```
"Ah?"
The students in the lecture hall emitted a unified sound of surprise.
A design concept for a game?
You're not joking with us, are you, Professor?
These game design students were all too familiar with what a design concept entailed.
It could be considered an initial draft of a game's design, employing concise language to outline the framework of the entire game, or it could be understood as the literature review section of a thesis.
But the problem was, it was much longer than the literature review of a thesis!
Although the design concept didn't require detailing every single aspect of the game like specific design documents, it still needed to define the game's theme, gameplay, core mechanics, plot progression, and all other crucial components.
It could be said that once the design concept was complete, the general design direction of the game was set, and what remained was to refine the details.
Professor He Cheng was essentially asking everyone to independently design a game on their own!
Isn't that a bit too much for freshmen?
Although these students had played plenty of games, many of them had not yet seen a serious game design draft, and even those who had seen one had hardly ever tried writing one themselves.
Just arrived at novice village and straightaway received a quest to defeat the final boss from the chief?
That's ridiculous!
Of course, Professor He saw the complex emotions on the students' faces, shock, confusion, bewilderment, and sheer incredulity...
But he didn't think there was anything inappropriate about it, and in fact, he quite enjoyed everyone's reactions.
"I'm not asking for your games to be marketable and make money, what's the rush?"
But this didn't comfort the students at all.
Many students thought: Nonsense! If we could make a profitable game so easily, why would we even bother with these classes!
Professor He continued, "This is just an ordinary test. Since everyone is starting from scratch, this test will better showcase your talents and actual abilities.
"If you don't do well on this assignment, there won't be any serious consequences, at worst, I'll just have a worse impression of you."
The students below collectively complained in their minds: Isn't that serious!
Professor He shifted the topic, "But...
"If everyone manages to complete the assignment quite well, there will be an extremely generous reward.
"In a week, I will first conduct a simple spot check on a few students' assignments. After two weeks, I will carry out the first comprehensive review of the assignments, and one-third of the excellent proposals will be selected to advance.
"Those who advance can then freely form groups with those who didn't, continue to refine the subsequent designs, and create a complete design document.
"In the middle of next month, I will check the design documents of each group again, and then, select the top three.
"So what's the benefit for the top three?
"I will have my graduate students assist to develop these three games and launch them in the game store. All the revenue generated will be divided equally among the creators!"
Upon hearing this, everyone instantly woke up.
Is there such a good deal?
Clearly, although this assignment was very challenging, the rewards were beyond imagination.
Professor He had several graduate students under his wing, all of whom were very capable, even exceeding some small companies' planners.
If there were personal guidance from Professor He, help from these graduate students, and all the various channels and resources that Professor He controlled, it would be possible to actually produce these games.
Once launched in the game store, even if the games weren't especially popular, each person would still get a substantial sum of money.
More importantly, this would also add a significant achievement to one's resume, and if one later wanted to apply to some major gaming companies, it would be a significant plus.
Realizing this, the students, who were initially despondent, suddenly became eager to try.
Although everyone knew that only a few would make it to the top three, school had just started, and most were still on the same starting line, so everyone felt they had a chance with some effort.
Professor He was quite pleased with the students' reactions, but he clearly had more to say.
"In addition, there's a mysterious reward! I won't reveal the content of the mysterious reward just yet, but I can guarantee, you will absolutely not guess it.
"Alright, class dismissed!"
...
In the cafeteria, the four people from dorm 404 discussed today's lessons while eating.
Lv Yixiao was curious, "What do you guys think Professor He's mysterious reward could be?"
Zhao Haoyan chomped on a steamed bun, "I bet it's definitely some extra cash!"
Liu Bo pondered, "Could it be an official recommendation slot or something? With Professor He's connections, arranging a special event shouldn't be hard."
Lu Zhixing shook his head slightly, "It's probably neither. Professor He said it's a reward none of us could possibly guess. What kind of reward could that be? Quite simple, something we don't even know exists yet."
Liu Bo was at a loss for words, "Lu, what are you getting at..."
Lu Zhixing smiled, "My point is, there's no need to guess. Instead of wasting time on that, we might as well think about how to write the design concept draft and strive to make the top three."
Lv Yixiao suddenly remembered something, "Hey, that's right, Lu, don't you help out at an internet café over the weekends? And you were playing that darn game too? Still, you answered so well."
```
Lu Zhixing: "Hmm... I played it a bit."
Zhao Haoyan had already finished his meal at lightning speed and hurriedly took out his phone when he heard this, "Zen, right? I need to quickly look up a video guide and get through it, to save myself from being questioned by Professor He in the next class."
Liu Bo waved his hand, "Nah, no need, he already asked this class, how could he ask again. You'd be better off looking for other popular games that are trending lately."
