Why Can’t I Make Games C02
by MarineTLChapter 2: Shameless
“Life, for all of us, happens only once…”
“Have you ever felt lost, unable to find your direction?”
“Are you full of expectations for the future, harboring grand ambitions?”
“Is the heat deep within your heart burning like a flame, hoping to leave your own brilliant mark on this industry, to become a creator, a participant?”
“Nikolai Ostrovsky1 once wrote in his book: A man’s dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past; so live that, dying, he might say: all my life, all my strength were given to the finest cause in all the world…”
“…”
Beside the Dadi Network booth.
The young HR lady’s long legs gave a sudden jerk as she felt the roar of the megaphone make her ears ring!
The plain water on her desk nearly splashed out.
She instinctively turned her head.
Then, she watched in shock as the man beside her – a simply dressed, somewhat familiar-looking fellow – held a megaphone in one hand and raised the other in a clenched fist, shouting those words at the top of his lungs.
His voice was incredibly piercing. Sitting right next to him, she felt as if her eardrums were about to shatter!
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt like the guy was pointing the megaphone directly at her!
Moreover, when the mouth of the megaphone was aimed her way, his voice seemed even more sonorous, even more forceful!
Who was Ostrovsky?
Wait!
Was that spittle flying onto her face?
She was stunned!
“When all foreign games mock our Huaxia2 games for having no hits…”
“When foreigners are excitedly making money off us, making us buy point cards3 until our hands go soft, yet we have no choice but to pay…”
“When we are wondering if our domestic games even have a future…”
“Have we ever considered why we don’t have games of our own!”
“Why!”
“Why are our own games never good enough?”
“…”
At the recruitment fair.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Many people instinctively looked toward Zhang Yang…
This young man was speaking with spittle flying everywhere, his speech becoming more and more impassioned, looking exactly like those radicals from decades ago.
It was fine at first, but as he went on, he became increasingly provocative.
They stared at the advertisement board next to him…
The board read: Universe Technology is recruiting!
Below that.
“Hiring: Game Art, Game Programming, 3D Designers, Script Planning…”
“Annual Salary: 100,000, plus game commissions!”
“…”
“…”
An annual salary of a hundred thousand?
A hundred thousand a year in 2005!
This not only shocked the students who hadn’t graduated yet, but even the HR representatives from other game companies were stunned!
The young lady from Dadi Network stared with wide eyes for a long time, unable to look away!
Her monthly salary was only a bit over two thousand, okay?
An average of over eight thousand a month – even in Yanjing4, that was a legend!
How did this guy dare to offer such a staggering salary?
Then, everyone looked at the very bottom of the advertisement board.
At the very bottom…
There was a young Black man with skin as dark as coal, playing a blurry computer game with an intoxicated look in his eyes, looking like a teenager with an internet addiction…
That wasn’t the important part!
The important part was…
“One of the world’s top ten game companies…”
“The global king of single-player games!”
“One of the world’s top ten most popular game companies for youth…”
“The favorite home of game industry professionals!”
“…”
Following the hundred-thousand-dollar salary, many people were stunned once again.
The countless impressive-sounding titles stunned them to the core!
A few young men who had just gathered around gasped, looking in shock at the young man holding the megaphone and speaking such hot-blooded words.
The more he spoke, the more excited he became.
And…
The more ridiculous it sounded…
“The future is in our hands!”
“Created for the rise of Huaxia games5!”
“Everyone, please step forward. Your small step is a giant leap for us!”
“…”
…………………………
“Who the hell is this!”
“If Universe Technology is so amazing, why have I never heard of them? I can’t even find them online!”
“Yeah, me neither…”
“Maybe it’s a foreign brand? Why does that Black guy look a bit familiar?”
“…”
The year was 2005.
It was the era of 2G networks.
Mobile phones were full of various ringtone downloads, but there were no mobile online games in the true sense.
Many young people weren’t as flighty as they would become later…
Information wasn’t as developed as it would be in the future, and things were relatively closed off. Even surfing the web on a phone was frustratingly slow.
On the internet, there were no attention-seeking influencers yet, nor were there any infamous “Phoenix Sisters6” demanding to marry PhD students…
Everyone lived relatively authentic lives.
Then, Zhang Yang from Erlonghu Village, Nanmin County, Zhangjiakou, appeared.
No one doubted him immediately. Instead, they started using computers to look up information.
But…
They found nothing.
Even though they found nothing, many people still stared blankly at Zhang Yang, like wild cats dazed by a searchlight, their eyes fixed on the salary…
The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger…
“Join us!”
“Join the future!”
“Please hand in your resumes!”
“Great talents are common, but those who recognize them are rare7. We need the strength of the youth!”
“This is…”
“The battlefield of the young!”
It seemed that the more people gathered to watch, the more excited Zhang Yang became.
He didn’t know what was happening himself.
When there were few people, he sometimes felt very constrained, not knowing what to say…
But in a crowd, his mind suddenly opened up, and he felt completely uninhibited!
“Boss, is the salary you mentioned for real?”
“Absolutely. A hundred thousand a year8!”
“Then, do you think I’m qualified?”
“Where did you graduate from?”
“Game Engineering at Yanjing University…”
“You’ll do!”
“Great!”
“…”
……………………….
Dadi Network!
