we’ve traveled across the ocean to a distant Eastern country, and we’re here to embark on a pilgrimage.”
“Of course, that word might sound a bit odd, but once you see the front door of this experience store, any loyal player of *Dark Souls* like me should understand what I mean by ‘pilgrimage,’ right?”
“That’s right, this is Thunder Interactive Entertainment, the company that developed the dark masterpiece *Dark Souls*. Many viewers might share my question: the experience store is only this big?”
“I had the same doubt at first, because compared to some famous companies like GA, the scale of this experience store is really too small. It’s hard to imagine how many R&D staff this Chinese company actually has.”
“But that only piques my curiosity even more, and makes me want to see just what kind of person the designer behind *Dark Souls* really is. Alright, then please follow me as we go visit Silent, the designer of *Dark Souls*.”
As she spoke, Denise walked toward the experience store.
Behind her was a staff member carrying a camera on his shoulder, who deliberately paused at the entrance to film the exterior of the store, including the highly eye-catching statue of Arthas.
As Denise entered the store, she continued to introduce it to the camera.
“As you can see, although this experience store isn’t very large, the interior layout is excellent. And we can spot many familiar elements, such as *Warcraft*, *Diablo*, *Minecraft*, and so on.”
“Additionally, *League of Legends*, which is hugely popular on PC, is also a product of Thunder Interactive Entertainment. Yes, many players might not have noticed, right? *Dark Souls* and *League of Legends* are actually made by the same game company.”
“Moreover, there seem to be some games here that most viewers haven’t seen before. I specifically checked, and Thunder Interactive hasn’t released overseas versions of these games.”
“I have to say, after doing some research, I discovered that Thunder Interactive actually enjoys a much higher reputation in China than on the international market. Domestically, many people even consider Thunder Interactive to be the strongest R&D game company, bar none.”
“And Silent is also beloved by players, arguably one of the most popular designers in China.”
“Of course, I know many viewers, like me, only fully discovered and fell in love with this Chinese company after *Dark Souls*. There must also be many players who want to see what kind of person the designer capable of creating a game like *Dark Souls* really is. So please follow me as we step into Thunder Interactive Entertainment.”
As she spoke, Denise walked further inside.
Obviously, the presence of these two foreigners caught the attention of many players in the experience store. The guy carrying the camera behind her was very conspicuous and couldn’t stay low-key.
However, the players in the store simply nodded politely to Denise without approaching or striking up random conversations.
Su Jinyu came forward to greet them: “Hello, are you Denise?”
Denise nodded and said in Chinese, “Yes, how should I address you?”
Su Jinyu replied, “My name is Su Jinyu. The store manager is on the fourth floor. Would you like to go see him first to start the interview, or would you like to look around the experience store first?”
“I’d like to film some scenes in the experience store first. Thank you for your trouble,” Denise said.
Su Jinyu nodded: “Okay, no problem.”
Su Jinyu was a bit surprised, because Denise’s Chinese was very good. Although she still had some accent, it was clearly sufficient for normal conversation.
What Su Jinyu didn’t know was that TGN had originally wanted to invite Chen Mo to the United States, but Chen Mo had refused outright without a second thought.
The reason was simple: he simply didn’t want to travel that far for an interview and had no interest in exotic scenery...
So, to produce this interview program, TGN specially sent a reporter to China, and to minimize communication barriers, they arranged for a reporter proficient in Chinese, since they didn’t know how good Chen Mo’s English was.
Denise, on the other hand, was very happy, because she was already a loyal player of *Dark Souls*. Having this opportunity to personally visit Thunder Interactive and meet the designer of *Dark Souls* felt like a vacation to her.
Under Su Jinyu’s guidance, Denise and the cameraman began to look around the experience store. Denise clearly had a strong interest in the entire store, even filming small figurines, sculptures, and murals on the walls.
“Speaking of *Warcraft*, it’s also a very successful RTS game with a very successful world-building background. But why hasn’t there been a sequel since then?”
Su Jinyu coughed dryly: “Well, I actually want to ask you the same question... You’d better ask the store manager yourself when you see him.”
After wandering around the experience store and randomly interviewing a few players, Denise and Su Jinyu went up to the fourth floor.
Chen Mo was still busy at his computer. When he saw Su Jinyu leading Denise over, he quickly stood up.
“Hello,” Chen Mo said, extending his hand.
Denise looked at Chen Mo with some curiosity, feeling a bit surprised inside: “Is this the designer of *Dark Souls*? He’s much younger than I imagined!”
In appearance, Chen Mo looked very energetic, seeming only about twenty-five or twenty-six. Of course, his actual age was a bit older than that.
“Hello, I’m Denise, a reporter from TGN.”
They had already communicated over the phone, and Chen Mo had agreed to this exclusive interview. So after a few pleasantries, they got straight to the point, moving to a meeting room on the fourth floor and sitting down on the sofas.
The interview officially began, and Denise was clearly still a bit excited.
“Alright, dear viewers and players of *Dark Souls*, sitting across from me is Mr. Chen Mo, Silent, the designer of *Dark Souls*.”
“But by the way, Mr. Chen Mo, you really are very low-key. Even though you’ve made so many successful games, your fame abroad isn’t high, and there isn’t even a single exclusive interview to be found,” Denise remarked.
Chen Mo smiled: “Because I’m someone who hates trouble and doesn’t like going out often. For me, staying in the experience store and focusing on making games is what brings me joy.”
[Reminder: Your output must contain ZERO Chinese characters. Translate or transliterate everything.]