Lv Yixiao fell silent for a moment, "That's not necessarily true. Haven't you noticed, Liu Bo? Professor He Cheng is obviously someone who doesn't play by the rules. Maybe next class he'll call on you again to answer a question and then find out you still haven't played the game, and your penalty will increase."
Caught off guard, Liu Bo froze for a moment, and after his brain's CPU processed this rapidly, he also quickly took out his phone.
"Boss Lv, you're making so much sense! I'm going to catch up on the lesson with Old Zhao..."
"Hey, this game even has a new meme? 'The Four Great Classics of the Official Platform,' what the heck is that!"
During this time, the popularity of "Zen" continued to grow rapidly, and the discussion about this game online also increased.
Initially, gamers were clearly divided into two camps, with one side arguing that the game was just plain trash, while the other believed it truly embodied the Zen spirit and was a genuine work of art.
At this point, the latter was beginning to obviously take the upper hand...
Of course, how many people genuinely thought it had Zen spirit and how many were just following the trend for fun, that was completely unclear.
But one fact was undeniable: the memes about "Zen" were arising swiftly and spreading widely.
"I think this game can be called one of the 'Four Great Classics' of the official platform; it subverts traditional game design philosophies, is all-encompassing, ever-fresh, and full of philosophical depth!"
"Huh? Why 'Four Great Classics'? Shouldn't it be 'One Great Classic'?"
"No, on the official platform, the Four Great Classics refer to a single game, that's common knowledge. The so-called Four Great Classics are actually 'Prison, Tree, Mountain, Bridge'."
"Awesome."
Seeing the discussions among players, Lu Zhixing couldn't help but smile.
Indeed, whether it was the gamers from his previous world or this one, they shared many similarities.
In Lu Zhixing's previous life, there had been a similar notion of "Steam's Four Great Classics," namely "Mountain, Goat, Bridge, Ball," referring to "Big Mountain Simulator," "Goat Simulator," "Bridge," and "Sakura Spirit."
"Big Tree Simulator" actually had the potential to become a "Classic" as well, but unfortunately, it was born at the wrong time, appeared a bit too late, and shared some content with "Big Mountain Simulator," so it only received "overwhelmingly positive" reviews, high popularity, but failed to join the "Four Great Classics."
Lu Zhixing combined the features of both "Tree" and "Mountain," along with the original creator of "Tree's" other game "Hard Time," and his own original creation of the last Stone Bridge chapter, to string these four "godlike games" together into one game.
It was the top-notch art assets from the Life Role-Playing Game that made the success of this game possible.
Of course, as to why this game was specifically successful, no one in this world could really explain.
Many found it dry and unengaging but, strangely enough, it received "overwhelmingly positive" reviews. It was, in a way, just like life's absurdities.
From the start, Lu Zhixing knew that this game did not have a 100% chance of success, but rather a certain probability. Now it seemed his luck was good—the tastes of the gamers in this world were not far off from those of his previous life's gamers.
Of course, Lu Zhixing was also well aware that such a game was a one-time phenomena and that luck would not always be on his side.
For the games to come, he had to show his true skills, fair and square.
...
...
Three days later.
[Detection: Player has reached the first milestone by their own efforts, successfully earning one hundred thousand. The full version of the Life Role-Playing Game functions have now been activated!]
[In the full version, you will experience:]
[1. More challenging role-playing tasks]
[2. Advanced skills matching the role-playing targets, as well as more refined materials]
[3. A continuously updated Points Mall featuring a wide range of products]
The full version was successfully activated!
Lu Zhixing was delighted. He didn't check the new role-playing tasks right away; instead, he went to look at the Points Mall.
However, seeing the empty mall interface with only one item, Lu Zhixing fell silent.
[Role-Playing Skill - I Am A Tree (Enhanced Version): Empty your mind, clear all thoughts; remain still, stop all movements. (Enhanced effect: Greatly reduces your presence.)]
[Price: 50 points]
Lu Zhixing was somewhat speechless: "Don't I already have this skill?"
[The role-playing skills issued by the game are only usable during the role-play and will be reclaimed after it ends. Enhanced skills will enter the Points Mall for players to purchase as needed.]
"Fine."
Lu Zhixing felt like he had been funneled into a scheme. The Points Mall truly did offer a variety, but the game didn't say it would unlock all products right from the start...
Furthermore, the role-playing skills weren't permanently retained. After completing a role-play task, the corresponding role-playing skill would be reclaimed.
If Lu Zhixing found a skill useful, he could spend points to purchase it in the mall; if not, there was no need to waste money.
"Only a rube would spend 50 points on such a skill."
Lu Zhixing exited the mall interface and turned to look at the new role-playing tasks.
But the next second, he was stunned.
"The new role-playing task... why are there three??"