Zhang Mingzhi.
It was a common name—so common that you could probably slap a hand down on a list and find dozens of Zhang Mingzhis.
Zhang Mingzhi was a freshman in the Information Engineering Department at NTU. He wasn't actually that interested in game development.
However, he had played quite a few of the games that had recently become popular on the Mysterious Island.
Like Street Fighter.
Atlas had developed many games, but Street Fighter was the hottest one on the Mysterious Island, bar none.
For one thing, the other titles lacked a Chinese translation. For another, Street Fighter was the only one officially imported by Taiwanese distributors and distributed across all channels. It had Chinese support, the gameplay was exhilarating, and it even featured Jackie Chan. How could anyone not love it?
Zhang Mingzhi's Japanese was pretty mediocre, so he had only played Street Fighter.
Street Fighter was great! But it was just too damn hard. He didn't even have enough New Taiwan Dollars in his pocket to keep playing.
Recently, Soft-World Company had established a Taipei Studio. The studio had launched an award called the "Golden Disk Award." If you could place in the rankings, you'd receive a substantial monetary grant, and your game could even be published.
Zhang Mingzhi was a bit short on cash, so he decided to create a game and submit it to Soft-World on a whim.
What if I win the Golden Disk Award? A guy's gotta dream.
The noise around him gradually snapped Zhang Mingzhi back to reality. He stood in line with everyone else, waiting to be lectured.
Today was the first day of classes at NTU. He'd heard there would be several speakers. The very word "lecture" made him want to laugh; he loathed these formulaic speeches the most. To make matters worse, he had to endure them under the scorching September sun. It was maddening.
Even if Old Chiang himself were to be resurrected to speak on stage, Zhang Mingzhi wouldn't be the least bit excited.
Sure enough, the current speaker was a typical bureaucrat. His speech was the epitome of officialese—polite yet utterly insufferable. Zhang Mingzhi had to restrain himself from rushing up and slapping the man.
Hurry up and finish, he grumbled inwardly.
Then, the next speaker took the stage.
The moment he appeared, the entire audience, Zhang Mingzhi included, froze in astonishment.
This was a remarkably young face, looking no older than any of them. He wore a hat, but a glimpse of dyed hair could still be seen peeking out from the back.
Zhang Mingzhi gasped, nearly choking.
What the hell? How could NTU invite someone with dyed hair to give a speech!
This completely defied his common sense.
But the announcement system was already blaring the university's voice.
"Next, please welcome Mr. Kobayashi Tetsu, President of Japan's Atlus Company, to deliver the orientation speech. Mr. Kobayashi has achieved extraordinary success at a young age, making him a role model in the IT industry. The Atlus Company he founded is also world-renowned, and I'm sure many of you are already familiar with some of its works—"
The voice from the speakers droned on, but Zhang Mingzhi was genuinely stunned.
Atlus! He knew them. They were the company that released Street Fighter.
Besides Street Fighter, they had many other games. But since they weren't translated into Chinese, he'd barely played any of them. He'd only seen Sonic the Hedgehog at a friend's place, and it had been a lot of fun.
On the lecture stage, Kobayashi Tetsu had already taken the microphone. He tapped it casually, and a harsh feedback screeched from the speakers.
"Ahem, uh, good afternoon, everyone. Let's skip the pleasantries. NTU is a school with a long history, and Information Engineering is the frontier industry of the future—blah, blah, blah—you all know this. I won't repeat what everyone else has already said."
Zhang Mingzhi was suddenly jolted awake.
Kobayashi Tetsu was clearly different from that bureaucrat from before.
More importantly, although his accent was different from the one on the Mysterious Island, he could actually understand Kobayashi Tetsu's speech!
Kobayashi Tetsu took off his baseball cap in front of everyone, revealing his dyed hair.
"It's a bit embarrassing, really, that I'm standing on a university stage giving a speech, considering I've barely had any formal education. Compared to all of you, my knowledge is like that of a new recruit."
The audience below erupted in friendly laughter, and Zhang Mingzhi was also quite surprised.
He hadn't expected the President of Atlas to have never attended school.
But this actually closed the distance between them.
In this era, those who could get into a university had a certain amount of pride in their hearts, and now that they were being praised, they felt even more self-satisfied.
The school administration, watching from below the stage, seemed to have something to say—especially upon seeing Kobayashi Tetsu's blatantly dyed hair. However, the atmosphere in the crowd was still quite enthusiastic, so they tacitly allowed his actions for the time being.
Kobayashi Tetsu took the microphone and walked directly to the edge of the podium, gesturing casually.
"Before we begin, I have a question. Everyone, please raise your hand if you've heard of Atlus Company."
Zhang Mingzhi immediately raised his hand.
Including him, many students from the Information Engineering Department raised their hands. Although there were fewer from other departments, they still made up roughly two-thirds of the total student body.
"Oh, impressive. It seems Atlus has quite a reputation here. Now, please raise your hand if you have actually played an Atlus game."
Zhang Mingzhi kept his hand raised. This time, only about half of the previous group did, which was roughly one-third of the entire audience.
"Look at that. I never expected Atlus's influence to reach this level. Even students who aren't in the Information Engineering major have played Atlus games. So, this is the topic of my speech today—a sunrise industry, the gaming industry."
Kobayashi Tetsu spoke on stage about this sunrise industry, and Zhang Mingzhi listened, his blood boiling with excitement.
One-third of the entire audience had played Atlas games! How was this not a sunrise industry?!
When Kobayashi Tetsu finished his speech and stepped down, Zhang Mingzhi was the first to clap. The applause was fierce, no longer the perfunctory patter from before, but genuine and heartfelt.
After Kobayashi Tetsu left, the school representative came up to make the final closing remarks.
Zhang Mingzhi kept on his tiptoes, staring at the stage.
After the orientation ceremony ended, Zhang Mingzhi didn't leave the auditorium. Instead, he ran to the very front.
"Excuse me, please let me through!"
He blocked the entrance to the tiered auditorium, waiting anxiously.
Finally, he saw the guest speaker and the school representative walking out.
Zhang Mingzhi dashed forward and bowed.
"Mr. Kobayashi! Sorry to disturb you! My name is Zhang Mingzhi, I'm a new student."
Kobayashi Tetsu stopped and looked at Zhang Mingzhi.
He had the face of a science student, yet surprisingly, he wasn't wearing glasses.
Zhang Mingzhi said, "Actually, I'm trying to make my own game. You might not know this, but recently, a company called Soft-World opened a game studio in Taipei. They're planning to make games and have sent out an open invitation to everyone, hosting a 'Golden Disk Competition.' If you win, you not only get prize money but can also release your game."
Kobayashi Tetsu nodded, then suddenly frowned.
"Wait a minute. When you introduced yourself just now, did you say your name was Zhang Mingzhi?"
Zhang Mingzhi nodded, tracing the characters of his name in the air with his finger as he spoke.
Kobayashi Tetsu nodded naturally, but inwardly, he clicked his tongue.
Zhang Mingzhi... This is no ordinary person!
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