At the competition venue, the host said: “Today’s competition has completely concluded. Thank you to all the participating contestants for your wonderful explanations. Next, we will announce the score rankings of the 15 teams. Please look at the large screen!”

The rankings for all the games appeared on the large screen—

Rong City University’s Soul of Music ranked first with a high score of 95.5; South Tech’s Zookeeper ranked second with 92 points; third place was Imperial Capital University’s Happy Child with 90 points, followed by Three-Day Reincarnation at 88 points, and so on.

Because Liao Meng’s team appeared first and the judges scored them conservatively low, their work God of Battle ranked last with a score of 76.

The design department classmates of Rong City University couldn’t believe this result.

The top-student class monitor who ranked first in the class every time ranked dead last in the national competition.

Yet Xie Yunfan, who failed classes at every turn, led a team to take the grand championship.

Wasn’t this contrast way too huge?

Many people secretly discussed in small group chats: “How could it be like this? Xie Yunfan actually took the championship?” “It feels like his level suddenly improved so much, is it related to his half-year leave of absence?”

Thinking back carefully, Xie Yunfan indeed did his graduation project after returning from a half-year leave of absence. Exactly where he went and what he did during this half year, no one knew.

“Being all mysterious, could he have spent half a year going for tutoring?”

“His brother ran a company after all. Even if it went bankrupt, he definitely still has some connections. Maybe he found him an impressive private tutor?”

“It’s also possible someone behind the scenes helped him make the planning proposal, who knows!”

The classmates in the class guessed one after another.

On the school forum, many alumni came to offer congratulations one after another. After all, for a “non-key institution” like Rong City University to win a national championship, this was a first!

The award ceremony began at the competition venue.

The Excellence Award, which was essentially an encouragement award, was guaranteed for teams that made it to the finals. They would be awarded a certificate of honor and a 20,000 yuan prize.

Liao Meng went on stage to receive the award. His walking posture was stiff, and the smile on his face was also extremely forced. After all, a classmate from the same class won the championship while he was dead last; this was truly too awkward.

The host immediately followed by announcing the Third Prize and Second Prize.

In past years, the champion was basically always produced between Imperial Capital University and South Tech. Students studying game design all knew that these two key institutions had signed internship cooperation agreements with Wings of Dream and Cool Play respectively. Their outstanding students had the opportunity to intern at major companies, where they could learn a lot following professional R&D teams.

Originally, when the finals list was announced, everyone thought this year’s champion would either be Happy Child or Zookeeper.

No one expected that these two “seeded contestants” would both end up as runners-up.

The champion actually turned out to be a dark horse charging out from Rong City University!

Raising his voice, the host said excitedly: “Next, I announce that the winner of the grand championship of the 10th National College Student Design Competition is—Soul of Music. Please welcome the Xie Yunfan team from Rong City University to the stage to receive the award, and please welcome Mr. Zhu Yuan, President of the Hua Xia Game Association, to the stage to present the award for everyone!”

Old Mr. Zhu walked onto the stage with a smile, handed the golden custom trophy to Xie Yunfan, affectionately patted Xie Yunfan’s shoulder, and whispered: “Keep up the good work. You are very talented, and your future is boundless!”

Xie Yunfan smiled and shook his hand: “Thank you, President.”

A ceremonial hostess brought a placard reading “1,000,000 Cash” and erected it in front of everyone. The 6 members of Xie Yunfan’s team stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the large stage, holding up the 1 million cash placard, their excitement beyond words.

1 million, for students, was a massive sum of money!

**

After the award ceremony ended, Xie Yunfan went backstage with his teammates. Professor Lin smilingly handed his phone to him and whispered: “Classmate Yunfan, a call from Dean Qi.”

Xie Yunfan took the phone, somewhat surprised: “Dean Qi? Hello.”

