Why Can’t I Make Games C01
by MarineTLChapter 1: Life Like Wild Grass
June 12, 2005.
Yanjing.
A bustling, noisy job fair.
Zhang Yang munched on crispy noodles1, crouching in a neglected corner like a lowly nobody.
He squinted at the various recruitment booths nearby.
Even though it was already lunchtime, the campus recruitment fair was still teeming with people.
His gaze fixed on three game companies.
“Dadi Network2,” “Shengteng Network3,” and “Mumaen Network4“!
Massive crowds swarmed these three booths. Everyone was lined up, nervously rehearsing their self-introductions in their heads.
These three companies were currently among the top three gaming giants in Huaxia.
Zhang Yang watched the HR representatives in the booths, their smiles as warm as a spring breeze.
Then he looked down at his own resume, a few wrinkled sheets of paper held together with clear tape.
He took a deep breath.
Suddenly, he felt a wave of stifling frustration.
He wanted to curse.
“Hello. You have some interesting insights into the game industry, and we look forward to working with you. Please head home for now, we will contact you at any time…”
“…”
“Hello. Our educational requirements aren’t actually that strict, a degree is just a foot in the door. Narrative construction relies more on an individual’s storytelling ability. However, given your situation, we will consider it carefully. We hope to have the chance to cooperate…”
“…”
“Hello…”
“…”
Zhang Yang recalled the way those people had looked when they spoke to him.
At the time, he had walked up to their booths with total sincerity, earnestly explaining his strengths.
He had been full of confidence, desperate for them to give him a chance to prove himself.
He had seen them smiling, appearing kind and patient.
They had accepted his resume, seemingly giving it a serious look, and told him they would treat his application with the utmost care and consideration.
But…
As the lunch hour approached, Zhang Yang happened to see two of them leaving the scene with a stack of resumes.
He guessed they were heading to the nearby Mumaen Technology recruitment branch to rest.
After a moment’s hesitation, he finally summoned his courage and followed them, intending to recommend himself again. He wanted to talk to them privately about his views on the future!
He possessed knowledge of historical trajectories and game industry forecasts that no one else knew!
Those were things from another world…
He believed he could dazzle them!
He might even secure a decent position and use it to turn his life around!
But…
“Looks like we won’t find anyone suitable today. This year’s crop is really low quality. So many shut-ins with no work experience and only associate degrees5 are handing in resumes. Do they think being a Game Planner6 is as easy as playing games?”
“That’s not even the worst of it. At least those have associate degrees. I just ran into a high school grad. The kicker is, this high schooler actually thought he was hot stuff. He was rambling on about how he could handle narrative construction and game operations, claiming he’d be an asset to the company. Then he started lecturing me on the future of the gaming industry. I was honestly stunned listening to him.”
“Yes, yes! I met him too! He was so serious when he handed over his resume, saying education doesn’t necessarily matter and that he just needs a chance. He even said he’d work for free just to prove his ability as an intern. I was shocked too. I checked his papers several times, thinking he was a prankster. Then I realized he wasn’t a prankster, he was just delusional.”
“People who can’t even get into university probably have some issues with their IQ. He was spouting the same nonsense at our Mumaen recruitment booth. Seeing how confident he was, I almost thought he was some thoroughbred returning from overseas7. Then I saw his education level and I could barely keep a straight face! What a joke.”
“Actually, there are quite a few of these weirdos…”
“Look at these. This one’s a stutterer who can’t even speak clearly. And this one, looks like a big, clumsy oaf, yet he says he wants to join the operations department8. Why doesn’t he just ask for the moon? And this one, he looks sickly…”
“Why are there so many freaks at this job fair!”
“These resumes are too heavy to carry back. We’ll have to dispose of them sooner or later anyway…”
“…”
Zhang Yang heard it all.
And then…
His expectant expression instantly froze.
The thousands of words he’d prepared for his self-introduction vanished like smoke.
