"You're even darker than I thought, even Penguin Games can't compare to you."

To make up the remaining points, Adam Brooks still needed to get 3,000 more, which meant over 300 yuan, but Adam Brooks could barely afford to eat right now. He really didn't want to spend those 300 yuan—it hurt.

"This is the last time. If I don't get it this time, then forget it. At worst, I just won't participate in this game design competition. Next month, I'll design a game myself and still get the D-level designer qualification."

Adam Brooks gritted his teeth and clicked the [Draw] button one last time.

He kept saying he wouldn't do it, but his body was honest—Adam Brooks felt his heart pounding and his hand trembling a little.

At this moment, he could somewhat understand the mindset of those guys trying to quit gambling. If he got another green book, he might really end up on the rooftop.

With a "clack," the wheel stopped.

Purple area! [Special Item]!

Adam Brooks jumped up in excitement—ha, there really is always a way out!

A treasure chest appeared on the screen. Adam Brooks tried tapping it, and with a "click," the chest opened, sending out a few rays of golden light.

Adam Brooks looked closely: "Special Item: Super Focus Device."

There was also an item description.

[Super Focus Device: Single-use item, lasts 10 minutes. After use, it can focus the attention of 500 people on any spot. Once the focus point is chosen, it takes effect immediately and cannot be changed.]

Adam Brooks scratched his head, not quite understanding, so he read the item description again.

He more or less got it, but this thing didn't seem to have anything to do with games?

Adam Brooks stroked his chin and thought for a long time. The only use he could think of was to use it at the game design competition, and during that time, focus all the audience's and judges' attention on his game.

But... what then, after the focus?

It only lasts 10 minutes. And it just makes people notice his game; it can't change what they think of it.

If the game isn't fun and you force people to play it, it might even backfire.

"Let me think, there must be a way."

Adam Brooks was unwilling to give up. After finally drawing a purple item, it would be a joke if he couldn't use it.

Right now, Adam Brooks needed a game like this:

It couldn't be too complicated.

The resources had to be within 6MB.

The audience had to fall in love with it after playing for about 10 minutes.

Even if they didn't fall in love, at least it had to leave a deep impression.

It needed a certain gimmick—only then would there be hope of winning the game design competition.

"Looks like an impossible task, but it can't stump me. After all, I've seen so much in my previous life—what kind of game haven't I seen?"

"Alright, time to get to work!"

With a goal in mind, Adam Brooks sat down at his laptop again and opened the game editor.

Originally, it was an impossible task, but with the Super Focus Device, it became just a little bit possible—and actually, quite a bit possible.

Of course, before designing, Adam Brooks first used up those green skill books—three stat skill books and one level skill book.

They weren't all that useful, but better than nothing.

The game editor wasn't hard to use. Adam Brooks got the hang of it after a bit of practice.

After downloading the remaining 6MB of resources, Adam Brooks started writing the design document. Since the game was small, the design doc only took a few hundred words.

Resource-wise, he was frugal too—he used free shared resources from the editor, making slight modifications as needed.

The main part of the game was finished that very night. The next morning, Adam Brooks added a simple online and ranking feature, and that was it.

After finishing, Adam Brooks tested it out—the feel wasn't much different from the original in his previous life.

Once the installation package was ready, Adam Brooks submitted the game to the official staff of the game design competition. Whether the game would be accepted would only be determined on the day of the competition.

...

The day of the competition.

Adam Brooks put on his only suit and arrived at the game design competition venue on time.

August in the imperial capital was scorching hot—Adam Brooks felt like an idiot in his suit, but luckily the venue's air conditioning was strong, and after a while, he finally cooled down.

With staff guidance, the judges, contestants, and audience all took their seats in an orderly fashion, and all the preparations for the competition were proceeding smoothly—just waiting for it to start.

Honestly, there were quite a lot of people in the audience—at least six or seven hundred.

This game design competition was of a decent scale. Not only was there a live broadcast and full video recording, but three veteran game designers were invited as judges.

As for the competition's prizes, they really went all out: first place would receive 300,000 yuan in game development funding, a D-level game designer qualification, and a personal exclusive game experience store.

The 300,000 yuan in development funding speaks for itself—real money—but what attracted designers even more was the last prize: a personal exclusive game experience store!

A game experience store could be seen as a designer's showcase area. Experience stores could be big or small—if you made it to SSS-level game designer, your experience store might be an entire building, even becoming a "pilgrimage" site for players.