Dean Qi said with a smile: “Yunfan ah, congratulations, congratulations. I watched the entire competition, your performance today was spectacular. The national champion, thoroughly deserved! When you guys return to school, the college will hold a separate commendation conference.”

Xie Yunfan said: “Thank you, Dean.”

He paused, took the phone to a corner with no one around, lowered his voice, and said: “By the way Dean, I want to make Yangfan Studio an internship base for Rong City University’s design department. What do you think, does the school have cooperation needs in this regard?”

Dean Qi: “…”

They absolutely, definitely had them!

He had originally wanted to brazenly seek out Xie Yunfan to discuss cooperation. He hadn’t expected Xie Yunfan to proactively bring it up. This student was truly very sensible—drinking water and remembering the source (remembering one’s roots). Having achieved success himself, he didn’t forget to bring his alma mater along.

Such a student was the true pride of the school.

The design departments of key institutions like Imperial Capital University and South Tech all had cooperative internship bases. Rong City University’s reputation was far inferior to these schools. The game design department had only been established for five years, its history wasn’t long enough, and it indeed lacked greatly in terms of connections.

Although Yangfan Studio’s current scale couldn’t compare to major game companies like Wings of Dream and Cool Play, this studio had only made two games, and each one was a massive explosive hit.

If students could intern at Xie Yunfan’s studio, that would also be an absolutely excellent training opportunity.

Dean Qi said excitedly: “For you to keep your alma mater’s junior brothers and sisters in mind, I am truly very happy!”

Xie Yunfan said: “You’re too polite. We can chat in detail about the specifics of how to cooperate later.”

Dean Qi: “Okay. Save my phone number, contact me anytime.”

After ending the conversation, Dean Qi was so happy his eyes narrowed into slits—interning at Yangfan Studio? The design department students of Rong City University would definitely be very happy to hear this news.

He was extremely optimistic about Classmate Xie Yunfan’s development prospects.

Who knows, in the future, Yangfan Studio might become a large-scale game design company standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Wings of Dream!

For an ordinary school to produce such an impressive alumnus was truly too rare.

---

After returning to the hotel, Professor Lin let everyone have free time. The people of Xie Yunfan’s team were full of joy, while the faces of Liao Meng’s team didn’t look too good.

Liao Meng proactively walked over to Xie Yunfan and said: “Congratulations, your game was indeed made very well.”

As the class monitor, it was reasonable and proper for him to say congratulations when a classmate won an award. It was just that, although he tried his best to keep his voice calm, he couldn’t hide the loss and dejection in his eyes. The blow he suffered today was apparently quite heavy.

Xie Yunfan said: “Thank you, Class Monitor. Actually, the skill designs in your game are also very innovative. Today’s scoring had a lot of luck factors involved, and appearing first suffers a disadvantage to begin with. Don’t take it to heart.”

His gaze was frank and sincere, without the slightest hint of mockery to be seen.

Liao Meng smiled bitterly, his voice sluggish: “It’s fine. I was already mentally prepared not to win an award, and this result is within expectations.”

Xie Yunfan changed the subject: “By the way, do you have time tomorrow evening?”

Liao Meng paused: “What is it?”

Xie Yunfan: “Let me treat you to a meal. I have something to tell you, and I’ll introduce you to two people in passing.”

Liao Meng was confused inside, not knowing whether he should agree. Xie Yunfan supplemented: “My friend watched the competition and is very interested in your game. Let’s just have a chat, there’s no loss in doing so.”

Liao Meng hesitated for a moment and nodded: “Okay, then we’ll contact each other tomorrow.”

The two sides parted at the hotel entrance. The class monitor took the people from his team to eat, while Xie Yunfan treated his teammates to a nearby hotpot restaurant.

Ji Yan still hadn’t recovered his senses even now. Pulling Zhang Zizheng, he said: “Ah-Zheng, am I dreaming? Do you want to punch me to wake me up?”

