Chapter 32

The people below the podium, the more they analyzed, the more they felt that what Lu Yu said made sense.

In the end, they even had a feeling of enlightenment, wishing they could shout: "It was worth it!"

Chen Qiao's mouth twitched wildly on stage—was this his lecture?

Not long ago, when he stood on the podium, weren't the people below listening attentively, even taking notes in their notebooks?

Now...

Sigh...

Chen Qiao suddenly felt as if he had grown old.

Compared to Lu Yu... he really is older!

Lu Yu actually never imagined that his offhand remarks would be interpreted with so many meanings.

What he didn't know was that a certain game operator who came to listen to his lecture would, in the future, actually create a hit game.

When he was interviewed, he said: "I owe my success entirely to my master. Of course, I consider him my master, though he may not know I am his disciple, because... his name is Lu Yu."

That's a story for later.

At that moment, Lu Yu was online.

Suddenly, his brow rose involuntarily.

He saw an interesting piece of news.

This news was presented in the form of an interview.

Reporter: Mr. Qin, what do you think of the hottest domestic game company, Grand? And what do you think of the game Plants vs. Zombies?

Mr. Qin: Grand can indeed be considered a top-tier domestic game company, and Plants vs. Zombies is indeed extremely popular. However...

The foundation of all this is actually due to the lack of competition.

Domestic game development is really too slow; it can be said to lag behind the international scene by an era.

Even a small game like Plants vs. Zombies being this popular is enough to prove many things.

Know that this is merely a single-player game, and its gameplay is extremely simple.

Such a game can be hot for a while, but it cannot stay hot forever.

To put it metaphorically, it's like a night-blooming cereus—perhaps more fitting.

Even so, in the future, perhaps no one will remember this game.

Seeing this, Lu Yu's brow involuntarily furrowed slightly.

He didn't know who this Mr. Qin was, but... his tone was quite bold.

But Lu Yu also didn't deny that some of his viewpoints were indeed quite valuable.

For example, there currently is indeed no noteworthy large-scale game domestically.

He thought for a moment, then continued reading.

Reporter: Following Mr. Qin's line of thought, can I interpret it as the domestic game environment still being immature and unsuitable for excessive investment?

Mr. Qin: Hehe, that's not what I mean; on the contrary, I think the domestic game environment is very good now. People's living standards have gradually risen.

After material pursuits are satisfied, people naturally seek spiritual needs.

Games happen to fill some boring, empty time.

Therefore, the demand for games domestically is now very high.

Take the example of Plants vs. Zombies' sudden popularity, and you'll know.

Reporter: So, Mr. Qin, did you return to China this time prepared to develop a game?

Mr. Qin: Indeed. I brought my team back to China precisely to create a large-scale online game, aiming to redefine domestic games.

I believe that once my game appears domestically, people will have a new perspective on games.

In the future, people will no longer make a fuss over games like Plants vs. Zombies.

Then... I think it's time for domestic game companies to face a storm.

The interview ends here.

Lu Yu's brow furrowed even tighter.

He paused to think for a while.

He recalled that online games seemed to have risen in this era.

Then... then came a crazy age!

So... is this Mr. Qin the initiator of that storm?

Lu Yu carefully searched for Mr. Qin's identity, but...

He only obtained this bit of information.

Mr. Qin, a renowned overseas game figure.

Lu Yu didn't even know Mr. Qin's real name, nor what games he had made, let alone his background.

Lu Yu planned to find a time to ask Chen Qiao.

This person made him a bit concerned.

Then...

Then, Lu Yu opened Plants vs. Zombies.

He hasn't cleared it yet!

The next day, Lu Yu and Lao Li arrived together at Mo Du University of Electronic Science and Technology.

However, the two did not go to the Office.

Lao Li brought Lu Yu to the front of an office.

But after knocking on the door for a while, there was no response.

"Ah! I'm really muddle-headed, how could Professor Chen be in the office at this time!"

"He must be in the Computer Lab."

Lao Li slapped his thigh, looking suddenly enlightened.

Yes, the two of them came to look for Professor Chen.

Professor Chen had already looked for Lu Yu yesterday, hoping Lu Yu could join his project.

Then, the two of them came together to the outside of the Computer Lab.

The Computer Lab's area is actually not small, as big as a classroom.

Inside there are thirty or forty computers, plus various electronic equipment.

This is considered quite remarkable for this era.

Just adding up the equipment in this classroom comes to several million!

Professor Chen was currently walking around inside the classroom, observing the students' operations.

Whenever he passed by someone, he would say a few words, his expression extremely serious.

The students in the classroom were also fully focused.

No one noticed Lao Li and Lu Yu's arrival.

Lao Li wanted to knock on the door to attract Professor Chen's attention.

"Grandpa Li, don't disturb them; they might be thinking hard, and if their train of thought is broken, it'll be hard to pick up again."

"I can go in myself later; thanks, Grandpa Li, for bringing me here."

Lu Yu looked at Lao Li and said.

Lao Li hesitated a moment, then said: "Alright, if you have any problems, come find me."

Lao Li left.

Lu Yu thought for a while, then still walked into the classroom.

He sat down in a relatively secluded corner.

A student sat beside him.

The student's hands were rapidly tapping the keyboard, his brows tightly furrowed, his expression appearing very solemn.

Yes!

By this time, no one in the classroom had noticed Lu Yu's arrival.

Lu Yu naturally had no intention of disturbing them; he leaned over to look at the neighboring student's operation.

He glanced a few times and discovered the other was trying to write a program.

This program is very complex.

In ordinary terms, the student is trying to hide the core code, protecting it with layer upon layer of shielding.

It can be called encryption, or it can be called a firewall.

But… the student has probably wrapped too many layers of casing, even mixing up the structure himself, so…

Each of his trial runs ends in failure.

"You can try adding them layer by layer." Lu Yu remained silent for a while, then couldn't help speaking.

"Ah!" The student was startled and cried out.

Then…

The student looked toward Lu Yu.

The whole class also looked toward Lu Yu.

Only then did they discover there was an extra child in the classroom.