"Being famous is such a pain..."
Tony let out a sigh after hanging up the call. Now even more people knew about the truth behind New World.
Fortunately, the company president wasn't one of them. He probably assumed Tony was just a mid level employee, handling finance or operations. Nothing unusual.
He'd never imagine that Tony was New World itself.
As long as that part stayed buried, things would be fine. And someone like the president definitely wouldn't dare to spread anything without hard proof. After all, such a massive enterprise... being run ?
Tony shook off the thoughts and turned to his sister with a grin. "Let's go out for a walk."
"Huh? Where to?" Natalie blinked.
"Shopping, obviously. We've got money now. Might as well enjoy it."
"Great idea!!" Natalie nodded like a bobblehead. "Give me a sec, I'll go wash my face and put on some makeup!"
She shoved the last of her breakfast into her mouth and dashed to the bedroom.
"Oh right!" she called out, poking her head out the door. "Since you've made so much money, shouldn't we tell Mom and Dad?"
Tony paused. "Let's not rush. We'll reveal it little by little... Don't want to give them a heart attack."
Just as the siblings were about to enjoy a carefree day, Natalie underestimated one thing, how stubborn players could be.
Joseph Kian, a long time hardcore gamer. A true gaming addict. Also millionaire.
He'd known about New World's first release, Silent Hill, but never touched it. Too creepy. It wasn't until the now famous streamer PureWhite cleared the perfect ending that Joseph dared to give it a try, becoming one of hundreds of thousands who completed the game.
But now, Subnautica had completely captivated him.
An alien exploration adventure. Hyper realistic graphics. Everything looked and felt like a real alien world. He was hooked the moment he entered the game.
That's why what happened next shook him.
At the very beginning of the game, a woman in Escape Pod No. 2 dies suddenly, and brutally.
It left a deep impression on Joseph.
From that moment on, he became obsessed with saving her.
He assumed it would be a simple side quest. But soon, he realized how malicious the game devs truly were.
Every time you started a new game, the location where your pod landed would change. The surrounding terrain would shift slightly too.
Even worse, the crash site of Pod No. 2 also changed, sometimes in the southeast, sometimes way up in the northwest.
This meant he couldn't plan ahead. He couldn't predict where to go to intercept her pod and save her.
And that wasn't even the hardest part.
The woman in Pod 2 always gets eaten by a sea crocodile, a three meter long monster. No solo player could fight that thing.
Desperate, Joseph reached out to a well known NPC called Cortana for guidance. She told him to craft a thermal pistol.
He followed the advice, but the process took too long, he needed to: collect sulfur from Jetflower plants, craft the weapon, track Pod 2, and get there before the crocodile struck. The timing had to be perfect.
He tried again and again.
Every time, either he got eaten, or she did.
Eventually, he scoured the forums, hoping someone else had found a solution. Most posts said the same thing.
"It's scripted. You can't save her."
Joseph didn't want to believe it. Had he really wasted an entire night chasing the impossible?
Still... he couldn't let it go.
That morning, he saw a public post from a celebrity hoping for a real answer.
To his surprise, it got a reply.
"She can be saved. But it's extremely difficult."
That one sentence reignited his hope.
So he dove back into the game, more determined than ever. But no matter how many times he tried, he kept failing. The time window was just too short.
Exhausted, but still obsessed, Joseph finally admitted to himself, maybe he couldn't do it alone.
But he wasn't ready to give up.
So he made a bold move.
At noon, he posted a message online.
"Anyone who manages to save the woman in Pod 2, tag me in the video. First one to do it gets $10,000! Heres proof of the money."
The post instantly exploded.
"Holy crap? This guys really putting money on the line?"
"He's down bad for this woman, huh?"
"I get it tho. I've tried saving her too. Her scream when she dies is heartbreaking."
"For ten grand? Bro, I'm logging in now!"
Suddenly, players across the internet were fired up. They started new runs, all with the same goal.
But just like Joseph, they failed, again and again. Crocodiles taught them painful lessons. Many experienced, for the first time, what it felt like to be eaten by an alien beast.
As the bodies piled up, people began to doubt Natalie's claim.
"Is it really possible to save her...?"