Zhang Zizheng said with a trembling voice: “I can’t believe it either! Damn, national champion, I haven’t even been this awesome in my dreams!”

Everyone laughed out loud in unison.

He wasn’t wrong. They didn’t even dare to casually dream of things like being national champions!

Xu Kairan reminded: “It was Yunfan who carried us.”

The others chimed in one after another: “Thank you Captain for carrying us!”

Xie Yunfan poured a glass of beverage and said: “Stop thanking me, it’s not entirely my credit either. The game is the team’s work, everyone doesn’t need to be modest. Come, cheers. Being able to take the championship, everyone’s contributions cannot go unnoticed!”

Being praised by him made the few of them feel light and floaty, and they happily clinked glasses—a captain like this who didn’t monopolize the credit and respected every partner was truly a rare find in a thousand years.

Everyone chatted while eating hotpot.

Xie Yunfan said: “We’ll split the 1 million prize money according to the agreement. 250,000 for me, and 150,000 for everyone else. By the way, competition prize money is usually pre-tax, remember to file your taxes yourselves.”

Hearing 150,000, Ji Yan’s eyes lit up: “I’ve never seen this much money! My monthly living expenses are only 1,500. 150,000… is enough for me to live for 100 months, hahaha.”

Yan Ke asked curiously: “Yunfan, where do we go to pay taxes? How much do we have to pay?”

Zhang Zizheng asked: “At the tax bureau? I’ve never been there!”

A group of university students had absolutely no idea how to pay taxes on prize money.

Looking at the pleading eyes of this group of “cute newbies,” Xie Yunfan said helplessly: “Never mind. Give me your documents, I’ll file the taxes collectively, and finally distribute the post-tax prize money to you guys.”

Everyone said in unison: “Thank you Yunfan!”

Xie Yunfan said: “By the way, what are everyone’s plans after graduation?”

Yan Ke said earnestly: “I want to review properly and take the graduate entrance exam for the music conservatory, realizing my childhood dream. Who knows, maybe in the future I can even hold a traditional music concert or something.”

Xie Yunfan joked: “Then you must remember to save a few tickets for us.”

Yan Ke was very straightforward: “Don’t worry, if I can really hold one, you guys will all be my VVIP guests!”

Xu Kairan said: “I plan to go abroad for graduate studies. My parents have already helped me apply to schools in Europe, to go study their game design concepts.”

Xie Yunfan asked: “Will you come back in the future?”

Xu Kairan didn’t hesitate: “Mhm, I’ll definitely come back after finishing grad school. I’m not used to foreign food, I’ll still return to the country to develop my career in the future.”

Xie Yunfan patted his shoulder: “Then we’ll wait for you to return after completing your studies. Bring back the most advanced production technologies from abroad when the time comes.”

Xu Kairan scratched his head: “Hehe, I’ll try my best!”

Ji Yan said: “I’ll go submit resumes after school starts, preparing to find a job.”

Zhang Zizheng said: “Me too. Yunfan led us to win the national championship. With this achievement on our resumes, finding a job shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

Xie Yunfan looked at Zhou Shiyue: “What about you? What are your plans?”

Zhou Shiyue said: “I haven’t thought it through yet. I write short stories, and short stories aren’t very popular right now. Writing full-time, I feel like I won’t be able to support myself… I still have to find a job, I guess.”

Xie Yunfan lowered his head thoughtfully. His studio was in its startup phase and needed a large amount of talent. These few classmates cooperated quite well when working with him.

A mature team didn’t need everyone to have formidable original creative abilities. Sometimes, employees with “strong execution capabilities” were exactly what a boss needed most.

Yan Ke’s ambition lay in music; Xu Kairan had already found a school abroad. As for the remaining A-Yan, Ah-Zheng, and Shiyue, he could pull them into his own studio. The specific position arrangements needed more thought.

---

The next afternoon, Liao Meng received a message from Xie Yunfan: “Class Monitor, the place to eat is booked. I’ve sent you the restaurant address, see you at 6 PM.”

