Chapter 566: Not Interested in Game Design Either
Li Jingsi was currently sitting in the lobby of the Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment’s Imperial Capital branch, completely dumbfounded.
She had been inexplicably arranged for an interview. Li Jingsi didn’t want to come at all, but thinking that Li Jingshu had gone through a lot of trouble to set it up, she reluctantly decided to go through the motions…
She would just treat it as a formality. After all, breaking into game design wasn’t easy and required a lot of specialized knowledge. Apart from playing games, Li Jingsi had never seriously studied any game design principles. Coming to this interview was basically just throwing herself into the fray—there was no way she would actually pass, right?
…
The Imperial Capital branch of Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment was quite formal, located in a high-end office building in the northeastern part of the city. Visitors had to register at the entrance.
The pretty receptionist, after clarifying Li Jingsi’s purpose, called the relevant person in charge and then asked Li Jingsi to wait in the lobby.
This was Li Jingsi’s first time attending a game company interview. She wasn’t wearing formal attire and didn’t even have a resume…
However, game company interviews didn’t require formal wear anyway, since the internet industry was generally casual and didn’t have many appearance-related requirements.
But even so, Li Jingsi’s aura still clashed with everyone else in the company.
To sum it up, everyone else was either seriously working or pretending to work seriously, while Li Jingsi looked like she was there on vacation…
Going into an interview with the mindset of hoping not to be hired suddenly made the whole thing feel not scary at all…
The receptionist answered a phone call, then stood up and said to Li Jingsi, “Alright, this time our General Manager Qiu will be interviewing you personally. Please follow me to Conference Room 3.”
The receptionist led Li Jingsi forward, weaving through rows of workstations.
The receptionist said to Li Jingsi, “It’s actually General Manager Qiu interviewing you personally. It seems they value you quite a bit. I wish you success in the interview!”
Li Jingsi smiled but didn’t say anything. She thought to herself, I don’t actually want to succeed in this interview at all…
The two arrived at Conference Room 3, and the receptionist knocked on the door.
“Come in,” a deep voice said.
The receptionist opened the door, and Li Jingsi walked in.
Inside the conference room sat four people: three men and one woman. They were presumably employees of Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment’s Imperial Capital branch. Li Jingsi clearly didn’t recognize any of them.
Her gaze quickly swept over the four, and from left to right, she mentally gave them nicknames: Glasses Guy, Fatty, Suit Guy, and Round-Faced Girl.
Mm… very fitting for game company employees. No issues there.
Fatty pointed to the seat across the conference table: “Li Jingsi, right? Please, have a seat.”
After Li Jingsi sat down, Fatty introduced himself: “Hello, I’m the lead designer for the mobile game project ‘Ancient Cataclysm’ here at the Imperial Capital branch of Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment. My name is Zhang Bei. Next to me is Qiu Bin, General Manager Qiu, a renowned mobile game designer from Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment’s headquarters and the lead designer for the mobile game ‘Oracle of the Moon Goddess.’”
Li Jingsi nodded very politely.
Zhang Bei looked a bit puzzled. If it were anyone else coming for an interview, upon hearing those titles, they would at least say something like “I’ve heard so much about you,” right?
Especially Qiu Bin, who was considered one of the best mobile game designers within Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment, with several successful titles under his belt. And with the recent mobile game ‘Oracle of the Moon Goddess’ topping the bestseller charts, anyone wanting to break into the gaming industry should know who he was…
But judging by Li Jingsi’s polite nod, the implied meaning was very clear: I don’t know you, but you seem impressive, so I’ll give a polite nod and throw in a virtual 666.
Zhang Bei was also very puzzled. This interview was personally requested by Qiu Bin, yet it seemed like the interviewee and Qiu Bin didn’t know each other at all?
What kind of script was this?
The atmosphere in the room grew a bit awkward, so Zhang Bei had to continue the interview.
He had already heard that this interviewee was a bit special—she didn’t even have a resume. But he knew the basic information: she graduated from a key university in the Imperial Capital with excellent grades. The only issue was that she had very few hobbies and no particularly noteworthy experiences in college.
However, it was said she was exceptionally good at playing games. Whether that was true or not remained to be seen.
Zhang Bei cleared his throat twice: “Alright, how about you briefly tell us what games you’ve played and what you’re currently playing?”
Li Jingsi thought for a moment: “I’ve played quite a few games, like ‘Warcraft,’ ‘League of Legends,’ ‘Overwatch,’ and recently I’ve been playing ‘Dark Souls.’”
Everyone present was secretly a bit puzzled. Why did these games all seem to be from Thunderbolt Interactive Entertainment? This girl hadn’t even played a single game from Imperial Dynasty Interactive Entertainment—why was she here for an interview?
Qiu Bin nodded: “Mm, all very well-known games. How well do you play them?”
Li Jingsi thought for a moment: “I reached the top of the ladder in ‘Warcraft,’ hit the Challenger tier in ‘League of Legends,’ and just finished my fourth playthrough of ‘Dark Souls.’”
Silence fell.
Everyone present gasped…
Normally, in a game designer interview, asking the interviewee what games they played and what rank they achieved was a standard routine, not particularly important.
Among designers, some were excellent at games, some were terrible, and some didn’t even like playing games at all—and they could still be designers.
Because designing games and playing games were two completely different things, like a chef and a diner. Loving to eat doesn’t mean you can cook.
Of course, as a designer, being good at games could certainly earn you extra points in an interview.
But Li Jingsi’s level seemed almost absurdly high?
Reaching the top of the ladder in ‘Warcraft’ was already incredibly impressive, since it was a real-time strategy game that demanded extremely high APM, which was very unfriendly to female players.
Being able to achieve the highest level in both ‘Warcraft’ and ‘League of Legends’ at the same time could only be described as cheating. Many professional players from traditional RTS game projects who switched to ‘League of Legends’ often got stuck in the Diamond tier…
And on top of that, Li Jingsi had successfully completed four playthroughs of ‘Dark Souls,’ a game widely acknowledged as brutally difficult—this was even more unbelievable…
Not just for a girl, but even the professional designers present had mostly been discouraged after trying ‘Dark Souls,’ at most finishing one playthrough to see the story.
Zhang Bei really wanted to ask, “Girl, does your family know you’re this awesome?”
Zhang Bei coughed dryly twice: “With your skill level, you could easily become a streamer. Have you ever considered that?”
Li Jingsi shook her head: “No, I don’t think being a streamer is very interesting.”
Zhang Bei and Qiu Bin exchanged glances, both feeling that this girl was quite unique.
Logically, if someone could reach the Challenger tier in ‘League of Legends,’ they would definitely try streaming. After all, the streaming industry was booming, with major streamers easily earning hundreds of thousands or even millions a year. Many people were desperate to break into it.
If someone was truly gifted with extraordinary gaming skills, it was like the heavens were handing them a golden opportunity. How could they not be interested in streaming at all?
And with Li Jingsi’s looks and skills, she would undoubtedly be a top-tier streamer! Even if she didn’t like talking or telling jokes, just sitting in front of the computer, turning on the camera, and playing a Challenger-ranked match would make her popularity skyrocket!
Zhang Bei said, “Mm… so you’re not interested in streaming, huh? Then why are you interested in game design?”
Li Jingsi said, “Oh, actually, I’m not interested in game design either.”
Zhang Bei: “…”