At the Dadi Network booth, the long-legged young lady, who had just finished wiping the spit from her face, was stunned to see a student who had just submitted a resume to her turn around and hand one to Universe Technology.
After staring blankly for a long time, she fixed her gaze on Zhang Yang, her pupils shrinking!
Wait!
This guy…
Wasn’t this the guy with only a high school diploma who had come to apply for a job with her this morning?
Just an hour ago, her colleagues were questioning if there was something wrong with his head!
This…
How did this guy go from that to being an HR representative for one of the world’s top ten game companies in a single morning?
What was going on?
She snapped her eyes back to his recruitment sign!
Then…
She gasped!
“The Global King of Single-Player Games!”
“One of the World’s Top Ten Most Popular Game Companies Among Youth…”
“The Favorite Home for Game Industry Professionals!”
In front of those bold, eye-catching slogans… there were actually two words. They were tiny, but visible if one looked closely.
Those words were…
“future!”
She stared at Zhang Yang as if she had seen a ghost.
Just as she was about to expose him…
She saw Zhang Yang being surrounded by a group of security guards trying to maintain order, led by the manager in charge of the job fair.
“Sir, your company isn’t registered. You cannot conduct recruitment activities here…”
“Sir, if your company wishes to recruit, please pay an eight-hundred-yuan venue fee and a five-hundred-yuan deposit. Also, we need to verify your company!”
“…”
“What? Eight hundred yuan?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, all right. Eight hundred isn’t expensive. It’s a small matter. Fine, then I’ll…”
“Sir, please register over here. This way, please. Sir, what kind of company is yours? How come we’ve never… Uh, sir?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The marketing manager, who was about to lead Zhang Yang to the registration desk, watched blankly as Zhang Yang picked up his sign and a stack of resumes and walked right out of the job fair, leaving everyone in shock.
Then…
He walked to a large tree not far from the entrance.
He gestured to the marketing manager.
“Is it okay if I stay here?”
The marketing manager was completely stunned and nodded subconsciously.
Then…
“Recycling old cell phones, second-hand refrigerators9…”
“???”
“Cough, cough…”
“Universe Technology is hiring!”
“Universe Technology is recruiting! A time will come to ride the wind and cleave the waves; I’ll set my cloud-white sail and cross the sea10!”
“…”
“…”
The blare of the loudspeaker buzzed in everyone’s ears…
Wait!
Was it an illusion?
This guy who could offer a legendary salary of a hundred thousand yuan… actually refused to pay an eight-hundred-yuan deposit?
(End of Chapter)
Translator’s Notes
- Nikolai Ostrovsky: A Soviet socialist realist writer whose novel How the Steel Was Tempered was a mandatory part of the Chinese school curriculum for decades. The quote recited by the protagonist is one of the most famous literary passages in China, typically associated with revolutionary zeal and selfless devotion to a cause. ↩
- Huaxia: A historical and cultural name for China. Using “Huaxia” instead of the modern name for the country often evokes a sense of ancient civilization, national pride, and traditional identity. ↩
- point cards: A common monetization method for PC games in the early 2000s. Players bought physical or digital cards representing a certain amount of game time or currency. In 2005, this was the primary way Chinese players paid for popular imported MMORPGs. ↩
- Yanjing: A historical name for Beijing. In modern contexts, it is often used as a more formal or literary way to refer to the capital city. ↩
- For the rise of Huaxia games: This line is a parody of a famous patriotic declaration by Zhou Enlai, the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China, who famously said, “Study for the rise of China” (为中华之崛起而读书). The protagonist’s use of this heavy political rhetoric for a game company recruitment pitch is the source of the “shamelessness” mentioned in the chapter title. ↩
- Phoenix Sisters: A reference to Sister Feng (Luo Yufeng), one of China’s first major internet celebrities who became famous for her extreme self-confidence and a list of demands for a husband that included being a graduate of a top-tier university. The text uses this to contrast the relatively ‘authentic’ internet of 2005 with the later era of viral influencers. ↩
- Great talents are common, but those who recognize them are rare: A reference to a famous Tang Dynasty essay by Han Yu about the legendary horse-judge Bo Le. The original idiom (千里马常有，而伯乐不常有) suggests that while ‘Thousand-Li Horses’ (exceptional talents) exist, they often go unnoticed because there are few people with the insight of Bo Le to recognize them. ↩
- A hundred thousand a year: In 2005 China, 100,000 RMB was an exceptionally high annual salary, particularly for entry-level roles. At the time, the average annual salary in major cities like Beijing was closer to 20,000–30,000 RMB. This massive discrepancy explains the crowd’s intense reaction and the suspicion of the other recruiters. ↩
- Recycling old cell phones, second-hand refrigerators: This phrase is a common recorded chant used by itinerant scrap collectors in China who travel through neighborhoods to buy used electronics and appliances. Its appearance here indicates that Zhang Yang is using a cheap, repurposed loudspeaker typically associated with street vendors, adding a layer of low-budget comedy to his recruitment attempt. ↩
- A time will come to ride the wind and cleave the waves; I’ll set my cloud-white sail and cross the sea: These lines are from the poem “The Hard Road” (行路难) by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. It is a famous expression of perseverance and the belief that one will eventually achieve great success despite current hardships. Zhang Yang’s use of such lofty literary language while recruiting under a tree creates a comedic contrast with his meager circumstances. ↩
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