Liao Meng: “Okay, I will be there on time.”

The address Xie Yunfan sent was a high-end restaurant in the city center.

Liao Meng’s family was poor. The year he took the college entrance exam, his parents had an accident and spent a massive amount on medical bills. He had been participating in work-study programs throughout his years in school, never asking his family for a single cent. Combined with his annual scholarships, it was enough to guarantee his daily life.

It was his first time coming to such a high-end restaurant. Looking at the exquisite and gorgeous lobby, as a poor student, he inevitably felt embarrassed and uneasy inside.

But being a top student after all, he still tried his best to maintain his composure on the surface.

Xie Yunfan said he would introduce friends; he wondered what kind of friends would be interested in his game?

A waiter in a suit at the entrance proactively said: “Hello, may I ask if you have a reservation?”

Liao Meng said: “VIP Room 7, booked by Mr. Xie.”

The waiter said enthusiastically: “This way please.”

With an anxious heart, Liao Meng followed the other party across the lobby and arrived at the door of the private room.

The waiter knocked on the door, and a clear voice rang out from inside: “Come in!”

The moment the door was pushed open, Liao Meng locked eyes with Xie Yunfan, who was sitting by the window.

Xie Yunfan smiled and waved at him: “Class Monitor, over here.”

Liao Meng straightened his back and walked into the private room. He saw that sitting to Xie Yunfan’s left was a young, handsome man, around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, wearing a formal suit and possessing a very unique temperament.

There was also a person on the right side, whose appearance was somewhat similar to Xie Yunfan’s. Wearing casual pants and a sweater, he dressed relatively casually, and was currently smiling while peeling peanuts to eat.

The waiter asked: “Hello, may I ask if we can serve the dishes now?”

The man in the suit spoke: “You may, thank you.”

After the waiter left, Xie Yunfan finally beckoned Liao Meng to sit on his right side and said: “Class Monitor, let me introduce you. This is the CEO of Qihang Games, Luo Hang; this is my brother, Xie Xinghe.”

Liao Meng: “!!!”

My god!

The “friends” Xie Yunfan was introducing were actually a gaming industry giant, the boss of Qihang Games?!

Liao Meng was a die-hard fan of Stroll Through the Starry Sky. His living expenses weren’t abundant, and his weekends were fully scheduled with work-study programs, but every week, he would carve out two hours to go to a holographic gaming cabin to play Stroll Through the Starry Sky.

He had always dreamed that one day he could also make such a successful game.

But ultimately, this was just an extravagant hope. With his academic background and abilities, let alone making a large-scale holographic game… if he could find an ordinary game company and secure a stable job after graduation, he would be very satisfied.

He hadn’t expected that he would actually have the opportunity to meet such big shots?

Liao Meng was noticeably somewhat nervous. He hurriedly stood up and said: “Pr-President Luo, hello, I’ve looked forward to meeting you for a long time.”

Luo Hang smiled slightly, his tone very gentle: “Take a seat. You are Yunfan’s classmate. Treat today as a private gathering of friends, no need to be so restrained.”

Xie Xinghe put down the peanut shells in his hand and smiled: “Our Yunfan said you normally look after him quite a bit. This younger brother of mine used to be too mischievous, thank you for taking care of him.”

Liao Meng: “…”

Taking care? He didn’t seem to have specifically taken care of Xie Yunfan individually.

He just didn’t like “judging heroes by their grades,” and didn’t look down on Xie Yunfan like some people in the class did. After all, he too had been mocked and ridiculed because of his grades.

He was the class monitor and had a responsibility to care for other classmates. In their sophomore year, Xie Yunfan was once caught by school leaders and criticized for fighting. He had pleaded for leniency on Xie Yunfan’s behalf because, once a disciplinary record was on one’s academic file, it would be hard to graduate in the future.

Aside from that, there wasn’t really any interaction, right?

