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Northfield City is a typical northern city.
A few of Evan's former roommates, still at Harborview University, posted photos on their social media of themselves going out in shorts to eat barbecue and drink beer, while here in Northfield City, Evan was already preparing to put on a down jacket. The north wind howled, whipping against his face. The weather forecast said it would snow this week, and Evan was already considering whether to adjust the company's working hours. It's no wonder that after modern times, warmer cities developed more significantly. Once the weather turns cold, both commuting and working become less convenient.
Evan was waiting for his meal, aimlessly lost in thought. Due to the strange conversation in the car earlier, an awkward atmosphere now hung between him and Emily.
Perhaps unable to bear the silence, Emily was the first to break it:
"I was really quite surprised to run into you on the train that day."
Thank goodness, Evan sighed inwardly, having thought they would have to endure a silent standoff until the end of the night.
"I was surprised too. You really gave me the illusion of being a celebrity back then. But after returning to Northfield City, no one has asked me for an autograph," Evan joked.
Emily's smile deepened as they talked about their previous encounter. "I paid more attention to that aspect back then because the new technology in your game was highly praised by some professional gamers. The consensus at the time was that while the use of this technology wasn't yet clear, it would definitely have its place in the future."
Evan gave a self-deprecating smile. "What you said reminds me of a friend's story."
"Oh? Tell me," Emily said, resting her chin on one hand and tilting her head to look at him.
Evan's heart instantly skipped a beat. The band in the center of the restaurant was still diligently playing Mozart's Fourth Violin Concerto. The implicit military march rhythm in the overture made the whole restaurant's atmosphere a little lively. The warm lighting made Emily appear to Evan as if wrapped in a soft glow, extraordinarily captivating.
He took a sip of wine to cover his slight lapse, then, after a brief recollection, he began to speak slowly:
"When I was younger, I had a classmate whose father, he said, had excellent foresight when he was young. He worked diligently and quickly saved a sum of money, becoming the first person to strike it rich in their small town at the time."
"To be the first to make it big back then certainly showed great capability. And then?"
"After his father had money, he thought that money wouldn't multiply just sitting there. To make money, he needed to invest, to stockpile inventory—at that time, they were probably called 'speculators.'"
"If he had bought property with that money back then, he would have made a fortune now."
"It would have been great if he had bought property then. At the time, his father was looking at high-tech products. He put all his family's assets into it, stockpiling a whole warehouse full of these high-end electronic products, firmly believing that these products would appreciate in value in the future and he would make a fortune."
"Electronic products?" Emily asked, somewhat amused.
"Yes." Evan nodded. "His old man bought a warehouse full of pagers. Later, well, his family was the first to strike it rich in his town, and also the fastest to go bankrupt."
Emily was dumbfounded. "Pagers? That really is... What happened next?"
"What happened next?" Evan took a sip of wine, a nostalgic expression on his face. "Later, another classmate of mine made a movie using that anecdote, made a lot of money, and became a very accomplished young director."
"You have a wide circle of friends," Emily said with great interest. "What's the name of the movie? I'll go watch it later."
Evan slowly replied: "The movie is called 'Duckweed'. It's a film I really like because I found the protagonist quite relatable."
Emily pondered for a while, then pulled out her phone and tapped away for a long time, then said angrily to Evan, who was slowly sipping his wine: "You're teasing me again, aren't you! I checked, and there's no such movie!"
Evan was perfectly calm. "As they say: 'Some things cannot be spoken.' Eat your food, eat your food. Worst case, I'll film it for you to watch later.
Anyway, I've seen it, so I'll definitely film an identical one for you."
Emily said with a dark expression: "Is it fun to tease me? The second time we met, you also tricked me once, which resulted in me working at Redbird Studios until now."
Hearing this, Evan put down his chopsticks, thought carefully, and said: "Hmm, at the time, I was indeed eager for talent. It was truly not good that I hurt your feelings, so I must apologize. I'm sorry."
Seeing him so serious, Emily felt a little embarrassed. She waved her hand and said: "Never mind, never mind. Thinking about it later, I've been quite happy working here, and I haven't been mistreated in any aspect. I guess we're even."
Evan said earnestly: "An apology is still due, and I also need to thank you. After all, I've seen everything you've done on the project, and honestly, I'm the one who profited. It was truly short-sighted of them at Constellation Games to overlook you back then. I'm very fortunate to have you at Redbird Studios now."
"I'm not that amazing, really." Emily blushed, suddenly praised, and flustered, she quickly changed the subject: "But I've read the proposal for Swallowing Heaven and Earth, and it's really excessively detailed. Evan, is Redbird Studios planning to expand recruitment next?"
Evan nodded. "Swallowing Heaven and Earth is just the first step. If we're going to do it, we're going to make it the biggest and best. I'm already planning the second game. Once Swallowing Heaven and Earth officially stabilizes after its open beta, we can gradually reallocate personnel to prepare for the second project."
"What kind of game will it be?" Emily had returned to her adorable chin-resting, listening posture, making Evan inwardly shout, 'Foul!'
"Ultimately, it definitely has to be a AAA game. For now, I actually have two proposals I'm working on simultaneously, but which one we ultimately pursue will depend on how many people and how much funding Redbird Studios has at the time, as well as the specific situation of the open beta. So, for now..." Evan shrugged. "No comment."
"A AAA game, huh..." Emily's face showed a hint of worry. "While AAA games are every producer's dream, ultimately, games still need to be viewed as commercial products. No company in our country has tried this area yet, but in Europe and America, there was a AAA production last year that supposedly barely broke even. If you factor in time costs, that game was almost a loss, so now, for many, AAA is just a dream."
Evan nodded in agreement. Companies in this world were relatively extreme. Each company focused heavily on story rendering, which was somewhat putting the cart before the horse. Moreover, cultural barriers were much thicker than in his previous life, with Eastern and Western gaming circles basically operating independently. Even if there were occasional crossovers, they usually just adopted the other's cultural elements superficially.
"But how will we know if we don't try?" Evan grinned, showing his teeth. "After all, if we can conquer players worldwide, that would be incredibly cool."
Looking at Evan's confident smile, Emily couldn't help but feel a little stirred.
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