"Ah?"
Lu Zhixing was instantly baffled.
Feeling a bit embarrassed for accidentally interrupting, Lv Yixiao hurriedly said, "Lu, what were you going to say just now? You go first."
Lu Zhixing quickly shook his head, "No, no, no, you go ahead. How come a live streamer captured this person?"
Lv Yixiao searched on the computer and soon found a video.
"It's this video. You all know Xu Jing, right? She's a pretty famous live streamer in the gaming section. This was filmed when she went jogging in Longtan Park that day.
"At the time, neither she nor her fans paid much attention to it—they thought it was just some kind of performance art. But when 'Zen' became popular, netizens all turned into great detectives and started speculating that this person might very well be the creator of 'Zen'!"
Liu Bo looked at the screen with a sense of admiration and confusion.
In the video, Xu Jing captured this person clearly with her smartphone camera: under the dim lights, he was standing in a tree pit, striking a tree's pose, and occasionally swaying gently with the breeze.
During the encounter, Xu Jing even said a few words to him, but he remained unmoved, without any reaction.
Liu Bo was very puzzled, "Why would he be the creator of 'Zen'? You can't just link two people together because they both seem a bit off mentally, can you?"
The corners of Lu Zhixing's mouth twitched slightly: Are you being polite!
Lv Yixiao quickly waved his hands and explained, "No, no, no, it's not just that—there are lots of clues to back it up.
"First off, the whereabouts of this Stranger are pinned down in Jinghai City.
"Second, Xu Jing's live stream was on Friday night, and this game appeared on the official platform on Saturday morning.
"Third, some people have verified that the stone bridge in the 'Zen' game is located in the old district of Jinghai City, which is not very far from Longtan Park.
"Fourth, the performance art this person was doing is clearly a cosplay of Big Tree! And in 'Zen', the second chapter is essentially a 'Big Tree Simulator', and the swaying with the wind gameplay is very similar to this person's performance.
"Put all these together—can it still be a coincidence? This person is very likely the creator of 'Zen'!"
Liu Bo suddenly understood, "That makes sense! When you put it that way, it does seem very suspicious!"
They focused intently on the person in the video, noticing that he was bundled up quite securely, wearing a black mask, a baseball cap, and even had the hood of his hoodie up. He was, without doubt, fully equipped.
Only his eyes were visible.
"This guy seems pretty young though. You can't see his face, but he looks like he might be handsome."
"Yeah, too bad he seems to be a bit mentally off."
"Hey, weird. Why do I feel like he looks familiar the more I look?"
The two of them fell into thought.
Lu Zhixing silently reached into his pocket and shoved the black mask deeper inside to eliminate any possibility of it accidentally falling out.
Fortunately, that hoodie was quite worn out, and he didn't wear it often—only when he was helping out at the internet cafe. Otherwise, he would probably have to suffer a social death in his dormitory today.
How come Xu Jing's live stream video turned out to be a boomerang?
Previously, Lu Zhixing had specifically checked, and Xu Jing's live stream replay hadn't caused much of a stir, just circulated in a small scale among her fans, so he thought the crisis had passed.
Perhaps given some more time, everyone would forget about this issue.
But to his utter surprise, with the popularity of 'Zen', the video was dug up again!
What should he do now?
"Right, Lu, what were you going to say just now?"
Liu Bo and Lv Yixiao both turned to look at him in unison.
Lu Zhixing was at a loss for words, "What I was going to say just now... Oh... I was thinking, about this matter, I've actually heard about it too, but I think there's absolutely no need to pay attention to it. Trash games like these get popular purely out of luck; it's definitely an unrepeatable success! So, we don't need to feel inferior at all, there's really no need to dwell on it! Yeah, that's it.
"Alright, it's time for class. Let's hurry and go!"
After speaking, he grabbed his textbook for the professional course and pushed Liu Bo and Lv Yixiao out of the dorm room, then locked the door and dashed for the elevator.
Liu Bo and Lv Yixiao were somewhat astonished, "What's up with Lu?"
...
At 9:50 am, the three of them arrived on time at the professional course classroom.
It was a large lecture hall, and most of the seats were already taken.
This class, "Overview of Fundamental Theories in Game Design", as its name suggests, was a very basic course with strong emphasis on theory.
The lecturer was Professor He Cheng, rumored to be a gold-level producer who had retired from a major company, having overseen the design of many outstanding games. He not only had a good network in the gaming community, but he had also achieved financial independence long ago.
Jinghai University's Game Design Academy had specially invited him to be a professor in order to enhance the academy's teaching resources and to help students better connect with society.
According to reliable information from senior students, Professor He Cheng, while seemingly affable on the surface, was quite demanding and strict, so no one dared to skip his class.
Lu Zhixing and the other two scanned the "golden seats" at the back row, which were already fully occupied.
There was no sign of Zhao Haoyan.
"Huh, Old Zhao should have come pretty early, didn't he get a seat? Well, the last few rows aren't too bad either."