He watched as those figures tore the resumes into pieces. After a few more sighs of exasperation, they finally dispersed.
Once they were gone, Zhang Yang looked at the shredded resumes discarded in the trash can.
Perhaps…
This wasn’t the first time these HR people had performed this kind of rejection work.
Their timing was perfect. Not long after the scraps were tossed in, the cleaning lady arrived.
If Zhang Yang hadn’t overheard those words, no one would have known that so many people’s resumes were mocked and thrown into the trash like this.
Under the strange gaze of the cleaning lady, Zhang Yang scavenged the shredded paper from the bin.
Then…
He retreated to a corner alone, piecing the resumes together bit by bit and taping them back up.
He stared at the resumes, falling into a long, long silence.
Why couldn’t these big companies finish reviewing the resumes, or at least try to understand the situation and give someone a chance before disposing of them?
Why were they so impatient?
But perhaps…
This was the norm?
Some people were just destined to be weeded out?
Zhang Yang felt as if he’d been slapped hard across the face.
He felt that the resume he’d spent over a week carefully writing shouldn’t be mocked like this.
More importantly…
They shouldn’t have mocked those other applicants.
Does a stutter affect one’s ability to code?
Does looking like a big, clumsy oaf affect game operations?
Does being a sickly, limping young man affect one’s artistic talent?
Image…
Is it really that important?
They aren’t even in the image industry9!
For God’s sake!
You could have at least called them to say they weren’t a fit, couldn’t you?
What the hell does it mean to just tear up their resumes and throw them away like that?
Are people really ranked like this? Do “lower-class” people not even deserve a phone call?
Returning to the job fair, it was still a sea of people.
Zhang Yang saw a few students eating by themselves not far away.
In a corner, a plain-looking figure was munching on a steamed bun while reading a book with intense focus.
He seemed completely out of place.
Zhang Yang felt he looked familiar and checked the resumes again.
It was the “stutterer” from the resumes, named Zhong Chongwen…
According to the resume, he was a fresh graduate10 from a remote village in Luocheng.
Zhang Yang took a bite of his crispy noodles and fell back into thought.
Not long after, Zhong Chongwen stood up, resume in hand, and continued stuttering his way through the various booths…
He really couldn’t speak a single sentence clearly. Sometimes his face would turn beet red, yet he couldn’t get a full sentence out.
Everyone looked at him with strange expressions…
When he left, his eyes were a bit red, looking quite miserable. Zhang Yang saw him give his own arm a hard, sharp pinch.
He seemed to loathe his own performance, but he had no other choice.
Seeing this… Zhang Yang looked around again.
Then, he saw another figure on the other side – someone with a limp leaving the fair, sitting on the ground staring blankly into the distance. Many people still glanced at him, intentionally or not…
All sorts of looks.
His name was Zhao Hang.
He had suffered from polio as a child. Now that he was grown, his legs weren’t very mobile.
Zhang Yang finished his last bite and let out a silent sigh.
Since… this godforsaken world won’t let people get ahead, then fine…
At that moment… a crazy idea popped into Zhang Yang’s head!
I’ll fucking do it myself!
……………………………………………………
“We are like wild grass and flowers, living in a vast, desolate world…”
“We are buffeted by wind and rain, scorched by fierce fires, ignored by all, and often trampled underfoot…”
“We live humble lives, merely scraping by, small and insignificant…”
“But we have always grown toward the sun11. One day, we will bloom, spreading across the mountains and fields, reaching every corner of the world…”
“…”
Yanjing.
The bustling job fair.
Zhang Yang very seriously wrote these words on paper with a pen.
After finishing, he read them over carefully, closed his eyes, and imagined himself reciting these words.
In his imagination… standing in a place where all eyes were on him.
He clenched his fist and recited the passage with impassioned fervor!
A rallying cry that would move hundreds!
Thinking this, he felt the emotion was perfect, powerful and resonant. He could even feel his own blood starting to boil.
