"I hope you can quickly turn back from the wrong path. Don't let this award make you stray even further, or it will only harm you, understand?"

As soon as William Clark said this, the atmosphere in the room became a bit tense.

Although the words sounded dignified and proper, the underlying meaning was very clear: he was saying that Adam Brooks's success with this game was due to exploiting loopholes, playing tricks, and luck. If he tried to make another similar game, it would surely fail.

Obviously, William Clark still couldn't swallow his pride. He couldn't confront Brian Cooper directly, nor could he just admit he was wrong, so he decided to give Adam Brooks a warning instead.

Confronting Brian Cooper was risky—if Brian Cooper lost his temper and things escalated, William Clark might not come out on top. But confronting Adam Brooks was risk-free. As a newcomer designer, at most Adam Brooks would just nod meekly and say, "Thank you for your guidance, teacher." Even if he had objections, he could only keep them to himself.

Brian Cooper certainly understood William Clark's little scheme, but since William Clark wasn't targeting him, it wasn't his place to intervene. He could only watch as Adam Brooks took the hit in silence.

Chapter 11: The Most Important Quality of a Game Designer

The host also noticed the sting in William Clark's words and, afraid things might get out of hand, quickly said, "Alright, thank you Teacher Shi for your advice. I believe contestant Adam Brooks will surely remember the teachings of his senior. Next—"

Before the host could finish, Adam Brooks already had the microphone at his mouth: "I disagree with your opinion."

The host was shocked, and William Clark was stunned!

Brian Cooper and Henry Green were also surprised.

What was going on? Was the contestant about to confront the judge head-on?

The host was a bit flustered, but he couldn't stop Adam Brooks from speaking. At this point, he could only brace himself and listen to what Adam Brooks had to say.

"Watch your wording, this is a live broadcast," the host whispered in Adam Brooks's ear, without using the microphone.

Adam Brooks ignored the host, took the microphone, and said, "Audience members, when you were playing 'FlappyBird' and achieved your highest score ever, were you happy? If you were, raise your hand."

The audience was momentarily stunned, then more than half raised their hands.

"When your ranking on the leaderboard went up, were you happy? If you were, raise your hand."

Again, more than half raised their hands—slightly fewer than before, but not by much.

"When you played with friends and scored higher than them, were you happy? If you were, raise your hand."

This time, even more people raised their hands—most of the audience.

"After failing, did you choose to give up or try again? If you chose to give up, raise your hand."

Almost no one raised their hand.

"You tried many times—did you feel these attempts were meaningless? If so, raise your hand."

A few audience members raised their hands, but after glancing around, put them down again.

Adam Brooks continued, "Clearly, the audience thinks my game brought them joy."

"The purpose of a game is to stir the player's emotions. Sometimes negative emotions can cloud our judgment, but think about it: if a game only brought you negative feelings, would you keep playing it?"

Many audience members shook their heads.

Adam Brooks went on, "Any game that keeps you playing is a game that brings you happiness—unless you're a masochist."

The room erupted in laughter.

Adam Brooks looked at William Clark: "Just because you can't appreciate the fun in this game doesn't mean that fun doesn't exist. On the contrary, my players think it's an enjoyable game. It didn't win over so many players purely by evoking negative emotions."

William Clark's mouth twitched slightly.

Adam Brooks continued, "I think the most important quality for a designer is objectivity—the ability to view any game objectively, even if you don't like it. That's what makes a qualified designer."

"If a food critic doesn't like spicy food, and every time he eats Sichuan cuisine he gives it the lowest score, is he a qualified food critic?"

"Similarly, if you think a game is trash just because you don't like it, how are you any different from a food critic who dislikes Sichuan cuisine?"

"I'm done, thank you."

Adam Brooks shoved the microphone back into the host's hand and walked off the stage.

He had no time to waste arguing with William Clark.

"You..."

William Clark glared, so angry he almost slammed the table and stood up.

Sitting next to him, Henry Green quickly pulled him back. "He's just a kid, don't stoop to his level."

William Clark's face turned bright red, but in the end, he didn't lose his temper. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he couldn't think of anything to refute Adam Brooks with!

Adam Brooks had the audience raise their hands, used the food critic analogy, and his whole argument was watertight. Other than being unreasonable, William Clark really had no other way to respond.

Brian Cooper couldn't help but laugh. He hadn't expected Adam Brooks to confront William Clark so decisively—and to do it so cleanly!