In the teaching building of the director's department, John and Luna finished their admission procedures together.
"Are you really interested in learning all this?" John asked, glancing helplessly at Luna as she diligently filled out her information, a stack of teaching materials tucked under his arm.
"Of course! You all need to learn directing knowledge. If it helps us develop better games, why shouldn't I learn it too?" Luna shot him a knowing look, as if the answer was obvious.
"Alright, alright… let's go pick up the dog first. The assistant already called a specialized housekeeping service to clean the place, so it should be about done." John checked the time and gestured toward the exit.
Since the distance wasn't too far, they didn't bother with a plane or train to transport the dog. They simply asked the driver to take the highway for a few hours. John and Luna were fine, though the poor dog looked thoroughly defeated by the whole ordeal, staring out from the back seat with a mournful expression. At the pet hospital, the veterinarian explained that the dog had simply endured too long a car ride and had become motion sick.
After picking him up and heading home, John and Luna bought some daily necessities. The next day, John finally saw the class schedule in the group chat. Since this was a refresher course mainly aimed at professionals, the curriculum was extremely dense, and almost every day from Monday to Friday was packed full.
Though called a "refresher class," it was far from superficial. The requirements were strict enough that if you didn't pass the exam, you simply wouldn't receive a certificate. Still, most managed to obtain one. Executives from various companies attended not just to learn but to earn that formal proof of completion.
For John, the certificate itself wasn't what mattered. What mattered was how much he could actually absorb. After reviewing the main curriculum and comparing it to the detailed descriptions, he marked several courses with checks and crosses accordingly.
He stayed for two days and even visited Martel's temporary office. The building was leased for now, with about a hundred core employees stationed inside. But when John arrived and saw what Martel's team was doing, his expression darkened instantly.
Just days earlier, during their video call, Martel had mentioned that development was lagging behind schedule and that they planned to put together a mysterious trailer for the upcoming PixelPioneers Games conference to excite players.
Yet what John saw now was completely different: outsourced motion-capture materials were already being processed, and modeling work was well underway. Wasn't this team just assembled? So why did it seem like they were leisurely taking their time, while his own project was falling behind?
After returning from Martel's studio, John sat in silence for a long while. Unbelievable.
Meanwhile, players buzzed with anticipation about the upcoming PixelPioneers Games conference. As discussions grew louder, John opened his long-neglected social account.
He stood by the window, snapped a photo of the night skyline, then returned to his study. Luna, in the corner, was reviewing her work log. John picked up his admission notice for the training class and took another photo.
"For further study. I hope everyone can see something different," he captioned.
His attitude. He wanted to show the attitude of a true game developer, to tell players that he wasn't slacking off. He was studying relentlessly to create something that would genuinely surprise them.
The next morning, when John and Luna arrived at the training center to check in, players waking up and checking their accounts froze collectively.
???, An admission notice for a director training program? What? Isn't he a game producer? Why is he learning directing? John? Not a game designer anymore? PixelPioneers Games suddenly switching industries?
The entire player base was baffled.
"Wait, is President John planning to stop developing games and switch to making movies? What's going on?"
"I don't get it. Is learning directing somehow connected to making better games?"
"This is so confusing!"
"How much does a game producer need to know? I was planning to enter the industry after graduation and become the next President John, but now… do I have to be a director too?!"
And it wasn't just players; industry insiders were equally stunned.
At Gemtechs, Duncan, working on VR locomotion in the VR project team, nearly dropped his headset when he heard the news. John… was studying directing?
As one of the top producers in the industry, Duncan had created many acclaimed titles, recognized both nationally and internationally, though mainly among developers rather than casual gamers.
He had followed many of PixelPioneers Games' releases. While brilliant, they weren't necessarily groundbreaking technologically. But analyzing them often revealed John's underlying design intentions. Sometimes, innovation wasn't just about technology but about uncovering overlooked ideas.
John's first major hit cleverly used strict values to simulate randomness, redefining how randomness influenced gameplay.
Another title fused pixel aesthetics with modern rendering techniques, creating a distinctive visual identity.
But directing? How did that connect to game development? Duncan had no idea. And because he couldn't grasp it, his curiosity about John's upcoming project only grew.
The same was true for players. More and more tuned in closely, eager to see what John was planning. What kind of game was he preparing? That question lingered in the minds of countless fans, and in Duncan's.
For the upcoming Saturday's PixelPioneers Games conference, anticipation was at an all-time high. Everyone was eager to see what explosive surprise John would reveal.