Their gaze moved forward again, but even midway down the lecture hall, they still hadn't seen Zhao Haoyan.
"What's the situation? Is the competition this fierce?"
The entire lecture hall was nearly full, with only the front three rows having open seats, which were obviously too close to the professor for most students' liking, so they preferred not to sit there.
But where was Zhao Haoyan?
Just as the three of them were somewhat baffled, they heard someone calling out to them, "Lu! Liu Bo! Boss Lv! Over here!"
Turning their heads, they saw Zhao Haoyan sitting in the front row, waving at them.
In the middle of the first row, which most students avoided like the plague, Zhao Haoyan had spread out several books, occupying seats that didn't really need to be saved, all the while wearing a self-satisfied expression.
Liu Bo's mouth twitched slightly, "This is how you reserve seats?"
Zhao Haoyan nodded, "Yeah, isn't this a prime spot?"
Prime spot my ass!
After entering university, most students quickly went from being top students to slackers, so Lu Zhixing, Liu Bo, and the others ignored it, but there were always those "honest" boys who hadn't managed to make the switch in time, like Zhao Haoyan.
But now they had no other choice since all the other seats were taken.
"No problem, let's just sit here. Maybe it's safer in the darker part under the light," Lu Zhixing himself didn't mind, but seeing Liu Bo's and Lv Yixiao's stiff expressions, he could only comfort them this way.
Liu Bo and Lv Yixiao exchanged looks, and with no other options, they reluctantly sat down.
Next time, they'd have to make it clear to Old Zhao: when you reserve seats, you're supposed to pick the last row! It's cozy during class and easy to slip out when it's over. Who still sits in the first row during university classes!
Soon, the bell rang for class to start.
A professor looking around sixty years old walked onto the podium; he was the professor for this class, He Cheng.
Professor He had hair that was only half-white and looked quite spirited with a smile on his face.
But that smile was most likely a façade.
When it comes to university professors, one should never judge a book by its cover; the more someone smiles like a tiger, the more likely they are to suddenly attack, while those who seem stricter could possibly be soft-hearted and let students off the hook.
Some had already inquired about Professor He from senior students, and learned that he was very strict with his requirements for professional courses, and even worse, he didn't follow any set pattern in his lectures.
He would often whimsically pose questions far beyond the students' current level, or assign homework way above what they could handle, causing much suffering amongst the upper-year students.
"Alright, please quiet down, we are going to start the class," announced Professor He Cheng after having settled down the classroom with his presence.
Professor He Cheng first gave a brief self-introduction, talked about his background and representative works, and, indeed, as the intelligence gathered before had indicated, if one were to describe him in four words, it would be: awesomely impressive.
There's a saying: for most students, the professors they encounter in university might be the most talented individuals in their field they'll ever meet in their lives. This statement was certainly accurate.
Then the actual course content began.
The name of the course was "Overview of Basic Theoretical Foundations of Game Design," so Professor He started off with some basic design theories, yet during his lecture, he also extensively referenced examples from well-known games, combined with his insights on the industry's insider stories, making his lecture engaging and lively.
It seemed this professor indeed had substance.
Lu Zhixing listened attentively. Although these were basic theories that might not be directly applicable to game design, as someone who was self-taught and became an acclaimed game planner in his previous life, he lacked exactly these fundamentals.
As he was lecturing, Professor He Cheng suddenly shifted gears and posed a question.
"In the past two days, an indie game called 'Zen' has become popular. Have any of you played it?
"Let's ask the tall student sitting in the front row here—you answer it."
Zhao Haoyan looked confused: "Me?"
Professor He Cheng nodded, "Yes, you."
Zhao Haoyan stood up bewildered and somewhat embarrassed, "Professor, I... I haven't played that game..."
Professor He Cheng's face fell instantly, "You haven't played it? What were you doing all weekend?
"As a student of game design, I don't expect you to study or read professional books over the weekend, nor do I expect you to write design drafts, but you should at least experience some of the latest games, right?
"If you don't even play the latest games or keep up with the most current trends in the gaming industry, how are you going to create games yourself in the future?
"Sit down!"
Seeing Professor He Cheng's face change so suddenly, the other students who also hadn't played the game all took a sharp intake of breath.
He really was a smiling tiger!
He had been all nice and friendly before, but the moment a student disappointed him, he became stern in an instant.
No wonder upper-year students were so afraid of him—he'd randomly call on people to answer questions that weren't in the book, and his demands were very strict; he was truly a person to be dreaded!
They all tucked in their necks and silently prayed that the professor wouldn't call on them.
As for Liu Bo, he was smirking to himself: well-deserved karma!
Old Zhao, Old Zhao, why did you take the first row without a second thought? You big dummy, even sitting down you're a head taller than everyone else, how could you not become a target for the professor?
However, he clearly reveled in his schadenfreude too soon. Professor He Cheng continued, "Then, the student sitting next to the tall one, your turn to answer."
Liu Bo: "?"
He looked up and saw that to Zhao Haoyan's left was the aisle.
And to his right was none other than himself.