Liao Meng turned to look at Xie Yunfan. The latter shot him a glance and said with a smile: “Brother, we’re almost graduating, stop talking about school matters. Let’s talk about games.”

Xie Xinghe hurriedly followed the topic: “By the way, we are making a holographic game, Fighting Master. You are from the Game Design Department, have you heard of this game?”

Liao Meng paused: “That Fighting Master that was taken down before?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt he was being too rash, and his face turned slightly red.

Xie Xinghe said frankly: “That’s right, it’s that game that was taken down due to complaints. Right now it’s undergoing a complete overhaul, and I am co-developing it with Qihang.”

Strange, hearing words like “taken down” now, he no longer felt sad and awkward. Probably because the game was progressing very smoothly, and regarding past failures, he no longer took them to heart, right?

Luo Hang said: “It’s like this. We all watched yesterday’s national competition. The skill designs in your God of Battle were indeed outstanding. Coupled with Yunfan’s recommendation, we wanted to meet you and have a chat.”

Luo Hang’s speaking attitude was consistently gentle and polite, and didn’t give people an aloof sense of distance.

Liao Meng gradually relaxed and listened earnestly.

Luo Hang said: “The remake progress of our Fighting Master is only halfway done. We still need to add a massive amount of combat characters. In a fighting game, the most important thing is skill design. Currently, the 30-plus characters in the game library are far from enough, and our planning team’s inspiration is also somewhat exhausted.”

“It just so happens you are very good at designing combat skills. I heard from Yunfan that you won scholarships every year for four years of university, studied earnestly, and have a solid foundation. Both President Xie and I appreciate you very much. If you are willing, you can join our design team.”

Xie Xinghe chimed in: “That’s right! A top student like you with good grades and agile thinking is very rare. I also found those skills of yours quite interesting, haha, better designed than mine.”

Liao Meng’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he nervously clenched his fingers under the table: “Y-You mean, let me join Qihang’s design team?”

Luo Hang said: “Mhm. You’ve already passed your graduation project, and the second semester of your senior year has no classes. You can come intern at Qihang first, and after receiving your graduation certificate and degree certificate, you can transition to an official employee.”

Xie Yunfan said: “Class Monitor, President Luo is quite sincere in wanting to invite you to join. You can discuss the benefits after becoming an official employee in detail with their HR. Do you want to consider it?”

Liao Meng’s hands under the table were trembling slightly.

Did he still need to consider it? That was Qihang, one of the three giant companies in the holographic gaming world! As a game design student, he dreamed of going to these major companies.

He hadn’t expected that such a great opportunity would actually fall on him?

Liao Meng was so excited he almost couldn’t speak. He took a deep breath, steadied his intensely beating heart, and tried to say as calmly as possible: “Thank you President Luo and President Xie for your appreciation. I am very honored to have this opportunity!”

Luo Hang proactively extended his hand: “That’s great, welcome aboard.”

Liao Meng hurriedly reached out to shake his hand, his fingers trembling slightly.

Luo Hang smiled, retracted his hand, and said: “Don’t be nervous. Qihang’s work atmosphere is still very relaxed. Go back and prepare a bit; it would be best if you come report to the company after the Spring Festival.”

This year’s Spring Festival holiday lasted from February 7th to the 14th.

Liao Meng nodded: “Okay, thank you President Luo!”

---

This meal was eaten very happily. Xie Yunfan was very good at livening up the atmosphere. Coupled with Luo Hang’s easygoing personality and lack of bossy airs, it felt just like a gathering of friends, and Liao Meng could also interject when chatting about games.

After finishing dinner, Xie Yunfan saw Liao Meng to the door.

Walking to the door, Liao Meng’s eye sockets were slightly red, and his voice was choked with emotion: “Yunfan, I truly never expected that you would recommend me to Qihang. I don’t know how to thank you…”

He had originally thought it was just a private gathering of a few friends who loved games. He hadn’t expected that Xie Yunfan actually helped him find such an awesome job!