He opened his eyes and glanced at the empty spot near Dadi Network.
He took a deep breath and left the job fair.
Ten minutes later, he walked back in carrying a megaphone and a signboard!
Then!
To everyone’s utter astonishment…
Holding the signboard, he stood in the empty space next to Dadi Network.
“A Fortune Global 50012 game company! The king of gaming and entertainment trends! Number one on the list of the world’s top ten favorite game companies for youth! Universe Technology13 is now recruiting!”
“…”
(End of Chapter)
Translator’s Notes
- crispy noodles: Gancuimian (干脆面) are inexpensive instant noodles meant to be eaten dry as a snack. In 2005 China, they were a ubiquitous and very cheap food choice. Eating them as a meal at a job fair underscores the protagonist’s financial hardship and his status as an underdog. ↩
- Dadi Network: A fictionalized name representing one of the dominant Chinese gaming companies of the mid-2000s. In the context of 2005, these companies parody the real-world ‘Big Three’ industry giants—such as Shanda, NetEase, and Giant Interactive—that controlled the market during the early boom of the Chinese online gaming industry. ↩
- Shengteng Network: A fictionalized name likely alluding to Shanda Interactive Entertainment (Shengda), which was the dominant leader in China’s online gaming industry in 2005. In the context of the story’s setting, it represents one of the “Big Three” companies that controlled the domestic market during the early boom of PC online gaming. ↩
- Mumaen Network: A fictionalized name for one of the dominant Chinese gaming companies of the mid-2000s. Along with ‘Dadi’ and ‘Shengteng,’ it alludes to the real-world industry giants of that era, such as Shanda, NetEase, or The9. Authors often use these thinly veiled names to ground the story in the actual history of the Chinese internet and gaming industry. ↩
- associate degrees: Refers to zhuanke (专科), a 3-year vocational college degree in China. In the mid-2000s, this was often the minimum requirement for many jobs, but was viewed with significant prejudice by major companies compared to a 4-year university degree (benke). The HR’s mockery highlights the protagonist’s struggle as someone with even lower qualifications. ↩
- Game Planner: In Chinese game companies, this is a specific design role that can cover systems, content, quests, and sometimes narrative work. It is broader than the everyday English sense of someone who simply “plans” things. ↩
- returning from overseas: The source text uses the idiom haiwai dujin (海外镀金), literally “gilding oneself overseas.” It refers to the practice of studying abroad to gain the prestige of a foreign degree. The HR representative is mocking the protagonist’s confidence by contrasting his low local education with the high status of “gilded” returnees. ↩
- operations department: In a Chinese game company, 运营部 means the team handling live operations, promotion, community management, and player retention. It is not the same as general office administration. ↩
- image industry: Here ‘image’ refers to outward appearance or public presentation. The speaker means jobs where looks matter, not a literal industry called ‘image.’ ↩
- fresh graduate: The term yingjie biyesheng refers specifically to students graduating in the current year. In the Chinese labor market, this status is highly significant, as many recruitment drives, civil service exams, and corporate benefits are exclusively reserved for ‘fresh’ graduates within a specific window. ↩
- grown toward the sun: The phrase xiangyang ersheng (literally ‘born toward the sun’) is a popular modern Chinese expression signifying resilience, optimism, and the determination to thrive despite adversity. It is frequently used in inspirational contexts to describe those from humble backgrounds striving for a better life. ↩
- Fortune Global 500: In Chinese corporate culture, the Fortune Global 500 (世界五百强) is the ultimate benchmark for success. It is a primary recruitment tool used to indicate a company’s immense scale and the high social status (or ‘face’) associated with being its employee. ↩
- Universe Technology: The term ‘Universe’ (宇宙) is a common hyperbolic modifier in Chinese meaning ‘the ultimate’ or ‘the greatest in existence.’ In a company name, it represents extreme ambition or a claim to total dominance, aligning with the grandiose titles used in the recruitment pitch. ↩
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