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The day-long conference finally concluded. Industry association leaders shared the latest industry reports, policies, regulatory updates, and market outlook analyses, while representatives from invited gaming companies—including Alex—delivered speeches and shared their experiences.
As the most prominent rising star in the industry, Alex's speech was placed last as the grand finale.
However, most of these speeches were filled with expected platitudes. While the so-called experience sharing had some value, industry insiders knew the shared insights were mostly superficial and obvious. Nobody would genuinely reveal their core competitive advantages—especially since creative success often involves innate talent and isn't something everyone can simply replicate through imitation.
At the conference's conclusion, association leaders announced details of a special culturally-themed game design competition—a collaboration between the association and Infinite Realms.
The announcement drew particular attention: the competition theme would focus specifically on Chinese cultural elements—mythology, Wuxia martial arts traditions, Xianxia cultivation stories, and historical narratives. Games would be developed as independent single-player experiences based on the Infinite Realms engine and meeting standards for platform experiential content.
The competition was divided into two stages. The first stage involved judges voting to select five outstanding games from all submitted entries.
The five selected outstanding games would launch in the Infinite Realms Asian region and proceed to the second evaluation stage, with the first-place winner ultimately receiving qualification for global promotion and worldwide launch.
During the conference, association leaders urged American developers to consider participating in the competition, emphasizing the growing global interest in Chinese cultural content and the opportunity to tap into the massive Asian gaming market.
After the industry summit concluded, all attendees gathered in the banquet hall for dinner—the best opportunity for industry leaders to network and establish connections.
During dinner, everyone greeted each other and chatted. Those unfamiliar exchanged business cards, made pleasantries, raised toasts, or shared conversations, gradually becoming acquainted.
Of course, many of the gaming company leaders present already knew each other. But most were representatives or founders of newer companies invited to the summit for the first time. These emerging company founders would generally proactively toast the CEOs of larger corporations and distribute business cards.
However, Alex—arguably the youngest person present and also attending the conference for the first time—was even more popular than the established industry veterans. He was surrounded by numerous gaming company representatives like a star surrounded by orbiting planets, receiving toasts, business cards, small talk, greetings, and occasional flattery.
Alex hadn't been very adept at such occasions before, but now, being in the midst of it, he quickly adapted. After all, everyone was an adult. They understood this was essentially a conference for resource exchange and information networking.
People are driven by self-interest. Those with higher power and status, those with greater utility value, and those with stronger development potential are naturally the people everyone most wants to befriend.
At a nearby table, several newer gaming company CEOs were chatting:
"Mr. Li, is your company participating in this competition?"
"Forget it. We won't make fools of ourselves. Our company doesn't have any expertise in Chinese culture or mythology. We'd need to hire consultants, translators, cultural advisors... the costs would be astronomical! Hahaha!"
"That's true. And even if we made something, would we really understand the nuances? Chinese audiences can tell immediately if something's authentic or just surface-level orientalism."
"This competition is really aimed at Asian-American studios or companies with Chinese cultural consultants on staff. Maybe some of the bigger companies with international development teams will try."
"Yeah, Horizon Technologies has an office in Shanghai. Titan Games has been partnering with Chinese studios. TechFlow Gaming has several Chinese-American designers. They all have advantages."
"I wonder if Stormwind will participate?!"
"Stormwind? No way. Morrison's built his entire empire on Western IPs—Marvel superheroes, Hollywood action franchises, Western sci-fi. He's never touched Asian themes at all."
"Yeah, and it's not like he needs to prove anything. Why would he risk his reputation on something completely outside his wheelhouse?"
"True. Stormwind will probably sit this one out. Smart move, honestly."
"Hello, Mr. Morrison. I'm Brian Foster from Stellar Games!" A middle-aged man holding a wine glass walked up to Alex and extended his hand.
"Hello, Mr. Foster!" Alex also quickly stood and shook hands.
"I really benefited tremendously from your speech today. To be honest, I'm also a fan of yours. I play Death Race—which you developed—almost every day!" Brian said, making conversation.
"Mr. Foster, you're too kind. You're an industry veteran. There's still much I need to learn from you!" Alex also skillfully engaged in professional flattery, then shared a toast with Brian.
"By the way, Mr. Morrison, are you participating in this Chinese cultural game design competition?" Brian asked with a casual smile, clearly expecting a negative answer.
Alex paused for a moment, his wine glass halfway to his lips.
Images flashed through his mind—memories that didn't quite belong to his current life. The sweeping landscapes of Wuxia cinema. The intricate politics of Three Kingdoms period dramas. The fantastical cultivation worlds of Xianxia web novels he'd consumed endlessly in his previous life. Journey to the West. The Legend of Sword and Fairy. Chinese Ghost Story.
He'd lived an entire lifetime immersed in that culture before transmigrating to this world.
Everyone assumed he wouldn't participate. It made logical sense—Stormwind had built its reputation entirely on Western IPs. Avatar, Fast & Furious, Iron Man, Transformers. All quintessentially American or at least Western entertainment.
But this was an opportunity.
An opportunity to bring something genuinely special to this world. Something nobody would expect from him.
"Actually," Alex said slowly, a slight smile forming, "I probably will participate."
Brian Foster's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Really? That's... unexpected! I have to say, Mr. Morrison, you're full of surprises. But I'm curious—do you have experience with Chinese cultural themes?"
"Let's just say I've always been fascinated by Chinese mythology and history," Alex replied diplomatically. "It's an incredibly rich tradition. Journey to the West, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Fengshen Yanyi... there are so many compelling narratives that Western audiences have barely been exposed to."
"That's... quite ambitious," Brian said, clearly impressed but also skeptical. "Well, I look forward to seeing what you create. If anyone can pull off something unexpected, it's probably you."
After Brian moved on, Alex stood there for a moment, lost in thought.
In fact, he'd been asked the participation question multiple times since arriving. Most people clearly expected him to politely decline—it was the safe, logical choice.
But Alex had never built Stormwind by playing it safe.
And more importantly, he had an advantage nobody else in this room possessed: genuine, deep knowledge of Chinese cultural narratives from his previous life. He'd consumed countless Wuxia novels, watched endless cultivation dramas, played every major Chinese RPG that had been released.
The question wasn't whether he could create authentic Chinese cultural content.
The question was which story to tell.