Where could you find a classmate who helped you find a job? This was simply a massive meat pie falling from the sky, smashing him dizzy, unable to believe it.

Xie Yunfan smiled and said: “You’re welcome. I also felt that, Class Monitor, with your good grades and talent, you shouldn’t be buried. You were just lacking an opportunity, that’s all.”

—Some people are just lacking an opportunity.

Xie Yunfan was very clear about the cruelty of workplace competition. A student like Liao Meng, who didn’t graduate from a prestigious school and didn’t have anything particularly outstanding on his resume, would find it very difficult to enter a major company. And the low-cost games made by small game studios would gradually wear down a person’s enthusiasm and talent.

He himself was a very talented person.

Only by giving him a larger platform could he fully display his abilities.

Luo Hang wanted to make Fighting Master into a competitive game. Competitive games required long-term operations—three years, five years, and if done well, even exceeding ten years.

Characters and skills had to be added every season. Such a game deeply needed young planners with rich imaginations. Letting Liao Meng join the Fighting Master team was the best choice.

Xie Yunfan immediately followed up: “By the way, don’t leak the matter of me recommending you to Qihang to other classmates. Otherwise, everyone will come looking for me asking me to recommend them for jobs, and it’ll be hard for me to handle.”

Liao Meng hurriedly said: “Understood!”

Only a fool would blab about such precious networking resources everywhere.

Xie Yunfan said: “Qihang’s benefits are quite good. You can discuss the specific compensation with their HR. The game Fighting Master is also my brother’s painstaking work. Modify it well, I look forward to the day it launches.”

Liao Meng nodded earnestly: “Mhm, I will definitely go all out.”

On the way back, the doubts in Liao Meng’s heart were suddenly resolved.

No wonder Xie Yunfan suddenly became this formidable after taking a half-year leave of absence. It seemed it was because his brother knew Qihang’s CEO Luo Hang, and he studied with Qihang’s professional planning team for a period of time, leading his level to advance by leaps and bounds.

Although his brother’s company went bankrupt, the Xie family after all still had some connections. Therefore, Xie Yunfan was carried to victory by his brother…

Was that it?

Liao Meng felt that he seemed to have guessed the truth, and this was also the most normal and reasonable speculation.

---

After seeing off Liao Meng, Xie Yunfan returned to the private room.

His older brother and Luo Hang were chatting. Seeing him come in, Luo Hang smiled slightly, took an exquisite invitation out from his pocket, and said: “Yunfan, for you, an event invitation.”

“What event?” Xie Yunfan opened it and took a careful look.

[Cordially inviting Yangfan Studio to attend the Hua Xia Game Annual Gala on February 4th]

Xie Yunfan was confused: “Annual Gala?”

Luo Hang said: “The grandest award ceremony in the gaming industry. Our Ghost Realm is likely to win an award.”

Xie Xinghe supplemented: “This award ceremony is held once a year, usually during the winter vacation, to summarize and commend all the games from the previous year. Games that can win awards at the Annual Gala are all super awesome.”

Luo Hang said: “Domestic media will be present at this award ceremony, and TV stations will also broadcast it live entirely.”

Xie Yunfan paused.

In other words, Wings of Dream, Cool Play, and representatives of a massive number of mid-sized and small game studios would all attend this grand gala of the gaming industry? Broadcast live nationwide?

Most gamers might also watch this Annual Gala?

If Ghost Realm could win an award, it would be a massive affirmation for him, and it could also build up Yangfan Studio’s reputation. This would be beneficial for future recruitment, allowing him to recruit more excellent talent.

It was just that… if he went on stage to receive an award, his alternate identity would be exposed.

Forget it, the alternate identity was going to be exposed sooner or later anyway.

Might as well do it decisively, and expose it right in front of a nationwide audience.